Monday, September 30, 2019

Presidential and Parliamentary Systems of Government Essay

Introduction and Main Distinguishing Features of Both Systems: A presidential system of government is one in which there is a head of government, i.e. the executive branch, who is separate from the legislature and is not accountable to it. Generally, the legislature does not hold power to dismiss the executive. This system can be traced back to the monarchal system in the medieval ages which countries such as France, England and Scotland followed where the Crown held all executive powers and not the parliament. When the office of the President of the United States was created, this system of separate powers of the executive and legislature was replicated in the U.S. Constitution. In contrast, a parliamentary system is different from the above because its executive branch of government needs the direct or indirect backing of the parliament to stay in power, which is generally expressed through a vote of confidence. However, the mechanism of checks and balances is different from one found in a presidential republic because there is no distinct separation of powers between the legislature and the executive. In parliamentary systems, the head of government and the head of state are distinct entities, where the former is the prime minister and the latter is an elected president or a hereditary monarch. The U.K. follows a parliamentary form of government, where the prime minister and the cabinet govern using their executive power on a daily basis, but actual authority is held with the head of state.[1] In distinguishing between presidential and parliamentary systems, three points must be considered. First, in a presidential system the head of government (the president) is elected for a fixed term and will serve this unless there is the ‘unusual and exceptional process of impeachment’, whereas in a parliamentary system the head of government (prime minister or equivalent) is dependent on the confidence of the legislature and thus can be removed (along with the whole government) by a motion of no-confidence. Second, in a presidential system the head of government (the president) is popularly elected, if not literally directly by the voters then by an electoral college popularly elected expressly for this purpose, whereas in a parliamentary system the head of government (prime minister or equivalent) is ‘selected’ by the legislature. Third, in a presidential system there is effectively a â€Å"one-person† non-collegial executive, whereas in a parliamentary system the executive (i.e., the cabinet) is collective or collegial.[2] For his part, Sartori like Lijphart, makes three basic points in that ‘a political system is presidential if, and only if, the head of state (president) i) results from popular election, ii) during his or her pre-established tenure cannot be discharged by a parliamentary vote, and iii) heads or otherwise directs the governments that he or she appoints’. There are two distinctions between Lijphart and Sartori worth noting here. First of all, Lijphart refers to the president as the head of government whereas Sartori refers to him or her as the head of state. Second and related, Sartori conceives of the government as being broader than the individual president. As such, Sartori rejects as too narrow the notion ‘that the head of state must also be the head of government’ in favor of a looser notion that authority flows from the president down – perhaps via a separate head of government.[3] Mainwaring attributes two distinguishing features to a presidential democracy. First, the head of government is elected independently of the legislature in the sense that legislative elections and post-election negotiations do not determine executive power. In countries where the chief executive is selected by the legislature, not as a second alternative when the popular vote does not produce a clear winner but as the fundamental process, the system is either parliamentary (the vast majority of cases) or a hybrid (as in Switzerland). Post-election negotiations that determine which parties will govern and which will head the government are crucial in many parliamentary regimes, but they are not part of the selection process of chief executives in presidential systems. The chief executive in a presidential democracy is usually elected by popular vote, although some countries, notably the United States, have an electoral college rather than direct popular elections. Even so, in the United States, the popular vote has a virtually binding effect on Electoral College votes. In other presidential systems, including those in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile (before 1973), the congress votes for a president if there is no absolute majority in the popular vote. Yet the popular vote is the first criterion, and in Argentina and Chile, tradition has dictated that congress will select the candidate with the most popular votes. Note that it must be the head of government-not simply the president-who is elected by popular vote or an electoral college. In Austria, Iceland, and Ireland, the president is elected by direct popular vote but has only minor powers and is therefore not the head of government.[4] The second distinguishing feature of presidential democracies is that the president is elected for a fixed period of time. Most presidential democracies allow for impeachment, but this practice is rare and does not substantially affect the definition because of its extraordinary character. The president cannot be forced to resign because of a no-confidence vote by the legislature, and consequently, the president is not formally accountable to congress. In a parliamentary system, in contrast, the head of government is elected by the legislature and subsequently depends on the ongoing confidence of the legislature to remain in office; thus the time period is not fixed.[5] Implications for Policy Making and Democracy: Whether a regime is parliamentary or presidential has a major impact on significant aspects of political life: how executive power is formed, relationships between the legislative and the executive branches, relationships between the executive and the political parties, the nature of the political parties, what happens when the executive loses support, and arguably even prospects for stable democracy and patterns of domination. The proponents of presidential claim that presidential systems claim that such systems ensure that the president’s power is a legitimate one because the president if, in most cases, elected directly by the people. The United States follows a different system in which the president is elected by an electoral college but is still considered to be popularly elected. Parliamentary executives can not claim to be elected via a direct vote of the people. Separation of powers is another benefit which the presidential system provides because it established the executive branch and the legislative as two distinct structures which allows each body to supervise and oversee the other and prevents abuse of the system. In a parliamentary system, the executive is not separate from the legislature, reducing the chances of criticism or scrutiny, unless a formal condemnation in the form of a vote of no confidence takes place. Hence, in a parliamentary system, a prime minister’s unethical deeds or instances of misconduct might never be discovered as Woodrow Wyatt (former British Member of Parliament) said while writing about the famous Watergate scandals during the presidency of Richard Nixon, â€Å"don’t think a Watergate couldn’t happen here, you just wouldn’t hear about it.†[6] In a parliamentary system, even though the option of a vote of no confidence is available, it is an option resorted to only in extreme cases. It is considered extremely difficult to influence or stop a prime minister or cabinet who has already decided to pass legislation or implement measures. Voting against important legislation is tantamount to a vote of no confidence, as a consequence of which the government is changed after holding of elections. This is a very tedious process because of which it is a rare occurrence in some parliamentary countries. Britain for example has only rarely undergone such a situation. Therefore, it is often believed that in a parliamentary system, because of the lack of separation of powers, the Parliament can not actually exercise any real control over the executive. However, there can be a downside to separation of powers. Presidential systems can lead to a situations where the President and Congress both evade blame by passing it to the other. In the words of former Treasury Secretary C. Douglas Dillon as he described the United States, â€Å"The president blames Congress, the Congress blames the president, and the public remains confused and disgusted with government in Washington.†[7] Woodrow Wilson agreed in his thesis, Congressional Government in the United States, as he said, â€Å"†¦how is the schoolmaster, the nation, to know which boy needs the whipping? . . . Power and strict accountability for its use are the essential constituents of good government. . . . It is, therefore, manifestly a radical defect in our federal system that it parcels out power and confuses responsibility as it does. The main purpose of the Convention of 1787 seems to have been to accomplish this grievous mistake. The `literary theory’ of checks and balances is simply a consistent account of what our constitution makers tried to do; and those checks and balances have proved mischievous just to the extent which they have succeeded in establishing themselves . . . [the Framers] would be the first to admit that the only fruit of dividing power had been to make it irresponsible.†[8] Separation of Powers has mixed implications. It can lead to gridlock, i.e. when it becomes next to impossible to pass items on the party’s agenda because the legislature is almost equally divided, usually an occurrence in the U.S. when the Senate and House of Representatives are dominated by opposing parties. However, the upside to gridlock is that it often prevents radical policy changes. Another problem with the presidential system is that while it is inherently stable because the president is elected for a fixed term, this also compounds the issue of the presidency being a zero-sum game, where winner takes all. As Linz (1990, 56) states, â€Å"The danger that zero-sum presidential elections pose is compounded by the rigidity of the president’s fixed term in office. Winners and losers are sharply defined for the entire period of the presidential mandate†¦losers must wait four or five years without any access to executive power and patronage. The zero-sum game in presidential regimes raises the stakes of presidential elections and inevitably exacerbates their attendant tension and polarization.† Parliamentary elections can also lead to one party winning an absolute majority, in most scenarios a number of parties gain representation through these elections. Power is often shared and coalitions are formed, as a consequence of which the position holders give due weight to the needs and interests of smaller parties. In turn, these parties expect a certain share in power and as is obvious, are stakeholders in the overall system, instead of non-entities. Now if, as is the case in presidential systems, one sole person believes that he has independent authority and a popular mandate, he might start to develop a tendency towards authoritarianism. When he develops such notions about his standing and role, he will not react appropriately to the inevitable opposition to his policies, finding it annoying and unsettling, as would a prime minister who considers himself a mere representative of a temporary governing coalition and not the sole voice of the nation. Hence the examples of Venezuela and Colombia, where when democracy was reestablished in times of great political instability, and when the written constitutions warranted a presidential government, the leaders of chief political parties opted for consociational agreements whereby the rigid, winner-take-all consequences of presidential elections were â€Å"softened†.[9] While stability is often touted as one of the prime advantages of the presidential system, it is simply another word for rigidity. On the other hand, parliamentarism lends a certain element of flexibility to the political process. Advocates of presidentialism might reply that this rigidity is actually a plus because it prevents the uncertainty and instability so definitive of parliamentary politics. Under parliamentary government, after all, a number of entities, even rank-and-file legislators, can choose to adopt basic changes, cause realignments and shifts, and, most importantly, make or break prime ministers. But it must be remembered that while the need for authority and predictability might serve as justifications for presidentialism, there can be a myriad of unexpected developments- anything from the death of the incumbent to serious errors in judgment committed under the pressure of adverse political circumstances – that often lead to the presidential rule being less predictable and often weaker than that of a prime minister. The latter can always make efforts to bolster up his legitimacy and authority, be it through a vote of confidence or the dissolution of parliament and the consequential new elections. Also, a prime minister can be changed without it necessarily leading to a major regime crisis.[10] Conclusion: The above analysis has largely favored a parliamentary system over a presidential one. However, one must remember that success regimes, regardless of the amount of thought and care gone into their design, are determined by the extent of support they manage to arrest from society at large, its major forces, groups and institution. Public consensus therefore is a basic need, which confers legitimacy to the authority of the regime, and this is achieved only by the power which is attained lawfully and in a democratic fashion. Regimes also depend to a large extent on the ability and aptitude of their leaders to govern, to arouse trust and to respect the boundaries of the power they hold. Every country has unique aspects that one must take into account-traditions of federalism, ethnic or cultural heterogeneity, and so on. Both systems have their pros and cons, even parliamentary systems can suffer grave crises. Hence, countries must consider their own individual past, present and future, in order to determine which system has the greater probability of success. References Hardin, Charles. 1989. A Challenge to Political Science. PS: Political Science and Politics 22(3): 595-600. Lijphart, Arend, ed. 1992. Introduction in A. Lijphart (ed.), Parliamentary versus presidential government. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Linz, Juan. 1990. The Perils of Presidentialism. Journal of Democracy (Winter): 51-69. Mainwaring, Scott and Shugart, Matthew. 1997. Juan Linz, Presidentialism, and Democracy: A Critical Appraisal. Comparative Politics 29(4): 449-471. Mainwaring, Scott. 1990. Presidentialism in Latin America. Latin American Research Review 25(1):157-179. Sartori, Giovanni. 1994. Neither presidentialism nor parliamentarism, in J.J. Linz & A. Valenzuela (eds.), The failure of presidential democracy, vol. 1: Comparative perspectives. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Thomas, Jo. Oct. 9 1988. The fate of two nations. The New York Times. Wilson, Woodrow. 1886. Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics. The New Englander 45(192). [1] Mainwaring, Scott and Shugart, Matthew. 1997. Juan Linz, Presidentialism, and Democracy: A Critical Appraisal. Comparative Politics 29(4): 449-471. [2] Lijphart, Arend, ed. 1992. Introduction in A. Lijphart (ed.), Parliamentary versus presidential government. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [3] Sartori, Giovanni. 1994. Neither presidentialism nor parliamentarism, in J.J. Linz & A. Valenzuela (eds.), The failure of presidential democracy, vol. 1: Comparative perspectives. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. [4] Mainwaring, Scott. 1990. Presidentialism in Latin America. Latin American Research Review 25(1):157-179. [5] Linz, Juan. 1990. The Perils of Presidentialism. Journal of Democracy (Winter): 51-69 [6] Thomas, Jo. Oct. 9 1988. The fate of two nations. The New York Times. [7] Hardin, Charles. 1989. A Challenge to Political Science. PS: Political Science and Politics 22(3): 595-600. [8] Wilson, Woodrow. 1886. Congressional Government: A Study in American Politics. The New Englander 45(192). [9] Linz, Juan. 1990. [10]   Linz, Juan. 1990.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Feste Analysis in the First and Second Act of Twealth Night

