Who Are the Winners and Losers of Globalisation

Who are the winners and losers of globalization? Globalization is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products goods and services, ideas, and other aspects of culture. It is featured in nearly every country in the world and this is through mainly the trading of goods from one country to another. Globalisation can bring wealth into a country as it brings in more products or materials to be sold or to produce many more goods locally and industrially.Globalisation can also bring a variety of culture into a country as different foods and ideas are transported from another country. Globalization has expanded the profits of many companies such as McDonalds, KFC, Uniqlo, H&M and so many more. Without Globalisation these companies would seize to do well in the economic world as they would be limited to one country or place and the stock that they sell would probably be a lot more expensive and harder to make and these companies get stock and parts shipped from all around the world.However, many people who are concerned about the fate of the world's poor now attribute their trouble with globalization. They argue that globalization has weakened the position of poor countries and exposed poor people to harmful competition as local shops, and business lose out on custom due t the larger stores being opened up in the area, moreover these local shops would struggle to compete with the cheap prices of goods from the larger shops this is due to the fact that the big stores get their products in bulk and mainly imported.Their concern is understandable, especially since the gap between rich and poor has indeed become more glaring in recent decades. However, proving a direct link between economic globalization and poverty is a complex task for several reasons. Firstly, specifying how globalization affects the economic status of countries or individuals is not easy. this is why most of the time GDP (gross national product) is calcu lated in USD to make comparisons a lot easier.It is hard to determine if globalization is either negative or positive due to the fact that it affects different countries as If globalization is the cause of poverty, then countries that become more economically integrated through trade and investment should do worse than they do. But some that have become more integrated into the world economy and trade, such as America, have made progress and would not be at the top end of the worlds economy. However, countries such as Africa have benefited little from the outsourcing from other countries due to exploitation and corruption in the governments.This leads on to my conclusion which is that the MEDC’s benefit much more grately from globalisation and this is due to the fact that advantages are that globalisation prevents saturation in particular markets and this is done as many things as outsourcing is most common. An example of this is that there may be too many call centers in the UK so they are moved to india and places like that. More over, LEDC’s have the least to benefit from globalisation as it creates intense competition that makes it hard for local businesses to establish themselves;This then broadens the development gap.

Should companies treat their employees with respect and treat each one of them with dignity?

All companies should treat their employees with respect and treat each one of them with dignity. Every employee is an asset of a company and without them no company can function properly. Every person in this world has their rights that should be respected and not trampled upon. Employees are human beings with feelings and this should be instilled in the minds of all company owners or their managers or agents. No one is given the right to discriminate against people who are born with disabilities or who for some reason, has gone through a difficult experience in their lives which resulted to any physical deformity.People who, for some reason, have any special characteristic should not be discriminated against. When a person applies for a job, the potential employer should look beyond the physical appearance of any person with disability. He should instead look objectively and analyze whether that person has the skill or capability to perform the required task. The potential employer should thoroughly evaluate the employee to see whether or not, despite his apparent weakness, he is still able to deliver or perform the job just like any normal person.Once the person with disability gets hired, he should be treated fairly by the employer. The employer should provide for some facilities to accommodate the employee. An example of which is when the employee is handicapped, the employer should provide a passage for the employee like a ramp or elevator for easy access to the employee. The employer should also provide for a comfort room which is to be used by handicapped people which should be larger than the normal cubicle to enable them to move freely with their wheelchair.The employer may also provide a work friendly environment to handicapped employees by providing them with a special chair or a comfortable work area where the employee can move around without his freedom being restricted. Employees who suffer from a drug abuse problem may still find a job that would enable them to overcome their drug dependence. If the employee is otherwise qualified by the job, the employer may overlook this drug addiction, and instead find ways to help the latter move on from such weakness.The employer may provide for an environment that would foster camaraderie, training, workshops, seminars and the like to distract the employee’s attention from drug dependence and to shift his focus. This would serve as a distraction for the employee who would soon get healed from his dependency. The simulation may demonstrate this scenario by creating a situation which involves an employer hiring an employee who is handicapped. Both parties may work out a case wherein the employee would try to internalize his role and look at the possible office situations which would help them improve their relationship and to better his work performance.The factors of personality, attitude toward work, and future upward mobility may play a big or little role in a potential workin g environment depending on the kind of workplace or job the employee is applying for. Personality is very important when the job description calls for the characteristic of being sociable as in a marketing job. But, personality may be of little importance to a person employed in a work place where there is no face to face interaction with a client or customer. An employee is the representative of the company, whether such employee is an officer, manager or staff.It would be advantageous for any company to have employees who are outgoing and sociable, however this would only apply for those jobs whose employees are required to be on the frontline. Thus, as to this factor of personality, it would really depend on what the company is for it to be considered as an important criterion for hiring. As to the attitude toward work, I am of the opinion that this is important and should be considered when hiring an employee. The attitude of a person towards his work would reflect a great deal about his personality.The person should show that he loves his work and would take it seriously, otherwise, the company might be in the losing end and suffer in the long run. The employer should weigh the scenario, for example, when there are two applicants for a job, one without any disability but his attitude towards his work is such that he merely views it as a means to an end and another who has some disabilities but whose attitude towards work is such that he views it with enthusiasm, with zeal and with passion, then the employer should hire the second applicant.A person who shows a positive attitude towards his work would help fuel the company to success and great heights. The factor of future upward mobility would have to be qualifies. For example, a work which would require physical strength such as construction, carrying of heavy baggage, running around or other strenuous physical activities, would necessarily require an employee who would be able to perform the job, thus s hould be mobile. However, a work which requires analysis or computer work and is which would not entail any physical mobility would not need an employee who is equipped with upward mobility.An employee should be hired based on his skills and qualifications and not based on his personal appearance. The simulation would be able to demonstrate the importance of those factors by creating an environment that would consider the job description and co-relate these with the applicants. Each scenario should be viewed differently by considering the different needs of each job and determine the applicable skill required for a potential employee. The employer should be able to decide whether or not a certain factor is needed for the delivery of the desired result.Title VII can override the employment contract between an employer and employee. It is the rule that contracts between parties should not be contrary to any existing law. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides in essence th at no person should be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, or national origin. In general, there should be equal work opportunity for every person regardless of any disability or otherwise. A person who has some disability should be hired if he is qualified for the job.Further, once he is hired he should receive the same amount of pay and benefits as any normal employee since the employer should look beyond the disability and give equal work opportunities to both of them. There should be no diminution of salary or benefits for the reason that the employee has some disability. An employee should not compromise his rights for the reason that he is in desperate need of a job and the employer should not use his bargaining power as a person who is in authority of giving the job.An agreement which provides for benefits, wages or others that are below the minimum wage or contrary to any law is null and void and is of no force and effect. The law is above any w ritten contract since the former must always be in consonance with the latter. The simulation would demonstrate this by portraying a situation which depicts an environment where the employer and the employee would agree on terms that are for the advantage and benefit of both but is not contrary to law.

In what ways can an organization’s structure and culture be internal strengths or weaknesses Essay

Every organization has a corporate structure and culture these vary based on several variables. I will discuss the most common which is a divisional structure, which is appropriate for a large corporation as well. According to our text regardless of the size of a company to be strong the basic structure within the company must easily support a strategy under consideration by top management. Management in turn must decide whether the proposed strategy is feasible or if the structure should be changed to reflect the company’s mission. Basically a company must clearly define their mission, objectives, strategies and end goal. To be successful the company must in turn structure management, divisions, and employees in a strategic way in order to gain a successful outcome. Unsuccessful companies that I have been a part of tend to have a strategic structure in place, but the weakness comes in as soon as they quit following the plan or deviate from the structure. From my experience a structure is as successful as the culture within the company. The internal values, beliefs and expectations if clearly shared and followed by all employees will directly affect the success of a company. According to our text in order to be successful a corporate culture will fulfill these functions: 1.Convey a sense of identity for employees.  2.Help generate employee commitment to something greater than themselves. 3.Adds to stability of the organization as a social system. 4.Serves as a frame of reference for employees to use to make sense of organizational activities and to use as a guide for appropriate behavior. When a company does not fulfill these functions you will find weakness as well as unhappy employees, which in my opinion can be one of the greatest weaknesses any company can have. The key to success is to follow the strategies and fulfill a corporation’s mission thus meeting their objectives. I have been a part of very successful company’s as well as some that have been unsuccessful. I have found that the easiest way to weaken a structure is when management does not listen to or value their employees input. Other areas of weakness are when management doesn’t honor their word or the company goals. An achilles heal for any company is a weak inefficient human resources department. When the HR team hires ineffective and unreliable managers they must immediately jump in and begin to train or assist that manager in following the company’s strategic plan, or let go of that manager after a time. Otherwise the employees of that department will negatively affect the culture so fast and it is incredibly difficult and lengthy to rebuild that culture. Not only do you loose valuable employees, but disgruntled employees begin to speak negatively about the company to family, friends, and social media. This causes any company time and money to repair their culture within and outside of the company, hence great weakness arises.

What constitutes a well-written paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

What constitutes a well-written paper - Essay Example Another is working with people who are not team players. As they say, there is always at least one in a group who does less than the others. Also, very essential to a good paper is impeccable grammar and diction, for these contribute to the intelligibility of a written work. Style is also a big consideration. A good paper must not just be informative-being enjoyable earns points too. A very important challenge one must take on when writing papers is taking care to cite properly. Whatever the stylebook followed, whether APA or MLA for instance, ideas and quotations must be properly attributed and sources properly cited. This includes accuracy in the authors' names, the publishing information, and in some cases, the page number of the book. This is important so as to ensure that no cases of plagiarism are incurred. I have discovered that I, like most people, have problems with grammar accuracy. While this is excusable for no one is perfect, I strive to write papers with good grammar by constantly revising and editing my papers. Each time I read something I have written, I find things that could be improved on; thus, a second, third and fourth look never hurts. Also, the University of Phoenix has resources that have helped me with writing papers. The different eBooks, the online library, various tutorials for writing excellent papers, and the plagiarism checker helps me with making sure that I come close to producing a well-written paper.... As they say, there is always at least one in a group who does less than the others. But being part of a team isn't all that bad. For one thing, the workload gets lighter, and in times of trouble, there are people you can count on to help. You also learn how to deal with people better, and how to manage and keep a business-like attitude when needed. Also, it's a good chance to meet people and make connections. In the professional world, knowing people and more importantly, having friends can go a long way. Therefore, developing a team charter is important. Q3 After reading the three chapters on decision making and reading the White Paper on the Problem-Solving Approach, what do you find they have in commonWhere are the differencesIs using a problem-solving approach an Eastern or a Western strategy Why The reading for chapter 6 talks about the difference between the Eastern, and the Western Strategy. Basically, using a problem-solving strategy is an Eastern strategy while creating a new product before your competitors do is the Western strategy. The problem with the latter strategy is that there is very little time given for testing the research and ensuring that all potential problems are addressed-this strategy gambles. An example of this is New Coke. Coca-Cola produced New Coke to compete with Pepsi. The problem with this is that Coca-Cola did minimal research to get their product out so that they could compete. New Coke ended up having a negative effect, and customers stopped buying it because of the unpleasant taste. Coca-Cola took a big financial hit by releasing New Coke. They quickly brought the original Coca-Cola back, but just added the name Classic to reiterate to the customers that it is back to the original product. The Eastern

