Quality Management and Productivity free essay sample

A discussion of how to give managers a competitive advantage to increase productivity. Productivity results are measurements of good management skills and decisions. This paper gives some advice to managers on how to get competitive using different marketing techniques in order to obtain customer loyalty and in turn increase quality and maximize productivity. Many times the managers are faced with responsibility of not only managing employees and making things run smoothly, but making financial decisions and attracting investors. Attracting investors requires exploration and knowledge of market segments, Stengel 2001. An exploration of market segments and competitiveness must be researched. Investors like dealing with people who are knowledgeable about competition and offer services that are unique. Researching the market requires consideration of the socioeconomic status, age, lifestyles, behavior patterns etc. of the potential customers relative to the services and products being offered.

About the Congressional Reform Act

About the Congressional Reform Act The Congressional Reform Act, to many critics of the system, sounds good on paper. The purported legislation would place term limits on members of the ​U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, and strip lawmakers of their public pensions. If it sounds too good to be true, thats because it is. The Congressional Reform Act is a work of fiction, a sort of angry taxpayers manifesto that went viral on the Web and continues to be forwarded and forwarded again, with little regard for facts. Thats right. No member of Congress has introduced such a bill - and none would, given the widely circulated emails numerous half-truths and bogus claims. So if youre wondering when the Congressional Reform Act will pass the House and Senate, heres a little tip: It wont. The Text of Congressional Reform Act Email Here is one version of the Congressional Reform Act email: Subject: Congressional Reform Act of 2011 The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971†¦before computers, before e- mail, before cell phones, etc. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land†¦all because of public pressure. Im asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise. In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around. Congressional Reform Act of 2011 Term Limits. 12 years only, one of the possible options below.A. Two Six-year Senate termsB. Six Two-year House termsC. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House termsNo Tenure / No Pension.A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.Congress (past, present future) participates in Social Security.All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effect ive 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work. If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S.) to receive the message. Maybe it is time. THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!! If you agree with the above, pass it on. If not, just delete You are one of my 20. Please keep it going. Mistakes in Congressional Reform Act Email There are numerous errors in the Congressional Reform Act email. Lets start with the most obvious one - the incorrect assumption that members of Congress dont pay into the Social Security system. They are required to pay social security payroll taxes under federal law. Also see: Salaries and Benefits of U.S. Congress Members That wasnt always the case, though. Before 1984 members of Congress did not pay into Social Security. But they also were not eligible to claim Social Security benefits. At the time they participated in what was called the Civil Service Retirement System. The 1983 amendments to the Social Security Act all members of Congress to participate in Social Security as of Jan. 1, 1984, regardless of when they first entered Congress. Other Errors in Congressional Reform Act Email As far as pay raises, cost-of-living adjustments tied to inflation - such as the Congressional Reform Act email suggests - take effect annually unless Congress votes to not accept it. Members of Congress do not vote themselves pay raises, as the email suggests. There are other problems with the Congressional Reform Act email, including the claim that all Americans buy their own retirement plans. Studies show that most full-time workers actually participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Members of Congress get retirement benefits under the same plans available to other federal employees. Meantime, members of Congress already are subject to the same laws the rest of us are, despite claims to the contrary by the Congressional Reform Act email. But lets not quibble over details. The point is: The Congressional Reform Act isnt a real piece of legislation. Even if it were, what are the chances members of Congress would vote to eliminate perks and jeopardize their own job security? But Why Not Term Limits for Congress? Despite the totally mythical nature of the Congressional Reform Act, the very real question of term limits for Congress has been debated for years. If the President of the United States is limited to two terms, why should the terms of senators and representatives not be similarly limited? Proponents argue that term limits would prevent the constant politicking, fundraising, and campaigning for re-election that seems to consume so much of Congress members’ time today, especially in the case of representatives who most run for re-election every two years. Those who oppose term limits, and there are several, say that in America’s democratic republic, elections themselves act as term limits. And, in fact, members of the House and Senate are required to face their local constituents every two years or every six years and re-apply for their jobs. If the people are unhappy with them, they can literally â€Å"toss the rascals out.† Along those same lines, term limit opponents point out that while the president serves all of the people, members of Congress serve only the residents of their states or local congressional districts. Thus, the interaction between members of Congress and their constituents is far more direct and personal in nature. Term limits, they argue, would arbitrarily negate the power of the voters to retain lawmakers they consider effective in representing them. Updated by Robert Longley

