The Impact of Rising Food and Fuel Prices Essay

The Impact of Rising Food and Fuel Prices - Essay Example The rising trend in international food prices persisted and accelerated in 2008. U.S. wheat export prices skyrocketed from $375/ton in January to $440/ton in March. Thai rice export prices chalked up from $365/ton to $562/ton. The governments of the developed and developing countries adopted various mitigation measures. Specific policy interventions were applied in three broad categories: (i) interventions to assure household food security by establishing food safety nets; (ii) interventions to lessen domestic food prices by way of penalty or administrative action, and (iii) interventions to develop supplies and production of longer-term food supply. Given the three categories of policies there are preferred options that are more reliable and equitable. The best options to address food insecurity is the targeted cash transfers to vulnerable groups. Cash transfers increase the purchasing power of the poor without changing the chain of incentives that are available to produce more food and without reducing the incomes of poor food sellers. The depth, targeting efficiency and value of the transfer programs depends on the country's level of development. Another set of best options to decrease domestic prices cover the lowering of tariffs and other government taxes on key staples. Many countries impose tariffs on food imports so as to foster domestic production and produce reliable revenues. During a period of increasing prices, the consequent reductions in tariffs and taxes presents a measure of relief to existing consumers at a limited fiscal cost. The subsequent revenue loss arising from the reduction of the tariffs is very important and the fiscal result of implementing this with extra social protection expenditures can require cutbacks in less priority areas. Approximately twenty-four out of fifty-eight countries under study have recently reduced import duties and Value Added Taxes in the phenomenon of rising food prices. Others developing countries, such as the Philippines, implemented a regime of high tariffs to protect domestic food producers and manufacturers.Other countries utilize a policy of implementing a bread or grain subsidies specifically targeted to the poor to handle household food insecurity. In some cases, the introduction of consumer subsidies for staples after the recent rise in food prices. The Government of Yemen provided wheat in public markets at subsidized rates following a rise in food prices. In 2008, the Government of Pakistan implemented a ration card system to distribute subsidized wheat. These measures can be made permanent given the persistent food increase which results in high fiscal costs. Moreover, if the application of all the consumer subsidies are countered by specific measures to keep producer prices low, this can be counterproductive in the end. The one exception to this situation is when price controls are introduced as a temporary measure and are deemed important in terms of a higher social goal. In these exceptional cases, the risks of entrenchment will be minimized. For countries that are grain exporters, there exist political exigencies to ban or tax grain exports in high price years. Some of these countries have fullly applied these methods. These policies tend to have a limited impact on domestic price levels and a relatively negative effect on

Conflict Management Plan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Conflict Management Plan - Research Paper Example Firstly, they should begin with David’s accusations against James, which have stated that James is causing confusion in the production line, which is causing the earlier to miss quality checks. It is vital to solve this through collaboration that is a win-win strategy for all the parties (Dontigney, 2014). The problem in question that is quality checks requires an all-inclusive approach. If situation is resolved as per David’s accusation, James will be of the view that the solution favours one side. Similarly, if the manager and the superintendent dismiss David’s allegations, then he will miss more quality checks. Based on the above, the two senior officers should check if there is anything, which James does which results in David missing quality checks. If there is, then James should desist from doing it, if there is not, then David missing quality checks was a culmination of his own inefficiency, which he had heaped upon James. Subsequently David should be reprimanded for levelling false allegations against a co-worker. The two senior officers, the manager and superintendent, should focus on forging cooperation between the two employees, which is vital for ensuring that the industry churns out products that meet set quality regulations (Dontigney, 2014). Cooperation between the two employees will result in an effective production

Failure of the Asante Uprising