Paradox of Why Philosophy is Dangerous Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Paradox of Why Philosophy is Dangerous - Essay Example Although a lot of people do not acknowledge philosophy, it is essential that some advantages are outlined. The research provides a number of reasons why philosophy is still an important area of study and evaluation in the current life. It is identified that a lot of ideas in today’s world are all associated with philosophy. For example, the language spoken has been identified as the disparity between actions and things, an idea proving that language is associated with philosophy. The research contrasts the given advantages by providing information on the dangers of associating with philosophers. Among the many dangers described, the essay provides clear ways explaining how philosophy is a dangerous method of acquiring information. In a quench to widen their scope of understanding statements, philosophers end up settling on the wrong meanings of the given statements. The research shows prove from two philosophers who proved that one prove in a philosophers world leads to a different finding. The essay provides information that shows how philosophy posses’ danger to everyone including children. Young philosophers are faced with different challenges that are elaborated in depth in the paper. Ragnar says that these challenges include the ability to identify the truth in philosophical statements yet according to philosophers, every statement is true. This does not only involve children because the research shows how philosophy becomes dangerous to the young people. In the quest to seek for knowledge, Young people end up getting caught up in expound able ideas of philosophy. Isn’t it strange how philosophy is far more dangerous than walking on all known slippery rocks? Probably, it would be better to ask why too much thinking causes immense intellectual strain, a basis for various philosophers going bonkers. Many of studies done in colleges are meant to educate people regarding a certain subject in all available details.

Credo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words

Credo - Essay Example His love never ceases and His hope remains with us, even in the darkest hours of our uncertainties, trials and tribulations. This is my journey, and this is my credo. Contents Dedication Preface Introduction Dedication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 My belief in One God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 My understanding of Jesus Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 The Holy Spirit and the Trinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Soteriology: my understanding S .G. S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dedication For my mother Leonne Renazile who is a keeper of the faith and constantly praying for her children and never or neither ceases nor tires to bring them one by one, to the throne of grace. She is a champion of the faith who loves the Lord with all her heart and might. She is also a mother who loves and loves and loves again all her children. G. Herard For my husband Evrard Herard whose love and understanding has been a source of comfort, joy and encouragement to me and who has given me much more. G. Herard Many and great, O God, are thy things Maker of earth and sky; Thy hands have set the heavens with stars; Thy fingers spread the mountains and plains. Lo, at Thy Word the waters were formed; Deep seas obey Thy voice. Grant unto us communion with thee, Thou star abiding one; Come unto us and dwell with us; With thee are found the gifts of life, Bless us with life that has no end, Eternal life with Thee. Dakota Indian Hymnal, Joseph Renville, 1842. Preface The nature of my experience at NYTS! It is often noted, that the love of God has no comparison and that His ways of touching lives has always appeared to be a mysterious event which many of us call â€Å"miracles†. As much as I think that I am in full control of my actions, I always have to come to terms about someone else much greater than myself, someone who has my best interest in mind, and who made promises to guide me and my ancestors from generation to generation. Someone who promised to never leave me nor forsake me as long as I keep on trusting in Him and allowing Him

Assignment1 Industrial Ecology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assignment1 Industrial Ecology - Research Paper Example 38). Businesses should not be awarded on the basis of the price tag. The business should aim at minimizing the total cost. The business should strive at creating long-term relationships of trust and loyalty through a single supplier of any item. If the buyer and the vendor optimize their own positions, the whole system becomes optimized (Gitlow et al. 39). Improvement of the production and service system should be constant and never ending. This will improve the productivity and quality and the resultant effect is decreased costs. The management can be boosted through operational definitions and empowerment (Gitlow et al. 40). Training of the employees on the job should be instituted. Employees form an important part of the organization and their comfort in the work place requires job skills training. Training itself is a system and effective training has an effect on the skill distribution for a particular job skill (Gitlow et al. 45). Leadership should be instituted. Supervision should make the machines, gadgets and people perform a better job. The supervision of the management and production workers needs a complete overhaul. A leader should be capable of understanding his performance and that of the workers. A leader cannot predict the performance of an individual based on the old job experience but he must have theory to help in the prediction (Gitlow et al. 46). Fear should be driven out if the people in the company have to work effectively. Fear and anxiety are both negative reactive behaviors. Fear may result from job insecurity, poor supervision, faulty inspection procedures and other causes. It is the prerogative of the management to ensure that the causes of fear are eliminated. The barriers between the departments should be broken. People should work as a team regardless of their departments (sales, research, production, or design). They should be able to foresee the

Dissertation - How has Commercialisation affected professional Essay

Dissertation - How has Commercialisation affected professional football since the formation of the English Premier League and what effect has this had on the 'a - Essay Example d the 1980s witnessed England entering into a rather novice phase marked by lack of commercial enterprising on the part of sponsors and top brass of soccer administrators. In fact European football in general followed a downward curve during these two decades (King 59). Several key factors were responsible for this lean period in the history of English soccer. These factors ranged from societal issues to lack of technical adroitness. However, the Premier soccer League teemed with the very best from the global arena and players from all continents signed for various clubs featuring in the League (Storey 108), thus turning English club football into an action-packed display of power and dynamism. The charm of English soccer ebbed away following the series of poor performances by the national soccer team in FIFA World Cups after their historic win over West Germany in the 1966 version of the premier title. It was imperative for the administrators and players alike to bring people back to where they could relate themselves to. However, due to a pervasive sense of hopelessness prevailing among the average followers of the sport, the task was not an easy one. Moreover, hooliganism was on the rise in the 1980s both on English soil and outside (Dunning and Malcolm 101). In fact English football had earned a notorious distinction of promoting hooliganism across Europe and to other soccer playing countries (Bloom and Willard 306). Political reasons also came into contention in this regard, as some of the earlier events in the annals of world history were believed to have contributed to the imperialistic aggression displayed by English football fans (Chesner and Hahn 168). It was in the 1980s when the problem of vandalism, on and off the soccer field, increased beyond the level of tolerance, as English fans were involved in atrocious activities numerous times, that the game was brought to shame and disrepute. Another issue that plagued English soccer during the 1970s and

International HR Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International HR Management - Essay Example International human resource management builds on the tenets of human resource management by having a consideration on what the human resource concepts mean in different nations of the world. This has been necessitated by the fact that as companies and organizations become international in nature, the issues touching on national culture, institutions and systems can hinder a seamless or functioning human resource and employment relations that are present across the national boundaries (Edwards and Rees 2006, p.45). Therefore, it can be stated that the need for people involved in human resource management to adopt an increasingly international approach cannot be gainsaid. This is important not just to people involved in the big multinational enterprises but also to those running small and medium-sized enterprises that are present across national boundaries. ... India In 2009, India had the second largest population in the world with a population of 1.2 billion and it is the tenth largest economy world-wide in terms of the Gross Development Product (GDP) with the fourth largest purchasing power parity (Kohli and Singh 2013, p. 189). According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India is ranked at number 141 in terms of per-capita- revenue basis based on the GDP and 130 in purchasing power parity in the year 2012. Being the third largest economy in the world when measured in terms of the purchasing power parity, India is a preferred destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) attracting inflows of U.S. $ 36.5 billion in the year 2011 alone. Soon after independence in 1947, India’s economy was based on both features of capitalism and socialism that entailed interventionist policies and other policies aimed at substituting imports that was to blame for the corruption and failure in the implementation of the policies. However, f rom 1991 India’s economy has been based on liberal and free-market economy policies that have led to the increases in per-capita incomes of India. It is important to note that the taker-off of the economy of India has been largely due to the infrastructural projects taken by successive regimes since 1991. The labour force in India is made of about 500 million people employed in the major industries such as agriculture made up of 52%, industries taking up 14% and services made up of 34% of those employed according to the estimates in 2009. Most Indians are employed in the major industries mainly in textiles, chemicals, food processing, cement, mining and petroleum while

Fair Value Reporting And The Financial Crisis Essay

Fair Value Reporting And The Financial Crisis - Essay Example Fair value accounting is the unbiased and rational estimate of the market price of a service, an asset, or a product. The concept of fair value accounting takes into consideration factors such as the demand and supply, the distribution, production, the various costs of the products close substitutes, the utility produced at any given level of development, etc. These are referred to as the objective factors of fair value accounting. There are also some subjective factors of fair value accounting, and these factors include, the utility which is individually perceived, the risk characteristics, the return on, and cost of capital. It is important to understand that accountants use fair value reporting to depict the market value of a product or a liability, which in most cases; it is difficult to determine their market price. The FAS 157 defines fair value accounting as a value in which an asset can either be sold or bought in a current business transaction that involves willing parties. It is important to understand that fair value accounting is used for assets which have a carrying value that is based on the mark-to-market valuations. It is also important to understand that the fair value of an asset that has a historical cost is not always used. It is important to understand that the financial crisis began with the decline of the housing prices, and with an increase in the default rates. There was uncertainty in the financial market because of lack of accurate information from policy formulators.

