Derrick Bell’s “Space Traders” Essay

In looking at Derrick Bell’s â€Å"The Space Traders† as an allegory, the characters personify the abstract subjects of late twentieth-century racial politics. In the text the politics of the United States revolves around anti-black thinking, and many white subjects believe that all the environmental and economical problems in the U.S. is due to the black race. Secondly, â€Å"the space trade† comprehends Bell’s concept of â€Å"the permanence of racism† in the Unites States. Bell believes that â€Å"the space trade† is somewhat familiar to the first African slave trade, and that these two events occur because of â€Å"the permanence of racism† in our society and the structures that allow this repetition to exist. In this essay I will discuss the political positions of the subjects in â€Å"The Space Traders† and the extent in which they personify late twentieth-century racial politics, and then analyze â€Å"the space tradeâ⠂¬  and comprehend it with Bell’s belief in â€Å"the permanence of racism† in the United States. In â€Å"The Space Traders†, Gleason Golightly, a black economics professor who is an unofficial cabinet member of the president, believes that black people need to stand on their own feet. Although he always has good intentions for the black race, he is considered an Uncle Tom by the black community because of his political positions. In â€Å"The Space Traders†, Golightly says, â€Å"As you know, Mr. President, I have supported this administration’s policies that have led to the repeal of some civil rights laws, to invalidation of most affirmative action programs, and to severe reduction in appropriations for public assistance. To put it mildly, the positions of mine that have received a great deal of media attention, have not been well received in African-American communities. Even so, I have been willing to be a ‘good soldier’ for the Party even though I am condemned as an Uncle Tom by my people. I sincerely believe that black people needed to stand up on their own feet, free of special protection by civil rights laws, the suffocating burden of welfare checks, and the stigmatizing influence of affirmative action programs. In helping you undermine these policies, I realized that your reasons for doing so differed from mine. And yet I went along.† Bell personifies Golightly as a black neo-conservative in late twentieth-century racial politics, and because of his conservative beliefs and his continuous support of anti-black views, he is not respected by black subjects. The  aliens in â€Å"The Space Traders† also play a critical role in demonstrating the racial politics that exist in the late twentieth-century. Their actions are similar to that of capitalists because they are only interested in their own needs and wants. Their supremacy in attaining their wants, the African-Americans, is demonstrated when their head alien spoke and looked similar to former Preside nt Reagan. Bell states, â€Å"Then came the second surprise. The leaders of this vast armada could speak English. Moreover, they spoke in the familiar comforting tones of former President Reagan, having dubbed his recorded voice into a computerized language-translation system.† The aliens did their marketing research on what appeals to Americans, and they realized that Reagan’s image, monotone voice, and simple speech is persuasive to white Americans and it reflects what Americans want to see and hear. This persuasiveness inevitably enabled the aliens to take all black subjects back to their land. The white cabinet members also play significant roles in â€Å"The Space Traders†. The cabinet members are anti-black activists who disregard the Bill of Rights, and believe that â€Å"the space trade† would guarantee that America would conquer its present problems and be lead to prosperity for at least the next century. In â€Å"The Space Traders†, Helen Hipmeyer, Secretary of Health and Human Services, says, â€Å"A large percentage of blacks rely on welfare and other social services. Their departure would ease substantially the burden on our state and national budgets. Why, the cost of caring for black AIDS victims alone has been ex traordinary†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Hipmeyer strongly believes that black Americans are the reason for all the social and economical problems in the U.S., and that with their departure the nation’s problems could substantially diminish. The Attorney General also believes the aliens offer should be accepted. When speaking to the cabinet members he states, â€Å"Mr. President, I think we could put together a legislative package modeled on the Selective Service Act of 1918. Courts have uniformly upheld this statue and its predecessors as being well within congressional power to exact enforced military duty at home or abroad by United States citizens. While I don’t see any constitutional problems, there would like be quite a debate in Congress. But if the mail they are receiving is anything like ours, then the pressure for passage will be irresistible.† How can the Attorney General not see a constitutional problem with â€Å"the space trade†? In my opinion, the fact that the Attorney  General, and the other white cabinet members, disregard the constitution and are willing to release the blacks without knowing what will come of them, solidifies their lack of ethics and the extent in which politics in the U.S. revolves around anti-black thinking. In â€Å"The Space Traders† the political positions of the characters enables one to determine the extent in which racial politics exists in this country, and the text also analyzes â€Å"the space trade† and comprehends it with Bell’s concept of â€Å"the permanence of racism† in the U.S. In â€Å"The Space Traders†, Bell is able to analyze â€Å"the permanence of racism† by calling attention to the similarities between the past and present history of the United States. He believes that â€Å"the space trade† is very similar to the first African slave trade, and that racism has existed in this country since the founding of the nation to the late twentieth-century. When the White House and Congress first received phone calls and faxes regarding â€Å"the space trade† it was evident that anti-black thinking was a common characteristic of many white subjects. Bell writes, â€Å"At least a third of the flood of phone calls and faxes urging quick acceptance of the offer expressed the view that what the nation would give up its African-American citizens – was a worthwhile as what it would receive. The statement accurately reflected relations at the dawn of the new century. The President had, like his predecessors for the last generation, successfully exploited racial fears and hostility in his election campaign. There had been complaints, of course, but those from his political opponents sounded like sour grapes. They, too, had tried to minimize the input of blacks so as not to frighten away white voters.† This inhumane decision, demonstrated by the white race, to banish all blacks without knowing where they will go solidifies the fact that whites will never allow the black race to become part of the American people. This unethical act toward black Americans allows the reader to understand that racism will continue to exist in the American culture, and that inhumane acts toward man can indeed exist. If the aliens wanted the white race would America be so willing to release them? Absolutely not!! In my opinion, the major motivation for this country is for blacks to not have anything whites do, and by accepting â€Å"the space trade† offer that goal would be accomplished. The fact that the offer was even  considered was unconstitutional, but it just reiterates the reality that throughout American history blacks have always been hated. Professor Golightly was aware of this hatred toward black subjects, and when he spoke to the cabinet members after the trade had been offered he said, â€Å"It is a mark of just how far out of the mainstream black people are that this proposition is given any serious consideration. Were the Space Traders attracted by and asking to trade any other group – white women with red hair and green eyes, for example – a horrified public would order the visitors off the planet without a moment’s hesitation. The revulsion would not be less because the number of persons with those physical characteristics are surely fewer than the twenty million black citizens you are ready to condemn to intergalactic exile†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bell’s concept of â€Å"the permanence of racism† in the U.S. is comprehended by â€Å"the space trade†, and by looking at â€Å"The Space Traders† as an allegory, one is able to understand that American is not about the will of the people but about who has the power and guns. In â€Å"The Space Traders†, there is a direct correlation between the abstract subjects of late twentieth-century racial politics, and Bell’s concept of â€Å"the permanence of racism† in the United States. Bell’s ability to symbolize the characters in â€Å"The Space Traders†, allows his readers to comprehend his belief that racism will always exist in America. In conclusion, it is my belief that a color line will always exist in the U.S. between white and black subjects, and that this country’s political and social structure is centered on the will of the white race.

Knowing Your Audience Paper Essay

Most people would never want to imagine themselves or a family member being trapped under ground for even one day but the victims of those who were trapped under the Chilean copper mine had to consider not one day but even two months. According to The New York Times Company(2014), â€Å"On Aug. 5, 2010, a gold and copper mine near the northern city of Copiapà ³, Chile caved in, trapping 33 miners in a chamber about 2,300 feet below the surface†. At this time no one knew the well being or the nature of the situation that happened at the copper mine. During this time communication between employers, families’ members’ involved, trapped miners and those set in place to find a solution to this problem was very vital. Some things to keep in mind when considering roles and audiences is to determine what information to give and how it should be expressed or conveyed to the audience. For example, if you’re giving direct and urgent information, you wouldn’t send this type of information over an email, it would be more appropriate to say it face to face. It is important to consider how much does the audience know about the topic or subject you are sharing at that time. In the situation with the trapped miners the potential needs that should be considered and expressed to the families of the trapped miners would be first addressing what happened. This information should be given directly, face to face, to all family members involved. It is important to give the family as much detail about the incident as possible but not so much that it makes them alarmed and upset. Also another thing to add is the condition or well being of the trapped miners. If the information isn’t available its best to let them know although there isn’t much information at this time, but as soon as the information is available, they will be first to know. Also the last need that the family members affected by this incident would need is to understand and know what the employers and team of experts are doing to find a solution to the problem and how often can they know the extent and whereabouts of the situation. At this point after meeting the potential needs of the families involved, it’s also important to understand and know the potential needs of the company’s employees. Although they may not be the family members or those who are actually trapped at that moment, they also play a vital role. Some potential needs for the company’s employees would be to communicate effectively. Although the situation itself must have been very tragic if there was effective communication, there would be no way for  the employees at that time to help save those trapped. Also another need that needs to be met would be extra training and understanding of what took place, where it went wrong, and how to fix the problem. Without the employees having a plan or strategy of how they could effectively resolve or help the situation it could cause retaliation or resentment. After the message about the incident, and the actions or plan that is put in place has been verified and delivered to all important parties and involved it’s important that all those involved are able to convey what they heard and understood before and after the message is given. To make sure the message was received as properly and effectively you have to consider each audience which would be the trapped miners, employees and families. The message given to each party cannot be given the same. Also the channel has to be considered, again in this situation you wouldn’t send this information through an email or memo, this information that has to be conveyed face to face. It is also good to give information based on the listener’s level of understanding and to talk with the parties that involve a way opening up the way for cooperation and in this situation it would be much needed. An effective communication as the mining company to the family members of the trapped miners would be face to face. During this time the mining company would say with sincerity and clarity that â€Å" At this time we are deeply sorry to announce that we have understood and learned that on Aug. 5, 2010, a gold and copper mine near the northern city of Copiapà ³, caved in, trapping 33 miners in a chamber about 2,300 feet below the ground. At this time we aren’t certain what exactly caused the cave in and we aren’t certain the condition of the miners at this time. We will be working around the clock to get more information about the well being of the trapped miners. Also at this moment there will be specialist and experts going to the scene to analyze and inspect the situation at hand. After further observation of the experts then will we know what plan will be put in place to rescue our fellow employees. As soon as we are made aware of the plan we will let you know. We hope that we can all work together effectively which much understanding and cooperation from us and you so that we can bring your family members back to you.† Also an effective communication between the mining company and the employees would be a face to face channel. At that time the company would express, â€Å"I’m sad to announce to you that our fellow  employees have been caved in a chamber about 2,300 feet below the ground in the northern city of Copiapà ³. There are 33 at this time trapped and waiting to be rescued. We aren’t sure of the condition of the each employee but we all hope that we can all come together to help the best way we can to make sure that those who are trapped are in good condition. Although we never plan for anything like this to take place but unfortunately we have to use the way we were trained to assess the situation. At this time along with yourself the family members of the trapped miners are already being informed. Please let’s not alarm the families with information that has not been given or confirmed. Our main mission is to stay calm, offer up many prayers and work together in unity. During this time we will be working around the clock to help as much as we can and the company will provide meals, clean working clothes and a place to sleep. However you think you can help or what will better the situation please send your requests or opinions to us directly. Thank you so much for your cooperati on in help.†