Failure of the Asante Uprising Account for the failure of the Asante to mount a unified struggle against the British during the Yaa Asantewaako The Asante was a state of Ghana occupied by the Akan people. During the 1700s the kingdom expanded under their ruler, Osei Tutu, and his successor, Osai Apoko, to cover most of Ghana, including the coast, which later became known as the Gold Coast because of its gold mines. Their trade in gold and other commodities, including slaves, spread out across the Atlantic.[1] In the 19th century British traders began to take control of the trade routes and coastal regions. Wars and treaties with British over possession of land continued throughout the century. Later in the century the slave trade declined and the Asante had to rely on its sales of Kola nuts to the north. However, the pressures of colonisation, and the British monopoly of the gold mines, proved too much for the state and it lost its independence in 1874.[2] At this time the ruler of Ejisu, a state in the Confederacy, was Nana Akwasi Afrane Okpese. When he died in 1894, his sister Yaa Asantewaa nominated her grandson as ruler. However, in 1896 he was sent into exile with the King of Asante, Prempeh I, and Yaa Asantewaa herself became regent.[3] The Asante people had a legendary throne, known as the Golden Stool, which was believed to contain the spirit of the Asante nation. This throne symbolically represented the nation’s independence, and had never been sat on. In 1900, the British governor-general of the Gold Coast, Sir Frederick Hodgson, demanded that the throne should be brought to him in honour of Queen Victoria, and he should be entitled to sit on it. This demand was insensitive in the light of the people’s reverence of the stool and created a great deal of anger and resentment amongst the Asante people. Yaa Asantewaa reacted by starting the Asante uprising in 1900 which was intended to release the King. This started by an attempted ambush, and was followed by the siege of the British in Kumasi. The Asante only made one attack on the fort, and when a rescue party arrived, 600 men were released, who, despite further attacks on the road from around 1500 warriors, were able to get to the coast with a loss of 40 men.[4] A rescue force of 1000 men was sent out, and although they received heavy attacks from allied tribes, they were able to carry out an assault on Kumasi in July 1900, and relieved the fort within two days. Following this victory for the British, raids took place on regions that supported the uprising and eventually the Asante were completely defeated. Yaa Asantewaa was also exiled, and remained so until her death in 1921.[5] The Asante had the advantage at the beginning of the uprising, and the possibility of the uprising being a success seems at first glimpse to have been very high. However, there are various reasons why they were unable to defeat the British, and present a unified force. Despite the Asante’s courage and cunning, the British also showed extreme bravery and enterprise in the face of horrific conditions, both for those in the siege, and for the relieving troops. The men and women in the garrison had only limited supplies, and after the initial release of the 600 who managed to make their way to the Cape Coast, the remaining garrison only had enough rations to last them for three weeks.[6] Furthermore, the relief expedition, led by Colonel Willcocks, faced enormous problems. They had difficulty in obtaining carriers and food for the journey, and as it was the height of the rainy season, all the roads were in deepest mud and almost impenetrable.[7] Despite these seemingly insurmountable problems, Willcocks’s troop managed to reach Bekwai. From here, he managed to draw much of the enemy away from Kumasi by releasing reports that he was about to attack Kokofu to the east. However, whilst feinting an advance on Kokofu, he suddenly turned west to Kumasi, and after some fighting, reached the fort, just in time to relieve the inhabitants before they surrendered.[8] It is clear, therefore, that the defeat of the Asante uprising was very much due to the courage and cleverness of Willcocks, who was afterwards promoted and received the K.C.M.G. Further reasons for this defeat must lie with the Asante themselves. Despite their show of initial strength, this last act of defiance in the wars with the British had its own weaknesses. The continual wars of the preceding century had decreased the Asante’s power over land around the coast. The territorial war of 1873-74 had also ended in defeat for the Asante, and the kings that ruled their people immediately after this war were either tyrannical or short-lived. Civil war was the outcome, until the election of Prempeh, who at first seemed to bring peace. However, his later refusal to comply with the treaty made earlier, led to his exile, and British governors were put in place at Kumasi.[9] The moral of the Asante must have been low at this point. Many of the chiefs could not reconcile themselves to British rule, but seemed unable to take action. Furthermore, many of the tribes remained loyal to the British, which must have decreased their strength even further. Much of the enemy they were fighting against was made up of Africans – the Hausas – and tribes loyal to the British, which perhaps was also a demoralising factor. With other tribes allying themselves to the British, they were unable to call on so many neighbouring areas – while the British were able to call on continual support, even though this support was long in coming. At the beginning of the rebellion, Yaa Asantewaa had been able to gain the support of some of the Asante nobility, but only after an impassioned and now famous speech she made to members of the government council: Now I see that some of you fear to go forward to fight for our King. If it were in the brave days of Osei Tutu, Okomfo Anokye, and Opoku Ware, chiefs would not sit down to see their king taken away without firing a shot. No European could have dared speak to chiefs of Asante in the way the governor spoke to you this morning. Is it true that the bravery of Asante is no more? I cannot believe it. It cannot be! I must say this: if you the men of Asante will not go forward, then we will. We the women will. I shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight the white men. We will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields.[10] This speech was made because the government members could not agree on the right action to take. Although she did gather support for the rebellion, it may be that it was not as strong in spirit as its numbers suggest. The rebels were able to muster a force of 40,000, but numbers were not a great advantage in the light of the superior technology of the British ammunition, which included field guns and rapid-fire maxim guns.[11] This gap in technology had grown over the preceding 100 years and severely disadvantaged the Asante, though their use of stockades was an attempt to deal with British superior gunfire.[12] In summarising the reasons why the Asante were unable to defeat the British in this uprising, it can clearly be seen that, despite their numbers and bravery, they were at a considerable disadvantage in military terms, and in support. The years of war had seen a growth of military technology for the British, while the Asante only had defence techniques to counter this. The gradual submission to British rule by neighbouring tribes must also have been a factor, and in the end, the War of the Golden Stool was a final act of defiance which was inevitably doomed to failure. Bibliography Gilbert, M., ‘A History of the Twentieth Century Volume One, 1900-1933’, [online] Available from http://partners.nytimes.com/books/first/g/gilbert-history.html [accessed 28th April 2007] Nugent, P., (1997) ‘A Clash of Empires: Asante and the British’ [online] A review of Edgerton, Robert, The Fall of the Asante Empire: The Hundred Year War For Africas Gold Coast Available from http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=20828873843577#fromnote1 [accessed 28th April 2007] www.1911encyclopedia.org www.bbc.co.uk www.en.wikipedia.org www.viowa.edu 1 [1] www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/4chapter6.shtml [2] www.viowa.edu/~africart/toc/history/giblinstate/html#asante [3] www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaa_Asantewaa [4] ibid /war-of-the-golden-stool [5] wikipedia.org/wiki/war-of-the-golden-stool [6] www.1911encyclopedia.org/Asante [7] ibid [8] ibid [9] www.1911encyclopedia.org/Asante [10] quoted in www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaa_Asantewaa [11] Gilbert, M., ‘A History of the Twentieth Century Volume One, 1900-1933’, [online] [12] Nugent, P., (1997) ‘A Clash of Empires: Asante and the British’,

Chicago’s Cabrini-Green Housing Project Essay -- Poverty Ghetto Chicag

Chicago’s Cabrini-Green public housing project is notorious in the United States for being the most impoverished and crime-ridden public housing development ever established. Originally established as inexpensive housing in the 1940’s, it soon became a vast complex of unsightly concrete low and high-rise apartment structures. Originally touted as a giant step forward in the development of public housing, it quickly changed from a racially and economically diverse housing complex to a predominantly black, extremely poor ghetto. As it was left to rot, so to speak, Cabrini-Green harbored drug dealers, gangs and prostitution. It continued its downward spiral of despair until the mid 1990’s when the Federal Government assumed control the Chicago Housing Authority, the organization responsible for this abomination. Cabrini-Green has slowly been recovering from its dismal state of affairs recently, with developers building mixed-income and subsidized housing. The Chica go Housing Authority has also been demolishing the monolithic concrete high-rise slums, replacing them with public housing aimed at not repeating the mistakes of the past. Fortunately, a new era of public housing has dawned from the mistakes that were made, and the lessons that were learned from the things that went on for half a century in Cabrini-Green. In 1942, a public housing development went up on Chicago’s near north side to house veterans returning from World War II. They were known as the Francis Cabrini Homes, and â€Å"were built in an area that had undergone massive slum clearance†. They consisted of fifty-five two and three story redbrick buildings arranged as row houses, resembling army barracks. The Francis Cabrini Homes housed 600 racially diverse families un... ...live in. A lesson has been learned, and it should not be forgotten. Works Cited Chicago Housing Authority. Plan for Transformation, Year 3, Moving to Work, Annual Plan FY2002. 16 Oct. 2001. â€Å"Chicago’s Public Housing Projects.† University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire. 15 Aug. 2000. Krieger, Shoshana. The CHA and the American Dream. Columbia University, New York. 19 Nov. 2002. Phillips, E. Barbara. City Lights: Urban-Suburban Life in the Global Society. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Reuters. â€Å"Chicago’s Cabrini-Green public housing project to be reborn.† CNN.com. 15 Aug. 2000. Roder, David, and Spielman, Fran. â€Å"Condo, town houses planned near Cabrini-Green.† Chicago Sun Times. 30 May 2002.