The Medias 5 Most Tired Asian American Stereotypes

The Medias 5 Most Tired Asian American Stereotypes Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States, but in Hollywood, theyre often invisible or subject to old, tired stereotypes. Stereotypes in the media are especially harmful given that the Asian American community is woefully underrepresented on the large and small screen alike. â€Å"Only 3.8 percent of all television and theatrical roles were portrayed by Asian Pacific Islander actors in 2008, compared to 6.4 percent portrayed by Latino actors, 13.3 percent portrayed by African Americans and 72.5 percent portrayed by Caucasian actors,† according to the Screen Actors Guild. Because of this imbalance, Asian American actors have few opportunities to counteract sweeping generalizations about their racial group. In reality, Asian Americans are far more than the geeks and geishas Hollywood would have you believe. Dragon Ladies Since the days of early Hollywood, Asian American women have played â€Å"dragon ladies.† These female characters tend to be physically attractive but domineering and underhanded. Ultimately, they can’t be trusted. Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong played a series of these roles in the 1920s and contemporary actress Lucy Liu has more recently been accused of popularizing the stereotype. Wong temporarily left the United States to act in European films where she could escape being typecast as a dragon lady in Hollywood films. â€Å"I was so tired of the parts I had to play,† Wong explained in a 1933 interview quoted by the Los Angeles Times. â€Å"Why is it that the screen Chinese is nearly always the villain of the piece, and so cruel a villain- murderous, treacherous, a snake in the grass? We are not like that. †¦ We have our own virtues. We have our rigid code of behavior, of honor. Why do they never show these on the screen? Why should we always scheme, rob, kill?† Kung Fu Fighters When Bruce Lee became a superstar in the U.S. after the success of his 1973 film â€Å"Enter the Dragon,† the Asian American community largely took pride in his fame. In the film, Lee wasn’t portrayed as a buck-toothed imbecile, as Asian Americans had been portrayed in films such as â€Å"Breakfast at Tiffany’s.† Instead, he was strong and dignified. But before long, Hollywood began to portray all Asian Americans as martial arts experts. â€Å"So now the flipside of stereotyping is that every Asian American actor is expected to know some form of martial arts,† Tisa Chang, director of the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in New York, told ABC News. â€Å"Any casting person will say, ‘Well, do you do some martial arts?’† Since Bruce Lee’s death, Asian performers such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li have become stars in the U.S. due to their martial arts backgrounds. Geeks Asian Americans are often portrayed as geeks and technical whizzes. Not only does this stereotype surface in television shows and films but also in commercials. The Washington Post has pointed out that Asian Americans are often portrayed as technologically savvy people in ads for corporations such as Verizon, Staples, and IBM. â€Å"When Asian Americans appear in advertising, they typically are presented as the technological experts- knowledgeable, savvy, perhaps mathematically adept or intellectually gifted,† the Post reported. â€Å"They’re most often shown in ads for business-oriented or technical products- smartphones, computers, pharmaceuticals, electronic gear of all kinds.† These commercials play on existing stereotypes about Asians being intellectually and technologically superior to Westerners. Foreigners Although people of Asian descent have lived in the United States since the 1800s, Asian Americans are often portrayed as perpetual foreigners. Like Latinos, Asians in television and film often speak accented English, suggesting that they’re recent immigrants to the country. These portrayals ignore that the United States is home to generation after generation of Asian Americans. They also set up Asian Americans to be stereotyped in real life. Asian Americans often complain about how often they get asked, â€Å"Where are you from- originally?† or complimented for speaking good English when they’ve spent their entire lives in the United States. Prostitutes Asian women have routinely been featured as prostitutes and sex workers in Hollywood. The line â€Å"Me love you long time,† spoken by a Vietnamese sex worker to U.S. soldiers in the 1987 film â€Å"Full Metal Jacket,† is arguably the most famous cinematic example of an Asian woman willing to sexually debase herself for white men. â€Å"There we have the promiscuous API woman stereotype: The one in which the Asian woman wants to have sex, willing to do anything, with the white man,† wrote Tony Le in Pacific Ties magazine. â€Å"The stereotype has taken many forms, from Lotus Blossom to Miss Saigon.† Le said that 25 years of â€Å"me love you long time† jokes endure. According to the TV Tropes website, the Asian prostitute stereotype dates back to the 1960s and ’70s, when U.S. military involvement in Asia heightened. In addition to â€Å"Full Metal Jacket,† films such as â€Å"The World of Suzie Wong† notoriously featured an Asian prostitute whose love for a white man is unrequited. â€Å"Law Order: SVU† also routinely depicts Asian women as prostitutes and mail-order brides.

