Small Business and Market Materialism Uber - 1008 Words

Labouring The Walmart Way Wal-Mart is not just the worlds largest retailer. Its the worlds largest company--bigger than ExxonMobil, General Motors, and General Electric. The scale can be hard to absorb. Wal-Mart sold $244.5 billion worth of goods last year. It sells in three months what number-two retailer Home Depot sells in a year. And in its own category of general merchandise and groceries, Wal-Mart no longer has any real rivals.Wal-Mart wields its power for just one purpose: to bring the lowest possible prices to its customers.Deenu Parmar presents the fact as people will still continue shopping at Walmart without being concerned about their policies for their employees.Wal-Mart is a success because it sells products that people†¦show more content†¦This means that nearly $660,000 in wages is lost annually. Walmart may say they help people Live Better, But this study shows that communities will be much worse off, with lower wages and less money in the community. WalMart doesn’t produce new technology or innovations that improve the quality of life. It takes business from existing firms by offering the same merchandise cheaper. That’s all it does.It does increase the wealth of shoppers by allowing them to buy things at lower cost. But the major expenditures of a family aren’t for WalMart items; WM doesn’t sell houses, cars, or health care. WalMart is both a cultural symbol and is an economic force that proclaims free market materialism uber alles. It destroys other institutions based on relationships of human connection and solidarity -- be they neighborhood businesses or unions. WalMart helps transform people into anomic creatures whose lives are dominated by the search for bargains -- at whatever social cost.As long as we, the consumer, allow Wal-Mart to follow its current trend of undercutting and annihilation of small businesses, Wal-Mart will continue to destroy its communities, lie and turn a handsome profit at the expense of our welfare. If people were only consumers, buying things at lower prices would be just good. But people also are workers who need to earn a decent standard of living, says economist Larry Mishel ofShow MoreRelatedThe Sustainable Century By Design Or Disaster9705 Words   |  39 PagesContents Introduction – The Sustainable Century†¦ or not ............................................................... 3 Chapter One - Market Signals – The Lifeblood of Sustainable Capitalism ..................................................................................................................................... 12 Listening to a Sustainability Market Signal Moment ..................................................................... 16 Conflict Free Oil? ...........................Read MoreThe Sustainable Century By Design Or Disaster9705 Words   |  39 PagesContents Introduction – The Sustainable Century†¦ or not ............................................................... 3 Chapter One - Market Signals – The Lifeblood of Sustainable Capitalism ..................................................................................................................................... 12 Listening to a Sustainability Market Signal Moment ..................................................................... 16 Conflict Free Oil? ...........................Read MoreThe Different Purchase Motivation Of Consumers Who Seek Accommodations Essay9653 Words   |  39 Pagesof European cities and U.S., which impose on the traditional hotel chain within hospitality market (Interian, 2016). Due to these reason, different consumer would have different choice when they purchase accommodation, such as traditional five-star hotel and Airbnb accommodation. Consequently, understanding tourist consumer behavior and marketing is significant for hosts and hotels expand the potential market in the hospitality industry. To investigate the motivation of customers who choose accommodation

Ethno Religious Crisis in Nigeria Causes and Remedy.

ETHNO RELIGIOUS CRISIS IN NIGERIA: CAUSES AND REMEDY. BY MUHAMMAD GAMBO ISGOGO HASSAN ADAMU MAKUKU UMAR HAMIDU ALIYU ABSTRACT Introduction Nigeria is no doubt a populous nation of over 88 million (1991 population census) but as at now Nigeria’s population is estimated to be above 120 million people of diverse ethnic groups and many religions. Its people are differently distributed in the 36 states that made up the nation. In addition to this, the nation is blessed with many economic potentialities which help in the movement of the various peoples through the process of economic inter-dependence. Though abounds with human and natural resources, the country has since independence witnessed a number of inter and intra ethnic and religious†¦show more content†¦One could say at this juncture that, this suspicion and fear still shapes the relationship between the peoples of these various corners of the country. This is also the genesis of the subsequent crisis of ethnic nature in Nigeria. Today, Nigerians feel insecure in the regions other than their own. The sectional feeling further manifests i tself clearly in the unhealthy competition in all aspects of the government between the peoples of the North, West and East. Tensions between these peoples become more and more intensified with each trying to protect its sectional interest. On this note, Awolowo, cited in Ekeh, P.P. and Osaghae, E.E. eds blamed the British: For dividing the North from the South so thoroughly and effectively that the two were divergently and almost irreconcilably oriented4 With Federalism which was instituted to primarily to avoid one ethnic group dominating others and also protecting the interests of the minorities, the nation was once again split into regions, each with its autonomous power. In this political arrangement also, it was observed that: The colonial administrators have passed on to the Nigerian wards the prejudices which had enabled them think and act in the belief that this informal federation was a marriage of convenience between incompatibles 5. With this impression in the minds of Nigerian peoples, it becomes very difficult for them to workShow MoreRelatedSocio-Economic and Political Dimensions of Conflict4145 Words   |  17 Pagesconflicts in Nigeria alone. This is due to the fact that, as the most populous and heterogeneous nation in Africa, Nigeria has had its fair share of conflicts dating back to the colonial era. Again, all the conflicts that have been witnessed in the country can be said to have socio-economic and political undertones. But differently, conflict is a regular feature in Nigeria, due largely to the multi-ethnic and plural nature of the nation; as the various ethnic nationalities and religious adherents tryRead MoreState of Emergency: Legal and Political Implications in Nigeria5586 Words   |  23 PagesINTRODUCTION Emergency in ordinary parlance means a time of crisis, a moment of danger or suspense. A state of emergency therefore is a governmental declaration that recognises the existence of this peculiar situation and takes some necessary actions to restore the peace and governmental stability of the society. During this period, the maxim, salus populi suprema lex has a special force and to that effect, some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers may be suspended.Read MoreRastafarian79520 Words   |  319 PagesCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Edmonds, Ennis Barrington. Rastafari : from outcasts to culture bearers / Ennis Barrington Edmonds. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-513376-5 1. Rastafari movement. 2. Jamaica—Religious life and customs. I. Title. BL2532.R37 E36 2002 299†².676—dc21 2002074897 v To Donnaree, my wife, and Donnisa, my daughter, the two persons around whom my life revolves; and to the ancestors whose struggles have enabled us to survive and