North Korean Authoritative Government Essay Example for Free

North Korean Authoritative Government Essay In this paper, I will attempt to explain why authoritarianism regimes such as the one in North Korea, still continues to govern even though the government is one of the more corrupted types of government still in existence today. The word authoritarianism is defined as, â€Å"a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc. )†(Word Net) There are currently many countries in our world that are not democratic societies. There are authoritarian regimes that still exist today. Probably one of the more well known authoritarian regimes is the government in North Korea. North Korea gained its independence from Japan in the year 1945. Kim Jong Il is currently the leader of North Korea. The mismanagement of economics through the 1990’s has made North Korea rely heavily on international aid to feed its population. North Korea has expanded their resources to help develop a military of about one million soldiers. Central Intelligence Agency) â€Å"North Korea’s long-range missile development, as well as its nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs and massive conventional armed forces, are of major concern to the international community. † (Central Intelligence Agency) The government in North Korea is a big part to blame for the economic struggles. In President Bush’s first State of the Union Speech he declared North Korea as part of the â€Å"Axis of Evil. † President Bush also went on to say his goal was, â€Å"to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends with weapons of mass destruction. He singled out Iraq, Iran and North Korea, claiming these states and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil arming to threaten the peace of the world. (Fact Sheet) â€Å"The United States must act against these regimes by denying them the materials, technology and expertise to make nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and provide them to terrorists, Bush said. † (Fact Sheet) North Korea is currently a communist-state one-man dictatorship. Under a communist-state one-man dictatorship elections are held but there is nobody to run against the leader. For instance in September of 2003 there was an election held in North Korea. Kim Jong Il and Kim Yong Nam were the only nominees for the positions and nobody opposed them. (Central Intelligence Agency) The government controls the people. The government rules a lot of what the people of North Korea can do or say. For the executive branch in this country, Kim Jong Il has been the ruler since July of 1994. Kim Yong Nam is the president of its Presidium and he also has the responsibility of representing state and receiving diplomatic credentials. Central Intelligence Agency) As for the legislative branch, the ruling party approves a list of candidates who are elected without opposition, but some seats are held by minor parties. (Central Intelligence Agency) The judicial branch of North Korea consists of a central court, and the judges are elected by the Supreme People’s Assembly. The way this government is set up is very different than the way the democratic states are set up. In a democratic society the people get to vote for leaders and high ranking officials. While in these authoritarianistic regimes, the people have no say in who is going to run their country. There have been many North Koreans that have tried to escape either to China or South Korea. Few people have made it across the boarders safely. However, if they fail to escape and they are captured by the North Korean military they will be tortured or even executed in some cases. (Pearson Education) â€Å"North Korea, one of the worlds most secretive societies, has been accused of egregious human-rights violations, including summary executions, torture, inhumane conditions in prison camps, which hold up to 200,000 prisoners, and denial of freedom of expression and movement. Access to the country is strictly limited and North Koreas domestic media is tightly controlled, making it difficult to substantiate the accusations. † (Pearson Education) I believe a huge part of why North Korea is actually still in existence is because the military has so much control on the people. Of course no country wants to start a war with North Korea because of their military strength and their nuclear weapons. â€Å"A number of stabilizing elements assist the regime’s efforts to maintain internal order. The society seems united in popular support for the party, and the people have a strong sense of national pride. Kim Il Sung, by all indications, truly is admired and supported by the general population. † (Federal Research Division Library of Congress: Pg 275) It is difficult for people that are from a democratic government to actually understand why authoritarianism governments work. Most all of the authoritarianism governments that I know have a strong following from their people. Whether the masses like the leader because he is helping the economy or helping a food shortage situation is another story. Personally I think these people in these countries are so afraid of what the leader might do to them or their family that they just do what they are told. Of course these people have never had it any other way. They don’t know what it is like to have a democracy. They don’t know what it is like to voice their opinion. The people in North Korea didn’t get to choose where they wanted to be born. If we had a free world I’m sure when some of those people realized that there are better governments in the world that won’t control your every move then they would leave the country. It is just not that easy for anyone to just get up and go to China or South Korea. People born into democratic societies should be thankful that they can enjoy the freedoms that they have, because there are other parts of the world where the idea of having rights is completely out of their control. There is no possible way the people can over throw the government in North Korea. North Korea has too strong of a military. One way the government will get overthrown is if it is done internally. The second way it will get overthrown is if they go to war with another country and they lose their power. â€Å"Indeed, research on Korean communism has become the pursuit of an avocation, meandering off the mainstream of contemporary social science. Most students of Korean communism have come under the influence, in varying degrees, of the lingering legacy of Kremlinology and the advancing model of Chinese studies. Following the general lines of development in Chinese studies in the 1960s and 1970s, research on Korean communism has shown an uneven advancement. On balance, research and knowledge concerning North Korea’s domestic politics and economy have developed more rapidly and significantly than the study of its foreign policy, which has remained neglected and underdeveloped. (Kim Pg:282) The economy in North Korea is struggling. Due to flooding and the lack of arable land, the people in North Korea are at a food shortage. Massive amounts of international food aid have allowed people of North Korea not to starve. Central Intelligence Agency) Mal-nutrition and poor living conditions still exist heavily in North Korea. As with everything else in the country, the government has the right to control the food and economic conditions. The religions that are practiced in this authoritarianism government are traditionally Buddhist and Confucianist, with some Christian and syncretic Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way. ) â€Å"Autonomous religions activities now are almost nonexistent; government sponsored religious groups exist to provide illusion of religious freedom. (Central Intelligence Agency) Like other authoritarianistic governments such as Cuba, Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq until not to long ago, the regimes will last until somebody does something about it. The United States ended the authoritarianism regime in Iraq because we had enough military power to overtake Sadaam Hussein. The U. S. troops are still over in Iraq trying to force the Iraqi people into having a democracy. The Iraqi people that have voted so far on the new leader of their country is not a man that the United States wants t o have them run their country. Sadaam Hussein would still be in power and have complete control of Iraq if the United States didn’t take him out of power. The military balance in South Korea is much stronger then North Korea. In case of another North Korean invasion, the South Korean military only has about 600,000 people while the north has around one million. However these numbers are misleading because of the fact that these numbers don’t include the superior training, equipment, and logistical support that the south has. Kang: Pg 262) â€Å"The South has outspent the North on defense in the last 15 years, if not longer. † (Kang: Pg 262) North Korea’s nuclear threats are a grave concern for South Korea and the rest of the world. The Soviets were building bombs in the 1950’s and China developed a nuclear bomb in the early 1960’s. North Korea didn’t start trying to assemble nuclear weapons until South Korea became a threat to them because they were overtaking North Korea in a lot of areas during the 1970’s. Kang: Pg 266) â€Å"North Korea’s significance to the world with a bomb is much greater than without a bomb. † (Kang: Pg 266)In conclusion, there are many reasons why the authoritarianism regime in North Korea is still up and running to this day. There is simply no way that anyone can overthrow the government unless it is done internally. The people located in these authoritarianism regimes usually like the leader, and agree to what he says. These people didn’t choose where they wanted to be born just like nobody in a democratic state had an opinion as to where they would like to be born. It is sad that most all of the money spent in North Korea is aimed toward building up a better military and not helping out with the economy or the food shortages. The only way these people know how to live is to be ruled by a dictator. Until the United States or some other world power takes down North Korea, the authoritarianism regime will continue to govern.

Parents Need Help Essay Example for Free

Parents Need Help Essay In today’s society parents are faced with a critical parenting question that was not necessary 20 years ago; which video games should I let my children play? Parenting is tough enough without having to deal with a child that gets upset because he cannot play a certain video game that all of his friends are playing. The values that children are raised to believe in are those of their parents, not those of the city, state or country they live in, and those family values are the most important values a child will learn. Some very influential people in our society believe that the government should be able to dictate what a child is or is not allowed to play or watch. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich believes that â€Å"Parenting is hard work and the state has a compelling interest in helping parents raise their children to be upstanding men and women. † (Whitehead, 2005). Some studies show that these violent and sexually explicit video games provide â€Å"harmful effects ranging from health problems to violent behavior. † (Rutgers University Law – Newark, 2012). The completed studies and comments from government officials have very informative information and hard evidence to support their statement of â€Å"Parents Need Help†. As detailed in many articles and polls, one of the major problems with parents allowing their child to play violent or sexually explicit video games is covered in a 2013 Harris Poll. â€Å"The findings underscore the lack of awareness Americans have about the video game rating system, as well as confusion in the market†, said Mike de Vere, President of Harris Poll. PRNewswire, 2013). If parents took the time to understand the video game rating system like they understand a movie rating, they would be better informed as to what each game consist of. Parents have no problem letting a young child watch an â€Å"R† rated movie that shows violence and sexual activity, but if that same child is showing violent tendencies or sexual behaviors they are quick to blame video games for the behavior. Many American children spend a large amount of time playing video games. As a parent, you may be confused as to whether these games are beneficial or not† (http://www. thefreelibrary. com, 2008). If a parent takes the time to review what each of the video game ratings are and what material will be in the video games along with reemphasizing family values there would be less political emphasis on parenting. There has been violent and sexual behavior from children in a ysfunctional and functional home, but if a parent takes the time to ensure their child understands the difference between fiction (video games), reality (everyday life) and monitors their child’s behavior less of these violent outburst would occur. Movies provide the same access to violence and sexual behavior as video games do but there is no political agenda to ban movies that have a less restrictive rating system than video games. Parents need help restoring parental rights and help in stopping the government from taking over their parenting rights. When the government moves in and takes charge of everything that we as citizens can and cannot do, it provides today’s children with the authority to disobey their parents because the government said something different. If the government wants to help, then they should start applying stricter fines on the video game manufacturers and the stores which sell the video games. Threatening them with a fine and not imposing that fine when a manufacturer or retail store provides content to a minor, is allowing them to continue to profit off of children. Impose the fines and make it a stringent fine, at which point manufacturers and retailers would start adhering to the video game restrictions and responsibility would fall back to the parents of which games their children play. In closing, government officials should concentrate on raising their children and guiding our country instead of worrying about how each individual raises their children. Acts of violence and sexual behavior will still occur whether children are playing video games or not; they see it every day on television shows, cartoons, movies and in the news. Parents need to be more vigilant in monitoring what their children are doing, watching, and playing as well as ensuring that your family morals and values are upheld by each member of the family. If we do not accept the role of a parent then we cannot complain when the government decides what we as a society can and cannot do.

