Prostate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Prostate - Essay Example Benign prostatic hypertrophy is a nonmalignant growth of the prostate that is generated by overgrowth of the fibromuscular and epithelium flesh of the peri-urethral zone and the transition area. This illness is common in men aged fifty years and above. Its clinical presentation includes obstruction of urine flow, urethra compression, frequent urination, not being able to start urinating and leaking and urgency or dribbling (Zhou, Netto & Epstein, 2012). In regard to diagnostic testing, microscopic hematuria initial evaluation is done on a patient, the presence of palpable induration or nodularity of the prostate on digital rectal assessment reveals the condition. Prostate cancer does not cause any signs at all and can present at any level of the illness. In most cases, the cancer occurs in the prostate gland periphery and the signs arise when they have developed to compress the urethra or attack the sphincter. The prostate cancer presents in urinary tract obstruction (LUTS) symptoms. The LUTS is in three distinct groups associated with the post-micturition symptoms, storage of urine and voiding (Tewari, 2013). In regard to diagnostic testing, prostate cancer is diagnosed using imaging techniques such as MRI to detect tumors that are clinically significant. The treatment of prostatitis is difficult because of the presence of inhibited penetration of most antibiotics across prostatic epithelium and through the non-fenestrated prostatic capillaries to the infected fluids and tissues. The patient must be advised that the preferred drug is fluoroquinolone because of its quality of good penetration through the prostate. The time of antibiotic therapy is usually 2-4 weeks, and that depends on the severe nature of the illness. The patient is then reviewed for clinical symptoms and signs (Koda-Kimble & Alldredge, 2013). When patients suffer from mild symptoms of benign prostatic hypertrophy there no need for alarm but they should be

CanGo Essay Example for Free

CanGo Essay Issue 1: No clear strategy for expansion CanGo has had its success, and now they are looking into the future. Their question is, â€Å"What’s going to help them grow?† and as Liz said, â€Å"Turn them into a mighty oak.† CanGo recognizes that branching out and delving into new territory will be profitable and its popular with investors since they’re thinking of going for an IPO. The possibilities of adding e-books, streaming audio and video is hip but they also recognize that the online gaming industry is on the cutting edge for growth. With all of the brainstorming ideas CanGo has they do recognize there’s a scarcity of resources such as capital and people. Recommendation: The management team at CanGo is full of ideas related to expanding its product line. Liz has mentioned the possibility of E-books, music and video, and Andrew suggests online gaming. Expansion is just one topic, as the company is considering offering IPO (initial public offering). The brass is contemplating major decisions without professional guidance. The employees will soon be asked to juggle more responsibilities, without the appropriate resources. CanGo should seek additional consultation specific to the objectives it wants to achieve. In addition, the company must consider the risk and where to allocate resources to be maximize profit. Furthermore, there will have to be some degree of advertising and marketing to generate interests. CanGo feels that the best way to handle new ventures is to use in-house employees. Pulling employees from jobs they are already doing will no doubt take away from quality. We recommend that Warren and Liz take into consideration the opportunity cost of expanding at this time. Will the benefits outweigh the cost of expanding. Issue 2: No capital for expansion CanGo must consider how to combine its limited resources to produce the best mix of goods and services. A cost-benefit analysis will help them measure the cost and the benefits correctly. They will need to think about two types of analysis (1) Marginal Analysis and (2) Cost-Benefit Analysis. Recommendation: Performing a marginal analysis will examine how the costs and benefits change in response to their incremental changes in actions. Any additional action that CanGo does will bring about additional cost so, type of analysis will determine if the expected benefits of their actions exceed the added cost. It was mentioned casually that the only source of capital as an IPO. This point was expounded upon by the poor sandwiches being provided. I don’t think Warren made the comment to be rude, but to illustrate the point that financial capitol is limited – especially in terms of expansion. CanGo is generating interest in its industry and community. The time is ripe to offer an initial public offering. CanGo needs professional guidance in analyzing what is value and assess the possibilities of an IPO. It may consider taking advantage of its success in Japan. CanGo’s IPO does not have to be confined to its locality; it has to start thinking international in scope. Its popularity in Japan alone may generate the capitol necessary to expand in product, personnel, and infrastructure.

