National Labor Relations Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

National Labor Relations Act - Essay Example For a while, the employees felt a sense of contentment with the recognition of their rights made through their unions only to be plunged ultimately by the assertion of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. The labor law is defined comprising mainly on the elements of law, and in its entirety deals on the state policies on labor and employment. It' constituents are composed of the persons, individuals, labor organizations, partnerships, corporations to name a few. On the one hand, an employer may be an agent directly or indirectly of any institution government or not that utilizes the labor force in it's earning capacity. Karl Marx would have blatantly the employer as: "the capitalist". Albeit a non-foolproof provision, the Act as a law considers it illegal for employers to exercise interference, restraint or coercion on a union's collective activity. The Act also prohibits domination and refusal of employers to bargain in good faith with union representatives. Illegality is also seen in cases where the employer retaliates for the filing of unfair-labor practices charge and the discrimination against employees who take part in union or any other collective activity. Threats from employers against union members fall under the category of union-busting along with coercion, disciplinary actions, suspen

Justice, ethics & morality according to Marx and Nietzsche Research Paper

Justice, ethics & morality according to Marx and Nietzsche - Research Paper Example The current order is bound to change and will ultimately be superseded by new different form of society. Marx proceeds to argue that historical change is not an arbitrary succession; rather it develops through stages and involves progression (Sayers, 2013). Development is divided into several distinct stages or means of production. Feudalism gives way to capitalism which is eventually replaced by socialism. Each stage evolves from the previous form as a higher historical form. Each stage of the process is initially constituent to progressive development and is appropriate for its time relative to the conditions which it supersedes. However, each stage of the process constitutes only a transitory stage that inevitably perishes and is replaced by a higher more developed stage (Sayers, 2013). During the course of development, the favorable conditions for the emergence of the next stage begin to establish themselves within the present. As the process progresses, the present conditions cease to be progressive and become a hindrance to the process of development. This is the basis of Marx’s criticism of capitalism and advocacy for socialism. Marx regards both in historical terms and does not criticize the present on the basis of universal principles, rather it is immanent and relative (Elster, 1985). For instant, relative to feudal conditions from which capitalism evolves, capitalism is viewed as a progressive development. From the perspective of capitalist society, the hierarchical, feudal system with its privileges and restrictions on commerce, and trade is oppressive and unfair. However, as the conditions for a socialist structure takes shape within capitalism, it becomes a hindrance to further development. From the stand point of a higher society, the capitalist system appears to be an impediment to human development and unjustified. This standpoint emerges as the capitalist society develops and is

Reviewing Who Killed Change

Reviewing Who Killed Change The book Who Killed Change is about change management. Through its interesting fable style, it teaches the managers of organizations how to cope with change successfully. The author, after analyzing all the change agents, concludes very appropriately that the same factors that lead to the death of organizations, if exercise their power rightfully, can help change thrive in the organizations. The story starts by describing a murder scene of yet another change. Agent Mike McNally, a Columbo-style detective, investigates the crime scene and makes a list of thirteen suspects that he thinks are the most commonly involved culprits in the murder of anyone with the last name Change. He interviews all the thirteen suspects in detail in order to resolve the case. The manner in which the author describes the suspects, personifies them and relates them to the cause of Changes death is quite engrossing. Their description clearly shows an irony between what they are and what they should have been as far as change implementation is concerned. Another important insight provided by the author while these suspects are being interviewed, is that most of them have to work in synchronization with each other, otherwise failure is inevitable. These murder suspects are described as follows and in all similar cases, they are always the same. Culture. Culture is the set of predominant values, beliefs and norms that define an organization. Culture plays a critical role in the entire change process. If change is to be implemented successfully, then managers should make sure that the existing culture in their organizations supports and sustains change, meanwhile detecting loopholes where existing culture is not aligned with the proposed change and taking corrective actions. Commitment.Commitment refers to the peoples motivation and willingness to change their behaviors as a result of a change initiative. This can be achieved only if people working in the organizations are informed about the change alongwith the knowledge as to how it will impact them. Any concerns regarding change should also be addressed and this is the responsibility of the leadership team. To make people see how change will affect their lives and how important it is for them to be committed, can only be achieved through a clear vision, and through proper planning that will integrate change in their daily routines. Sponsorship. Sponsorship is a senior leader who is responsible and authorized for using necessary resources like time, money and people, to ensure the timely implementation and eventual sustainability of change. The role of sponsorship is very important to the success of change in any organization and this role is not restricted to mere introduction of change, rather it involves the continuous support of the change sponsor and commitment of the leadership through reinforcement of change via accountability and incentives. Change leadership team. The change leadership team comprises of leaders who are close to the action and are responsible for managing and executing various change strategies on a day-to-day basis. After sponsorship, it is these leaders who can play a vital role in leading people through change. The author believes that it is important for this team to comprise of people who have successfully implemented some change, who are respected by their peers, who can communicate effectively, who have the right skill set to lead and who respect diverse viewpoints because they have worked at all levels both in formal and informal roles. Communication. The role of communication is to create a dialogue between those who want to bring about a change and those who will be asked to change. This dialogue should be consistent in its delivery irrespective of who is communicating, delivered through different media for effectiveness, and delivered by people who are known and well-respected. If communication regarding change is not effective, change will never survive. Urgency. Urgency is the need for people to understand the importance to change while accepting change. If they do not feel this urgency, they will accept the status quo and will make no considerable effort to change. The author believes that a sense of urgency is created only if leaders and leadership teams communicate with the people the gaps between what is what should be, provide them with credible reasons to change and more importantly motivate them to change by translating the sense of urgency into a cause. Vision. A vision is a clear and compelling picture that allows people to see how they will succeed after integrating change. A vision cannot be created successfully by the leaders alone. Just as people expect to be part of the change process, similarly everyone in the organization needs to share a vision as far as change and its positive impact is concerned. A sense of urgency should be created to break the monotony of routines and allow change to set in. Plan. Leading people effectively through change is only possible if the change is not only planned strategically and tactfully, but also steps are taken to implement the change. Looking at the bigger picture for too long reflects that change implementation is not on the priority list of the managers. Therefore effective planning for change should involve all the people who are likely to be affected; the resistors and the early adopters both; and should outline all necessary details required to implement the plan. Once outlined, the right infrastructure should be developed to support the change. Budget. Budget refers to the amount of money spent on change initiation. Unless the return on investment (ROI) is proportionate to the limited resources allocated for implementing change, financing change will always be difficult.For budgeting to be effective, it is important that the sponsors see the need and feel the urgency to bring about change and then allocate resources in the best possible way. Any necessary investments on infrastructure should not be withheld and managers should try to make the budget in the most cost-effective manner. Trainer. The role of a change trainer is very important as he is the one responsible for assessing people on whether they have the required skills to execute change and succeed. A trainer should be able to evaluate and address the concerns of the people expected to change by using a variety of change leadership strategies. He should possess the necessary expertise to mold with the situation and partner with the people of the organization in order to influence and increase their commitment to change. Incentive. Incentives are the reward and recognition people get when they bring about the desired change through their actions and behavior. Incentives do not necessarily mean monetary rewards. A lot many times, well-deserved recognition proves to be much more useful than mere money. The most important thing that the author has described as far as incentives are concerned is that different people need different incentives. Unless this is realized, employees will never embrace change willingly and effectively as their minds and hearts can only be tapped if it is known that what motivates them. Performance management.Performance management is the process through which goals and expectations are set regarding peoples behavior towards change by tracking their progress and providing feedback and guiding them on how to implement change. Accountability.Once goals and expectations are set, it is then through the process of accountability that followup is done as to whether peoples behaviors and results are in line with the goals. The act of accountability should ensure that managers walk the talk especially when behaviors and results do not match with the change initiatives. The role of accountability is very critical to the survival of change in any organization. Anyone, irrespective of their status and level in the hierarchy, should be held accountable for successful change implementation and managers should ensure two-way accountability where leaders and team members are partnered for performance. In addition to all the above-mentioned suspects, the author talks about four more characters, the stakeholders, and how they view the death of change. According to the stakeholders there are a number of barriers that are mostly ignored by the middle and senior level managers and only the front-line employees and supervisors are able to see them. For example, managers and leaders show resistance to new ideas even if employees see the need to implement them. Accountability occurs in the form of reprimanding workers for a job done bad rather than incentivizing them not to make errors. This also acts as a barrier to successful change implementation. When leaders do not walk the talk, employees are unable to feel the urgency to embrace change. Having described at length all factors that contribute towards the failure of change, the author solves the mystery in a very captivating way by making all the aforementioned characters responsible for the death of change. In the end he puts forth a series of questions that managers need to ask while undertaking change in their organization meanwhile applying the lessons of the story to real life situation. These questions will help the managers realize when a given change will be successful and when it might be at risk thereby helping them to design an action plan to address the risks to change. Critical Assessment of the Book Change can be successful only when the usual characters in an organization combine their unique talents and consistently involve others in initiating, implementing and sustaining change Ken Blanchard is a management guru who with his insightful, powerful and compassionate qualities has impacted the day-to-day management of people and companies more than anyone else. He is one of the most influential leadership experts in the world and has done some groundbreaking work in the fields of management and leadership. Ken is an expert storyteller who has an amazing knack for making seemingly complex matters easy to understand. Although there have been numerous books written on change management, yet it is the unorthodox style of presentation of Who Killed Change that makes it stand out. The authors, in a very fun and clever way, have highlighted the intricacies involved in organizational change and in the process have given some very important practical tips for managers of all types in organizations, both big and small. The study guide given at the end enables people to ask themselves some practical questions that will help them examine the change efforts that they are leading in their organizations. This study guide espouses the concepts of leading people through change, Blanchards hallmark program on Change Leadership, with the characters who conspired to kill change. The characters identified as suspects are unique in their names and descriptions, yet at the same time we can easily relate to them and spot them in any organization we work in. The most enthralling aspect of these characters, however, is that each one of their physical descriptions reflects flaws that became a cause of sabotaging change. For example, Clair Communication is suffering from Laryngitis. Change, unfortunately, cannot survive when communication in the organization is faulty and people who are advocates of change are not communicating with those who are resisting it. Another suspect, Victoria Vision, is myopic. If vision cannot see properly, how will it perform her role effectively? And this is what happens in organizations where change efforts do not succeed. The vision is so poor and weak that it is not transmitted to the concerned people and as a result, the desired outcome is not produced. Similarly, Carolina Culture is a small and unassuming character, whereas,for leading people through change, the culture of change needs to be so strong and distinguished that anybody, working at any level in the organization, is able to see and feel it. The role of Earnest Urgency is very critical in integrating change as a prioritymatter, however, it is always late and fails to instill in people the dire need to change. The plot of the story has been developed by John Britt, the senior co-author of Who Killed Change. John has been studying change for a long time and Ken Blanchard, alongwith his team of change experts, acquaints the readers with all the thirteen characters with reference to their organizational role, relationships and expectations and fits them together as pieces of a puzzle in the context of managing or murdering change.While doing so, however, the authors do tend to become a little too intense and forced. The notes shared by Agent McNally at the end of every chapter seem to stretch the description of the characters too far and one tends to lose interest in the story at this point. Although they help us see the picture of the murder from a neutral perspective, yet after having said so much in the chapters, they over-emphasize the details. Apart from this, I found the story very engrossing and the best part is the lessons it teaches about change on a subliminal level while making the reader enjoy the plot. Through the description and interrogation of each character, the author supports the fact that roughly 70% of change efforts in organizations fail as change is never easy. The practical questions given at the end of the book teaches all those people, who are even slightly authorized to initiate a change, how to identify and address the typical concerns that employees have regarding change as well as how to select an appropriate strategy to resolve these concerns. While writing the autopsy report of Changes death, the author has very pertinently highlighted three key assumptions regarding this murder. People leading the Change think that announcing it is the same as integrating it. Peoples concerns with Change are not surfaced or addressed. Those being asked to implement Change are not involved in the planning. These assumptions are true for all sorts of organizations and the lesson learnt is that anybody responsible for bringing about a change in the correct manner, should do so by consulting everyone and support and finance change with integrity and care. Only then will change thrive and sustain. Analysis and Evaluation of the Book Who Killed Change is a unique book on change management as it has lessons for leaders who are not just CEOs or regular managers but for everyone, be it supervisors, teachers, parents or even for anyone sitting at home. The common lesson for each of these people is how to take a concept or an idea and get it implemented in a way that people get committed and excited about it. This is what is ca-lled managing change and in todays world, each one of us has to be a manager of change. If we look carefully in the mirror around change efforts, we might find ourselves to be a suspect. In organizational settings, this book will help all the members of the organization to get familiar with change and eventually influence it. The lessons of the story are not restricted to any particular role in the organization. The way many organizations view change is that it is the responsibility of the leaders at the top to drive that change and while they certainly do have a role to play, the author and his team of change experts want leaders at all levels to be playing a role in bringing about change. Through this fun and clever murder mystery, the book teaches the managers to understand the dynamics operating in a company that kill change and assess whether it is a particular character like culture or vision, or is it some sort of leadership that has killed change. The managers need to realize that each of the dynamics in the organization has to work together for change to succeed. They just cant launch change through a marketing campaign and expect it to take root for people to embrace it. All the thirteen suspects are commonly found in any organization, and people can easily resonate with these characters, thereby making them even more real. Through their vivid descriptions, readers, whoever they are, can start thinking of the change they are involved in, the projects they are working on, and then develop a quick sense of how well the project is working and what are the areas for improvement. Who Killed Change is a useful book for small as well as large businesses as it introduces change in a fun way to all members of an organization while providing them with very practical tips on leading people through change. People do not resist so much to change as they resist to being controlled. Conclusion I would conclude this book review by applying the lessons of Who Killed Change to the educational institutions in our country. As mentioned above, each member of the organization is responsible for managing change. No doubt Principals and Head Teachers have a more important role to play in implementing and sustaining change, but teachers as classroom leaders are no less important. If a certain change is necessary for the very survival of the institution, then teachers should create the sense of urgency in a manner that leaders feel the need to implement it and then provide all necessary financial and moral support. This will show their commitment towards change. However, even if any one of the team members in the learning community fails to play its role, then it is eventually going to lead to the failure and death of change in the institution. Members of the staff will accept the status quo, and like Haw, a character in the well-known fable on organizational change, Who Moved My Che ese, they will never look for new opportunities and make no effort to change themselves as well as the institution as a whole. Hence the more united the vision of change is, the more successful the school will be in adopting the change.