Genetics and Linguistics in Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition

Genetics and Linguistics in Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition Introduction Population movement may be utilised to reconstruct activities during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. Recent research particularly that relating to genetics and isotopic analysis, has been employed to assist in this tracking of movement, though issues with this process have arisen, as will be discussed below. Generally when analysing the transition archaeologists have tended to focus primarily on a change in economy, compiling set criteria which indicate either Mesolithic people or Neolithic people, and leaving very little room for additional interpretations. Though efforts are now being employed to allow for other interpretations. The scientific approach, encompassing both genetics and linguistics, when combined with archaeological methods can provide a window into human movements during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. Linguistics clearly would have constituted a huge element of culture and social differentiation from other groups or ethnicities (or inclusion within your ow n group), though evidence of linguistics is vague and circumstantial at present. The archaeology of the transition has been the main focus, which is likely because it is the most tangible evidence which remains. However it is important to remember that this is also subject to the bias of interpretation. While addressing the benefits and draw backs of genetics and linguistics we need to remain aware of the general questions surrounding the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. Was the transition the result of a movement of farmers, foragers who adopted farming or was it a combination of the two? At what speed did the transition occur, was it a gradual or rapid affair? Furthermore the classification of the Neolithic package, which refers to, agriculture, domestic animals, polished stone tools, pottery and settlement, are also often questioned. This is directly linked to the question of what we classify as Mesolithic or Neolithic. The recent trend has focused primarily on the mosaic nature of the transition, examining it in a very detailed manner. While this is a valid method archaeologists must be consistently conscious that results derived from individual sites do not necessarily represent larger scale activity (Robb and Miracle, 2007). Genetics, Archaeology and Mobility during the Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition: Past genetic processes have embedded specific signatures in the genes of modern populations. Therefore genetic data has the capability to further inform our knowledge of the transition. Increasingly archaeologists have accepted the importance of acknowledging the variety, messiness and localness of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in direct contrast to those looking specifically at the bigger picture. Amongst those looking at the larger scale view are geneticists and scientists (Cooney, 2007). The study of genetics, is the science of hereditary and variation in organisms, Y Chromosome (male) and Mt DNA (female). The following section refers to the term haplotype which is a set of closely linked genetic markers, it is half of a genotype, which is the specific allelic composition of a cell. An allelic is one or more forms of a gene (Everything Bio 2007). Genetic evidence generally includes mitochondrial, Y chromosomal and classical marker evidence derived from modern populations. One of the main issues to be considered when reviewing the data from genetic research is the relatively small data sets in addition to distinguishing patterns within the genetic DNA of modern populations when using them to determine ancient DNA patterns. Nevertheless the modern composition of the European gene pool appears to reflect these early colonising movements more strongly than any other demographic event in prehistory. It has been estimated that around 85 per cent of European mitochondrial sequences probably originated in the upper Palaeolithic of Europe. There have been a number of issues identified with early attempts to use DNA to track mobility of ancient peoples. These were primarily to do with contamination. However it must also be considered that this form of data is statistical and often is recorded and then displayed in huge quantities which in turn complicates the process. Y chromosome is the male line and the mitochondrial DNA is the female line. There is also the additional problem of time depth, as while it is possible to retrieve genetic patterns it is important to note that they are not defined or distinguished in terms of period of existence. So movement of people represented in the data reflects not just the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition but also movement of people in the time since then, such as during the Roman period (Zvelebil 2008). Data from protein markers (sometimes called classical markers) are still more abundant than are data from DNA, although this situation is rapidly changing. Molecular genetic markers have provided previously unavailable resolution into questions of human evolution, migration and the historical relationship of separated human populations. Different evolutionary models are relevant to the different continents. Migration can profoundly affect genomic variation within a population. For most populations are rare exchange of marriage partners between groups occurs and an average of one immigrant per generation in a population is sufficient to avoid fixation of alleles. However, sometimes a whole population (or a part of it) may migrate and settle elsewhere. Thus the frequencies of alleles among the founders of the new population will differ from those of the original population and will inevitably differ again from those among which it settles. The genetic effects of early forager farmer intermarriages would have multiplied themselves through the hundreds of human generation since the Neolithic. Genetic models that tracing backward from modern populations tend to be highly sensitive to relatively small between hunter gatherers and farmers. For example geneticists studying the y chromosome in modern Europeans often argue that Neolithic farming spread primarily through demic diffusion or the migrations of the farmers themselves. In addition geneticists, while studying mitochondrial DNA in modern Europeans, have suggested that there is a large Palaeolithic component in modern Europeans. Thus because the Y chromosome is inherited strictly along the paternal line and mtDNA is inherited maternally, it may be the case that small groups of Neolithic men intermarried with indigenous women. An ancient DNA study appears to support this in that a particular mtDNA haplotype n1a found in early Neolithic female skeletons is comparatively rare among modern Europeans (Bentley 2007). LBK farming, rather than arriving as a wave of advance, is thought to have leap froged from the North East to the Mediterranean. Theories surrounding the movement of LBK farmers tend to suggest that they could move an entire village society 20km or 30 km in a decade but that it would take foragers much longer than this. Foragers are thought to have been mobile over larger territories, for them a distance of 50km may be considered as one journey between one foraging group to the next, but they would encounter many more settled farmers along the way (Robb and Miracle, 2007). It has been proposed that the spread of farming increased local population densities, causing demic expansion into new territory and diffusive gene flow between the Neolithic farmers and Mesolithic groups (Sokal, 1991). It is likely that different regions must have experienced different blends of cultural exchanges and migratory movements. Researchers have the ability to test the effect of factors such as, prehistoric population sizes, rates of gene flow, and mutation rates, on the likelihood of different scenarios. In the near future, they will also allow users to integrate information from the growing body of ancient genetic diversity, in addition to the broad modern data sets (Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman 2003). Demographic growth in the well identified, specific areas of origin of agriculture must have stimulated a continuous peripheral population expansion wherever the new technologies were successful. Demic expansion is the name given to the phenomenon (that is, farming spread by farmers themselves) as contrasted with cultural diffusion (that is, the spread of farming technique without movement of people). Innovations favouring demographic growth would be expected to determine both demic and cultural diffusion. Recent research suggests a roughly equal importance of demic and cultural diffusion of agriculture from the Near East into Europe in the Neolithic period. Molecular studies using mitochondrial DNA, Y chromosome DNA and nuclear DNA differ in their assessment of the contribution of near eastern farmers to the European gene pool. Some mitochondrial DNA studies suggest that the contribution of near eastern farmers to the European gene pool is about 20%, a similar percent 22% is suggested by a y chromosome study. However the same data was re-examined by Chikhi et al. Who found that by using a different methodology, they resulted with an average contribution of between 50% and 60% from near eastern farmers to the European gene pool. Estimations depend not only in the markers employed but also on the model used and its inherent assumptions. Nuclear DNA studies support a European gene pool. Thus many genetic studies d to support the idea of demic diffusion at some level but there is still a lack of consensus with regard to the percentage of the contribution of early near eastern farmers to the European gene pool (Pinhasi et al, 2005). Linguistics and Archaeology, during the Transition Human languages are an integral aspect of behaviour and culture. Phylogenetic trees are constructed from linguistic elements, portray the evolution of languages (Pagel 2009). There is generally a strong correlation between genetic tree clusters and language families. It is likely that language shifts have become more common recently as a result of massive colonisations made possible by development of mobility due to developed infrastructure, transportation and colonisation. In Europe during the nineteenth century much of the archaeological focus of the transition was directed towards classification and sequences of economy. Around the middle of the nineteenth century the whole study of the subject entered a new phase which was linguistic rather than archaeological. It was by now generally assumed that the similarities in the different Indo-European languages were to be explained by their derivation from a single ancestral language, older than Greek or Latin or Sanskrit (Renfrew 1990, p 14). This proto-Indo-European could be reconstructed by studying what was common to specific cognate words in the different languages. Renfrew discusses Childes extreme views published regarded superiority in physique and the vehicles of a superior language (Renfrew 1990, p15-16). Marija Gimbutas has located the Indo European homeland in the Steppes of South Russia. She refers to Kurgan culture and states that it is the last candidate for a Proto-Indo-European homeland based on the common words compiled to reconstruct the original ancient language. Renfrew has difficulty with this as it is still dependent on the construction of the mother language. Renfrew also highlights the problem of how to explain the historical circumstances within which languages would be replaced? Taken in isolation neither archaeological nor genetic evidence can shed much light on the linguistic identity or ethnicity of the colonising population although when combined together some suggestion can be made. It is generally assumed that the western population were either rare indo-European or proto indo-European setting the stage for North central Europe as the homeland of indo Europeans. Large sections of this population in northern Europe would have to adopt indo European speech subsequently from indo European farming groups penetration central Europe from the near east and east Mediterranean as suggested by Renfrew and modified for temperate and northern Europe. Another key figure within the field of linguistics is Oppenheimer. In his text The Origins of the British (2007), he has suggested of Celtic origin, that neither Anglo-Saxons nor Celts had much impact on the genetics of the inhabitants of the British Isles, and that British ancestry mainly traces back to the Palaeolithic Iberian people, now represented best by Basques. He also argued that the Scandinavian input had been underestimated. It has also been put forward that geography and climate have had an influence on the genetics and culture of Britain (Oppenheimer 2007, 21-26). Languages, like genes, provide vital clues about human history. As mentioned already the origin of the Indo-European language family is the most intensively studied, yet still most recalcitrant, problem of historical linguistics. Numerous genetic studies of Indo-European origins have also produced inconclusive results (Gray and Atkinson 2003). Glottochronology is an approach in historical linguistics for estimating the time at which languages diverged, based on the assumption that the basic (core) vocabulary of a language changes at a constant average rate. This term is sometimes interchangeable with lexicostatistics though the latter refers to statistical manipulation of lexical material for historical inferences and is not necessarily associated with dates (Campbell, 2004). It is not usually accepted as a valid methodology, as it has certain inherent issues. The derivation of modern languages mostly or completely from a single language spoken in East Africa does not mean that this was the only language in existence at the time. When analysing Indo-European language data, the following are often included: the ancient Celtic language of Gaul (modern France), within which is a split between Gaulish (Continental Celtic) and the British form (Insular Celtic), with Insular Celtic subsequently splitting into Brythonic (Welsh, Breton) and Goidelic (Irish and Scottish Gaelic). Taken together, the network thus suggests that the Celtic language arrived in the British Isles as a single wave (and then differentiated locally), rather than in the traditional two-wave scenario (P-Celtic to Britain and Q-Celtic to Ireland). In 1786 Sir William Jones discovered remarkable similarities between Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Gothic, Celtic, and Persian, indicating a common source for these languages, possibly Indo-European language. Then in 1863 Schleicher proposed an evolutionary tree of descent for the Indo-European language family, followed by Charles Darwin who introduced the evolutionary tree concept to the descent of species. Schmidt (1872) published the wave model which denotes that distinct languages increasingly acquire similarities through borrowing. More recently it has been proposed to unite these two models into a single network diagram of language evolution (Forster and Toth, 2003). Conclusion Simple explanations at odds with a complex human history Critique: complex data, requires degree of manipulation to display How does this relate to and affect archaeology? And what we know about mobility and migration during the transition? Confusion between names and genetics. Ancient dna NIa very rare in Europe, haplotype, example that lineages do die out and not all colonisation works. This is further complicated when you look at animals. Cattle and pigs are descendnt fomr the north east but pigs are descendant from a combination of north west domestication. Bear deliberately introducted to Ireland. The past decade of advances in molecular genetic technology has heralded a new era for all evolutionary studies, but especially the science of human evolution. Data on various kinds of DNA variation in human populations have rapidly accumulated. Haploid markers from mitochondrial DNA and the Y chromosome have proven invaluable for generating a standard model for evolution of modern humans. Co-evolution of genes with language and some slowly evolving cultural traits, together supports and supplements the standard model of genetic evolution. The advances in our understanding of the evolutionary history of humans attests to the advantages of multidisciplinary research (Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman 2003). Reference List Bentley, R.A. Price, T.D. and Stephan, E. (2004) Determining the local 87 Sr/86 Sr range for archaeological skeletons a case study from Neolithic Europe, in Journal of Archaeological Science 31, 365-375. Bentley, A. 2007 Mobility, specialisation and community diversity in the linearbandkermik: isotopic evidence from the skeletons, proceedings of the British academy 144, 117-140. http://www.everythingbio.com/glos/definition.php?ID=3035 Campbell, L. 2004 Historical Linguistics An Introduction, Great Britain: Edinburgh University Press p201 Zvelebil, M. (2008) Innovating hunter gatherers: the Mesolithic in the Baltic. In: Baily G. And Spikins, P. (ed.) Mesolithic Europe, New York: Cambridge University Press, pp 18-59. Gray, R. And Atkinson, Q.D. 2003 Language-tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin, Nature Reviews Genetics, 426, 435-439, online, accessed 20/03/10. Pagel, M. (2009) Human language as a culturally transmitted replicator, Nature Reviews Genetics, 10, 405-415, online, accessed 23/03/10. Forster, P. and Toth, A. 2003 Towards a phylogenic chronology of ancient Gaulish, Celtic and Indo European, proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of America, online access 28/03/10. Renfrew, C. 1990 Archaeology and Language: the puzzle of Indo-European origins Cambridge University Press: united kingdom, 14-20. Cavalli-Sforza, L. And Feldman, M. 2003 The Application of Molecular Genetic Aproaches to the Study of Human Evolution, in Review Nature Genetics 33, 266-275. Oppenheimer, S. 2007 The origins of the British: a genetic detective story, Robin Publishing: London, pp 21-26. Barbujani, G and Chikhi, L. 2006 DNAs from the European Neolithic in Heredity 97, 84-85, online, accessed 20/10/10. Cooney, G. (2007) Parallel worlds or multi-stranded identities? Considering the process of going over in Ireland and the Irish Sea zone. In: A. Whittle and V. Cummings (Ed.). Going Over: the Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition in North-West Europe,London: British Academy pp. 543-566. Robb, J. And Miracle, P. 2007 Beyond migration versus acculturation new models for the spread of agriculture, Proceedings of the British Academy 144, 99-115. Sokal, R. Oden, N. And Wilson, C. 1991 Genetic evidence for the spread of agriculture in Europe by demic diffusion, in nature 351, 143-145, online accessed 22/03/10.