Effects of globalization in singapore

Effects of globalization in singapore For more than 40 years, Singapore has enjoyed economic success, allowing Singaporeans to have a raised quality of life and standard of living. However, due to this increase in standard of living, this has caused income disparity (Yeoh, 2007/2008) among Singaporeans, between the low income families and the high income families. This widening income gap was due to the side effects of the Singapore governments pro growth policies (Yeoh, 2007/2008). However, the income gap was pushed even more by globalisation and the recessions from December 2007 until now, 2011. This caused the depression the unskilled workers salaries while inflating the skilled workers salaries. Thus, this caused the widening income gap in Singapore. Due to the widening income gap, Singaporeans have become more aware of the differences in income among Singaporeans, which causes them to be more â€Å"class-conscious†. If the widening income gap continues to widen would cause unthinkable economic, social and political impacts in Singapore. The main challenge policy makers face today is to seek a balance between income disparity reduction, economic growth and budget feasibility (Yeoh, 2007/2008). The policies are mainly to help the lower income families with the proper opportunities in order for them to move up the social and financial ladder. Policy makers should be aware that an overly egalitarian approach towards reducing income inequality is suboptimal. On the whole, the government needs to face the issue of widening income gap with an emphatic heart and mind, thinking for the needs of the people. BACKGROUND Singapore, which used to be a small fishing village, has done well in the last decades of the twentieth century to rise from an entreport centre to be a global city and a developed nation. It had resolved most issues pertaining to underdevelopment and had developed the needed institutions to prepare its survival in the twenty-first century. From 2000-2008, these years mark the period in which globalization as a process affected all parts of the world. These years were significant politically, socially and economically for Singapore. (Amaldas, 2009) One part in this paper that we would like to focus on is the issue of the widening income gap in Singapore. In this paper, we would be discussing about how the widening income gap is linked to globalisation and what measures are used to solve it, as well as the impacts and reasons for the manifestation of widening income gap. Globalization is defined as the free movements of goods, services and capital across borders. It is a contentious process by which the western market economies have effectively spread across the globe. Although it does not constitute a new phenomenon, it is viewed as an inexorable integration of markets, nations and technologies to a degree never witnessed before in a way that is enabling individuals, and corporations to reach around the world further, faster, deeper and more economically than ever before (Heshmati, 2003). Globalization causes rapid changes in trade relations, financial flows, and mobility of labour across the world. The development has brought the economies of developed countries closer together and more strongly interrelated. However, there is a large heterogeneity in the degree of globalization process over time and across countries and regions. This heterogeneity causes disparity in development and urges the need for research to find sources of disparity and quantification of its magnitude and impacts (Heshmati, 2003). Many scholars regard globalization as a force which will inevitably bring about the decline (Held, 1995), erosion (Hall, 1991) or the end (Ohmae, 1995) of the nation-state. As the argument goes, the process of globalization in its various manifestations is increasingly undermining the territorial boundedness, sovereignty and traditional role of the existing system of the modern nation-state. With other major countries such as America and India facing the problem of the widening income gap as their countries continue to evolve, one major aim of this paper is to understand the risks of the widening income gap if Singapore ever falls into the trap with the advancement of our country. WIDENING INCOME GAP Economic inequality (or wealth and income differences) comprises all disparities in the distribution of economic assets and income. Widening income gap refers to the differences of income received by the employees and is a global phenomenon caused by globalisation. Due to globalisation, the elite and higher-educated are coveted for their expertise, hence the demand for these professionals causes their salary to be raised higher. Those at the lower-income group however suffer from globalisation as the jobs available are scarce; hence, their salaries are pushed lower because many people are fighting for the same job. This is called widening income gap. The Gini coefficient is a standard measure of income inequality. It is given as a means of multiple observations for a given country in a given year. The multiplicity of observations is due to the different definitions of income, area coverage and units of measurement (Heshmati, 2003). The Gini Coefficient ranges between 0, where there is no concentration which is perfect equality, and 1 where there is total concentration which is perfect inequality (Slack and Rodrigue, 1998). Absolute poverty is where people do not have sufficient access to food, shelter, and clothing to provide a basic level of physical and mental development (Duncan, 2000). National Household Income In Singapore, the household income from work in 2010 increased due to strong economic growth. Median monthly household income from work in 2010 recovered to above the level before the economic downturn in 2009. Among resident households, median monthly income from work increased by 3.1 per cent from $4,850 in 2009 to $5,000 in 2010 (Table 1); in real terms, the increase was 0.3 per cent (Department of Statistics Singapore, 2010). Table 1 Monthly Household Income from Work Among Resident Households Year Median Household Income Average Household Income Dollar Nominal Change (%) Real Change (%) Dollar Nominal Change (%) Real Change (%) 2000 3,638 3.9 2.6 4,988 5.7 4.2 2001 3,860 6.1 5.0 5,338 7.0 5.9 2002 3,628 -6.0 -5.6 5,069 -5.0 -4.7 2003 3,601 -0.7 -1.2 5,075 0.1 -0.4 2004 3,689 2.4 0.8 5,194 2.3 0.7 2005 3,860 4.6 4.1 5,447 4.9 4.4 2006 4,000 3.6 2.6 5,715 4.9 3.9 2007 4,375 9.4 7.1 6,295 10.1 7.9 2008 4,946 13.1 6.0 7,086 12.6 5.6 2009 4,850 -1.9 -2.5 6,826 -3.7 -4.2 2010 5,000 3.1 0.3 7,214 5.7 2.8 Source: Department of Statistics Singapore (2011) â€Å"Key Household Income Trends, 2010† Among employedhousehold, with at least one working person, median monthly income from work increased by 5.7 per cent in nominal terms (from $5,400 in 2009 to $5,700 in 2010) and 2.8 per cent in real terms (Table 2). Table 2 Monthly Household Income from Work Among Employed Households Year Median Household Income Average Household Income Dollar Nominal Change (%) Real Change (%) Dollar Nominal Change (%) Real Change (%) 2000 4,000 5.3 3.9 5,456 7.0 5.6 2001 4,141 3.5 2.5 5,736 5.1 4.1 2002 4,038 -2.5 -2.1 5,572 -2.9 -2.5 2003 4,050 0.3 -0.2 5,618 0.8 0.3 2004 4,106 1.4 -0.3 5,761 2.5 0.9 2005 4,345 5.8 5.3 6,052 5.1 4.6 2006 4,495 3.5 2.5 6,280 3.8 2.8 2007 4,883 8.6 6.4 6,889 9.7 7.4 2008 5,475 12.1 5.2 7,752 12.5 5.5 2009 5,398 -1.4 -2.0 7,549 -2.6 -3.2 2010 5,704 5.7 2.8 8,058 6.7 3.8 Source: Department of Statistics Singapore (2011) â€Å"Key Household Income Trends, 2010† Overall, the monthly household income has increased in Singapore in the year 2010. However, there are differences in the increase between the lower-income families and the higher-income families which cause the widening income gap in Singapore. Gini Coefficient The income gap between household incomes from work per household member among employed households increased marginally in 2010. The Gini coefficient, increased slightly in 2010. In particular, including employer CPF contributions5, the Gini coefficient was 0.472 in 2010, compared to 0.471 in 2009 (Figure 1). Adjusting in addition for government benefits and taxes, the Gini coefficient was 0.452 in 2010 (Yeoh, 2007/2008). Source: Department of Statistics Singapore (2011) â€Å"Key Household Income Trends, 2010† Figure 2 below shows the Gini coefficient5 trend for Singapore from 1974 to 2006. Figure 2. Singapore Gini Coefficient from 1974 2007 Data from 2000 2007:Department of Statistics Singapore (2008)Source: Data from 1975 1999: Mukhopadhaya, Pundarik (2001) LINK BETWEEN GLOBALISATION AND WIDENING INCOME GAP What role has globalisation played in changes in income inequality? Most research on this issue has been concentrated in recent years on the changes in income inequality in the high-income countries. Discussion has mainly focussed on whether the widening wage gap is due to increased imports of labour intensive goods from developing countries (pushing down demand for low-wage labour) or technological change—in particular, improvements in information technology (increasing demand for high-skilled labour relative to demand for low-skilled labour). But besides these two factors, other factors thought to contribute are: slower growth in the supply of skilled workers (pushing up their wages relative to the wages of less-skilled workers); increased workforce participation of women and increased immigration of low skilled workers (pushing down wages of less-skilled labour); and the waning powers of trade unions (for a survey of the literature, see Tyers, Duncan and Martin 1999). Economics research generally gives more support to improvements in technology as being most important, and much more important than increased trade with developing countries (see Tyers, Duncan, and Martin 1999). Low and middle income countries account for about 80 per cent of the worlds industrial workforce and manufactures comprise about 60 per cent of their exports (up from 20 per cent in the 1960s). In line with predictions from economic theory, Williamson (1997) argues that the increased flow of labour-intensive goods and unskilled labour from developing countries to high-income countries in the latter half of the 20th Century reduced demand for lowskilled labour in the high-income countries, increasing income inequality in these countries. He argues that this is consistent with the Heckscher-Ohlin trade model that says that trade will tend to equalise factor payments, leading to greater cross-country income equality for low-skilled labour, increasing income inequality in the high-income countries, and increasing income equality in the lower-income countries. More importantly, he notes that in the earlier golden period of globalisation (1870 to 1913), the growing income inequality in the then higher income countries led to the reversal of globalisation (including restrictions on immigration) and the devastating 1921-38 period. REASONS FOR WIDENING INCOME GAP The underlying characteristic for the recent growing disparity is the difference in income growth for the bottom 20% and top 20% households (Yeoh, 2007/2008). Table 3 illustrates the different income growth rates for each income group since 2000. Table 3. Annual Income Growth for Various Income Groups Income Groups Real Annual Change in Average Monthly Household Income per Household Member (%) 2000 2005 2005 2006 2006 2007 Bottom 10% 2.4 6.6 3.3 Bottom 11 20% 0.5 5.2 3.6 Top 11 20% 3.7 5.7 6.0 Top 10% 4.3 8.0 11.1 Source: Department of Statistics Singapore (2008). Key Household Income Trends 2007. Generally, the bottom 20% experienced slower growth rates than the top 20% of income earners during 2000 to 2007. Moreover, the ratio of average income of the top 20% to lowest 20%8 worsened from 9.99 in 2000 to 12.90 in 2007. Hence, these ratios show a widening income disparity between top and bottom income earners. Economists have also noted an understated stagnation of income amongst the middle class households that form the middle 60% of the income ladder. However, more employed households have moved up the social and financial ladder in 2007 as compared to 2006 (Yeoh, 2007/2008). There are differences between the different racial groups in Singapore as well. Table 4 below shows the income changes for each racial group in 2000 and 2005. Table 4. Income of the Major Racial Groups in Singapore Chinese Malays Indians Others 2000 2005 2000 2005 2000 2005 2000 2005 Average Monthly Household Income from Work ($) 5220 5630 3150 3440 4560 5170 7250 7250 Change (%) 7.9% 9.2% 13.4% 17.2% Source: Department of Statistics Singapore (2006) â€Å"General Household Survey 2005 Statistical Release 2: Transport,Overseas Travel, Housing and Household Characteristics†. As depicted in Table 4, the wage difference between the Malays and other races remain very alarming. From 2000 to 2005, among all the racial groups in Singapore, Malays had the lowest increase in income as compared to other races. With regard to income disparity between occupations, skilled professionals continue to earn more than unskilled workers, and have extended their lead further since 1996. Figure 3 below shows the ratio of the respective occupations wages to the unskilled occupations wages. Hence, this relative stagnation of wage growth amongst the unskilled would certainly have an effect on the widening income disparity between the two ends of the occupational spectrum as shown in Figure 3. IMPACTS OF WIDENING INCOME GAP Singaporeans are mainly concerned about the inflation which has raised about 3%-4% this year (Channelnews 17 February 2011) and skyrocketed housing prices in Singapore. Thus, many Singaporeans are unable to retire as they do not have the financial stability to sustain the high cost of living without being employed. According to the survey carried out by The Straits Times, this is the income gap situation: The average incomes of the top 20 per cent of households rose by 53 per cent from $12,091 to $18,472 from 1997/98 to 2007/08. By comparison, the average incomes of the poorest 20 per cent of households were kept down as a result of globalization, competition from emerging economies and new technology. They fell by 2.7 per cent over the same period from $1,309 to $1,274. The living conditions of the lower income households in Singapore will cause them to lose enthusiasm and motivation for work, thus the productivity will decrease and in turn lead to stagnation of the economy. In the short run, the large proportion of the poor and their lower marginal propensity to consume will lead to a lower injection multiplier and possible slower growth. In the long run, if the widening income gap in Singapore is done put to a stop, many people will fall into the poverty trap. As George Orwell laments, â€Å"Being poor isnt about not having anything today, it is about knowing youll have nothing tomorrow.† Inequality and injustice in the society will also make people gradually lose national cohesion, and hence menace to act as a centrifugal force that tears the social fabric of our nation apart. The long-term stability of Singapores society will be severely disturbed. The widening income gap is inclined to inflict social cohesion and undermine trust in the society. At the same time, it will impair social capital thus compromise the stability of the society. Uslaner Brown found a correlation between the amount of trust and the amount of income equality. It can be explained that people can gain sense of security from high income equality therefore they are expected to trust each other. A related study by Putnam also demonstrated that economic equality tends to lead to a high level of social capital (or â€Å"connections among individuals†). People will show a tendency of engaging others and hence strong social connectedness and civic engagement can be forged. (Uslaner and Brown, 2002). In view of the squeeze on income of middle class, the incessant wide income gap will also produce more ‘quitters which is a term popularized by Singapores then Prime Minister Mr. Goh Chok Tong. This word indicates that the rich nowadays are more globally-connected but less locally-disengaged (Goodman, 2003).The well-heeled are more likely to show off their conspicuous wealth and this pushes the government to loosen its tightfisted stance on welfare in the national budget as it tries to defuse criticism of its policies which burdened the plight of the common people. On the other hand, the enduring income disparity will impel the middle class to seek greener pastures overseas thus choose to emigrate. In the long run, the economic development and competitiveness of Singapore will be suppressed due to the resultant brain-drain. According to Yeoh â€Å"A new social compact for Singapore†, rising income equality will impair the governments credibility in imposing policies as well such as raising income tax rates. It is significant that we have already seen public outcry and debate on such policies. The implicit social contract between the people and the government supports Singapores remarkable economic success. The widening income gap and the perception that a large proportion of the population has little access to the growth process and no share in the prosperity despite their ability and willingness to work has slowly but surely eroded this social contract. The ramifications of such a perception is indeed as the policymakers noted: â€Å"society would learn that economic growth would not always be the answer, and would begin to question and debate priorities and trade-offs†¦the policy issues that need to be re-examined are largely social and political.† This in turn translates into the shattering of the implicit social contract the ruling party has with its electorate, making it increasingly hard for the government to execute unpopular policies. Already we are hearing a chorus of dissent over recent policy decisions such as the ministerial wage hikes or the Goods and Service Tax increase, as well as the inextinguishable calls for increasing political openness, freedom to stage outdoor protests, among others. The present-day influence of rising income inequality will create a class-conscious Singapore. The widening income gap and the wage stagnation threaten to destabilize the society as well as weaken the economy. Rising income disparity is also likely to arouse the social discontentment, reduce the credibility of the government as well as increase emigration of middle class. POLICIES IMPLEMENTED Growing the Economy and Maximising Opportunities GPC Chair for Community Development, Youth and Sports Seah Kian Peng said: One part is to keep the economy running and booming like what it is now, just like what we have experienced last year. What it means is that unemployment is very low and we know that the majority of people are earning a salary and as the economy booms, the government will be in a position to also, in any budget, consider how it could possibly distribute and share the growth with as many Singaporeans as possible. We have to focus on growth and embrace globalisation, but manage its downsides and make it work for everyone. We will do this by maximising opportunities for all Singaporeans — the opportunities to get a good education, to work or grow a business, to retrain yourself and upgrade, and to own your own home. We must maximise opportunities for all, but we must also accept that doing so does not result in equal rewards for all. We should never reduce the incentive for Singaporeans to work and to make the most of their skills and talents, so as to get higher reward for themselves. That has to be the basis for our society, for how we keep our economy growing, and for how living standards of Singaporeans can rise over time.† In conclusion, our first priority to help the low-income group is to grow the economy. It is essential to attract new investments, grow new businesses, and create new and better paying jobs to replace old ones. As we grow the economy, it is important to ensure that no one is left behind and that all Singaporeans have the opportunity to succeed. Over the years, the Government has been helping the lower-income groups through various assistance measures. Since 2001, the Government has distributed more than $7.5 billion through the Progress Package, U-Save and SCC rebates, CPF top-ups and New Singapore Shares, to share budget surpluses with Singaporeans. In all these distributions, deliberate efforts were made to ensure that the lower-income groups get the greatest benefits. But going forward, we have to do more to help needy Singaporeans, and to do it more systematically. This is one of the challenges that the government faces and have to solve. Government Schemes Over the years, Singapore has introduced various schemes such as GST Credits, Senior Citizen Bonus and rebates on utilities, rental and service and conservancy charges. The GST (Goods Service Tax) is one of the ways to help the lower-income families affected by the widening age gap. A zero-rate Goods and Services Tax (GST) policy on household essentials is an effective measure to help lower-income families. Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, said: The bulk of the GST is collected from the top 40 per cent of the population and foreigners †¦ and we use the benefit to help those at the lower end. So if you talk about exempting food or any other essentials from GST, youre really taking away a source of revenue were getting mainly from those at the upper end and foreigners and reducing our ability to help those at the lower end. He added that lower-income Singaporeans get more Government benefits each year than the amount they pay in GST. The government has also revamped their policies and more citizens are now able to receive payouts and rebates according to their income. On average, the various government schemes added $1,110 per household member to resident households in 2010. The various government schemes gave a larger boost to those staying in smaller housing types. Resident households in HDB 1- and 2-room flats received an average of $2,650 per household member while resident households in HDB 3-room flats received an average of $1,480 per household member. This was higher than the $530 per household member for households in private properties. With the subsidies, it ensures that the lower-income group will be less burdened with debts for housing and other utilities. POLICIES THAT SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED Singapore needs policies which can help the needy, disadvantaged and poor, in order to increase their income and reduce the widening income gap in Singapore. However, at the same time the government must not compromise economic growth and funding sustainability. Basically, Singapore has to find a perfect balance between income equality, strong economic growth and prudence in finances, where income disparity can be reduced without affecting growth prospects and budget discipline (Yeoh, 2007/2008). Expanding the Work fare of Older Workers The Workfare Income Supplement scheme (WIS) seems to be the policy that is able to have the balance and is able to cover the middle ground. The scheme is laudable even though a large amount of money is involved, in the form of quantum of pay. This policy reduces the income disparity by raising income levels of the lower income workers, and encourages long term employment (Yeoh, 2007/2008). It is argued that the current net payout of around $80 to $100 per month is insufficient for workers to accumulate surplus for further training and education (Yeoh Kam Leong, 2007). To address this problem, the WIS scheme also provides opportunities for worker