A Study of Business Intelligence and Analytics

Questions: The different types of decisions made within the business environment and how this type of decision making works. The six elements of the business intelligence environment. The five analytical outputs that business intelligence systems utilize to provide correct and real-time information to users. Discuss how business intelligence and analytics support improved decision making. The benefits to a modern business of employing the use of intelligent techniques in decision making and knowledge management. How these systems are used to help people working in groups make decisions more efficiently. Discuss the systems that are used for improving enterprise-wide knowledge management. Answers: Introduction The topic which has been discussed here is related to the matter of Management Information System that has brought a revolution in the field of Information Technology. The Management Information helps an organization to take decisions on the base of business knowledge and management (Ballard et al. 2012). The developments include business analytics and intelligence. The topic discusses the impact of business intelligence and analytics in the improvement of the decision making in the business and managing the knowledge of it. Findings and Analysis Types of decision made within the business environment and its functions There are six types of decisions which are made within the business environment of an organization (Bonczek et al. 2014). They are nonprogrammed and programmed decisions, strategic and routine decisions, tactical and operational decisions, organizational and personal decisions, major and minor decisions, individual and group decisions. The lower level managers take the programmed decisions for the problems of repetitive nature such as issues regarding the purchase of raw material, granting the leave to an employee. On the other hand, nonprogrammed decisions are taken by the upper-level management in case of the problems where the solution is not quickly to find out (Botha et al. 2014). Such problems can occur in the event of inaugural of the new office of the organization. The routine decisions are frequently based on the organization's general functioning. The lower level managers take the decisions without much analyzing or evaluating it (Chang 2014). The strategic decisions involve massive investment and are nonrepetitive and require careful analysis and evaluation of the higher management. In the case of policy matters of the organization, the top management take the tactical decisions which have a long-term impact on the company. Such as decision regarding channels of distribution systems (Chen et al. 2012). The operating decisions are subjected on day to day functioning of the business. The organizational decision takes place in such case where the individual takes the decision as an executive in the official capacity. If the person takes the decision personally affecting his personal life, then it becomes a personal decision (Chiang et al. 2012). The major decisions are made by top management such as purchasing new factory premises whereas the office superintendant takes the minor decisions such as purchasing office stationery. The individual decisions are made by a single personality in case of routine work whereas the group decisions are made by a committee where maximum personal opinions are involved (Fleisher and Bensoussan 2015). In all types of cases, the management information systems provide support to take decisions which eventually gives positive results. As the decision meets the requirement, the solution comes out in accordance. The six elements of the business intelligence environment The six elements that consists the environment of business intelligence are as follows Business environment data It is unstructured and structured data that are required to be organized and integrated from various sources. The infrastructure of business intelligence To capture all the business process data of relevancy, a database is required (Loucks and da Costa 2013). Toolset of business analytics This toolset is needed for tracking the progress of the enterprise and for analyzing the data to produce reports. Managerial methods and its users The decision is made by the managers on the goals of a strategic business and how progress is measured by the utilization of the BI and BA tools (Maloney et al. 2015). The platform of delivery (ESS, MIS, DSS) It comes from the Business Analytics and Business Intelligence that goes to every individual in the organization. The interface of the user The scorecards and the dashboards which are used for presenting the results of BI and BA. The Business Intelligence system provides six analytic functionalities: Reports of the production These are the reports which are predefined and based on industry specific requirements. Reports based on parameters Several parameters are entered by the users in a pivot table for filtering the data and isolation of the parameter impacts (Power et al. 2015). Scorecards or Dashboards These are the visual tools for presentation of the performance data as defined by the users. Creation of the Adhoc query / search / report Creating reports by the users based on the search and queries. Drilling down Moving from high-level summary to more detailed view (Sangari and Razmi 2015). Scenarios, forecasts, and models Performing linear forecasting, analysis of what-if scenario and analyzing data using tools of the statistical standard. The five analytical outputs providing correct and real time information to users Business Intelligence is the toolset that supports the transformation of raw data into useful information for making decisions. It provides reporting functionality, tools for identification of a cluster of data, data mining techniques and analysis for prediction. The five analytical outputs that BI systems utilize to provide correct and real time information to users are the OLAP, Data Visualisation, Reports, Dashboards, and Alerts (Shah et al. 2012). These outputs provide the users a detailed presentation of the results of the query they generate as per their requirements. For an instance, forecasting of BI capability is a package of an analytical application for sales forecasting. Many different types of analytical outputs indicate multi-industry business functions such as workforce, supply chain. Other outputs are claimed analytics and antimoney laundering used in industry-specific cases (Sharda et al. 2013). The analytical applications can be focused on the variety of vendors and internal teams. It can also support transaction processing applications and inventory control and product purchasing. Discussion of support in improved decision making through BI and BA The companies normally focus on the development of business, in such case, it's very important for making a quick decision on the base of available quality information (Wang et al. 2014). Some of the companies are managing to give relevant and precise data to provide their decision makers. The organisations have realized the value of capabilities of useful business intelligence. In many companies, the technologies which are new cause an overload of information. It makes the decision makers confused with inadequate information. Some companies manage in providing decision makers with automatically consolidated and processed data that are presented in a format which is understandable (Zakane et al. 2014). The companies provide quick and profound decision making with the help of Business Intelligence capabilities and processes. The Business Intelligence is the research field that aims at practical and theoretical aspects for achieving the solid information base of making decisions. The Business Intelligence and Analytics report provide information for decision making (Zhang et al. 2013). For that purpose, it needs the perfect mixture of the architecture, data structure, data collection process, IT systems, responsibilities for providing meaningful information. As the companies get the amalgamation of these above mentioned factors through business analytics and intelligence, they come at the stage for making improved decisions for the cases they face (Wang et al. 2014). The decision makers have a sound knowledge of the domain they study, get a clear picture to suggest a solution. Benefits to a modern business of employing intelligent techniques in decision making and knowledge management In the modern times, various organizations have devoted themselves to the implementation of using intelligent techniques. Such techniques are applied for taking business decisions. Here knowledge management plays a crucial role in determining the decisions (Sharda et al. 2013). The Decision Support System (DSS) is the application and technology that helps the decision makers in the managerial positions to utilize data and models for solving unstructured and semistructured problems. The combination of Artificial Intelligence and DSS has produced modern active DSS. The active DSS is a part of new DSS and Intelligent systems (Shah et al. 2012). The examples of active new DSS applications are the Expert System and Knowledge Based System. The other intelligent systems used for decision making are the Adaptive DSS along with Intelligent Decision Support System (IDSS). The Artificial Intelligence aims for studying the human thought process and duplicating the thought process through machines such as computers and robots. It, therefore, explores the behavior of a computer but performed by a human (Sangari and Razmi 2015). It has the following benefits in decision making. It helps to learn and understand from experience It concludes in such situations where uncertainty and fuzziness exists It uses the knowledge and experience for manipulating the environment It helps to respond successfully and quickly to the new situations It helps to recognize the importance of relativity of different elements in a situation Figure 1:The Knowledge Management System Cycle (Source: Chang 2014, pp- 525) The implementation of intelligent techniques has also made a drastic change in the Knowledge Management System. The available data or facts are processed to information by business context by the knowledge experts (Maloney et al. 2015). Such processed information are required to take decisions as per the business requirement. Assimilation of intelligent techniques in the Knowledge Management System makes it more flexible for decision making (Loucks and da Costa 2013). The enterprise wise knowledge management system is of three major types, structured knowledge systems, semistructured knowledge systems and knowledge networks. Support of the systems for groups to take efficient decisions The Decision Support Systems support a wide range of decision making tasks. In the mid-nineties, the majority of the software vendors presented the DSS to their clients who were very much general resulting to failed projects, painful memories, and unrealistic expectations (Fleisher and Bensoussan 2015). As a result, companies felt the need to build computerized decision support system for supporting their decision makers. As the new version was launched, it led to support in making more efficient decisions in the group work. The two fundamental concepts that are associated with support of computerized decision is first, IT and computers help people in making important decisions (Chiang et al. 2012). Secondly, the computerized DSS support assists the managers to keep them in connection to a loop of making decisions. Thus, the aim is to improve the decision making efficiency along with effectiveness and not the decisions of automated nature. Many companies are doing their daily activities such as monitoring of performance on integrated computerized decision support system. The managers often download and analyze data for creation of reports (Chen et al. 2012). They often analyze and evaluate forecasting results. The DSS helps the managers for allocation of resources, comparison of the predicted with the actual results, the projection of revenues and evaluation of scenarios. In todays era, various complicated situations rise in business cases where taking decisions become very much difficult (Chang 2014). Moreover, the requirement for making speed decisions has increased, information overloading is normal, and distortion of information is higher. In such case, the modern decision support system encourages fact-based decisions with improved quality efficiency and effectiveness (Loucks and da Costa 2013). Such system helps the groups to take fast decisions as per management requirements. Discussion of the systems for improving enterprise-wide knowledge management The systems that aim for the improvement of enterprise-wide knowledge management are mentioned below: The Extranet and the Intranet OLAP, Data Mining and Warehousing of Data Groupware Systems Systems of Content Management Decision Support Systems Systems of Document Management Tools of Artificial Intelligence Semantic Networks Simulation Tools (Maloney et al. 2015) The extranet is the network of privacy that has the usage of public telecommunication and the internet for sharing a part of business information with the suppliers, partners, customers or other business in a secure manner (Fleisher and Bensoussan 2015). The intranet is an organization's network, normally a corporation based on the protocols of TCP / IP, accessible only by the employees of the organization. OLAP is the online analytical processing technique that is used for multidimensional analysis of data related to business. It provides the capability for trend analysis, complex calculations, and sophisticated data modeling. Data warehouse system is used for analyzing and reporting data (Chang 2014). They are the central repositories of integrated data from one or more sources. The Data mining system is required to be enabled as it is the process for computation of discovering the patterns in a large set of data which involves artificial intelligence, database and learning of machine. The groupware system is the application software that is implemented to support the people who are involved in doing a common work for achieving their targets (Chiang et al. 2012). The Content Management System supports the modification and creation of digital content using interface of the standard user and provides support to multiple users in a collaborative environment. The Decision Support System supports the organizational decision making work. The Document Management System is required to track, store and manage documents for reduction of paperwork. The system is capable of tracking the history (Power et al. 2015). The Artificial Intelligence tools aim for the creation of computers and software capable of behaving intelligently. The Semantic Network system is needed for storing the knowledge in a form of graphs having nodes marking objects in the world and arcs mentioning relationships between the objects. The simulation tools assist in understanding systems of complexities and support in making decisions (Sangari and Razmi 2015). Therefore, if all these systems are integrated into the organizations Knowledge Management Systems, then the overall system becomes much more concrete and flexible. Conclusion It has been discussed throughout the topic that adaptation of various Decision Support Systems has reduced the complexities in making decisions for the managers working in a group. Prompt decisions on critical matters have led to solutions which have benefitted the organization in the long run. Therefore, it can be concluded that the management authority has made themselves more involved in getting support from these systems in future for addressing feasible solutions regarding the cases they face. Recommendations From the discussions and the conclusion, some facts that can be recommended are as follows: i) Organisations should do in-depth research for inventing new support systems and intelligent techniques for decision making for avoiding the situation if the existing systems become of no use. ii) The management should get involved to apply the current systems for more extensive usage in other cases to ensure its optimum utilization. iii) The authority should maintain a strong architecture for safety and security of these systems they use so that unnecessary intrusion does not happen to result in data theft or sudden system shutdown. References Ballard, C., Farrell, D.M., Gupta, A., Mazuela, C. and Vohnik, S., 2012.Dimensional Modeling: In a Business Intelligence Environment. IBM Redbooks. Bonczek, R.H., Holsapple, C.W. and Whinston, A.B., 2014.Foundations of decision support systems. Academic Press. Botha, A., Kourie, D. and Snyman, R., 2014.Coping with continuous change in the business environment: knowledge management and knowledge management technology. Elsevier. Chang, V., 2014. The business intelligence as a service in the cloud.Future Generation Computer Systems,37, pp.512-534. Chen, H., Chiang, R.H. and Storey, V.C., 2012. Business Intelligence and Analytics: From Big Data to Big Impact.MIS quarterly,36(4), pp.1165-1188. Chiang, R.H., Goes, P. and Stohr, E.A., 2012. Business intelligence and analytics education, and program development: a unique opportunity for the information systems discipline.ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems (TMIS),3(3), p.12. Fleisher, C.S. and Bensoussan, B.E., 2015.Business and competitive analysis: effective application of new and classic methods. FT Press. Loucks, D.P. and da Costa, J.R. eds., 2013.Decision support systems: Water resources planning(Vol. 26). Springer Science Business Media. Maloney, K.O., Talbert, C.B., Cole, J.C., Galbraith, H.S., Blakeslee, C.J., Hanson, L. and Holmquist-Johnson, C.L., 2015. An integrated Riverine Environmental Flow Decision Support System (REFDSS) to evaluate the ecological effects of alternative flow scenarios on river ecosystems.Fundamental and Applied Limnology/Archiv fr Hydrobiologie,186(1-2), pp.171-192. Power, D.J., Sharda, R. and Burstein, F., 2015.Decision support systems. John Wiley Sons, Ltd. Sangari, M.S. and Razmi, J., 2015. Business intelligence competence, agile capabilities, and agile performance in supply chain: an empirical study.The International Journal of Logistics Management,26(2), pp.356-380. Shah, V., Turkbey, B., Mani, H., Pang, Y., Pohida, T., Merino, M.J., Pinto, P.A., Choyke, P.L. and Bernardo, M., 2012. Decision support system for localizing prostate cancer based on multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging.Medical physics,39(7), pp.4093-4103. Sharda, R., Delen, D. and Turban, E., 2013.Business Intelligence: A Managerial Perspective on Analytics. Prentice Hall Press. Wang, S., Noe, R.A. and Wang, Z.M., 2014. Motivating knowledge sharing in knowledge management systems a quasifield experiment.Journal of Management,40(4), pp.978-1009. Zakane, S.A., Gustafsson, L.L., Tomson, G., Loukanova, S., Si, A., Nasiell, J. and Bastholm-Rahmner, P., 2014. Guidelines for maternal and neonatal point of care: needs of and attitudes towards a computerized clinical decision support system in rural Burkina Faso.International journal of medical informatics,83(6), pp.459-469. Zhang, X., De Pablos, P.O. and Zhou, Z., 2013. Effect of knowledge sharing visibility on incentive-based relationship in Electronic Knowledge Management Systems: An empirical investigation.Computers in Human Behavior,29(2), pp.307-313.