frost bite :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frostbite occurs when skin tissue and blood vessels are damaged from exposure to temperatures below 32 degrees fahrenheit. It mostly affects the toes, fingers, earlobes, chin, cheeks and nose, body parts which are often left uncovered in cold temperatures. Frostbite can occur rapidly or gradually, depending on the temperature conditions and how long it is exposed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frostbite has three stages. They are frostnip, superficial frostbite, and deep frostbite. Frostnip occurs when you have this pins and needles sensation and the skin turning very white and soft. This stage has no permanent damage and may be reversed by soaking in warm water or breathing warm breath on the affected area.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Superficial frostbite is the stage of frostbite when blistering occurs. the skin feels numb, waxy, and frozen. There are ice crystals that form in the skin cells and the rest of the skin remains flexible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Deep frostbite is the most serious stage of frostbite. The blood vessels, muscles, tendons, nerves, and bone all may be frozen. This stage leads to permanent damage, blood clots and gangrene, in severe cases. You have no feeling in the affected area and there usually isn't any blistering. Serious infections and loss of lims accur frequently when frostbite reaches this stage of its development. However, even in deep frostbite, frozen lims may be saved if medical attention is obtained as soon as possible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If you are in a situation where a patient can't be transported to a hospital immediately, the following rewarming techniques may help until reaching an emergency facility.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Bring them indoors as soon as possible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Apply warm towels or immerse the area in circulating warm water for twenty minutes. However DO NOT   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   rub or use hot water.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Do not hold the area near fire since the area may be burned due to the reduced feeling in the area.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Offer the patient warm coffee or tea, but never alcohol.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Keep the affected area raised.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After re-warming, a superficial frostbite will reddon and become painful as circulation resumes in the area. Blisters are likely to form within 24 hours.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While a frostbite injury is healing, do the following:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Avoid infection by leaving the blisters alone.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Watch for signs of infection such as redness, swelling, fever, oozing pus, and red streaks on skin.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Take all prescribed medications.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - Don't expose the affected area to cold temperatures until cleared to do so by a physician.

Alcohol intoxication and edgar allan poe’s ‘the haunted palace’

It is unfair to immediately conclude something of a poem because as is normal with poetry, such is given to various interpretations.   While common interpretations of Poe’s ‘The Haunted Palace’ seem to assert confirmedly that the poem describes somebody dying with tuberculosis, this particular interpretation seems to be very faulty in many aspects because it is an interpretation that concretizes the already concrete images in the poem.In poetry, emotions and abstractions are concretized using tangible images, in which case, the interpretation of any piece of poetry should be dependent on the emotions that these concrete images convey and not on the additional concrete images that can be gleaned for the existing imagery in the poem, otherwise, this would cause ambiguity in the reading.   This is what happened with the ‘tuberculosis’ interpretation – another concrete image was read into the already concrete imagery in the poem.   It would b e wise to offer another reading of the poem, in this case, it has to be argued that instead of the tuberculosis interpretation a more accurate reading of the poem would be to consider alcohol intoxication, after all, other than just the images in the poem, the author, Poe was also given to alcoholism after the various tragedies in his life.To start this argument, it would first be best to consider why the previous interpretation of death by tuberculosis is faulty.   The reason for this faultiness is that an initial general reading of the poem was applied, and some of the finer details were disregarded in favor of the general reading.   To illustrate these further, take for instance the passage, â€Å"Through which came flowing/†¦A troop of echoes,/ whose sweet duty was but to sing† (27-30) – most readers interpret this as blood spit, however, there is nothing in these lines that present an image of one coughing out blood; these lines are more accurately alludi ng to someone who is talking gibberish, hence, the follow-up lines, â€Å"In voices of surpassing beauty,/the wit and wisdom of their king† (31-32)Most readers interpret this as being someone who is coughing up blood, but if read again carefully, the lines actually speak of someone who is incomprehensible, talking without ‘wit and wisdom’. (32)Another instance in the poem where a faulty reading is made is with the fifth stanza, this stanza is actually where the ‘haunting’ begins in the poem because this stanza talks about how the ‘monarch’ (34) dies.   There are readings of the poem that interpret this as the plague that killed the ‘monarch’ (34), however, if the lines are perused slowly, no such plague can be read into the poem.Others would argue that, â€Å"But evil things, in robes of sorrow† (33) personify the sickness of the king, but if this line is dissected it has to be noticed that what is being referred to here are ‘things’ (33), perhaps to mock the integrity of those whom this line is intended; and these ‘things’ (33) are in ‘robes of sorrow’ (33); the only ones who wore robes during the era of chivalry were knights and other nobility.These lines show how faultily the poem was interpreted by those who interpreted it as being the description of a head or someone dying with tuberculosis.Moving on, the next step would be to fortify the argument that, indeed, the poem is about drunkenness.   There are many details in the poem that point this particular subject matter out.Initially, let us consider the general theme of the poem – reading through it, it may be interpreted to be about someone who was initially a man of the people, and eventually, after succumbing to alcoholism, becomes introvert, depressed, and isolated from society.   The ‘death’ in the poem may be interpreted not as physical death but the death of a particula r aspect of a human person, such as his social affiliations, his sanity, or his soul.   This is validated in the end of the poem as will be explained in detail shortly.To begin the discussion of the poem and alcoholism, let us first consider the narrative of the poem which is shown in the first three stanzas.   In these stanzas, which are mostly descriptions of the palace, various allusions are noticed.For instance, in the second stanza, â€Å"Banners yellow, glorious, golden/on its roof did float and flow† (9-10); as opposed to the common interpretation of this being representative of the blond hair of the king in the poem, a more accurate interpretation would come from the Puritan tradition.Yellow ribbons have their origins in the English Civil War when members of the Puritan Army of English Parliament wore yellow ribbons.   This is also the origin of the ‘yellow-ribbon-tied-around-a-tree’ tradition which represents waiting for someone.Therefore, these pa ssages may just simply allude to the Puritan background of the poem, or perhaps, to the fact that the occupant of the palace is waiting for someone’s return.The parenthesized lines, â€Å"(This-all this-was in the olden/Time long ago,)† (11-12)   So, with these lines, it is easily concluded that the occupant of the palace has been waiting for someone for a very long time, which perhaps could be the reason for the development of melancholy, â€Å"Along the ramparts plumed and pallid,/A winged odor went away.†(15-16) The ‘spirits’ (14) in the third stanza do not refer to the ‘ghost’ that we might suppose them to be, but to actual persons – just as it might be used in the idiomatic expression ‘there was not a single soul in sight†.It is clear from the three stanzas of the narrative of the poem that there is nothing that talks about ‘tuberculosis’ or ‘death’.   These first three stanzas simpl y set the tone for a paradox as the poem progresses.   The poem is a mini story and as such, it has all the elements of a piece of prose, only rendered in poetry.   The images are very vivid and it is quite surprising that anyone would interpret it as something else more than just what it is actually saying.

