Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Recent Developments in the use of Titanium Alloys as Implant Materials Essay

Recent Developments in the use of Titanium Alloys as Implant Materials - Essay Example One of the main objectives of implants is to be chemically inert and biocompatible with body so that it may not be deteriorated by the body fluids. Titanium and its alloys are the materials that fulfill these criteria, so they may be used as implants with certain checks that require some studies. Biomedical implant reliability depends on the corrosion, wear, and fatigue resistance of the materials. Unalloyed titanium grades are largely used for implants and other parts which do not have to cope with high loads in the human body, while titanium alloys predominate in applications for endoprotheses and surgical instruments (http://www.metallurgy.nist.gov/techactv1995/titanall.html). Unalloyed titanium and titanium alloys have been used for years in medical engineering for a wide range of applications, some examples of which are listed below: Medical grade titanium alloys have a significantly higher strength to than stainless steels. The range of available titanium alloys enables medical specialists designers to select materials and forms closely tailored to the needs of the application. The effectiveness and reliability of implants, and medical and surgical instruments and devices is an essential factor in saving lives. Implantation represents a potential assault on the chemical, physiological and mechanical structure of the human body. There is nothing comparable to a metallic implant in living tissue. Most metals in body fluids and tissue are found in stable organic complexes. Corrosion of implanted metal by body fluids, results in the release of unwanted metallic ions, with likely interference in the processes of life. Corrosion resistance is not sufficient of itself to suppress the body's reaction to cell toxic metals or allergenic elements such as nickel, and even in very small concentrations from a minimum level of corrosion, these may initiate rejection reactions. Titanium is judged to be completely inert and immune to corrosion by all body fluids and tissue, and is thus biocompatible. 3.1. Objectives: To determine the suitability of titanium for use as surgical implants. Studies of coupled metals in dentistry alloyed with titanium. Development of standards for titanium alloys and for updating existing standards. Studies on response of pure and alloyed titanium to model surgical wound environment. 4. Theoretical Background 4.1. How Implants affects Bogy Functions The oxide film forms the interface between the metal implant and the body, its properties are

Monday, October 28, 2019

Rules About School Essay Example for Free

Rules About School Essay Students tend to break the rules once in awhile that that is because of peer pressure or rebellion against or with someone else. Teenagers explore and do things others wouldn’t do to look â€Å"cool† or to prove something that they could do something with their life, or to look â€Å"superior† to someone else. Imagine a smart and decent student could do inappropriate behavior just to prove they are fit in that society and to not be called names like â€Å"nerd† or â€Å"loser†, that’s how rules are made in school. But I think that we have a little too much of that. Imagine having fewer rules it would be knowledgeable only if it could help students and help the school, having a lot of rules tend to put stress on students that they want to break out of it and just do whatever they want. With less school rules, student would be in school more often, they have the chance to freely do things they could do, less stress for the students and for the teachers, meaning teachers would have an easier job because bad students wouldn’t be so bad anymore because they have less stress on their mind and now they could pay attention and pass grades. Rules that are forced by the securities and faculty staff are sometimes straining and stressing the students involved in such activities. These activities affect the student’s mentality and social behavior because of aggression and rebellion that has been formed on a student’s mind. An example of an activity is sport. When someone is a student athlete they tend to stay after school and hang out for awhile before a game or a practice start, but some securities have a rule that you can’t stay after school that long and you would have to go home right away, for a student athlete to go home would be a waste of energy and stressing that causes aggression towards the school and the school securities which could resolve to conflict. Another School Rule that students are against is â€Å"contraband† this includes Cell phones, iPods, and dress codes. This rule shouldn’t be forced highly and shouldn’t be taken that seriously by the staff of the school. Technology has been a part of this generation and without them a student could be devastated and again could cause aggression towards a staff. I know that it is rude for a student to use such things during class, but if they do they face a consequence of failing in class due to inattentiveness and no participation, they have the choice to do it or not. And even during recess or lunch securities tend to take peoples and  iPods away, they take it too seriously, iPods should not be that bad it’s called â€Å"Break Time† for students and now music is part of our lives so shouldn’t that become an exemption? Then we have our Tardy/Late rule that students break a lot. This rule is good for some parts and bad for some part. The good part of this rule is to teach students to have discipline and be prompt most of the time. But the bad part of this rule is the consequence or the punishment of it, the punishment is â€Å"calf duty† or ISS(In School Suspension). Which most of the students dislike, if Radford really wants its student to be successful academically it wouldn’t be fair to have rules like these: ISS is a punishment that makes students to rake leaves, clean the gym, wipe tables on the cafà ©, throw the thrash, and clean the baseball field on a SUNNY day for one whole class or more. I personally do not think that this punishment is fair because students need to go to class and learn, not to learn how to rake and clean, that is why we have custodians that does that for us. Not only that but again this things causes hate and aggression towards the school and with that, a student will not be able to focus on studies and they would cause an outrage or break more rules, It doesn’t help the student It makes it worst for them. â€Å"Cafà © duty† is not so bad because they provide free lunch for student, but some other classes HAVE to do it without doing anything bad, and that causes the class to be pulled back academically, again the custodians could do their job and serve the food to the students. It’s a learning environment not a job orientation. Consequences for students are a little bit too much, if the staff thinks that by making these type of consequences would stop the student s to break the rules, I don’t think it will because it causes a student to be rebellious and would want to hate the school for making him/her do all the stuff that REGULAR student does not do. School rules are good but it matters on how staff pushes them and how strict they could be. Deviance has its own punishment and it could be being unsuccessful in life or being a pariah in our school society. A person has a choice to do bad things or good, but there are always consequences for our actions.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

College Admissions Essay: My Summer in Europe :: College Admissions Essays

My summer in Europe    I spent six weeks in Florence, studying renaissance art and art history. After this, I traveled across Europe for three weeks and experienced the many beautiful countries and cultures that exist on this continent.    Studying renaissance art in Florence, the place of it's birth, was literally a moving experience. To see works that I thought only existed in books and also to live in the same city that housed the masters, was amazing. I took a drawing class as well in Florence. This proved to be a challenging and beneficial class. Drawing street scenes, landscapes, figures, or anything for that matter, is always a challenge. However to do this in a city where there are masterpieces lining churches and museums all around you, made the action a bit more challenging. It was a wonderful and astounding resource to be able to refer to a Michelangelo sculpture or a Botticelli painting. The museums in Florence proved to be my most favorite pastime and the greatest tool for any artist. The Uffizi and Pitti Palace house some of the most famous and also not so famous (but just as wonderful) works.    Living in Florence for six weeks was such a wonderful learning experience. Each day was an adventure. By buying food and asking for directions, I slowly learned enough Italian to get by. Sadly, I found that like many places in Europe, Florence has also become Americanized. English was just as prevalent as Italian. Honestly, it was convenient to know that my waiter would be able to converse with me in English. Yet, at the same time, I felt a little guilty in knowing that through tourism, Italy has lost a small part of its culture and history.    After my stay in Florence, I had the chance to see more of Europe. I went to Salzburg, Prague, Lucerne, the Italian and French Riviera, and Paris. Three weeks of trains, hostels, new places and people proved to be an exciting and tiring time! I saw the Alps, the Mediterranean, the historic neighborhoods of Prague, and then Paris. Each day I woke up with excitement, ready to go and explore the new place we were in. And each night I fell asleep, and dreamt of what tomorrow would bring. It was a beautiful and simple three weeks. My only job was just to experience and see all that I could of a place.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Legal Safety and Regulatory Requirements Essay

Human resources was created to make sure the organization reaches its goals, which is to maximize returns on investment from the organization’s human capital and minimize financial risk, providing the organization with well trained and motivated employees, to ensure all reconciliation of individual goals with those of the organization, developing overall personality of each employee in its multidimensional aspect, and ensuring effective utilization and maximum development of human resources. Along with these responsibilities the human resources department also have regulations they have to follow such as the Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This commission established on July 2, 1965, and is listed under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA),[7] the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. The U. S.  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. It is also illegal to discriminate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. Most employers with at least 15 employees are covered by EEOC laws (20 employees in age discrimination cases). Most labor unions and employment agencies are also covered by these laws. The laws apply to all types of work situations, including hiring, firing, promotions, harassment, training, wages, and benefits (U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, n. d. ). The EEOC provides employees with the opportunity to have an investigation if they feel they have been discriminated against. If the discrimination can be justified then the commission does have the right to file a lawsuit to ensure that the employees’ rights and interest of the public are protected. The EEOC provides leadership and guidance to federal agencies on all aspects of the federal government’s equal employment opportunity program. EEOC assures federal agency and department compliance with EEOC regulations, provides technical assistance to federal agencies concerning EEO complaint djudication, monitors and evaluates federal agencies’ affirmative employment programs, develops and distributes federal sector educational materials and conducts training for stakeholders, provides guidance and assistance to our Administrative Judges who conduct hearings on EEO complaints, and adjudicates appeals from administrative decisions made by federal agencies on EEO complaints (U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, n. . ). The guidelines for employees have been made into regulations enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity instead of the perception â€Å"common sense and compassion in the workplace† has been replaced by litigation to make discrimination incidents legally enforced. History has changed so much over time such as the act to abolish race discrimination better known as the Civil Rights Act that was passed in 1908. The individuals within the human resource department must be well versed in all the laws and regulations as set by the United States as they are expected to abide by these laws and rules. Once the potential employee has signed an employment contract, a new relationship is formed between employer and employee. â€Å"Both employers and employees have rights and obligations to each other when they enter into a contract. An employment contract spells out explicitly the terms of the employment relationship for both employee and employer (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010, p. 441)†. Along with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission there are also other entities that are in place to protect the rights of the employee and the employer such as National Labor Relations Board, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. These regulations and laws are very important within the health care field and needs to be understood throughout the organization to prevent any wrong doings. These entities should be complied with and enforced the regulations which will decrease any chance of liability for the human resources department and organization. The human resources department staff to have extensive training to protect employees from frivolous incidents. Currently, because of the of Civil Rights (OCR) administers ensures Agency compliance with the laws, regulations, policies, and guidance that prohibit discrimination in the Federal workplace based on race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, genetic information, or reprisal better known as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Introduction to Statistics