Fools in Shakespeare’s plays appear often. In Othello, the Tempest, Macbeth and many others, the buffoon is represented as an eclectic person paid to say the truth in a comic manner through songs and jokes. Even though Feste in Twelth Night does not speak frequently in the first and second acts, he says enough for us to see that he is an observant and clever man. Firstly, well associated with the spirit of the twelfth night, the night where society reverses roles, Feste reflects joy. His name is a great example of the happiness he expresses. Feste sounds a lot like the French word  «fete », which means party.In every scene he plays in the second act, he starts to sing. He says to Orsino that he takes  «pleasure in singing » which truly proves his delight in what he does. In other words, he is a man that likes his job. But the name Feste associates with the twelfth night in a traditional way too. He is allowed to say whatever he wishes because he is a licensed fool, as we found out when Olivia referred to him as  «an allowed fool ». This freedom of speech fits in well with the reversal of roles involved in the 12th night ritual. When Olivia orders  «take away the fool », he answers  «take away the lady ».This disrespectful answer would have ended the employment of any of the other servants of the lady. But, even considering the fixed hierarchical structure of society at the time, Feste can say whatever he thinks as long as he says it in song or in a comic manner. Moreover, Feste’s job contrasts with his abilities. Since he is a fool, we expect him to be illiterate, certainly not very perspicacious, but on the contrary, he turns out to be the most intelligent character of the play. This is shown by his developed sense of repartee hidden through his role of jester.For example, in the last scene of the first Act, Maria criticizes Feste of having no real bravery, as he pretends to have, compared with soldiers. He answers that everyo ne should do what he is good at ( «And those that are fools, let them use their talent.  »). This response seems wise and philosophical. But Feste as a fool is obviously someone with a great sense of humor. Over five hundred years, many ideas about life and society have changed and evolved, but humor has remained universal. Feste’s talent and ability is to shield himself with his persona as a fool, but to offer insights and insults of a very wise man.He never behaves badly or in a juvenile way: playing around with food, drinks or other accessories. His only accessory is language. Scene 3 of Act 2, Sir Andrew jokes about Feste because of his status but Feste replies:  «How now, my hearts! Did you never see the picture of â€Å"We Three†?  » implying that Sir Andrew, Sir Toby and himself are fools. This short answer is hilarious because Sir Andrew is wordless but the silky tone emphasize the comic feature of the quote. It seems to me that fools like Feste have tw o roles in Shakespeare’s plays.First, they provide comic relief to what might otherwise be a heavy, if not depressing story. We look forward to their appearance to give us an uplift from the more serious developments in the plot. Without the fool this story would have had a totally different tone, simply a depressing tragedy. Second, they are the characters with which we, the audience, identify. Yes, we too are really insightful and we too see all the foibles and vices of the characters and we too would express our thoughts and observations through witty banter if we lived in these social circles in these times, or so we like to think.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Ethical Marketing Reflective Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethical Marketing issues by Trump on Aberdeen Wind Farm - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the Aberdeen Wind farm has resulted in ethical and legal battles between the Scottish government and entrepreneur, Donald Trump who believes the construction of the wind farm will result in an ugly sore adjacent to his greatest golf course. According to Trump, building his $ 1 billion golf course in Aberdeenshire was because he was informed that the wind farm project would not continue. However, â€Å"former and current first ministers, Jack McConnel and Alex Salmond† denied that they agreed to have the project stopped owing to the plans for the building of the golf resort by Trump. The current minister says Trump wanted the current government to be held accountable for the promises of the previous government, which he believes is not possible and resulted in a court battle filed by Trump’s legal team. In a bid to halt  the development of the wind farm, Trump appeared before the Scottish Parliament’s committee on e conomy, energy, and tourism and he said the wind farm was the most serious problem facing Scotland. From the research, the aim of the wind farm includes the creation of 28,000 jobs, generation of 100 MW of electricity that would supply power to half of Aberdeen city, and act as a pilot project for the aims of turning the country into Europe’s green energy. The Scottish government approved the development of the wind farm resulting in Trump taking to the courts to challenge the project to which he subsequently lost despite the use of misleading campaigns and threats about the fall of the Scottish economy. He also made use of his celebrity status through different media channels and campaigns to influence the court decision, but he was not successful.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Michelangelo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Michelangelo - Essay Example culture of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Europe is represented as a repudiation of medieval values in favor of the revival of the culture of ancient Greece and Rome† (Campbell, 2004, v-vi). The period is characterized primarily by a renewed focus on the symbolism and skill represented in the artworks of the ancient world. To the people that faced these remnants every day, such as the people who lived in Rome and other parts of Italy, the remains of buildings and statuary from the ancient world represented a golden age of shared culture, reason and creativity throughout the region. This refocus on the classic styles, subjects and artistic knowledge are exemplified in the works of Michelangelo Buonarroti who learned his art in the capital of this flowering rebirth, the city of Florence. An understanding of his life helps to indicate the great sensitivity he had in undertaking his many works of art, including painting, sculpture and architecture. Michelangelo Buonarroti was actually born in the town of Caprese in 1475, but was moved to Florence soon after his birth when his father lost the governorship of Caprese one month after his birth. Because of his mother’s constitutional frailty, Michelangelo was given to a wet nurse who turned out to be the daughter and wife of stonecutters, giving the small Michelangelo his first introduction to the stone and tools that would one day make him famous, a beginning he would never forget. â€Å"If I have anything good in my talent, this has come to me from having been born in the purity of the air of your Arezzo countryside; and also from having received with the milk of my wet nurse, the chisel and hammer with which I make my figures,† Michelangelo told his friend and biographer (cited in Labella, 1990, p. 44). His mother died when Michelangelo was only six, and he remained distanced from the rest of his family throughout the remainder of his life as his brothers born bot h before and after him were raised

Thursday, September 26, 2019

International Marketing Mix Tutbury Crystal Analysis and Essay

International Marketing Mix Tutbury Crystal Analysis and Recommendations - Essay Example A family owned business that churns out the highest quality of cut glass and allied products that come under the lifestyle category, Tutbury is a name to reckon with. It has a rich heritage in customer management. Given its history and the prestige attached with owning pieces produced by this company, it would be a tough job to market this effectively in a region where little would be known about this exclusive brand without appropriate customer management. In this regard, it is imperative to loosely define international marketing before moving on. International marketing is that sphere of activities that is aimed at introducing a product in a country or group of countries with the aim of creating sales and some amount of awareness regarding the brand. (Bennett et al, 2002) Therefore, for a lifestyle product like crystal, what better than a country where lifestyle solutions are becoming a rage and the norm of the day - India. This Asian country is fast moving away from its traditional colonial bearings to discover style and charm in urban living. The new generation in India does not mind doling out that extra amount of cash to spend on good lifestyle products that will make a statement about their homes, lives and times. Welcome to the new Indian - Sassy, stylish and very, very choosy. (Fernandes, 2000) About Tutbury's: Born and marketed during the 1920s to the 1960s, Tutbury's was named Thomas, Webb and Corbett to start with until it was known by its present name in 1984, owing to the spot of it factory which was in a 15th century village named Tutbury. 2006 saw a strategic move on Tutbury's part where its factory chose to be based at Stroke - on - Trent, instead of Tutbury's. The branding of Tutubry's has been largely based on norms that revolve around exclusivity and a certain amount of mystery with the nitty gritties of the company. The basic finding that this paper will work on is that Tutbury's has capitalised on the lifestyles of a certain section of people so as to form a brand identity of its won. In case of the consumer base enjoyed by the company, there is a sharp segmentation in terms of the target group. The basic target group of the company includes people in the upper income group starting from the age of 30 and above. Further, the people who have retired and are in the age group of 50 and above, serve as a major source of profitability. Another important source of income for the product is the Internet. Therefore, the important element in the application of the entry point strategy for Tutbury's is to recognise the age and income groups that predominantly define the demographics in India, before going on to carry out segmentation and reach suitability in terms of the marketing mix. In this case, the entry point strategy may be used as a preliminary process that will help develop the marketing mix. This entry point strategy has been defined throughout the paper in the various elements of the marketing mix so as to find a suitable base for segmentation and subsequent bran d positioning. Entry Point Strategy The first element when entering a new market is the risk factor. For Tutbury's there has been a strategic management of