The Passion of Mountain Bikes :: Mountain Bikes Transportation Essays

The Passion of Mountain Bikes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It has been a decade in the making, but the mountain bike has become a passion for many people. Along with this passion it has also become the most environmental way to get from point A to B. It has gone through a very intense evolution process over the past decade.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It all started with some guys from California who took their bikes out for a ride on their day off, they modified their bikes and turned a hobby of theirs into a worldwide phenomenon. The mountain bike's rapid increase in popularity was influenced by social and economic situations, and by technological improvements that had the needs of bike riders in mind. The introduction of the mountain bike at a bike convention in Long Beach, California, early in the 1980's coincided with the need for a bike that combined technical superiority, ease of care, and multipurpose use.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Technological advances came extremely fast after it's introduction into the world. The advances have made riding mountain bikes easier, which makes it possible for the rider to explore new terrain. I hope that this report will be able to provide some information on the subject of mountain bikes and the advances in technology that the bike has gone through, and what might be in the future of the mountain bike.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The road bike has taken more than a hundred years to evolve into the frame that it is being used on todays bicycle. Because of the increasingly popularity of the mountain bike the demand for advances to be made have come very rapidly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The evolution of the mountain bike has been a stormy one over the past decade. Within one decade the design has changed radically; this is due to three reasons. First , because geometry and design were copied from the first "Stone- Age bikes"; second, because off-road riding created different problems ; and third, because innovative frame design mirrored the "spirit of the times": young, new, dynamic, and strong. The off-road bike required extra stability. Frame   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is important to know the basic frame geometry and how to measure it. The combination of tube length and angle determines not only the maneuverability of the bike, but also determines the seating position and the transfer of power. Variances of 1 ° of the headset angle, or a 1' (2cm) difference in the distance between the rear-wheel axle and the center of the bottom bracket, can have very serious consequences. Frame Geometry   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The basic elements of frame geometry are: A- Height of the seat tube; B- Length of the top tube; C- Seat-tube angle; D- Headset-tube angle; E- Trail, F-

Details About HRM

As human resource management is concerned with the people dimension in organization, at first, we should know organization in detail. Organizations are human associations in which two or more people seek to achieve a common goal or set of goals. In other word, organizations are established by the people and for the people. It consists of people working together through interrelationships and interactions. Organizations are created to achieve different goals. To achieve goals it should run various activities. Therefore an organization must consist of a structure, which defines jobs and relationships. In organization, different levels and division of jobs are defined to achieve specialization through division of labours. Organization design and job descriptions are the part of organizational structure, which limit the behaviour of the members in organizations. Organizations depend on people to make them operate. An organization is nothing without resources. If we remove the employees from the organization, there is nothing but a pile raw material, machines, and physical commodities. Organization consists of the combination of different resources, among which human resource is the superior. But how did these people come to be employees in the organizations; How were they found and selected? Why do they come to work on a regular basis? Hoe do they know what to do on their jobs? How does management know if the employees are performing adequately? It they are not, what can be done about it? Answers of these questions lie in the subject of human resource management. But before we attempt to understand how and organization should manage its human resources, we need to answer the generic question, what is management? Management is the process of efficiently getting work activities completed with and through other people. An organization consists of goals and limited resources. To achieve goals, different activities are to be done. As there is limited resources, to get activities completed, the resources should be allocated properly. Simply, management is the act of allocating scare resources to achieve goals and getting required activities completed with and through other people. The management process includes the planning, organizing, leading and controlling activities that take place to accomplish bjectives. Managing people in an organization is human resource management. Since every organization is made up of people, acquiring their services, developing their skills, motivating them to high levels of performance and ensuring that they continue to maintain their commitment to the organization are essential to achieving organizational objectives. This is true regardless of the type of organizat ion-government, business, education, health or social organizational objectives. This is true regardless of the type of organization-government, business, education, health or social welfare. Organizational effectiveness depends largely on the performance of people working in organizations. Management concerned to increase in performance of human resources is human resource management. It aims at achieving organizational goals through improvements in the productive contribution of people. It is concerned with philosophy, principles and practices related to human aspects of management. It keeps balance between the goals of organization and the goals of the individual.

Fundamentals of Interior Design Essay Example

Fundamentals of Interior Design Essay Example Fundamentals of Interior Design Essay Fundamentals of Interior Design Essay Name: Instructor: Course: Date: : Fundamentals of Interior Design 1. Gestalt refers to a broad description of the theories that make accord and diversity achievable in interior design. This theory is involved with understanding the art psychology as well as visual perception. Gestalt is concerned with the relationships between the whole and parts of the whole composition. Its principles may include proximity, symmetry and similarity among others. 2. (a) Vertical lines-They suggest a feeling of superiority and divinity. Lines drawn erect bring a perception of extending upwards to the sky. They are common in public buildings such as cathedrals. (b) Horizontal lines-They suggest a feeling of repose as objects similar to the world are deemed at rest. (c) Diagonal lines-They suggest a sense of movement in a particular direction. They look like they are about to fall or are in motion (Dodsworth 12). In two dimensions, diagonal lines indicate depth. (d) Curved lines-Shallow curves present an aspect of safety and relaxation. Curves also have a pleasing quality, as they are similar to body curves. 3. Two-dimensional form is shapes having two aspects that are height and width for example the flat surface of drawings, paintings and images. Three-dimensional form are shapes with three aspects-length, width and depth. These forms can exist in actual space as an illusion of mass and volume on a two dimensional surface. 4. Texture refers to the actual or visual qualities that any work of art posses. Texture may be felt on the materials used to create art or perceived by an individual as mimicking the surface of another substance. 5. A pattern is a type of decoration design that is recurring in a predictable manner. 6. Ornaments are accessories used to beautify parts of an object. They are usually adorned by models or used to embellish buildings. 7. Opacity is the degree to which an object is unable to allow light to penetrate it. 8. Transparency is the property of an object that allows light to be fully transmitted through it. 9. Translucency is the property of an object that allows partial transmission of light because of diffusive properties. 10. Scale refers to how an object relates to the size of another object compared to it for example a large sofa in a small room. Proportion refers to the ratio between the sizes of objects while size refers to how big or small an object is. 11. Radial symmetry refers to a body plan where an objected can be divided into equal halves along a central axis while bilateral symmetry is a body plan in which the right and left sides of the body can be split into similar images along the midline. Chapter 9: Materials and Their Uses 1. Structural elements are major parts of a project or work that forms the foundation and ensures the stability of buildings or other objects for example trusses and columns while non-structural elements comprise of elements of a building that are not part of the main load-supporting system. 2. Masonry is the technical profession of erecting structures by binding them together with mortar. Masons use concrete, cement and cast stone as their main materials (Dodsworth 56). 3. Natural materials are products that originate from animals, plants or the Earth. They can be extracted through mining such as wood, cotton and copper. 4. Processed materials are products that have been developed by humans from raw materials for example paper from wood. 5. Synthetic materials are products created through scientific means as a substitute for the natural materials for example nylon and polyester. 6. Softwood trees are conifers, evergreen and gymnosperm for example pines, Cedar, Cypress 7. Hardwood trees are deciduous and are found in cold climates for example oak, Mapel and mahogany. 8. Veneers are the thin pieces of wood usually less than three millimeters that are glued to medium density core panels to produce flat surfaces. 9. The type and size of screws to be used on a project have to be considered. The screws should be able to hold both boards in place without splitting the wood or poking out. The methods of connecting wood must be determined that is should one use a dovetail, butt of mortise and tenon joint (Dodsworth 34). Chapter 12: Textiles 1. Cotton and wool 2. Polyester and Rayon 3. Calendaring and crease-resistant finishes. The purpose of finishes is to perform treatments and other processes that make a fabric suitable for its proposed use. 4. carbon based as well as cellulose based fibers 5.Calendering where fabric is pressed under high temperatures while folded. Secondly, decatising entailing the permanent finish to avert shrinkage in future use of fabric. Chapter 5: The Design Process 1. The Beaux Arts method refers to a teaching curriculum in the study of architecture that was developed by Ecole des Beaux-Arts and which involves instructing students in an atelier environment an also includes observational drawing, systematic design methodology and architectural drafting among other subjects. 2. Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is a statistical instrument that illustrates the different tasks required for the completion of a project. 3. Critical path method (CPM) is an algorithm used to schedule the different project activities in project management. 4. Concept art is an illustration of art with the purpose of conveying an image representation of an idea or design before it is actualized in a film or book. Concept sketches are therefore the representations of people’s ideas in sketches. 5. Axonometric drawing is the creation of images where the object is rotated along one or more of its axes comparative to the level surface of projection. 6. Blueprints contain scales that are read by an engineer’s ruler. They also contain contour lines and benchmarks to how if the ground will be graded or not. They also show the entire scope of the project, as well as the required materials and equipment. Chapter 1, Introduction 1. Residential – 43% Commercial or industrial – 37% Institutional – 15% Miscellaneous – 5% Work Cited Pile, John F, and Arnold Friedmann. Interior Design. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.