Random Sample: each member of the population has the same chance of being selected Representative Sample: characteristics should represent those of the target population without bias Observational Study: no intervention by the investigator, no treatment imposed Experimental Study: Investigator has some control over the determinant Variables: Categorical – each observation falls into a feline number of groups Nominal: named variables with no implied order e. G. Personality type Ordinal: grouped variables with implied order e. G. Veil of education Continuous – measured variables Discrete: take discrete values e. G. Number of children Numerical: can assume any value within a certain range/elemental e. G. Height Types of Designs: True experiment: researcher has potential to randomly allocate observations to conditions Quasi-experiment: demonstrate a relationship between an IV/DVD researcher makes use of naturally occurring groups, can't make cause and effect statements Non- experiments (correlation design): question If there Is a relationship between variables, can't make cause & effect statementsBetween groups: two groups being compared on some outcome measure Within-subjects: participants experience each condition of an IV, with measurements of some outcome taken on each occasion Extraneous variables: variable present In an experiment, which might Interfere with the relationship between IV & DVD Confounding variables: mediating variable that can adversely affect the relation between IV/DVD Internal validity: extent to which a casual relationship can be assumed between IV & DVD.External validity: degree to which you can generalize the results of your study to mom underlying population T-test One sample t-test – A: data should arise from a normal population Paired t-test -A: must be independent, arise from a normal distribution & populations of same spreads Independent sample – A: normally distributed, homogeneity of variances, independen ce of the observations Correlation/Regression – A: the relation in the population is linear, the residuals in y have a constant standard deviation and the residuals arise from a normal distribution detests of good fit and test of independence – A: expected count has to be larger than five

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Essays and Essay Planning Guidance Essay Example

Essays and Essay Planning Guidance Essay Example Essays and Essay Planning Guidance Essay Essays and Essay Planning Guidance Essay political ideas. 7. Impractical: Who decides? How is it to be done? Is it not impossible to be correct? Any decision has to be arbitrary Case for censorship 10 1. Sex is private and precious: it should not be demeaned by representations of it in public. 2. Sex can be offensive: some people may find it so and should not have to risk being exposed to what they would find pornographic. . Corruption can be progressive: can begin with sex and continue until all decent values are eventually destroyed. 4. Participants might be corrupted: especially true of young children. 5. Violence can encourage imitation: by displaying violence even while condemning it -it can be legitimised and can also encourage imitation amongst a dangerous minority. 6. Violence is often glorified: encourages callous attitudes. Conclusion Case against censorship much stronger. No necessary connection between the two topics. From: mantex. co. uk/samples/plan. htm : 11 Planning Guide to Essay Planning 3 Strategy Many students, after having analysed an essay topic, may go straight to the library and read extensively on the subject. It is only after doing this research that they feel confident enough to start thinking and planning out their answer. Such an approach can be a mistake, however. They may find themselves producing a myriad of notes and then being at a loss to figure how these notes can be transformed into a coherent piece of writing. Before you read too much (or if possible, before you read anything at all), it is a good idea to do as much thinking and planning around the topic as you can. The benefit of this approach is that right from the start you can begin to get a sense of the shape your essay will take. It also means you can be more strategic in your reading, allowing you to search for specific reading materials rather than collecting a mass of material that may ultimately have limited relevance to your work. The task of writing is usually much easier if you create a set of notes which outline the points you are going to make. Using this approach, you will create a basic structure on which your ideas can be built. Plan This is a part of the essay-writing process that is best carried out using plenty of scrap paper. Get used to the idea of shaping and re-shaping your ideas before you start writing, editing and rearranging your arguments as you give them more thought. Planning onscreen using a word-processor is possible, but its a fairly advanced technique, and it doesn’t allow as much freedom to move ideas around and see them in relation to each other. Analyse the question Make sure you understand what the question is asking for. What is it giving you the chance to write about? What is its central issue? Analyse any of its key terms and any instructions. If you are in any doubt, ask your tutor to explain what is required. Generate ideas You need to assemble ideas for the essay. One way is to take a sheet of paper and make a note of anything which might be relevant to your answer. These might be topics, ideas, observations, or instances from your study materials. Put down anything you think of at this stage. Decide on topics On another sheet of paper, extract from your brainstorm listings those topics and points of argument which are of greatest relevance to the question and its central issue. Throw out anything which cannot be directly related to the essay question. Put topics in order On a third sheet of paper, put these chosen topics in some logical sequence. At this stage you should be formulating a basic response to the question, even if it is provisional and 12 may later be changed. Try to arrange the points so that they form a persuasive and coherent argument. Arrange your evidence All the major points in your argument need to be supported by some sort of evidence. On any further sheets of paper, compile a list of brief quotations from other sources (together with page references) which will be offered as your evidence. Compile a reference list as you collect sources. Use a recognised referencing style such as the Harvard â€Å"author/date† method. Make necessary changes While you have been engaged in the first stages of planning, new ideas may have come to mind. Alternate evidence may have occurred to you, or the line of your argument may have shifted somewhat. Be prepared at this stage to rearrange your plan so that it incorporates any of these new materials or ideas. Try out different arrangements of your essay topics until you are sure they form the most convincing and logical sequence. Finalise essay plan The structure of most essay plans can be summarised as Introduction Arguments Conclusion. State your case as briefly and rapidly as possible, present the evidence for this case in the body of your essay, then sum up and try to lift the argument to a higher level in your conclusion. Your final plan should be something like a list of six to ten major points of argument. Each one of these points will be expanded to a paragraph of around 100-200 words minimum in length (never one sentence! ). Relevance At all stages of essay planning, and even when writing the essay, you should keep the question in mind. Keep asking yourself Is this evidence directly relevant to the topic I have been asked to discuss? If in doubt, be prepared to scrap plans and formulate new ones which is much easier than scrapping finished essays. At all times aim for clarity and logic in your argument From: clpd. bbk. ac. uk/students/essayplanning 13 Sample Essay Plan 1 Critically examine the view that voting behaviour in the United Kingdom during the last thirty years has been increasingly influenced by factors other than social class. 1. Introduction You first need to identify the view that is being questioned. This is the theory of dealignment, which claims that the class–party relationship has broken down. This view, and the question itself, assumes that voting behaviour more than thirty years ago was influenced mainly by social class. You may want to question this assumption. You will need, therefore, to take a historical approach to the question, looking at trends over time. You should say that you will look at the traditional view and that you will then consider the case for and against dealignment. 2. The class–party relationship. class– This section will look at the argument that there has been a strong relationship between class and party. The work of Butler and Stokes was a classic statement of this, showing that working-class voters supported the Labour Party and middle-class voters supported the Conservative Party. Butler and Stokes noted that this relationship was not perfect: there were ‘deviant’ voters who voted in the opposite way. You will get more credit if you can give examples: for example, the manual workers with ‘deferential’ attitudes. They also pointed to the tendency for the elderly and for women to be more Conservative than their class background would suggest. 3. Dealignment It has been suggested that a process of dealignment has been occurring since at least the 1970s. There are two aspects to this alleged dealignment- partisan dealignment and class dealignment- and you should define each of these. You will gain extra marks if you can show that this is a deep-seated trend and is not unique to Britain. Behind this argument is the claim that ‘issue voting’ is now more important than class commitment. People are seen as making rational choices about which party is most likely to pursue appropriate policies on issues that concern them. Voters are, therefore, more ‘instrumental’. This also leads, so Heath et al. have argued, to more ‘tactical’ voting and, therefore, to less predictability in elections. 4. The New Right and centre politics Some commentators (for example, Stuart Hall) see the decline of class voting as, in part, a consequence of the rise of ‘authoritarian populism’ during the 1980s. This move to the right undermined Labour support in Britain and saw Labour defeats in 1983, 1987, and 1992. Labour’s response to these changes was to move closer to the centre of the political divide in order to recapture the more instrumental, issueoriented voters. You could conclude your discussion by saying that New Labour won the election in 1997 because it no longer relied on the declining foundations of its traditional, class-based support. You should make the point that political change cannot be explained in terms of political factors alone. There have been a number of important social and economic changes in Britain, and these have affected the old class allegiances. Factors pointed to have been the rise in the employment of women, the declining manufacturing base, the increasing number of service-sector jobs, the decline in the trade-union movement, and the break-up of old communities. You could draw on various evidence of these factors and how they have undermined the significance of class. 14 6. Conclusion An examination of the evidence seems to indicate that there has been a change in voting behaviour and that this can usefully be seen as involving a decline in class alignment and a strengthening of factors other than class. You might also like to conclude, however, that class remains an important factor alongside these other factors and that class dealignment is not the same thing as the emergence of a classless society. 15 Sample Sample essay plan 2 Should the government leave house prices to market forces, or actively intervene to prevent a house price crash? Justify your answer. Evaluation might consider some of these questions: What does a house price crash actually mean? What is the case for leaving house prices to market forces? What is the case for some form of intervention? What are the options for intervention? What are the problems with such intervention? Will house prices crash as the question implies – this can and should be challenged in your answer A housing crash / market correction might be exactly what the arket needs after a ten year boom! The case for leaving house prices to market forces? Ultimately house prices are determined by what homebuyers are willing and able to pay for a property and also the number of properties (new and existing) made available for sale Demand is driven by Incomes Unemployment The cost of a mortgage The availability of mortgage finance (including the loans to income multiple) Expectations of future price movements Supply is driven by Costs of construction Availability of land for housing development and its price Expectations of future price movements The number of properties existing homeowners decide to sell at a given price case The case for leaving it to the market is that Eventually if prices rise too far, demand will fall off and prices will adjust Higher prices will stimulate an increase in new house-building which will help the market reach equilibrium Private sector agents are often better judges of what the market needs than the government There is no certainty that the market will crash – it might experience a slowdown over a number of years The case for government intervention is that The booming market has created an inequitable (unfair) allocation of resources Major problems for housing affordability / impact on mobility of labour A housing crash would create difficulties for the economy and risk causing a collapse in consumer spending / recession Options for intervention: 16 Interest rates n ot an option – these are set independently by the Bank of England! Changes in stamp duty e. g. ower stamp duty for the lower end of the housing market New schemes to promote part ownership – part rent to increase affordability Relaxation of planning controls to stimulate new house building Increase in investment spending in new social housing to give people more choice of housing types What are the problems with such intervention? Risk of government failure Ineffective policies – government policies might actually do very little given the power of market forces Time lags – it takes a long time for government policies to work, by which time the market might already have started to adjust or a major housing correction might have happened. 17