Ethical Scrapbook

In any profession unethical behavior can be present, it is ultimately up to the individuals. They have to decide what is ethically right and not take short cuts or engage in unethical behavior. The banking profession, such as bank tellers, is exposed to large amounts of money. They can choose to be ethical and not attempt to steal from their clients, or they can act unethically by choosing to steal money. Another profession is research, there are conditions that exist for unethical behavior. When researchers conduct experiments, they usually write a report about their results.If the results do not go in the direction that they wanted them to, this gives the researchers an opportunity to act unethically. They can either choose to act ethically, and report the true results from the experiment, or they can choose to act unethically, and report the results in a manner that will benefit them. â€Å"In the process of making decisions regarding their professional behavior, psychologists mu st consider this Ethics Code in addition to applicable laws and psychology board regulations.In applying the Ethics Code to their professional work, psychologists may consider other materials and guidelines that have been adopted or endorsed by scientific and professional psychological organizations and the dictates of their own conscience, as well as consult with others within the field. If this Ethics Code establishes a higher standard of conduct than is required by law, psychologists must meet the higher ethical standard.If psychologists’ ethical responsibilities conflict with law, regulations or other governing legal authority, psychologists make known their commitment to this Ethics Code and take steps to resolve the conflict in a responsible manner in keeping with basic principles of human rights† (American Psychological Association, 2014). Another profession is professional sports, the athlete could take enhancement drugs to improve themselves at the sport, like taking steroids which is also against the law.Most athletes choose to  do what is ethical and stay away from drugs to ensure that they keep their jobs and the respect of their fans. In medical professions, doctors could take the unethical route and give their patients their drug of choice just to satisfy them, but doctors that admire what they do will be ethical and give the patient what they need and get them help if they are showing signs of drug abuse. â€Å"Within the patient-physician relationship, a physician is ethically required to use sound medical judgment, holding the best interests of the patient as paramount† (The Patient-Physician Relationship, 2001).Pharmaceutical companies are a profession that also has to choose to be ethical or unethical. The individuals that work for pharmaceutical companies are tempted to take medication for their own use. They may steal medications to sell them to make money for themselves. Politics also can contribute to ethical or une thical behavior. If politicians do not like something, they try to hide it from Americans, or they may not tell the whole truth of certain facts. Politicians are famous for covering all of the facts up.