The construction of financial supervision system under Greek debt crisis Essay

Introduction The financial crisis and the Greek sovereign debt crisis have accelerated the innovation and construction of EU financial supervision system. This report is analyzing the cause of Greek sovereign debt crisis on the basis of the domestic factors, the international factors and EU factors. Moreover, it illustrates the construction of financial regulatory system of EU based on the level of macro and micro. The macro level has a European systemic risk council; the micro level has a secondary European financial regulatory system which is constituted by EU and member states. The EU also has emergency mechanism on the stage, such as, The European financial stabilization mechanism and The European financial stability facility and associated with a series of regulatory measures. The emergency instrument and institutional measures launched by The Greek crisis and the European Union have provided experience and lessons for worldwide in response to the global financial crisis around the world. Causes The Greek economy was one of the fastest growing in the euro zone during the 2000s. The government of Greece run large deficits due to a strong economy and falling bond yield. Debt to GDP has remained above 100% since the introduction of the EURO. The global financial crisis in 2008 makes the Greek economy suffer a severe setback and the global financial crisis reveals its weak financial situation from two aspects. First, the economy structure of Greece is relatively single, which means the growth of its economy is instable. Second, the debt investment strategies of National Bank have produces a great burden to the Greek economy. However, the global financial crisis just pushed the exposing of the financial problem of Greece and the country overspent and failed to tell to the European Union the actual size of its ballooning deficit are the primary cause. Furthermore, the European Union also did not review the figures sent in by Athens properly. Long term solutions The Greek sovereign debt crisis stimulated the process of the form of EU financial regulatory system. The explosion of U.S. financial crisis has made Europeans understand that the European financial regulatory did not consist with the market integration process. The leaders of European Union have made significant strategies for ensuring fiscal stability in the long term. Currently, in order to avoid a possible domino effect caused by Greek crisis and to avoid a weak euro, the member state of the European Union, on the one hand, require that the Greece itself must cut spending on a wide range, on the other hand, the member state ask to speed the reform of EU financial market up and strengthen the financial regulatory system on the level of European Union and its members. In order to establish financial regulatory system and its associated measures, there are three primary aspects to focus on: first, the financial regulation of the EU members, strictly control and limit the problem of debt overweight. Second, it is necessary to strengthen financial supervision to prevent the speculation by speculators. Third, it is crucial to solve the institutional structure problem of Euro itself. These three must collaborate and communication with each other. Financial regulatory institution In order to strengthen European financial regulatory reform, the EU commission proposed to establish â€Å"European Systemic Risk Council† on the macro level and â€Å"European System of Financial Supervision† on the micro level. The main responsibilities are: establishing regulatory policy at the macro level and conveying to European regulatory bureau or providing early stage risk warning; to compare the observation of the development of macroeconomic and to propose dominant policy in correspond to the change of the supervision. For instance, responsible for collecting〠 analysing financial stability information, publishing risk warning, to take overall regional action when one country has encountered difficulty and hardly deal with it. It aim to solve a major drawback which is exposed by the financial crisis, the financial system is helpless when the systematic risk is complex, associated and between department and cross – department. Emergency system in phase In order to solve the Greek crisis, the EU and its members use emergency  relief instrument to manage debt crisis. The main emergency systems in stage are: establishing â€Å"European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism† and â€Å"European Financial Stability Facility†. Above all, all the instruments and measures are to ensure that the union is able to deal with the debt crisis and also to ensure such crisis will not happen in the future. My comments I would like to make a comment on the European problem of the Greek crisis. It seems that the Greek government is unable to deal with its budget and is incapable to reduce public spending and increase tax revenues. Since the introduction of the EURO, the financial situation is worsened every year. In my opinion, as Greek crisis has become a European one, i do believe Europe is taking fundamental economic reforms which are necessary to copy with the imbalance of the Greek financial crisis. Conclusion As mentioned above, the Greek crisis and the institutional measures introduced by the EU have provided significant experience for worldwide in dealing with the global financial crisis. First, all crisis has its latency and incentives, it is important to prevent the source in order to prevent the financial crisis and the sovereign debt crisis. Second, the financial crisis and the sovereign debt crisis have brought an opportunity to the reform of the world monetary system and the financial system, it also a challenge for the leading position of US dollar. From the development of the European integration process, each crisis has pushed the innovation and improvement of the system of EU in the past and lead to European integration ultimately. The development of the European integration could say that is a process of overcoming the crisis constantly and innovation of system continuously. References Antonis Antoniadis, 2010. Debt Crisis as a Global Emergency: The European Economic Constitution and Other Greek Fables Dell’Ariccia, Giovanni & Detragiache, Enrica & Rajan, Raghuram, 2008. â€Å"The real effect of banking crises,† Matthew Lynn, 2010. Bust: Greece, the Euro and the Sovereign Debt Crisis Martin Feldstein, 2011. Greek default is just a matter of when, not if. In: Financial Times. (24.06.11)

Forumwk7_research Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Forumwk7_research - Assignment Example However, the middle steps in formulating a hypothesis about the research question, deciding on the best way to present the findings, and the use of scholarly sources to authenticate the argument were a bit problematic. For example, in formulating the hypothesis, measurable goals were required in portraying the effectiveness of the research approach as measured against the research question. It was a bit problematic to formulate a hypothesis that could be measured considering my research question, which implied having both dependent and independent variables well illustrated in the formulated hypothesis. As Garbato explains, it is problematic to narrow down on issues to have a measurable hypothesis, and settling on the best way to present such findings. To achieve this end required more efforts and revisions.2 In the remainder of my degree, I need to carefully and intensively study research methods to understand how one can narrow down topics easily, and understand the best way to settle on a research topic based on scholarly evidence to support one’s arguments. Moreover, I will need more practice in writing research papers to perfect each of the above steps in ensuring a better understanding of the necessary steps in research

Project Management of Marks&Spencer Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Project Management of Marks&Spencer - Case Study Example Project Management is the art of directing and coordinating human and material resources throughout the life of a project by using modern management techniques to achieve predetermined objectives of scope, cost, time and quality and participation satisfaction. In order to meet the organizational objective of providing increased satisfaction to the customers by offering products of superior quality and an efficient service in more attractive surroundings that are comfortable to the customers a continuous stores development programme on the part of Marks & Spencer is the most important factor to decide on the expansion and modernization of their stores locations. Apart from the customer satisfaction from the commercial angle also when there is an opportunity for increased profitability resulting from such relocation the company would as well take it up to get the advantage. In the instant case the new location Kendal being a busy market town as well as a popular tourist area in Cumbria offered excellent prospects of increased sales activity. Existing sales performances, proposed selling space available, local customer profile, size of the catchment of the population and local competition are some of the other deciding factors that will infl uence the decision about the project. The major obstacle was the climatic factor as the n... The initial preparation of the site by the contractor may also pose an issue though not a major one. It was necessary to get all the statutory clearances by giving notices abiding by the requirements of public notice periods so that if there are any objections from the public. Another issue in the way of the progress of the project was the important building regulations approval required was for the changes in the elevation involving design changes and relocation of entrances. One of the major obstacles faced was in the issue of the opening dates so that the sales during the festive season were not missed. However the project team did not want to rush up and end in doing wrong things. Discussion and Evaluation: As outlined earlier the organizational objective of Marks & Spencer in improving customer satisfaction and thereby achieving enhanced profitability was aimed to be achieved through this relocation project. The major deciding factor in favour of the project is the location of the new site which is a business town as well as a tourist spot which offers a twin advantage for improving the sales of the company. Moreover the geographical location also went in favour of the decision to relocate. As explained by the Stores Planner the customer satisfaction can be improved not only by offering quality products to the customers but also by providing an attractive and comfortable stores environment. When both these factors are combined in any retail store relocation, the project is bound to result a remarkable success. Moreover efficient stores design also result in an effective cost minimisation. A lot of inputs in the form of studying the existing