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

The foundation of football Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The foundation of football - Essay Example With regards to the origination of this sport, the other most important person that needs to be acknowledged is William Ebb Ellis. Mary Bellis-author of â€Å"History of American Football† on about.com noted that Ellis was the first person documented for picking up the ball during a soccer game and running with it in 1823. Ellis breached the rules of the game and amidst all of that he created a new game now known as American Football. The invention of this sport saw attempts to write to write the rules in 1867. He pulled some characteristics from previous sports such as rugby and soccer to create American Football. Some of these changes as reported Bellis include: 1. one side retained undisputed possession of the ball, until that side gives up the ball as a result of its own violations 2. the line of scrimmage 3. 11 on a team instead of 15 4. created the quarter-back and center positions 5. forward pass 6. standardized the scoring system, numerical scoring 7. created the safet y, interference, penalties, and the neutral zone American Football In the past, football teams consisted of around 25 players on each side and negligent and neglectful rules made it an excessively violent sport, resulting in serious injuries to players and even the deaths of some. With reference to waltercamp.org, Camp brought some amount of discipline to the game and served on the rules committee from his college days until 1925 when he died. Later Camp devised some insightful tactics from plays and restricting the game to eleven members per team. This then gave the teams an advantage of utilizing various strategies throughout play to become victors. Camp then made further innovations to the game which includes system of downs and yards-to-go. This idea was preconceived from a game between Princeton and Yale. Princeton was determined and convinced that within the rules of the game, they could sit on it and not move it for an entire half. The misunderstanding of the Princeton and Ya le game influenced the use of the Gridiron System of lines and lavish marks on the field. Despite the myriad of similarities to Rugby, the methods of scoring didn’t work well with American Football. As such Walter Camp devised a scoring sytem which continues to be the basis of the game. Camp continued to contribute to the game he helped create, even contributing to the establishment of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), but the violence of the game continued to bog it down. In 1905, so many deaths occurred on the field that then President Theodore Roosevelt, a proponent of strenuous exercise, made it known that collegiate football would have to be made safer or it would be outlawed. So in 1906, Camp's American Football Rules Committee adopted several rules that made the game safer – among them, the adoption of the forward pass as an acceptable method of moving the ball down field. While Camp never played for a professional team, without his innovation s and continued support of the game it's entirely possible it never would have existed at all, particularly since the National Football League initially used collegiate rules to govern play. Rules of American Football The rules state that the game has 11 players who can field at any time and the main of the purpose of the game is to move the ball towards the opposition's end zone and ultimately into their end zone (a touchdown). This is achieved by either running with the ball until

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Tesco's Strategic Real Estate Management Case Study

Tesco's Strategic Real Estate Management - Case Study Example The futuristic thrust of a company can be assessed by its assets. If the company carries forward its business prospects by accumulating assets on a recurring basis, this indicates towards the fact that the company is not there for short term gains. Policies of such companies, in general, always happen to be friendly to different sets of stakeholders. Acquiring real estate is one good indication towards the strategic focus of the company. Tesco's policies have been to acquire the real estate with an eye on long term perspective. Continuously monitoring the environment and following the leaders has become key to a successful business. Continuously studying the different aspects of environment (social, political, legal, technological etc.) and taking corrective and adaptive steps accordingly helps in growing of an organisation. Tesco started computerised checkout counters as early as 1982 and this stride continued with opening of www.tesco.com and its online operations. Today it is the largest store in UK with presence in many countries around the world. This study is an effort to find out how the management at Tesco has been able to make use of its strengths and adapted to external pulls and pressure while successfully managing the resources at its command. Of all the changes in distribution during the last century, those taking place in retailing have been the most dramatic. Totally new institutions have appeared in an industry that a hundred years ago consisted mostly of small general and specialty stores. Tesco is one such store which had a humble beginning early in the 20th century and today it is one of the leading company in the retail sector. Besides acquiring prime space in the major cities in UK, in the form of its stores, company has been able to take advantage of the opportunities in the overseas market. This study is an effort to figure out how the company is able to synchronise its marketing efforts while investing in real estate as well. The Evolution of Tesco Tesco has been a leading company in the retailing business. With its presence in many parts of the world, the company has been able to take good advantage of the liberalisation policies being adopted by nations around the world. While talking about the policies adopted by the management in order to take growth oriented approach, it is worth discussing how the company was able to effectively manage its assets like the real estate. It was in the year 1919 that Jack Cohen founded Tesco, when he began to sell surplus groceries from a stall in the East End of London. His first day's profit1 was 1 and sales 4. The name comes from the initials of TE Stockwell, who was a partner in the firm of tea suppliers, and CO from Jack's surname. It was in year 1929 that Jack Cohen opens his first Tesco store in Burnt Oak, Edgware, North London. And there's no looking back since then. Tesco has a long term plan for growth, based on four key strategies2: i. Growth in the Core UK ii. Making corporate social responsibility an integral part of the business iii. To expand by growing internationally iv. To be as strong in non-food as in food v. To follow the customers into new retailing services The company has been steadily progressing with these strategies over the years and with over 2100 stores in UK and serving 12 markets 12 markets internationally, in Europe, Asia and North America. Over the years, the company has also widened its

Monday, September 23, 2019

Legal Research Pathfinder Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Legal Pathfinder - Research Paper Example C. 2008). That is child sexual harassment. As per Dziech, sexual harassment in education remains an overlooked problem in the society, with the senior management of these educational institutions refusing its existence and refraining from taking any strict, efficacious action against it (Lewis, J. F., & Hastings, S. C. 1994; Layman, N. S. 1994; Machay, J.). Needless to say, this problem exists even outside educational institutions and does warrant some immediate action against it. This is my personal opinion that when we adults are more or less aware of what is going on, when someone whistles in the street or leers at us in the elevator, a child does not have the necessary level of social understanding and power to know what is going on and how to stand up against it, not to mention of the subsequent mental trauma and depression (W. L. Felstiner, R. L. Abel & A. Sarat, 1980-1981). Being responsible citizens of the country, it is our duty to take care of the future of our country, and these children are the future of our country. Needless to say, every state has its own set of child sexual abuse laws and a person who has been impeached with child sexual abuse at the federal level, may still face serious consequences at the state level. Statutory rape, in the simplest of definitions, is basically sexual exploitation of the minor (USC Title 18 - Crimes and Criminal Procedure). As noted in the IPT Journal - "Child Sexual Abuse: Is the Routine Provision of Psychotherapy Warranted?† The notion that child sexual abuse is a "destroyer" of mental health  has been based largely on studies involving clinical samples (Berliner & Elliott, 1996). And this is proved by a numerous real-life examples as well. For example, the study done by the social working group ‘Mkombozi’ on the Tanzanian schools showed a shocking incident of a young boy being sexually abused by the members of the neighborhood school (CRIN - Violence Study -

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Reflections on Perception of Reality Essay Example for Free