Monday, October 21, 2019

Smog essays

Smog essays Smog is one of the major forms of air pollution. It makes being outside a health threat. Some of the major contributers to smog are automobiles, factories, and other things of this nature. High temperatures stimulate the effects of smog, therefore, the highest levels of smog are on hot summer days. This means that most of the problems associated with smog occur in the summer months. Health effects vary from person to person. There is evidence that suggests that it can cause some short-term breathing problems. This includes coughing, shortness of breath, and pain with deep breathing. Individuals with asthma are much more sensitive to smog. There are a few factors that determine how unhealthy smog is to a person. The first factor is the amount of ozone in the air. Since heat is usually associated with ozone, it will make the effects of smog greater. The second is the length of the exposure. The longer a person is exposed to smog, the greater the symptoms are. Finally, the third factor is how deeply a person is breathing when exposed to smog. The heavier an individual breathes, the bigger dose of smog is going into their lungs. Scientific studies have suggested that the lungs adapt to smog and other air pollution after prolonged exposure. This defense mechanism disappears once a person is no longer exposed to pollutants. Tests on rats, which were exposed to a polluted environment for a extended period of time, concluded that there was no sign of lung cancer. The government has stepped in to combat air pollution in general. They passed the Clean Air Act in 1990. This act made provisions such as placing centralized emissions testing facilities in high risk areas. The problem with the provisions is that they cost a lot of money and the state governments do not want to pay the exorbitant price tags. Locally, a law was recently passed which will all car owners to get an emissions test on their cars by May of ...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Keeping it Honest The Essay Experts New Year’s “Ressaylutions” Update

Keeping it Honest The Essay Experts New Year’s â€Å"Ressaylutions† Update In January I reported on The Essay Expert’s New Year’s Resolutions (Ressaylutions). As human beings, we are not designed to keep our promises. I certainly am an expert at making resolutions and then forgetting about them, without ever acknowledging which promises I have – and haven’t – kept. Not this year! I’m taking a look to see how I’m doing, ten weeks after my resolutions were made. Ready? The Essay Experts New Year’s Ressaylutions were: 1. Convert my website to WordPress. This project is complete – sort of. My site is indeed operating now on a WordPress platform, and theoretically I have easy access to edit my pages in any way I want. I have run into some technical difficulties however. For instance, when I tried to edit a page, it made all kinds of changes I didn’t want it to make and â€Å"broke†the page. I received the following email today from the company that handled the conversion: â€Å"The problem of visually editing your page content, without causing the page to break, lies with the page template. I did indicate that the template is dated, with a lot of additional graphics embedded. If you ever switch to a more modern template that contains a whole lot less graphics internally you will be able to edit your content visually. The internal design of most of your pages work perfectly for static HTML type pages, but will require someone who is an HTML coder to add content to them. If the website owner wishes to do this, the editing will require some extra effort when editing anything visually.† Enough said. I’ve got my work cut out for me. As some of you know, my blog link also changed and created a hiccup in my blog postings last week. You might also notice that if you do a search in my blog, you get not only blog postings but all relevant parts of my website in the search results. This issue will be fixed later this week – when I will once again need to change my blog link due to a major â€Å"architecture change.† My apologies in advance for any strange blog digests you might receive next week as a result of this additional change! (P.S. I am thankful as I kvetch about my technical difficulties that I am safely landlocked in the Midwest, without any fears for my safety. My heart goes out to the victims of the tsunami in Japan who have much bigger things to worry about.) 2. Make it easier for my readers to choose the topic they want to read about (create 4 separate e-lists: a) Job Search (Resumes Cover Letters); b) College Admissions; c) LinkedIn Professional Writing; and d) Everything). AND 3. Create autoresponders. (Related to ressaylution #2.) This project is running close to schedule thanks to my incredible intern, Robin Reinke! She has prepared all the autoresponders and we’re continuing to move forward to create the lists. Stay tuned! 4. Guest blog. I haven’t written any specifically targeted guest blogs, though some of my existing articles have been published other places. I did deliver my webinar, How to Write a Killer LinkedIn Profile, for a group of Columbia University alumni and students, as well as for a group of people through ilostmyjob.com. Both events were a hit! I will also be on a blog radio show on March 22, Back in Force Productions, geared toward stay-at-home parents relaunching their careers. 5. Start an Artist’s Way group. I’ve been writing my morning pages every day (three pages a day of journaling), and though I’ve missed some mornings, I haven’t missed a single day. I haven’t been as good about creating Artist’s dates, which are dates with myself to do something fun and artistic. Mostly what has happened is that my priorities have changed since January. I’m surprising myself by finding creative expression through writing resumes and LinkedIn profiles! I am also singing in a newly forming funk/RB band! I’ll post clips when I have them! 6. Continue to write and share about writing issues, job search issues, and sometimes life issues that strike my fancy each week and that my readers care about. Yep I’ve been doing that. Covered topics from early admissions to parallel construction to LinkedIn news to greeting card grammar. Even got political. And now I’m getting honest. How are your New Year’s resolutions coming along? It’s a great exercise to check in and acknowledge where you’re making progress, where you’re stuck, where things have shifted. What do you see when you take a look at how the year is going?

Saturday, October 19, 2019

The Importance of High Academic Achievement and the Pursuit of a Essay

The Importance of High Academic Achievement and the Pursuit of a Career - Essay Example What I really mean by the career regimes lies in the fact that the world is on the upward move. It is always growing and expanding and not being stagnant at any point in time. For me to look up to the future and visualize myself standing with the top management gurus, I feel pride in stating that I can relate with what they do, work and feel like. (Brown, 2002) I can relate with their respective concepts of career development and the manner in which they have taken an upward growth path. I believe that I can always contribute in a better manner towards the society if I work in an organization because this is something that comes from within – it is naturally inclined for me to act, think and feel the same way. The implications that stand in the way of my career development include my understanding related with the niche segments of the pertinent area of business and comprehension which I can attain in the wake of finding out more and more as to what exactly is happening in the local terrains and on the global front. These career concepts offer me a range of options to start with. I could look at the respective areas and hence train myself in accordance with the needs of the time. High academic achievement would back up what I have learned and make me feel experienced within the midst of things. I would feel a sense of ease and belongingness with the different activities, norms and procedures if my academic achievements are sound and fitting in the real sense of the word. This will eventually introduce me to different people who have similar interests as well as open up avenues of expansion as far as my career growth is concerned. Therefore, one can easily see that a successful pursuit of a career is related with close harmony with the kind of academic achievement that one has over a period of time. My pursuit would eventually become an easy task if I know the path that I would be leading up towards my ultimate destination or the goal to put it in

American History Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

American History - Assignment Example First generation of immigrants had a feeling that they had more rights in the country than those who just settled in. These sentiments resulted in series of violent attacks against Irish immigrants and the Catholic Church in the US. Several small parties took into consideration the nativist ideas and formed the Know-Nothing Party. Since it was a aecret society in the very beginning, party members were not allowed to tell anything about this organization. They were saying that they â€Å"know nothing.† That is where the name of the party originates from. Using the Dred Scott case the Supreme Courte tried to put an end to debates over issues of slavery in the territories. The Court figured that the decision of Wisconsin Territories to ban the slavery was unconstitutional. Since slaves were considered a property, the Court believed that constitution protects all property ownership rights. Therefore it was concluded that the Congress had no rights to outlaw the slavery on territories. John Brown initially attempted to organize a revolt against slavery. According to his plan he was supposed to seize the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, give the weapon to slaves and go southward with his army. Brown’s supporters were able to occupy the town without any problem. However the Federal troops did not let his plan to achieve, they killed almost all of his men and prevented the slave’s revolt. Even though slaves did not follow Brown, northerners supported and sympathized him a lot. The case of Harpers Ferry underlined the differences and increased the cleavage between the North and the South and highlighted the sense of disunion. This created a situation when the Northerners were sent off from the South? Some of people were lynched, slaves found themselves in the worse situation than

Friday, October 18, 2019

I want to be president of the united states Essay

I want to be president of the united states - Essay Example ts will have President Obama as its standard bearer while the Republicans are still in the process of primaries and caucauses in determining who would be their candidate for the Presidency (Anon). The general theme of my candidacy will be the revitalization of America that Americans will have a renewed confidence in their country which previous leaders has put a doubt on it. The mismanaged economy which slid this country into a recession caused many Americans lost their jobs and homes that even until today, many Americans are still unemployed and poor. This was unthinkable during the heyday of America. Today, Americans are full of self-doubting that they are already entertaining that America will no longer be the strongest economy of the world with the US dollar be replaced by the Chinese yuan . a. List the main things (at least 4) you want to accomplish as president. Explain why. Foremost of my agenda when I will become a President is to revitalize the American economy. This involves creation of jobs and removing the unemployment rate to zero. I will restore confidence in the American economy by getting back the triple AAA credit rating to help revitalize economy by making credit that will be used by business for expansion to be cheap so that businesses will be encouraged to expand their operations and create more jobs. b. Minimize war spending to reduce public debt. If I become President of the United States, I will minimize America’s interventionist foreign policy that takes toll on public budget. Also, this foreign policy which has been adopted by previous presidents has earned America implacable enemy that made defense spending more expensive. c. Rationalize immigration law and make it non-discriminatory. One of the things that I want to accomplish as President of the United States is to abrogate/veto the Arizona Immigration law which makes America discriminatory in the eyes of the world. I will have the law removed that empowers law enforcers