Essay examples --

What drives success? Where does it come from? Can you be born into it? These are some common questions when it comes to success. Every one can has their own opinion about what success is, and also what it takes to become successful people in today’s world. That is where Malcolm Gladwell comes into play. After reading â€Å"Outliers: The Story of Success†, Gladwell has helped me view the journey to success in ways I have and haven’t heard of before. He helps you understand some complex ideas of why someone may be more successful that someone else. To me success is determined by a lot of things and there is no one thing that can make your success, you have to have multiple things that are not found in one place. There are many things that come to your mind think of when it comes to success, age would be one of the many determining factors. In the book, Gladwell used hockey as an example. Hockey is a sport dominated by Canadians. In Canada, there is a hockey deadline where if a kid is not 10 by January 1st, he has to wait until next year to begin playing. This gives a kid with a birthday before the deadline an advantage over his opponents who could only be a few months’ young than him, because he had a year more of experience. Americans’ understand this in a different way. In the United States school system you have to be 6 before a certain time of the year before you can enter kindergarten. This could be different because those who enter earlier could graduate at a younger age, those who have to wait could be more prepared for school. It depends how you look at each situation, because they all can be different. If you have every played a sport, instrument, or simply attended school then you have heard the quote â€Å"Practice makes perfect.... ...l believes that’s why we are behind educationally. I believe this is a true statement, our kids in united stated should spend more time learning than playing video games, texting, and on social media which seems to be the most popular thing these days. Success can be defined by a lot of different things, whether you are tall or short, rich or poor, your definition may be different than one of your peers. I believe there is not a â€Å"right† answer to the questions â€Å"what is success?† or â€Å"how you do you become successful?† This book really gave me a few more ways of thinking about how success comes along. Some of the things Malcolm Gladwell comes up with are extreme but there is no right or wrong answer. To me success is determined by a lot of things and there is no one thing that can make you successful, you have to have multiple things that are not found in one place.

Examine Eliot’s treatment of women in Prufrock, Preludes, Portrait of E

Examine Eliot’s treatment of women in Prufrock, Preludes, Portrait of a Lady and Rhapsody on a Windy Night In all four of the poems; ‘Prufrock’, ‘Preludes’, ‘Portrait of a Lady’ and ‘Rhapsody on a Windy Night’, Eliot makes references to women. Eliot seems to treat women almost as objects to either be looked at with wonder and, at times, fascination or as objects to be scorned upon. In all of the poems Eliot makes the voice of the poem slightly distanced from the women and this, to me, makes the women seem almost untouchable. When looking at the poem ‘Prufrock’ we must first notice that the full title is ‘The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock.’ This title seems almost ironic as, after reading the poem, we realise that the poem is not a love song at all. The title is beauteous however, like the women Eliot makes reference to in the poem; â€Å"In the room the women come and go / Talking of Michelangelo.† This small, non-descriptive mention of women tells us much about Eliot’s perception of women in ‘Prufrock.’ These two lines, presented to us almost like a chorus, interrupt the flow of the poem, which is perhaps what women did in Eliot’s life. These lines also show Eliot’s fascination with women as women were less educated than men around 1910 when ‘Prufrock’ was conceived, so for these women to talk of Michelangelo is almost shocking and something to be marvelled upon. In Prufrock, I believe Eliot is concerned with the high society of women and the poem shows his fascination with them. The tone of ‘Prufrock’ is not bitter towards the women, nor does it celebrate them, it merely comments on the women and Eliot seems to give a fairly neutral view of women. ‘Portrait of a Lady’ is another poem in which Eliot ex... ...apsody on a Windy Night’. By appealing to our senses, Eliot draws us in to his poetry up to a point where we can almost smell exactly what he is describing, which brings us closer to the women in his poems. Between the four poems â€Å"Prufrock†, â€Å"Portrait of a Lady†, â€Å"Preludes† and â€Å"Rhapsody on a Windy Night† Eliot provides us with a rounded view of women. He describes the beautiful and untouchable side of them in ‘Prufrock’, the darker, more sordid side of women in ‘Preludes’ and ‘Rhapsody on a Windy Night’ with a description of how false women can be in ‘Portrait of a Lady’. Eliot’s imagery is effective in the poems, as by using it he justifies his reasons for describing the women in the way he does. I feel that Eliot describes women in the way in which he views them, drawing from personal experiences and what he takes from poets who have gone before him.

Frankenstein overview :: Character Analysis, Literary Analysis

Frankenstein is, in my opinion a story about a scientist who makes a being who possesses more soul than it’s creator. The scene in which the creation of young Victor stands by Victors beside, while startling understandably, gives you compassion over this poor being. The scene where he says. â€Å"His jaws opened, and her muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks... one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me....† This suggests a yearning for contact with the outside world. What I really consider disturbing is the egotistical manner in which Victor operates himself. He wallows in his own tragedy. He is more interested in his own wretchedness than the fate of his beleaguered family or even this abusive environment his creation faces. He brings his sorrow upon himself, but yet at every opportunity is contemplates the abortion of his creation, even though he constantly ignores him, when he yearns for his love. I wonder whether the villagers find the creature so terrible because is so deformed, or because his appearance suggests a life so malevolent that they cannot fathom to imagine it. He is constantly attacked with no real cause. I ponder this because if he were truly so fearsome, why would one engage him face to face. Perhaps they believe that his presence is pure evil and a danger automatically. Or maybe it’s because his appearance is so different from theirs. People are never very welcome to the outcasts of society. Another thing so appealing was Walton’s admiration of Victor. For a man so lonely that he finds