Reflections on Perception of Reality Essay I have always believed in what I saw, what I heard, and what I experienced. As these elements play a significant role of perceiving the world around me, it is very hard to distrust the reality. However, it was not a long ago that I began to ponder about this issue more profoundly. What do I really perceive? Could I precisely explain our perception without the help of science? As I spend more time thinking about this fascinating issue, I realized that it is necessary to analyze how the nature of perceptual experience relates to reality, and to science. The problems of perception do not only lie on the subject of metaphysics but also on the context of epistemology. Discussing broad philosophical positions about the nature of perceptual experience is the first step to form my own perspective on perception. Identifying and comparing reasonable interpretations and support of various assertions is therefore a key to successfully solidifying my argument. I would like to begin by introducing my ideas on perceiving the world that I am currently living in. In my opinion, my perception towards the world would depend on how to deal with apparently obvious truths about my experience of the world with the possibility of particular types of perceptual errors. Although I make myself open to the reality, this fact of openness is sometimes frightened by the existence of certain illusions. For this reason, philosophical hypothesis of perception needs to respond to this threat by providing an account of perception that preserves central and significant features of perception. Materialism argues that there exists some order of reality that is independent of the human mind, consciousness, and perception. According to materialism, there is a real material world, which consists of matter and energy and obeys some natural laws independent of human mind. As far as I understand, this epistemological materialism argues that logical experience does not contain a theory about what reality is, but rather about how we should treat reality. This epistemological materialism argues that all statements should be meaningful, and that in order to be meaningful a statement should be testable and verifiable, carving away metaphysics. Testable statements must then refer to scientific properties if observers are to agree. Therefore, statements of mind, reflecting internal feelings, thoughts, and motives are meaningless unless they display some physical change or behavior. Materialism seems to offer a simple and efficient perspective on reality, which indeed appears to be in agreement with our experience and observations. Moreover, materialism also seems to be the only metaphysics most consistent with scientific knowledge. But if the materialism was clearly to be true, the world would be without purpose and my life would be absolutely meaningless. Both being a moral human through free will and taking responsibilities for immoral actions would be delusion. This is certainly not the case for all of us. We, as human beings, strive to give meanings and purposes to our lives. Idealism, on the other hand, argues that there is no order of reality independent of human minds and morality. It gives supreme power to minds over other physical values such as body. Material substances would have no existence independent of mind, or while existing, this reality may exhibit human values and morality. It may also be true that reality’s basic nature could be mind in that our apprehension of reality is more determined by mind than matter. Most idealists believe that there is a fundamental unity to the world which is simply greater than the sum of its parts. However, I think that there is a close connection between the existence of our morality and the universe as our values imply something more to the universe than just matter, laws, and physical substances. I might have become the unique outgrowth through physical processes, and my mind could still qualitatively differ. My mind may be self-actualizing while the rest of nature and reality could be still the realm of matter. The reality therefore would be able to contain mind and matter at the same time. I would also like to underline the importance of the nature of knowledge. We need to acknowledge that our sensory knowledge is in fact imperfect as not everyone has exactly the same perceptions and impressions of external reality. We are truly chained to our bodies and could only appreciate certitudes in the privacy of our minds. Hence, I believe that our knowledge and perceptions of reality could never be perfect. Beyond what we could know, reality may still consist of physical interpretations. Constructionism argues that perceptual experiences consist of representations that are constructed by the mind that express external reality. And perceptual experiences both involve objective from the world and subject material supplied by mind. In other words, my perceptual visions are being constructed and my experience contains the representations of that reality. Basically constructionism is the result of compromise between materialism and idealism. As the major focus of constructionism is to unveil the ways in which individuals behave to form the creation of their perceived reality, it involves looking at the ways the world is being created and shaped into reality. For this reason, I believe that reality could be seen as a continuous and dynamic process while it is reproduced by human beings acting on our interpretations and knowledge. My belief is closely in line with this view of constructionism. I think that everyone tends to interpret and construct a reality based on his or her experiences and interactions with circumstances. Although the world outside our minds is considered to be objective and material, it may still be perceived subjectively by us, depending upon different values and morals each one of us holds. The discussion of the nature of reality and its perception, however, does not end here. It is crucial to look at this issue from a different point of view; epistemology dimension. There exist two extreme arguments for describing the nature of knowledge linked to the perceptual experiences. Positive science, which is based on materialism, explains that the only true knowledge one could learn about the nature of reality is primarily dependent on science which provides objective knowledge. But this view does not fully explain the nature of knowledge. Intuitionism, which is based on idealism, asserts that there are different forms of knowledge that the mind has access to. Therefore, no empirical investigation is actually necessary. We could hardly distinguish above two different ideas about the nature of knowledge as they are closely linked to each other. In my opinion, science is used to prove and validate our intuitionism by showing the actual models and data. They both then provide us with a sense of justification for the nature of knowledge. Realizing that there are different philosophical positions about the nature of perceptual experience and its relation to reality, and to science is essential to successfully understanding the nature of reality and knowledge. We have discussed interpretations and critique of the fundamental beliefs that explain the relationship between perception and reality. As we know, it is not easy to simply conclude which theory is the most powerful in explaining such a complicated subject. I believe, however, that the constructionism is the most plausible theory that holds valid argument along with the combination of positive science and intuitionism. How we perceive the reality not only depends on the physical world and materials but also on the experience and morals we retain. Scientific data and methods as well as intuitionism and insight do play a significant role in supporting the conceptual space produced by broad philosophical positions. Because perception is a dynamic dispute between the attempts of the world to impose a reality and our efforts to transform this reality into our own perspective, it is important for us to develop our own perspective gradually. Thus, my initial position towards the nature of reality and science may still change and later shape a new theory as we go through more studies and discussions in the course of psychology.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Choose the Right Path in Life Essay Example for Free

Choose the Right Path in Life Essay Damion Booker is a 6’5 point guard from Rialto, California that is supposedly the best point guard since Magic Johnson. Magic Johnson was an incredible athlete he was versatile, had basketball IQ, he averaged a double double, and most of all a leader on the court. Damion Booker followed those same exact aspects. Damion Booker was the first round draft pick and was drafted to Los Angles Hokies and previously went to Rialto State University (RSU). Damion Booker majored in Business and had a GPA of 3. 9. Not only did he have great athleticism and skill, he was intelligent. He made honor roll every year and challenged himself more and more. Every teacher loved him and was very popular around campus. He was also involved in many activities such as karate, played piano, and volunteered at a senior citizen home a couple of hours every summer break. While being involved in many activities he met a guy named Elijah Hearth. Elijah Hearth was a good friend, but also a troublemaker. In addition, while Damion Booker was hanging out with his friend Elijah Hearth he met a new agent and felt he was fit for the job. His first agent was unreliable and not trustworthy. A few days later Damion Booker got a call saying there was an NBA Lockout while at home. His agent said he didn’t have an idea when the new season was going to begin. He was very shocked and heartbroken, He couldn’t believe it. Damion Booker had to find some way to make money so he decided to own a business that he’s been attempting since he was a senior in college. Damion Booker was bored so he became more involved. A few weeks later his resteraunt opened it was named Damion Booker Palace. He made big bucks and had a lot of money. As a result, he became very cocky in everything he did. It took a lot of his time to owning that restaurant. He took time away from basketball to put in work to own the Palace. He had earned money twice as fast as regular people who started their business. For most people it takes years to own a business, but for Damion Booker it took him a month. The background behind that was that he made this special sauce that attracted people all over the world. Damion Booker made a tasty, scrumptious sauce that was called the Damion Cold Killer Pasta Sauce. It was supposedly the best sauce nationwide and it’s the bestseller at Damion Palace. It attracted wild, bizarre eaters like Andrew Zimmern. The pasta sauce was so good Andrew Zimmern said it was the best pasta he ever tasted. As a result, to the Cold Killer Pasta Sauce it did have a secret ingredient. The secret ingredient was this famous pepper that came from Peruvia. It was called the Peruvian Puff Pepper. The Puff Pepper had this special flavor that made ingredients spicier and more flavorful. The sauce also had extra amounts of salt and other excessive ingredient but the extra salt and the puff peppers are the ones that made the sauce taste better and more addicting. The sauce became so addicting that it made skinny people fat and the fat people become fatter. The sauce is sort of in comparison to a big mac from McDonald’s. Lots of people bought it and it was very addicting. The Puff Pepper had a special element that made you beg for more and more. Damions Palace put many businesses on bankrupt because of how good their specialty was. The only business that remained standing were McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, Carls Jr, Taco Bell, Applebee’s, Panda Express, and Denny’s but th ey were losing the average customers because Damion Palace was taking over because of their special pasta sauce. They were also losing money to in which that was a bad thing and tried putting more advertisements onto TV commercials, radios, billboards, and blimps. People didn’t care to much about the advertisement of TV commercials, blimps, billboards, and radios all the people cared about was Damions Palace and their special pasta sauce. Damion Booker came up with the idea on one boring weekend and decided to cook. All of a sudden, he came up with making pasta sauce because that was his mother’s favorite thing to eat while she was young and she would make it on special occasions. He went into his cabinet and pulled things such seasonings such as salt and pepper, and all kinds of sauces that his mom had stored. Then, Damion pulled out a bowl and started mixing a concoction. He tasted a couple of mixes and didn’t like them to well. After a couple of more mixes he tasted a delightful sauce that he believed tasted quite amusing. They didn’t have much because they Damion’s mom didn’t make much money. They weren’t poor but they weren’t fortunate. After tasting the sauce he knew he was going to become successful in the future. While doing this he realized he needed a backup plan for when the NBA comes out of its lockout. His backup was to have his brother take over Damion Palace when the NBA lockout ends. By the time Damion got settled to being a business owner the lockout had ended and it was time for Damion to start basketball again. The first couple of weeks the Palace ran very smoothly. At one point they had more customers than ever recorded. Damion was getting settled with basketball and his brother was taking over the best restaurant in the nation. Life couldn’t get any better for the Booker family! As life ran smoothly they became extremely arrogant until a fire burned down the Palace. Damion was gloomy and felt like a complete failure, but still confident. Although the palace burned down, Damion didn’t know the place was burned down until the all-star break he checked in and called his brother to ask how the restaurant was running. Damion brother told him the place got burned down. Damion was furious! Damion’s Brother didn’t want to interfere with Damion’s basketball career. Their relationship was corrupted and didn’t talk to one another for a long time. They constantly would argue and have many quarrelsome disagreements. When The Bookers lost their restaurant, they became unfortunate again and were very depressed. Their family began to go on corners and beg for money for a living but not for very long. They were going through some tough times but they always overcome the tough situations. By the time the Bookers started making more money Damion had started preseason basketball with the Los Angles Hokies. He was a star on his team like the whole world already suspected. To modern times Damion Booker came to the NBA similar to Kyrie Irving. Kyrie Irving was a first round draft pick and immediately became a star in the NBA. Life became good for Damion Booker again he was getting fame and publicity. He was getting so much fame and publicity that he acted as if he forgot that his own restaurant got burned down and started treating his family very well. He started to be in magazines, commercials, and on the internet. Damion Booker became the face of basketball and more importantly the face of Rookies. Overtime Damion Booker became cocky bad things begin to happened to him again. Damion booker was going for a slam dunk on a fast break and hurt his ankle. He was on the ground for 10 minutes and couldn’t get up. He felt paralyzed and the medical staff had to pick Damion up put him on a stretcher. The next day he went to the doctor and they told him he had a ruptured Achilles tendon and that he will never be able to play basketball again. Damion Booker was upset because basketball was his life and if you took basketball away from him it was like taking his life away. Basketball was his Life! He played it almost every day and whenever he had the time. On the offseason of when Damion was in college he would always go to the park and have pickup games. He would dominate and win almost every single game. Damion didn’t want to listen to the doctors. He refused to listen to anything they said. Damion was going to come back and play in the NBA regardless if they said he could or couldn’t. The network technician believed that he was going to be out for his career and so did the whole world. Unbelievably Two months later, Damion stepped on the court and the nation was shocked. It was a remarkable return and on his debut from returning he had twenty- two points, six assists, and five rebounds. People knew this kid was special because nobody had ever recovered from a ruptured Achilles tendon and also because of how fast he recovered from his injury. Later, he got rookie of the year and averaged 18 points a game and became cocky again. In Addition, to Damion getting cocky after he won rookie of the year he began to get caught and this time he was messed up for life. He started getting influenced by his friends and thinking he was better than everyone in the world. That same night he won rookie of the year Damion went out partying with his friend. There was drugs and alcohol that he got into that just completely messed up his mindset. He started missing several practices, get to the team room late, disrespect the coaches, and many other things that got him into some trouble. Also, his numbers dropped, and appeared always tired. Instead of Damion averaging 18 points a game coming from the injury he averaged about 8 points a game. As he kept doing these actions they noticed a drastic change and ordered Damion to take a drug test. A couple days later the team got the results and he failed the drug test. After they got the results the Hokies released him to free agency and no other team wanted him. He realized he made a mistake and started to feel depressed. As a result, he got kicked out of the NBA and felt so lost he committed suicide.