Information System Management Essay

A new concept in today’s IT world is offshore sourcing in Information Systems which is a paradigm shift from the traditional Business Process Outsourcing. Although the latter has been facilitated by the lucrative IT infrastructure, it is important to focus and emphasis on what has brought about offshore Information System sourcing. This journal article has theoretically explored on factors which the authors considers are the key drivers that can influence a company to go offshore. Additionally, to practically drive the point home, the article has exclusively carried out and explained a case study on ComputerInc, an Australian IT services company. Consequently, some of the key-driving factors include becoming and remaining competitive, reducing operational costs, and increasing the market share. Nevertheless, key challenges include overall strenuous management, staff demoralization, and lowered quality of services. This article is relevant in that the roles of the management for instance that of Chief Information Officer is critical in creating viable decisions. Such include venturing into IS offshore sourcing so as to drive organizations technologically and reap benefits such as reduced operation costs (McNurlin, et al. 2009, pp. 10-13). In the article, ComputerInc is argued to have increased its global market share as a result of IS offshore outsourcing (Beverakis et al. 2009, p. 35). In this regard, McNurlin, et al. (2009, pp. 17-20) have classified roles of IT infrastructure into three: working inward, working outside, and working across. Benefits include global positioning, partnering, and increasing the clientele base if/when proper IS planning is done by the decision makers. The article explains how viable decisions made by ComputerInc’s management drove the company into offshore outsourcing, attain a global position, and command a competitive market share (McNurlin, et al. 2009, p. 18). This corresponds to the learning outcomes of this course and for that reason I would award the article a value of four out of five on a score-scale. The Journal of Global Information Management is an academic journal published by the Information Resources Management Association. The Editor-in-chief for this journal is called Felix B Tan of Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. Journal of Global Information Management is published on quarterly basis every year. In each year, a single volume is released but in each quarter the released journal is assigned a separate issue number. The journal is both online and in print and it is accessible at a personal level and to institutions. However, to access the journal subscription is a must whereby printed journal goes is sold at $ 545 and $ 195 to an institution and individual respectively (JGIM 2010). In all the issues of the Journal of Global Information Management emphasizes on all the concepts related to management of worldwide information resources. The journal creates a forum in which professionals and researchers disseminate current and surfacing information in both theoretical and practical perspective in relation to information technology and information resource management at global level. Therefore its main objective is put main emphasis on organizational and managerial aspects of Information Technology resources management. It covers on a range of issues such as policies, failure, usage, success, applications, and strategies of IT in business enterprises both in developed and emerging economies (JGIM 2010). The Journal of Global Information Management has laid out procedures whereby professionals and researchers especially in the field of information system management share their knowledge in regard to emerging challenges, posed by IT developments. Through its case studies, the journal proposes means on how to integrate information technology techniques into current managerial strategies. Therefore, it covers on the learning outcomes of this course such as role of IS managers, importance of IS/IT in driving companies to the global center-stage (JGIM 2010). In this article, it is acknowledged that information system offshore outsourcing has over the years increased drastically. In the research study, a number of steps involved in making such decisions at the management level have been identified. It states that IT managers weighs on the benefits and challenges of offshore outsourcing, evaluates the all the logistics involved in the process, and determines the prevailing geography. The research is based on literature review of existing companies’ statistical reports as presented in annual releases. The article states that offshore outsourcing surpasses onshore outsourcing in terms of benefits and risks involved. USA, UK, France, and Germany are the major IS offshore outsourcers in countries such as India, and China. Reduction in operation costs has been identified as the key motivator whereas it also stresses that quality services, security, and provider location must be considered. The key factors identified by Reyes, Jose and Juan (2006, p. 234) that influence offshore outsourcing are market and economic globalization, savings on operational costs in terms of salaries paid to the staff, shortage of skilled manpower, the need to reduce IS projects’ development time-cycle, and the growth or access to internet by large number of people (McNurlin, et al. 2009, pp. 7 & 33-39). This article demonstrates and emphasizes on key steps that information system managers of any organization have to take while making decisions on whether to outsource some of their services offshore. In comparison, McNurlin, et al. 2009, p. 11) in their book acknowledges the same that CIO’s should design policies, analyze possible benefits and risks so as to make informed decisions. In regard to the learning outcomes of ECOM20001, the article is explicit on what chief information officers are expected to do, have presented statistical evidence on how companies expand due to outsourcing and the impact of globalization on company activities in terms of risks and benefits. Considering such coverage on E-enablement and globalization I would award the article a score of five.

Free Essays on Cosmetic Testing On Animals

Cosmetic Testing on Animals A topic that has always been close to many people’s hearts is the one of animal testing. Some believe that it is right completely, some that it is right but only under certain circumstances, and others believe that all animal testing is wrong and will go to extraordinary lengths to stop it. Should animals be harmed to benefit mankind? This is a pressing question that has been around for at least the past two centuries. In my opinion, it is morally inhumane to torture our animals. Every year, millions of animals suffer and die in painful tests to determine the safety of cosmetics. Substances such as eye shadow and soap are tested on rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, dogs, and other animals. All of this, despite the fact that the test results don’t help prevent or treat human illness or injury. Some of the tests used on animals are eye irritancy tests, acute toxicity tests, and skin irritancy tests. For centuries, animals have been used in these types of research. (1) A restrained dog waits in a laboratory. Within the next few minutes this dog will be force-fed or forced to inhale huge amounts of a potentially lethal chemical. This will cause the dog to vomit, suffer convulsions and internal bleeding. The dog will not be anaesthetized during this test. Scientists believe that using painkillers will interfere with the accuracy of the test results. This is not a test for curing cancer. This is not a test for curing AIDS. This dog is being tested for a brand new hair dye. Another dog will be tested in the same way for toothpaste, another for face powder. This is known as the notorious LD-50 test. The test is complete when 50% of the test animals die. The surviving 50% are killed, autopsied and analyzed to determine which organs and systems were affected and why they didn't die during the test. The Draize test for eye and skin irritancy is equally horrifying. In the Draize test... Free Essays on Cosmetic Testing On Animals Free Essays on Cosmetic Testing On Animals Cosmetic Testing on Animals A topic that has always been close to many people’s hearts is the one of animal testing. Some believe that it is right completely, some that it is right but only under certain circumstances, and others believe that all animal testing is wrong and will go to extraordinary lengths to stop it. Should animals be harmed to benefit mankind? This is a pressing question that has been around for at least the past two centuries. In my opinion, it is morally inhumane to torture our animals. Every year, millions of animals suffer and die in painful tests to determine the safety of cosmetics. Substances such as eye shadow and soap are tested on rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, dogs, and other animals. All of this, despite the fact that the test results don’t help prevent or treat human illness or injury. Some of the tests used on animals are eye irritancy tests, acute toxicity tests, and skin irritancy tests. For centuries, animals have been used in these types of research. (1) A restrained dog waits in a laboratory. Within the next few minutes this dog will be force-fed or forced to inhale huge amounts of a potentially lethal chemical. This will cause the dog to vomit, suffer convulsions and internal bleeding. The dog will not be anaesthetized during this test. Scientists believe that using painkillers will interfere with the accuracy of the test results. This is not a test for curing cancer. This is not a test for curing AIDS. This dog is being tested for a brand new hair dye. Another dog will be tested in the same way for toothpaste, another for face powder. This is known as the notorious LD-50 test. The test is complete when 50% of the test animals die. The surviving 50% are killed, autopsied and analyzed to determine which organs and systems were affected and why they didn't die during the test. The Draize test for eye and skin irritancy is equally horrifying. In the Draize test...

An Argument against Gun Control

An Argument against Gun Control Introduction One of the most valued liberties by the American people is their right to bear arms; a right enshrined in the Second Amendment. This right, which was included in the bill of rights in 1791, has continued to be upheld by successive governments up to today.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on An Argument against Gun Control specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, this right has come under heavy criticism in recent years because of the numerous incidents of gun related violence’s in the country. The destruction caused by firearms in school shootings and the public at large has enraged many and led to calls for tighter gun control measures. The government has responded to this by imposing gun regulation, a move that has greatly angered gun control opponents. This paper will argue that the US government does not have any right to control guns and as such, it should respect the second amendment and stop t aking up measures to impose gun control on its citizens. Why Gun Control Should Be Abolished Gun control is an infringement upon the basic rights of the Americans to possess firearms. This right is explicitly protected by the Second Amendment, which states, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed (Barnett 265). By trying to impose gun control measures in the country, the government is going against the constitution. Considering that the government is required to uphold the constitution at all times, gun control measures are essentially unlawful. Advocates of gun control argue that the Second Amendment cannot be used to justify an individuals right to own firearms since this right was conditioned on service in an organized militia. This advocates state that the individual’s right to bear arms was tied to a military context and citizens were only empowered to have guns in readiness to serve when called to duty. Legal scholars refute this claim by st ating that the Second Amendment protected the right of the individual to possess firearms. Barnett states that even at the time of the making of the Second Amendment, the term bear arms did not have an exclusively military connotation; the term was also used to connote purely private use of arms (244). Therefore, the right of individuals to have fire guns in the present era is still protected by the US constitution. The control of bullets or even the ban of assault rifles will not prevent murderous people from engaging in killing. Domenech observes that most of the calls for stricter gun control measures come following tragic incidents like the mass killing of students in school by gun wielding individuals (25). Gun control proponents use tragedies of mass murders such as the Sandy Hook incident to make a case for further restrictions on the gun-owning rights of American citizens.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is in spite of the fact that there is no research data supporting the theory that gun possession increases the likelihood of mass murders taking place. Stricter gun control legislation will not prevent sad incidents like the Sandy Hook case which robbed 20 children and six adults of their lives since, as Domenech explains, no laws can make the murderously insane sane or remove their ability to destroy innocent lives (25). The government should try to identify the reasons for such incidents and take measures to avoid them from occurring in future. Blaming gun possession for action of deranged murderous is neglectful and it will only leave the public vulnerable to such attacks in the future. The ability of an individual to protect himself by having guns is reduced by having gun controls measures. Opponents of gun ownership hope to make it impossible for citizens to buy and have guns for self-protection. Most people invest in firearms so as to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. Domenech reveals that most handgun sales in the US are made to individuals who are interested in defending their homes (27). Strict gun control legislations will prevent many people from being able to acquire guns for this defensive purpose. It can be expected that the crime rates in the country will increase if individuals are barred from having guns. This is because guns have a deterrence effect on criminals who are discouraged from attacking homes where the owner has a gun. If criminals are not worried about being confronted by lethal legal weaponry by the person they intend to rob, crime rates will rise. Proponents of gun control argue that individuals with firearms still are attacked and even murdered by criminals. While this is true, it should not be used as the basis for denying people a right to protect themselves and increase their chances of fighting off criminals. The government should therefore stop all gun control since thes e measures have a negative impact on the safety of the citizens. Gun control will amount to an intrusion into the private lives of individuals by the government. As it is, the US has a gun culture that stretches back to centuries. This culture is connected to ideals such as individuality and liberty due to the deep relationships that guns have with the war for independence, which took place from 1775 to 1782 (Wolpert and Gimpel 244). Gun restrictions ignore the fact that guns have many legitimate users such as sporting and hunting. By imposing these laws, individuals are denied the right to enjoy their freedom to bear arms. Wolpert and Gimpel declare that by implementing gun control measures, the government is using coercive power to directly shape individual conduct (241). In a country that prides itself for having liberties for all its citizens, this government action should not be tolerated. The government should respect the privacy of its citizens and allow them to have firearms if they want to.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on An Argument against Gun Control specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Conclusion This paper set out to argue that gun control is an infringement upon the most basic of rights or American citizens and the government should not be empowered to control guns. The paper began by nothing that gun control measures are a violation of the constitutional rights of the American citizens. While these measures are mostly demanded to try to reduce incidents of gun related violence, research indicates that possession of guns by citizens does not reduce violence since people who intend to commit murder will still find a way to engage in these acts. Gun control also prevents people from engaging in legitimate personal activity such as hunting and protecting themselves form assailants. By stopping its attempts at gun control, the government will not only be upholding the constitutional rig hts of its citizens but it will also ensure that the citizens are able to enjoy the benefits that firearms bring to the individual and the society at large. Barnett, Randy. â€Å"Was the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Conditioned on Service in an Organized Militia?†. Texas Law Review 83.1 (2004): 237-277. Web. Domenech, Benjamin. â€Å"The Truth about Mass Shootings and Gun Control†. Commentary 135.2 (2013): 25-29. Web. Wolpert, Robin, and Gimpel James. â€Å"Self-interest, symbolic politics, and public attitudes towards gun control†. Political Behavior 20.3 (1998): 241-262. Web.