Responding to a Bioterrorist Attack from the Department of Health and Essay

Responding to a Bioterrorist Attack from the Department of Health and Human Services - Essay Example (Task Force on Bioterrorism makes plans to educate doctors, public. 2001). As the researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health concluded, another important consideration in managing the public education on such possible bioterrorist attacks should be that public panic is rare and preventable. They also point out that the public is an active participant in responding to such an attack. Civic organizations like churches, charity trusts, and other associations may be effectively used to distribute information and medications, and to educate the public on such potential threat. The biodefence planners and leaders should continually educate the public on preparedness and response plans for bioterrorism. (Hopkins study dispels ‘panic’ myth and suggests ways to involve public in response to a bioterrorist attack. 2001). Thus, the education of the public must be directed towards the real awareness among people trusting their potentials in involving in such efforts. A. Botulinum toxin is one of the most poisonous substances in the world. Ironically, it has also positive uses such as in the treatment of painful muscle spasms and as a cosmetic treatment. No wonder, its use is a reason for confusion to the public. The use of BoTox as a bio-weapon has been a serious reason for worries for many a nation, especially the US. There is a view that discounts its use as a bio-weapon due to the limitations in concentrating and stabilizing the toxin for aerosol dissemination. Contrary to this view, botox can cause disruption and distress among people. (Botulinum toxinas a Biological weapon. 2001). There are many such instances before us. This weapon â€Å"causes botulism—a potentially fatal disease with symptoms that include severe paralysis of the limbs and respiratory muscles.† (Schwartz, Mark 2006). Terrorists can use botox for

The in-game advertising industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The in-game advertising industry - Essay Example Business organizations have been very quick to realize the potential profit gain from this segment. Massive Incorporated, which is the world’s first video game company, operates with the mission of â€Å"aggregating the gaming audience to deliver advertising across a network of premier video titles and providing measured results on consumer interaction with the advertising.† Double Fusion is an Israeli in-game advertising company established in the summer of 2004. The business model of Double Fusion is very much similar to that of Massive. The product line of Double Fusion ranges from dynamic advertisements, integrated advertising, and â€Å"around game† inventory. In Game Advertising (IGA) seeks t o provide advertising services with its global computer video game media and advertising network. As opposed to Massive and other aforementioned competitors, IGA’s network encompasses multiple platforms including PC, console and mobile gaming and offer both stat ic and dynamic advertising. Together with Massive, Double Fusion and IGA Worldwide captures the largest market shares. Some smaller start-ups and players in the video game industry are also taking the challenge of in-game advertising.Despite the rapid growth of the video gaming industry, it also faces numerous challenges. It should be noted that customers now demand the creation of video games which have more sophisticated story lines and graphic improvements. On the other hand, the average commercial life of a video game has significantly dropped to less than one year.

CA Proposition 209 -Affirmative Action Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CA Proposition 209 -Affirmative Action - Essay Example Following the 1995 Supreme Court verdict controlled granting of contracts on the basis of gender and race, Clinton promised to ‘mend not end’ affirmative action. The Clinton government, in May 1995, disclosed a new strategy of granting government contracts (Frankel 435). The strategy ends ethnic/racial preferences in areas where the underprivileged are common, though, maintains them in areas where discrimination continues. Marginalized groups and other economically deprived business owners comprise of 6.6 percent of all central government’s contracts for both goods and services. Seemingly not contended with Clinton’s suggestion, House Republicans formulated a more extensive bill to prohibit preferences in the entire federal contracts and hiring. The bill, inaugurated by discontented Democrats as the 1997 Equal Opportunity Repeal Act, endorsed the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional matters in July. The debate on affirmative action took center sta ge when the President promised to make advanced relationships between races/ethnic groups a top precedence in his second rule. The Prop 209’s opponents filed a claim in 2010 in the federal court to challenge the requirements of Prop 209 by permitting the University of California to apply Affirmative Action principles in its admissions assessments, as it was applied before the endorsement of Proposition 209 in 1996. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit voted to support Proposition 209 on April 2, 2012. The similar federal appeals courts had earlier upheld the Prop 209. The claim that resulted into the April 2012 verdict had asserted that a new decision was needed by new proof demonstrating that in the years following the endorsement of Proposition 209, underprivileged admissions to California’s most esteemed universities declined. In the wake of the approval of Proposition 209, debate persisted in the interest of or necessity for affirm ative action at the colleges in California. As lately as 2010, Joe R. Hicks and David A. Lehrer who sustained Prop 209 in 1996, contended that statistics regarding racial composition of admissions at the University of California illustrated that partisan admissions actions were not essential to bring about multiplicity (Laird 133)). Whereas it is somewhat early to evaluate the long-standing impacts on women of stopping California’s affirmative action, various predictions can be drawn. Post-secondary learning chances will possibly undergo the minimal effect; women are attending schools and graduating from colleges in huge numbers compared to their male counterparts. However, the women who are poised to suffer from this gender and race predilections are the African Americans and Latino women; because of much of institutional remains of a race other than gender discrimination. The subject of affirmative action has been vastly discordant; opponents of this proposition hold the no ble-sounding oratory of color-blindness and uphold that it is incorrect for an individual to miss out on something important exclusively because of one’s race/ethnicity.  Ã‚  

International Marketing Management Master Assignment

International Marketing Management Master - Assignment Example We employed the triangulation method to check the consistency of the data set in the available literature, by conducting random interviews with at least 10 cellular phone users ranging in age from 7 to 18. From the critical analysis of the relevant literature and the one-on-one interviews, we drew the conclusion that: 1) parents generally influence the youth's purchasing decisions at an early age, and young people begin to make such decisions only upon earning their own money; 2) the SWOT-and-PESTLE approach popularized in UK is useful in international marketing, 3) the youth are partial to mobile phones with state-of-the-art features, 4) branding and product differentiation are key to success, and 5) the firm must go out of its way to understand the dynamics of other cultures. In assessing the potential for a successful incursion into the international market, this report examines the international marketing environment and the challenges it is likely to impose upon the resources, corporate structure and culture of a European telecommunications firm apparently embarking on business globalization for the first time. Consequently, the study covers the areas relevant to this specialized marketing activity, including the strategies appropriate for homebred firms that have decided to go international, the choice of markets that are easier and less costly to penetrate in terms of cultural barriers, and what entry modes are advisable for a certain country or region. Section 2, which is the body of the paper, also evaluates the options on whether to standardize the mobile phone primed for international marketing, or differentiate and adapt it to the characteristics of the particular target market. More important, it provides a demographic profile of the youth mar ket as to consumer tastes and preferences, purchasing decisions, buying motivations and peer influences. To collect these data, 10 young people aged 7 to 18 who carry mobile phones around were interviewed, and asked the relevant questions. The conclusion in Section 3 and the recommendations laid out in Section 4 are based on these person-to-person interviews, as well as the critical analysis of selected literature on international marketing management. 2. Findings, Analysis & Discussion The decision of Company-A to go out of its home base in Western Europe and locate a production plant in Malaysia for the mobile phone venture is by itself a well-taken international marketing strategy. Compared to Europe, Malaysia is a lower wage area and manufacturing the mobile phone project in this part of the world would enable Company-A to cut on production costs. The firm can then sell the phone in rich markets for bigger profit (Jones, 1999). A firm is considered ripe for an international venture when it has cultivated exchange relationships with individuals or organizations beyond its national boundaries. The decision to do business overseas is usually influenced either by the domestic or global

Government Contracts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Government Contracts - Essay Example The topics in this process include the persons who will be involved, how the process will be structured and where the real negotiations will take place. In the same way, the business has to outline the whole process of government contracting and come up with an effective way on how to approach it (Stein, 2011). It is normally realized that participating in government contracts involves a lot of bureaucracy and a lot of procedures which must always be adhered to by the business. All these factors must be known beforehand in order for the process to be effective. In any case, government contracts normally attract several parties and competition is therefore very stiff. The organization therefore needs to get acquainted with all the operations of the government relating to contracting. In the same way, every government contract comes with a series of rules and regulations which must be well understood. As a result, it is important to conduct the pre-negotiation in order to ensure that everything is taken into account and nothing remains unattended. Without conducting pre-negotiations, it is normally seen that negotiations are bound to fail or become counterproductive. The process helps in reducing much of the conflicts that are normally realized in the actual negotiations process (Alston, 200 5). Considering the importance of pre-negotiations prior to engaging in government contracts, it is normally viewed as part of the negotiations. Like the actual negotiation, pre-negotiation is normally conducted in specific stages in order to realize the objectives. The first stage involves definition of the problem; the second stage involves showing commitment to the negotiation while the third stage involves arrangement of the negotiation process. The participants of the actual negotiations are selected in the pre-negotiation stages and the boundaries of the actual negotiations are also effectively demarcated in the process. Most importantly, the agenda for the