Treatment of disorders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Treatment of disorders - Essay Example The obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has numerous psychopharmacological and psychological treatments, this include medications, such as antidepressants which have direct effect on the patients mind and this can also have few side effects, which however are bearable. The cognitive behavioral theory has proved to be the most useful source of treating such disorders, this include actions like identifying the main factors causing disorder and than trying to separate them from the patients thinking using various techniques, "support groups" is another technique used to eliminate the disorder, here the patient shares his/her experiences with the other of the same category or with people who have already experienced OCD, this brings in a lot of knowledge about the undergoing conditions in the patient's mind. The autistic disorders that are found right from the childhood, people having such disorders have relatively less chances of being cured from the disorders. The treatment include special educational program, designed to improve the patient's speaking, interacting and reacting skills, else social skills training and individual therapies are also encouraged. One interesting fact about autistic disorders is that it requires treatment on the basis patient's age, the symptoms, the extent of disorder, patient's tolerance for the medications etc. The intensive behavior therapy in the early age of patient or child and actions of parents are in great relation to better improvement in the conditions of the patient or child. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder Generally found in children, ADHD has certain steps that are necessary for ensuring the treatment's success, it consist of an overall analysis on child's strengths and weaknesses, behavior therapy is again very much encouraged to treat children with ADHD, a health guide from Webmd says the following: Your child's health professional may recommend that your child take a stimulant medication, such as amphetamine (examples include Dexedrine or Adderall) or methylphenidate (examples include Ritalin, Concerta, or Metadate CD). These medications improve symptoms in about 70% of children who have the condition. However parents are a lot more concerned about their children, and it often makes them worried about the loss of appetite of their children, sleeping problems in children and related issues, research has shown that nothing such teribles happens if the medication is properly taken. post traumatic stress post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is having a common background, it appears in chidren due to sudden shocks, it can be treated but it has no different treatments than most of the other disorders, it includes psychodynamic psychotherapy in which more concern is on the past accidents and how they are linked with present experiences, Exposure theapy is another treatment which is related to the reactions of the pateint and his/her

How Computer Games Influence Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