Are Concerns over Immigration to Do with Culture of Economic Reasons Essay Example for Free

Are Concerns over Immigration to Do with Culture of Economic Reasons Essay Almost all economists are in agreement that immigration has positive economic effects. Indeed in the United States it â€Å"provides natives with a net benefit of at least $80,000 per immigrant, or as much as $10 billion annually† (Bolin, 2006). However despite this there are huge numbers of advocacy groups pushing the pros and cons immigration to the populations of the host countries, with natives having negative views towards immigration (McLaren & Johnson, 2007). Through the course of this essay I will examine whether the root cause of these often xenophobic views towards immigration have root causes in economic reasons (immigrants taking jobs from natives, and leading to lower wages) or symbolic reasons, where the natives are fearful that the immigrants will bring their culture to the host country and cause change. Enoch Powell, the Conservative British politician, gave a warning that immigrants were causing such strife that â€Å"like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood† (Powell, 1969). This turned out to be nonsense, and his advice that immigrants should be encouraged to leave, would have left Britain, and many other countries that rely on cheap foreign labour in a horrific state of affairs. Immigrants are now taking far longer to integrate into their host country and this is upsetting many natives. â€Å"In the past a third-generation migrant, for example in America, would have been expected to have shed much of his grandparents’ identity† (The Economist, 2008), not speaking his mother tongue and having little loyalty to the country his family originated from. This is changing â€Å"as migrants feel loyalty to more than one country† (The Economist, 2008). For example, Moroccans in Europe, even fourth generation, are encouraged by the Government to identify with the African country, and are granted Moroccan citizenship under the constitution. As many source countries such as India and China grow intent on gaining remittances from their emigres, â€Å"migrants even several generations on may come under great pressure to retain some of their old identity† (The Economist, 2008). This can all lead to immigrants never becoming fully integrated into the host country, causing social problems such as immigrants bunching together in the same place. Due to globalisation and time-space compression, it has become far easier for migrants to emigrate further away from their own country, this causes problems as they subsequently have little in common with their host country and find it harder to integrate into the community. Traveling long distances to emigrate is no longer a problem and in the future there will be the problem of â€Å"people moving greater distances and settling among different ethnic, religious and cultural groups† (The Economist, 2008), meaning they will have problems integrating. â€Å"Danes in Sweden or Albanians in Greece have little trouble integrating into the relatively familiar societies next door. Even Poles in Ireland prosper, perhaps thanks to the incomers’ good standard of education and skill and the shared Catholic faith. But Iraqis in Sweden, Somalis in Canada or Pakistanis in Norway typically find integration harder† (The Economist, 2008). Samuel Huntington blames this on the â€Å"great divisions among humankind† (Huntington, 1993) that are the differences between civilisations. He believes that immigration will ‘intensify civilization consciousness and awareness of differences between civilizations and commonalities within civilizations’ (Huntington, 1993). This leads to a ‘them versus us’ attitude, with the natives having the xenophobic view that the immigrants are qualitatively different from themselves. As the natives of the host country would have spent time constructing â€Å"discursive practices that attempt to fix meanings which enable the differentiation between the inside and the outside to be made† (Doty, 1996), they will resent immigrants not properly integrating themselves into the community. Research on social identity appears to conclude that identity is highly important to individuals, with individuals protecting these identities even if they have no realistic meaning (Monroe, et al. , 2000). People use these identities to provide a sense of self (Sniderman, et al. 2004), partly in order that they may distinguish between those similar to themselves and those different. The ‘identities tend to have their basis in perceptions of differences’ (McLaren & Johnson, 2007)with those viewed as outsiders thought to have radically different values and approaches to life. â€Å"The threat posed by minorities and immigrants may be symbolic in nature and may stem from concerns about the loss of certain values or ways of life† (McLaren & Johnson, 2007), due to immigrants having a significant presence in the host country. Immigrants also often congregate in areas of the host country, London for example has a huge immigrant and minority presence with only 44. 9% classing themselves as ‘White British’ (Gye, 2012), in the 2011 census. This all means that natives are fearful that immigrants will cause them to adapt or change their ways of life. Migrants who preserve â€Å"a strong religious sense that cuts across any national loyalty may be the hardest of all to assimilate into broadly secular Western societies†. In the post-9/11 world Muslims are often seen as being the greatest cultural threat to Western societies. In a recent survey McLaren and Johnson measured anti-Muslim feeling in the United Kingdom. They found that 62% of people agreed with the statement that British Muslims are more loyal to Muslims around the world, than to other Britons, only 12% disagreed. Only 30% of Britons felt that Muslims living in Britain were committed to Britain, with 47% feeling that they could never be committed to Britain. 52% of people thought that Britain would begin to lose its identity if more Muslims came to live there. Clearly there is considerable anti-Muslim feeling in Britain and concern that British-Muslims pose a threat to the identity and culture of Britain (McLaren & Johnson, 2007). Most economists are in agreement that immigration has very little effect on native’s wages; this should mean that natives won’t oppose immigration based on the misbelief that immigrants lower wages. Although conventional economic wisdom states that an increase in supply of labour will lead to a decrease in price, this doesn’t happen. Friedberg and Hunt conclude that a 10% increase in immigrant levels in the population, decreases wages by 1% (Friedberg & Hunt, 1995). Economist Francisco Revera-Batiz came to the same conclusion, noting that although immigration has increased the supply of low skilled workers into the United States, there has been very little impact on the wages of high school dropouts, the lowest skilled people in America (Rivera-Batiz, 1998). One of the most influential studies is Card’s 1990 study on the Miami Labour market after the sudden influx of 125,000 Cuban immigrants in 1980 due to a sharp downturn in the Cuban economy. Surprisingly the arrival of so many immigrants didn’t affect native wages, although it did lower the overall wage level in Miami; due to the immigrants being employed in low-wage jobs (Card, 1990). This tallies with the outcomes of other natural experiments in recent history such as the homecoming of 600,000 Portuguese after the collapse of their empire in Africa in 1974-76, the return of 900,000 Frenchmen from Algeria in 1962 (The Economist, 2008) or the influx of 610,000 Russian Jews into Israel 1990-94, increasing the labour force by 12%; all had negligible effects on native wages. Immigrants don’t decrease wages because as well as increasing the supply of labour, they become a domestic consumer for goods as well as services, they â€Å"create jobs as consumers and fill jobs as producers† (Bolin, 2006). A higher total population, ceteris parabus, will lead to the production of more goods and services, boosting the host countries gross domestic product (GDP). In some rare cases immigrants can even boost native’s wages. Illegal Mexican immigrants, who are â€Å"predominantly low skilled† (Bolin, 2006), have a positive effect on other workers’ wages (Bean, et al. 1998). This is due to immigration increasing the productivity of native workers by â€Å"taking low-skilled jobs, freeing higher-skilled workers to work in higher-skilled employment where they can be more productive† (Bolin, 2006). Based on the results of a range of economists, using results based on a â€Å"range of methodologies† (Bolin, 2006), it can be seen that immigrants have a small negative impact on native wages, although mainly low-skilled workers. Based on this, natives shouldn’t be concerned over immigration levels based on their own wages falling. The popular theory that immigrants ‘come over here and take our jobs’, has been shown to hold very little truth, as most studies â€Å"find no or negligible effect[s]† (Bolin, 2006) on employment rates. The ‘lump of labour fallacy’ is the mistaken idea that there are a set number of jobs in the economy, and when an immigrant takes one of those jobs, it is a job lost for a native. This is incorrect for three reasons. Firstly, by coming to a country â€Å"immigrants increase the supply of labour and hence reduce wages. In turn, cheaper labour increases the potential return to employers to build new factories or expand their operations. In so doing, they create extra demand for workers† (Grinda, 2006), and more jobs are created. Secondly, immigrants are consumers as well as producers. When there is a large influx of immigrants such as the 610,000 Russian-Jews into Israel in the early 1990’s, they are in need of goods and services. People are employed to provide these goods and services, meaning more jobs added to the economy, and immigrants simply enlarge the economy. Thirdly, immigrants are 10 to 20 percent more likely to become entrepreneurs and start their own business than natives (Briggs & Moore, 1994). In 1999, The Wall Street Journal reported that â€Å"Chinese and Indian immigrants run nearly 25% of the high-companies started in [Silicon] Valley since 1980†¦The 2,775 immigrant-run companies had total sales of $16. 8 billion and more than 58,000 employees† (Thurm, 1999). â€Å"Immigrants not only take jobs, they make jobs. They open new businesses that employ natives as well as other immigrants and themselves. And they do so in important numbers† (Simon, 1999). Similarly, the findings by Friedberg and Hunt discovers â€Å"no evidence of economically significant reductions in native employment†. Card, as well as examining the impact of the Muriel boatlift on wages also examined the impact of it on employment. Even though Miami’s workforce was increased by 7%, virtually overnight, with an influx of relatively unskilled Cuban workers he finds â€Å"no evidence of an increase in unemployment among less skilled blacks or other non-Cuban workers. Rather the data analysis suggests a remarkably rapid absorption of the Muriel immigrants into the Miami labour force† (Card, 1990). Again with immigrant’s impact on wages, the evidence seems to suggest that a lack of evidence that immigration causes native unemployment. This should mean that concerns over immigration should not be linked to worries over employment. Due to immigrants being â€Å"disproportionately low-skill[ed]† (Bolin, 2006) they tend to have lower wages than natives. It is often assumed therefore that they depend more upon the welfare system than natives. The level of benefits are often higher in the host country than the source country, and it is often suggested that it is this difference that brings in migrants. Borjas coined the term â€Å"welfare magnet effect† (Borjas, 1999), making the point that immigrants are drawn to the country with the highest benefits. This however has all been shown to be completely false, and many economists believe that over the long term immigrants more than pay for the public services they use (Simon, 1999). In the United States â€Å"most immigrants, including Mexicans, are usually less likely than comparable natives to receive welfare†, with the per capita cost of social welfare for immigrants being 8% less than the per capita cost for natives (Bean, et al. 1998). It is plain to see that objections to immigration come from those who are worried about the identity and culture of their nation being eroded, rather than for economic reasons. Immigrants are solving many problems for the host countries, such as the problems of aging populations and those participating in the workforce being increasing choosy about the jobs they do. Immigrants have few economic disadvantages, although high immigration may bring about a small decrease in jobs for the natives, the tax revenue that they bring in more than displaces this negative effect. As the immigrants have little impact on jobs, and simply create more jobs in the economy, disproving the lump of labour fallacy, they don’t have a negative impact on wages which is a positive for the economy as a whole. The argument that immigrants have a negative impact on the identity and culture of a nation holds some truth. Due to the fact that a nation’s identity is made up of what its inhabitants believe it to be, immigrants having different views, can water this identity down. Are Concerns over Immigration to Do with Culture of Economic Reasons. (2016, Oct 02).