Assess critically the contribution Essay

Taylorism is a form of job design, which stresses short, repetitive work cycles; detailed, set task sequences; a separation of task conception from task execution; and motivation linked to pay. Taylor argued that the principal objective of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee (1911). Fredrick Taylor’s five principles of scientific management: 1. A clear division of tasks and responsibilities between management and workers. 2. Use of scientific methods to determine the best way of doing a job. 3. Scientific selection of the person to do the newly designed job. 4. The training of the selected worker to perform the job in the way specified. 5. Surveillance of workers through the use of hierarchies of authority and close supervision. Taylor proposed this by measuring what workers did against the time taken, to develop ‘one best way of working’ (1911). By using quantitative methods a workers output could be accurately measured. At the time of its inception Taylor found that firms who introduced scientific management as he prescribed became the worlds most meticulously organised factories (Nelson, 1980). Managers are responsible for identifying the best cost efficient work practices and training workers to become highly productive and affective in their specific work task. Taylor argued that it stands to reason that an employee becomes more productive when working at their speciality and concluded with stating that there are more benefits gained for both employees and employers from dividing workers. With linking pay to each task performed, Managers can thus control the workforce and output and consistently achieve desired goals. The piece rate pay system  pays workers in parallel to number of items each worker has produced, hence also providing employees with an incentive to work. Henry Ford’s theory (Fordism) referring to mass production in industry (Marcouse, 1996) united the idea of assembly line and Taylor’s theory of division of labour and payment. Fordism focused on dividing jobs into unskilled and semi-skilled tasks. Whilst managers at Ford vehemently opposed any relation to Taylorism, it can be said that Fordism retained the faults of Taylorism of an autocratic work environment with little room for creativity as well as the benefits of the piece rate system relying on financial motivation. Criticisms of Taylorism: 1.Assumed that the motivation of the employee was to secure the maximum earnings for the effort expended; and neglected the importance of other rewards from work (achievement, job satisfaction, recognition), which later research has found to be important. 2. Neglected the subjective side of work-the personal and interactional aspects of performance, the meaning that employees give to work and the significance to them of their social relationship at work. 3. Failed to appreciate the meaning that workers would put on new procedures ad their reaction to being timed and closely supervised. 4. Had inadequate understanding of the relation of the individual incentive to interaction with, and dependence on, the immediate work group. Taylor did attribute ‘underworking’ to group pressures, but misunderstood the way in which these worked. He failed to see that these might just as easily keep production and morale up. 5. Ignored the psychological needs and capabilities of workers. T he one best way of doing a job was chosen with the mechanistic criteria of speed and output. The imposition of a uniform manner of work can both destroy individuality and cause other psychological disturbances. 6. Had too simple approach to the question of productivity and morale. It sought to keep both of these up exclusively by economic rewards and punishments. Incentive approaches under the scientific approach tended to focus on the worker as an individual and ignored their social context. Pay system may result in a worker valuing quantity over quality. 7. Functional foremanship was deemed to be too  complex and an unwieldy mode of supervision. (Huczynski, 2013) Ways to alleviate the negative effects of Taylorism especially to worker motivation and performance and find new ways to job designs came about following the introduction of the American psychologists Fredrick Hertzberg two factor theory of motivation. Hertzberg had the idea that there were two sets of factors that affected motivation and job characteristics: Motivators: These factors refer to the extent to which a job offers opportunities for achievement, creativity, responsibility, opportunities for personal growth. These are intrinsic to the job itself. Hygiene factors: These comprise issue as the nature of supervision and supervisory style, the level of pay, working conditions, and interpersonal relations. These are extrinsic to the job. For Hertzberg it was only the motivator factors that have the potential to generate satisfaction and motivation. If hygiene factors are improved, they do not result in improved motivation, but if removed, will result in demotivation. To raise levels of motivation and therefore performance, following Hertzberg theory of motivation, companies needed to ensure that the hygiene factors were in place, and to also ensure that the ‘motivator factors’ (i.e intrinsic motivators) were incorporated into the jobs. In particular, jobs needed to be designed in such a way that workers could be given opportunities for achievement, responsibility and personal growth. Criticisms of Hertzberg two-factor theory: Can job characteristics fall neatly into two categories of motivators and hygiene factors? Can a job characteristic be both? (Example can pay be a motivator as well as a hygiene factor-?) Blunt and Jones (1992) They point out that some studies from Nigeria have indicated that hygiene factors, in particular pay, supervision and working conditions, acted as motivators. Machungwa and Schmidt (1983) reported on a study conducted in Zambia and found that material rewards and the physical conditions of work appeared to have both motivating and demotivating effects. This was interpreted by Blunt and Jones in the following way: if material rewards were inadequate they were demotivating, but they acted as motivators if they were perceived as reasonable. This appears to directly contradict Hertzberg’s theory, but Blunt and Jones consider that this is only likely to be the case in less developed countries, as Hertzberg (1987) himself appears also to argue. However, one study does not refute a theory. Hertzberg did his original work on qualified professionals, such as engineers, whereas the people surveyed in the study above were manual workers. This in itself might be enough to account for the difference. In general, we can expect professional or managerial workers everywhere to be more intrinsically motivated than ma nual workers given the different nature of the work that the two groups undertake, but as we shall see the way work is organized may compensate for such differences in the relative interest value of different types of work The theory is regarded as a Universalistic theory; that it will impact all individuals in the same way in all work situations. It does not take into consideration that some people may not have a desire for personal growth, and are therefore unlikely to be motivated by job enrichment initiatives that give them higher levels of autonomy and responsibility. Hertzberg theory was superseded by Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham ‘the Job Characteristics Model’; which argued in a similar respect to Hertzberg theory, that if jobs are enriched this will lead to improvements in attitudinal outcomes (increased satisfaction and motivation) and improvements in behavioural outcomes (higher productivity and lower rates of absenteeism). Three critical psychological states: Hackman and Oldham argued that jobs should be designed in such a way that they are focused on the achievement of three critical psychological states: Workers must experience work as being personally meaningful-something that  they care about. Workers must experience personal responsibility for their work- accountability for their work. Workers must know if their work performance is effective-they must have knowledge of the results of their work activities. If these 3 critical psychological states are achieved, higher levels of satisfaction, motivation and performance will result from the worker. However this theory too has had its criticisms. Current literature now argues the importance and focus on team working, however one should acknowledge that the interest in team working is not something that is new to current times. Autonomous and semi-autonomous work groups were central to earlier theories of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Team working has now re-emerged as part of the lean production & flexible working debates. An American Theorist, Harry Bravemen thesis known as the ‘Bravemen thesis argues to counter the popular view in social science and management literature that Taylorism has been superseded by human relations and other more sophisticated approaches; that there is in fact a tendency for workers and their jobs to become de-skilled through fragmentation, rationalisation and mechanisation. This argument of deskilling workers and jobs was continued in the context where it became known as McDonalization a term that came about after the publication of a book by Georg Ritz. McDonalisation is a form of work design aimed at achieving efficiency, calculability, predictability and control through non-human technology, to enhance organisational objectives by limiting employee discretion and creativity. He used the term to refer to the processes used at the growing number of fast food restaurants dominating the American market. McDonalds is a modern example of the Taylorised way of work. The tasks are de-skilled and simplified for an employee at McDonalds and limited by the  sophisticated technology of fast food preparation. Hamburger grilling instructions are detailed and precise, cooking times and the sequence of events dictated to make a burger. Drinks dispensers, French fry machines, programmed cash registers all limit the amount of time required to carry out a specific task and leave little room for the employee to do as they wish, little room for creativity or innovation to processes. This way of working ensures the aims of the organisation to achieve greatest efficiency, calculability, predictability and control all of the key elements described by the Ritzer’s ‘Mcdonalization’. Regardless of the fact that the de-skilling may lead to de-motivated employees, which may result in high absenteeism and high staff turn over; its ability to integrate new workers into the production processes and dismiss employees without losing knowledge form the organization allows the model to still be successful. Taylorism can also be illustrated in modern day call centres. A case study on a customer service call centre run by two British Companies, Martin Beirne, Kathleen Riach and Fiona Wilson found strong continuities with Taylorism, in relation to work design and operation. They found the work to be pressurized and highly paced with managements focus on productivity and cost minimisation. Most of the jobs were narrowly defined and closely monitored. The time duration of each call taken; the content of the conversation with each customer; and the advise also given to the customer was prescribed (from Beirne et al 2004). But modern day illustrations of Taylorism don’t end there. It is also seen in relation to ‘scientific selection & training’. We’ve now moved away from an industrial economy towards a knowledge –based economy where an organisations competitive success depends on its talent. Much effort is devoted by contemporary organisations to select and recruit the right person for a role. Taylorism also placed importance and the introduction of scientific selection criteria by management to do a particular task. In line with his emphasis on scientific approach to selection, Taylor advocates scientific training as he argues that â€Å"it is only when business systematically cooperate to train the competent man†¦that it shall be on the road to national efficiency†. (Taylor, 1911: p 98). In the context of the knowledge  economy, organisations are generally encouraged to develop employees’ skills and knowledge. ‘Now one of the very first requirements of man who is to handle pig iron as a regular occupation is that he shall be so stupid and so phlegmatic that he more nearly resembles in his mental make-up the ox than any other type. The man who is mentally alert and intelligent is for this very reason entirely unsuited to what would, for him, be the grinding monotony of work to this character. Therefore the work man who is best suited to handling pig iron is unable to understand the real science of doing this class of work’. (Taylor 1911/1997 pg 59) â€Å"The task is always so regulated that the man who is well suited to his job will thrive while working at this rate during a long term of years and grow happier and more prosperous, instead of being overworked†. (Taylor 1911) Thus scientific management matched the worker to the job and in the process separated the conceptualization of work from its execution. It also provided safeguards against personal bias and individual favoritism, which is something that can still be applied to the current context of contemporary organisations. Taylorism is also found in the Saudi Educational system, for example metaphorically describing students as the ‘raw material’ of schools; controlling the movement of teachers & students through class bells; conceiving of the curriculum as a product; dividing students into grades or dividing curriculum into units and individual lessons; describing the school facilities as a ‘plant’ are a result of a ‘factory model’ schooling that has its roots in the adoption of scientific management principles by educational administrators. Contemporary schools in Saudi are still largely influenced with its teaching and learning deeply rooted in ‘scientific management’ as seen with the following: 1. Schools are large and bureaucratized. 2. Students change teachers every year. 3. Teachers plan and teach alone. 4. Curriculum is fragmented. 5. Tracking students by ability levels. 6. Deskilling of teachers through alignment of teaching mandated curriculum and standardized tests. 7. Emphasis on monitoring /surveillance & bureaucratic activity-scripted curriculum and scripted tests. Taylorism does not permit autonomy in work. Input by production workers in the organisation, planning, and direction of the manufacturing process was not allowed, requiring workers to do exactly what they were told to do and no more. This authoritarian approach to work can been illustrated in the schooling: That student’s are excluded from the planning, organisation and direction of the educational process. De-skilling of the teachers as their work is conceptualised by others (Ministry of Education who agrees the standard curriculum to be used in schools) and enforced by the bureaucratic outcome of accountability systems implemented in schools. The other way that Taylorism continues to influence the education system is through the use of individual rewards for individual effort (example the focus on a students individual test results). Taylor developed wage-incentive schemes emphasizing piecework and historically assembly line foremen attempted to stop any sort of worker inter action. Elton Mayo who introduced Human Relations theory based on his research at the Hawthorne electrical factory was to see how productivity will improve if the lighting condition changes and he followed Taylor’s scientific principles by testing the changes against a control, with part of the factory lighting being unchanged, (Kelly 1982). This lead him to conduct further experiments which vast doubts on Taylors assumptions about the importance of money in motivation (Marcouse, 1996). According to Huczynski and Buchan, the conclusions which can be drawn from Hawthorne studies are: 1. People at work are motivated by more than just pay and conditions. 2. Their need for recognition and sense of belonging are very important. 3. A person’s attitude to work is shaped strongly by the group in which that individual  belongs within the company. 4. The ability of the informal group or clique to motivate an individual at work should not be underestimated. (Huczynski and Buchanan 1991) . Another contributor to the Human Relations approach is Abraham Harold Maslow, an American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. They range from physical & social to psychological needs. Maslow (1943, 1954) stated that human motivation is based on people seeking fulfilment and change through personal growth. Self-actualized people as those who were fulfilled and doing all they were capable of. The Human Relations models have changed management and how workers are in fact valuable employees and stakeholders of an organisation. The key difference between scientific management and the human relations model is highlighted when analysing the motivational techniques to increase productivity. Scientific management emphasises the use of financial measures in order to secure employers objectives whereas the human relations model argues that management should acquire the insight into the skills that will manipulate social factors in order to harness their employees social needs to managerial ends (Fincham & Rhodes, 1999). Thus, behavioural science; motivation theories in combination with the humanistic theories of management, have added to Taylors principles and allowed for contemporary organizations to succeed where scientific management alone failed. Taylorism was an influential management theory of the late nineteenth century. Despite its relevance to its time the influence can still be seen in todays twenty first century: educational institutes, service sector and the manufacturing industries. Though there are limitations to his method, this principle has a considerable profound and lasting influence to all contemporary organizations because of  Taylor’s â€Å"preoccupation with the efficient use of resources†. This philosophy can almost apply to every organization, despite its work structure, such as structures of team working or job enrichment; one of the ultimate goals should be improve efficiency. As Braverman says, â€Å"the principle of scientific management is not a failed system, but a set of guiding principles which continue to inform and influence the role and function of modern management†. Some of the methods he advocates, such as division of labour, scientific selection and training, have become the features of modern society. More primarily, as efficiency is one of the enduring needs of all organizations, his preoccupation with the efficient use of resources thus becomes the driving force behind the evolution of subsequent management theories and the root of management practice. References: Huczynski, A. and Buchanan, D: Organisational Behaviour. Eighth Edition. Pearson 2013. Huczynski, A. and Buchanan, D.,1991. Organizational behaviour An Introductory Text. Second edition. London: Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd. Hertzberg,F., B.Mausner and B.Snyderman: The motivation to work (New york: Wiley 1959). Taylor F.W (1997): The principles of scientific management. Mincola, NY (original work published 1911). Braverman, H (1974): Labour and Monoploy capital: The degradation of work in the twentieth century. New York Monthly review press. Kelly, John. (1982), Scientific Management, Job Redesign, & Work Performance. Academic †¨Press. Marcouse, I. et al. (1996), The Complete A-Z Business Studies Handbook, Hodder & †¨Stoughton. Ritzer, George. (2000) The McDonaldization Of Society. Sage Publications Inc. Taylor, Frederick W (1911) The Principles of Scientific Management, Harper Bros. Fincham, R & Rhodes, P (1999) Priniciples of Organisational Behaviours, Oxford Univeristy Press. Nelson, David (1980) Frederick W Taylor and the Rise of Scientific Management, The University of Wisconsin Press. Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-96. Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper and Row.