Seeds in Hard Ground Essay Example for Free

Seeds in Hard Ground Essay Ruth Rosenberg’s article, â€Å"Seeds in Hard Ground: Black Girlhood in The Bluest Eye,† offers a paradigm with which to view the growing-up process portrayed by Toni Morrison in her novel, The Bluest Eye. According to Rosenberg, Morrison’s novel is a landmark in literature because she has succeeded in portraying young, black American girls on their road to womanhood. Before her, no documented case in literature has been recorded that featured these girls in the center stage. Always, Rosenberg quotes Morrison, these girls were the props, set as part of the background, the moving scenery (436). More interestingly, however, it is Rosenberg’s treatment and reading of â€Å"colorism† in the novel that calls for attention (439). Colorism is akin to racism, where division and segregation is based on the color of one’s skin. Color, in fact, plays a crucial and central role in the novel, stealthily moving beyond the question of one’s skin. The most important transition of colorism is in Pecola’s wish to have blue eyes. She absurdly believes that possessing such would render her lovable, thereby eliminating pain from her world: If those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different†¦Maybe they’d say, â€Å"Why look at pretty-eyed Pecola. We mustn’t do bad things in front of those pretty eyes. † †¦ Each night, without fail, she prayed for blue eyes. Fervently, for a year she had prayed. Although somewhat discouraged, she was not without hope. (Morrison 40) The longing for blue eyes were eventually destructive for Pecola as her desire for possessing the bluest eyes symbolize her own blindness – and it is this blindness, rather than her skin color, that eventually brings about her insanity and downfall. Pecola’s case is not isolated. The characters that people the novel, themselves perpetrators and victims of colorism, also exhibit their own â€Å"blindness. † Eyes, looking, and gazing all become important symbols in the novel. Despite being able to see, the characters are oftentimes blinded by colorism. As such, the novel underscores a very important theme: the great divide between superficial looking and deeper seeing. For Morrison, the more important way of seeing is painfully missing in the novel, leading to drastic and disastrous consequences. Inside Pecola’s shoe she hides her treasure: three pennies to get her nine Mary Janes. Inside the store, she encounters Mr. Yacobowski, who â€Å"urges his eyes out of his thoughts to encounter her (Morrison 41). † He has blue eyes that are blear-dropped, which he focuses on Pecola as he â€Å"looms up over the counter (Morrison 41). † But Somewhere between retina and object, between vision and view, his eyes draw back, hesitate, and hover. At some fixed point in time and space he senses that he need not waste the effort of a glance. He does not see her, because for him there is nothing to see. How can a fifty-two-year-old white immigrant†¦see a little black girl? (Morrison 42) Pecola immediately recognizes the storekeeper’s stare as â€Å"the total absence of human recognition the glazed separateness. this vacuum is not new to her. She has seen it lurking in the eyes of all white people†¦ (Morrison 42). With the stare Pecola is shamed and angered. Yet, it is not only Pecola’s desire for blue eyes or the white people’s vacant stares that stand for the blindness plaguing the characters caught in the grips of colorism. Consider the case of Maureen Peal, â€Å"the high yellow dream child with long brown hair braided into two lynch ropes that hung down her back (Morrison 52). † Such a description juxtaposes the vicious power that comes with her pretty face. Claudia is at the receiving end, as Maureen often gazes at her with â€Å"unearned haughtiness in her eyes (Morrison 54). † In knowing that she is prettier because she is whiter than the rest, Maureen condescends to them, seeing only their darker skin and eliminating them immediately as people lower than her. In the end, it is only Soaphead Church who listens with sympathy to Pecola’s pleas. He is the only one who sees through the curse of blindness by realizing that Pecola’s wish was â€Å"the most poignant and the one [wish] most deserving of fulfillment. A little black girl who wanted to rise up out of pit of her blackness and see the world with blue eyes (137). † But the price for this was heavy – for only she could see her eyes. Her frustration and disillusion sends her into a downward spiral, from which her friends cannot pull her out of. At the cost of her life, she gained the eyes she wanted. Works Cited Rosenberg, Ruth. â€Å"Seeds in Hard Ground: Black Girlhood in The Bluest Eye. † Black American Literature Forum 21. 4 (1987). 435-445. Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Washington Square Press, 1970.

Opportunity to participate in SkillsUSA Essay Example for Free

Opportunity to participate in SkillsUSA Essay One of the benefits of attending a vocational high school is the opportunity to participate in SkillsUSA. Preparing for SkillsUSA was one of the most challenging and nerve racking experiences in my life. SkillsUSA is an organization of students and teachers working together to help its members become responsible, hard working, and dedicated young adults. At the beginning of my junior year in high school, my shop instructor approached me and told me about SkillsUSA, and also the events that pertained to information technology. It took me a few moments to realize that he was encouraging me to participate. I read through the information packet my teacher gave me and noticed that SkillsUSA was a lot bigger than I realized. SkillsUSA is not only about being skilled in the trade you are studying, it is about being an outstanding citizen, and giving back to your community in any way you can. The first thoughts that popped into my head were â€Å"Am I ready for this?† I chose to compete in the robotics and automation technology contest. I have always been interested in robots and how they work. Until then, I had no experience working with robots so I was really nervous, I did not have much confidence in myself. Not only did I have a few months to learn everything I can about robotics while keeping up with my schoolwork, and balancing my part-time job, but I also had to evaluate myself as a person. I was on the Internet and at the library every spare minute I had learning everything I could. I ordered kits off the Internet to practice working with robots so there were no surprises during the competition. It was hard work, but it paid off. Although I did not place at the competition, I did really well considering I started learning about robotics five months prior to the competition and I was competing against students who had years of experience on the robotics team at their high school. Becoming a SkillsUSA member means you must make a pledge to be prepared, to be diligent, to practice, work hard, to respect your trade, and have a good reputation with your peers, coworkers, parents, employers, and teachers. Making a pledge this important demonstrates how committed I am to become a better citizen. I made the pledge to myself, even though I did not become an official SkillsUSA member. I found I have more confidence and take pride in everything I do whether it is taking a test, completing homework, or even dealing with difficult customers at my job. Setting these standards for myself is important to me. When I look back on my accomplishments I realize that I did not have to set my mind to put forth my best effort because what I use to think of as my â€Å"best effort† is now second nature. In those five months I feel like I have grown as person more than any other period in my life.

Complexity of the Concept of the Sacred

Complexity of the Concept of the Sacred Understanding the concept of the Sacred is a complex phenomenon. Assess keeping in mind over 4000 years of the sacred. Since the beginning of Humanity, Man has been trying to make sense of the world around itself, trying to fill in the pieces to questions it does not know the answer to. The human journey can be seen as a quest a search for knowledge, comfort and ultimately for understanding. Perhaps the greatest of humanities question have involved faith and the notion of a divine god/being. Beliefs about god have traveled a long road to todays understanding of the notion of God, the divine and sacred. God as a work in progress began first with the many gods of the polytheistic faith systems, with each god having limited domain of power and responsibility. For early human beings, such gods felt familiar and relatable. They didnt see a big gulf between the divine and the real, this is what made it so approachable, understandable and ultimately follow able. The concept of sacred was simply something that was beyond normal (Armstrong, 1993). According to Stormonth Phelp (1896) the word Sacred is derived from the Latin origin word Sacer, which means dedicated or consecrated to the higher beings i.e. gods or anything divine. The word is often used interchangeably with Holy; however there are minor differences with the concept of holiness in that it is primarily used in relation to relationships and persons, while sacred is used in relation to happenings, places or objects (McCann, 2008). This need for completion has led to various mythos to have formed over the years, culminating in the concepts of the Sacred/Profane dichotomy aptly explained by French Sociologist Emile Durkheim. The sacred is the boundless spirit of the religious and divine experience. Religions throughout their history have included very mixed beliefs and manifestations of those beliefs, but they all have something quite universal and explicit, regardless of their nature, through which the religious experience is differentiated from all others and that is that the sacred is something above and beyond the believers. Therefore, the sacred is highly subjective in its nature and Bastide concisely put it: if I were to give a definition of the sacred, it would cross my subjectivity, my own experience of the sacred and not a general definition (Desroche Bastide, 1974). To begin understanding the concept of the Sacred, it is best to understand what is considered Sacred and what is considered Profane. In Durkheims theory of Religion, both these concepts are the central tenant. The Sacred, according to Durkheim is an ideal, something that transcends everyday existence and is both awe-inspiring as well as fear inducing, and something potentially dangerous as well as extra-ordinary. Sacred in his view refers to things that have been set apart by man as requiring special religious treatment and veneration. One key point to note is that Sacred can be anything, from the earth to the moon, a bird, an animal, a rock, a tree to a god. The sacredness comes from a community marking them as such and once they have been established as a sacred, they are embodied in religious practices, sentiments and beliefs. The profane, on the other hand is anything that is simply ordinary, it embraces practices, persons and ideas that are in the end seen with everyday mundane attitudes of familiarity, utility and commonness. Both the sacred and profane are highly interrelated due to the extreme levels of emotions they invoke in the people that believe in them and according the Durkheim, the concept of Sacred and the profane varies amongst society to society (Durkheim, 1974). Durkheim expanded upon his notions and expressed religion as a management of the sacred, the means by which a system is generated to warrant the execution of the sacred in the community. Various sociological theories suggest that at the centre of any religion is the sacred and religion is nothing but a social phenomenon in its origin, content and purpose (Desroche Bastide, 1974). Sosis Alcorta (2003) are major proponents of the adaptive value theory of religion, having somewhat similar views as Durkheim, stating that religion evolved to enhance cohesion and cooperation between groups. Membership in a group setting allowed for a greater chance of survival and reproduction as well as advancement as a group. They also suggested that the costly-signaling theory suggested why rituals were such a major part of religious practice, stating that it was to ward of those trying to cheat the system i.e. be part of the group without offering anything of value. The reason why understanding the Sacred is such a complex phenomenon, is that the Sacred is highly subjective in its nature, malleable to suit the purpose of its time and context. Whenever a natural disaster occurred, such as an earthquake, flood, drought, the older civilizations took it to god/s being angry and their primitive understanding of nature took to slaughter being a worthy sacrifice to please the deities, resulting in the ending of their suffering. As our technologies advance, so does our understanding of nature and with it a steady decline in the extreme acts humans once used to do. However, humans, being the product of an evolutionary engine, are still quite prone to carrying out irrational behavior so as long as they believe and have faith in the sacred (Shermer, 1997). Armstrong (1993) was also quite clear in her works, stating that after having looked at over 4000 years of recorded human history that the notion of god was never unchanging, with what people considered god, going from polytheistic to monotheistic to atheistic, depended upon a multitude of factors. Today there are 12 classical world religions, those included in most religious definitions namely; BahaI, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shinto, Sikhism, Taoism and Zoroastrinism, however if one was to delve further in, they would note that these twelve within themselves include numerous sects and factions with their adherents considering different things as sacred i.e. what might be sacred for a Shia Muslim, might not be for a Sunni Muslim etc. In todays information age of the 21st century where knowledge is expanding at an explosive rate, the words used to define ones understanding of the sacred is ever expanding, with countless expansion in our understanding of human consciousness and with religions ever changing due to the changing socio-political landscape, there is very little doubt that the notion of what is sacred is and always will remain a complex phenomenon. References: Desroche, H. (1975). Religion (Sociologie de la). La grande encyclopedie, 16th vol.. Paris: Libr. Larousse. Durkheim, E. (1974). Regulile metodei sociologice. BucureÃ…Å ¸ti: Ed. Ã…Å ¾tiinÃ…Â £ifică. Armstrong, K. (1993). A History of God. Ballatine Books Stormonth, J Phelp, P.H (1895). A Dictionary of the English Language, Blackwood sons. Retrieved March 19th, 2017 from https://books.google.com.pk/books/about/A_Dictionary_of_the_English_Language.html?id=NmogAQAAMAAJredir_esc=y McCann, C. (2008). New Paths Toward the Sacred Thus, Paulist Press Shermer, M. (1997). Why people believe weird things: Pseudoscience, superstition, and other confusions of our time. New York: W.H. Freeman. Sosis, R.; Alcorta, C. (2003). Signaling, solidarity, and the sacred: the evolution of religious behavior. Evolutionary Anthropology