Expert Tips on Comic Book Script Format Writing

Expert Tips on Comic Book Script Format Writing Comic Book Script Format Writing Tips Comic Book Script Format Writing Tips Nowadays, people can easily find different forms of entertainment online. Watching movies, videos, listening to the music can easily replace reading books, magazines and comic books. At present, comic books suffer the most, as they can easily be found online and there is no need for readers to leave their homes to go to the store and spend money for things they can get for free. Nevertheless, writing comics still remains one of the most popular tasks among many people. Why is it so? The answer is simple; many individuals want to escape from the reality of the world they are living in by engaging in comic books reading. Numerous, so-called, escapists find this way of spending time interesting and quite exciting. However, comic book writing can become even more exciting than reading it. If you want to know how to write a comic book or learn more about comic book script format, our article will be helpful! Expert Advices How to Write a Comic Script If you do not know how to write a comic but you really want to try, follow the steps described below. Our comic book writing tips will show you where to start. Before writing a comic book, you should answer some questions: What the comic is going to be about? Who are the main characters and what are they going to do? Every story, whether it is a novel or just a comic, is based on some event and some characters. People, creatures, etc. you describe in your comic book will form a core of your story. That is why it is extremely important to pay particular attention to them. Remember that readers will not necessarily remember the plot of your book or some background details. The only thing they may memorize is your character. Do you know what the first book in the series of comics about Batman is about? Probably not. However, everyone knows who Batman is. Just like that, you should create a memorable character who will be bright and interesting enough to remember. Besides, you should work on the dialogs and monologs to give your character temper and to make people better understand whom they are dealing with. As an example, you can take any comic book character outline and see what makes him/her/it special. However, make sure you do not duplicate anything. No one is interested in one more Superman. Specific feature of comic writing is that it requires drawing. It is not only about writing a good plot but also about visual presentation of your heroes. If you do not know how to become a comic book writer, you should remember that it requires two components: writing and drawing skills. Sure, you can involve a good artist to help you but you will need to make him/her interested enough to start working with you. Still, do not upset, if your character seems a bit silly at first. Even professionals try different prototypes before they come up with a single image of a main character. In order to write a really fascinating comic book, you should know how to write a comic book script. It is not as simple as it may seem. Sure, you can find tons of information on how to write comics online but much of it can confuse you. If you choose to follow out outline, the next step will be to create a plot of your story. In other words, you will have to think about what to do with your characters. One interesting thing about writing a comic book is that you should now start if you do not know how the story is going to end! Just think about it. If you know the ending, it will be easier for you to bring your characters there. Moreover, it will be easier for you to create a reasonable chronology and write logical informative and interesting dialogues. So, try to start your story with creating its ending. The other tip regarding comic book plot is that you have to think about a storyline, which will be understandable without much text in it. Do not forget that comics are mostly about watching then reading. To reach success in comic script writing, the characters should also be placed in specific timeframes and location. This method will have you to stay focused and will also make it easier for you to create a background of the story. You will not be drawing castles if the events of your story occur at present times in, let us say, New York. You can look for comic book scripts for artists online to understand the specific of this genre better. Still, the thing to remember is that every step described above will lead you to creation of an interesting plot with memorable characters. Format of a comic book is one of its most essential parts. If you have created an interesting character and managed to come up with a fascinating timeline, it does not mean that you can sit and write a comic book right away. The deal is that every comic book requires following a specific format. Marvel Studio is one of the most professional studios in relation to comic books creation. So, if you want to know how to write a comic book outline, you should definitely check on marvel comic book scripts. They will give you understanding not only of format but also of how to create without exaggeration outstanding heroes and stories. The most important thing is not to turn your comic into a novel with illustrations. If you see that writing is what makes most of your story, maybe you should try writing a novel instead of a comic book? Comic book writing requires mastering of its script format. Only if you know how to present your ideas properly, you will be able to come up with something worthy. The difficulty of a script format is in that; the text you write should express not only what the character speaks but also how it is done. For example, small-size letters will stand for whispering, while capital letter can express screaming. Text in dialog panel will represent actual talking, while the text outside of it can show what the character thinks about or represent some general background information. It is also important to remember that the dialog panels should have prefixes so the reader could distinguish who says what on a picture. Yes, do not forget that you will also need to learn how to represent sound visually! The basics described in this article will help you to make your first steps towards becoming a great comic writer!

Internment Camps essays

Internment Camps essays It prompted America's entry into World War II. It took citizens by surprise. It grabbed President Franklin D. Roosevelt's concern. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. American battleships Arizona, Tennessee, West Virginia, and California were sunk. As a result over 2,400 American soldiers and civilians were killed and even more injured. After prior mobilization for war, the action taken by the Japanese prompted America's attention to war efforts. Meanwhile, President Roosevelt feared the Japanese American's were capable of sabotage. Roosevelt, on February 19, 1942, signed Executive Order 9066. This called for the eviction and internment of all Japanese Americans. The Japanese were housed in what are known as the Japanese American Internment Camps (internment camps). This decision made, in part, by President Roosevelt would have a lasting affect on the Japanese Americans. The executive order given by Roosevelt gives insight on the purpose for the relocation of the Japanese. The order states that 'successful prosecution of war? means implementing ever system necessary to protect America from espionage and sabotage of the national-defense system (?Executive Order? 1). The fact that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor made the Japanese Americans suspect of this sabotage. Roosevelt gave the Secretary of War authorization to use any and all Executive Departments, Independent establishments, and other Federal Agencies in his activation of this executive order (?Executive Order? 1). The military felt that Japanese Americans would be able to help the Japanese invasion more so than any other Americans(?Executive Order? 1). Authority begin to put in order organizations to assist in the relocation. There were several organizations created to assist the evacuation and relocation of the Japanese. The U.S. government accepted the responsibility of reestablishing the lives of the Japanese. To carry out this responsibility, the Presi...

SKT2LIt review for nursing research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

SKT2LIt review for nursing - Research Paper Example The physician may have coined this leads to increased cases of alteration of the original medical instruction as. The increased lawsuit cases against healthcare institutions charged with malpractices is attributed to patient’s inability to process and comprehend medical information from nurses (Nutbeam, 2000). This problem therefore affects the administration of nursing facilities as it does the nurses and the patients due to the financial commitments they have to make during these lawsuits. Health literacy among patients is thus a problem whose impacts affect a wide group of individuals with impacts that can cost a life, affect the image of a facility or even break the career of a nursing professional. Based on the impacts of this problem, the formulation of solutions and methods of improving the literacy levels of patients should be developed promptly. The complexity of health issues continue to rise and this makes it significant to create methods of providing prompt solutio ns to the problem to help mitigate the impacts that it has in the nursing profession and the entire health profession (Scheckel, Emery and Nosek, 2010). Symptoms of problem Health literacy has no direct correlation with educational literacy as many may believe and this has resulted into lack of development of proper methods of addressing the problem. Understanding medical terms and instructions require a medical background, which is only available among the health workers. To help cushion nurses from taking responsibility for health related errors committed by patients, there is increased need to evaluate ways of improving health literacy among the general population. This will also help reduce the number of lawsuits against health facilities for mistakes committed because of low literacy levels of the patients, a situation that the hospital administration may lack proper ability to solve (Baker, 2006). There is a lot of evidence to illustrate the grave consequences of low health li teracy levels among residents of the United States and how this affects the general nursing profession. The lack of limited health vocabulary among patients compounded by facile use of medical terms by nursing professionals is responsible for increased health illiteracy and complications. A number of empirical evidence available in the country demonstrates the impacts of health literacy level on improved patient’s care. In the early 80s, patients in the United States who were diagnosed with asthma were given instructions to take theophylline regularly and to ensure diligence in following appointments as made by the nurses (Baker et al., 2002). According to Gormley-Fleming and Campbell (2011) the theophllyne prescription given to the patients were written scientifically and thus required a certain level of literacy for the patients to understand. The level of patient literacy at this time was attributed to the increased development of theophylline resistance among the general population attributed to lack of clear adherence to the instructions. Today, patients are given instructions to monitor their own disease using a peak flow meter, while making selections and correct use of appropriate inhalers. Further instructions may require the patients to augment the therapies with oral doses of steroid to help exuberate their asthma. Understanding this kind of instructions require advanced literacy levels among patients as any single omissions done has dire consequences

The relationship of board duality by comparing directors with their Dissertation

The relationship of board duality by comparing directors with their firms performance - Dissertation Example To study the positive or negative impacts of duality of board structure on the performance of the firm. Project Aim: In recent years, transparency has become an important aspect of corporate governance that allows investors and shareholders to observe the performance of the company. In this way, investors and stakeholders are aware of the internal conditions and functioning of the company. Brown and Caylor (2004) suggest that the significant relationship between corporate governance and performance is due to the controlling role of the shareholders. They stated that shareholders could elect a board of directors of their choice, which would help them to monitor management performance and enable them to provide suitable suggestions to improve the company’s performance. This research will examine listed companies in Kuwait and it will test whether duality has a positive or negative impact in the performance of these companies. Kuwaiti companies have been selected because there ar e more than 200 companies listed in the Kuwaiti stock exchange (KSE) and 57 per cent of companies have this dual leadership function (Al-Sultan and Al-Shammari, 2010). Research Hypothesis: Various research hypotheses will be tested from before and after the recent credit crisis. These hypotheses include a correlation test of whether there is a significant relationship between the different variables involved in this research. Three hypotheses for this research are: Hypothesis 1: There is a positive relationship between duality and the performance of firms. Hypothesis 2: There is a negative relationship between duality and the performance of firms. Hypothesis 3:... According to the research findings in recent years, transparency has become an important aspect of corporate governance that allows investors and shareholders to observe the performance of the company. In this way, investors and stakeholders are aware of the internal conditions and functioning of the company. Brown and Caylor suggest that the significant relationship between corporate governance and performance is due to the controlling role of the shareholders. They stated that shareholders could elect a board of directors of their choice, which would help them to monitor management performance and enable them to provide suitable suggestions to improve the company’s performance. This research will examine listed companies in Kuwait and it will test whether duality has a positive or negative impact in the performance of these companies. Kuwaiti companies have been selected because there are more than 200 companies listed in the Kuwaiti stock exchange (KSE) and 57 per cent of c ompanies have this dual leadership function. Duality in the boards of Kuwaiti’s listed companies and the performance of these companies has become questionable because of the dual function in leadership. There are many reasons behind this research. However, the foremost purpose of conducting the research is that corporate governance is a relatively new subject in Kuwait and not many people are aware of its company laws and legislation. Another reason is that the issue of duality is not specified in the legislation of corporate governance.