Tangible Property of Wal-Mart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Tangible Property of Wal-Mart - Essay Example Similarly, the enactment of state and federal legislations that protected workers from workers exploitation led to a stronger employee’s awareness of their rights and duties. In the contemporary world, various governments have put in place adequate measures to ensure that employees are not under any form of discrimination. In cases of discrimination against color, region, nationality among others, strict measures should be taken on employers. Based on the emerging technology, it is significant for managers of small and large organisations to improve their security systems as a major way of protecting their tangible properties. This paper seeks to identify major employment relationships and their legal considerations, discrimination issues and their legal consideration as well as measures that a Wal-Mart manager should take to identify and protect the tangible property rights of his organisation. Employment relationships and associated the legal considerations One form of emplo yment relationship is permanent employment relationship. This refers to the arrangement whereby workers are compensated by their employers. In addition to the basic salaries, the employees are eligible to receive health care benefits, sick off and contribution to retirement plans among others. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is one of the legal consideration that established minimum wages and salaries for permanent employees (Burkhauser et al, 1989). In addition, the occupational Safety and Health Act is focused at promoting security within the work place. Private employment entails working arrangement whereby the employment relationship is between private employers and the workers. According to 1985 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), voluntary or involuntary termination of the employee’s duties should not deter him or her from continuing with his or her health insurance. Employees Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is an additional regulation that se ek to prevent frauds within private pension funds. ERISA stipulates that the sponsoring employer cannot invest more than 10% of the pension’s funds in his or her securities. Discriminatory issues and the associated legal considerations One of the major types of employment discrimination is disparate-treatment. This is a situation whereby an employer discriminates a particular employee on the bases of his race, sex, religion or nationality. The second type of discrimination is the disparate-impact discrimination. This occurs when an employer discriminates against an entire protected class within the organization. For example, if a rule is set that all the sales executives should be 5.8 feet tall regardless of their gender, there is a possibility that more males will be hired as compared to females. This amounts to disparate-impact discrimination. Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating their employees on the basis of education, color and housing. Other aspects prohibited by the act include discrimination in hiring, promotion, payment of fringe benefits and job training Methods for managing legal risk arising from regulatory compliance issues

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Health Law and Ehtics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Health Law and Ehtics - Assignment Example To facilitate and examine ethics in nursing and the health industry at large, this paper will concisely will discuss the deep origins of healthcare ethical healthy behavior. It also seeks to analyze some of the ethical issues in healthcare among them, refusal to care, beneficence, autonomy, non-male-ficence and justice (Lo, 2013). Ethical decision-making is crucial in the healthcare industry when it comes to addressing issues, conflicts and uncertainties concerning opposing values such as individual, organizational, professional and communal values. The ability to influence decisions on patient-care largely depends on the ethical guidelines provided. To avoid ethical dilemmas, there should be clearly spelt procedures and guidelines aimed at supporting ethical decision-making (Krueger & Stein, 2010). There are a number of significant challenges facing health care organizations among them rising public expectations, growing financial pressures, safety of patients, issues of quality improvement, mergers and consolidations, health care reform among others. These factors have placed healthcare firms under much stress and pressure. They have also intensified ethical concerns and conflicts. These challenges call for ethical decision-making by the parties involved (Curtin, 2011). Ethics is a very significant field to an organization’s mission as well as towards achieving the main goal. Health care executives and managers should demonstrate the significance of ethical standards in their own actions as well as looking for ways of integrating ethical practices within an organizational culture. A healthcare organization should create an ethical environment by (Krueger & Stein, 2010): The capability of an organization to realize its full potential within the market place will largely depend on knowledge, motivation, skills as well as ethical values and

Managing of the Voice project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Managing of the Voice project - Essay Example These files are very important and therefore they should be stored using cloud computing, so that even when there is system failure the files will still be safe (KIMPERLEY, 2010, pp 88) . For the successful implementation of the VOICE cloud computing, the functions that the department plays should be divided into smaller work units and every work unit should be headed by someone who will take the responsibility for that group. These work units should have the full support of the management so that they work efficiently. For every company’s success the employees have to be motivated. This is because motivated employees tend to work to their best of capability. Therefore the two companies will have to come up with a way of motivating the staff members of the companies if the successful implementation of VOICE cloud computing is to be achieved. In addition, this will be helpful in that these are two different groups who have been working differently and therefore they may have different opinions as far as carrying out a task is concerned. The structure of the company will have to be checked once again by the management team. The same structure cannot be maintained as there is a new company which has been brought on board. The staff members of the People powered system will feel like they are not part of the company if the same structures are kept in place.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Health Law and Ehtics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Health Law and Ehtics - Assignment Example To facilitate and examine ethics in nursing and the health industry at large, this paper will concisely will discuss the deep origins of healthcare ethical healthy behavior. It also seeks to analyze some of the ethical issues in healthcare among them, refusal to care, beneficence, autonomy, non-male-ficence and justice (Lo, 2013). Ethical decision-making is crucial in the healthcare industry when it comes to addressing issues, conflicts and uncertainties concerning opposing values such as individual, organizational, professional and communal values. The ability to influence decisions on patient-care largely depends on the ethical guidelines provided. To avoid ethical dilemmas, there should be clearly spelt procedures and guidelines aimed at supporting ethical decision-making (Krueger & Stein, 2010). There are a number of significant challenges facing health care organizations among them rising public expectations, growing financial pressures, safety of patients, issues of quality improvement, mergers and consolidations, health care reform among others. These factors have placed healthcare firms under much stress and pressure. They have also intensified ethical concerns and conflicts. These challenges call for ethical decision-making by the parties involved (Curtin, 2011). Ethics is a very significant field to an organization’s mission as well as towards achieving the main goal. Health care executives and managers should demonstrate the significance of ethical standards in their own actions as well as looking for ways of integrating ethical practices within an organizational culture. A healthcare organization should create an ethical environment by (Krueger & Stein, 2010): The capability of an organization to realize its full potential within the market place will largely depend on knowledge, motivation, skills as well as ethical values and

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Human rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Human rights - Essay Example Human rights history got its shape through major world events and more especially the struggle for freedom, dignity, and equality globally. The establishment of the United Nations in 1945, contributed to the formal and universal recognition of human rights. It reaffirmed the faith of people taking part of it in dealing with human rights (Donnelly, 9). One of the major achievements of the human rights was the formation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that still has a heavy impact on people’s lives worldwide. Human rights are constantly evolving and their standards change according to the needs and interests of human beings. An individual requires not buying, receive, or inherit their right. This is because they belong to human beings and are applicable to all people at all times and are the birthrights of all humans thus making them universal. Human beings need them to live a good life without undermining them live a dignified life. Terrorism is a major factor that contributes to people not enjoying their right to life. In addition, terrorism destabilizes the governments; therefore, undermining civil society, jeopardizes peace and security, and threatens the economic and social development of a country. Moreover, the security of an individual, which is a basic human right, is at risk. Therefore, states have a duty and obligation to ensure that they are taking positive measures to ensure that their nationals get protection against the threats of terrorists and bringing the perpetrators to justice. Corruption is rampant worldwide and the people who commit are either people who work in the private or public sector. The existence of corruption shows the failure of the state towards human rights obligation. Corruption affects the nature of equality and human dignity. Human beings have a right to live in a

Monday, October 14, 2019

The Human Population Essay Example for Free

The Human Population Essay Abstract Why is it that there are countries today experiencing economic stability and unrelenting progress while, in contrast, there countries still experiencing poverty? These are questions that can be answered when look through and compare populations of different countries. There are stages that a population goes through over time and those have major effects on what a country experiences in general. The Human Population   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It’s splendid how colorful and beautiful a Monarch butterfly (Danaus Plexippus) is that no one would think that it started as a poor and humble larva called the caterpillar. Similarly, human population doesn’t just pop – out of the smoke and there is it – in its most thriving state. Just like a butterfly, human population undergoes several transformations and transitions towards its prosperity as time winds off. Even first world countries today experienced misery before. It’s just that they have already much further gone through what we call the demographic transition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Having a sort of similarity to butterflies’ metamorphic process, demographic transition is one dramatic process of transformation that a certain human population experiences at different periods of time. What we don’t know is that population changes its â€Å"state† at different points of history. Say for example, a certain country now experiences an explosion in terms of child population. This is true for the third world countries such as Africa’s sub – Saharan countries such as Ghana and some South – East Asian countries like Laos. But that doesn’t mean that such countries would experience it forever. There would be some point in time that they would undergo transformation and leave the current state of their population. Even well developed countries experienced undergoing high population rates due to extensive CBR (Crude Birth Rate). The only thing is that history has provided them to surpass the stage earlier than other countries. Take England as an instance. England had experienced undergoing this stage as early as the 1800’s.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Just what was said earlier, a certain human population doesn’t just emerge immediately already as a thriving population. It undergoes several stages in the demographic transition.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stage 1 of the demographic transition is generally the â€Å"struggle†. At this stage, people’s way of thinking is that they must bear many children to ensure a stronger working force in the future, that contributes to a high CBR. Also, another reason that contributes to a high CBR at this stage is the lack of birth control programs that is being implemented. This is true for the western countries during the industrial revolution although there are still some countries under this stage up to this day. Along with the high CBR is also a high CDR (Crude Death Rate) in the population. Failure to prevent epidemics and diseases due to lack of sanitation and medicine is one factor that contributes to a high CDR.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The next stage of the demographic transition is when the population is rapidly growing at an alarming rate. There is a high rate of children getting born over time but the death rate doesn’t grow. In some countries which are at this stage provides insufficient birth control programs but is providing adequate health care programs. Creating an unequal trend between the CBR and the CDR. More children in the population means that there is a large number in the population that must be provided with needs that accounts to more expenses that must be satisfied by the population. This results to an extensive use of resources that leads to environmental destruction like far-reaching logging and illegal quarrying. This in turn leads to poverty which is true in certain developing countries such as the third world countries. In order to get through, just like what the stable countries have done, the government must find ways to solve such problems. Providing jobs, better health care and sanitation programs and education can help on alleviating the crisis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During the third stage of the transition, there is already an apparent stability of the CBR and CDR. The countries at this stage can already provide for much better birth control programs although there is still a slight increase of birth rate. China, South Korea and Cuba are examples of countries undergoing this stage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The last stage is during the time a certain country has already attained economic stability. Some Europeans are had already reached this stage of Demographic transition. The labor force in these countries is massive that creates a large income flow, that’s why the country is undoubtedly able provide effective health programs, birth control programs and other courses that would take care of its population and maintain it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One distinguishing characteristic of countries at this stage is that it has a mature population. Meaning to say that a large percentage making up the population is people aging from 60 years old and above or what we call the senior citizens. Gradually, aging countries, that’s how we should call them, experiences economic turn down. The reason for this is that the aging population grows that result to the dropping of the working population. And also, contributing to the population’s economic crisis is that the government tends to allocate a large part of the country’s budget for old age people’s care and services.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And also, a large part of countries in the fourth stage of demographic transition are immigrants.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   So when we see a population in such a state, it doesn’t mean forever. Before being a butterfly, it must be a caterpillar at first. References About.com (2007). Demographic Transition. Retrieved October 22, 2007, from http://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/a/demotransition.htm Institute For Futures Studies (October 2000). Four Phases in the Demographic Transition. Retrieved October 22, 2007, from http://www.framtidsstudier.se/filebank/files/ 20051201$132852$fil$u0byJpuS9KO6S443Tj6g.pdf