James Baldwin versus Malcolm X Essay -- Race African American

Gentle Yet Strong: Leading the Oppressed Malcolm X and James Baldwin were two men that played a large role in defining a people and a cause during the 1950s and 1960s. Both of these men were dynamic African-Americans who lived primarily to help their people, who were terribly persecuted in the United States for many years. The interesting thing about these two men is that they strove towards the same goal—to unify African-Americans and give them strength and confidence—but they accomplished this goal in very different ways. Malcolm X, a leader in the Nation of Islam movement, believed that African-Americans needed to acquire strength and confidence so that they could separate from the White man and live together in peace, harmony, and production. On the other hand, James Baldwin, renowned writer, believed it necessary for African-Americans to have strength and confidence so that they might coexist on the same level as whites and accomplish what whites were accomplishing. The methodology and teachings of J ames Baldwin and Malcolm X differed greatly, but their general belief, that African-Americans were just as good as everybody else prevailed over all else, and made these men two of the very important faces of a generation. More often than not, the quality of leadership lies deep within certain people. It is not a quality that people build or develop easily. The basis of good leadership is personality. Those who have dynamic and charismatic personalities can lead, if they choose to do so. Malcolm X possessed these types of qualities. Throughout his life, Malcolm—born Malcolm Little—always showed a proficiency for leadership, as evidenced by his roles as seventh-grade class president, as leading hustler ... ...li, Noaman. Malcolm-X.org. 2000. 28 Apr. 2004. . Baldwin, James. â€Å"Down at the Cross.† 1963. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998: 296-347. ---. â€Å"Take Me to the Water.† 1972. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998: 353-403. ---. â€Å"To Be Baptized.† 1972. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998: 404-474. Harper, Frederick D. â€Å"The Influence of Malcolm X on Black Militancy.† Journal of Black Studies 1 (June 1971): 387-402. Hoyt, Charles Alva. â€Å"The Five Faces of Malcolm X.† Negro American Literature Forum 4 (1970): 107-112. Shabazz, Ilyasah. â€Å"Malcolm X.† Ebony July 2002: 122-124. X, Malcolm. â€Å"God’s Judgement of White America.† 4 Dec. 1963. Ali. 28 Apr. 2004.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Summary :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

CH. 1 Scout, the narrator, remembers the summer that her brother Jem broke his arm, and she looks back over the years to recall the incidents that led to that climactic event. Scout provides a brief introduction to the town of Maycomb, Alabama and its inhabitants, including her widowed father Atticus Finch, attorney and state legislator; Calpurnia, their â€Å"Negro† cook and housekeeper; and various neighbors. The story starts with the first summer that Scout and Jem meet Dill, a little boy from Meridian, Mississippi who spends the summers with his aunt, the Finch’s next-door neighbor Miss Rachel Haverford. From the children’s point of view, their most compelling neighbor is Boo Radley, a recluse whom none of them has ever seen. Dill’s fascination, in particular, leads to all sorts of games and plans to try and get Boo to come outside. Their attempts culminate in a dare to Jem, which he grudgingly takes. Jem runs into the Radley’s yard and touches the outside of the house. CH. 2 - 3 Dill goes back to Mississippi for the school year, and Scout turns her attention to starting first grade—something she’s been waiting for all her life. However, Scout’s first day at school is not at all the glorious experience she’d been expecting from the winters she spent â€Å"looking over at the schoolyard, spying on multitudes of children through a two-power telescope . . . learning their games, . . . secretly sharing their misfortunes and minor victories.† Scout’s teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher, is new to teaching, new to Maycomb, and mortified that Scout already knows how to read and write. When Miss Caroline offers to lend Walter Cunningham lunch money, Scout is punished for taking it upon herself to explain Miss Caroline’s faux pas to her. (Walter refuses to take the money because his family is too poor to pay it back.) Scout catches Walter on the playground, and starts to pummel him in retaliation for her embarrassment, but Jem stops her and then further surprises her by inviting Walter to have lunch with them. Scout is then punished by Calpurnia for criticizing Walter’s table manners. Back at school, Miss Caroline has a confrontation with Burris Ewell about his â€Å"cooties† and the fact that he only attends school on the first day of the year. That evening, Scout tells Atticus about her day, hoping that she won’t have to go back to school—after all, Burris Ewell doesn’t. Atticus explains why the Ewells get special consideration and then tells Scout, â€Å"‘You never really understand a person .

ICT Package :: ICT Essays

Clear Problem: - Company: Doctors Surgery Relocating: Kingston Needs: To keep all the patients details on a computer data base with appropriate back up system. Real User: Dr Steer Accessibility: This is strictly confident to Dr Steer only Solution: - This is a small but established surgery but has decided to go paperless. We have grown over the years and can no longer rely on our manual papers because they are simply getting too big. The move to new premises means we can set up the ideal ICT package tailor made for our needs. 1. To keep a details of the patients. 2. To enable accurate details on the patient. 3. Easy to access it as well. Objectives: - 1. Create a patient detail list with any long term diseases or medical formalities. 2. I will use access to produce an easy program for the doctor to use. 4. To enable a quick analysis of the total number of hours worked in a week to see for eligibility of a pay rise. 5. The system is legible, we producible and at the end of the tax year can be used to make the company report and tax declaration. Analyse: - Hardware: I recommend any modern and up to date computer technology, such as Dell. They provide reliable machines with easy ability to upgrade and excellent support service. It will need to have a CD-RW and a ZIP drive to enable the data to be backed up. Software: I need a clear easy to use spreadsheet package. I feel the best is Excel. This choice is based on recommendations and research of other software. The advantages are it is simple, easy and reliable. I will use the most up to date version and Microsoft is constantly updating it. Input: The data clerk will produce and update the date every week. The data is entered via a keyboard and an accounting manager will audit the accounts monthly and do reconciliation. Output: The data entered will be shown on a TFT screen and stored to a CD or/and ZIP. This will be printed off using a laser printer and filled in an accounting folder. Back up- Strategy: The accounts will be needed to be backed up every Friday evening. This is to protect the data from being lost due to a power surge. It will be backed up on disk and be stored in a fireproof safe. Design: - Initial Design: I am going to have a sample table to put my data on. I will draw it in rough first (see enclosed) to see if my initial ideas would work. The columns are headed: Employee number First Name