How Computer Games Influence Violence - Essay Example Several researches have focused on the effects of video games on adolescents and children. This is because children belong to an age whereby they are vulnerable to deceptions (Signorielli 2006, p. 36). This means that they can barely separate illusions from reality. Children easily develop emotions that make them vulnerable to script of their play. It is essential to note that video games are proven to have positive effects as well. For instance, video games could be responsible for improving manual dexterity. This is useful in handling things such as bicycles, vehicles and other machines. Additionally, video games could improve computer literacy of children. This is attributable to employment of various control keys and manipulations in creating a game. Technology improves to accord these games better graphics for real three dimensional experiences in playing. Such quality heralds video games as a distinct force in children’s lives. However, research and real life experiences show that video games increase aggression in teens. Video games have notably transformed to become increasingly popular with teenagers. An example concerns the studies, of Kaiser Family Foundation, that reported of most children homes’ ownership of video games. ... This mostly concerns shooting games in which other characters are depicted to have died. Video games necessitate a critical concern because children are active users of such medium. It is notable that video games demand significant attention that children gullibly accord. This gives greater credibility to the images that appear on the devices’ screens. Since parents rarely involve themselves in video games, they are unaware of the images. Some studies indicate that children who play martial games would possess the tendency towards aggression (Aboujaoude & Koran, p. 184). This would be different from motorcycle racing games whereby children are not likely to develop aggression out of playing. This affects children players in two dimensions. To begin with, it deceives players of their strength in case they win such games. It is vital to note that children become increasingly proficient with more games that they play. This proficiency enables players to easily win games by depict ions of shooting and murdering other characters. It creates a sense of self misconception whereby the children players feel that they can operate in the real world through violence. This means that such children would feel that they can get away with violence in the practical world. On the other hand, violence is attributable to frustrations of failing in games. This mostly occurs in cases whereby children are less proficient in manipulating video games. In certain instances, other characters end up shooting and killing the main character in terms of video depiction. This triggers anger and frustration in children players. In turn, they can fight with their peers in order that they convince of their strength. In addition, children could turn violent

Agriculture importance Essay Example for Free

Agriculture importance Essay Those of us who preach the gospel of agriculture with evangelical zeal find the text compelling and convincing. We are regularly possessed by the spirit only to look around and see out colleagues, in other sectors, in country management, or even our senior management doubting, yawning or subtly edging towards the door. We face the implicit query, â€Å"If agriculture can do such great things, why have they not yet happened? †1 The past decade has been one of agro-pessimism. The promises that agricultural development seem to hold did not materialise. This pessimism seemed to coincide with pessimism about Sub-Saharan Africa. Especially for Sub-Saharan Africa the hope was that economic development would be brought about by agricultural development. After the success of the green revolution in Asia, the hope was that a similar agricultural miracle would transform African economies. But this hope never materialised, agricultural productivity did not increase much in SSA (figure 1), and worse, the negative effects of the green revolution in Asia became more apparent, such as pesticide overuse and subsequent pollution. Also in Asia the yield increases tapered off. The sceptics put forward several arguments why agriculture is no longer an engine of growth2. For instance, the liberalisation of the 1990s and greater openness to trade has lead to a reduction in the economic potential of the rural sector: cheap imported Chinese plastic buckets out compete the locally produced pottery. On the other hand, it does mean cheaper (imported) supplies. With rapid global technical change and increasingly integrated markets, prices fall faster than yields rise. So, rural incomes fall despite increased productivity if they are net producers3. The integration of rural with urban areas means that healthy young people move out of agriculture, head to town, leaving behind the old, the sick and the dependent. It is often also the men who move to urban areas, leaving women in charge of the farm. This has resulted in the increased sophistication of agricultural markets (and value chains) which excludes traditional smallholders, who are poorly equipped to meet the demanding product specifications and timeliness of delivery required by expanding supermarkets. The natural resource base on which agriculture depends is poor and deteriorating. Productivity growth is therefore increasingly more difficult to achieve. Finally, multiplier effects occur when a change in spending causes a disproportionate change in aggregate demand. Thus an increase in spending produces an increase in national income and consumption greater than the initial amount spent. But as GDP rises and the share of agriculture typically decreases, the question is how important these multiplier effects are, especially when significant levels of poverty remain in rural areas, which is the case in middleincome countries4. The disappointment with agriculture led many donor organisations to turn away from agriculture, looking instead to areas that would increase the well-being of poor people, such as health and education. Those organisations that still focused on agriculture, such as the CGIAR, were put under pressure to focus more on reducing poverty, besides increasing agricultural productivity. However, since the beginning of the new century, there seems to be a renewed interest in agriculture. A review of major policy documents5, including the well-publicised Sachs report and the Kofi Annan report, show that agriculture is back on the agenda again. The most influential report, however, has been the World Development Report 2008 of the World Bank6. This report argues that growth in the agricultural sector 1 contributes proportionally more to poverty reduction than growth in any other economic sector and that therefore alone, the focus should be on the agricultural sector when achieving to reach MDG 1. A reassessment of the role of agriculture in development seems to be required. This policy paper addresses several timely though complex questions: †¢ First, how can or does agriculture contribute to economic development, and in particular how does it relate to poverty? †¢ Second, the agricultural sector has changed considerably in the past decades: what are the main drivers of this change? †¢ Third, what is the relationship between economic or agricultural growth and pro-poor development? †¢ Fourth, how does agriculture relate to other sectors in the economy? †¢ Fifth, who is included and who is excluded in agricultural development, specifically focusing on small farms? †¢ And finally, if agricultural development is indeed important to economic development, then why, despite all the efforts and investments, has this not led to more successes? 2. Agriculture and economic growth This section presents a number of factual observations describing how the agricultural sector changed in terms of productivity, contribution to economic growth, and indicating the relevance of the agricultural sector for poverty alleviation in different regions. Background: some facts In the discussion of the role of agriculture in economic development, a leading question is how agriculture contributes to economic growth, and especially to pro-poor growth. There seems to be a paradox in the role of agriculture in economic development. The share of agriculture contributing to GDP is declining over the years (see figure 1). At the same time, the productivity of for instance cereal yields has been increasing (see figure 2). It seems that as agriculture becomes more successful, its importance declines in the overall economy. Of course, other sectors in the economy can be even more successful, such as the Asian Tigers.