Computing Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Computing - Coursework Example An office suite is an application used for editing written documents. Another example is a media player whose function is to play music files. Graphics software also falls under this category and performs the function of image editing. Unicode is an established standard of encoding regulating consistency. It is essential in modem computers to ensure the compatibility of information generated by the computer with others. As opposed to the Unicode, the ASCII supports limited characters. It represents text in computers while the Unicode represents all data encoding. Unicode is only used in computers and ASCII can be used in other devices that use text. John Von Neumann remains one of the notable figures in the development of computer. He is accredited with stochastic computing in 1953, although the system was entirely implemented when advancements in computing were realized. He also developed the Monte Carlo method allowing approximation of problems using random numbers. His simulation algorithm with a biased coin played a crucial role in some number generators in future. Firmware is a common term used to refer to programs that perform certain support functions within a computer. The hard disc, for example, can be said to be firmware for storing information (Evans, 2011). A combination of firmware makes a computer system become functional. The software used in providing updates can also be termed as firmware. There exist a close relationship between firmware and software. In the case of Sunil, information security is an essential aspect of his operations. He needs to secure the information from access by unauthorized persons. This may entail the use of passwords and other encryptions to secure the information contained in the websites. This is essential because he comes under constant threat losing information over the web should someone hack into his system. He needs to have large storage hardware to store

Smart Growth Anthony Flint Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Smart Growth Anthony Flint - Essay Example Planning for the growth of contemporary towns entails early preparation of its entire infrastructure. Urban developers focus on the developments of their towns in aspects that will enhance growth. Sustainability is a significant element during planning for the growth of cities. This is because planners succeed when they ensure that their infrastructure is sustainable. This also implies that appropriate leadership ensures that planning of any project benefits several people. This kind of leadership is likely to establish several policies that facilitate development of practical procedures. For example, the political leadership of a state could create policies that encourage its entire citizenry to acknowledge the value of development. Such policies include the establishment of commissions that focus on developmental issues. The commissions also identify suitable human resources that will ensure the design of creative plans (Randall & Weber 78). There is need for proper legislation that will enable the entire planning of modern towns to be effective. Such legislation is effective because it passes Acts that tend to support the growth of infrastructure. The presence of growth management plans is an essential inclusion in planning strategies. This is because the plans help experts to ensure there is a systematic execution of appropriate strategies that enhance development. These strategies include intentional initiatives that attempt to assess the potential development of infrastructure in several places. Others include the preservation of landscapes that is funded by transfer of taxes from estates. The issue of taxes is fundamental because it helps planners have adequate funds for their various operations. Insufficient funds tend to derail all the procedures that attempt to grow modern towns (Williams 49). Incentives are fascinating ways of encouraging both experts and citizens to

Food Safety In Global Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Food Safety In Global Markets - Essay Example Last year, the United States reported as many as seventy-five million instances where individuals became sick because of food-borne illness. One of the prominent issues related to food-borne illness in world markets is that the nature of globalized trade has demonstrated has brought a multitude of diseases in contact with populations that had never been exposed to them. An important impact of these occurrences is that in developing appropriate measures to slow the damage of these diseases, it’s necessary for not merely countrywide restrictions to be developed, but an increased emphasis on globalized cooperation between trading countries (Venter). In terms of the impact of food-borne illness in global markets, it’s clear a number of aspects need to be assessed. One of the most pervasive such considerations is the means of how biotechnology can work to reduce the frequency of food-borne illnesses. Ultimately, while it’s been argued that while biotechnology can prov ide a significant response to food-borne diseases, proper measures and restrictions must be agreed upon internationally to ensure proper implication (‘Food safety and food-borne illness’). References ‘Food safety and food-borne illness’ WHO. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs237/en/ Venter, T. Van. Emerging food-borne diseases: a global responsibility.

The Pleasure of Eating by Wendell Berry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Pleasure of Eating by Wendell Berry - Essay Example Urban dwellers mostly rely on fast food and processed food because they find it easier and faster. So what is the importance of food and do people eat with pleasure? People are supposed to rediscover the pleasure of eating as the author claims. Then how is this possible? The question, of finding pleasure in what you eat, is what Berry answers in his book. Berry illustrates the pleasure of eating by empowering consumers to be involved in agriculture and the food they eat. Being an active participant in deciding the kind of food to eat and how it is production takes place makes the consumer more knowledgeable. Knowledge, as we know equals power and freedom of choice as passive consumers do not enjoy the freedom of choosing between healthy foods and unhealthy foods. Eating healthy makes one feel energetic, and end up appreciating food. Berry’s purpose in his book, Pleasure of Eating is to make the audience find pleasure in eating healthy meals. Most city people are passive participants when it comes to deciding the food they eat. Berry tries to stop this by offering solutions to the consumer on the choice of food they consume. He asks, â€Å" How do you get out of this problem?†, is an illustration to the audience to finding the solution to the unhealthy eating problem. The target audience of the author is the passive, uncritical and dependent person who does not care about food production. Food production has been industrialized, and a few individuals get in contact with the product directly. The patron of the food production thought that it was helping the consumer by making their work easier. The food production industries have tried so hard to convince consumers that processed food is what they need because it is easier that way. The industries will grow and prepare your food for you and even beg you to eat it. The industries only do this because they are benefiting from it.

Smart Growth Anthony Flint Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Smart Growth Anthony Flint - Essay Example Planning for the growth of contemporary towns entails early preparation of its entire infrastructure. Urban developers focus on the developments of their towns in aspects that will enhance growth. Sustainability is a significant element during planning for the growth of cities. This is because planners succeed when they ensure that their infrastructure is sustainable. This also implies that appropriate leadership ensures that planning of any project benefits several people. This kind of leadership is likely to establish several policies that facilitate development of practical procedures. For example, the political leadership of a state could create policies that encourage its entire citizenry to acknowledge the value of development. Such policies include the establishment of commissions that focus on developmental issues. The commissions also identify suitable human resources that will ensure the design of creative plans (Randall & Weber 78). There is need for proper legislation that will enable the entire planning of modern towns to be effective. Such legislation is effective because it passes Acts that tend to support the growth of infrastructure. The presence of growth management plans is an essential inclusion in planning strategies. This is because the plans help experts to ensure there is a systematic execution of appropriate strategies that enhance development. These strategies include intentional initiatives that attempt to assess the potential development of infrastructure in several places. Others include the preservation of landscapes that is funded by transfer of taxes from estates. The issue of taxes is fundamental because it helps planners have adequate funds for their various operations. Insufficient funds tend to derail all the procedures that attempt to grow modern towns (Williams 49). Incentives are fascinating ways of encouraging both experts and citizens to

The Pleasure of Eating by Wendell Berry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Pleasure of Eating by Wendell Berry - Essay Example Urban dwellers mostly rely on fast food and processed food because they find it easier and faster. So what is the importance of food and do people eat with pleasure? People are supposed to rediscover the pleasure of eating as the author claims. Then how is this possible? The question, of finding pleasure in what you eat, is what Berry answers in his book. Berry illustrates the pleasure of eating by empowering consumers to be involved in agriculture and the food they eat. Being an active participant in deciding the kind of food to eat and how it is production takes place makes the consumer more knowledgeable. Knowledge, as we know equals power and freedom of choice as passive consumers do not enjoy the freedom of choosing between healthy foods and unhealthy foods. Eating healthy makes one feel energetic, and end up appreciating food. Berry’s purpose in his book, Pleasure of Eating is to make the audience find pleasure in eating healthy meals. Most city people are passive participants when it comes to deciding the food they eat. Berry tries to stop this by offering solutions to the consumer on the choice of food they consume. He asks, â€Å" How do you get out of this problem?†, is an illustration to the audience to finding the solution to the unhealthy eating problem. The target audience of the author is the passive, uncritical and dependent person who does not care about food production. Food production has been industrialized, and a few individuals get in contact with the product directly. The patron of the food production thought that it was helping the consumer by making their work easier. The food production industries have tried so hard to convince consumers that processed food is what they need because it is easier that way. The industries will grow and prepare your food for you and even beg you to eat it. The industries only do this because they are benefiting from it.

Preferred Stock Essay Example for Free

Preferred Stock Essay Preferred stock is a security that, similar to debt, promises a well-defined (specified) but not necessarily constant contractual cash flow (dividend) to the holders of the security. Unlike debt, it does not cause the firm to be subject to bankruptcy if the dividends are not paid. The term preferred stock implies that this security is in a more favorable position than the common stock. This conclusion is not likely to be valid for an individual investor paying taxes at a high rate on dividends. A corporate investor might like preferred stock because of a70%â€Å"dividend-received deduction†. The corporate tax savings associated with interest on debt make it difficult for preferred stock to compete with debt in the non-regulated sector of corporate activity. Also, the capital gains and tax deferred possibilities for individual investors of common stock give common stock tax advantages over preferred stock with a contractual dividend and little chance of capital gains. Preferred stock has historically been important to regulated public utilities, and it is likely to be approximately 10 percent of a typical public utility’s capital structure. Preferred stock is a hybrid form of capital, possessing a mixture of debt and common stock characteristics. Like the interest on debt, its dividends may be fixed over time. However, â€Å"participating† preferred stock shares income with common stock according to some prearranged formula and other preferred stock may pay a dividend that is linked to some independent measure such as the yield on government bonds. Like common stock, preferred stock is generally treated as equity capital for corporate tax purposes, so its dividends are paid from corporate earnings that have been taxed. Preferred stock generally has a perpetual life, although it may have a finite life, and it may have a call price specified and even a sinking fund where stock is to be repurchased by the firm in the open market. It is important to the issuing firm and to the investor that nonpayment of the preferred stock dividend does not trigger bankruptcy. Normally, common stock dividends cannot be paid until all past due preferred dividends have been paid or the preferred stockholders have been compensated by some other means. Preferred stock dividends have to be approved by the board of directors before they become a legal liability of the corporation. Preferred stock generally does not have voting rights, but if a preferred stock dividend is passed over, the preferred stockholders sometimes have the right to select one or more members of the board of directors. Although the dividends on some preferred stock are allowed as a tax deduction, currently in the United States dividends of preferred stock are not normally deductible for taxes by a corporation. This tends to limit the use of preferred stock by corporations.