Biological Explanation of Unipolar Depression

One biological explanation for unipolar depression is the monoamine hypothesis. The monoamines are a group of neurotransmitters which include serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine. You will recognise the latter, dopamine, from the biological offering of an explanation for schizophrenia. The monoamines are believed to regulate mood. One of the functions of serotonin is to regulate the other neurotransmitters. Without the regulation provided by serotonin, erratic brain functioning and thinking patterns occur.Low levels of serotonin produces low levels of noradrenaline (a neurotransmitter needed for alertness, energy, anxiety and attention to life). Evidence suggests that low levels of noradrenaline cause depression, and high levels cause mania, which suggests it is involved both in unipolar and bipolar depression. Dopamine is also related to feelings of alertness, motivation and attention, and so it is suggested low levels of dopamine similarly are linked to depression.Essentially the monoamine hypothesis suggests that low levels of dopamine and low levels of noradrenaline result in depressive moods, and low levels of serotonin mean low levels of noradrenaline. It can therefore be low levels of dopamine or noradrenaline that result in depression, or a mixture of both. The hypothesis is used to work with drug treatment, so that the correct drugs (antidepressants) can be prescribed based on the particular monoamine in question. In other words, when a clinician is presented with a patient, they will choose the correct drug that alleviates the presented symptoms of depression.Most antidepressants work by increasing levels of serotonin. It cannot be concluded that the explanation for depression is strictly biological. The diathesis-stress model explains how some mental disorders can have a biological underlying cause but require an environmental trigger to become active. Evaluation: One strength of the biological explanation of depression is that there is further empi rical support provided by Ogilvie et al. (1996). They showed that cells use a gene called SERT to make serotonin transporter protein which plays an important role in the transmission of information between neurons.In most people, part of this gene called the second intron contains 10-12 repeating sections of DNA. However, people with depression, only have 9 repeating sections of DNA. This suggests that there is wider academic support for the idea that serotonin is strongly associated with depression. There is much sound evidence to support the theory, particularly in treatment – if the hypothesis suggests the symptoms are due to monoamine deficiencies and drugs which replace those monoamines alleviate the symptoms, there is evidence for the hypothesis Kraft et al. 2005) studied 96 depressed patients treated over 6 weeks with SNRI (increases levels of noradrenaline) had a reduction in depressive symptoms compared to those treated with a placebo. Leonard (2000) drugs that lower noradrenaline levels have been found to bring about depressive states. Therefore increasing noradrenaline should decrease depressive symptoms . However, The influence of noradrenaline is recognised by the effects of antidepressant drugs which aim to increase levels of noradrenaline.However, these drugs may also affect other neurotransmitters, so it is difficult to find a clear connection and can be interlined with the critiscism that it is difficult to establish cause and effect. It the chemical imbalance in the brains of depressed people the cause of the depression or the effect of depression? This issue is further complicated by the fact that the answer may be different for different types of depression. In endogenous depression perhaps the chemical imbalance comes first, but the other way round in reactive depression.Supporting evidence for the biochemical explanation of depression is that it has practical applications From research into the effectiveness of treatments such as E CT and drugs. ECT supports the biochemical explanation because one shock of 110 volts is passed through the brain of depressives for up to 4 seconds. This results in convulsions of up to 2 mins. 6-9 treatments are given of 2-4 weeks. For 60-70% of people with depression, ECT works quickly and effectively. As drugs and ECT alter the balance of chemicals in the brain, it suggests clinicians can improve the quality of people’s lives.One weakness of the biological explanation of depression is that there are individual differences. Not everyone who suffers from depression is helped by serotonin-based drugs, which suggests that there are other causes of the disorder. It is also not clear why some people become depressed when their serotonin or norepinephrine level is low, whereas others with the low neurotransmitter level remain depression-free. This suggests that the results gained from such research cannot be generalised to the whole population. Another weakness of the research i s that it is biologically deterministics.The reason for this is because it suggests that individuals who have low levels of serotonin are determined to suffer from depression in later life, however, people have a choice about their behaviour and whether they want to do anything about it. This suggests that the biological explanation does not account for free will. A final weakness of the biological explanation of depression is that it is reductionist. The reason for this is because it explains depression in terms of genes (SERT) and neurotransmitters (serotonin) and ignores psychological factors such as learning.This suggests that the biological explanation is oversimplistic when explaining depression. Alternative explanations for depression is cognitive explanations which is accounted by Beck (1974) who , cognitive theories assume that people's attributions for events, their perceptions of control and self-efficacy, and their beliefs about themselves and the world influence their b ehaviors and emotions when reacting to a situation. In general, an individual with various maladaptive beliefs and attitudes becomes more vulnerable to depression because of his or her generalized negative belief pattern.

Exclusion Clauses Essay

Over the past few decades, with the development of contract law, more and more people has paid attention to the exclusion clauses contained in a document which is signed by the parties. Many contracting parties use this technique to avoid liability for breach of contract. In this essay, exclusion clauses can be defined as a clause included in a contract to either limit or exclude liability of a party in breach of the agreement. (also termed exemption clauses or exemption clauses. ) Consequently, it is argued that whether the party will be bound by the exemption clause which is signed by the parties or not. Therefore, this essay will analyze the exemption clause with signature based on several court cases and illustrate the effect of an unsigned exemption clause by using a short hypothetical scenario and a court case. Signed Exclusion clauses As a general rule, a person who signs a document which contains contractual terms is bound by the clause of the document. To be specific, if a party signs a contractual document incorporating an exemption clause, it will automatically form part of the contract. Therefore, Signature can ordinarily bind a person to the terms even if he has not read or understood the terms set out in the document. What has come to be known as the principle in L’Estrange v Graucob was expressed by Scrutton LJ as follows: ‘When a document containing contractual terms is signed, then, in the absence of fraud, or, I will add, misrepresentation, the party signing it is bound, and it is wholly immaterial whether he has read the document or not. ‘ According to the case of L’Estrange v Graucob [1934] 2 KB 394, the plaintiff bought an automatic cigarette machine from the defendants. She signed a contract called sales agreement which include several clauses, but did not read. When she discovered the machine was defective, she tried to sue Graucob for breach of contract, but the defendant was able to rely on the exclusion clause incorporated into the written contract. From this case, it can be seen that since the plaintiff has signed the sales agreement, the contract and the exclusion clauses has taken effect. In addition, the contents of the document were represented correctly and no fraud on the part of the defendants. Therefore, L’ Estrange is bound by the exclusion clauses. However, the rule in L’ Estrange v Graucob will not apply under some circumstances. Firstly, if the signed document could not reasonably be regarded in the circumstances as likely to contain contractual terms, the party will not be bound by the signature. In the case Le Mans Grand Prix Circuits Pty Ltd v Iliadis, the plaintiff was injured while driving a go-cart at the defendant’s racing track. P was invited there as a guest to help the promotion of D’s go-kart track and did not pay for the attendance at the track. The defendant wanted to avoid liability by relying on an agreement, signed by the plaintiff which includes an exclusion clause. The count made a decision that the defendant was unable to rely on the exclusion clause so as to avoid liability. Because the plaintiff attended defendant’s track was not in pursuance of a commercial dealing of relationship with the defendant. Thereby, the entry form was just a driver registration form, not a contract. In other word, the document which the plaintiff had signed was not contractual, although the agreement contained plaintiff’s signature, he was not bound it because the signed document could not reasonably be regarded in the circumstances as likely to contain contractual terms. Secondly, a person who misrepresents the clause and its effect is not allowed to rely on the exemption clause to escape liability. The case of Curtis v Chemical Cleaning and Dyeing Co clearly illustrate the legal position. In this case, Curtis took a wedding dress to the defendant’s shop to have it dry cleaned. The shop assistant asked her to sign a ‘receipt’, and the plaintiff was told by the shop assistant that the document was to exempt defendants from liability for damage to the beads and the sequins. The plaintiff signed the document, which in fact included a clause that the company is not liable for any damage howsoever arising. The dress was stained by the defendant who later tried to rely on the exclusion clause. The Court judged that the clause is not effective and the defendant cannot rely on it. Because in this case, the exclusion clause had been misrepresented as only beads and sequins would be affected. and the plaintiff thought she was only running the risk of damage to the sequins and the beads on the dress. Unsigned exclusion clauses In our daily life, the exemption clause also contained in some unsigned document, such as tickets, invoices, receipts, vouchers and so on. Upon most situations, these unsigned documents may not be binding in contract unless they are properly included into the contract. Although, Signature is the most common way to confirm the effectiveness of a contract, that no means if you don’t sign the form you could not be bound by it, in some particular cases it is. Firstly, a hypothetical scenario will be made to illustrate the effect of exclusion clause in an unsigned document. Alex had toothache seriously, he went to a pharmacy and bought a box of Panadol. Before he took the tablets he saw the introduction and even the container has written on that ‘must follow the doctor’s advice, if you don’t follow the advice, there is not liable for any harm of your body’ but he didn’t care about the warning and take three tablets. On the following day, Alex felt dizzy and nausea. After the diagnosis from doctor, it can be considered that these symptom due to the effect of medicine. Then, Alex sued the medicine company. Under this situation, the defendant can avoid liability by exemption clause even though Alex did not sign the document. As the common law said that exclusion clauses contained in unsigned documents are not valid unless a reasonable person would expect the document to contain contractual document and a reasonable notice is given. In this case, contractual terms can be expected to find from the introduction and container of the medicine. In addition, company also takes reasonable steps to bring these clauses to Alex’s notice. Thus, the plaintiff was already bound by the exemption clauses. Another court case for the unsigned exclusion clause is the case of Parker v South Eastern Railway Co, plaintiff left his bag at cloakroom in a railway station and he got a ticket. On the front of the ticket said ‘See back’, the other side include an exclusion clause which shows that company will only be responsible for the value of package within 10 pounds. When the bag could not be found, Parker sued the company for 2410 pounds. However the court judged that the plaintiff was bound by the exclusion clause on the ticket even though he did not sign it. Because the company has already gave the plaintiff sufficient notice of the existence of the clause and a reasonable person would expect to find these terms. According to the basic principle in contract law which said that the unsigned exemption clause will be bound if reasonable notice has been given. Conclusion To sum up, exclusion clause can be classified as signed document and unsigned document in this essay. When considerate the effectiveness of a clause, every aspects should be analyzed. Although the signature is an important factor to prove if the clause is valid, it does not mean that all the exclusion clauses included in a signed document can be bound with a signer. To the contrary, the exemption clause in an unsigned document can also be valid in some situation. Therefore, any party who wish rely on the exemption clause to avoid liability should incorporate the clause into a contract with sufficient notice and make sure the behaviors of the party is reasonable.