Investment (Stock-Trak) Essay Example

Investment (Stock-Trak) Essay When our investments class first started I knew very little about stocks, mutual funds and options but with every class that I took I started to understand exactly what each meant. This became very important in my research of companies to choose for stocks, mutual funds and options. I took a few things into consideration: the economy, the time of season, and the products the company is best known for; also from the companies chosen I look at their three month six month and one year overlook. This gave me a few companies to research to decide which would be best. The first bulk of stock that was purchased was with Akamai Technologies, which mainly specialize in speeding up a company’s websites by using their (Akamai) high speed network to increase download speed. Two of their biggest clients are Best Buy and Sony, which really set me in the â€Å"green† for my decision not to mention the fact that the company earned $860 million in revenue and $145. 9 in net income in 2009. From a technical standpoint, I discovered Akamai’s internet traffic footprint is large. The company operates the worlds largest distributed computing network with more than 20,000 servers in 1,000 networks across 71 countries those estimates are excellent. The company showed promise which leads me to buy a substantial amount of stock for my first purchase. The companies I decided to invest in next were Best Buy and Nike, Best Buy is now known as the electronic store powerhouse now that it’s fierce rival Circuit City filled bankruptcy (which now sells refurbished electronics online) Best Buy now has very few competitors. We will write a custom essay sample on Investment (Stock-Trak) specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Investment (Stock-Trak) specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Investment (Stock-Trak) specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer I looked for positive trends within the company and to my surprise the company’s trend was looking at an upward trend; which led me to buy the stock within this company. Nike was a very difficult decision for me mainly because I worked for Nikes’ powerhouse seller Footlocker. From my stay with the company I witnessed the company cut several lines of their signature shoes in efforts of saving a dead product. One of Nikes biggest co brand includes the Jordan brand which is a powerhouse in athletic wear. Nikes trend did not show as much promise as best buy but I was optimistic that sales would soar with their company do to simple fact that the holiday season was around the corner. This decision had me buy 100 shares of stock with Nike also. The transactions were a major risk when selecting these companies due to the fact that retail stores are not a guaranteed success from what the market trend showed. For three weeks straight I tracked a positive trend with both companies which led me to believe I made an excellent choice for choosing both companies; then a negative trend became constant and I had no choice but to sell my stock in efforts of restoring the money lost. With retail a failure in my past purchase I decided to jump into a Financial Institution (AIG) in which I looked at the Bloomberg report to see exactly how the company is doing. The Bloomberg report showed that AIG took a huge dip in February their stock was selling for less than $25 a share but made a drastic turnaround and by October the company’s stock was for $40 a share. With this information I felt that the company was rising back to a stable status and this gave me the evidence needed to buy 200 shares of the companies stock. AIG showed me great promise but AIG and Goldman Sacs fell under scrutiny within the media and as a result their stock daily which led me to sell half of my stock. In my efforts to find something different I found Uranium Resources INC which showed great promise. Uranium Resources, Inc founded in 1977 deals with exploration, development, and mining of uranium with sites in South Texas and New Mexico that utilize nuclear power to generate electricity. The company reported a $0. 04 loss in the third quarter of 2009 but has seen positive trends thereafter. When I purchased the stock for the company it had only seen $0. 01 gain for the trading period but since then the company has had great success these few months; and have greatly impacted my portfolio. I also decided to take my money and invest in biotechnology and I found AVI Biopharmaceutical INC. This company specializes in the discovery and development of therapeutic products based on antisense and cancer immunotherapy technology. Their studies help to improve human deterioration of muscles functions. This company was just what I needed to expand in my search for new stock and up and coming technology. I purchased the stock at $1. 84 at which I was very surprised because the company was doing so well in the market at the time. I did manage to sell 50 shares of the company’s stock but I still have shares within this company. I also did some research on Mutual funds in which I followed some of the bigger names and viewed their trend in the market which lead me to Fidelity, FMI, TCW and Yacktman. In my research I found that these four companies were doing very well and consistently showing positive trend with only a few minor negative trends. This led me to believe that these companies would be a secure investment and would hold its value for the remainder of our class duration. Over a months time I discovered that three of the four Funds where suffering daily. In which I had no choice but to sell two of the mutual funds in doing this it freed up space and allowed my portfolio to show an upward trend. When deciding to pick options I looked at my best stocks and decided to open an option on them which included clean energy’s and Google. Clean energy was a risk and it has not shown me anything promising over the past two weeks which leads me to believe that I may have to sell my options in clean energy. Google has done nothing but impress me over the weeks with its positive trends I am considering opening up more options with Google. In conclusion I have had great success when choosing stocks but I’ve also had my share of down falls. My ranking in the class never stayed in a consistent position which kept me active in the market in efforts to find a stable position. By opening up my portfolio and buying clean energy fuel, gold, and bio technology my portfolio has seen a number of positive trends; but this was very difficult mainly because neither was a guaranteed success but they did open opportunities for other stock options.

Document Based question essays

Document Based question essays My mom always told me the story of when President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed. She distinctly remembered where she was, who she was with, and what she felt. I couldnt relate to her at all, and I honestly believed Id never be able to. September 11th, 2001 started off like any normal school day for me. It was one of the first days of my freshman year in high school. The morning was normal, until I realized a lot of kids were getting sent home early. I thought it was a coincidence. I didnt know what had happened until our principal made an announcement over the loud speaker informing us of that mornings events. It took a while to completely settle in and for me to realize what had happened. I didnt know much, but from what I knew, many innocent people were killed. All through lunch and the rest of the school day, other students were crying because of family members or friends that they knew who worked in the World Trade Centers. I watched in horror as my friends were franticall y trying to reach their parents to make sure they were ok. When I got home, I sat down and finally got to see what really happened. I couldnt believe it. Seeing two airplanes filled with people smashing into two office buildings was unbelievable. I will never get the picture of those planes out of my mind. When I first saw it happen my eyes filled with tears. The whole night I watched the news broadcasts of what happened and I cried through the whole thing. So many emotions were running through me! Scared, upset, angry, and hateful. I didnt know how else to show them except by crying. Nobody that I knew personally had died, but a boy thats my age, in my school lost his father. We all went to his memorial service and nobody left without crying. I couldnt imagine what the families of the victims were going through. What would I do if terrorists took my father away from me? Or my mother, anyone. Weeks cont...

The United States of America essays

The United States of America essays There are three things which are important to keep in mind when considering the American phenomenon. One is its size (huge), the other is its history (short but eventful), and the third, diversity, is both a result of the first two and a contributing factor in shaping the United States' unique role in world history. The United States is a large country. In terms of land mass it comes behind only Russia and Canada, and unlike those two countries most of it isn't frozen solid most of the year. It is land that can be used, and it is land that can be populated. Americans have done both and they've done them at a pace unparalleled in history. . At the time Columbus did not discover America in 1492, there were less than a million people living on what is now the Continental United States. Due to the fact that Columbus thought that he had finally found a sea passage to India, he called these people Indians. They weren't, of course. They were one of the some three hundred nations, or tribes, of North Americans who had been developing their own separate histories, languages, philosophies, and religions for over a thousand years. In any case, two hundred years went by and things didn't change much on the North American continent. The many nations of "North Americans" continued to live off the land in their many different ways, but when the thirteen British colonies that had settled on the East Coast of that continent declared their independence in 1776, a new nation was formed. And two hundred years after that there were about 240 million people eating and sleeping, working, and driving around in over a hundred million cars on the very same land. All of them belonged to that one new nation. Today there are about 250 million of them and they all still belong to that one nation -the United States of America. The amazing thing is that all of these approximately 250 million Americans have as much in common as they do. Let us look at the...