Compare and Contrast the Philisophical Contributions of Nietzsche and Mill Essay

Compare and contrast the philosophical contributions Nietzsche and Mill make to our understanding of political and social tyranny. Both philosophers, Nietzsche and Mill make contrasting and similar contributions to our understanding of the two terms. I intend explore how each philosopher does this and the differences and similarities between their two philosophies. Before comparing and contrasting the contributions of both Nietzsche and Mill to our understanding of political and social tyranny, it is important to define exactly what these terms mean, and to distinguish between the two. Political tyranny on the one hand is the imposition of positive liberty by a tyrant to an individual or a collective group of individuals. That is, a situation where a certain way of life is dictated to citizens through the presence of obstacles, barriers or constraints. If we lived in a politically tyrannical society, we would be living under the control of a dictator, ruled by a single governing body. Furthermore, the pressure for an individual to conform to these â€Å"rules† can be seen as a result of ones fear of public disapproval – a recognised form of social tyranny. Philosopher John Stewart Mill, rigorously educated by his philosopher father James Mill, began making contributions to politics and philosophy from the early 1830s, when he wrote profusely on such political and philosophical matters. He was greatly influenced by the works of Jeremy Bentham and his interested in Utilitarianism. Mill’s book, â€Å"On Liberty† published in 1859 and written with his wife, saw Mill move away from the Utilitarian notion that individual liberty was necessary for economic and government efficiency and advanced the classical defence of individual freedom as a value in itself. It advocated moral and economic freedom of individuals from the state. His basic argument is simple: liberty from political and social tyranny is good because it allows for new and improved ideas to evolve and good because liberty forever puts old ideas to the test. – His ideas were and still are enormously influential and the ideas presented remain the basis of much political thought. In â€Å"On Liberty† Mill refers to tyrannical societies of the past where liberty meant protection from the tyranny of political rulers. They consisted of a governing One or a governing tribe, who derived their authority from inheritance or conquest. (NZ) To prevent the weaker members of society from being preyed upon by â€Å"innumerable vultures† it was thought that there should be an â€Å"animal of prey† stronger than the rest. – The aim being to set limits to the power of the tyrant. With this came a time where, as human affairs progressed, what was wanted was that rulers should be identified with the people, and that their interests should be the interests of the whole nation. This, Mill refers to as â€Å"the tyranny of the majority† which was held in â€Å"dread† (and commonly still is.) At this point, Mill is suggesting that majority rule itself could become a tyranny and that the suppression of minorities by the majority should be taken as a serious threat to a fair and just society. Mill claims that â€Å"society as a whole can issue wrong mandates and practice a tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression.† He argues therefore that protection against political tyranny is not enough: there also needs to be protection from social tyranny or â€Å"the tyranny of prevailing opinion† the latter being harder to achieve protection from. Mill saw that this kind of political tyranny could prevent the development of individualistic behavior. Such tyrannies could work in two ways: through the adoption of laws which operate against idiosyncratic, non conforming or dissenting individuals. Or, through the power or pressure of public opinion, (which is notoriously prone to error, superstition or tradition.) Hence Mill argued that public opinion should not be a law that everyone should conform to, and that the individual should have protection of the law against the prevailing sentiments of society. – Essentially, we each need freedom to develop our individuality. So for Mill, the central problem is therefore to establish the legitimate extent to which the state can interfere in the affairs of individuals whilst maintaining acceptable levels of individuality. Mill’s answer is clear and is demonstrated through his â€Å"Harm Principle† which states that â€Å"the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant.† -So Mill is referring to not just any harm, but specifically physical harm. If a person is harmed then his or her sovereignty over self no longer exists because sovereignty is after all the foundational position of power; this is Mill’s justification of the harm principle. Children and those who cannot take care of themselves are allowed to be interfered with beyond the harm principle as they may well harm themselves unintentionally; such children and those who cannot take care of themselves do not, and cannot, have sovereignty over self. Applying Mill’s Harm Principle strictly to current law would therefore remove â€Å"paternalistic† laws. For example there would be no reason to prohibit the laws prohibiting suicide, or drug taking or the wearing of seatbelts or crash helmets. From this perspective, laws that attempt to control such self regarding actions are wrong. They stunt the possibilities for individual development; the state should not be like an over protective parent, as for Mill, this does nothing but prevent the development of fully mature adults. Mill’s argument