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Economic Crisis Through Digital Economy Information Technology Essay

The Economic Crisis Through Digital Economy Information Technology Essay Already a circulated topic which puts thoughts investors and businessmen, the economic crisis seems to be invincible. The solving and minimizing the effects exerted at the microeconomic and macroeconomic level are still a challenge for economists, both globally and nationally. In fact, today we are at the confluence of two crises: the first (short term) but there is a second economic crisis in the long term, which is about the changing business climate. Following studies carried out internationally, it was concluded that these two crises have in common that one possible solution is to develop the digital economy. Digital economy seen as a new economy is the effect of coexistence of computer systems, Internet, telecommunications, electronics and their sustainable development. The trend toward digital systems integrated values pose a new life cycle of e-business. This new model of economy is characterized by several features quite different from traditional economy. First, new economy presents new market and business models (e-business, E-commerce, e-banking, etc.) achieved through the intranet and the Internet, bringing a radical change in their efficiency, to reduce the cost. In recent years, electronic commerce (e-commerce) has emerged as the concrete form of realization of business, also involving the definition of sui generis markets scientific knowledge, driven by an increasingly developing research and development sector. Second highlight the application needs of consumers and their ever more active involvement in design, implementation and use of goods and services from early stage research and development. In the light of these realities, the new economy is non-interactive, participatory, thus achieving a more rigorous interaction between supply and demand, in time and space. Thus the consumer is without the knowledge, the main innovation pawn. It is he who offers ideas for innovational producer, who must maintain and expand markets, increase comfort and provide sustainable economic development. Third, we talk about competition and cooperation, two inseparable sides of the digital economy (taking account of the interaction between supply and demand, above). Forms of manifestation of competition between producers suffer due to temper consumer transformation, how it perceives and chooses a product or service name of the manufacturer at the expense, making vital cooperation between producers. All these lead to the creation of virtual organizations as being achieved exploitation of business opportunities by sharing resources (skills, cost and market access). Lastly, the most delicate of the economy, that is on a power greater than design work. But as in anything less pleasant there a good side, we see that the advantage of creating new jobs that require highly skilled. Digital economy is regarded as superior to the wider economy. This is given its economic effects, namely reducing resource consumption, increased innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, increase productivity, speed change production and economic phenomena and processes, increasing value added, etc. The term digital economy refers to the transformation produced in the economic activities resulting from the use of information and communication technology (ICT), which provides access, information processing and storage in a low-cost time low. Antithetical on the old economy growth was driven by mechanization of production, particularly manufacturing and agriculture, and the new economy, a promoter of development is generally digitization (using information technology to produce and distribute goods and services) and in particular , using the Internet and other information technologies (smart cards, voice-based computing, wireless, databases, telecommunications and expert systems) in the service sector, which encompasses 80% of jobs. Information technology revolution has transformed virtually all industries and is the main developer of economic efficiency and productivity growth, living standards, the customization of products and services to meet individual needs and desires. So on this evolving digital economy is developing an increasingly see knowledge as raw material of economic activity currently living in a knowledge revolution. This revolution means a fundamental change and transformation processes based economy alm ost exclusively on natural resources in the economy based mainly on knowledge. On the basis of this revolution is the decisive role that the knowledge they have acquired in recent decades, increased economic importance of information technology, business processes, human capital, capabilities and organization skills knowledge related to organic factors. The exponential growth of mobile communications and the number of Internet users, the contribution of the ICT sector (ICT) to economic growth and job creation, restructuring of companies and business in general to better benefit from new technologies, accelerated development of electronic commerce and the essence of the digital economy supporting the transition to a knowledge-based society. It offers the most promising prospects for overcoming the crisis and stop efecto social exclusion, but require social protection systems to become more active, provide incentives for work, ensuring sustainable retirement system for elderly people and a stable environment the transition to knowledge-based economy can be run. SMEs the mainly pawn In order to achieve the digital economy should focus on using technology within firms, both in terms of Exeter and the environment when it comes to the firms external environment. It is understandable that the field could have the biggest Benefits after investing in technology the SME sector. Importance of SMEs can be seen in their effect on the most important aspects of life inhabitants of a region and the level of economic development. Thus, the importance of SMEs lies in reality following: offers the largest supply of goods and services for a nation in a modern society; is the main supplier of value added in economic sectors that have purpose, offers most jobs; firm level performance influence the state and the performance of national economy and standard of living of the population. In the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, seeking to become states with mature economies, the SME sector is considered the pillar supporting the economy. On average, 99.7% of companies present in the 27 EU countries, generating more than two thirds of total employment and 60% of added value, said Helge Boschenbroker, director of the Zeb/rolfes.schierenbek.associates and author of Serving SMEs by banks in CEE. Information and communications technology, with electronic trading systems offer benefits in increased turnover after business processes. Transfer documents via existing network and computer network within the enterprise increases the efficiency of the economic process in terms of documentation, data processing and other administrative functions. Also in the SMEs, ICT and communications applications in this area may be the company much faster and can bring value and management company offering its effectiveness. Using advanced ICT systems, such as being ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and KMS (Knowledge Management System) enables enterprises to store, distribute and use their knowledge and know-how. For example, databases with a history of clients increase the flexibility and support given by managers and employees to customers. Regarding the internal environment of enterprises, the Internet and electronic commerce, offers significant potential in reducing transaction costs and time. If the type of B2B commerce, digital technology reduces the information asymmetry between buyers and suppliers provided. In fact, adoption of electronic commerce will reduce costs of transfer; increase transaction speed and superior build business relationships. Prerequisites for participation in a digital economy are the availability of accessible ICT with reasonable price and ability to use them. Currently, there are still many people who can not benefit fully from the opportunities offered by ICT because these prerequisites are not met. Using ICT in SMEs is important economically. E-business idea is crucial when talking about ICT, but refers to accessing, providing and sharing information in the networks business, ie making business into advanced digital economy. Although companies today continue to use cost savings by using ICT, ICT is increasingly recognized as an important tool for innovation and revenue growth. New services and new ways of working in networks of value occurred. Competition between enterprises is conducted in new ways and cooperation lies in their work. Knowledge-intensive activities have become more important. Companies are increasingly focused on their core competencies and outsource processes such non-core business. Currently, the vast majority of world countries have adopted proactive policies priority to create an environment conducive to sustainable development information and communication technologies (ICT) especially that between developed and developing or poor countries has created a digital gap (Digital Divide). Romania, like other emerging countries, is faced with the phenomenon known as the digital gap, that gap that exists in use of ICT in organizations, between different layers of society in the country to other countries. Digital divide concept is closely related to information society theory. Using these indicator researchers measured the extent to which certain segments of the population can participate in the information society. The gap is caused by social and economic inequalities between groups that influence access to digital information. These differences or inequalities arising from operating knowledge of computers and technology use by those present on the labor market and the marginalized, rich and poor, young and old. No wonder that the current economic crisis digital divide, in terms of Romania, to provide a surge. As the economy continues to be in crisis compared with other EU countries, differences in adoption and development of ICT will continue to increase. Finally it is possible for Romania to face a new crisis, a crisis of e-accessibility, but only if no measures are taken to support the adoption of sustainable ICT

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Investigation to find out if changes in concentration of acid affect the rate of a chemical reaction :: GCSE Chemistry Coursework Investigation

Investigation to find out if changes in concentration of acid affect the rate of a chemical reaction PLANNING – Title – Investigation to find out if changes in concentration of acid affect the rate of a chemical reaction. Introduction – The rate of reaction can be defined as the speed at which a reaction takes place. The rate of reaction tells us how quickly a chemical reaction has happened. There are many things that can affect the rate of reaction, (some of these are shown in figure 1 below.) In this coursework I am going to investigate what effect the change in acid concentration has on a chemical reaction. I will do this through a series of experiments, where I will change the concentration of hydrochloric acid by mixing it with water. I will measure the reaction by recording the amount of gas given off in 60 seconds for each experiment. I plan to keep the total amount of liquid used in the experiments at a constant 20ml. This way I can measure the concentration of the acid I use each time. Aim – To find out if the rate of reaction is effected by the concentration of an acid. Variables – I have decided to focus on the effect concentration of acid has on the rate of reaction. To get accurate results, I have to make sure all my experiments are run fairly. To achieve this I will keep all my variables constant, except the one I’m investigating, the concentration of the acid. The temperature, equipment and amount of substances I use will be kept the same for all my experiments. I will also make sure the substances I use are all prepared in the same way before each experiment. This will avoid change in surface area. (E.g. I wont crush a substance one time and keep It whole the next) In all my experiments I will keep the magnesium whole. To control the temperature of the acid, I will use a thermometer to monitor it and make sure the temperature is the same for each experiment I do. (this will most likely be at room temp. around 27degrees.) All my equipment will be kept identical to any other one of my experiments, and I will use the same size measuring cylinder (20ml) to measure out the acid and water. The concentration of the acid is the only variable I will change throughout my investigation. I will do this by weakening the solution with water, starting with a very acidic solution and gradually diluting it. This will be done by measuring the water and acid in the Investigation to find out if changes in concentration of acid affect the rate of a chemical reaction :: GCSE Chemistry Coursework Investigation Investigation to find out if changes in concentration of acid affect the rate of a chemical reaction PLANNING – Title – Investigation to find out if changes in concentration of acid affect the rate of a chemical reaction. Introduction – The rate of reaction can be defined as the speed at which a reaction takes place. The rate of reaction tells us how quickly a chemical reaction has happened. There are many things that can affect the rate of reaction, (some of these are shown in figure 1 below.) In this coursework I am going to investigate what effect the change in acid concentration has on a chemical reaction. I will do this through a series of experiments, where I will change the concentration of hydrochloric acid by mixing it with water. I will measure the reaction by recording the amount of gas given off in 60 seconds for each experiment. I plan to keep the total amount of liquid used in the experiments at a constant 20ml. This way I can measure the concentration of the acid I use each time. Aim – To find out if the rate of reaction is effected by the concentration of an acid. Variables – I have decided to focus on the effect concentration of acid has on the rate of reaction. To get accurate results, I have to make sure all my experiments are run fairly. To achieve this I will keep all my variables constant, except the one I’m investigating, the concentration of the acid. The temperature, equipment and amount of substances I use will be kept the same for all my experiments. I will also make sure the substances I use are all prepared in the same way before each experiment. This will avoid change in surface area. (E.g. I wont crush a substance one time and keep It whole the next) In all my experiments I will keep the magnesium whole. To control the temperature of the acid, I will use a thermometer to monitor it and make sure the temperature is the same for each experiment I do. (this will most likely be at room temp. around 27degrees.) All my equipment will be kept identical to any other one of my experiments, and I will use the same size measuring cylinder (20ml) to measure out the acid and water. The concentration of the acid is the only variable I will change throughout my investigation. I will do this by weakening the solution with water, starting with a very acidic solution and gradually diluting it. This will be done by measuring the water and acid in the