International financial markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

International financial markets - Essay Example Meanwhile, the mispriced item will have appreciated at a rate higher than that of the portfolio. The arbitrageur could thus short sell the portfolio at the present price and use the amount obtained to purchase the mispriced item. At the end of the period, the arbitrageur will sell the mispriced item, purchase back the portfolio, and then keep the difference as his profit. In this context, the arbitrageur utilizes the interest rates difference between two countries to make risk free profit. By the use of a forward contract to eliminate the threat of exchange rates, the arbitrageur makes profit from the fact that interest rates difference does not always hold(TEALL,2013). According to economists, factors such as fluctuating frequencies of time series data and diverse aspects of assets contribute to changes in interest rates. An example of an investor exploiting such an arbitrage opportunity due to pricing forwards; The investor borrows 800,000 of currency Y @ 2% per annum. This implies that that by the end of year, he will be required to pay 816,000. Currency X offers a higher one-year interest and therefore the investor converts the 800,000 currency Y to X at a spot rate of 1.00. The investors lock in the 4% rate on the deposit of the 800,000X and concurrently enters into a forward contract which, converts the full maturity amount of the deposit,(832,000X) into currency Y at the one-year forward at a rate of Y=1.0125X. After one year, the investor settles the forward contract at the agreed rate (1.0125). The investor remains with 821,728Y and after repaying his 816,000Y loan, he remains with 5728Y as his profit. There may be various arbitrage opportunities according to the binomial pricing model. For instance, a situation where stock price is (ST )at time (T)and there are only two time periods; (T= 0 and T = 1). Starting stock

ESM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

ESM - Essay Example In addition, ESM had in mind the inclusion of most of the citizens if not all in making decisions that affect them in the respective countries. ESM has enabled better working conditions in Europe through social dialogues and collective bargaining. According to Europe Industrial Relation dictionary, article eight of Treaty of Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) has been the pillar that supports better working conditions. Its policies and activities takes into account requirements linked to promotions to the highest levels of employment, guarantee of adequate social protection, protection of human health and encouraging the highest level of education (Europe Industrial Relation dictionary, 2011, p.1). Good Industrial relations exist at national level, across other industries, and at the company level that allow companies to take social responsibility of its surroundings. To workers, collective bargaining means better salary and terms of employment with better living conditions. St atistics show that Europe has the highest percentage membership to trade unions at 24% compared to US at 12 % and Japan 18.5%. This means more involvement in workers in decision that concern them and better working conditions. The European Social Model is a success. First, more and more employees joining trade unions show that they are happy about the collective bargaining, which has to date enabled better working conditions. ... Therefore, Europe should continue with the ESM to be an example to other countries of the world. Institutional and Cultural Systems in US versus Japan It is undeniable that the institutional and cultural orientation of a given country greatly determines the perspectives of human resource management. This explains why human resource management in different countries approach their mandate differently (Indiana University of Pennsylvania web). US being one of the major countries dominated by whites since time immemorial, institutional and cultural systems are largely based within the constructs of whiteness. Although there are many institutional and cultural factors affecting HRM operations in US, white supremacy is the most predominant. White culture in US means that most HRM operations have to satisfy the white culture (Pudelko, 2006, p. 123-126). For instance, HRM will consider factors such as racial factors, white ego, white social constructs, power, privileges, and dominance that a re mostly associated with the American whites. This is quite different from other countries such as Japan where other institutional and cultural values are valued. Japan institutional and cultural system is largely based on the traditionally emphasized collectivism. Japanese culture system shares the values, which have been passed on as tradition throughout its history. These historical constructs greatly influence the institutional values since they are bound by traditions, most of which uphold collectivism (Pudelko, 2006, p. 126-138). As such, the HRM operations seek to organise the human resource such that collective gain is achieved whilst individual contribution is appreciated at the same time. This has been one of the

Irony Literary Analysis Essay Example for Free

Irony Literary Analysis Essay Tragedy is a dramatic form that was first developed in ancient Greece. A  tragedy usually has these characteristics: The main character is involved in a struggle that ends in disaster. This character, often called the tragic hero, is a person of high rank who has the respect of the community.  The tragic heros downfall is usually the result of some combination of fate, an error in judgment, and a personality weakness often called a tragic flaw. Once the tragedy is in motion, the downfall is usually inevitable. The tragic hero gains wisdom or insight by the plays end. Tragedy arouses feelings of pity and fear in the audience. Spectators pity the plight of the main character and fear that a similar fate might befall them. A tragic drama may also suggest that the human spirit is capable of remarkable nobility even in the midst of great suffering. An allegory is a story with more than one layer of meaning: a literal meaning and one or more symbolic meanings. The characters, settings, and themes in an allegory are symbols of ideas and qualities that exist outside the story. The Crucible is an allegory, because Miller uses one his ­ torical period and setting (seventeenth-century New England) to comment on another (1950s America). The tragedy that occurs in Salem is an allego ­ ry for the anti-Communist hysteria that gripped the United States during the 1950s. As you read, notice how the events in Salem echo the events surrounding the McCarthy hearings to tragic effect.

The Search for the Meaning of Existence :: Philosophy Essays

The Search for the Meaning of Existence Daffodil bulbs instead of balls Stared from the sockets of the eyes! from Whispers of Immortality We live and then we die. Its scary, the death part, and the living part is quite amazing. There is a great dichotomy surrounding our existence. One minute we are here, another we are gone. What is existence? What is the purpose of existence? The big metaphysical question has my interest. We grasp to understand it all but it evades us. This magnificent universe has not answered our questions. Some people believe that our existence is a divine destiny, a creation of God, or of some purposive energy. Others say that the greatest meaning of life is to share love. These people believe that life has meaning! Actually has it! I grew up thinking that both of these meanings of life were true. There was a universal energy of good, always able to overcome bad, and love was the greatest value of all. I believed that my life would have meaning if I contributed to the good and loving energy in the world. Will my life have more meaning if I am a good loving person than an uninterested loner person? Will my life be more valuable to the universe? Everyone would like to have meaning in their life, even those of us who are becoming cynical to meaning as an absolute. We all would be more comfortable if we knew of some transcendent value to our existence that surpasses life itself, into death. We do not know of this transcendence though. Society in the 21st century is on shaky foundations. We have tossed religious proclamations out the window and embraced science as the ultimate authority. Problem is, science is not providing metaphysical answers so we are out there in space floating around aimlessly Currently, through the last decade or so, after seeing the substantial depth of scientific observations supporting Darwinian evolution, I begin to see another possible "meaning of meaning", and hence, a new meaning of life. Beware Darwin's dangerous idea! I now see meaning, as an emergent process of evolved human consciousness that functions as an environment analyst. I see both meaning and consciousness as aftereffects of physical processes in the brain and nervous system. Sounds pretty drab and desolate, huh? Or exciting, depending on who you are, where you are, and what time it is.

Brave New World: Death Is a Repudiation or a Validation

Let Down Your Noose Paige Fairbairn 10/20/12 Mr. Pierce per. 2 The ultimate escape is death. The driving force that pushes a man to slide his neck through a noose, tighten the hole, and take the final leap of faith- only to result in eternal stillness. The leap of faith John the Savage took was a symbolic repudiation of the World State's motto, â€Å"community, identity, stability† because every aspect of John was a contradiction to the motto, thus weakening the strength of the motto, essentially reducing the meaning to â€Å"bunk†.In Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World John had no community to accept him, no true identity to boost his broken morale, and his emotional instability shackled him to conscience, and roped him into death. Glorified civilization appeared to John as a morsel of knowledge; the opportunity of a lifetime. John's uncontainable excitement procured the words of Miranda, from Shakespeare's play The Temptest to pour out of his naive mouth, â€Å"O w onder! How many godly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world. That has such people in it! At this point, Huxely is paralleling John to Miranda, Bernard to Prospero, and Lenina resembles Ferdinand. John is intrigued as well as excited for civilization, as Lenina (just as Ferdinand was to Miranda) served as temptation to part take in this foreign, yet enchanting land, and only Bernard (just as Prospero admonished Miranda) knew of the cruelties and horrors of civilization and wished that John would understand that this world isn't so brave or honorable at all. John, like a child, joins Bernard into a community where John is a specimen; to be observed and provide many laughs.John, like a fresh water fish tossed into the sea, eventually dies, not just physically, but emotionally due to his incompatibility with the community. Not only was he a reject in the pueblo of Malpais, but he too was a spectacle in civilization, and was unaccepted due to his distinct personality and physical differences. The world state destroyed John due to its conditioned insensitivity. Amongst the community posing as an exploitative force toward John, his identity was stampeded and broken, even in his own solitude. Not only did Malpais reject him for his mother, Linda, but he looked too different to be accepted.Even then, he struggled with himself and his solitude which led to his discovery of, â€Å"Time and Death and God† (136 Huxely). Even with this discovery, he still searched for himself, hoping to acquire a true identity in civilization. Any and all thoughts of an identity were smashed to bits, as John was simply a spectacle, just as his Mother was. Linda's death was a wake-up call to John; he didn't belong because no one could comprehend his emotion. Like a fish out of water, Linda's soma induced coma was abruptly interrupted by the coming of her death.She gasped for air, and flopped and flailed in distress; her death is symbolic for the role sh e played in society. She was a specimen of the grotesque, as her death reflected that, because it cut through the feigned essence of peace and relaxation in her room. Her death also served as John's ugly realization of the, â€Å"Brave new world† and her death distorted John's image of society as well as his own purpose being there. Immediately after Linda's death, five young Delta boys with chocolate eclairs stood around her deathbed, asking foolishly of her death, for they were not enlightened of the true meaning of death.Aldous Huxely is alluding to the five foolish virgins from The Parable of the Ten Virgins â€Å"five were foolish and five were wise† (Mathew 25:2). There were about half a dozen other Delta boys at the hospital at the time, adding to approximately ten boys. Instead of eclairs, these virgins in the parable each had an oil lamp, five of which brought enough oil to have entrance to a groomsman's feast, and the five foolish virgins didn't have enough o il and missed the entrance, so when their judgment came, they were declined to be let in due to their foolery.It was also stated that, â€Å"the spirit of a man is a candle of the Lord† (Proverbs 20:27 KJV). Huxely satired the spirit of man and his faith represented through the eclairs; the perfect representation of immediate pleasure and delight, which served as a symbol for the identity of the society. Each Delta had an eclair instead of a lamp, foolishly asking John what happened to Linda, just as the foolish virgins were asking what happened to their entrance.The eclairs served to represent their superficiality, and just as the five foolish virgins were shooed away by a bad judgment, the five Delta boys were forced out by John's disapproving of their foolery. It was here that John realized he had no identity in this community; he was surrounded by fools who couldn't comprehend deep feelings and emotion ; he was lost and couldn't find himself in the misleading and misgivin gs of civilization. He hadn't an identity due to the inability of others to accept him for who he was. As a result, John began to disturb the stability the World State thrives for.The sweet desire for stimulating pleasures were all readily available and handed out in the World State; sex, soma, and never being alone was the foundation of civilization's stability. John's morals intensely conflicted with this, he viewed the soma pillboxes as caskets and can't grasp the lack of religion and concrete feeling; for that is how civilization thrives. John is desperate for escape and the world controller, Mustapha Mond quotes, â€Å"sometimes a thousand twangling instruments will hum about my ears and sometimes voices† (218) from Shakespeare's play The Temptest.Like Caliban, the controller is speaking to John (who is like Stephano) of the sweet melodies and diversions of the island, that lull him to dream fantastic dreams, and when he wakes, he only wishes to dream once again. Mustaph a continues that the absence of God is civilization's fault, and shall never be obtained through solitude. Soma and indoctrination, â€Å"hasn't been very good for the truth of course. But it's very good for happiness. One can't have something for nothing. Happiness has to be paid for. (228) Mustapha is tempting, and giving John the choice to enslave his mind with pleasure for superficial happiness rather than to be unhappy. John declines and Mustapha Mond questions if he will claim all of the let downs and sorrows of life and John, in a christ-like moment says, â€Å"I claim them all. † (240) Mustapha stays in his role of playing on people's pleasures, in exchange for their souls, just as Satan did. Bernard and Hemholtz were sent into a purgatory-like island were some pleasures are removed, but they aren't truly free, and John is sent to his own solitude to repent and find God.John, after many episodes of further exploitation, hangs himself due to his own emotion instabilit y. Like a stairway to heaven, he climbed up the lighthouse steps and hung himself from an arch, that would bring him his true redemption and inner peace. The World State only amplified his instability with their lack of morals and twisted ways. John served as a symbol of defiled wholesomeness; he tried not to engage in the sinful activities of society, and the only way he found escape was in death. He died as a result of others' sins.John was the exception to the rule of the World State; if one has found faith, one can't be valid to the â€Å"community, identity, stability† of the World State. The reason John didn't fit was because he had true feelings that conflicted with the shallow feelings of hypnopedically indoctrinated society. John took a leap of faith with the people trying to enlighten them, but failed. It was the lack of recognition for a concrete community, identity, and stability that rocked John over the edge to take his own life, in the ultimate repudiation of c orrupt civilization.