Marcus Mosiah Garveys Movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marcus Mosiah Garveys Movement - Essay Example According to the report findings Garvey visited Ecuador, Costa Rica and Panama, where he worked as an editor for some radical newspapers, during the early moments of service. Garvey’s keen interest in Africa and that of its history came about after his visit to England, where he mingled with several African nationalists. In a number of the countries that Garvey visited, he acknowledged that the black man was on inferior levels, subject to the continuous changing ideals of stronger races. The writings of Booker T. Washington on â€Å"Up from slavery† also contributed greatly to the interventions that Garvey sought to bring. His endeavors got a boost after meeting a Sudanese-Egyptian supporter of Africa self-rule, Duse Mohammed Ali, who employed him, thus ensuring his interaction with other black activists. As the the essay stresses the organization appealed to the black community to return to Africa for the development of a great nation. He knew that until this was attainable, Africans had to make themselves economically stable and independent in their respective areas of residence. He further encouraged black communities to start their own business in the various ghettos that they dominated. In accordance to his basic principle and the belief that each race had to see God through its own racial eyes, Garvey together with Archbishop George McGuire started the African Orthodox Church. Official announcement of the Black Madonna and the Black Christ then took place in the UNIA convention of 1924.

History of Corporate Governance or applicable topic Research Paper

History of Corporate Governance or applicable topic - Research Paper Example With time, corporate governance issues do not seem to tire of introducing certain new legislative rules ad duties that aim at governing the relationship between the stakeholders of various companies as well as their management (Morck, 2005). Furthermore, the beginning of the twentieth century saw to the formulation of sufficient codes among other best practice catalogues that are concerned with corporate governance especially in business communities with the sole aim of satisfying a variety of stakeholders. According to Steger and Amann (2008), despite the fact that the term corporate governance being as old as the various managed entities themselves, it cuts across ownership and management thereby bringing forth a principal-agent problem. The term itself gained its use in the 1980s even though the need for shareholder and owner protection against any managerial issue, existed mush earlier. In the 1970s, probably among the most important functions of the corporate instrument were est ablished to be; establishment of basic objectives, corporate strategies as well as the policies of the board (Stege & Amann, 2008). Also, it was charged with the ultimate responsibility asking various discerning questions and above all, the selection of president. Another feature of corporate governance within this time period was the pyramidal business group. In this system, the shareholders are at the apex who commands a great control over a given single company. Consequently, this company held control blocks in other listed companies. In the 1980s, the extent to which the term corporate governance spread provided an indication of the growing awareness of issues as pertaining to corporate governance. The increased attention was somewhat due to several high profile initial public offerings alongside the privatization of state parastatals. This had an impact of various industrial sectors such as telecommunication, mining and electricity in the U.K which reported a rise in the total earnings (Steger & Amann p.8). In the subsequent years, other countries that employed the same tactic such as Germany which privatized its telecom industry, also realized great profits. The increased shift of attention on issues regarding corporate governance within this period can also be associated with a number of corporate failures and scandals. As a result, corporate governance attempted to influence the stock markets which a lot of people depended much on. The stock markets remarkably increased as corporate governance provided a sense security (Morck, 2005). In the 1990s, there was a rise in awareness of corporate governance in all the central countries. There were a lot of reports, guiding principles as well as the remarkably nice practice codes that called for transparency, conformance and compliance that were issued at board level to the countries in question. These reports clearly outlined the directors’ service contracts, the effectiveness and perceived objectivity of auditing as well as the role of institutional investors. As such, this made a breakthrough corporate governance more so owing to the fact its reports became requisite for companies that were listed in the U.S by the year 1995. Corporate governance has brought with it a distinction between the executive and the supervising members of the board and the division between the chairman of the board and the chief executive officers (C.E.O). For instance, by the year 1998,

The Russian Revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

The Russian Revolution - Essay Example The Russian revolution can be distributed into two time slots. The first slot covers the timeframe when the Tsars left Russia leaving their autocratic fallacies behind. After the departure of the tsarist power in which the autocratic environment did not allow individuals or organizations to be politically active, the provisional government came into existence in which the DUMA took charge forming the provisional government. The DUMA were the elected middle class that caused the tsar to leave Russia, the tsar were at that time in full control over the bureaucratic setup and the army. The Duma however criticized the tsar’s leadership thus converting the country into a provisional government setup. The formation of the provisional setup was a turnaround for the Russian autocratic setup but this too was coupled with conditions. The ruling out of tsar happened when the tsar left the government in the hands of his wife in order to lead and rally the Russian armies. But rumors, ulter ior motives and mismanagement lead to the departure of tsar, a much appreciated and awaited revolution by all classes of the Russian community. The higher and middle class celebrated as they foresee a more focused and strong war effort; on the other hand the lower class associated good living conditions in the form of better wages and food with the formation of the provisional system. However this form of government was anti-reforms and did not support any political reforms. The continuation of war by Prime Minister Alexander Kennedy was considered a sign of national duty by other socialists as well because it avoided the disintegration of the Russian peasant army. The revolution did not stop at the formation of the provisional government, the parallel ruling of the council of workers worked as the rival of the provisional setup. The Petrograd Soviet or the council of workers and soldiers’ deputies consisted of intellectuals who believed in the revolutionary democracy. They c onsidered themselves the product of the new Russia that is free from the autocratic culture and is democratic in nature. The parallel workings of the national socialists and the provisional government continued but there were many dips in the forms of strikes and protests leading to the second part of the revolution that hit Russia in the month of October 1917. In October, Vladimir Lenin’s Bolshevik party took complete control and all parallel forms of government were removed leaving the socialists in charge of the setup. However this setup too had its ups and downs. The true political revolution requires more than mere changes of the ruling hands and it holds greater benefits than just switching from an autocratic setup to a democratic one. The demands of the political revolution involve formation of the organizations that is revolutionary and different from the workers’ organization. The worker organizations specialize in trade but the revolutionaries take up revolut ion as their profession. Revolutions require a professional setup and people with a professional training into revolutionaries. They are different from the workers in their thought processes, intellect, training, education and in their profession. We have seen that revolutions hit the masses directly who become the parts of it, however, the requirement is of organization who deals with

Justify Research Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Justify Research Design - Essay Example Thus among the different forensic methods , a few of them are used often . This necessitates the need to identify and upgrade those particular forensic methods , that are most utilized . The proposed research intends to evaluate the utility of the different Forensic disciplines and compare their contribution to crime resolution in major departments like United States – army , navy and air force investigative services . The identity of the frequently used forensic method would be used to improve or upgrade them . In order to have an accurate evaluation of the most utilized forensic method , the research design proposed is the Quantitative method . Quantitative research is systematic approach that is objective and formal in nature . In this quantitative research information are extracted in the numerical form . As stated by Guba & Lincoln (2005) , â€Å"the quantitative methodology is based on the positivist paradigm of knowledge†. Data collection in quantitative method could be by survey or tracking or experimental . This research chooses to collect the data by the tracking method . In this tracking method , the usage of different forensic methods are to be tracked and recorded so that they could be analyzed statistically . It has been proposed to collect the data form the Federal lab in United States . Also , a large sample size of the data source , helps in accurate deduction of the research outcome . The quantitative variable that has been proposed to be measured is the usage or utility rate of the forensic methods . This variable has to be measured with the help of ordinal scale which is a pre defined numerical that could be used to represent the extend of use of that forensic method . The ordinal scale may be chosen to be like this : 1 - seldom used , 2- fairly used , 3 moderately used , 4 – highly used , 5 – frequently used

The application essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The application - Essay Example Information flow and its transmission from one station to the other and also the channels of communication were essential to our success. Mistakes that used to occur due to poor communication skills were usually detrimental to the survival of the force. I aspire to become a senior officer in the communication department of the military, where I will be presented with the opportunity to streamline the communication processes as well as upgrade the channels and techniques of communication in order to build a strong force. I will also have an opportunity to serve as a mentor to the upcoming military trainees in regard to communication in order to help them in building a career in the field. While studying in your institution, I will exercise my ability to participate in class work, an aspect of learning that I acquired since my secondary school days. I am used to organizing group work and discussions, which have always enabled me to be a leader in school as well as my days in the military. I have always been chosen to head discussion groups due to my organization skills coupled with conflict resolution skills, and I hope I will be able to utilize them in your institution. To supplement my leadership skills, I have experience in the field of communication, having worked in the Korean army broadcasting station when I served in the military. This was a great exposure in the field of communication. Understanding class work will be easy for me as I already have basic knowledge in communication. More over, I was able to use modern communication equipment and therefore I can be of much assistance to my colleagues in class, especially those who are joining this field for the first time. Apart from personal growth and career development, I understand that communication studies are important in social interactions. It helps in establishing relationships with groups of people in the society, while treating each group depending on its uniqueness. In

The Russian Revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

The Russian Revolution - Essay Example The Russian revolution can be distributed into two time slots. The first slot covers the timeframe when the Tsars left Russia leaving their autocratic fallacies behind. After the departure of the tsarist power in which the autocratic environment did not allow individuals or organizations to be politically active, the provisional government came into existence in which the DUMA took charge forming the provisional government. The DUMA were the elected middle class that caused the tsar to leave Russia, the tsar were at that time in full control over the bureaucratic setup and the army. The Duma however criticized the tsar’s leadership thus converting the country into a provisional government setup. The formation of the provisional setup was a turnaround for the Russian autocratic setup but this too was coupled with conditions. The ruling out of tsar happened when the tsar left the government in the hands of his wife in order to lead and rally the Russian armies. But rumors, ulter ior motives and mismanagement lead to the departure of tsar, a much appreciated and awaited revolution by all classes of the Russian community. The higher and middle class celebrated as they foresee a more focused and strong war effort; on the other hand the lower class associated good living conditions in the form of better wages and food with the formation of the provisional system. However this form of government was anti-reforms and did not support any political reforms. The continuation of war by Prime Minister Alexander Kennedy was considered a sign of national duty by other socialists as well because it avoided the disintegration of the Russian peasant army. The revolution did not stop at the formation of the provisional government, the parallel ruling of the council of workers worked as the rival of the provisional setup. The Petrograd Soviet or the council of workers and soldiers’ deputies consisted of intellectuals who believed in the revolutionary democracy. They c onsidered themselves the product of the new Russia that is free from the autocratic culture and is democratic in nature. The parallel workings of the national socialists and the provisional government continued but there were many dips in the forms of strikes and protests leading to the second part of the revolution that hit Russia in the month of October 1917. In October, Vladimir Lenin’s Bolshevik party took complete control and all parallel forms of government were removed leaving the socialists in charge of the setup. However this setup too had its ups and downs. The true political revolution requires more than mere changes of the ruling hands and it holds greater benefits than just switching from an autocratic setup to a democratic one. The demands of the political revolution involve formation of the organizations that is revolutionary and different from the workers’ organization. The worker organizations specialize in trade but the revolutionaries take up revolut ion as their profession. Revolutions require a professional setup and people with a professional training into revolutionaries. They are different from the workers in their thought processes, intellect, training, education and in their profession. We have seen that revolutions hit the masses directly who become the parts of it, however, the requirement is of organization who deals with