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Freud’s Impact on Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Giorgio de Chirico’s T

Freud’s Impact on Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Giorgio de Chirico’s The Vexations of the Thinker      Ã‚   The 1920 publication of Beyond the Pleasure Principle formalized a meaningful shift in Sigmund Freud's theory of sexual drive: his original hypothesis distinguished the ego instincts from the sexual instincts.   Subsequent psychoanalytic researches force him to refine this configuration:    . . . psycho-analysis observed the regularity with which libido is withdrawn from the object and directed on the ego   (the process of introversion); and, by studying the libidinal development of children in its earliest phases, came to the conclusion that the ego is the true and original reservoir of libido, and that it is only from that reservoir that libido is extended on to objects. [1]    Freud recognizes the narcissistic nature of sexual instinct yet clings to a dual (read: non-Jungian) model for instinctual drive.   He ". . . describe[s] the opposition as being, not between ego-instincts and sexual instincts but between life instincts and death instincts"   (Freud 64).   Freud sees the natural goal of the sexual drive as reproduction - life - and the natural goal of the ego as death.   This newest polarity leads to Freud's exploration of the so-called "perversions", sadism and masochism, as they characterize the death instinct.      It may seem odd to equate sadism with narcissism considering that a sadist receives pleasure only from another's pain.   "[But] is it not plausible," Freud asks, "to suppose that this sadism is in fact a death instinct which, under the influence of the narcissistic ego, has been forced away from the ego and consequently only emerged in relation to the object?"   He goes on to explain tha... ...irico builds a wall of narcissism to entrap his solitary figure.   This fact leads me to draw a parallel between the figure in de Chirico's painting and Charlotte Brontà «'s Heathcliff.   Both suffer unnecessarily.   Arguably, both would be better off dead.   But their pain keeps them going even as it slowly kills them.   Life serves death serves . . . life.   Yes, we are slowly moving toward death, but each step is a lively one.       Works Cited    [1] Sigmund Freud.   Beyond the Pleasure Principle.   New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1961 (62).   Hereafter cited parenthetically. [2] During the oral stage of organization of the libido, the act of obtaining erotic mastery over an object coincides with that object's destruction   (Freud 65). [3] Charlotte Brontà «.   Wuthering Heights.   New York: TOR Books, 1989 (177).   Hereafter cited parenthetically.   