John Langdon Essay

Who is John Langdon? John Langdon was one of the two first senators of the state of New Hampshire. Early on in his political life, Langdon was a supporter always of the Revolutionary War and then later served in the Continental Congress. After serving in Congress, Langdon turned a different direction and became governor of New Hampshire. He could have run for vice president of the United States but turned it down. He was a great part in America’s history and grew up with America as it has turned out to be today. John Langdon was played many roles in our country today including: a patriot, a soldier, and a statesman. Langdon’s family was one of the first to settle near the middle of New Hampshire’s river, the Piscataquis River. John was then taught as a kid growing up by an educator at a school near by. John Langdon’s father asked John and his brother, Woodbury, to join along on his successful agricultural business. They both ended up becoming apprentices of local merchants. Langdon was an unstationary man, as by the age of twenty-one he was captain sailing to the West Indies, and four years later John owned his first merchantman. His brother was even more successful. They both began to do the trade business and by 1770 both men were accounted as the wealthiest citizens in the area. In 1777, Langdon turned his attention to a different subject. He wanted to help the soldiers. Since he was the lower speaker of the house for New Hampshire, he spent much time reorganizing and making the states militia stronger. He then split them up into two brigades. One brigade was centered in the east was to protect and prevent ambushes from the Royal Navy and support the New England states. The second brigade was organized in the west to guard from any sudden ambushes from Canada. Then lastly John Langdon is most famously known for being one of two delegates of New Hampshire at the Continental Congress. He was in Congress from 1775 to 1776, and then resigned in June 1776. He then became a superintendent for the construction of several ships of war. He was also a participant at the Battle of Bennnigton and led a group into Saratoga. Then in 1784 he was a member of the state senate, and then the president of New Hampshire in 1785 and 1788. Then in 1787 he was a member of the Continental Congress and a delegate of New Hampshire. He led New Hampshire from the beginning of his life till the very end. From 1805-1811 he was the governor of New Hampshire. He then died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on September 18th 1819 and was buried in the North Cemetery. John Langdon was not a huge part of America’s course of history was he was overall a big part of New Hampshire. He was a leader of that state was the moment his family first lived there to dying and being buried there. I think New Hampshire should recognize more of what John Langdon did for their state. My name is Crystal Moreland and I am a Field Organizer for Congresswoman Shelley Berkley’s campaign. I wanted to let you know that Brent Martelli has contacted me about his volunteer time with the campaign. We are very excited to have him and would be more than happy to show him all the different aspects of what goes on in a campaign such as voter identification and event involvement. I think this is a great experience for your students to have and I very excited to get them involved. I hope they have a great experience and learn a lot!

Ap English Certainty vs/ Belief

Certainty Certainty is the belief in yourself that you can empower anything. Doubt is the fear of failure and is what the mass majority are overcome with. Certainty is the inner strength that everyone has, just not many want to express, that is why there are leaders and followers, strong and the weak, living and the dead. With inner strength your capabilities are limitless but when there is doubt, there is nothing. Doubt is one obstacle in a world filled with a plethora of them.Doubts are what control you from succeeding, they hold you back, tie you down , and strangle you from what you want , and just in the final seconds when your pulse lowers, your blood circulation is stopping , and you feel your hand trembling out of the fear, you grasp onto the only thing you have left , certainty. Certainty is your life support, it’s all you have left to live for, you cling onto and your ride through the storm on certainties back. It’s in that moment when you realize your life is ahead of you, and you’re certain of that. Doubt is your glutinous sin, and Satan is its master.You have to break free from its reins all that you’ve ever known and cling to certainty. With certainty you’re either in or you’re out. There is no equilibrium that you can find. Certainty is having 100% faith in something. It is the same as life, if you are certain with your life you are successful and can move mountains; doubt makes you weak and you are succumbed by the mountains. Leaders like this were Aristotle, a philosopher in physics, Benjamin Franklin, the inventor of electricity, and more modern leaders such as FDR, and JFK, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs. They saw the world through eyes of certainty.Certainty gave them the power to discover a new world. They took what others saw as impossible and made it possible. There was never a doubt in their mind that they wouldn’t conquer. Doubt overcomes many in the world today and it really is like an epidemic. Many doubt themselves before they try. This creates the 80% of the world and the 20%. The 80% are those consumed in doubts about their lives, but the 20% will conquer the world if they had the means. Certainty is the only inoculation for doubt. Take a little bit of certainty since there is much to go around and achieve what you never thought possible.