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Sexism in the Media and Music Industry | Essay

Sexism in the Media and Music Industry | Essay Introduction Sexism is the type of behavior created by a society through gender conditioning which equally degrades both men and women. â€Å"Sexism is the subordination of one sex, usually female, based on the assumed superiority of [another] sex† (Kendall, 2004, p. 76). It refers to a system of beliefs that objectifies and lowers the status of one sex and that creates reason of discrimination on the basis of this status. Examples of this attitude are sexist humor, sexist naming, sexual violence and employment discrimination. At personal level sexism refers to behaviors and attitudes that are used in everyday interactions. Gender or sex role related to the difference between men and women that are society or culture originated. SEXISM IN MEDIA In the few last years we have read and watched women who are not afraid to talk out about sexism attacks, abusively written about , threatened with hostile actions and being send aggressive and sexually detailed tweets, Facebook messages and emails. Almost every women have been on the receiving end of such abuse and I think every women should stand up for herself and be heard, writing this assignment can be just one small part to achieve change, people should realize how the media degrades women or the impact it has on individuals and our society. SEXISM IN MUSIC Popular culture takes everything to an extreme exaggeration, including this type of sexism, to earn profit. As the mainstream music industry that have grown over the last 10 years, the majority of the songs that are being played on the radio and channels are not appropriate, even the inappropriate words is replaced with something cheesy and age-appropriate ,it does not help or change the message hidden in this songs. In the article written by Tricia Ross â€Å"There are Bitches and Hoes,† she is addressing that rap/hip-hop and urban culture has often promoted the demeaning of women in the music industry. Popular old hip hop artists like Too Short, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, and Snoop Dogg are among the few hip hop artists that are allowing the degrading of women. Snoop’s popular lyrics â€Å"Bitches ain’t shit, but hoes and tricks,† and Too Short’s song â€Å"Gangstas and Strippers† are so inappropriate for being released on the music industry. The hi p hop culture advertises the idea that being a pimp to a woman is completely fine. Their defense being that â€Å"they are talking about a reality of life and dare people to deny it† (Rose 322). Popular artist like Snoop tries to justify his song by saying he is not talking about all the women even though even though they don’t specify the type of women they sing or rap about. â€Å"There is no question that the sexism that‘s in our hip-hop videos is a reflection of how sexist men are in the world today. It‘s just that in the past things weren‘t so obvious† (Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def. Jam Records). Since its birth in 1974 till today’s popularity worldwide, hip-hop music has extremely changed. Nowadays in the hip-hop music and music videos, there is many explicit words that degrades women. In many music videos women have no individuality and are promoted as sexual playthings and eye candy. Artists, such as Eminem, Ludacris, R.Kelly, Lil Wayne, Robin Thicke and Chris Brown are among the many artist who describe women as objects of harassment or male controlled world by communicating that submission is a desirable action by woman. Most of the messages in their song glorify sexism against women including rape, abuse and advertise gender objectification and dehumanizes women mainly. Robin Thicke and Pharell Williams’s popular song in 2013 â€Å"blurred lines† created a controversy with the lyrics such as† I know you want it, But youre a good girl ,The way you grab me, Must wanna get nasty† ,well you cant know they want it unless they tell you they want it, he assumes she want it. It advertises and promotes attitude towards sex and consent. Many people have called the song a rape song, the song would have escaped censure if the music video, that had Robin Thicke, Pharell Williams and T.I all three of them dancing and goofing around with barely dressed girls and that is the clean version, the other version had topless models, this has generated its own separate but also overlapping controversy. People who have been calling this song completely offensive to women have a strong case. Nevertheless, the song is about setting a good girl free by telling and showing her that she really wants some crazy sex that she is not even asking for. Robin Thicke keeps repeating the lyrics I know you want it while his rapping partner T.I. raps Ill give you something big enough to tear your ass in two. In GQ magazine when Robin Thicke was interviewed, he said, We tried to do everything that was taboo. Bestiality, drug injections, and everything that is completely derogatory towards women. Because all three of us are happily married with children, we were like, Were the perfect guys to make fun of this. What underlies Robin Thicke’s depressing statement this that if the men respect their women, it is alright for them to degrade their women. The artist makes it sadly clear when he explains: People say, Hey, do you think this is degrading to women? Im like, Of course it is. What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. Ive never gotten to do that before. Ive always respected women, not only is he saying it totally fine to degrade women, it’s actually fun. All issues in the world exist within these lines. The thought that it’s a â€Å"pleasure† to demean women after he had lived all his life respecting them is ridiculous. That it’s even funny or that he could do that because he is happily married with woman and has children is the thought of someone completely deluded, who has been living his complete life in a bubble of entitlement. Kanye West’s latest album has been accused for its sexist words against women, it also has been criticized by male and female critics alike as a very amazing, brilliant and bold album. Most of the attention and reviews focused on Kanye West’s potential sacrilege and harmful use of racism, few people called out his offensive and degrading attitude towards women. â€Å"Took her to the Bleau, she tried to sip the fountain/ That when David Grutman kicked her out/ But I got her back in and put my dick in her mouth.† Those are some lyrics from Kanye West’s first track, â€Å"On Sight,† which seems to refer directly to West’s girlfriend and mother of his baby girl Kim Kardashian and her relationship with Grutman, who is one of the people in-charge of Fontainebleau hotel in Miami, which would means he wrote this disgusting lyrics about the women he allegedly loves and about to marry. West himself was raised by a single working mother, whom he respected and loved. He was raised by a feminist, although she was never named that but She was a strong-willed woman who had raised an artist who both claims to completely inspired and completely, purposely sexist. The most interesting fact about hip-hop artists using this language towards women to be alright is the women’s reactions and behavior while listening to this music .When a young woman, a fan of the certain artist, listens to lyrics in the song like â€Å"bitches and hoes,† the hip hop musician is encouraging fans to imitate the behaviors and acts of these so-called â€Å"bitches and hoes.† Women participate not only in the acts these rappers are rapping about but also are featured in the music videos. These women who participate in this videos are called â€Å"video hoes† or â€Å"video vixen. When a women participates in this behaviors or staring in these rapper’s videos and even singing along in their car points out that they are okay with sexism. Being against sexism in a society or culture that takes advantage of it is not very easy, in a system that rewards us for participating. In another parts of the world, a group consisting of all girl Indian rock band have been disbanded after being targeted online by hate campaigns and have been issued fatwa (Islamic legal opinion handed down by an Islamic religious leader) against them . Pragaash (meaning â€Å"First Light† in Kashmiri) have won the third place in the battle of the bands a competition that’s being held in the Muslim dominated Kashmir, but the attention they gained after their achievement in the competition was so horrible that it caused them not to only stop their performances but to end their ties to the music industry, even one of three band members have fled her city to another. These girls have been called â€Å"whores† and â€Å"prostitutes† by these online hate campaign members and are being called indecent by the issued fatwa against them, while they were all wearing jeans, scarfs and long-sleeved shirts/jackets. While many members of both local and online communities have shown their support for the band members, others have being continuously threatening the girls and their immediate families, and they accused the girls of western-style culture influence. The nature of this matter is obviously affected by culture and religious differences but the main fact remains the same, that sexism is common around the globe. It also asks the question of how much more do we need to develop before it is universally know that this type of act is not simply unfair or harmful but that it is also a crime.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