TEEN Magazine :: essays papers

TEEN Magazine Lately I have been reading the teen magazines YM and Seventeen and I've noticed one thing; they really annoy me. I feel like they are just for preps and the trendoid freaks. Well what about the other groups? The gangsters, punks, skaters, bikers, or whatever. They should really give recognition to the other people in our society. Maybe they want just the good teenagers around. They are not going to get what they want. Maybe they think if they print stuff up all about preps and trends everyone will follow. Well they should guess again. I for one, will not follow any of that shit they say. They give some of the most whacked advice for things. Take romance, I've tried to follow the advice, but my outcome has not been successful. I know other people who have tried, and their outcome has been the same. Take their quizzes, then tell me that you do all that stuff. If you know me, then tell me how often I wear bellbottom pants, or platform shoes, or pink make-up, or little shirts that fit me. For those of you who don't know me, I can tell you right now, I wouldn't be caught dead in that stuff. That takes me to the clothes the models sport. How many girls in this society are actually that skinny? It's actually kind of sick. I think they should widen their models to all sizes and shapes. What? Just because a girl who is not amazingly skinny for a model, the company won't sell anything? Well I can't exactly describe the clothes they wear, but I have never run across a person wearing the same thing. But in Seventeen they have a section called "School Zone" and they go around different schools and take pictures of the students. I can understand the way they dress and they do show different looks. Both magazines put out information about bands, but I don't listen to those bands. As a matter of fact, I hate those bands. They are alternative bands, and coming from me, they just suck. Well I will confess to one thing. I have run across about 3 bands that I do like, but I have been reading these damn magazines for about 3 years. So that tells you something right there. I still haven't listened to a word either one the magazines have said. Otherwise I think I would have been a changed