primarily questions what is the rightful limit to the sovereignty of the individual over himself? And how much of human life should be assigned to individuality, and how much to society? Mill says, to individuality should belong the part of life in which the individual is interested: to society, the part which chiefly interests society. Essentially, what are the limits of the law and what are the abilities of the individual? Evidently for Mill, the idea that the state should be involved in â€Å"self regarding† actions is entirely wrong. The individual must be allowed maximum freedom of choice in matters that are to do with personal choice His assertion reflects his own strong commitment to the idea of individual liberty and the belief that â€Å"free individuals† develop into more fully formed human beings. His arguments essentially reflect a strong belief in human reasoning and the ability for all of us to develop into mature autonomous individuals. Mill’s approach is therefore libertarian in that he saw the confining controlling state as a danger: whereas a society populated with free thinking individuals is a mature and successful society. Specifically referring to social tyranny, Mill states that â€Å"though society is not founded on a contract, everyone who receives the protection of society owes a return for the benefit† – meaning, if you conform to society, or public opinion, you will receive protection, i.e. you will not be condemned by society. – Mill furthermore claims that it would be a great misunderstanding to suppose that this doctrine is one of selfish indifference about the well being of others. – There is indeed a need for an increase in the exertion of promoting the good of others, but Mill feels this can be done without physically or mentally punishing those who behave in a way that people don’t agree with. – â€Å"Benevolence can find other instrument than whips and scourges, either of the literal or metaphorical sort† So, if a person shows â€Å"rashness, obstinacy or self conceit† or pursues â€Å"animal pleasures† at the expense of those of feeling and intellect, it is expected that they will be lowered in the opinion of others. But, Mill makes it clear that we are not bound to seek the society of such an individual. – We have a right to avoid it, and a right to caution others against the individual. â€Å"If he displeases us, we my express our distaste: but we shall not feel called upon to make his life uncomfortable† – So if an individual has made a bad choice, we shouldn’t condemn them further. – â€Å"If he has spoiled his life by mismanagement, we shall not for that reason desire to spoil it further† At this point, Mill makes a clear distinction between the part of a person’s life which concerns only himself and that which concerns others. He questions how the conduct of a member of society can be a matter of indifference to the rest of society, â€Å"no person is entirely isolated.† If he damages his property, he does harm to those who derived support from it, or if he deteriorates his bodily faculties, he becomes a burden on others. So even if his actions do no direct harm to others, he is never the less detrimental by example. As a liberalist, Mill stresses the importance of the individual and freedom. In a liberal sense, freedom means individual freedom. You are at â€Å"liberty† to do as you wish, there are no constraints upon how you choose to live your life, you are able, unhindered by tradition or inherited position to achieve your full potential. This idea opposes the characteristic of political tyranny – i.e. the imposition of positive freedom; restriction and barriers. As Isaiah Berlin explained, negative and positive liberty are not merely two distinct kinds of liberty; they can be seen as rival, incompatible interpretations of a single political ideal. There are different ways to define liberty within a society. Isaiah Berlin talks about the two different types. Berlin agrees with the idea of negative liberty and thinks the purpose of government is not to show any visions of life; rather, it is to give them freedom to find out for themselves what the good life is. Berlin supposes that there should be a small government that will protect everyone’s individual rights. In a society where negative liberty is prevalent problems begin to arise when you begin to worry about government and not your private life. Negative liberty also allows everyone to have a sphere of rights. You are also able to become what you want and you have more self-control, because there is no pressure to conform to the â€Å"norm† of the community in order to keep the society running smoothly. Rousseau, an advocate for positive liberty thinks that self-mastery is necessary for us as individuals and says that we should want to be the masters of our own life. Positive liberty is, † Wishing to be a subject, not an object; to be moved by reasons, by conscious purposes, which are my own, not by causes which affect me, as it were, from outside.† By participating in your government and thinking for yourself you can achieve self mastery. By having political self-mastery you are free to form a society which forms your values, which leads to democracy. Mill, as a liberalist, believes there ought to be a minimum area of personal freedom which on no account can be violated. Mill says, â€Å"If this boundary is overstepped, the individual will find himself in an area too narrow for even that minimum development of his natural faculties which alone makes it possible to pursue, and even conceive, the various ends which men hold good or right or sacred.