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

A Game of Thrones Chapter Three

Daenerys Her brother held the gown up for her inspection. â€Å"This is beauty. Touch it. Go on. Caress the fabric.† Dany touched it. The cloth was so smooth that it seemed to run through her fingers like water. She could not remember ever wearing anything so soft. It frightened her. She pulled her hand away. â€Å"Is it really mine?† â€Å"A gift from the Magister Illyrio,† Viserys said, smiling. Her brother was in a high mood tonight. â€Å"The color will bring out the violet in your eyes. And you shall have gold as well, and jewels of all sorts. Illyrio has promised. Tonight you must look like a princess.† A princess, Dany thought. She had forgotten what that was like. Perhaps she had never really known. â€Å"Why does he give us so much?† she asked. â€Å"What does he want from us?† For nigh on half a year, they had lived in the magister's house, eating his food, pampered by his servants. Dany was thirteen, old enough to know that such gifts seldom come without their price, here in the free city of Pentos. â€Å"Illyrio is no fool,† Viserys said. He was a gaunt young man with nervous hands and a feverish look in his pale lilac eyes. â€Å"The magister knows that I will not forget my friends when I come into my throne.† Dany said nothing. Magister Illyrio was a dealer in spices, gemstones, dragonbone, and other, less savory things. He had friends in all of the Nine Free Cities, it was said, and even beyond, in Vaes Dothrak and the fabled lands beside the JadeSea. It was also said that he'd never had a friend he wouldn't cheerfully sell for the right price. Dany listened to the talk in the streets, and she heard these things, but she knew better than to question her brother when he wove his webs of dream. His anger was a terrible thing when roused. Viserys called it â€Å"waking the dragon.† Her brother hung the gown beside the door. â€Å"Illyrio will send the slaves to bathe you. Be sure you wash off the stink of the stables. Khal Drogo has a thousand horses, tonight he looks for a different sort of mount.† He studied her critically. â€Å"You still slouch. Straighten yourself† He pushed back her shoulders with his hands. â€Å"Let them see that you have a woman's shape now.† His fingers brushed lightly over her budding breasts and tightened on a nipple. â€Å"You will not fail me tonight. If you do, it will go hard for you. You don't want to wake the dragon, do you?† His fingers twisted her, the pinch cruelly hard through the rough fabric of her tunic. â€Å"Do you?† he repeated. â€Å"No,† Dany said meekly. Her brother smiled. â€Å"Good.† He touched her hair, almost with affection. â€Å"When they write the history of my reign, sweet sister, they will say that it began tonight.† When he was gone, Dany went to her window and looked out wistfully on the waters of the bay. The square brick towers of Pentos were black silhouettes outlined against the setting sun. Dany could hear the singing of the red priests as they lit their night fires and the shouts of ragged children playing games beyond the walls of the estate. For a moment she wished she could be out there with them, barefoot and breathless and dressed in tatters, with no past and no future and no feast to attend at Khal Drogo's manse. Somewhere beyond the sunset, across the narrow sea, lay a land of green hills and flowered plains and great rushing rivers, where towers of dark stone rose amidst magnificent blue-grey mountains, and armored knights rode to battle beneath the banners of their lords. The Dothraki called that land Rhaesh Andahli, the land of the Andals. In the Free Cities, they talked of Westeros and the SunsetKingdoms. Her brother had a simpler name. â€Å"Our land,† he called it. The words were like a prayer with him. If he said them enough, the gods were sure to hear. â€Å"Ours by blood right, taken from us by treachery, but ours still, ours forever. You do not steal from the dragon, oh, no. The dragon remembers.† And perhaps the dragon did remember, but Dany could not. She had never seen this land her brother said was theirs, this realm beyond the narrow sea. These places he talked of, Casterly Rock and the Eyrie, Highgarden and the Vale of Arryn, Dorne and the Isle of Faces, they were just words to her. Viserys had been a boy of eight when they fled King's Landing to escape the advancing armies of the Usurper, but Daenerys had been only a quickening in their mother's womb. Yet sometimes Dany would picture the way it had been, so often had her brother told her the stories. The midnight flight to Dragonstone, moonlight shimmering on the ship's black sails. Her brother Rhaegar battling the Usurper in the bloody waters of the Trident and dying for the woman he loved. The sack of King's Landing by the ones Viserys called the Usurper's dogs, the lords Lannister and Stark. Princess Elia of Dorne pleading for mercy as Rhaegar's heir was ripped from her breast and murdered before her eyes. The polished skulls of the last dragons staring down sightlessly from the walls of the throne room while the Kingslayer opened Father's throat with a golden sword. She had been born on Dragonstone nine moons after their flight, while a raging summer storm threatened to rip the island fastness apart. They said that storm was terrible. The Targaryen fleet was smashed while it lay at anchor, and huge stone blocks were ripped from the parapets and sent hurtling into the wild waters of the narrow sea. Her mother had died birthing her, and for that her brother Viserys had never forgiven her. She did not remember Dragonstone either. They had run again, just before the Usurper's brother set sail with his new-built fleet. By then only Dragonstone itself, the ancient seat of their House, had remained of the Seven Kingdoms that had once been theirs. It would not remain for long. The garrison had been prepared to sell them to the Usurper, but one night Ser Willem Darry and four loyal men had broken into the nursery and stolen them both, along with her wet nurse, and set sail under cover of darkness for the safety of the Braavosian coast. She remembered Ser Willem dimly, a great grey bear of a man, half-blind, roaring and bellowing orders from his sickbed. The servants had lived in terror of him, but he had always been kind to Dany. He called her â€Å"Little Princess† and sometimes â€Å"My Lady,† and his hands were soft as old leather. He never left his bed, though, and the smell of sickness clung to him day and night, a hot, moist, sickly sweet odor. That was when they lived in Braavos, in the big house with the red door. Dany had her own room there, with a lemon tree outside her window. After Ser Willem had died, the servants had stolen what little money they had left, and soon after they had been put out of the big house. Dany had cried when the red door closed behind them forever. They had wandered since then, from Braavos to Myr, from Myr to Tyrosh, and on to Qohor and Volantis and Lys, never staying long in any one place. Her brother would not allow it. The Usurper's hired knives were close behind them, he insisted, though Dany had never seen one. At first the magisters and archons and merchant princes were pleased to welcome the last Targaryens to their homes and tables, but as the years passed and the Usurper continued to sit upon the Iron Throne, doors closed and their lives grew meaner. Years past they had been forced to sell their last few treasures, and now even the coin they had gotten from Mother's crown had gone. In the alleys and wine sinks of Pentos, they called her brother â€Å"the beggar king.† Dany did not want to know what they called her. â€Å"We will have it all back someday, sweet sister,† he would promise her. Sometimes his hands shook when he talked about it. â€Å"The jewels and the silks, Dragonstone and King's Landing, the Iron Throne and the SevenKingdoms, all they have taken from us, we will have it back.† Viserys lived for that day. All that Daenerys wanted back was the big house with the red door, the lemon tree outside her window, the childhood she had never known. There came a soft knock on her door. â€Å"Come,† Dany said, turning away from the window. Illyrio's servants entered, bowed, and set about their business. They were slaves, a gift from one of the magister's many Dothraki friends. There was no slavery in the free city of Pentos. Nonetheless, they were slaves. The old woman, small and grey as a mouse, never said a word, but the girl made up for it. She was Illyrio's favorite, a fair-haired, blue-eyed wench of sixteen who chattered constantly as she worked. They filled her bath with hot water brought up from the kitchen and scented it with fragrant oils. The girl pulled the rough cotton tunic over Dany's head and helped her into the tub. The water was scalding hot, but Daenerys did not flinch or cry out. She liked the heat. It made her feel clean. Besides, her brother had often told her that it was never too hot for a Targaryen. â€Å"Ours is the house of the dragon,† he would say. â€Å"The fire is in our blood.† The old woman washed her long, silver-pale hair and gently combed out the snags, all in silence. The girl scrubbed her back and her feet and told her how lucky she was. â€Å"Drogo is so rich that even his slaves wear golden collars. A hundred thousand men ride in his khalasar, and his palace in Vaes Dothrak has two hundred rooms and doors of solid silver.† There was more like that, so much more, what a handsome man the khal was, so tall and fierce, fearless in battle, the best rider ever to mount a horse, a demon archer. Daenerys said nothing. She had always assumed that she would wed Viserys when she came of age. For centuries the Targaryens had married brother to sister, since Aegon the Conqueror had taken his sisters to bride. The line must be kept pure, Viserys had told her a thousand times; theirs was the kingsblood, the golden blood of old Valyria, the blood of the dragon. Dragons did not mate with the beasts of the field, and Targaryens did not mingle their blood with that of lesser men. Yet now Viserys schemed to sell her to a stranger, a barbarian. When she was clean, the slaves helped her from the water and toweled her dry. The girl brushed her hair until it shone like molten silver, while the old woman anointed her with the spiceflower perfume of the Dothraki plains, a dab on each wrist, behind her ears, on the tips of her breasts, and one last one, cool on her lips, down there between her legs. They dressed her in the wisps that Magister Illyrio had sent up, and then the gown, a deep plum silk to bring out the violet in her eyes. The girl slid the gilded sandals onto her feet, while the old woman fixed the tiara in her hair, and slid golden bracelets crusted with amethysts around her wrists. Last of all came the collar, a heavy golden torc emblazoned with ancient Valyrian glyphs. â€Å"Now you look all a princess,† the girl said breathlessly when they were done. Dany glanced at her image in the silvered looking glass that Illyrio had so thoughtfully provided. A princess, she thought, but she remembered what the girl had said, how Khal Drogo was so rich even his slaves wore golden collars. She felt a sudden chill, and gooseflesh pimpled her bare arms. Her brother was waiting in the cool of the entry hall, seated on the edge of the pool, his hand trailing in the water. He rose when she appeared and looked her over critically. â€Å"Stand there,† he told her. â€Å"Turn around. Yes. Good. You look . . . â€Å" â€Å"Regal,† Magister Illyrio said, stepping through an archway. He moved with surprising delicacy for such a massive man. Beneath loose garments of flame-colored silk, rolls of fat jiggled as he walked. Gemstones glittered on every finger, and his man had oiled his forked yellow beard until it shone like real gold. â€Å"May the Lord of Light shower you with blessings on this most fortunate day, Princess Daenerys,† the magister said as he took her hand. He bowed his head, showing a thin glimpse of crooked yellow teeth through the gold of his beard. â€Å"She is a vision, Your Grace, a vision,† he told her brother. â€Å"Drogo will be enraptured.† â€Å"She's too skinny,† Viserys said. His hair, the same silver-blond as hers, had been pulled back tightly behind his head and fastened with a dragonbone brooch. It was a severe look that emphasized the hard, gaunt lines of his face. He rested his hand on the hilt of the sword that Illyrio had lent him, and said, â€Å"Are you sure that Khal Drogo likes his women this young?† â€Å"She has had her blood. She is old enough for the khal,† Illyrio told him, not for the first time. â€Å"Look at her. That silver-gold hair, those purple eyes . . . she is the blood of old Valyria, no doubt, no doubt . . . and highborn, daughter of the old king, sister to the new, she cannot fail to entrance our Drogo.† When he released her hand, Daenerys found herself trembling. â€Å"I suppose,† her brother said doubtfully. â€Å"The savages have queer tastes. Boys, horses, sheep . . . â€Å" â€Å"Best not suggest this to Khal Drogo,† Illyrio said. Anger flashed in her brother's lilac eyes. â€Å"Do you take me for a fool?† The magister bowed slightly. â€Å"I take you for a king. Kings lack the caution of common men. My apologies if I have given offense.† He turned away and clapped his hands for his bearers. The streets of Pentos were pitch-dark when they set out in Illyrio's elaborately carved palanquin. Two servants went ahead to light their way, carrying ornate oil lanterns with panes of pale blue glass, while a dozen strong men hoisted the poles to their shoulders. It was warm and close inside behind the curtains. Dany could smell the stench of Illyrio's pallid flesh through his heavy perfumes. Her brother, sprawled out on his pillows beside her, never noticed. His mind was away across the narrow sea. â€Å"We won't need his whole khalasar,† Viserys said. His fingers toyed with the hilt of his borrowed blade, though Dany knew he had never used a sword in earnest. â€Å"Ten thousand, that would be enough, I could sweep the Seven Kingdoms with ten thousand Dothraki screamers. The realm will rise for its rightful king. Tyrell, Redwyne, Darry, Greyjoy, they have no more love for the Usurper than I do. The Dornishmen burn to avenge Elia and her children. And the smallfolk will be with us. They cry out for their king.† He looked at Illyrio anxiously. â€Å"They do, don't they?† â€Å"They are your people, and they love you well,† Magister Illyrio said amiably. â€Å"In holdfasts all across the realm, men lift secret toasts to your health while women sew dragon banners and hide them against the day of your return from across the water.† He gave a massive shrug. â€Å"Or so my agents tell me.† Dany had no agents, no way of knowing what anyone was doing or thinking across the narrow sea, but she mistrusted Illyrio's sweet words as she mistrusted everything about Illyrio. Her brother was nodding eagerly, however. â€Å"I shall kill the Usurper myself,† he promised, who had never killed anyone, â€Å"as he killed my brother Rhaegar. And Lannister too, the Kingslayer, for what he did to my father.† â€Å"That would be most fitting,† Magister Illyrio said. Dany saw the smallest hint of a smile playing around his full lips, but her brother did not notice. Nodding, he pushed back a curtain and stared off into the night, and Dany knew he was fighting the Battle of the Trident once again. The nine-towered manse of Khal Drogo sat beside the waters of the bay, its high brick walls overgrown with pale ivy. It had been given to the khal by the magisters of Pentos, Illyrio told them. The Free Cities were always generous with the horselords. â€Å"It is not that we fear these barbarians,† Illyrio would explain with a smile. â€Å"The Lord of Light would hold our city walls against a million Dothraki, or so the red priests promise . . . yet why take chances, when their friendship comes so cheap?† Their palanquin was stopped at the gate, the curtains pulled roughly back by one of the house guards. He had the copper skin and dark almond eyes of a Dothraki, but his face was hairless and he wore the spiked bronze cap of the Unsullied. He looked them over coldly. Magister Illyrio growled something to him in the rough Dothraki tongue; the guardsman replied in the same voice and waved them through the gates. Dany noticed that her brother's hand was clenched tightly around the hilt of his borrowed sword. He looked almost as frightened as she felt. â€Å"Insolent eunuch,† Viserys muttered as the palanquin lurched up toward the manse. Magister Illyrio's words were honey. â€Å"Many important men will be at the feast tonight. Such men have enemies. The khal must protect his guests, yourself chief among them, Your Grace. No doubt the Usurper would pay well for your head.† â€Å"Oh, yes,† Viserys said darkly. â€Å"He has tried, Illyrio, I promise you that. His hired knives follow us everywhere. I am the last dragon, and he will not sleep easy while I live.† The palanquin slowed and stopped. The curtains were thrown back, and a slave offered a hand to help Daenerys out. His collar, she noted, was ordinary bronze. Her brother followed, one hand still clenched hard around his sword hilt. It took two strong men to get Magister Illyrio back on his feet. Inside the manse, the air was heavy with the scent of spices, pinchfire and sweet lemon and cinnamon. They were escorted across the entry hall, where a mosaic of colored glass depicted the Doom of Valyria. Oil burned in black iron lanterns all along the walls. Beneath an arch of twining stone leaves, a eunuch sang their coming. â€Å"Viserys of the House Targaryen, the Third of his Name,† he called in a high, sweet voice, â€Å"King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the SevenKingdoms and Protector of the Realm. His sister, Daenerys Stormborn, Princess of Dragonstone. His honorable host, Illyrio Mopatis, Magister of the Free City of Pentos.† They stepped past the eunuch into a pillared courtyard overgrown in pale ivy. Moonlight painted the leaves in shades of bone and silver as the guests drifted among them. Many were Dothraki horselords, big men with red-brown skin, their drooping mustachios bound in metal rings, their black hair oiled and braided and hung with bells. Yet among them moved bravos and sellswords from Pentos and Myr and Tyrosh, a red priest even fatter than Illyrio, hairy men from the Port of Ibben, and lords from the Summer Isles with skin as black as ebony. Daenerys looked at them all in wonder . . . and realized, with a sudden start of fear, that she was the only woman there. Illyrio whispered to them. â€Å"Those three are Drogo's bloodriders, there,† he said. â€Å"By the pillar is Khal Moro, with his son Rhogoro. The man with the green beard is brother to the Archon of Tyrosh, and the man behind him is Ser Jorah Mormont.† The last name caught Daenerys. â€Å"A knight?† â€Å"No less.† Illyrio smiled through his beard. â€Å"Anointed with the seven oils by the High Septon himself.† â€Å"What is he doing here?† she blurted. â€Å"The Usurper wanted his head,† Illyrio told them. â€Å"Some trifling affront. He sold some poachers to a Tyroshi slaver instead of giving them to the Night's Watch. Absurd law. A man should be able to do as he likes with his own chattel.† â€Å"I shall wish to speak with Ser Jorah before the night is done,† her brother said. Dany found herself looking at the knight curiously. He was an older man, past forty and balding, but still strong and fit. Instead of silks and cottons, he wore wool and leather. His tunic was a dark green, embroidered with the likeness of a black bear standing on two legs. She was still looking at this strange man from the homeland she had never known when Magister Illyrio placed a moist hand on her bare shoulder. â€Å"Over there, sweet princess,† he whispered, â€Å"there is the khal himself.† Dany wanted to run and hide, but her brother was looking at her, and if she displeased him she knew she would wake the dragon. Anxiously, she turned and looked at the man Viserys hoped would ask to wed her before the night was done. The slave girl had not been far wrong, she thought. Khal Drogo was a head taller than the tallest man in the room, yet somehow light on his feet, as graceful as the panther in Illyrio's menagerie. He was younger than she'd thought, no more than thirty. His skin was the color of polished copper, his thick mustachios bound with gold and bronze rings. â€Å"I must go and make my submissions,† Magister Illyrio said. â€Å"Wait here. I shall bring him to you.† Her brother took her by the arm as Illyrio waddled over to the khal, his fingers squeezing so hard that they hurt. â€Å"Do you see his braid, sweet sister?† Drogo's braid was black as midnight and heavy with scented oil, hung with tiny bells that rang softly as he moved. It swung well past his belt, below even his buttocks, the end of it brushing against the back of his thighs. â€Å"You see how long it is?† Viserys said. â€Å"When Dothraki are defeated in combat, they cut off their braids in disgrace, so the world will know their shame. Khal Drogo has never lost a fight. He is Aegon the Dragonlord come again, and you will be his queen.† Dany looked at Khal Drogo. His face was hard and cruel, his eyes as cold and dark as onyx. Her brother hurt her sometimes, when she woke the dragon, but he did not frighten her the way this man frightened her. â€Å"I don't want to be his queen,† she heard herself say in a small, thin voice. â€Å"Please, please, Viserys, I don't want to, I want to go home.† â€Å"Home?† He kept his voice low, but she could hear the fury in his tone. â€Å"How are we to go home, sweet sister? They took our home from us!† He drew her into the shadows, out of sight, his fingers digging into her skin. â€Å"How are we to go home?† he repeated, meaning King's Landing, and Dragonstone, and all the realm they had lost. Dany had only meant their rooms in Illyrio's estate, no true home surely, though all they had, but her brother did not want to hear that. There was no home there for him. Even the big house with the red door had not been home for him. His fingers dug hard into her arm, demanding an answer. â€Å"I don't know . . . â€Å"she said at last, her voice breaking. Tears welled in her eyes. â€Å"I do,† he said sharply. â€Å"We go home with an army, sweet sister. With Khal Drogo's army, that is how we go home. And if you must wed him and bed him for that, you will.† He smiled at her. â€Å"I'd let his whole khalasar fuck you if need be, sweet sister, all forty thousand men, and their horses too if that was what it took to get my army. Be grateful it is only Drogo. In time you may even learn to like him. Now dry your eyes. Illyrio is bringing him over, and he will not see you crying.† Dany turned and saw that it was true. Magister Illyrio, all smiles and bows, was escorting Khal Drogo over to where they stood. She brushed away unfallen tears with the back of her hand. â€Å"Smile,† Viserys whispered nervously, his hand failing to the hilt of his sword. â€Å"And stand up straight. Let him see that you have breasts. Gods know, you have little enough as is.† Daenerys smiled, and stood up straight.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Sample Guide Sketchup