Issues Facing Education Essay

This article points out the varying trends in higher education. In the current learning dynamic, one has many options. Some can pursue a more traditional education by way of a four year university or do what the students enrolled in this course are doing; seeking education by way of the Internet. Colleges, universities and educational opportunities in general have evolved throughout history. To save myself and my readers from a long history lesson, I will narrow it down to the last few decades. If you look back to our parents, or even grandparents generations, you can see there has been a transition not only in curriculum, but also in how we receive our education. We are able to further our educations despite not being able to physically be in a classroom. Bill Gates predicted that â€Å"place-based activity in college will be five times less important than it is today. † (Aoun, par. 1). The author points out that higher learning is available to many that would not have the opportunity due to location, careers, or another important aspect; sufficient funding. For example, students can attend larger colleges by way of satellite locations, online learning opportunities, overseas and international opportunities and still have the option to decide between many degrees. The main point of the article is not that one is better than the other or will eventually replace the other. Instead, these added variations are an enhancement to today’s educational opportunities. I completely agree with the author’s perspective that just because one chooses an alternate path to pursue higher education, it does not mean that the end state of one is better than the other. Bill Gates is right to have faith in the ability of online education to empower new generations of students to advance their educations. But if past is prologue, online education will remain a component of–not the answer to–the diverse system that has cemented the leadership of American higher education in the world (Aoun, par. 16). It is through technological advancement and the evolution of education that someone in my position is able to serve in the military ull time, maintain a family and still have the opportunity to attend college. If education would have remained a â€Å"brick and mortar† institution, I would have to wait until my service was complete which would limit my career opportunities in the future. The evolution of education can only be seen as beneficial to today’s society, economy and to the advancement of our culture as a whole. I feel this article would be very useful in a research essay due to the fact that the author does not take a biased approach to the issue. He does point out the very different aspects, good and bad, of different ways education is offered and the additional activities that may or may not be present during place based learning. I don’t necessarily agree that the lack of peer to peer contact, school spirit, or community activities involved with campus life will make a person more or less successful. Throughout our lives we are faced with diversity, new opportunities, new ways of thinking and the chance to learn from different experiences. Lifelong learning is about opening yourself up to all of these things no matter whether it’s for a degree or for personal enrichment.

Analysis of Human Migration Essay

An Analysis of Human Migration Ever since humans learnt to grow crops as a steady source of food humans have migrated In search of conditions better suited to their needs and comforts. Although all of us but the 30-40 million that choose to live the nomadic life have abandoned that lifestyle and moved on to a more ‘civilized’ modern era, migration still remains an option for those of us seeking to take residence In an alternate region of mother earth. The National Geographic Society [1] defines human migration as The movement of people from one place in the world to another for the purpose of taking up ermanent or semipermanent residence, usually across a political boundary. ‘ Migration Inside a landmass or political region Is called Internet migration and outside a physical or political border Is called external migration. For example Inside moving inside the continent of Australia would be internal migration but moving into a different continent overseas would be external migration. There are a variety of causes for migration, but they havent changed much through the years and remain fairly similar to the reasons our ancestors chose to migrate. These reasons can be categorized into two sections; these being push factors and pull factors. Push factors are reasons for leaving a region because of negative properties of the location and Pull factors are reasons for moving into a place because of positive properties of a location. Such factors can further be divided Into Environmental factors like climate, Political Factors Ilke war, Economic factors Ilke work, cultural factors Ilke education and utility factors like geographic location and socioeconomic status. Statistically speaking, the humans are extremely successful as a species. The 7 billionth human was born not long ago and the 10 billionth Is not far away, calculated to be born around the end of the century. The human race Is not only vast, we are also incredibly diverse and this is what defines us as a species. Meaning when we lost a part of our culture we lose a bit of what it means to be human. This brings us to one of the biggest drawbacks of migration, known as Cultural Extinction. Cultural extinction occurs when a family that Is part of a smaller culture migrates and the next generation of the respective family is only exposed to the native language and culture, since culture and tradition is only carried through families, the prospective bearer of this culture is burned out, ending a vein of this precious cultural blood. But our cultural diversity Itself poses a question. How Is It that we as a human race are so diverse in culture, and yet so similar? A research project named ‘The Genographic project Was created by Spencer Wells for the purpose of answering this question and tracing human movement in prehistoric times. Even though the fields of palaeoanthropology and archaeology already enable us to access this Information, the Genographic project uses a newer method that allows us to find out how closely we are related to each other, enabling us to map out a family tree going back millions IOF4