Total Quality Service

Topic: Total Quality Service Summary: Total quality service and total quality management as a business strategy designed to add value to customers. It begins by discussing the roots of quality assurance and total quality management, and TQM. Also, it is to explore the relationship between total quality management (TQM) practices and service quality as well as the relationship between TQM practices and market orientation.However, most of what has been written on TQM is usually related to manufacturing related organizations even though it is widely believed that the concepts and principles under TQM are equally relevant to service organizations. Critical dimensions of TQS A review of literature on quality management implied that the critical dimensions of TQS could be broadly categorized under three groups as follows: 1) Those dimensions of manufacturing quality management that can be effectively used in service organizations of course with due modifications (these include dimensions s uch as top management commitment and visionary leadership, human resource management, design and management of processes, information and analysis, benchmarking, continuous improvement, employee satisfaction, and customer focus).2) Those dimensions that are seldom addressed in the literature, but are nevertheless key elements of TQM in both manufacturing and service organizations (e. g. union intervention and social responsibility). (3) Those factors that is highly unique to service organizations (namely, services capes the man-made physical environment  ± and service culture). The TQM dimensions that have been identified in service organizations are as follows: 1) top management commitment and visionary leadership (TMCL); 2) human resource management (HRM); ) technical system (TS); 4) information and analysis system (I & A); 5) benchmarking (BM); 6) continuous improvement (CI); 7) customer focus (CF); 8) employee satisfaction (ES); 9) union intervention (UI); 10) social responsib ility (SR); 11) servicescapes (SP); and 12) service culture (SC) Also, an empirical study that examines the difference of the relationship between TQM and quality performance in the manufacturing and service firms.