I Didn’t Know That Growing Up Milk Need to Have Sugars

First of all, we need to understand that children of growing up age needs some source of energy to help them grow. Main sources of energy are carbohydrates and fats. Carbohydrates are important, because it is the main source of energy which is needed for good growth and development of the body and the brain, especially for growing up children. Sugars are a type of carbohydrates. Milk which is a natural product in itself also contains sugars known as lactose. It is this sugar (lactose) in milk which helps your child to grow. Therefore, all Growing Up Milk will contain some form of sugars. . Tell me about the sugars in Dutch Lady's Growing Up Milk. First of all, at Dutch Lady Malaysia we have developed a well balanced formula which is optimal for growing up children in Malaysia. All Dutch Lady's Growing Up Milk products are fully in compliance with Malaysia's draft standard of Formulated Milk Powder for Children, Malaysia's Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI) 2005 and World Health Organi sation (WHO) 2003 recommendation. Should we say this here or at the end of Question 3? There are two types of sugars most commonly found in Growing Up Milk powder. First, the naturally occuring sugars in milk which are called lactose. Second, there are added sugars which are natural plant sugars. Dutch Lady's Growing Up Milk has a combination of lactose and added plant sugars. This is because, at Dutch Lady Malaysia we always strive to develop Growing Up Milk products which can help bridge the nutritional gap of the children. By providing an optimally and nutritionally balanced Growing Up Milk coupled with a healthy daily meal, it will help your child to achieve a nutritionally balanced diet which is important for his/her growth. . So, why does Dutch Lady need to have ‘added sugar' in their Growing Up Milk powder ? Dutch Lady's growing up milk is nutritionally designed using a combination of naturally occurring sugars in milk i. e. lactose and also added natural plant sugars in order to maintain the natural ratio of lactose in milk. Based on years of research, we found that it is important that our Growing Up Milk is optimally formulated. Our research reveals that products which are not optimally formulated, for example those with high lactose are not well tolerated by Malaysian children. Some children who consume high lactose milk may develop the following complications such as diarrhea, bloating (due to too much gas) as a result of the inability of their body to metabolise the excess lactose. 4. I am concerned about my child's sugar intake from his Growing Up Milk powder. How does the sugar content in Dutch Lady's Growing Up Milk compare with the other brands who claims ‘no added sugar'? Dutch Lady's Growing Up Milk has approximately 15% to 32% less total sugars (per 100g milk powder) versus brands who claims ‘no added sugar'. In fact, the sugar levels in Dutch Lady's Growing Up Milk is well within the recommended Malaysian Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI) 2005 level as well as within the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2003 recommendation. Lactose and ‘added sugar' which is the natural form of plant sugar, are all sugars. Total sugar of Dutch Lady's Growing Up Milk product is approximately 15% to 32% less (per 100gm of milk powder) than brands who claim they have ‘no added sugar'. 5. I read some brands that ‘have no added sugar' implied that other brands like Dutch Lady have a lot of ‘added sugar' in their Growing Up Milk and this is unhealthy for my child. Is this true? Growing Up Milk brands that claim ‘no added sugar' only talk about ‘added sugar' (which we explained are plant sugars). However, they do not talk about the overall total sugar content in their milk. Parents should look at the total sugar content in their child's Growing Up Milk. Total sugar includes both the naturally occurring sugar in milk which is lactose and the added natural plant sugars. Even though Dutch Lady's Growing Up Milk products has added natural plant sugars in our Growing Up Milk, our Growing Up Milk powder has a much lower total sugar content compared to brands who claim that they have ‘no added sugar’. 6. Is my child getting too much sugar from DL growing up milk? Rest assured that your child is not getting too much sugar from our Dutch Lady's Growing Up Milk as all our Growing Up Milk products are made in full compliance with Malaysia’s draft standard of Formulated Milk Powder for Children, Malaysia RNI 2005 and World Health Organisation (WHO) 2003 recommendations. 7. In terms of sugar intake, what should I really be concerned about? We understand that parents are worried about the effect of excessive sugar consumption in your child's diet which could lead to tooth decay, childhood obesity as well as diabetes. If you are worried about this, apart from ensuring that your child minimise the intake of high in sugar food or snacks such as that occasional bar of chocolate, you will also will need to look at total sugar level in your child's Growing Up Milk and not the added sugar level. There is no difference in terms of calorific value between lactose and other added natural sugars. . I came across a website in Malaysia where it provides a model to calculate sugar by looking at Carbohydrate content of Growing Up Milk's nutritional information. When I key in Dutch Lady's Growing Up Milk's carbohydrate content, your product would have 7-10 teaspoons of added sugar. Please explain. We are not at liberty to explain how the website makes its calculation. We believe that possibly the calculation method is factually misleading. In terms of total sugar content, Dutch Lady’s Growing Up Milk has approximately 15% to 32% less total sugars (per 100g milk powder) versus brands who claims ‘no added sugar'. . Is Dutch Lady planning to reduce its added sugar in its Growing Up Milk products? We firmly believe that the added natural plant sugars in our Growing Up Milk is necessary to ensure optimally balanced formulation so that it provides adequate carbohydrate (energy source) for a growing child. The level of the total sugars in our Growing Up Milk are not excessive. It is well within the recommended Malaysia Recommended Nutritional Intake (RNI) 2005 and World Health Organisation (WHO) 2003 recommendations.