Distinctive Voices Notes Essay Example

Distinctive Voices Notes Essay Example Distinctive Voices Notes Essay Distinctive Voices Notes Essay The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender Claudia Valentine Androgynous/masculine – â€Å"good looking blonde in there too† Erudite – Reference to Archimedes when in the bath Flippant – â€Å"One of the former and 2 of the latter. † Referring to husband and kids when asked aboutthem Judgemental – â€Å"Piss-stained pants† I woke up feeling like death. I didnt recall issuing the invitation but I must have. Terminal Illness. My legs are my best weapon. the smell was there, the smell of intrusion. I felt sympathy for her but it was too late. The old boys network had begun. And meeting an angel had certainly brightened up my day. an ash-tray: full and a bottle of Jack Daniels, empty They looked like cops, or hired muscle. But in Sydney, money buys status. Crime figures who are, themselves, respectable businessmen. I  dont carry a gun like some of my more cowboy colleagues.    Funeral processions have disappeared from the stre ets of Sydney. No,  I said, matching her word for word The clink of balls hitting together in the pool-room, and not just the balls on the table.   The BMW guys, fat cats (the rich) surfer guys conversation dropped to the ground like pebbles as white as porcelain.   A face that could launch ships. Harry Lavender Confident – â€Å"I am famous, a legend in my time† Formal – No colloquialisms used in his writings â€Å"my schooling had been interrupted by the historybeing created in Europe† Oh yes, they will remember. Tangled in the sticky threads of love they falter. Its growth and mine are inexorably linked. the veins, the road like veins, the transport of deadly cargo, the bloodstream of the citys body. My address in the city is The Beehive. In the world of the hive deviation is not tolerated. Repetition of The motherboard. Technology is light years ahead of ethics. The motherboard could last forever but the casement of flesh is crumbling I stand on top of my city. We cannot help but create in our own image. All artefacts are mirrors. City The unpredictable child had started off sunny, then clouds had frowned across her forehead. Its centre was a dark feotid substance. Shed grown strong, like a mushroom on a dung heap.

The Ancient Practice of Bloodletting in Archaeology

The Ancient Practice of Bloodletting in Archaeology Bloodlettingpurposefully cutting the human body to release bloodis an ancient ritual, associated with both healing and sacrifice. Bloodletting was a regular form of medical treatment for ancient Greeks, with its benefits debated by scholars such as Hippocrates and Galen. Bloodletting in Central America Bloodletting or auto-sacrifice was a cultural trait of most of the societies in Mesoamerica, beginning with the Olmec perhaps as early as 1200 AD. This type of religious sacrifice involved a person using a sharp instrument such as an agave spine or sharks tooth to pierce a fleshy part of his own body. The resulting blood would drip onto a lump of copal incense or piece of cloth or bark paper, and then those materials would be burned. According to historical records of the Zapotec , Mixtec, and Maya, burning blood was one way to communicate with the sky gods. Artifacts associated with bloodletting include sharks teeth, maguey thorns, stingray spines, and obsidian blades. Specialized elite materialsobsidian eccentrics, greenstone picks, and spoonsare thought to have been used for elite bloodletting sacrifices in the  Formative period and later cultures. Bloodletting Spoons A so-called bloodletting spoon is a type of artifact discovered on many Olmec archaeological sites. Although there is some variety, the spoons generally have a flattened tail or blade, with a thickened end. The thick part has a shallow off-center bowl on one side and a second, smaller bowl on the other side. Spoons usually have a small hole pierced through them, and in Olmec art are often depicted as hanging from peoples clothing or ears. Bloodletting spoons have been recovered from Chalcatzingo, Chacsinkin, and Chichà ©n Itz; the images are found carved in murals and on stone sculptures at San Lorenzo, Cascajal, and Loma del Zapote. Olmec Spoon Functions The real function of the Olmec spoon has long been debated. Theyre called bloodletting spoons because originally scholars believed them to have been for holding blood from auto-sacrifice, the ritual of personal bloodletting. Some scholars still prefer that interpretation, but others have suggested spoons were for holding paints, or for use as snuffing platforms for taking hallucinogens, or even that they were effigies of the Big Dipper constellation. In a recent article in Ancient Mesoamerica, Billie J. A. Follensbee suggests Olmec spoons were part of a hitherto unrecognized toolkit for textile production. Her argument is in part based on the shape of the tool, which approximates bone weaving battens recognized in several Central American cultures, including some from Olmec sites. Follansbee also identifies several other tools made of elite greenstone or obsidian, such as spindle whorls, picks, and plaques, that could have been used in weaving or cord-making techniques. Sources Follensbee, Billie J. A. 2008. Fiber technology and weaving in formative-period Gulf Coast cultures. Ancient Mesoamerica 19:87-110. Marcus, Joyce. 2002. Blood and Bloodletting. Pp 81-82 in Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia, Susan Toby Evans and David L. Webster, eds. Garland Publishing, Inc. New York. Fitzsimmons, James L., Andrew Scherer, Stephen D. Houston, and Hector L. Escobedo 2003 Guardian of the Acropolis: The Sacred Space of a Royal Burial at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 14(4):449-468.