The Hysteria Over Conversion Disorder Essay -- Health Medicine Biology

The Hysteria Over Conversion Disorder Scientists in fields connected to neurobiology and psychiatry remain mystified about the cause of Conversion Disorder. The disorder is characterized by physical symptoms of a neurological disorder, yet no direct problem can be found in the nervous system or other related systems of the body. This fact alone is not unusual; many diseases and symptoms have unknown origins. Conversion Disorder, however, seems to stem from "trivial" to traumatic psychological events and emotions rather than biological events. The extreme symptoms often disappear as quickly as they appear without the patient consciously controlling or feigning them. Thus, Conversion Disorder serves as a significant example of how blurred the conceived demarcated divisions of mind/body/behavior can be. Conversion Disorder is diagnosed solely by its physical symptoms seen in patients. Symptoms can be divided up into three groups: sensory, motor and visceral. Sensory symptoms include anesthesia, analgesia, tingling, and blindness. Motor symptoms may consist of disorganized mobility, tremors, tics, or paralysis of any muscle groups including vocal cords. Visceral functions include spells of coughing, vomiting belching, and trouble swallowing (1). Most of these symptoms are strikingly similar to existing neurological disorders that have definitive organic causes. Conversion Disorder, on the other hand, defies the nerve patterns and functions from which the symptoms should follow. CT scans and MRIs of patients with Conversion Disorder exclude the possibility of a lesion in the brain or spinal cord, an electroencephalograph rules out a true seizure disorder, and spinal fluid eliminates the possibility of infections or ot... ...ies in the seeming dichotomy between mind and body. This dichotomy however remains a created one for the benefit of our own understanding. Yet, in the case of Conversion Disorder, delineated scientific thinking seems to have prevented our understanding rather than facilitating it; by inspecting the trees, we are missing the forest. References 1)PsychNet-UK http://www.psychnet-uk.com/dsm_iv/conversion_disorder 2)Emedicine: Instant access to the minds of medicine., Dufel, Susan M.D. "Conversion Disorder". http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic112.htm 3)Parobek, Virginia M."Distinguishing conversion disorder from neurologic impairment".Journal of Neuroscience Nursing. 04/97. Volume 29. Number 2. p. 128. Infotrack: Expanded Academic , scroll down to E-journals, select Science Direct and search for title http://www.brynmawr.edu/Library/Docs/biology.html The Hysteria Over Conversion Disorder Essay -- Health Medicine Biology The Hysteria Over Conversion Disorder Scientists in fields connected to neurobiology and psychiatry remain mystified about the cause of Conversion Disorder. The disorder is characterized by physical symptoms of a neurological disorder, yet no direct problem can be found in the nervous system or other related systems of the body. This fact alone is not unusual; many diseases and symptoms have unknown origins. Conversion Disorder, however, seems to stem from "trivial" to traumatic psychological events and emotions rather than biological events. The extreme symptoms often disappear as quickly as they appear without the patient consciously controlling or feigning them. Thus, Conversion Disorder serves as a significant example of how blurred the conceived demarcated divisions of mind/body/behavior can be. Conversion Disorder is diagnosed solely by its physical symptoms seen in patients. Symptoms can be divided up into three groups: sensory, motor and visceral. Sensory symptoms include anesthesia, analgesia, tingling, and blindness. Motor symptoms may consist of disorganized mobility, tremors, tics, or paralysis of any muscle groups including vocal cords. Visceral functions include spells of coughing, vomiting belching, and trouble swallowing (1). Most of these symptoms are strikingly similar to existing neurological disorders that have definitive organic causes. Conversion Disorder, on the other hand, defies the nerve patterns and functions from which the symptoms should follow. CT scans and MRIs of patients with Conversion Disorder exclude the possibility of a lesion in the brain or spinal cord, an electroencephalograph rules out a true seizure disorder, and spinal fluid eliminates the possibility of infections or ot... ...ies in the seeming dichotomy between mind and body. This dichotomy however remains a created one for the benefit of our own understanding. Yet, in the case of Conversion Disorder, delineated scientific thinking seems to have prevented our understanding rather than facilitating it; by inspecting the trees, we are missing the forest. References 1)PsychNet-UK http://www.psychnet-uk.com/dsm_iv/conversion_disorder 2)Emedicine: Instant access to the minds of medicine., Dufel, Susan M.D. "Conversion Disorder". http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic112.htm 3)Parobek, Virginia M."Distinguishing conversion disorder from neurologic impairment".Journal of Neuroscience Nursing. 04/97. Volume 29. Number 2. p. 128. Infotrack: Expanded Academic , scroll down to E-journals, select Science Direct and search for title http://www.brynmawr.edu/Library/Docs/biology.html

Friday, October 11, 2019

Spread of Buddhism

Keith Secon AP World Spread of Buddhism DBQ Responses to the Spread of Buddhism Following Buddhism’s introduction into China in the first and second centuries, C. E. , the religion was received in different ways, reflecting the progression of China’s history. Chinese scholars, Confucian Government Officials, and Buddhists viewed Buddhism through their unique perspectives, sometimes agreeing and sometimes disagreeing on the role it played in Chinese life. Chinese scholars generally saw Buddhism as a positive influence because it provided hope for an afterlife. Buddhists naturally embraced the rise of Buddhism and saw it as salvation.Confucian government officials were suspicious of Buddhism and saw it as a negative influence that challenged their already proven authority from Confucianism. Ultimately, the groups response to Buddhism differed depending on how tightly centralized the established Confucian dynasty was at the time, and by how much each group’s positio n in society would be benefitted or harmed. Chinese Scholars viewed Buddhism from an intellectual standpoint which lead them to receive it as ultimately positive because they had no special interest, as did the religious or government leaders.As stated by Zhi Dun, â€Å"whosoever in China [†¦] serves the Buddha and correctly observes the commandments [†¦] he will behold the Buddha and be enlightened in his spirit, and then he will enter Nirvana. †(Doc 2) This shows that Zhi Dun supported Buddhism and saw it as a way to achieve the highest state of spiritual being because reaching Nirvana meant that one could escape the terrible cycle of reincarnation. This document is biased due to the fact that where Zhi Dun was living at this time, in Northern China was being invaded by barbaric nomads which led him to need something to believe in and Buddhism filled that void.A document that would have been helpful in reputing Zhi Dun’s statement would have been a diary en try from a scholar in Southern China where there were no foreign invaders and the government was still strong. In The Disposition of Error, an anonymous scholar in 500 ce questioned both Confucianism and Buddhism when he wrote, â€Å"All written works need not necessarily be the words of Confucius [†¦] even if the Buddha isn’t mentioned in them, What occasion is there for suspicion? (Doc 3) This scholar’s statements reflect the political chaos and turmoil of the time as they demonstrate Confucianism and Buddhism are neither good nor bad but they fill a necessary part in people’s lives. The bias in this document stems from his anonymity because it seems as if he is almost too scared too publicly share his ideas and name. In this case a diary entry or public statement from a Daoist would be very helpful to contrast this scholar’s claim. From the point of view of a Daoist the reader would have been better able to understand the writer’s loyaltie s on the statement.Buddhists positively responded to the Spread of Buddhism because they obviously believed in the values of Buddhism and they wanted to share their beliefs with others. Buddha in â€Å"The Four Noble Truths† lays out the basic guidelines to Buddhism and the way for converts to live their lives (Doc 1). Following the noble truths outlined by Siddhartha Gautama will eventually lead to the stopping of sorrow. The bias in the document lays in the fact that it is a sermon which has the sole purpose to try to convert people to the faith being preached.To argue the Buddha’s guidelines of life, the Four Noble Truths, a scientific based study by an Educator or Scholar would be helpful as it could clear up some of the unknowns in the Buddha’s statement. A scientific study would have been helpful due to fact that the Buddha was mainly preaching to the uneducated lower-class. The leading Buddhist scholar, Zong Mi, in his essay â€Å"On the Nature of Manâ⠂¬  wrote, â€Å"Confucius, Laozi, and the Buddha were perfect sages[†¦] all three teachings lead to the creation of an orderly society and for this they must be observed with respect†(Doc 5).This shows that Zong Mi was impartial if not pro-Buddhist because he showed respect for Buddhism, as well as the other philosophies, because he believed they all could provide stability and happiness for the people. This document is biased because the scholar is Buddhist and probably wealthy which led him to promote Buddhism because if more people converted to it, it would have only benefited him more. In this case a diary entry from a Confucian Scholar would be helpful in debasing Buddhism because Confucianism was specifically against Buddhism.Confucian government officials were vehemently opposed to Buddhism because they believed it openly challenged their power and authority. Han Yu, a leading Confucian scholar and official at the Tang imperial, in â€Å"Memorial on Buddhismâ⠂¬  states, â€Å"Buddhism is no more than a cult of the barbarian peoples spread to China†(Doc 4) Han Yu was clearly against Buddhism, thinking that it had a negative effect because the people who worshiped it were barbarians and not like the educated scholars of his social class.Han Yu also opposed Buddhism because he was rooted in his own Confucian beliefs and the power it bestowed upon his government. This document is dripping with bias because a Confucian scholar wrote it during a highly centralized time of political stability. The political stability led to the peasants and the masses not needing a higher belief so they digressed back to the standard Confucian bureaucracy. A diary entry from a Buddhist monk or convert would be helpful as it would defend the ways of Buddhism and living one’s life to the fullest instead of letting the state control you.Emperor Wu, of the Tang Dynasty, in his â€Å"Edict of Buddhism† states, â€Å"now if even one man fails to work the fields, someone must go hungry [†¦] At present there are an inestimable number of monks and nuns in the empire, all of them waiting for the farmers to feed them†(Doc 6). The previous statement shows that Emperor Wu was very opposed to Buddhism because it took away the maximum productivity that his empire was capable of due to the fact the Buddhists lead ascetic lives and depended on others for goods and food.This document is biased because Emperor Wu didn’t have a first hand experience of what the masses had to deal with because he was a wealthy aristocrat and didn’t understand the need for a religion like Buddhism. A recorded conversation between two farmers would be helpful for determining if it puts that much economic stain on the farmers to produce more for others, since more production leads to more wealth.The conflict between Buddhism and Confucianism was due to the changing political state of China throughout it history of dynasties. When a dynasty wasn’t strong or when China was in a period of decentralization, it allowed new philosophies and religions to become prominent but when China was stable and centralized the people regressed to the normalcy of Confucianism. In dark times, when political turmoil flourishes, new religions arise to the forefront of society by offering hope and structure and common values.This is true at many points in history throughout various civilizations, such as during medieval times in Europe, the new religion of Christianity took hold in peasants’ lives during the time of political unsteadiness. As times change, new religions are created and others are pushed to the back burner. People must remember through these changing times not to become too invested in one religion as it will only lead to disappointment, and in some extreme cases, persecution.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