The World Is Not Enough Essays

The World Is Not Enough Essays The World Is Not Enough Essay The World Is Not Enough Essay James Bond films have a completely individual genre, their ongoing action style is different from any others of its kind. The Bond films are a very popular mainly British icon, although they do hold a global appeal. They are all made by MGM, holding a huge budget, which enables its ongoing success. Therefore, the director will try to meet the demands of the huge audience who have come to expect certain things from the film such as its iconography, eg. the contrast between good and evil characters, the constant sense of danger and the race against time, etc. The money supporting this Blockbuster brings about expectation of spectacular effects, various locations, big high-status stars, sexy women, the well-known Bond theme tune, etc. However, the story line, the settings and the characters must all signify Bond and these particular expectations of the audience. The extract I have chosen to study is one of immense action and great suspense. We begin by viewing the meeting of the Bond girl and the Bond villain. The use of media language is therefore crucial at this stage in enabling the audience to understand the importance of these first key scenes. The first scene establishes the setting, a wide shot of an open location showing Bond landing in Kazakhstan. This is signified by their landing, on a dusty airstrip, with graphics to give the location on screen. The Bond theme tune is meanwhile playing in the background, connoting that Bond has arrived in the foreign territory and that there may soon be danger on its way. This is signified by the exposed airstrip and warning music that we are used to in these situations. Bond then travels to the key location in which the scene is further set, with further establishing shots which are important in giving the audience a clearer pictur of where the action will take place and who will be involved. This suspense and danger is signified mainly by the people who Bond shares a jeep with all with shaven heads, wearing dark overalls, portraying of course an evil darkness. The changing of the music further emphasises this point in which it increases in pace and adds to the present situation by the special effects of explosions in the vicinity, and faster cutting to add speed to the sequence. There is a lot of non-verbal communication going on here, to begin with showing evil signs of danger and authority. Thus the narrative is starting to be built up. As we see a laboratory, the music transforms to more intricate, computer like music. It is well lit with people wearing white suits. This connotes that this will be a key location, adding to our knowledge and stirring at our curiosity levels. It also signifies a place of delicacy in comparison to the previous fast and loud scene, hereby adding to the connoted level of meaning within the scene. A wide shot establishes the next scene as Bond enters an important nuclear facility. We recognise this from the mise-en-scene with people moving about, their clothing, the explosions, warning signs, alarms, etc. These aspects all contribute to a sense of danger. As it cuts to the star Bond, we can basically understand that he is in a dangerous position, adding to the effect of us as an audience, feeling the danger. This is further signified by Bond being met by a burly, uniformed man with a Russian accent and the juxtaposition of shots from below the ground of warheads being taken from the bunker. The next key location involves the meeting between Bond and Dr Christmas Jones (Denise Richards). She stands out as a star and her importance is demonstrated within the the scene by being shot removing a clinical, white radiation suit. The camera then tilts to reveal a stunning body drawing a positive reaction from Bond, possibly signifying a possible interest. This encounter with the Bond girl is common, however this is the first time in which Bond reaches the nemesis. Whilst they meet and interact, there are many cus, this connotes that they are both key characters and the star is clearly shown. NVC is important particularly here as Jones shows no interest in Bond, this perhaps signifies a non-conformist Bond girl who has adapted more to the social beliefs of the late 90s. However, as expected, Bond stays cool throughout, for example when he is questioned by Jones on his Russian, he replies in russian; I studied at Oxford, signifying his coolness and his position as our hero is is secured by Jones double-take as he walks away. The signifiers of glamour further support the star quality of Jones, she is always shot with soft lighting and wears make-up, with a necklace that somehow contrasts with her working clothes of tight shorts and vest. She is portrayed as a strong woman presumably this has been developed through the political changes within society, so in fact she is demonstrating an attitude of the expected new 90s woman. These things are key in connoting sexiness and a love interest. Throughout this scene, mise-en-scene was very important a spark was established between two main characters, we learn much about them and also the surroundings that they are both working in. The next scene begins with Bond entering the bunker. Effects are used here as Bond is travelling downwards, the FX are accompanying him into what is signified as an abyss. There various signifiers at this point, he is shot from a high angle, losing his normal position of authority. He then enters the darkness followed by random, eerie sfx, all connoting danger and risk. As we are introduced to the setting from Bonds point of view, adding to our empathy, we see low lighting, smoke, controls and explosives. The scene is set with these shots and the audience is quite easily able to gain meaning from the various signifiers. Our next focus is at the end of a tunnel in which sparks are flying. The scene, again is established through the use of a long shot demonstrating to the audience that they are experiencing a key location of the scene. Following Bonds approach, suspense is added as the mystical Bond music increases pace and we are left to wonder what lies through the tunnel. However, this information is slowly revealed as Bond sees some me working on a nuclear warhead. At this point, we are shown at the same time as Bond, creating a sense of realism and timing. There is a sudden change in the music at this point signifying the presence of Renard whose nvc can be immediately interpreted as villainous. He has a shaven head, wearing a completely dark outfit and is shouting whilst being approached from a high angle. This connotes his power and his sense of evil, being mainly shotin darkness. Throughout the sequence, the music increases the intensity with the action.This is mainly demonstrated when Bond confronts Renard. As the shot is from Renards POV at a high angle, this perhaps suggests that Bond is still not on top of things. However, the main focus is on Bonds gun and his good figure is signified by the blue tint of lighting surrounding his face, in comparison to Renards face of darkness. Whilst the two of them exchange remarks, the pace is signified through the use of hand-held camera shots with increased cuts, signifying again the star status , although more importantly to the audience, these being the key characters within the film. As the narrative develops, again we learn more about the characters, much of this can in fact be learnt through the signifiers such as, Bonds white shirt in comparison to Renards fully zipped, dark uniform. Also, Renards voice connotes an eastern villain, linking to previous Bond sagas. Music does, however play a key part throughout the entire scene. The iconography does play a large part all through the film, it does not fail to live up to the audiences expectations, for example, the commonly known Bond catchphrase is included The names Bond.James Bond etc. as usual, this is mentioned mid-action on an elevator, whilst saving Dr Christmas Jones whilst Renard escapes. As Bond films have been going for such a long time, it has become easier to distinguish the advance in the technology used over time and how the representaions of this have developed, according to its era. The action is ongoing and Bond doesnt stop until hes achieved his victory. The amazing quality of each Bond film demonstrates just how much effort and money has been put into it, it is completely obvious that it has had a huge budget by just focusing on the use of actors, special effects, cuts and angles, etc.

Fiscal Policy in the 1960s and 1970s

Fiscal Policy in the 1960s and 1970s By the 1960s, policy-makers seemed wedded to Keynesian theories. But in retrospect, most Americans agree, the government then made a series of mistakes in the economic policy arena that eventually led to a reexamination of fiscal policy. After enacting a tax cut in 1964 to stimulate economic growth and reduce unemployment, President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) and Congress launched a series of expensive domestic spending programs designed to alleviate poverty. Johnson also increased military spending to pay for American involvement in the Vietnam War. These large government programs, combined with strong consumer spending, pushed the demand for goods and services beyond what the economy could produce. Wages and prices started rising. Soon, rising wages and prices fed each other in an ever-rising cycle. Such an overall increase in prices is known as inflation. Keynes had argued that during such periods of excess demand, the government should reduce spending or raise taxes to avert inflation. But anti-inflation fiscal policies are difficult to sell politically, and the government resisted shifting to them. Then, in the early 1970s, the nation was hit by a sharp rise in the international oil and food prices. This posed an acute dilemma for policy-makers. The conventional anti-inflation strategy would be to restrain demand by cutting federal spending or raising taxes. But this would have drained income from an economy already suffering from higher oil prices. The result would have been a sharp rise in unemployment. If policy-makers chose to counter the loss of income caused by rising oil prices, however, they would have had to increase spending or cut taxes. Since neither policy could increase the supply of oil or food, however, boosting demand without changing supply would merely mean higher prices. The President Carter Era President Jimmy Carter (1976 - 1980) sought to resolve the dilemma with a two-pronged strategy. He geared fiscal policy toward fighting unemployment, allowing the federal deficit to swell and establishing countercyclical jobs programs for the unemployed. To fight inflation, he established a program of voluntary wage and price controls. Neither element of this strategy worked well. By the end of the 1970s, the nation suffered both high unemployment and high inflation. While many Americans saw this stagflation as evidence that Keynesian economics did not work, another factor further reduced the governments ability to use fiscal policy to manage the economy. Deficits now seemed to be a permanent part of the fiscal scene. Deficits had emerged as a concern during the stagnant 1970s. Then, in the 1980s, they grew further as President Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) pursued a program of tax cuts and increased military spending. By 1986, the deficit had swelled to $221,000 million, or more than 22 percent of total federal spending. Now, even if the government wanted to pursue spending or tax policies to bolster demand, the deficit made such a strategy unthinkable. Note This article is adapted from the book Outline of the U.S. Economy by Conte and Carr and has been adapted with permission from the U.S. Department of State.

Book review preliminary sheet(history) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Book review preliminary sheet(history) - Essay Example One of the issues that I may pursue in my discussion is how the media and the popular culture including sport and other stately pleasures have been used to construct the Canadian identity in order to develop a better understanding of the meaning of being a Canadian. In addition, I will also dry to look into what the popular symbols of Canadian identity have in common. In this regard, each of the five chapters will serve as a case study in itself. Finally, another possible area of focus in the book will be to discuss the different ways through which the State mixes into the everyday lives of the citizens. According to Patricia Cormack and Cosgrave, the absence of Tim Horton’s coffee from daily routines might make individuals not only unusual- but a popular brand in the country and also an overwhelmingly susceptible. Don Cherry’s muscular patriotism appears not to abide by CBC’s restlessness attempts to reduce all cultures to a list or a

'Provision of care in the NHS is integrated, seamless and effective' Essay

'Provision of care in the NHS is integrated, seamless and effective' - Essay Example Although much progress has been made, NHS clinical governance systems do not yet formally recognize the need to work in collaboration with local authorities when adult safeguarding concerns arise during healthcare delivery. There was also a clear request from NHS respondents for guidance to clarify the relationship between adverse incident reporting, complaints, and safeguarding in order to encourage reporting in a way that supports the investigation and empowers staff in the process. The aim of this guidance is to encourage organizations to develop local robust arrangements to ensure that adult safeguarding becomes fully integrated into NHS systems. This will result in greater openness and transparency about clinical incidents, learning from safeguarding concerns that occur within the NHS, clarity on reporting and more improved positive partnership working (Department of Health, 2008). NHS Lack of Communication The lack of communication with NHS has caused problems for patient care (Borrill, 2002). In The NHS Plan2 shows the need to break down barriers between staff. This was emphasized so as to tackle the inefficiencies in working practices identified: ‘Old-fashioned demarcations between staff mean some patients see a procession of health professionals... Information is not shared and investigations are repeated ... Unnecessary boundaries exist between the professions which hold back staff from achieving their true potential.’(Borrill, p.27) ‘Throughout the NHS, the old hierarchical ways of working are giving way to more flexible team working between different clinical professionals’( p82). The importance of teamwork in health care has been emphasized in numerous reports and policy documents on the National Health Service. One particularly emphasized the importance of teamwork if health and social care for people are to be of the highest quality and efficiency: ‘The best and most cost-effective outcomes for patients and clients are achieved when professionals work together, learn together, engage in clinical audit of outcomes together, and generate innovation to ensure progress in practice and service.’ Over the last thirty years this has proved very difficult because of the barriers between Professional groupings - such as doctors and nurses (Borrill, 2002). Influence and Future Practice The response of the government has been to promise a huge increase in spending on the NHS. A key challenge is how this better funded delivery of healthcare can be managed to achieve good, fair and cost effective services for the whole population. A primary prescription that policy makers and practitioners have offered for meeting such a challenge facing the NHS is the development of multidisciplinary teamwork. This report details the findings of a major national study of teamwork in the NHS on the factors associated with effective team working, and the effects on quality of care and well-being of staff (Borrill, 2 002). Planning, implementing and managing change in a fast-changing environment is increasingly the situation in which most organizations now work (Chapman, 2007). However the many complaints against NHS mannerism show their influence and practices needs improvement. Dr Janet McCray presents a grounded theory model of how inter-professional workings can be facilitated. Arising from a learning