Beauty Product Advertisements: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Beauty Product Advertisements: A Critical Discourse Analysis Beauty Product Advertisements: A Critical Discourse Analysis ABSTRACT This study deals with the study of advertisements about different beauty products from critical discourse analysis perspectives this research mainly concern with the use of language in the beauty product advertisements and how these ads influence the costumers. This study is basically focused on Fairclough’s three dimensional frame works. A qualitative research was conducted on the beauty product advertisements of famous beauty products. The main reason to choose this topic was my interest in English language and advertising, for the most part from linguistic point of view. I find advertising language fascinating; therefore, I want to discover its principles, strategies and structure of creative writing and grammatical structures. Advertising has become the part and parcel of present-day life. From everywhere around us, advertisements of different types attack our privacy. In spite of it, there is an attractive power, which is able to control the consumer; an invisible voice o f advertisement advocates, encourages, asks, announces and deeply embeds into peoples’ minds. INTRODUCTION Advertising is an inevitable part of our modern capitalist consumer society whose outstanding feature is its competitive fight. â€Å"†¦advertising is not some external curiosity which we examine, from which we are separate and superior, but something of which we are part, and which is part of us†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Cook 1996: 182). â€Å"Advertising, generally speaking, is the promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas, usually performed by an identified sponsor. Marketers see advertising as part of an overall promotional strategy.† (http://www.wikipedia.org/) The American Heritage Dictionary says that the advertising is: â€Å"The activity of attracting public attention to a product or business, as by paid announcements in the print, broadcast, or electronic media. The business of designing and writing advertisements. Advertisements considered as a group: This paper takes no advertising.† Advertisement is a concrete manifestation of advertising; â€Å"a paid public announcement appearing in the media.† (http://www.motto.com/glossary.html) Another definition of advertising is according to the Investor words glossary: â€Å"Description or presentation of a product, idea, or organization, in order to induce individuals to buy, support, or approve of it.† (http://www.investorwords.com/129/advertising.html) METHODOLOGY Advertisements are seen as media discourse as they involve language and social processes. Hence fair Clough’s framework is used to show the link between the nature of social practice and the properties of language â€Å"texts†. Beauty product advertisements in English Language were analyzed. The sample which I have taken for my research are the several international beauty brands named as L’Oreal, Olay, Garnier, Himalaya, Dove, Vaseline, Lancà ´me I have taken some ads of these two brands on different products. The data analysis is based on Fair Clough’s Critical Discourse Analysis framework (2001). Hence this framework is used to show the link between the nature of social practice and the properties of language â€Å"texts†. His three-dimensional framework includes a conception of discourse as text (micro level), discourse practice (meso level) and socio cultural practice (macro level). Its aim is to explore the relationships among language, ideology and power and to find out how advertisers persuade the women to buy their products. Th us, this study focused on analyzing the linguistic features of beauty product advertisements and highlights how the use of language tends to influence women beliefs based on the content of the advertisements. Literature review Cook (1992, p.5) states that advertising is a famous discourse type in practically all fashionable societies, and we live in a society where it is already well established_ or rapidly gaining ground. The important distinguishing feature of ad discourse is its function, because this is always to convince people to buy a particular product. But, this is not the only function. According to Durant Lambrou (2009, p.93), at the same time, advertising conveys information, so that consumers know what is available, who makes it, and where and how they can get it. FEATURES OF CONTEXT IN ADVERTISING DISCOURS E 1 .Substance (physical material of ad) 2. Music and pictures 3. Para language (voice, gestures, type and size of letters, etc.) 4. Situation (the properties and relations of objects and people in the vicinity of the text, an s Perceived by the participants) 5. Co-text (text which precedes or follows that under analysis†) 6. Inter text (text which the participants perceive as belonging to other discourse but which They associate with the text under consideration, and which affect their interpretation†) 7. Participants: senders, addressers, addressees and receivers. 8. Function :(what the text is intended to do by the senders and addressers, or perceived to Do by the receivers and addressees†) (Cook, 1992:1-2) ANALYSIS Textual analysis This portion of my research deals with the linguistics features of the advertisements to be analysed.At this level we analyze vocabulary, syntax and rhetorical devices use in the ads to be analyzed. In the study there was a great use of direct talk in the advertisements. The use of the second-person personal and possessive pronouns such as ‘you’ and ‘yours’ seek to address the readers directly and personally. When people are addresses individually rather than as part of group viewers, it is considered highly valued. This handling of people on an individual basis is referred as ‘synthetic personalization’ (Fairclough, 1989:62).The ads which I have taken for my research mainly used direct address. Examples are given below Because you’re worth it (L’Oreal) Open up to your beautiful potential (Olay) Why do you want to try Vaseline spray? (Vaseline spray) Can your body wash nourish this deeply? (Dove) Keep your skin pure.(Himalaya) Love your lips.( Lancà ´me) Tired of whitening promises? We have proof (Vaseline) In the advertisements there are also questions forced to the readers to create a personal relationship to engage with the readers. Can your body wash nourish this deeply? ( dove body wash ad ) Is your volume true? Or â€Å"false†? (cover girl mascara ad) By using questions and imperatives the advertisers are trying to create a closer bond with the readers Another type of policy to simulate everyday way is the use of disjunctive syntax, that is, sentences without verbs or subjects. These sentences consist of one or two grammatical items only. Examples are: Take care (Garnier) 24 hours of care (Vaseline) The other important strategy which advertisers use in their ads is use of positive adjectives to manipulate the customers. There are the positive adjectives which were use in those ads which I have taken for analysis these are: Vibrant, True, Beautiful, Fairness, Pure, Soft, Clear, High Potency, Anti aging, Luxury, long wear, Beauty, Moisture, Touchable soft. Negative adjectives Some negatives adjectives are also used in the ads. These are: Mess, Oily skin, Dark spots, Crow’s feet ,forehead wrinkles, laugh lines, brightness, evenness, Dryness, Dullness, Neck slackening, aging, Dark spot, lines and wrinkles, open pores uneven skin tone. The use of pronouns in advertisements helps create a friendly atmosphere to persuade the audience. It creates a positive and friendly environment between customers and advertiser. Examples of pronouns in the beauty product advertisements in this study are: Keep your skin pure. Purifies to give you naturally skin. Love your lips. Aura is our science. The skin tone of your dreams. Advertisers also use technological and scientific words to attract readers. By using such words they hope to imitate an image of professionalism and advancement in technology. In order to impress the consumers, advertiser’s choice to scientific words and information to create an impression that they are new with technology. The followings are extracts from the commercials in this study. Protects skin from UV rays with SPF-18, preventing skin dullness and melasma. with 100% herbal activities of neem.For naturally soft and clean skin Advertisers use different techniques to make their advertisements more attractive .the main technique which advertisers use in beauty products advertisement is the use of metaphors. In the ads metaphors are used such as: new cats eyes [ mascara ad] life is a fairy tale [ face wash ad] The bribery is another skill to attract the customers to the product Such as: Buy one get one free Get a free sample shop it now. Get a chance to buy a free bottle. The use of numbers in an advertisement is a technique to catch the attraction of customers towards the product. For example in following advertisements. 24 hours of care (Vaseline) 200 % more volume zero clumps(mascara ad)  ¼ moisturizing cream hydrates skin (dove) Get up to 2 tones fairer in just 7 days.(garnier) 6 hours high potency lip color (Lancà ´me lipstick) 100% black 100% bold (L’Oreal mascara) Fight 15 signs of ageing (L’Oreal ) The uses of short slogans make it easy for people to remember the brand, the product and the message. For example Go fresh (dove) Take care (garnier) Feel it, wear it ,love it (L’Oreal) Love your lips ( Lancà ´me) References Cook, G. (1992). The Discourse of Advertising. 5. London: Routledge. Durant, A. Lambrou, M. (2009). Language and Media.93. London: Routledge. Cook. (1992):The Discourse of Advertising. Londons :Routledge and Kegan Paul

Global Warming Essay -- Climate Change

Transitioning to clean energy sources will involve a policy that involves an extensive amount of research in the fields of science, economics, and politics. It is crucial that the United States conceives energy resources that decrease both environmental and health impacts. However, environment and health impacts are not the only aspects that must be considered as the United States moves to cleaner energy resources. The competitiveness of the United States’ economy as a whole and job security must be taken in account. ("Facing Our Energy Realities† 4) Therefore, the transition must be controlled. The transition should not detrimental to the citizens of the United States. Previously, politicians with the intentions of launching a safer environment established acts, such as the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. However, due to the Environmental Protection Agency, some states, and activist, these acts have negatively impacted some facilities and jobs. Congress must reevaluate laws to allow business to understand what is necessary to continue remaining a part of the market. ("Facing Our Energy Realities† 4) The citizens of the United States vote to determine which politicians generate the energy policies for the United States. Therefore, as a method of guarantying that voting citizens are also informed citizens, energy education should be accessible. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission does inform citizens in the areas surrounding a nuclear plant about nuclear energy. However, they should expand their education to all citizens. As it is unrealistic to fully eliminate coal, and several people are opposed to its use, energy plants using clean coal ought to offer educational measures to enlighten citizens of its advantages. Americans... ...2012. license-review.html>. "Invest in Climate Science to Guide Energy, Economic, and Environmental Policy." Institute for 21st Century Energy. U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Web. 01 May 2012. and-environmental-policy>. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Home Page. U.S. Department of Energy. Web. 03 May 2012. . â€Å"Nuclear Energy in France." Repulique Francaise. Embassy of France in Washington, 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 01 May 2012. . "The Obama-Biden Plan." Change.Gov. The Office of President-Elect. Web. 03 May 2012. . WNA. World Nuclear Association. Web. 02 May 2012. .