1- Close ALL Applications and go offline 2- Open GoogleSketchUpProMEN. DMG and Install (This is version 8. 0, in Trial mode, downloaded directly from the Sketchup website – May 2011) 3- Once Installed, but not Opened: A- Goto HD / Applications / Google Sketchup 8 / SketchUp B- Right-click Sketchup and select – Show Package Contents C- Goto Contents / MacOS / D- Replace the SketchUp file with Sketchup from the Cracks folder 4- Do the same procedure on both LayOut and Style_Builder – Right click, Show Package Contents, goto Contents/MacOS and replace the respective files with the Cracked versions. – Making sure you are still offline, open Sketchup and keep a note of the exact Time you opened it! A- Goto SketchUp/File/Preferences/General and un-tick Automatically Check for updates. 6- Close Sketchup Sketchup will have now created hidden files for which it depends on to expire the Trial. For the following you will need to show hidden files in Finder. If you do n't know how to do that, best do your own research. 7- With hidden files shown in Finder: A- Goto HD / Library / Application Support / In Finder, order the files column by Date Modified, you should find a hidden file looking something like this . hkzftzgrc It may have a different variation of lettering but if it was Modified the same time you ran Sketchup then that's the file you want to Lock. (Select the file, Press Command-I, and tick the Lock box) B- Goto HD / (your username) / Here again you should find another hidden file looking like . hkzftmgrc . Making sure it was created the same time you opened Sketchup, lock this one too. – Extra precautions – it's been suggested to lock – HD / (your username) / Preferences / com. google. sketchuppro8. plist – but this will also lock ALL your preset options within Sketchup. I'm not sure this is necessary. Also a file to Lock may be created here – HD / (your username) / Caches / com. google. sketchuppro8 /Cache. db – but it was not generated on my installation And It wouldn't hurt either to un-tick ‘Check For Updates' in LayO ut and Style_Builder That's it, hope it works for you, Enjoy!

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Operations Review on Supply Chain Management, Logistics, and Inventory

Operations Review on Waste Reduction, Cost Reduction and Process This memo will discuss the efficient ways that Supply Chain Management, Inventory, and Logistics have been successfully implemented in the Intermountain Healthcare Supply Chain Center. Peggy Lee, Card Program Manager at IHC led the tour in the Supply Chain Center. The goal of IHC distribution center is reduce waste, cost and centralized the high volume supplies in one location and distribute across all their facilities. This gives Intermountain better control of their inventories and negotiation advantages.Using these methods has had a great impact in waste reduction, quality and cost savings. Supply Chain infrastructure is an important process at Intermountain Healthcare (IHC). They have learned that building strong relationships with their suppliers is critical and can help eliminate costs as well as allow them to share their savings. How IHC has achieved this, is by supplier involvement. IHC provides a mockup room sp ecifically designed for their suppliers to show off new products and equipment allowing doctors and clinicians to test the equipment at a no cost to the supplier.Suppliers then receive immediate feedback on their products and the hospital can test products before purchase. This is a valuable approach for IHC to see results, make improvements, and negotiate effective distribution for both the supplier and the hospitals. This is gain for both parties, and in particular to Intermountain since supplies are one of the highest expenses they incur. The distribution facility was built with the purpose to manage inventories more efficiently.This facility only holds 6,000 items out of 81,000 products that can be ordered. Only those items that are housed in this facility are the high volume items, with a fill rate of 98% and accuracy of 99%. IHC has a great control on their inventories by assuring that cost of obsolescence, deterioration, and loss are managed properly. The warehouse is equippe d with big fans that move the air around the facility reducing temperature fluctuations allows less than a 4Â ° deference from top to bottom in the warehouse.This prolongs the longevity of the products they house by reducing deterioration. Also, all the shelves are set up on a slope allowing older inventory to shift to the front. This is also known as the FIFO method, which ensures the older products are not aging on the shelves. Another method they use is barcoding. Barcoding is not a new invention, but IHC has taken advantage of this technology in the way they fill their internal orders by implementing some of their own inventory system, VoicePic.VoicePic is a voice activated inventory process where barcodes are placed on the container that will carry the order from one place to another around their facility. As the container moves along the conveyor belt, the person with that order hears the amount of items to be picked up in the current position and repeats the number via his v oice. Another quality check used for their inventory system is that once the level is placed in the container the system knows the weight that is to be at the end of the order. This provides a quality control measure.If the weight is correct then process continues. If the weight is off, the order gets rejected. This lets the operator know that there is an item that does not belong. By combining these two systems in their inventory, IHC has increased their accuracy in their orders by 60%. Logistics is another important part of IHC’s business processes they are trying to refine. The facility was strategically placed in a centralized location to allow moving supplies to all of their facilities since 80% are within a 50-mile radius.They also use their own fleet to distribute their merchandise among the hospitals and clinics, with the exception of the southern part of the state of Utah. The reason for this is they rather use a vendor for this location since the vendor is able to r eturn with a full trailer. This would not be the case for IHC. Another important point in the way their logistics is setup is how they receive and pick up shipments. These activities have a time set when they can be performed.They have divided morning to receive delivery from 4am to 12pm; all deliveries are done on a schedule, as well as pickups, pick up activities begin at 12pm. This is to increase efficiency of the location and the use of resources, thus reducing the chance of error and process flows. In addition, order placement is another key process. All IHC facilities must have their entire orders placed by 11:00 am every day to ensure order fulfillment. One other advantage at the supply chain facility is that it is built to allow shipments to be cross-docking.So, instead of products being housed they are immediately moved to another truck to deliver to the final destination. Logistics processes in this facility are designed to make resources more efficient and allow them to e liminate costs. IHC has increased their success by implementing new strategies on supply chain management, logistics and inventory. They have been able to cut costs and increase efficiencies in inventory on internal orders. Along with inventory, IHC has an added savings by testing for effectiveness of new products when negotiating with suppliers in the mock up room.By having this kind of interaction with supplies, ensures that the products will meet their needs and will contribute to their efficiency. They have also modified their logistics by reducing the number of trips needed to facilities by consolidating all the orders, to transport all necessary supplies in one trip. These are some of the many operational activities implemented in this facility. IHC has identified areas for improvement and made the necessary changes. With all the new improvements within their supply chain center, the facility will pay itself off in 8 years.