The Therac-25 and Its Accident Investigation Case Study

The Therac-25 and Its Accident Investigation - Case Study Example The Therac-25 falls into a class of machines referred to as Medical linear accelerators (linacs). They use the principal of accelerating electrons so as to create high energy beams that can be used to destroy any cancerous cells without affecting the other surrounding non- cancerous tissues. For shallow tissues, accelerated electrons were enough to treat them but for the deeper ones, the electrons beams have to be converted into X-ray photons. Defects that lead to the accidents The machine consisted of hardware and software that helped the machine run. The software also monitored the functionality status of the machine and turning on the beam. It was also responsible for turning off the beam and detecting any malfunctions. The software was responsible for running most of the machine functions in conjunction with the hardware. This therefore means that any small bug in the software will lead to malfunctioning of the machine. The software for running the Therac-25 was not extensively t ested before it was deployed for use. This was due failure to follow proper system development and implementation practices. Also the programmer didn’t provide enough documentation about the machine and software errors that could guide operators on when there is malfunction and what to do. The operators therefore were in the dark most of the time despite the machine displaying various error messages as they thought was normal. The hardware that was used to measure the dosage always provided a wrong dosage reading when it as overloaded. Instead of providing a high reading instead it displayed a low reading when it was actually so high. Another defect was how the machine was made to be operated. The machine was made that the operator and the patient were to be in separate rooms to minimize effect of radiation to the operator. Therefore in case there was any overdose and the patient complaining, the operator could not hear it. Also the operator could not ascertain whether the pa tient was in the right position every time. This was risky and costly assumptions that lead to the occurrence of the accidents. Therefore, software errors and design defects were major causes of the accidents. Collective responsibility The accidents happened over a 19-month long period and most certainly someone had to be responsible for allowing such life threatening accidents to occur for that period without doing anything. Many parties were responsible including the manufacturer, the operators and technicians and the federal government. As all the accidents happened from the first to the sixth one, the manufacturer seemed not to care. Only lame excuses were given. For example after the second accident, the manufacturer claimed it was an electrical failure even when an independent electrical firm had ruled out any possibility of the cause of the accident being an electrical fault. It was only after the sixth accident that there seemed to be any action form the manufacturer. The qu estion one would ask is why did the manufacture remain quiet for that long and let the machines to be in use when they were actually causing accidents. The federal government also had their share of the blame by allowing the AECL Company to continue with its operations despite its machines causing those fatal accidents. It was clear that the manufacturer was not following proper system development and implementation methods but yet was allowed to operate. Operators and techn

Of Mice And Men - Review Essay Example for Free

Of Mice And Men Review Essay The novel Of Mice And Men is set in the early 1930s, in the American state of California. America at this time was suffering from the effects of the depression, which followed the Wall Street Crash. This had caused many businesses to go bankrupt. Also, in this period of time America had great problems on the agricultural side of its economy. Large areas of farmland had been lashed by hurricane winds, and this had caused much of the topsoil to been blown away, leaving vast areas of land unable to grow any kind of crops. Logically this meant that less workers were needed to tend the land, so many were laid off, and as mentioned earlier many businesses had gone bankrupt following the Wall Street Crash, the combined effect of these two events led to vast numbers of people being left jobless. This gave rise to a new group of society drifters; people who would travel from place to place doing manual labour, or working in the fields. This worked to the advantage of the business owners who managed to survive the crisis, (many of these were in California, a rich state which had not been hit as badly by the depression) because it meant that there were lots of workers for few jobs. Employers could make working conditions awful, knowing that if anyone complained they could fire them and there would be five people eager to fill the place. We do not know if John Steinbecks story is based on true characters or not, but we do know that he gives a very accurate depiction of what life was like at the time, as he himself was a drifter for a period of time. One thing that becomes evident during the story is that most of the characters suffer from loneliness. One of the ways in which they coped with the loneliness was by holding onto a belief in the American dream, the dream that every man can better himself through his own efforts, and live a long and happy life. The first two characters that we meet are George and Lennie, two drifters. George comes across as the leader of the two; his job is to keep Lennie out of trouble. He shows great patience in dealing with Lennie whose mental age is the equivalent of a small child. During the book we do see George lose his temper with Lennie because it appears that he is always messing things up for George. For example when they are on their way to the new ranch Lennie produces a dead mouse from his pocket and George gets angry, You crazy fool, You gonna give me that mouse or do I have to sock you? and Blubberin like a baby? Jesus Christ! A big guy like you. George claims he only keeps Lennie around because he made a promise to his Aunt Clara that he would. Even if this is true she is now dead, and so George has no real reason to keep looking after Lennie, especially as Lennie seems to mess up everything that goes right for George. However, George still puts up with Lennie and this, it would seem, is mainly to avoid the loneliness that is caused by all the travelling. While Lennie may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, he is still someone to converse with on long lonely walks. We learn from early on in the book that George and Lennie also share the American dream, they dream of one day having, a little house and a couple of acres an a cow and some pigs.This ambition highlights one big difference between George and Lennies grasp on reality, whilst George says he dreams of this, he must know deep down inside of him that they will never fulfil the dream. Lennie on the other hand is completely different he believes so deeply in the dream that at one point George actually threatens to not let Lennie tend the rabbits when they achieve their dream. The dream that these two share leads us to meet the next character that also suffers great loneliness. We first meet Candy when Lennie and George arrive at the ranch. He is the first person they meet. He is also the one who takes them to see the boss. Candy only has one arm and we find out later that he lost his arm in a machinery accident in the fields. However, the ranch still employs him and he was given compensation for his injury. Due to the loss of his arm he cannot work in the fields, instead he has to stay behind and sweep up. This causes him great loneliness because he has no one to talk to, his best friend is his dog, but tragically later in the story the other workers convince Candy to shoot him because he is old and useless. While the other workers can go into town at the end of the month, giving them the opportunity go out and have a good time, Candy cannot join them because he is too old to be out drinking until late in the night. His circumstances cause him to suffer from great loneliness, so it is not surprising that when he over hears Lennie and George talking about their dream, he tries to buy in to it. With the money that Candy got in compensation for his arm, it begins to look as though the dream may become a reality more quickly than George or Lennie imagined. The next character that we meet is Crooks the stable buck. He suffers from loneliness because he is black. This means he has to sleep in his own dorm and is not allowed to stay in the same dorm as the other workers. He is lonely purely because he is alone all the time and has no one to talk to. Crooks is also a cripple as a horse kicked him when he was working, leaving him with a crooked back, this prevents him from joining in many activities. He pretends, when Lennie goes into his dorm to be really angry, I aint wanted in the bunk-house, and you aint wanted in my room. But as time goes on he begins to warm to Lennie, Come on in and set a while, Long as you wont get out and leave me alone you might as well sit down. I think this is mainly because he was just glad to have someone to talk to, after being on his own for so long. Even after this though he could not resist getting revenge on the white folk, he teases Lennie asking him, Spose George dont come back no more. And he persists and begins to scare Lennie until finally Lennie gets so scared he decides to go and check if George was back yet. But Crooks quickly apologises at the thought of being left all alone again. A few minutes later Candy turns up and although Crooks acts as though he is resentful he still invites him in. The next character to appear at Crooks door is Curleys wife. She is the only woman on the ranch, and the guys refuse to talk to her because of Curley. He is very protective and jealous of her and will try and beat up anyone who he thinks might be making a move on her. When the guys in Crooks dorm seem to shut her out she begins to insult them, Standin here talking to a bunch of bindle stiffs- a nigger an a dum-dum and a lousy ol sheep. Showing a spiteful side to her character. She only married Curley to spite her mother in the first place. One night in a bar she met a man who claimed he could make her a great star actress. We are not told how the man took advantage of her. He said that he would send a letter to her, but she never received it and blamed her mother, accusing her of destroying the letter, then to spite her she ran off and married Curley. The story has a tragic ending, all the way through the story George had warned Lennie about getting to close to Curleys wife. But this turned out to be the downfall of their dream, which had seemed so much more likely since the addition of Candy to the plot. Lennie is in the barn when she appears and starts talking to him. They start sharing stories, and she asks him why he is so obsessed with rabbits. He tells her about his obsession with stroking nice things, and she allows him to stroke her hair. She starts to complain that he will, muss it up, but when she pulls away Lennies grip tightens and she begins to scream. He puts his hand over her mouth and begs her not to because George will get angry. Her body, flopped like a fish, Lennie had broken her neck. The first people to find the body were Candy and George. They new it had to be Lennie. It is at that point that the dream is thrown into real jeopardy. Candy recognising this, immediately tries to convince George that they can still achieve their hopes, You an me can get that little place, cant we, George? Cant we? But Candy already knew the answer. George knows that Lennie was such a big part of the dream, it could not continue without him, it would almost be disloyal. George knows that the other workers, especially Curley would not allow Lennie to live after this. George goes off to find the other workers. Candy is now alone with the body of Curleys wife in the barn, he blames her for destroying the dreams of three men, himself, George and Lennie. He actually begins to shout at her, You god damn tramp. spose youre glad. George follows the other workers into the barn. He acts as though it is the first time he has seen the body. The other workers assure him that they think he had nothing to do with it, and they set off in search of Lennie. The story ends with George and Carson, one of the ranch hands, standing over Lennie. George has the gun to the back off Lennies head. He and Lennie have been talking about the dream, before Lennie knows it George pulls the trigger and Lennie is dead. The last thing we see is George going to the highway with Carson, Curley and Slim. He and Slim walk away to get a drink, George knowing that its all over. The dreams that he and Candy have shared, and that have kept them going have been destroyed.