A Psychoanalytic Approach to Wuthering Heights Essay -- Emily Bronte

A Psychoanalytic Approach to Wuthering Heights Before anything else, I would like to talk about the nature of the principle characters of this novel. I’d like to start with Catherine as she seems to be the central character of this love story. Of course the latter is my personal assumption. Catherine is the very representative of nature and naturalism. From the first chapters of novel and Mrs. Dean’s great and elaborate account of Catherine, we encounter the portrayal of wild nature represented by the moor. Totally intractable and precarious in nature, the moor is the most appropriate identifier of Catherine’s character. In fact, her childhood interest in the moor leads us to the conclusion that she has no touch of reason till the time she is prohibited by her sister-in-law and brother after her five-week stay at Lintons’. Interestingly, she takes her playmate, Heathcliff, to the moor to spend the joyful private time with him and this is the very foreshadow that prognosticates Heathcliff’s later confusions and sufferings as a result of her precarious and wild nature. However, Heathcliff himself has no sheer difference in character with her regarding naturalism. Ironically enough, he never undergoes any obligatory changes to abandon such a character and on the contrary he is inspired by tyrannical treatment from Hindley to assume his naturalism. Based on these assumptions we can conclude that these two lovers are the representatives of id in this novel. They act upon every impulse without any contemplations or control of wild passion. To cut the long story short, they act as their unconscious bids them to do. They are not alone in this aspect as Hindley also joins them in this characteristic in a different manner. As a result of... ...ly it was so for Catherine. It reminds me of the closing line of Shakespeare’s poem, â€Å"She should have died hereafter†, in which the poet concludes his marvelous poem by an identical tone: signifying nothing. Using two short syllables which reminds me of the hectic life of Catherine and her hasty decisions and actions based on her id which lead her with a drastic velocity to the point of her second ailment. The concluding syllable of the first word which is long portrays the anguish that both Catherine and her surroundings were undergoing during her disposition. And finally two abrupt and short syllables of the last word, nothing, represents the abruptness and quickness of her death which was all in all signifying nothing. Mrs. Dean’s aptly chosen words paraphrase the last line of this poem in a more tangible manner: â€Å"One little pulse at her heart, and nothing more.†

Examine the Key Ideas Associated with Law and Punishment

Examine the key ideas associated with law and punishment Law and Punishment go hand in hand. There are Laws, which are the system of rules which a particular country or community recognises as regulating the actions of followers, and there are punishments, for when a member of said country/community breaks the rules. Punishment is defined as the infliction of a penalty or to cause pain for an offence.Most of the time it is not a choice as to whether you are part of a law-following community because almost all countries in the world have some kind of law-system and often the minute you turn the age where you are legally responsible or step off the boat, plane or train you are subjected to their laws. The Biblical views on punishment have often been based on the old testament teaching ‘an eye for an eye’. The bible also lays out punishments for certain crimes that appear to follow this teaching. Except that there are many punishments in the bible that seem to be out of pro portion to the crime e. . â€Å"whoever curses his father or his mother will be put to death†. There are many problems with this statement for example it does not state how old the son/daughter has to be to deserve this punishment, it seems to imply even a 4 year old who does not necessarily know what they are saying can be put to death for cursing their parents. An eye for an eye is also relevant in today’s laws, it is the basis of retributive justice that is present in our society. Retributive justice is the idea that those who have done the crime should somehow pay back for what they did.Rachel’s said â€Å"People deserve to be treated in the same way that they have (voluntarily treated others)† This seems like a fair way of treating someone because why someone should be allowed to do one thing and then not expect to be treated in the same way? But some punishments that are retributive e. g. capital punishment do not seem to benefit society and there i s a risk of the punishment becoming revengeful not retributive. Retributive justice also causes a problem because it might make capital punishment a legitimate approach to punishment.I. e. If a person murders it is right for them to be killed. And It also can lead the legal system to instead of appearing like someone is being made to pay back what they have done wrong to looking like the legal system is being hypocritical i. e. we are showing society that it is wrong to be violent by being violent to wrong doers. This is not how we should be teaching people to not be violent. The punishment also must not be disproportionate to the crime e. g. sentencing a small child to death for stealing a sweet from a shop.Some forms of punishment e. g. fines may be disproportionate because to people with money a fine does not make any difference but to someone who has just enough money or just below the money they need for necessities it can be a massive problem, but on average I think retributiv e measures helps to make the punishment be proportionate to the crime because the person can be treated the way they treated others. Deterrence is another form of punishment. It means that we should punish for crimes in order to deter others from committing the same crime i. e. f we know what the punishment for an act is we are less inclined to do it. However there are problems with this because it assumes that the perpetrator had intent and full knowledge of what they were doing was wrong but often violent crimes happen in the heat of the moment and are not planned and those violent crimes that are calculated are often done by those people who are mentally ill. Also, why should be punish someone for the sake of someone else? Reformative justice is becoming more popular in today’s society and is the attempt to turn the criminal into a normal law abiding citizen.It is often based on the idea that everyone has an intrinsic value simply because they are human and the improvement of humans is good. According to deontology this is good because rehabilitation prevents people treating others as means. There is also a utilitarian argument for this because reformative justice improves the general quality of life in society. I also would argue that reformative justice is also trying to right the inequality between the rich and poor. People from less well of backgrounds are more likely to commit crimes due to them having fewer opportunities and less education.Poorer people are also more likely to come from violent backgrounds and therefore are more likely to be violent themselves. Therefore reformative justice helps make up for this lack of opportunities by offering classes inside prisons for example. Although there are many good things about reformative punishments, there are also many problems. Reformation takes away the responsibility for our actions and it does not attempt to right the wrong. This causes problems in itself because if there is no ‘punishm ent’ other than reformation then there is no incentive for people not to commit crime, in fact there is almost an incentive to commit a crime!And why someone in prison should be getting opportunities that people outside the prison do not get. I would like to think that there is good in everyone but it would simply be impractical to think that we can rehabilitate everyone as some people are simply too far gone and do not want to change. Hobbes philosophised about why we want/need laws in society and he came up with an idea called the social contract theory. This idea was based on his notion that government is an agreement between a group of people where they agree not to hurt each other.This is fuelled by the motivation of self-interest which according to Hobbes is pertinent because human beings are selfish creatures and therefore seek collective protection. i. e. If I promise not to hurt you and you promise not to hurt me then neither of us gets hurt and we’re both hap py. And this is what Hobbes believes to be the basis of our desire to keep the laws set out by the state – we should avoid chaos because it is not in our best interests therefore we should keep the laws. Kant had a similar conclusion i. e. that we should keep the laws but for a different reason.Kant said that we should ‘act so that you treat humanity, both in your own person and in that of another, always as an end’ i. e. we should keep the laws so that we do not treat others as means to an end. His idea of kingdom of ends states ‘act in accordance with the maxims of a member giving universal laws for a merely possible kingdom of ends’ where the kingdom of ends is a perfect community where all members respect each other as ends in themselves. This is what we should strive to achieve, and to be successful at this we should keep the laws of the community.Therefore we should keep the laws and to keep the laws means that we must punish those that break t he law.. Evaluate the view that objectivity and relativism pose problems for the concept of law and punishment. Objectivity states that there are ethical principles that are always wrong or always right and they are normally established a priori i. e. without experience. Therefore as there are certain things that are always wrong we need a law to stop people from doing it. This law may be objectively right and its punishment for breaking the law may also be objectively right.Objectivity might support retributive justice; Retributive justice is when someone pays back for their crime. This could support objectivity because it needs to be imposed with the consistency that objectivity provides therefore you could argue that Retributive justice only works with the objectivity and as retributive justice tends to be favoured in western societies perhaps objectivity does not pose such a problem with law and punishment. Having said this there are still the problems it does cause.Objective et hical principles are established a priori therefore we cannot know them through experience. If we do not know them through experience, how can we truly know if something is right or wrong and therefore how do we know if a law is right whilst using objectivity. Objectivity also does not allow for individual cases, it runs the risk of using a ‘one size fits all’ policy towards law and punishment and whilst we do need some consistency amongst crimes, one size does not exactly fit all because not every crime is exactly the same!Normative relativism states that truth and morality is relative to the country/society that one is in and therefore we cannot criticize other cultures as to how they do things. With regards to law and punishment this leads us to the face that there are no definite truths or morals that can be applied in every situation around the world so Punishment is determined according to the country and, if we take it relativism further, according to the circums tances of the case.Hobbes took a relativist view because he said that justice cannot be fixed, and each country/community has different ideas of what law and punishment should be all we should do is aim not be in chaos, not because it is wrong in an objective sense but because it does not serve or self-interest. Relativism may be a good thing because it allows each country to organise punishment as they see fit and there is merit in the systems that other countries have for example some people believe that Iraq was justified in the hanging of Saddam Hussein even though in our society the death penalty is not used.However it does have problems because it means that all forms of punishment are right as long as it is accepted by society e. g. it would be right to hang a small child for stealing sweets if society thought it was the correct punishment. If punishment is decided relative to the circumstance and there is no consistency we could end up with a justice system where only some p eople would be punished and this could easily lead to corruption, sexism and racism within the punishment system.It also means that there may be little point of having punishment because if only some cases lead to punishment then punishment would be pointless! It would serve no deterrent or retributive purpose. Objectivity and Relativism both have merits and cause problems for law and punishment and I do not think either can work solely on their own because they have too many problems by themselves, but on the other hand I do not know if it is possible for Objectivity and Relativism to work together.Perhaps if the laws are objective but how we punish people is relative to each country, case and persons involved. For example although killing may be objectively wrong it may not be appropriate to treat a child who killed someone, an adult who killed someone by accident and an adult who killed someone out of hate all In the same way although they have all broken the same objective rule.