KFC‘s 4P strategy in China Essay

1. Product In order to bring success in China, KFC knows that western restaurants need changed by using localization strategy. As cultural adaptation is the process of â€Å"adjusting the native ways of thinking and behaviors to be consistent with the local culture† (Kotler, 1982), KFC tends to launch Chinese food apart from western food like burger or chicken wings, for examples, Chinese food like congee and rice, and promote Chinese herbal tea in 2004. KFC launched Chinese products like ‘Wolfberry Pumpkin Congee’, ‘Chicken Porridge with Mushroom’, ‘Duck Soup’, even lunched the ‘Deep-fried dough sticks’ in 2008. 90% of its raw materials are coming from the local too. It is obviously that KFC is trying to create the Chinese taste food when it entering to China market. The Chinese food fit the local taste and it helps KFC to build up the relationship with the Chinese people. Also, KFC introduced several new products with Chinese regional characteristics aiming to adapt local taste. For instance, ‘Dragon Twister Combo’, ‘Sichuan taste Spicy Chicken’, ‘Cantonese flavor cushion chatter’, etc. As there are many cities in China, KFC wants to treasure different regional tastes, from Beijing to Sichuan or Cantonese tastes. The products that are particularly designed for the Chinese, which gives the chance to KFC promoting their brand to Chinese people and becomes the first western fast food restaurant with Chinese cuisines in China. While KFC has launched diversification products, no matter western food like burger, French fries, chicken wings, or Chinese food like congee, rice, soup, deep-fried dough sticks, etc. People can find different types of food in KFC and it introduces a new product every half month in average, which provided an innovative product lines to customers and enlarge its market in China. 2. Place KFC is the first joint vendor of international fast food shop in China and its first restaurant is located in Tiananmen Square (Beijing) in 1987. ‘Perhaps not surprisingly the first KFC outlet had strong novelty value and attracted huge queues and custom.’ (Jim Riley, 2013) It is no doubt that KFC is enjoying the first mover advantage and it attracts Chinese to taste a  freshness western restaurant. KFC has more than 4000 outlets in the Chinese market and in every province of China. It covers the major large and medium sized cities like Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjing, etc. KFC wants to expand its market share in China with a remarkable speed and it identified 16 key cities as its base. Also, it use a strategy to expand its market from the big cities to the medium and small cities. To create a demand of its brand in the big cities, then extend into the medium and small sized cities. KFC started out gaining notice in bustling cities like Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai as big cities tend to be the capital cities with larger customer based and higher level of economy development. It helps KFC to establish its brand image in China while marketing in big cities can help KFC to test the local market with the macro environment and market conditions of fast food industry and less chance of failure for KFC to enter Chinese market. Moreover, KFC choose the locations with large traffic and pedestrian volume which are always near to the supermarkets, gasoline service stations or shopping malls. There is a unique feature that KFC applying for its distribution system, which helps to expand its store network. KFC owned their outlets rather than only franchised them in China with building warehouses and operating a fleet of trucks. It provides extensive staff and management training including from food preparation to customer service and logistics. This special distribution system gives KFC greater control over their outlets and ensure its quality of services. 3. Promotion KFC is using the localization strategy to adapt local taste in their promotion. It changed its slogan into Chinese cultural version from ‘We do chicken right’ to ‘,’ in 2005 and ‘’ in 2010. This action shows the ambition of KFC is to establish a strong image of pleasing Chinese. With the purpose of motivating the brand awareness and sales volume to targeted customer like family with children, KFC launched several gift promotions which followed the Chinese comic trends. For example, the cartoon named ‘Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf’ is extremely hot and popular, KFC promotes its children sets with the doll gift of the cartoon. This helps to boost the sales volume of its child food set and making a trend to Chinese children to collect KFC gift collections. Also, in order to build up the  customer loyalty of children in China, KFC creates its own cartoon named ‘QiQi’ and opens a website (Miaoli City http://www.kfckids.com.cn/) for children to play. Furthermore, the promotion sells union of people in its advertisement, which promoting KFC is a good place for every groups of people to have their reunion time. It can easily find that KFC is creating a pleasant image for families and friends while Chinese is focusing on relationships. 4. Price KFC is using the price skimming strategy towards its customers in China. As KFC is targeting middle to high levels class in the big and medium sized cities first, it sets its price in a relatively high in the beginning. The average price for personal meal in KFC is around 30RMB which is higher than the other restaurants in China. But, KFC lower its product price with promotion and discount provided after. Most of its sets have at least 3 dollars discount and KFC gives discount to every new product. Also, online coupons are extremely high usage in China which attract many Chinese having their meals in KFC. For instance, a dinner set with priced 20RMB can be decreased to 15RMB when customers downloaded the coupon online and gave it to the cashier. The tea set is cheap to attract more customers in the normal hours. For example, a tea set with egg tart and dessert cost 6 dollars only. Apart from the discount, differentiate pricing policy is applied in KFC. With different cost in different outlets or stores in different places, there are different pricing of KFC products. While the economic environment is not the same in each region, the cost used in different KFC restaurants are different namely the rent. Also, with the different profit earned in different areas, KFC reset its price by different time, restaurants, and regions in 2012. Reference Kotler P. (1982) Global Standardization-Courting Danger, The Journal of Consumer Marketing, 3 (2) spring. (Jim Riley, 2013), http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/business-studies/comments/why-localisat