Creative Nonfiction by Jhoanna Lynn Cruz Essay

On our first Valentine as a couple, he gave me a bowl of white nondescript flowers. They had a distinctly sweet but faint scent. I had never been a fan of Valentine’s Day nor of love like a red, red rose; but that day, I became a believer. He told me they were papaya blossoms from his mother’s garden. At that moment, I knew I would one day marry him. We had started dating only three months ago, but I knew I would be Maria to his Leon. Why, he even had a younger brother the same age as Baldo! And even though they didn’t live in Nagrebcan nor owned a carabao, the town of Itogon, Benguet was remote enough for me. I have always enjoyed teaching the Arguilla story for its subversive take on the role that one’s family plays in a marriage; but having been born and raised in Pasay City, I had no idea what papaya blossoms smelled like. I imagined that my new boyfriend had read the story in his Philippine literature class and meant for me to recognize his gift as an allusion. In fact, I imagined we would defy societal norms and prove that love conquers all. Instead of a â€Å"theme song,† our relationship had a story to live up to. It was a disaster waiting to happen. In the story, Leon brings his city-girl wife, Maria, home to meet his parents for the first time. His surly father orchestrates several tests of Maria’s suitability through Leon’s younger brother Baldo, who is quickly won over by her papaya blossom scent. The first time I met his parents was on the wedding day of his eldest brother. By then, we had been seeing each other discreetly for seven months, somehow knowing that no one would approve of our relationship. In the midst of the beating of gongs and best wishes, his Kankanaey father only wanted to know two things about me: where I was from and what language I spoke. I gave the wrong answer on both points. I was a Manilena and I couldn’t speak Ilocano yet, having only recently moved to Baguio City to rebuild my life after becoming disillusioned with the institution that had once nurtured my desire to excel. But no love lost, I was only their son’s â€Å"gayyem† (friend), after all. It didn’t help that I was wearing a leopard print spaghetti-strapped dress, which exposed the tattoo on my back. I reasoned that the Cordillera culture has a long tradition of body art; so they should appreciate the significance of mine. None of us knew at that time that I was already carrying a half-Igorot child in my womb (which, I imagined, somehow made me an acceptable quarter-Igorot for the nonce). Against better judgment, we decided to get married. We were under the influence of hormones, of pregnancy, of the Catholic church, of Manuel Arguilla. We would have gotten a quickie secret wedding if he were old enough, or I, wais enough; but by law we needed his parents’ consent. Which they refused to give. For perfectly good reasons. They could have said, â€Å"You shouldn’t marry because he is too young† (and you are ten years older). Or â€Å"You shouldn’t marry because he is still studying† (and you were even his teacher). Or â€Å"You shouldn’t marry because he has a calling† (and you are snatching him from God). But instead his mother said, â€Å"We can’t give you permission because his brother had just gotten married. In the theology of the Cordilleras, if siblings marry within the same year, one of the marriages will fail. The community will blame us if we allow you to marry. † So I called my mother, who promptly came to my rescue, writing them a demand letter based on a fallacy: â€Å"If your child were the woman in this situation, you would rush to marry them! † I’m sure she was so eager to get me married off because she knew it was a fluke. What was most ridiculous (though I refused to see it at that time), was that I was a self-proclaimed lesbian feminist. Despite all the tragic relationships I had had with women, I still believed that it was worth fighting for the right of a woman to love another woman. What business did I have getting married to a very young man? And for all the wrong reasons. Must have been oxytocin overdose sponsored by the baby in my womb. Or a planetary alignment exerting mysterious forces on my consciousness. Or, gasp—Love! Whatever it was, it came to pass. My mother didn’t have to bring my grandfather’s rifle. But I had to do it all on my own: filing the license, finding the Judge, buying the rings, reserving a restaurant, paying for everything. It was a good thing his parents didn’t allow us to tell anybody about the marriage – that way I didn’t have to invite anyone — which lessened my expenses. I had to understand that they had spent all their savings for his brother’s recent wedding, where they had butchered eight pigs for a traditional Igorot wedding feast. And after all, lest we forget, we were getting married against their will. But hey, there they were, on hand to sign the marriage certificate in the sala of the Honorable Judge Fernando Cabato of La Trinidad, Benguet. The ceremony itself was quick – but peppered with omens. First, when the court clerk asked for my mother-in-law’s name, I told her â€Å"Constancia† – because I figured that was where her nickname â€Å"Connie† came from. When I asked my nervous groom, he agreed. When the Judge confirmed the information, â€Å"Constancia† objected because her name is actually â€Å"Conchita. † Judge Cabato made the correction and lectured us about how important it is not to make errors in a legal document. Then, when it came to my father-in-law’s name, the Judge refused to believe that â€Å"Johnny† was his real name. When he asked for the rings, my groom gave him the little box, but when the Judge opened it, it was empty. The elderly honorable Judge sat down and asked, â€Å"Is this a prank? † It turned out that the rings had slipped out of the box and were floating in my groom’s pants’ pocket. When it was time for the wedding kiss, the Judge â€Å"got even† with us. He pronounced us husband and wife and then said, â€Å"No more kissing, it’s obvious there’s a deposit in there! † Then he laughed hearty congratulations. I wonder now how many times he has regaled a party crowd with our story. At the reception in a Chinese restaurant, we occupied only one round table, with only ten guests. The pancit canton was very good. We didn’t get any gifts, except for a framed copy of 1 Corinthians 13: â€Å"Love is patient, love is kind†¦ love does not keep a record of wrongs†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It wasn’t the wedding of my dreams, but the whole event cost me only Php 2,500. It was as do-it-yourself as DIY could get. That didn’t include the cost of the wedding rings, for which I had to sacrifice some of my old gold jewelry. The irony of it escaped me at the time; but for a modern woman on a budget, there was no room for finesse. Thus we began our married life: full of contention, confusion, and concealment. We couldn’t live together immediately; nor was I allowed to be seen in their little neighborhood, where everyone knew everyone. A very pregnant stranger ambling up and down the steep Upper Mangga Road would have been a conspicuous mystery. I continued to live alone in my apartment, with my husband staying weekends, and I pretended in school that my husband is from Manila. I’m not sure anyone actually believed the drama, but I was bathing in first-baby-love, so I couldn’t care less. My other Igorot friends assured me that when the baby is born, my in-laws would finally accept me as the mother of their grandchild. But as I said, I couldn’t care less. I was a Manila girl – I truly believed that our marriage would succeed even without his parents’ approval of me. I was used to flouting norms and not needing anyone. And for his part, my husband argued existentially that we should live by the integrity of our own little family. You see, he was a Philosophy major under the tutelage of two young Jesuit-educated instructors, who had come to the mountains from Manila to indulge their fantasies about love and teaching (in that order). We, the migrant teachers, smiled at each other in the College of Human Sciences silently acknowledging each other’s foolishness; ignoring the fact that most of the other â€Å"native† faculty members looked askance at the three of us. When our daughter was born, we decided it was time to move into the family home. In the innocent presence of the new half-Igorot baby, all would be forgiven. It seemed the most practical thing to do. But I soon realized how naive we were. We didn’t take into account all the new wrongs that could be committed while sharing one household. Before I got married, I had a dog – a black mongrel I had named â€Å"Sapay Koma,† which is Ilocano for â€Å"sana. † It is both a wish and a prayer – difficult to translate into English, unless in context. Koma was my companion throughout the two years I had lived in my dank, quirky apartment – the mute witness to the drama and dilemma preceding my decision to marry. We took him along with us in our move, of course. But the five other dogs in the new household didn’t like him all that much and they all raised such a nonstop racket, none of the humans could sleep, particularly the newborn baby. The neighbors offered to buy him for Php 500. Igorots like black dogs because the meat is tastier. I was aghast. He was my dog, my loyal friend. If anyone was going to eat him, it should be family. So my husband invited his friends over to put Koma out of his misery. I locked myself in our little bedroom with the baby, while they did it. But despite the closed windows, I could still smell the burning hair and later, the meat cooking. The putrid scent seemed to stick to my nose for days after, accusing me of betrayal. I wept for Koma and for all that was dying in the fire – all the wishes that had no place in my new life. I decided that this was the price for what Filipinos like to call â€Å"paglagay sa tahimik. † It took two hours for the meat to be tender enough to eat and when we all sat down to dinner, I was glad they didn’t expect me to partake of the canine feast. Yet I did. I took one mouthful, which I swallowed quickly without chewing, so I wouldn’t have to relish the flavors. I may have had the stomach for it, but I didn’t have the heart. I only wanted to show them that I respected their culture, even though in fact, I would never belong. Also, I was hoping that this way, Koma would forgive me for having failed him, for offering him as a sacrifice at the altar of my marriage. This way, we could be truly together. For weeks after, every time I overheard my husband reply â€Å"Aw, aw† to his father, I would shiver at the prospect that we would have dog for dinner again. They had five other dogs, after all. Luckily, it turned out that â€Å"aw† only means â€Å"yes† in their language, Kankanaey. Besides, they only butcher dogs on very special occasions. Ordinarily, there was always the savory chicken soup dish, Pinikpikan, which features a similar charred skin aroma and taste. I was quite relieved to learn that his father did not require beating the chicken to death with a stick before cooking, as is customary in the Igorot culture. To this day, I have not been able to care for another dog. I do, however, have another child. By the same man. Accidentally. It happened on Father’s Day, when we thought having sex was a nice distraction from the confusion that arose from our growing discontent with the marriage. When we found out about the pregnancy, we agreed, albeit reluctantly, that it was Divine Intervention – a sign that we should keep trying to save the marriage. It was not just the food that was strange. I couldn’t understand why everyday, some relatives would come over and expect to be fed. I had not been raised in an extended family, and even within our nuclear family, we pretty much kept to ourselves. In my mother’s house, we were trained to share through â€Å"one for you, one for me, then stay out of my bag of goodies. You can imagine how I felt the day they served my Gardenia whole wheat bread to the â€Å"relatives,† who promptly wiped it out, because my peanut butter was delicious. Not that I was being selfish. Aside from the fact that I didn’t have any bread for breakfast the next day and the house being a ten-minute hike uphill plus ten kilometers to downtown Baguio City, I fumed about not even being introduced to these relatives as the wife of their son. They would introduce my daughter and her yaya, but I remained a â€Å"phantom of delight† flitting about the house. When I confronted my husband about the bread, he explained that n the Igorot culture, everything belongs to the community. So I took a permanent marker and wrote my name on my next loaf of bread. It was a Saussurean signifier of sorts – and it was unforgivable. My father-in-law was a man of few words. In fact, my daughter was already two years old when he decided it was time to acknowledge my existence and say something to me. In the past, he would use an intermediary (usually my husband) if he wanted to get information from me. It wasn’t too difficult because by this time we had already moved to Manila and were living in my mother’s house – which was another disaster and another story. It was Christmas Eve and we were spending the holidays in Baguio City. He was watching a replay of a boxing match and I was playing with my daughter in the living room. He asked, in Ilocano, â€Å"Do you have a VCD player at home? † I was so shocked I couldn’t reply immediately. He repeated the question in Tagalog. It turned out he was giving us the VCD player he had won in a barangay raffle. That night, as the entire family sang their traditional â€Å"Merry Christmas To You† to the happy birthday tune, I felt I was finally getting a fair chance to prove that I was worthy of being in their cozy family. In our six years together, I can think of more instances in which our separate worlds collided and caused aftershocks in my marriage. But none of it rivaled what I thought was the worst affront to me. My mother-in-law is Cancerian, like me, so her house is a pictorial gallery of her children and their achievements. She had a wall with enlarged and framed wedding photos of her children. Through the years, her exhibit grew, and expectedly, I and my husband didn’t have a photo on this wall. I figured it was because we had not had a church wedding. In fact, when we told them I was pregnant with our second child, they requested that we hold a church wedding already. They even offered to share the expense. But I preferred to save my money for the birth of the baby. However, given my theater background, I once tried to convince my husband to just rent a gown and tuxedo and then have our â€Å"wedding† photo taken so we’d finally get on â€Å"The Wedding Wall. † But he has always been the more sensible half of our couple. One day, though, a new picture was added to the wall. It was a studio photo of his eldest sister, her American husband, and their baby boy. It wasn’t â€Å"The Wedding Wall† anymore; it was now the â€Å"Our Children and their Acceptable Spouses† wall. It was their version of the Saussurean signifier. The message was loud and clear – to me and to other people who came to visit. I wonder now why it so mattered to me to be on that wall. I guess I felt that after all those years, we had been punished enough for defying the culture. Maybe I actually believed in 1 Corinthians 13. Or perhaps I also needed to be reassured that I was indeed happily married. I confronted my husband about it and demanded that he finally stand up for me and our family. And he did – he wrote his parents a letter that made his mother cry and beat her breast. We each tried to explain our sides, finally coming to terms with the bitter past. They told me that they are simple folk and didn’t mean to ostracize me; that when they agreed to the marriage, they accepted me as part of the family, no matter what. I believed them. I told them I was never going to be the woman they had probably wanted for their son; but that I am a perfectly good woman, most of the time. We tried to make amends. Our family picture was up on the wall within three days. Our kids were quite pleased. But it was too late. By then, my husband and I had been grappling with our own issues for the past five years. He had gotten tired of my transgressions and sought solace with his friends. After coming home late from another â€Å"Happy Hour† with them, I screamed at him, â€Å"What happy hour? Nobody is allowed to be happy in this house! † It was then we both finally realized that we had to face the truth about our marriage. By the time his parents were willing to start over in our journey as a family, we had given up on ours. Most couples find breaking up hard to do. It was particularly hard for us because we had to convince his parents that it was not their fault. On the other hand, I had to deal with the fact that maybe my marriage did fail because of the â€Å"curse† of the superstition â€Å"sukob sa taon† – that maybe we were wrong to insist on our choice. Yet on good days, I am pretty sure it was a perfectly â€Å"no fault divorce,† if there ever was one. â€Å"Kapag minamalas ka sa isang lugar, itawid mo ng dagat† goes the Filipino proverb. Perhaps the salt in the sea would prevent the bad luck from following you. So today I live with my two Igorot children in Davao City – fondly called â€Å"the promised land. † Everyone is astounded when they learn that I had moved even though I knew only one person here – who didn’t even promise me anything. I just wanted a chance to start over. When we moved into this house, it had a small nipa hut in the backyard. The kids enjoyed staying there during the sweltering hot Davao afternoons, especially when their Daddy called them on the phone. But it was nearly falling apart and was host to a colony of termites that had actually begun to invade the house as well. My generous landlady soon decided it was time to tear down the structure. When I got home one day, it was gone. All that was left was a dry and empty space in the yard; yet everything looked brighter too. We missed the â€Å"payag;† but soon the grass crept into the emptiness and we began to enjoy playing Frisbee in the space that opened up. It was a Derridean denouement of sorts. Last year, we spent our first Christmas without any family obligations. It was liberating not to have to buy any gifts for nephews, cousins, in-laws. All the shopping I did was for my children. I was determined to establish my own Christmas tradition with them. I wanted to show them we were happy. I wanted them to grow up never having to sing â€Å"Merry Christmas To You† ever again. I decided to cook paella for noche buena as if my life depended on it. I thought it was simply a matter of dumping all the ingredients in the pan and letting it cook – like the aftermath of a failed marriage. The recipe was so difficult I ended up crying hysterically, asking myself over and over, â€Å"what have I done? † My kids embraced me and said, â€Å"Nanay, stop crying na. But I couldn’t. It seemed as if it was the first time I had let myself cry over what I had lost. I noticed though, that the kids did not cry. Embarrassed with myself, I picked myself up from the river of snot that was my bed and finished what I had set out to do – as I always have. It even looked and tasted like paella, despite the burnt bottom. But next year we’ll just order take-out from Sr. Pedro (Lechon Manok). That night, my mother-in-law sent me a text message saying they are always praying for us to get back together, especially for the children’s sake. I do not know how to comfort her, except to keep saying that we had all done the best we could at the time; that we are always trying to do the right thing; that despite what happened, or perhaps because of it, we will always be a family. Of a kind. We are, after all, inextricably linked by a timeless story and â€Å"sapay koma. † Each of us in this story nurtures a secret wish to have done things differently – to have been kinder, more understanding of each other’s quirks and shortcomings. But it takes less energy to wish it forward. Sapay koma naimbag ti biag yo dita — to hope that your life there is good.