Night World : Black Dawn Chapter 8

What are you doing?† he repeated ferociously.His grip was hurting her. â€Å"I'm throwing the water bag down there,† Maggiesaid. But she was thinking, He's so strong. Stronger than anybody I've ever met. He could break mywrist without even trying. â€Å"I know that! Why?† â€Å"Because it's easier than carrying it down in myteeth,† Maggie said. But that wasn't the real reason,of course. The truth was that she needed to get temptation out of the way. She was so thirsty thatit was a kind of madness, and she was afraid ofwhat she would do if she held onto this cool, sloshing water bag much longer. He was staring at her with those startling eyes,as if he were trying to pryhis way into her brain.And Maggie had the odd feeling that he'd succeeded, at least far enough that he knew the real reason she was doing this. â€Å"You are an idiot,† he said slowly, with cold wonder. â€Å"You should listen to your body; it's telling youwhat it needs. You can't ignore thirst. You can'tdeny it.† â€Å"Yes, you can,† Maggie said flatly. Her wrist wasgoing numb. If this went on, she was going to dropthe bag involuntarily, and in the wrong place. â€Å"You can't,† he said, somehow making the wordsinto an angry hiss. â€Å"I should know.† Then he showed her his teeth. Maggie should have been prepared. Jeanne had told her. Vampires and witches and shapeshifters, she'd said. And Sylvia was a witch,and Bern had been a shapeshifter. This boy was a vampire. The strange thing was that, unlike Bern, he didn'tget uglier when he changed. His face seemed palerand finer, like something chiseled in ice. His goldeneyes burned brighter, framed by lashes that lookedeven blacker in contrast. His pupils opened and seemed to hold a darkness that could swallow aperson up. But it was the mouth that had changed the most.It looked even more willful, disdainful, and sullen-and it was drawn up into a sneer to displaythe fangs. Impressive fangs. Long, translucent white, tapering into delicate points. Shaped like a cat's canines,with a sheen on them like jewels. Not yellowing tusks like Bern's, but delicate instruments of death. What amazed Maggie was that although helooked completely different from anything she'd seen before, completely abnormal, he also lookedcompletely natural. This was another kind of creature, just like a human or a bear, with as muchright to live as either of them. Which didn't mean she wasn't scared. But shewas frightened in a new way, a way ready for action. She was ready to fight, if fighting became necessary. She'd already changed that much since entering this valley: fear now made her not panicked buthyper alert. If I have to defend myself I need both hands.And it's better not to let him see I'm scared. â€Å"Maybe you can't ignore your kind of thirst,† shesaid, and was pleased that her voice didn't wobble.†But I'm fine. Except that you're hurting my wrist. Can you please let go?† For just an instant, the brilliant yellow eyesflared even brighter, and she wondered if he wasgoing to attack her. But then his eyelids lowered,black lashes veiling the brightness. He let go ofher wrist. Maggie's arm sagged,and the leather bagdropped from her suddenly nerveless fingers. It landed safely at her feet. She rubbed her hand. And didn't look up a moment later, when he saidwith a kind of quiet hostility, â€Å"Aren't you afraidof me?† â€Å"Yes.† It was true. And it wasn't just because hewas a vampire or because he had a power thatcould send blue death twenty feet away. It was because of him, of the way he was. He was scary enough in and of himself. â€Å"But what good is it, being afraid?† Maggie said,still rubbing her hand. â€Å"If you're going to try tohurt me,IT fight back. And so far, you haven't triedto hurt me. You've only helped me.† â€Å"I told you, I didn't do it for you.And you'll neversurvive if you keep on being insane like this.† â€Å"Insane like what?† Now she did look up, to seethat his eyes were burning dark gold and his fangswere gone. His mouth simply looked scornful and aristocratic. â€Å"Trusting people,† he said, as if it should havebeen obvious. â€Å"Taking care of people. Don't youknow that only the strong ones make it? Weak people are deadweightand if you try to help them, they'll drag you down with them.† Maggie had an answer for that. â€Å"Cady isn'tweak,† she said flatly. â€Å"She's sickShe'll get betterif she gets the chance. And if we don't take care ofeach other, what's going to happen to all of us?† He looked exasperated, and for a few minutesthey stared at each other in mutual frustration. Then Maggie bent and picked up the bag again.†I'd better give it to her now. I'll bring your can teen back.† â€Å"Wait.† His voice was abrupt and cold, unfriendly. But this time he didn't grab her.†What?† â€Å"Follow me.† He gave the order briefly andturned without pausing to see if she obeyed. It wasclear that he expectedpeople to obey him, withoutquestions. â€Å"Bring the bag,† he said, without lookingover his shoulder. Maggie hesitated an instant, glancing down atCady. But the hollow was protected by the overhanging boulders; Cady would be all right there for a few minutes. She followed the boy. The narrow path that wound around the mountain was rough and primitive, interrupted by bands of broken, razor-sharpslate. She had to pick her way carefully aroundthem. In front of her, the boy turned toward the rocksuddenly and disappeared. When Maggie caught up, she saw the cave. The entrance was small, hardly more than acrack, and even Maggie had to stoop and go in sideways. But inside it opened into a snug littleenclosure that smelled of dampness and cool rock. Almost no light filtered in from the outsideworld. Maggie blinked, trying to adjust to the neardarkness, when there was a sound like a match strike and a smell of sulphur. A tiny flame was born, and Maggie saw the boy lighting some kindof crude stone lamp that had been carved out ofthe cave wall itself. He glanced back at her and his eyes flashed gold. But Maggie was gasping, looking around her.The light of the little flame threw a mass of shifting, confusing shadows everywhere, but it alsopicked out threads of sparkling quartz in the rock.The small cave had become a place of enchantment. Andatthe boy's feet was something that glitteredsilver. In the hush of the still air, Maggie couldhear the liquid, bell-like sound of water dripping. â€Å"It'sa pool,† the boy said. â€Å"Spring fed. The watees cold, but it's good. Water .Something like pure lust overcame Maggie. She took three steps forward, ignoring the boy completely, and then her legs collapsed.Shecupped a hand in the pool, felt the coolness encompass it to the wrist, and brought it out asif shewere holding liquid diamond in her palm. She'd never tasted anything asgood as that water. No Coke she'd drunk on the hottest day of summer could compare with it. It ran through herdry mouth and down her parched throatand then it seemed to spread all through her, sparklingthrough her body, soothing and reviving her. A sort of crystal clearness entered her brain. She drankand drank in a state of pure bliss. And then, when she was in the even more blissfulstate of being not thirsty anymore, she plunged the leather bag under the surface to fill it. â€Å"What's that for?† But there was a certain resignation in the boy's voice. â€Å"Cady. I have to get back to her.† Maggie sat backon her heels and looked at him. The light dancedand flickered around him, glinting bronze off hisdark hair, casting half his face in shadow. â€Å"Thank you,† she said, quietly, but in a voice thatshook slightly. â€Å"I think you probably saved mylife again.† â€Å"You were really thirsty.† â€Å"Yeah.† She stood up. â€Å"But when you thought there wasn't enoughwater, you were going to give it to her.† He couldn'tseem to get over the concept. â€Å"Yeah† â€Å"Even if it meant you dying?† â€Å"I didn't die,† Maggie pointed out. â€Å"And I wasn'tplanning to. Butyeah, I guess, if there wasn't anyother choice.† She saw him staring at her in utterbewilderment. â€Å"I took responsibility for her,† shesaid, trying to explain. â€Å"It's like when you take ina cat, or-or it's like being a queen or something.If you say you're going to be responsible for your subjects, you are. You owe them afterward.† Something glimmered in his golden eyes, just fora moment. It could have been a dagger point ofanger or just a spark of astonishment. There wasa silence. â€Å"It's not thatweird, people taking care of each other,† Maggie said, looking at his shadowed face. â€Å"Doesn't anybody do it here?† He gave a short laugh. â€Å"Hardly,† he said dryly.†The nobles know how to take care of themselves.And the slaves have to fight each other to survive.† He added abruptly, â€Å"All of which you should know.But of course you're not from here. You're fromOutside.† â€Å"I didn't know if you knew about Outside,† Mag gie said. â€Å"There isn't supposed to be any contact. Therewasn't for about five hundred years. But whenmy-when the old king died, they opened the pass,again and started bringing in slaves from the outside world. New blood.† He said it simply andmatter-of-factly. Mountain men, Maggie thought. For years there had been rumors about the Cascades, about menwho lived in hidden places among the glaciers andpreyed on climbers. Men or monsters. There were always hikers who claimed to have seen Bigfoot. And maybe they had-or maybe they'd seen ashapeshifter like Bern. â€Å"And you think that's okay,† she said out loud.†Grabbing people from the outside world and dragging them in here to be slaves.† â€Å"Notpeople.Humans.Humansarevermin;they're not intelligent.† He said it in that same dispassionate tone, looking right at her. â€Å"Are you crazy?†Maggie's fists were clenched; herhead was lowered. Stomping time. She glared upat him through narrowed lashes. â€Å"You're talking to a human right now. Am I intelligent or not?† â€Å"You're a slave without any manners,† he saidcurtly. â€Å"And the law says I could kill you for the way you'retalkingto me.† His voice was so cold, so arrogant†¦but Maggiewas starting not to believe it. That couldn't be all there was to him. Becausehe was the boy in her dream. The gentle, compassionate boy who'd looked ather with a flame of love behind his yellow eyes,and who'd held her with such tender intensity, hisheart beating against hers, his breath on her cheek. That boy had been real-and even if it didn't makeany sense, Maggie was somehow certain of it. And no matter how cold and arrogant this one seemed, they had to be part of each other. It didn't make her less afraid of this one, exactly.But it made her more determined to ignore herfear. â€Å"In my dream,† she said deliberately, advancinga step on him, â€Å"you cared about at least onehuman. You wanted to take care of me.† â€Å"You shouldn't even be allowedto dream aboutme,† he said. His voice wasas tense and grim asever, but as Maggie got closer to him, looking directly up into his face, he did something that amazed her. He fell back a step. â€Å"Why not? Because I'm a slave? I'm a person.† She took another step forward, still looking at him challengingly. â€Å"And I don't believe that you're asbad as you say you are. I think I saw what youwere really like in my dream.† â€Å"You're crazy,† he said. He didn't back up anyfarther, there was nowhere left to go. But his wholebody was taut. â€Å"Why should I want to take care of you?† he added in a cold and contemptuous voice.†What's so special about you?† It was a good question, and for a moment Maggie was shaken. Tears sprang to her eyes. â€Å"I don't know,† she said honestly. â€Å"I'm nobodyspecial. There isn'tany reason for you to care aboutme. But it doesn't matter. You saved my life whenBern was going to kill me, and you gave me waterwhen you knew I needed it. You can talk all youwant, but those are the facts. Maybe you just care about everybody, underneath. Or-â€Å" She never finished the last sentence. As she had been speaking to him, she was doingsomething she always did, that was instinctive to.,her when she felt some strong emotion. She had done it with P.J. and with Jeanne and with Cady. She reached out toward him. And although shewas only dimly aware that he was pulling his handsback to avoid her, she adjusted automatically,catching his wrists†¦. And that was when she lost her voice and whatshe was saying flew out of her head. Because something happened. Something that she couldn't ex plain, that was stranger than secret kingdoms orvampires or witchcraft. It happened justas her fingers closed on hishands. It was the first time they had touched like that, bare skin to bare skin. When he had grabbed her wrist before, her jacket sleeve had been in be tween them. It started as an almost painful jolt, a pulsatingthrill that zigged up her arm and then sweptthrough her body. Maggie gasped, but somehowshe couldn't let go of his hand. Like someone beingelectrocuted, she was frozen in place. The blue fire, she thought wildly. He's doing thesame thing to me that he did to Bern. But the next instant she knew that he wasn't. This wasn't the savage energy that had killed Bern, and it wasn't anything the boy was doing to her. Itwas something being done to both of them, by some incredibly powerful source outside either of them. And it was trying †¦ to open a channel. Thatwas the only way Maggie could describe it. It was blazing a path open in her mind, and connectingit to his. She feltas if she had turned around and unexpectedly found herself facing another person's soul.A soul that was hanging there, without protection,already in helpless communication with hers. It was by far the most intense thing that hadever happened to her. Maggie gasped again, seeingstars, and then her legs melted and she fellforward He caught her, but he couldn't stand up either.Maggie knew that as well as she knew what wasgoing on in her own body. He sank to his knees, holding her. What are you doing to me? It was a thought, but it wasn't Maggie's. It washis. I don't know †¦I'm not doing it †¦ I don't understand!Maggie had no idea how to send herthoughts to another person. But she didn't need to,it was simply happening. A pure line of communication had been opened between them. It was afierce and terrible thing, a bit like being fused together by a bolt of lightning, but it was also so wonderful that Maggie's entire skin was prickling and her mind was hushed with awe. She felt as if she'd been lifted into some new andwonderful place that most people never even saw. The air around her seemed to quiver with invisible wings. This is how people are supposed to be,shethought. Joined like this. Open to each other. Withnothing hidden and no stupid walls between them. A thought came back at her, sharp and quickasa hammer strike. No! It was so cold, so full of rejection, that for a moment Maggie was taken aback. But then she sensedwhat else was behind it. Anger†¦ and fear. He was afraid of this, andof her. He felt invaded. Exposed. Well, I do, too,Maggie said mentally. It wasn'tthat she wasn't afraid. It was that her fear was irrelevant. The force that held them was so much morepowerful than either of them, so immeasurably ancient, that fear was natural but not important. The same light shone through each of them, strippingaway their shields, making them transparent toeach other. It's all right for you. Because you don't have any thing to be ashamed of!The thought flashed by so quickly that Maggie wasn't even sure she hadheard it. What do you mean?she thought. Wait †¦ Delos. That was his name. Delos Redfern. She knew itnow, as unquestionably as she knew the names ofher own family. She realized, too, as a matter of minor importance, an afterthought, that he was a prince. A vampire prince who'd been born to rule this secret kingdom, as the Redfern family had ruled it for centuries. The old king was your father,she said to him. And he died three years ago, when you were fourteen. You've been ruling ever since. He was pulling away from her mentally, trying tobreak the contact between them. It's none of your business, he snarled. Please wait,Maggie said. But as she chased after him mentally, trying to catch him, to help him,something shocking and new happened, like a second bolt of lightning.