The application essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The application - Essay Example Information flow and its transmission from one station to the other and also the channels of communication were essential to our success. Mistakes that used to occur due to poor communication skills were usually detrimental to the survival of the force. I aspire to become a senior officer in the communication department of the military, where I will be presented with the opportunity to streamline the communication processes as well as upgrade the channels and techniques of communication in order to build a strong force. I will also have an opportunity to serve as a mentor to the upcoming military trainees in regard to communication in order to help them in building a career in the field. While studying in your institution, I will exercise my ability to participate in class work, an aspect of learning that I acquired since my secondary school days. I am used to organizing group work and discussions, which have always enabled me to be a leader in school as well as my days in the military. I have always been chosen to head discussion groups due to my organization skills coupled with conflict resolution skills, and I hope I will be able to utilize them in your institution. To supplement my leadership skills, I have experience in the field of communication, having worked in the Korean army broadcasting station when I served in the military. This was a great exposure in the field of communication. Understanding class work will be easy for me as I already have basic knowledge in communication. More over, I was able to use modern communication equipment and therefore I can be of much assistance to my colleagues in class, especially those who are joining this field for the first time. Apart from personal growth and career development, I understand that communication studies are important in social interactions. It helps in establishing relationships with groups of people in the society, while treating each group depending on its uniqueness. In

Provide support to manage pain and discomfort Essay Example for Free

Provide support to manage pain and discomfort Essay Agreed ways are a set of rules, regulations, policies and procedures set out by the company which are kept in the office and are always available to be accessed. Care plans, policies and procedures always have to be followed and necessary precautions have to be taken. Before using any kind of methods to manage pain, the resident/service user needs to be assessed has every kind of pain relief can be potentially harmful. Care plans are made individually for a specific person. Care plans are made to bring comfort and support It’s important to be aware of communication, both verbal and non-verbal. It’s important to always communicate slowly and clearly so that the resident can understand you. Always try to empathize with your resident, (empathize to see from their point. I would ask on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, and 1 being the lowest, how the pain feels, by communicating you can find out their pain level then inform the Nurse who will then check to see if medication can be administered. Read more: Essay on Provide Support to Manage Pain and Discomfort If a resident cannot communicate verbally I would monitor their body language, i.e. face expressions, i.e. holding their hand, leg or limbs, this could be their way of expressing pain or by checking their turn charts, they might of been in the same position for a long time, i.e. on the left side for some time so by repositioning the resident your relieving them from discomfort and pain. I may be quiet difficult to express and communicate their pain i.e. said once but unclearly, you ask them to repeat themselves, they become angry and shout. Try to listen closely and clearly, it can be very difficult to concentrate energy to communicate, so any communication should be given 100% of your attention. All residents have different ways of communicating and different ways of understanding. All residents have different pain and discomfort levels. It’s important that we understand they are not being difficult or  awkward, just every resident has different types and ways of comfort and relief. Remember pain medication can cause anger and frustration verbally be aggressive cause confusion lack of concentration not able to make clear choices or decisions pain medication could also have an effect on their behaviour make them sleepy Always consider and respect a resident’s culture and religion. It’s very important to remember person centred care = care is designed around the individual not individual around the care. Remember the purpose is to bring pain free, comfort, dignity and peace to your resident.

Ford Motor Company SWOT Analysis

Ford Motor Company SWOT Analysis (S)trengths Ford is a well-known brand in the automobile industry and global markets, due to huge amounts of marketing and advertising. Ford is the one of the best known brands in the world. Ford has a greater amount of customer loyalty, and its individual brands have been enjoying the benefits of the good reputation. Ford has brands and models of cars that appeal to every kind of demographic group and cater for the needs and wants of consumers. Ford uses a unique concept of virtual assembly lines in their models through which they are able to reuse the same spare in their diversified model of cars. This enables Ford to lessen cost on production of new spares and competition market price. Ford provides the consumer more variety of cars and commercial vehicles, so consumer has more choices. Ford also supports racing teams which include NASCAR, Formula One and others. Through online marketing, Ford has the capability to provide the online consumer a selection of cars. Online, the consumer can customize the engine, colour, interiors and exteriors. Furthermore, Ford is maintaining the relations with high profiled companies like Suzuki and Isuzu to develop quality vehicles, in the part due to technological alliances between the companies. Ford is rich in operations and distribution efficiency. This is because manufacturing facilities operate its business in more than thirty countries and it enhances its manufacturing process in around 90 plants and facilities worldwide. The company always develops cars on standardized procedures and invest heavily in alternate fuel sources. Ford recruits qualified and skilled employees, maintaining a good relationship with them, by offering better work environments and competitive wages. Ford is more concerned about the working environment and safety aspects of the employees. (W)eaknesses The company has a lot of suffered due to product recalls, harming Fords brand image. This has  been a huge cost to the company, tarnishing the brand image and damaging Fords sales. Large unfunded pensions and various obligations are termed as the weakness of Ford automobile company. Ford takes more responsibilities in unfunded pensions, health care and life insurance obligations of the employee. Ford invests more money on maintaining a good working environment. Ford expanded its business operations in diversified geographical areas, so management is missing focus on performance and struggles with low productivity. Ford has kept increasing the productivity, while decreasing the cost and simultaneously counting the number of employees exit, decreasing employee loyalty towards the company. Ford does not have an effective cost management system and have not taken considerable efforts to overcome this, since they believed paying premiums in single supplier model. Ford does not concentrate and invest much for design phase and lack innovative design structures on their new paddle of cars. (O)pportunities The current Ford automobile company is producing the cars with low mileage and pick up. Ford has a great opportunity to produce fuel efficient cars and commercial vehicles. For example, the company produced vehicles that run on different forms of energy outside the petrol and diesel whereas cars can run on renewable energies like solar power and bio fuels. This can help the company to become pioneers in the industry. Ford has to expand more options in designing the cars and commercial vehicles are expected to switch toward the hybrid electric engines due to the limited petroleum. If the cars are designed based on electricity engines the consumers will show more interest to buy the cars, this is because when the car is run on electricity, the car repair charge will cheaper. Besides this, Ford has a chance to become more environment friendly company with cleaner engine emissions because hybrid engines are more fuel efficient and less polluting than conventional gasoline and diesel engines. Ford tried to diversify their market towards India and China in order to diversify their revenues because the two countries are well-known countries with large geographical markets and high populations. Most people in these two countries are interested in owning a four wheeler for their family. Ford launched a restructuring plan to improve the performance of its automotive business in North America. This plan aims to make the North American business more customer-focused, product-driven and efficient. The North American capacity is likely to be realigned to match demand, with 14 manufacturing facilities to be idled, resulting in significant cost savings and reduced employment. The way forward plan focuses on restoring Fords North American automotive operations to profitability. (T)hreats Increase the raw material like hard steel price and roll steel coil price will affect the margin price of the car. As a whole it will obviously affect the companys profit margin of the ford because of low margin price. Ford growth and development may effected by rapid growth in number of competitors in the automobile company. From the beginning America demanded automobile industry. Fords main competitors are General motors, Toyota, Honda, BMW, etc. Ford capital spending low on its operations and research development expenditure which could influence the company from going forward when compared to its competitors. The competitors are spending big amount on RD programmes. Although global warning turning out to be greatest threat and individual use of automobile vehicle increase the risk of further, the cars and other private vehicle are the part of basic necessity on a common mans view. Therefore this is believed that no real threat of substitutes exits today, but it is believed that choosing other forms of transport such as bicycles, public transports and sharing mobility would soon be imported in to the mind of people.

The Axis Powers :: World War II History

The Axis Powers Almost everyone knows of The Axis Powers. They were enemies of The Allied Powers in World War II. They are synonymous with The Holocaust because Adolf Hitler was the man who started The Holocaust and he ws the dictator of Germany. The Axis Powers originally was the alliance between Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany and Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy. Italy did not do much during the war though. The goals of The Axis Powers clearly emerged in the Italo-Germany Pact. It was a pact that was signed in May of 1939 in which Italy and Germany promised to help each other in the time of war. Germany also signed another pact because Hitler believed that Germany had lost World War I due to the fact that Germany had to fight on two sides. The pact was a ten-year, non-aggression pact between the USSR and Germany. The pact was later abolished when the USSR began to help the Allied Powers fight Germany. Hitler wasn't well known during World War I. As a matter of fact, Hitler was a private during the war and ended up gaining power because he appealed to a large number of German people. He appealed to them by a combination of an effective and well-practiced style of speaking with what looked like undoubtable sincerity and determination. This helped Hitler find a large audience for his program of national revival, racial pride in Germanic values, hatred for France and of the Jewish and other un-German races, and despise for the Weimer Republic. With the way he spoke, Hitler convinced the people of Germany to believe that a dictatorship was the only thing that could save Germany from the problems it was having. Hitler's views only changed a little in the years to follow; yet he still managed to draw an increasing number of people to his speeches. On September 30, 1938, France and Great Britain agreed to let Nazi Germany have a piece of Czechoslovakia. Hitler told the British and French that it would be his last demand for territory in Europe. Hitler ended up breaking this pact when he took over Prague. During that same year, Germany attacked Poland and defeated them in one month. Poland was then split into two parts with Hitler's Nazi Germany taking part and Stalin's Communist USSR taking the other part. The invasion was what started World War II.