HP-48SX Scientific Expandable Calculator Essay -- Technology Calculato

HP-48SX Scientific Expandable Calculator History The HP-48SX Scientific Expandable calculator was manufactured by Hewlett Packard and the copyright is dated 1989. At the time of release, the HP-48 series was the most advanced line of scientific calculators available to those in the technical fields. I purchased the calculator in 1991 through a high school mathematics program. It has been used extensively since then for virtually every class I have taken. So far, the calculator has never malfunctioned. Material The main material of the HP-48SX is plastic. The case is hard brown plastic. The front panel is a thin metal sheet with soft plastic buttons. The screen is a large liquid crystal display. For a much more detailed description of a similar calculator, see Kim Myers' identification section for her HP-48G. Construction The internal parts of the HP-48SX consist mainly of a small CPU and its associated connections. These connections were made by soldering. The external case of the calculator was made using the technique of injection molding. The calculator was built for convenience of use. The size is perfect for the palm of the hand. Also, rubber stoppers on the bottom panel ensure the calculator does not slip on many surfaces. Design As mentioned above, the design and construction of the calculator make it convenient and easy to use. Also, the symbols used follow standard conventions which reduces the chance of confusion. The ability to produce characters of both the English and Greek alphabets gives the user the ability to write any word or equation. The keypad interface is arranged for simple use. All the buttons are labeled clearly with primary, secondary, and tertiary operations. Functions not contr... ... peers with respect to technological possessions. My HP represents my first step into high tech equipment. Lastly, my HP-48SX symbolizes success. With its assistance, I feel I can conquer any problem. Its functions gives me the capability to do so. Also, I can check my current success by accessing the grades I hold in memory. I feel that as long as I have and use my HP-48SX Scientific Expandable calculator I will never fail. I examined my calculator with a focus on academics. Many other students did not interpret their artifacts in the same terms. Alicia Moyer wrote on a turkey sandwich and the practical and recreational aspects of it. She considers her sandwich not only a meal, but also a "work of art," as well as a mental break from her schoolwork. Her artifact study is another example of one done on a utilitarian object but with a slightly different focus.

“A Soldier” by Robert Frost

Andrew Fariello Professor Didner ENC1102 MW 3:30-5:15 â€Å"A Soldier† by Robert Frost â€Å"A Soldier† by Robert Frost Robert Frost's â€Å"A Soldier† attracted my interest to some degree. As a United States military veteran of a foreign war, I significantly related to the message that Robert Frost was sending. From my own personal experiences that I have endured while fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom conflict in Iraq, Robert Frost's words exploded imagery into my mind breaking open another dimension that typed words on a paper could not provide alone.His poem really hit home, creating a bond between the poem and myself, making â€Å"A Soldier† a wonderful poem for me to analyze. In the poem â€Å"A Soldier,† Robert Frost uses a hurled lance that will eventually rot away to symbolize a dead solider that too, will be forgotten soon. Frost is describing a soldier that has been killed by war, and has been forgotten due to the fact that the soldier is just that: a soldier, a killer that had been killed for an unimportant ugly cause. Robert Frost portrays an image that the soldier did live for a greater cause, and should be remembered for it.Robert Frost first describes a lance that has come to rest on the ground, and will soon rot away. He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled, That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust, â€Å"He is that fallen lance that lies,† and â€Å"That lies unlifted,† tells the reader that the soldier is dead. The â€Å"fallen lance† is â€Å"He,† the soldier. â€Å"Lies unlifted† tells the reader that the soldier is dead, not uplifted as the reader would expect to have read rather than the word â€Å"unlifted. The lance, which is the soldier, will wither away just as a lance left in the ground would rust away. Then Frost tells his readers that society doesn't see the soldier's life important enough to have solved anything, and that the soldier's death didn't hav e any meaning. Before Frost tells his readers this, he first gives a hint that the soldier's death did have meaning. But still lies pointed as it ploughed the dust. If we who sight along round the world, See nothing worthy to have been its mark, It is because like men we look too near,Forgetting that as fitted to the spear, â€Å"See nothing worthy to have been its mark† symbolizes that the soldier wasn't â€Å"worthy†, or important enough to have come to lie permanently in the â€Å"dust†, or the earth. Although society couldn't see a larger picture, and no meaning behind the soldier's death, as Frost portrays as â€Å"men† who â€Å"look too near†, the soldier did, in fact, have a greater meaning to it all. Frost portrays this theory by keeping the lance, or solider â€Å"pointed as it ploughed the dust†, meaning the solider was pointed in the right direction in his life.Lastly, Frost describes the burden that is created from our weapons, but shows us that the soldier will be triumphant after his death. Our missiles always make too short an arc. They fall, they rip the grass, they intersect The curve of Earth, and striking, break their own; They make us cringe for metal-point on stone. But this we know, the obstacle that checked And tripped the body, shot the sprit on Further than target ever showed or shone. â€Å"Too short an arc†, and â€Å"they intersect†, symbolizes that our weapons are designed to come down to earth and destroy. Break their own† and â€Å"metal-point to stone† symbolizes that once the weapons do come down, they will destroy their own race and their creations. The soldier though, â€Å"tripped† and â€Å"shot the sprit on,† depicting that he is in a better place now. And the soldier is now at peace. Robert Frost used rhyme to keep the reader's interest, and implemented it very cleverly into his poem. The last word in the first line of his poem rhymes with the last word of the fourth line.And the last word of the very next line rhymes with the last word of the eighth line, which is the same interval of lines between the first and fourth lines. This pattern continues throughout the poem, and the lines that are in the middle of these intervals, also have their last words rhyming with each other. In conclusion, Robert Frost paints an image of a passed soldier that many may have been forgotten. Although only few will see the bigger picture behind the soldier's death, the soldier's sprit has moved on to a place where it can't be exposed anymore; â€Å"Further than target ever showed or shown. â€Å"

Animals’ Roles in The Wars Essay

Written by Timothy Findley in 1977, The Wars is a novel that explores the theme of young human life under the pressing concerns during the war, specifically the First World War, seeing the world of soldiers turn into a world of violence, and how these soldiers have turned into brutes themselves. The character of Robert Ross, a nineteen year-old Canadian officer and whose life is narrated mostly from the third-person point of view, is revealed as a character that has a concern for animals—thus prompting Ross to save the horses which cost him his life in the end—amidst the brutal turn of events where death was almost certain in the killing fields. The birds, coyote and rabbits also symbolize certain events in the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Soldiers are typically known to be highly sensitive of their surroundings when in the fields for they cannot exactly pinpoint where and when combat might ensue or from what direction the enemy might be coming from. This is perhaps one of the reasons why Ross was able to notice the chirping of the birds while he and the rest of the soldiers were out in the war. Ross was able to take notice of the fact that each time the birds stopped singing, an attack from the enemy soon takes place. Perhaps it was mere coincidence, although one can strongly tie that event with the attacks that followed thereafter as birds are familiar with their environment more than the soldiers; slight changes in their environment, especially changes which have a lot to do with probable dangers; cause the birds to fly away. Taken with the context of the encounters of Ross with the birds, it can be said that those birds served as warning signs for the young soldier. Whenever the birds stopped singing, it is almost certain that Ross is about to encounter danger along the way. â€Å"The birds, being gone, had taken some mysterious presence with them (p. 81),† showing how the sudden absence of these birds felt rather unusual, as if to signal something bad is about to happen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is unusual as well for man and beast to have a close relationship, especially when the animal is known to be a hunter and can be a threat to the security of man. But more than that, any relationship between man and beast can mean simple companionship to a deep friendship. As far as Ross and the coyote are concerned, it can be said that the animal accompanied the young soldier to a certain extent in the story. â€Å"One night, Robert ran with a coyote (p. 25)† and when the men were out for a drink the coyote also â€Å"drunk at the brink (p. 27)† of the water â€Å"and suddenly sat (p. 28).† An observation of these rather unusual events would tell us that the coyote acted as if it was a member of the soldiers. This is interesting as it presents a revealing irony one can not easily notice; soldiers in the war, as Ross himself has observed, are violent men who are more like beasts who wielded weapons to kill. With the presence of the coyote among the group, it can be said that they, too, were much like the coyote. The soldiers, in fact, â€Å"gathered like whispering conspirators around the edges of a bright sheet of water (p. 27),† a sly trait typical to that of coyotes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While coyotes symbolize how men in the war have turned into beasts, rabbits on the other hand serve as reminders for Ross to treat animals in general with respect as if they were human beings. On one occasion, Ross was hesitant to kill the rabbits as ordered by his estranged mother, Mrs. Ross, shortly after the death of Rowena, Robert’s older sister, since they gave him memories about his older sister and since Rowena owned those rabbits. â€Å"Rabbits had to die, and Robert had to do it (p. 18),† which presents one conflict in the novel—the conflict between the command to destroy the animals which pin back memories and the apparent weakness of the main protagonist to kill even animals. It can be said that if Ross decides to kill the rabbits, it was like as if he has killed the memories of Rowena. If he decides not to kill them, it proves that he is unable to even wield a weapon against these small animals, which is of course not a good sign for someone who would enlist in the army during the war. It also shows how Ross was more human than anybody else in the story, especially his estranged mother and the rest of the soldiers in his group. His inclination to preserve whatever memory remains from the departed tells us that Ross is not keen to destroy, or that he is not a natural â€Å"destroyer† of animal life which, ironically, cost him his life as he tried to save some of the Army horses after killing two of his fellow soldiers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The point where Ross tries to save the Army horses was also the time when he finally turned to madness and prompted him to kill the lives of his fellowmen. Apparently, it is a contrast which tells us that insanity can push a person to kill other people yet care for beasts. That is because Ross himself has finally become a beast near the end of the story and, thus, he is now more than inclined to save his own kind rather than protect and preserve the life of other men. He is no longer the same man at the start of the story who was afraid to kill. This transformation can be attributed to the onslaught of the war, which seemed to have absorbed Robert right into it. As he was now unable to rise above the madness of the war, Robert Ross eventually turned quite like the rest of the army, willing to kill and die just so to save other lives although this time he saved the lives of horses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The animals in the story offer an interesting insight into some important events in the novel, especially in terms of how the life of the protagonist, Robert Ross, always hanged in the balance of making crucial decisions. In general, the story is able to reveal how the lives of soldiers always deal with certain conflicts individually and together as a group. Findley’s novel is also able to show how young minds of young individuals tend to fold under pressing moments in their lives. Reference Findley, T. (1996). The Wars. Penguin: Canada.