The Stupidest Angel Chapter 1

This book is dedicated to MIKE SPRADLIN who said: â€Å"You know, you oughtta write a Christmas book.† To which I replied: â€Å"What kind of Christmas book?† To which he replied: â€Å"I don't know. Maybe Christmas in Pine Cove or something.† To which I replied: † ‘Kay.† Acknowledgments The author wishes to acknowledge those who helped: as always, Nicholas Ellison, my intrepid agent; Jennifer Brehl, my brilliant editor; Lisa Gallagher and Michael Morrison for continued confidence in my ability to tell stories; Jack Womack and Leslie Cohen for getting me in front of my readers and the press; the Huffmans, for preparing a landing pad and a warm welcome; Charlee Rodgers, for the careful reads, thoughtful comments, and just putting up with the process; and finally, Taco Bob, from whom I joyfully (and with permission, which almost ruins it) swiped the idea for chapter 16. Author's Warning If you're buying this book as a gift for your grandma or a kid, you should be aware that it contains cusswords as well as tasteful depictions of cannibalism and people in their forties having sex. Don't blame me. I told you. Chapter 1 CHRISTMAS CREEPS Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing eggnog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe. Pine Cove, her pseudo-Tudor architecture all tarted up in holiday quaintage – twinkle lights in all the trees along Cypress Street, fake snow blown into the corner of every shop's windows, miniature Santas and giant candles hovering illuminated beneath every streetlight – opened to the droves of tourists from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the Central Valley searching for a truly meaningful moment of Christmas commerce. Pine Cove, sleepy California coastal village – a toy town, really, with more art galleries than gas stations, more wine-tasting rooms than hardware stores – lay there, as inviting as a drunken prom queen, as Christmas loomed, only five days away. Christmas was coming, and with Christmas this year, would come the Child. Both were vast and irresistible, and miraculous. Pine Cove was expecting only one of the two. Which is not to say that the locals didn't get into the Christmas spirit. The two weeks before and after Christmas provided a welcome wave of cash into the town's coffers, tourist-starved since summer. Every waitress dusted off her Santa hat and clip-on reindeer antlers and checked to make sure that there were four good pens in her apron. Hotel clerks steeled themselves for the rage of last-minute overbookings, while housekeepers switched from their normal putrid baby-powder air fresheners to a more festive putrid pine and cinnamon. Down at the Pine Cove Boutique they put a â€Å"Holiday Special† sign on the hideous reindeer sweater and marked it up for the tenth consecutive year. The Elks, Moose, Masons, and VFWs, who were basically the same bunch of drunk old guys, planned furiously for their annual Christmas parade down Cypress Street, the theme of which this year would be Patriotism in the Bed of a Pickup (mainly because that had been the theme of their Fourth of July para de and everyone still had the decorations). Many Pine Covers even volunteered to man the Salvation Army kettles down in front of the post office and the Thrifty-Mart in two-hour shifts, sixteen hours a day. Dressed in their red suits and fake beards, they rang their bells like they were going for dog-spit gold at the Pavlov Olympics. â€Å"Give up the cash, you cheap son of a bitch,† said Lena Marquez, who was working the kettle that Monday, five days before Christmas. Lena was following Dale Pearson, Pine Cove's evil developer, through the parking lot, ringing the bejeezus out of him as he headed for his truck. On his way into the Thrifty-Mart, he'd nodded to her and said, â€Å"Catch you on the way out,† but when he emerged eight minutes later, carrying a sack of groceries and a bag of ice, he blew by her kettle like she was using it to render tallow from building inspectors' butts and he needed to escape the stench. â€Å"It's not like you can't afford a couple of bucks for the less fortunate.† She rang her bell especially hard right by his ear and he spun around, swinging the bag of ice at her about hip level. Lena jumped back. She was thirty-eight, lean, dark-skinned, with the delicate neck and finely set jawline of a flamenco dancer; her long black hair was coiled into two Princess Leia cinnabuns on either side of her Santa hat. â€Å"You can't take a swing at Santa! That's wrong in so many ways that I don't have time to enumerate them.† â€Å"You mean to count them,† Dale said, the soft winter sunlight glinting off a new set of veneers he'd just had installed on his front teeth. He was fifty-two, almost completely bald, and had strong carpenter's shoulders that were still wide and square, despite the beer gut hanging below. â€Å"I mean it's wrong – you're wrong – and you're cheap,† and with that Lena put the bell next to his ear again and shook it like a red-suited terrier shaking the life out of a screaming brass rat. Dale cringed at the sound and swung the ten-pound bag of ice in a great underhanded arc that caught Lena in the solar plexus and sent her backpedaling across the parking lot, gasping for breath. That's when the ladies at BULGES called the cops – well, cop. BULGES was a women's fitness center located just above the parking lot of the Thrifty-Mart, and from their treadmills and stair-climbing machines, the BULGES members could watch the ins and outs of the local market without feeling as if they were actively spying. So what had started as a moment of sheer glee and a mild adrenaline surge for the six of them who were watching as Lena chased Dale through the parking lot, turned quickly to shock as the evil developer thwacked the Latin Santa-ette in the breadbasket with a satchel of minicubes. Five of the six merely missed a step or gasped, but Georgia Bauman – who had her treadmill cranked up to eight miles per hour at that very moment, because she was trying to lose fifteen pounds by Christmas and fit into a red-sequined sheath cocktail dress her husband had bought for her in a fit of sexual idealism – bowled backward off her treadmill and landed in a colorful spandex tangle of yoga students who had been practicing on the mats behind her. â€Å"Ow, my ass chakra!† â€Å"That's you're root chakra.† â€Å"Feels like my ass.† â€Å"Did you see that? He nearly knocked her off her feet. Poor thing.† â€Å"Should we see if she's all right?† â€Å"Someone should call Theo.† The exercisers opened their cell phones in unison, like the Jets flicking switchblades as they gaily danced into a West Side Story gang-fight to the death. â€Å"Why did she ever marry that guy, anyway?† â€Å"He's such an asshole.† â€Å"She used to drink.† â€Å"Georgia, are you all right, honey?† â€Å"Can you get Theo by calling 911?† â€Å"That bastard is just going to drive off and leave her there » â€Å"We should go help.† â€Å"I've got twelve more minutes on this thing.† â€Å"The cell reception in this town is horrible.† â€Å"I have Theo's number on speed dial, for the kids. Let me call.† â€Å"Look at Georgia and the girls. It looks like they were playing Twister and fell.† â€Å"Hello, Theo. This is Jane down at BULGES. Yes, well, I just glanced out the window here and I noticed that there might be a problem over at the Thrifty-Mart. Well, I don't want to meddle, but let's just say that a certain contractor just hit one of the Salvation Army Santas with a bag of ice. Well, I'll look for your car, then.† She flipped the phone shut. â€Å"He's on his way.† Theophilus Crowe's mobile phone played eight bars of â€Å"Tangled Up in Blue† in an irritating electronic voice that sounded like a choir of suffering houseflies, or Jiminy Cricket huffing helium, or, well, you know, Bob Dylan – anyway, by the time he got the device open, five people in the produce section of the Thrifty-Mart were giving him the hairy eyeball hard enough to wilt the arugula right there in his cart. He grinned as if to say, Sorry, I hate these things, too, but what aw you gonna do? then he answered, â€Å"Constable Crowe,† just to remind everyone that he wasn't dickmg around here, he was THE LAW. â€Å"In the parking lot of the Thrifty-Mart? Okay, I'll be right there » Wow, this was convenient. One thing about being the resident lawman in a town of only five thousand people – you were never far from the trouble. Theo parked his cart on the end of the aisle and loped by the registers and out the automatic doors to the parking lot (He was a denim- and flannel-clad praying mantis of a man, six-six, one-eighty, and he only had three speeds, amble, lope, and still). Outside he found Lena Marquez doubled over and gasping for breath. Her ex-husband, Dale Pearson, was stepping into his four-wheel-drive pickup. â€Å"Right there, Dale. Wait,† Theo said Theo ascertained that Lena had only had the wind knocked out of her and was going to be okay, then addressed the stocky contractor, who had paused with one boot on the running board, as if he'd be on his way as soon as the hot air cleared out of the truck. â€Å"What happened here?† â€Å"The crazy bitch hit me with that bell of hers.† â€Å"Did not,† gasped Lena â€Å"I got a report you hit her with a bag of ice, Dale. That's assault.† Dale Pearson looked around quickly and spotted the crowd of women gathered by the window over at the gym. They all looked away, heading for the various machines they had been on when the debacle unfolded. â€Å"Ask them. They'll tell you she had that bell right upside my head. I just reacted out of self-defense.† â€Å"He said he'd donate when he came out of the store, then he didn't,† Lena said, her breath coming back. â€Å"There's an implied contract there. He violated it. And I didn't hit him.† â€Å"She's a fucking nutcase.† Dale said it like he was declaring water wet – like it was just understood. Theo looked from one of them to the other. He'd dealt with these two before, but thought it had all come to rest when they'd divorced five years ago. (He'd been constable of Pine Cove for fourteen years – he'd seen the wrong side of a lot of couples.) First rule in a domestic situation was separate the parties, but that appeared to have already been accomplished. You weren't supposed to take sides, but since Theo had a soft spot for nutcases – he'd married one himself – he decided to make a judgment call and focus his attention on Dale. Besides, the guy was an asshole. Theo patted Lena's back and loped over to Dale's truck. â€Å"Don't waste your time, hippie,† Dale said. â€Å"I'm done.† He climbed into his truck and closed the door. Hippie? Theo thought. Hippie? He'd cut his ponytail years ago. He'd stopped wearing Birkenstocks. He'd even stopped smoking pot. Where did this guy get off calling him a hippie? Hippie? he said to himself, then: â€Å"Hey!† Dale started his truck and put it into gear. Theo stepped up on the running board, leaned over the windshield, and started tapping on it with a quarter he'd fished from his jeans pocket. â€Å"Don't leave, Dale.† Tap, tap, tap. â€Å"You leave now, I'll put a warrant out for your arrest.† Tap, tap, tap. Theo was pissed now – he was sure of it. Yes, this was definitely anger now. Dale threw the truck into park and hit the electric window button. â€Å"What? What do you want?† â€Å"Lena wants to press charges for assault – maybe assault with a deadly weapon. I think you'd better rethink leaving right now.† â€Å"Deadly weapon? It was a bag of ice.† Theo shook his head, affected a whimsical storyteller's tone: â€Å"A ten-pound bag of ice. Listen, Dale, as I drop a ten-pound block of ice on the courtroom floor in front of the jury. Can you hear it? Can't you just see the jury cringe as I smash a honeydew melon on the defense attorney's table with a ten-pound block of ice? Not a deadly weapon? ‘Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this man, this reprobate, this redneck, this – if I may – clump-filled-cat-box-of-a-man, struck a defenseless woman – a woman who out of the kindness of her heart was collecting for the poor, a woman who was only – ; â€Å"But it's not a block of ice, it's –  » Theo raised a finger in the air. â€Å"Not another word, Dale, not until I read you your rights.† Theo could tell he was getting to Dale – veins were starting to pulse in the contractor's temples and his bald head was turning bright pink. Hippie, huh? â€Å"Lena is definitely pressing charges, aren't you, Lena?† Lena had made her way to the side of the truck. â€Å"No,† Lena said. â€Å"Bitch!† Theo said – it slipped out before he could stop himself. He'd been on such a roll. â€Å"See how she is,† said Dale. â€Å"Wish you had a bag of ice now, don't you, hippie?† â€Å"I'm an officer of the law,† Theo said, wishing he had a gun or something. He pulled his badge wallet out of his back pocket but decided that was a little late for ID, since he'd known Dale for nearly twenty years. â€Å"Yeah, and I'm a Caribou,† Dale said, with more pride than he really should have had about that. â€Å"I'll forget all about it if he puts a hundred bucks in the kettle,† Lena said. â€Å"You're nuts, woman.† â€Å"It's Christmas, Dale.† â€Å"Fuck Christmas and fuck you.† â€Å"Hey, there's no need for that kind of talk, Dale,† Theo said, going for the peace in peace officer. â€Å"You can just step out of the truck.† â€Å"Fifty bucks in the kettle and he can go,† Lena said. â€Å"It's for the needy.† Theo whipped around and looked at her. â€Å"You can't plea-bargain in the parking lot of the Thrifty-Mart. I had him on the ropes.† â€Å"Shut up, hippie,† Dale said. Then to Lena, â€Å"You'll take twenty and the needy can get bent. They can get a job like the rest of us.† Theo was sure he had handcuffs in the Volvo – or were they still on the bedpost at home? â€Å"That is not the way we –  » â€Å"Forty!† Lena shouted. â€Å"Done!† Dale said. He pulled two twenties from his wallet, wadded them up, and threw them out the window so they bounced off of Theo Crowe's chest. He threw the truck in gear and backed out. â€Å"Stop right there!† Theo commanded. Dale righted the truck and took off. As the big red pickup passed Theo's Volvo station wagon, parked twenty yards up the lot, a bag of ice came flying out the window and exploded against the Volvo's tailgate, showering the parking lot with cubes but otherwise doing no damage whatsoever. â€Å"Merry Christmas, you psycho bitch!† Dale shouted out the window as he turned onto the street. â€Å"And to all a good night! Hippie!† Lena had tucked the wadded bills into her Santa suit and was squeezing Theo's shoulder as the red truck roared out of sight. â€Å"Thanks for coming to my rescue, Theo.† â€Å"Not much of a rescue. You should press charges.† â€Å"I'm okay. He'd have gotten out of it anyway, he has great lawyers. Trust me, I know. Besides, forty bucks'† â€Å"That's the Christmas spirit,† Theo said, not able to keep from smiling. â€Å"You sure you're okay?† â€Å"I'm fine. It's not the first time he's lost it with me.† She patted the pocket of her Santa suit. â€Å"At least something came of this.† She started back to her kettle and Theo followed. â€Å"You have a week to file charges if you change your mind,† Theo said. â€Å"You know what, Theo? I really don't want to spend another Christmas obsessing on what a complete waste of humanity Dale Pearson is. I'd rather let it go. Maybe if we're lucky he'll be one of those holiday fatalities we're always hearing about† â€Å"That would be nice,† said Theo. â€Å"Now who's in the Christmas spirit?† In another Christmas story, Dale Pearson, evil developer, self-absorbed woman hater, and seemingly unredeemable curmudgeon, might be visited in the night by a series of ghosts who, by showing him bleak visions of Christmas future, past, and present, would bring about in him a change to generosity, kindness, and a general warmth toward his fellow man But this is not that kind of Christmas story, so here, in not too many pages, someone is going to dispatch the miserable son of a bitch with a shovel. That's the spirit of Christmas yet to come in these parts. Ho, ho, ho.