Existence Of God :: essays research papers

Existence of God   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The truth behind the existence of god. As a flesh and blood we seem to aspire to be ultitmley immortal, we have created stories guidelines ways in which we our able to become immortal. Christins call it jesus others call it alla or buddua. Does this make one better then the other or is just a set of rules that we all follow just so mankind can prosper. Is faith a trait that is leared or is it a proptey that we our all born with the ability to belive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The questions we have this is a trait the abilitty to reason is a trait, but what scares us so terribly bad is whaen we cant answer a question. We study we learn but the idea that many of us have not leared is that faith is not imortality or heaven or hell but our faith in ourselves and faith in our fellow man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What scares me so bad is the fact that many people hide in this world of god. God is what created us what made us it is what we must ultitmley answer to. We answer as not flesh and blood but as a spirit we choose long before our mortal body goes where we go. We leave behind our bodys and enter into a realm to which we cannot comphrend. Our minds well never allow us to comprhend immortality but our souls can that is faith.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This faith belongs to no clan of self righteous humn being that think that becuse there rules that they follow our better then another. Se the truth is god does not have a check list of whos good and whos bad but rather he make the decision we have morals or as some calit a concous. This world is about the first stepping stone that we take this is a test can you live in an imperfect world and handle without cheating your fellow man. This is faith in yourself this life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  God gave us life it is our choice wether we use it to its follow view or we cash in early and take the easy way out. Is a gamble much like a stock in a company we own our own stock we have a value this is a value that we place. The question that you must ask yourself what value is yours. Our you a sellout our you willing to give up everything you have for an easy buck or our you willing to ride the rollercoaster of life following it rules so you can exsisit.

Nick Carraway Essay

What kind of a person is Nick Carraway? How might Nick’s narration color the way readers view other characters? Provide examples. Is Nick a reliable character? Provide examples from the novel to support your responses. Nick Carraway narrates The Great Gatsby. He values knowledge and is very observant making him a good narrator. In The Great Gatsby, all the characters tend to like him and trust him with their secrets. In the beginning, Daisy talks to Nick in private and tells him of when she had her baby girl. She said, â€Å"I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool† (17). Daisy thinks that the best way to easily get through life as a girl is to be stupid and pretty so she can marry a rich man and not have a worry in the world, which is what Daisy is doing. However, when Tom asks Nick if Daisy told him something, she lies and says they talked about horses. She was open to Nick to tell him her thoughts, but wanted it to be a secret from Tom. Nick understands the eastern way of living; with the partying, alcohol, and money. He shows the good sides of characters and the bad sides. He is a reliable character because although he adds in his biased opinions, he also tells the readers of the characters true personality and their actions. A. Through Nick, how does Fitzgerald describe each of your characters? What is Fitzgerald saying about each of your characters? Through Nick, Fitzgerald describes Tom Buchanan as a â€Å"sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner† (7). Through Fitzgerald’s diction, you can tell that Tom is arrogant and aggressive. Physically, he is described as big with muscles, a â€Å"cruel body† (7). To add to his big, arrogant figure, his voice is a â€Å"gruff husky tenor added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed† (7). He has a personality and look that strikes fear in people and he moves around with aggressiveness. Myers Wolfsheim is described as â€Å"a small, falt-nosed Jew† (69) with a large head. He is cautious and conservative; possibly suspicious and paranoid because of the business he deals with. In The Great Gatsby, his nose is repeatedly addressed. B. Do your characters change—do they change or remain the same throughout chapters 1-5? If the character changes, how so? Do your characters mature? Grow? Regress? Please explain Myers Wolfsheim does not change much in chapters 1-5. He is not mentioned very often. Tom Buchanan does change and show more of his personality to Nick from the beginning towards chapter 3. You are really allowed to see Tom when he takes Nick to meet his mistress, Myrtle. In the hotel room, he portrays his aggression when he hit Myrtle in the face, causing her to bleed. His character does not mature, but however regresses from the first 5 chapters. In the beginning, he seems sophisticated when he was talking about books and long words. Then he regressed when he went to the apartment building with Myrtle, Nick, and the rest of the party. He drank himself silly and cheated on his wife. C. What do these characters teach Nick about himself? What do these characters say about Nick? These characters teach Nick that he is different from the urban, fast-paced life of the East. Compared to Tom and Myers, Nick seems like a boring bond man coming fresh out of the West into this new world of liquor, parties, and money. D. What do we learn about Gatsby through the characters? In chapter 4, Myer’s tells Nick about Gatsby’s â€Å"life†. He tells him about Gatsby’s time at Oxford and builds Gatsby up to be a really good, perfect man, ‘†the kind of man you’d like to take home and introduce to your mother and sister†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (72). You are unable to learn much about Gatsby through Tom. Tom doesn’t know Gatsby that well and has never been to one of his parties until Nick takes them.