Financial Markets and Risk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Financial Markets and Risk - Essay Example It will also mobilize and pool savings. Financial market also helps in diversification of trade and reduction of risk. (Campion 2010, pp.67-209) It is vivid to note that this market facilitates development of financial institutions and instruments that can manage risks. (Baumol 2011, pp.122-130) The system also provides financial regulation to ensure stability of financial institution in any given economy. It is also worth noting that financial system ensures that funds are channeled from households, firms, and governments that have surplus funds to those with deficits (The economist 2011, p.39) . Various products are always provided by retail banks and non-banking institutions, these products promote movement of funds in the market to create a balance. The depository institutions always take deposits and lend out funds in terms of loans. This aspect always creates financial assets and enhances liquidity in a given market. In spite of considerable innovation in the financial sector, the popularity of depository services always persists. In Europe, bank deposits remain to be the best-known long-term savings. About 74% of European households have bank deposits. Various types of bank deposits are always offered. First, the time deposits which are not always disposable immediately because they are always fixed. Another type of bank deposits is the savings deposits whose negotiability is always restricted to a given level. (Campion 2010, pp.67-209) There are always deposits resulting from savings scheme that always require the depositor to make regular payments. Securities Varieties of securities always exist in the financial market. The investment by households in securities has tended to increase in the developing countries in the past two decades. A good example of security is bonds. A bond is a debt instrument, which is the obligation of the borrower of funds to make specified interest and principal payments to lender of funds. The bond obligates the issuer to m ake specified interest and principal payments to the holder on specified dates. (BME 2008, PP.200-223) Giving long term loans The banks always offer long-term loans to the people with fund deficit and those who need to deposit. The banks always require the borrowers to have collateral to reduce default risk. The banks always require the borrowers to pay the principal amount and the interest accrued. This is the most common method of advancing credit to the borrowers. It is also vivid to note that the amount borrowed is always returned after a specified period. (Campion 2010, pp.67-209) Implication of general increase in interest rate The general increase in interest rates always has an impact on the individual savers and investors. It is vivid to note that both savers and investors always receive this increase differently. (The economist 2011, p.39) Impact on savors Increase in the interest rates charged by banks and other financial institutions have a positive impact on the savors. The main aim of saving is always to gain interest. It is therefore fundamental to note that savors would be highly motivated to save when the interest rate is higher to gain more interest on their principal amount. (Campion 2010, pp.67-209) It is salient to comment categorically that in the periods of low interest rates savors would opt to investing in other securities like bond, notes payable and even equity as long as the return is higher. (BME 2008, PP.56-89) Impact on investors