Zoe’s Tale PART I Chapter One

The flying saucer landed on our front yard and a little green man got out of it. It was the flying saucer that got my attention. Green men aren't actually unheard of where I come from. All the Colonial Defense Forces were green; it's part of the genetic engineering they do on them to help them fight better. Chlorophyll in the skin gives them the extra energy they need for truly first-class alien stomping. We didn't get many Colonial Defense Force soldiers on Huckleberry, the colony I lived on; it was an established colony and we hadn't been seriously attacked in a couple of decades. But the Colonial Union goes out of its way to let every colonist know all about the CDF, and I knew more about them than most. But the flying saucer, well. That's novel. New Goa is a farming community. Tractors and harvesters and animal-drawn wagons, and wheeled public buses when we wanted to live life on the edge and visit the provincial capital. An actual flying transport was a rare thing indeed. Having one small enough for a single passenger land on our lawn was definitely not an everyday occurrence. â€Å"Would you like Dickory and me to go out and meet him?† asked Hickory. We watched from inside the house as the green man pulled himself out of the transport. I looked over at Hickory. â€Å"Do you think he's an actual threat? I think if he wanted to attack us, he could have just dropped a rock on the house while he was flying over it.† â€Å"I am always for prudence,† Hickory said. The unsaid portion of that sentence was when you are involved. Hickory is very sweet, and paranoid. â€Å"Let's try the first line of defense instead,† I said, and walked over to the screen door. Babar the mutt was standing at it, his front paws up on the door, cursing the genetic fate that left him without opposable thumbs or the brains to pull the door instead of pushing on it. I opened the door for him; he took off like a furry heat-seeking slobber missile. To the green man's credit, he took a knee and greeted Babar like an old friend, and was generously coated in dog drool for his pains. â€Å"Good thing he's not soluble,† I said to Hickory. â€Å"Babar is not a very good watchdog,† Hickory said, as it watched the green man play with my dog. â€Å"No, he's really not,† I agreed. â€Å"But if you ever need something really moistened, he's got you covered.† â€Å"I will remember that for future reference,† Hickory said, in that noncommittal way designed for dealing with my sarcasm. â€Å"Do that,† I said, and opened the door again. â€Å"And stay in here for now, please.† â€Å"As you say, Zoe,† Hickory said. â€Å"Thanks,† I said, and walked out to the porch. By this time the green man had gotten to the porch steps, Babar bouncing behind him. â€Å"I like your dog,† he said to me. â€Å"I see that,† I said. â€Å"The dog's only so-so about you.† â€Å"How can you tell?† he asked. â€Å"You're not completely bathed in saliva,† I said. He laughed. â€Å"I'll try harder next time,† he said. â€Å"Remember to bring a towel,† I said. The green man motioned to the house. â€Å"This is Major Perry's house?† â€Å"I hope so,† I said. â€Å"All his stuff is here.† This earned me about a two-second pause. Yes, as it happens, I am a sarcastic little thing. Thanks for asking. It comes from living with my dad all these years. He considers himself quite the wit; I don't know how I feel about that one, personally, but I will say that it's made me pretty forward when it comes to comebacks and quips. Give me a soft lob, I'll be happy to spike it. I think it's endearing and charming; so does Dad. We may be in the minority with that opinion. If nothing else it's interesting to see how other people react to it. Some people think it's cute. Others not so much. I think my green friend fell into the â€Å"not so much† camp, because his response was to change the subject. â€Å"I'm sorry,† he said. â€Å"I don't think I know who you are.† â€Å"I'm Zoe,† I said. â€Å"Major Perry's daughter. Lieutenant Sagan's, too.† â€Å"Oh, right,† he said. â€Å"I'm sorry. I pictured you as younger.† â€Å"I used to be,† I said. â€Å"I should have known you were his daughter,† he said. â€Å"You look like him in the eyes.† Fight the urge, the polite part of my brain said. Fight it. Just let it go. â€Å"Thank you,† I said. â€Å"I'm adopted.† My green friend stood there for a minute, doing that thing people do when they've just stepped in it: freezing and putting a smile on their face while their brain strips its gears trying to figure how it's going to extract itself out of this faux pas. If I leaned in, I could probably hear his frontal lobes go click click click click, trying to reset. See, now, that was just mean, said the polite part of my brain. But come on. If the guy was calling Dad â€Å"Major Perry,† then he probably knew when Dad was discharged from service, which was eight years ago. CDF soldiers can't make babies; that's part of their combat-effective genetic engineering, don't you know – no accidental kids – so his earliest opportunity to spawn would have been when they put him in a new, regular body at the end of his service term. And then there's the whole â€Å"nine months gestation† thing. I might have been a little small for my age when I was fifteen, but I assure you, I didn't look seven. Honestly, I think there's a limit to how bad I should feel in a situation like that. Grown men should be able to handle a little basic math. Still, there's only so long you can leave someone on the hook. â€Å"You called Dad ‘Major Perry,'† I said. â€Å"Did you know him from the service?† â€Å"I did,† he said, and seemed happy that the conversation was moving forward again. â€Å"It's been a while, though. I wonder if I'll recognize him.† â€Å"I imagine he looks the same,† I said. â€Å"Maybe a different skin tone.† He chuckled at that. â€Å"I suppose that's true,† he said. â€Å"Being green would make it a little more difficult to blend in.† â€Å"I don't think he would ever quite blend in here,† I said, and then immediately realized all the very many ways that statement could be misinterpreted. And of course, my visitor wasted no time doing just that. â€Å"Does he not blend?† he asked, and then bent down to pat Babar. â€Å"That's not what I meant,† I said. â€Å"Most of the people here at Huckleberry are from India, back on Earth, or were born here from people who came from India. It's a different culture than the one he grew up in, that's all.† â€Å"I understand,† the green man said. â€Å"And I'm sure he gets along very well with the people here. Major Perry is like that. I'm sure that's why he has the job he has here.† My dad's job was as an ombudsman, someone who helps people cut through government bureaucracy. â€Å"I guess I'm just curious if he likes it here.† â€Å"What do you mean?† I asked. â€Å"I was just wondering how he's been enjoying his retirement from the universe, is all,† he said, and looked back up at me. In the back of my brain something went ping. I was suddenly aware that our nice and casual conversation had somehow become something less casual. Our green visitor wasn't just here for a social call. â€Å"I think he likes it fine,† I said, and kept from saying anything else. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Just curious,† he said, petting Babar again. I fought off the urge to call my dog over. â€Å"Not everyone makes the jump from military life to civilian life perfectly.† He looked around. â€Å"This looks like a pretty sedate life. It's a pretty big switch.† â€Å"I think he likes it just fine,† I repeated, putting enough emphasis on the words that unless my green visitor was an absolute toad, he'd know to move on. â€Å"Good,† he said. â€Å"What about you? How do you like it here?† I opened my mouth to respond, and then shut it just as quickly. Because, well. There was a question. The idea of living on a human colony is more exciting than the reality. Some folks new to the concept think that people out in the colonies go from planet to planet all the time, maybe living on one planet, working on another and then having vacations on a third: the pleasure planet of Vacationaria, maybe. The reality is, sadly, far more boring. Most colonists live their whole lives on their home planet, and never get out to see the rest of the universe. It's not impossible to go from planet to planet, but there's usually a reason for it: You're a member of the crew on a trade ship, hauling fruit and wicker baskets between the stars, or you get a job with the Colonial Union itself and start a glorious career as an interstellar bureaucrat. If you're an athlete, there's the Colonial Olympiad every four years. And occasionally a famous musician or actor will do a grand tour of the colonies. But mostly, you're born on a planet, you live on a planet, you die on a planet, and your ghost hangs around and annoys your descendants on that planet. I don't suppose there's really anything bad about that – I mean, most people don't actually go more than a couple dozen kilometers from their homes most of the time in day-to-day life, do they? And people hardly see most of their own planet when they do decide to wander off. If you've never seen the sights on your own planet, I don't know how much you can really complain about not seeing a whole other planet. But it helps to be on an interesting planet. In case this ever gets back to Huckleberry: I love Huckleberry, really I do. And I love New Goa, the little town where we lived. When you're a kid, a rural, agriculturally-based colony town is a lot of fun to grow up in. It's life on a farm, with goats and chickens and fields of wheat and sorghum, harvest celebrations and winter festivals. There's not an eight- or nine-year-old kid who's been invented who doesn't find all of that unspeakably fun. But then you become a teenager and you start thinking about everything you might possibly want to do with your life, and you look at the options available to you. And then all farms, goats and chickens – and all the same people you've known all your life and will know all your life – begin to look a little less than optimal for a total life experience. It's all still the same, of course. That's the point. It's you who's changed. I know this bit of teenage angst wouldn't make me any different than any other small-town teenager who has ever existed throughout the history of the known universe. But when even the â€Å"big city† of a colony – the district capital of Missouri City – holds all the mystery and romance of watching compost, it's not unreasonable to hope for something else. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with Missouri City (there's nothing wrong with compost, either; you actually need it). Maybe it's better to say it's the sort of place you come back to, once you've gone out and had your time in the big city, or the big bad universe. One of the things I know about Mom is that she loved it on Huckleberry. But before she was here, she was a Special Forces soldier. She doesn't talk too much about all the things she's seen and done, but from personal experience I know a little bit about it. I can't imagine a whole life of it. I think she'd say that she'd seen enough of the universe. I've seen some of the universe, too, before we came to Huckleberry. But unlike Jane – unlike Mom – I don't think I'm ready to say Huckleberry's all I want out of a life. But I wasn't sure I wanted to say any of that to this green guy, who I had become suddenly rather suspicious of. Green men falling from the sky, asking after the psychological states of various family members including oneself, are enough to make a girl paranoid about what's going on. Especially when, as I suddenly realized, I didn't actually get the guy's name. He'd gotten this far into my family life without actually saying who he was. Maybe this was just something he'd innocently managed to overlook – this wasn't a formal interview, after all – but enough bells were ringing in my head that I decided that my green friend had had enough free information for one day. Green man was looking at me intently, waiting for me to respond. I gave him my best noncommittal shrug. I was fifteen years old. It's a quality age for shrugging. He backed off a bit. â€Å"I don't suppose your dad is home,† he said. â€Å"Not yet,† I said. I checked my PDA and showed it to him. â€Å"His workday finished up a few minutes ago. He and Mom are probably walking home.† â€Å"Okay. And your mom is constable here, right?† â€Å"Right,† I said. Jane Sagan, frontier law woman. Minus the frontier. It fit her. â€Å"Did you know Mom, too?† I asked. Special Forces was an entirely different thing from regular infantry. â€Å"Just by reputation,† he said, and again there was that studied casual thing. Folks, a little tip: Nothing is more transparent than you try for casual and miss. My green friend was missing it by a klick, and I got tired of feeling lightly groped for information. â€Å"I think I'll go for a walk,† I said. â€Å"Mom and Dad are probably right down the road. I'll let them know you're here.† â€Å"I'll go with you,† Green man offered. â€Å"That's all right,† I said, and motioned him onto the porch, and to our porch swing. â€Å"You've been traveling. Have a seat and relax.† â€Å"All right,† he said. â€Å"If you're comfortable having me here while you're gone.† I think that was meant as a joke. I smiled at him. â€Å"I think it'll be fine,† I said. â€Å"You'll have company.† â€Å"You're leaving me the dog,† he said. He sat. â€Å"Even better,† I said. â€Å"I'm leaving you two of my friends.† This is when I called into the house for Hickory and Dickory, and then stood away from the door and watched my visitor, so I wouldn't miss his expression when the two of them came out. He didn't quite wet his pants. Which was an accomplishment, all things considered. Obin – which is what Hickory and Dickory are – don't look exactly like a cross between a spider and a giraffe, but they're close enough to make some part of the human brain fire up the drop ballast alert. You get used to them after a bit. But the point is it takes a while. â€Å"This is Hickory,† I said, pointing to the one at the left of me, and then pointed to the one at my right. â€Å"And this is Dickory. They're Obin.† â€Å"Yes, I know,† my visitor said, with the sort of tone you'd expect from a very small animal trying to pretend that being cornered by a pair of very large predators was not that big of a deal. â€Å"Uh. So. These are your friends.† â€Å"Best friends,† I said, with what I felt was just the right amount of brainless gush. â€Å"And they love to entertain visitors. They'll be happy to keep you company while I go look for my parents. Isn't that right?† I said to Hickory and Dickory. â€Å"Yes,† they said, together. Hickory and Dickory are fairly monotone to begin with; having them be monotone in stereo offers an additional – and delightful! – creepy effect. â€Å"Please say hello to our guest,† I said. â€Å"Hello,† they said, again in stereo. â€Å"Uh,† said Green man. â€Å"Hi.† â€Å"Great, everybody's friends,† I said, and stepped off the porch. Babar left our green friend to follow me. â€Å"I'm off, then.† â€Å"You sure you don't want me to come along?† Green man said. â€Å"I don't mind.† â€Å"No, please,† I said. â€Å"I don't want you to feel like you have to get up for anything.† My eyes sort of casually flicked over at Hickory and Dickory, as if to imply it would be a shame if they had to make steaks out of him. â€Å"Great,† he said, and settled onto the swing. I think he got the hint. See, that's how you do studied casual. â€Å"Great,† I said. Babar and I headed off down the road to find my folks.