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 17~18

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Jonathan Livingston Reaper Amy wore an oversized, tattered â€Å"I'M WITH STUPID† nightshirt and Local Motion flip-flops. Her hair was completely flat on one side and splayed out into an improbable sunburst of spikes on the other, making it appear that she was getting hit in the side of the head by a tiny hurricane, which she wasn't. She was, however, performing the longest sustained yawn Clay had ever seen. â€Å"Ooo ahe-e, I aya oa a,† she said in yawnspeak, a language – not unlike Hawaiian – known for its paucity of consonants. (You go ahead, I'm okay, she was saying.) She gestured for Clay to continue. Clay cued the tape and fiddled with the audio. A whale tail in a field of blue passed by on the monitor. â€Å"There's someone outside, Captain.† â€Å"Does he have my sandwich with him?† Amy stopped yawning and scooted forward on the stool she was perched upon behind Clay. When the whale tail came down, Clay stopped the tape and looked back at her. â€Å"Well?† â€Å"Play it again.† He did. â€Å"Can we get a feeling for direction?† Amy asked. â€Å"That housing has stereo microphones, right? What if we move the speakers far apart – can we get a sense where it's coming from?† Clay shook his head. â€Å"The mikes are right next to each other. You have to separate them by at least a meter to get any spatial information. All I can tell you is that it's in the water and it's not particularly loud. In fact, if I hadn't been using the rebreather, I'd never have heard it. You're the audio person. What can you tell me?† He ran it back and played it again. â€Å"It's human speech.† Clay looked at her as if to say, Uh-huh, I woke you up because I needed the obvious pointed out. â€Å"And it's military.† â€Å"Why do you think it's military?† Now Amy gave Clay the same look that he had just finished giving her.† ‘Captain'?† â€Å"Oh, right,† said Clay. â€Å"Speaker in the water? Divers with underwater communications? What do you think?† â€Å"Didn't sound like it. Did it sound like it was coming from small speakers to you?† â€Å"Nope.† Clay played it again. â€Å"Sandwich?† he said. â€Å"Sandwich?† â€Å"The Old Broad said that someone called her claiming to be a whale and asked her to tell Nate to bring him a sandwich.† Amy squeezed Clay's shoulder. â€Å"He's gone, Clay. I know you don't believe what I saw happened, but it certainly wasn't about a sandwich conspiracy.† â€Å"I'm not saying that, Amy. Damn it. I'm not saying this had anything to do with Nate's† – he was going to say drowning and stopped himself – â€Å"accident. But it might have to do with the lab getting wrecked, the tapes getting stolen, and someone trying to mess with the Old Broad. Someone is fucking with us, Amy, and it might be whoever is recorded on this tape.† â€Å"And there's no way the camera could have pulled a signal out of the air, something on the same frequency or something? A mobile phone or something?† â€Å"Through a half-inch of powder-coated aluminum housing and a hundred feet of water? No, that signal came in through the mike. That I'm sure of.† Amy nodded and looked at the paused picture on the screen. â€Å"So you're looking for two things: someone military and someone who has an interest in Nate's work.† â€Å"No one – † Clay stopped himself again, remembering what he'd said to Nate when the lab had been wrecked. That no one cared about their work. But obviously someone did. â€Å"Tarwater?† Amy shrugged. â€Å"He's military. Maybe. Leave the tape out. I'll run a spectrograph on the audio in the morning, see if I can tell if it's coming through some kind of amplifier. I've got nothing left tonight – I'm beat.† â€Å"Thanks,† Clay said. â€Å"You get some rest, kiddo. I'm going to hit it, too. I'll be heading down to the harbor first thing.† † ‘Kay.† â€Å"Oh, and hey, the ‘kiddo' thing, I didn't mean – ; Amy threw her arms around him and kissed the top of his head. â€Å"You big mook. Don't worry, we'll get through this.† She turned and started out the door. â€Å"Amy?† She paused in the doorway. â€Å"Yeah?† â€Å"Can I ask you a†¦ personal question, kinda?† â€Å"Shoot.† â€Å"The shirt – who's stupid?† She looked down at her shirt, then back at him and grinned. â€Å"Always seems to apply, Clay. No matter where I am or who I'm with, the smoke clears and the shirt is true. You gotta hang on to truth when you find it.† â€Å"I like truth,† Clay said. â€Å"Night, Clay.† â€Å"Night, kiddo.† The next day the weather was blown out, with whitecaps frosting the entire channel across to Lanai and the coconut palms whipping overhead like epileptic dust mops. Clay drove by the harbor in his truck, noting that the cabin cruiser that Cliff Hyland's group had been using was parked in its slip. Then he turned around and caught a flash of white out of the corner of his eye as he drove past the hundred-year-old Pioneer Inn – Captain Tarwater's navy whites standing out against the green shiplap. He parked his truck by the giant banyan tree next door and humped it over to the restaurant. When Clay came up to the table, the hostess was just seating Cliff Hyland, Tarwater, and one of their grad students, a young blond woman with a raccoon sunburn and straw-dry hair. â€Å"Hey, Cliff,† Clay said. â€Å"You got a minute?† â€Å"Clay, how you doing?† Hyland took off his sunglasses and stood to shake hands. â€Å"Please, join us.† Clay looked at Tarwater, and the naval officer nodded. â€Å"Sorry to hear about your partner,† he said. Then he looked back down at his menu. The young woman sitting with them was watching the dynamic between the three men as if she might write a paper on it. â€Å"Just a second,† Clay said. â€Å"If I could talk to you outside.† Now Tarwater glanced up and gave Cliff Hyland an almost imperceptible shake of the head. â€Å"Sure, Clay,† Cliff said, â€Å"let's walk.† He looked to the junior researcher. â€Å"When she comes, coffee, Portuguese sausage, eggs over easy, whole wheat.† The girl nodded. Hyland followed Clay out to the front of the hotel, which overlooked the harbor fueling station and the Carthaginian, a steel-hulled replica of a whaling brig, now used as a floating museum. They stood side by side, watching the harbor, each with a foot propped on the seawall. â€Å"What's up, Clay?† â€Å"What are you guys working on, Cliff?† â€Å"You know I can't talk about that. I signed a nondisclosure thing.† â€Å"You got divers in the water, people with underwater coms?† â€Å"Don't be silly, Clay. You've seen my crew. Except for Tarwater, they're just kids. What's this about?† â€Å"Somebody's fucking with us, Cliff. They sank my boat, tore up the office, took Nate's papers and tapes. They're even messing with one of our benefactors. I'm not even sure they don't have something to do with Nate's –  » â€Å"And you think it's me?† Hyland took his foot off the seawall and turned to Clay. â€Å"Nate was my friend, too. I've known you guys, what? Twenty-two, twenty-three years? You can't think I'd do anything like that.† â€Å"I'm not saying you personally. What are you and Tarwater working on, Cliff? What would Nate know that would interfere with what you're doing?† Hyland stared at his feet. Scratched his beard. â€Å"I don't know.† â€Å"You don't know? You know what we're doing – figure it out. Listen, I know you guys are using a big towable sonar rig, right? What's Tarwater looking at? Some new kind of active sonar? If it didn't have a hinky element, he wouldn't be here on site. Mines?† â€Å"Damn it, Clay, I can't tell you! I can tell you that if I thought it was going to hurt the animals, or anyone in the field for that matter, I wouldn't be doing the work.† â€Å"Remember the navy's Pacific Biological Ocean Science Program? Were you in on that?† â€Å"No. Birds, wasn't it?† â€Å"Yeah, seabirds. The navy came to a bunch of field biologists with a ton of money – wanted seabirds tagged and tracked, behavior recorded, population information, habitat, everything. Everyone thought the heavens had opened up and started raining money. Thought the navy was doing some sort of secret impact study to preserve the birds. Do you know what the study was actually for?† â€Å"No, that was before my time, Clay.† â€Å"They wanted to use the birds as delivery systems for biological weapons. Wanted to make sure they could predict that they'd fly to the enemy. Probably fifty scientists helped in that study.† â€Å"But it didn't happen, Clay, did it? I mean, the data was valuable scientifically, but the weapons project didn't pan out.† â€Å"As far as we know. That's the point. How would we know, until a seagull drops fucking anthrax on us?† Cliff Hyland had aged a couple of years in the few minutes they'd been standing there. â€Å"I promise, Clay, if there's any indication that Tarwater or the navy or any of the spooky guys that come around from time to time are involved with trying to sabotage you guys, I'll call you in an instant. I promise you. But I can't tell you what I'm working on, or why. I don't exactly have funding coming out my ears. If I lose this, I'm teaching freshmen about dolphin jaws. I'm not ready for that. I need to be in the field.† Clay looked at him sideways and saw that there was real concern, maybe even a spark of desperation in Hyland's eyes. â€Å"You know, your funding might be a little easier to come by if you weren't based in Iowa. I don't know if you've noticed, but there's no ocean in Iowa.† Hyland smiled at the old dig. â€Å"Thanks for pointing that out, Clay.† Clay extended his hand. â€Å"You promise you'll let me know?† â€Å"Absolutely.† Clay left feeling totally spent. The great head of steam he'd built up through a night of fitful sleep had wilted into exhaustion and confusion. He got in his truck and sat while sweat rolled down his neck. He watched tourists in aloha wear mill around under the great banyan tree like gift-wrapped zombies. Cliff Hyland's eggs were still steaming when he returned to the table. Tarwater looked up from his own breakfast and moved his snow-white hat away from Hyland's plate, as if the rumpled scientist might splash yolk over the gold anchors in a fit of disorganized eating. â€Å"Everything all right?† The young woman at the table fidgeted and tried to look invisible. â€Å"Clay's still a little shaken up. Understandably. He and Nathan Quinn have been working together a long time.† â€Å"Lucky they made it this long without self-destructing,† Tarwater said. â€Å"Slipshod as they run that operation. You see that kid that works for them? Not worth grinding up for chum.† Cliff Hyland dropped his fork in his plate. â€Å"Nathan Quinn was one of the most intuitively brilliant biologists in the field. And Clay Demodocus may very well be the best underwater photographer in the world, certainly when it comes to cetaceans. You have no right.† â€Å"The world turns, Doc. Yesterday's alphas are today's betas. Losers lose. Isn't that what you biologists teach?† Cliff Hyland came very close to burying a fork in Tarwater's tanned forehead, but instead he slowly climbed to his feet. â€Å"I need to use the restroom. Excuse me.† As he walked away, Hyland could hear Tarwater lecturing the junior researcher on how the strong survive. Cliff dug his mobile phone out of the pocket of his safari shirt and began scrolling through the numbers. Clay was just dozing off in the driver's seat when his mobile trilled. Without looking at the display, he figured it was Clair checking up on him. â€Å"Go, baby.† â€Å"Clay, it's Cliff Hyland.† â€Å"Cliff? What's up?† â€Å"You've got to keep this under your hat, Clay. It's my ass.† â€Å"I got you. What is it, Cliff?† â€Å"It's a torpedo range. We're doing site studies for a torpedo test range.† â€Å"Not in the sanctuary?† â€Å"Right in the middle of the sanctuary.† â€Å"Jeepers, Cliff, that's terrible. I don't know if my hat is big enough to hold that.† â€Å"You gave me your word, Clay. What's with ‘jeepers'? Who says ‘jeepers'?† â€Å"Amy does. She's a little eccentric. Tell me more. Does the navy have divers in the water?† CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Heinous Fuckery Most Foul â€Å"Jeepers,† said Amy. She was at Quinn's computer. Streamers of digital videotape were festooned across her lap and over the desk. â€Å"Oh, that's heinous fuckery most foul,† said Kona. He was perched on the high stool behind Amy and actually appeared to be trying to learn something when Clay came in. â€Å"They've been simulating explosions on the lee of Kahoolawe with a big towable array of underwater speakers, measuring the levels. The speaker array is what's in that big case we've seen on their boat.† â€Å"We have a couple of explosions on the singer tapes, but distant,† Amy said. â€Å"Nate thought it might be naval exercises out at sea.† â€Å"Speaking of tapes?† Clay picked up a strand of tape. â€Å"This isn't my rebreather footage, is it?† â€Å"I'm sorry, Clay. I didn't get the video, but I pulled the audio off before this happened. Want to see the spectrograph?† Kona asked, â€Å"You think those voices in the water be navy divers?† Clay looked at Amy, raised an eyebrow. â€Å"He wanted to learn.† â€Å"Cliff says there're no divers in the water, that his operation is it, militarily, in the sanctuary anyway. But he might not even know.† Amy wadded up the videotape and chucked the resulting bird's nest into the wastebasket. â€Å"How can they do that, Clay? How can they put a torpedo range in the middle of the humpback sanctuary? It's not like people won't notice.† â€Å"Yeah, she's a big ocean. Why here?† Kona said. â€Å"I have no idea. Maybe they don't want there to be any mistake about whose waters they're blowing up ordnance in. If they blow them up in between a bunch of American islands, maybe there can't be any misinterpretation about what they're doing.† â€Å"Lost now,† Kona said. â€Å"Does not compute. Danger. Danger. Control room needs herb.† The Rastafarian had affected an accent that seemed an excellent approximation of how a stoned robot might sound. â€Å"Submarine warfare is all about hide and seek with other submarines,† Clay said. â€Å"The crews are autonomous when they're underwater. They make decisions on whether they're being attacked and whether to defend. Maybe if the navy just shot torpedoes off in the middle of the open sea, someone might misinterpret the action as an attack. It's damn unlikely that a Russian sub is going to be cruising up to Wailea for brunch and misinterpret an attack.† â€Å"They can't do that,† Amy said. â€Å"They can't let them set off high explosives around the mothers and calves. It's just insane.† â€Å"They'll go deep and say it doesn't bother them. The navy will guarantee they won't blow up anything shallower than, say, four hundred feet. The humpbacks don't dive that deep in this channel.† â€Å"Yes they do,† Amy said. â€Å"No they don't,† Clay said. â€Å"Yes they do.† â€Å"There's no data on that, Amy. That's specifically what Cliff Hyland asked me about. He wanted to know if we were doing any research on the depth of humpback dives. Said that it would be the only thing the navy would care about.† Amy stood up and shoved the wheeled desk chair away. It bounced off Kona's shins, causing him to wince. â€Å"Ease on up, sistah.† â€Å"Amy, this wasn't my idea,† Clay said. â€Å"I'm just telling you what Hyland told me.† â€Å"Fine,† Amy said. She pushed her way past Clay and headed for the door. â€Å"Where are you going?† â€Å"Somewhere else.† She let the screen door slam behind her. Clay turned to Kona, who appeared to be studying the ceiling with great concentration. â€Å"What?† â€Å"You makin' up that submarine war story?† â€Å"Kind of. I read a Tom Clancy book once. Look, Kona, I'm not supposed to know stuff. Nate knew stuff. I just take the pictures.† â€Å"You think the navy sink your boat? Maybe make something bad happen to Nate?† â€Å"The boat, maybe. I don't think they could have had anything to do with Nate. That was just bad luck.† â€Å"The Snowy Biscuit – all this getting under her skin.† â€Å"Mine, too.† â€Å"I'll go put the calm on her.† â€Å"Thanks,† Clay said. He walked to the other side of the office, slumped in his chair, and pulled his editing tools up on the giant monitor. A half hour later he heard a tiny voice coming through the screen door. â€Å"Sorry,† Amy said. â€Å"It's okay.† She stepped into the room and stood there, not looking as glazed as he would have expected if Kona had put the calm on her in an herbal way. â€Å"Sorry about your tape, too. The camera was making crunching noises on playback, so I sort of rushed taking it out.† â€Å"Not a problem. It was your big rescue scene. It just made me look like an amateur. I got most of it on the hard drive, I think.† â€Å"You did?† She stepped over to the monitor. â€Å"That it?† Frame stopped, the whale tail from the edge, black marks barely visible. â€Å"Just going through it to see if there's anything else the audio picked up. The camera was running the whole time you were saving my bacon.† â€Å"Why don't you let it rest and let me take you out to lunch.† â€Å"It's ten-thirty.† â€Å"What, you're Mr. Rigid Schedule all of a sudden? Come out to lunch with me. I feel bad.† â€Å"Don't feel bad, Amy. It's a huge loss. I†¦ I'm not dealing well myself. You know, to keep this work going, we'll be needing some academic juice.† Amy just stared at the frozen image of the whale tail, and then she caught herself. â€Å"What? Oh, you'll get someone. You put the word out, you'll have Ph.D.'s knocking the door down to work with you.† â€Å"I was thinking about you.† â€Å"Me? I'm crap. I don't even have a bona fide hair color. Ink on my master's isn't even dry. You read my resume.† â€Å"Actually, I didn't.† â€Å"You didn't?† â€Å"You seemed intelligent. You were willing to work for nothing.† â€Å"Nate read it, though, right?† â€Å"I told him you were good. And if it's any consolation, he thought the world of you.† â€Å"That's how you hire? I'm smart and I'm cheap – that's it? What kind of standards do you guys have?† â€Å"Have you met Kona?† She looked back at the monitor, then at Clay again. â€Å"I feel so used. Honored, but used. Look, I'm thrilled you want to keep me on, but I'm not going to bring you funding or legitimacy.† â€Å"I'll worry about that.† â€Å"Worry about it after lunch. Come on, I'll buy.† â€Å"You're poor. Besides, I'm meeting Clair for lunch at one.† â€Å"Okay. Can I borrow Nate's – uh, the green truck?† â€Å"Keys are on the counter.† Clay waved over his shoulder toward the kitchen. Amy took the keys, then started out the door, caught herself, then ran back, and threw her arms around the photographer. â€Å"I really appreciate your asking me to stay.† â€Å"Go. Take Kona with you. Feed him. Hose him off.† â€Å"Nope, if you're not coming, I'm going solo. Tell Clair hi for me.† â€Å"Go.† He looked back at the computer, looked past the window at the brilliant Maui sun, then shut the computer down, feeling very much as if nothing he did mattered or would ever matter again.