† Mill says there must a certain amount of personal freedom so that you grow as an individual, so therefore, there needs to be a distinction between private life and public authority. ‘Freedom for the pike is death for the minnows’; the liberty of some must depend on the restraint of others. In this type of society some people are held back for the betterment of others. The idea that for every person on top there must be someone below them must be accepted. The other philosopher in question, Frederic Nietzsche, German philosopher of the late 19th century challenged the foundations of traditional morality and Christianity. He believed in life, creativity, health, and the realities of the world we live in, rather than those situated in a world beyond. Like Mill, Nietzsche wanted to replace old values with new ones. He wanted to move towards a new type of human being. – â€Å"The Uberman† In Nietzsche’s writing, â€Å"Beyond Good and Evil† he speaks of the â€Å"new philosophers† – individuals of ‘socio – intellectual status’ who must pave the way forward for a new world. – Who must rise above the confinements of political and social tyranny. Essentially, through asserting their â€Å"will to power.† Nietzsche refers to these individuals as the aristocrats, the elites. These â€Å"noble† men will assert their will to power. – An ability that will have been passed down from generations. The new philosophers or â€Å"noble breed† will possess the â€Å"master morality† the morality of the aristocratic, that which makes values for others and sees itself as noble. At this point, Nietzsche introduces the ‘notion of superiority’ – the idea that these â€Å"free spirits† or new philosophers will assume a place of superiority in the social and intellectual hierarchy over those who are confined by political and social tyranny. In several aphorisms, he emphasizes a higher type of man, one who believes and demands an order of rank and disdains democracy and equality. Those inferior individuals, he refers to as â€Å"the herd.† The herd succumb to social and political tyranny, and so are â€Å"slaves† to it – and they can not change. – It is not in their genes. It is ok for the herd to be confined by political and social tyranny, but not for the elites. – The elites must be the dominant force, not controlled by a force. Nietzsche’s fundamental principle is â€Å"the will to power.† Nietzsche refers to it as â€Å"an essence of life.† For Nietzsche, the underlying driving force of change is will. All drives come from a will to power, which is; the drive for freedom and domination over other things. We see it in our daily lives; in every argument there is a striving force for mastery and victory; even in the hierarchical nature of organisations e.g. manager vs. worker, teacher vs. pupil, politicians, preachers and even in the sex act itself. But, for Nietzsche, political and social tyranny seeks to tame this primeval drive and to suppress it. It is the weak and the herd who let their desires and will be suppressed. It is the role and duty of the ‘new philosopher’ to cultivate it. Nietzsche strongly attacks religion. Especially Christianity. For Nietzsche, religion is a modern manifestation of political and social tyranny. Religion seeks to suppress the will to power. He refers to religion as â€Å"an ongoing suicide of reason† and has similarities with Freud in that he thinks religion is a ‘neurosis’ or mental illness. â€Å"Wherever the religious neurosis has appeared on earth we find it tied to three dangerous dietary prescriptions: solitude, fasting and sexual abstinence.† So for Nietzsche, being a Christian, means denying ones desires, it means self sacrifice for the sake of God (whom he believes is dead) and showing pity and charity for others allegedly leads to the elevation of the weak-minded. Nietzsche believes we shouldn’t show such charitable acts, or make unnatural sacrifices. Christians are the herd, because they follow such beliefs and live their lives by them. The herd are not in control of their lives, for they live by a set of principles that are not their own. Christianity as a form of tyranny takes over the individual. We self mutilate when we feel guilty. Nietzsche says we shouldn’t feel guilty, as its better to do something and experience it, taking from it what we will, rather than be told not to do it at all. Political and social tyranny does not give an individual the chance to do this and places restrictions upon the individual. Like Mill, Nietzsche valued individualism above all else, but he saw that as a result of the acquiescence to social and political tyranny (e.g. religion) followed a â€Å"herd mentality† where everybody follows one another for fear of disapproval by public opinion, or in the case of religion, disapproval by God. The herd has ‘given up’ their will to political and social tyranny. And so are weak to their superiors, as reflected in their values. But Nietzsche suggests that people want this. He refers to slaves wanting and accepting political and social tyranny, and relating to the modern manifestation of this through religion, it provides truth and certainty. The slave is led by a superior guide, and wants to be, because it is comforting. So hence, Nietzsche sees the Enlightenment or ‘age of reason’ as ‘enraging to the slave’ because it removes an ‘Absolute Truth’ I.e. God. So forth, the slaves have to find their own truths. Both philosophers contribute from different stand points. Mill on one hand speaks from a liberalist perspective. Liberals see humans as essentially rational thinking creatures capable of making informed decisions and despises the kind of paternalistic controls of a political tyranny that characterised the previous feudal period. Where Nietzsche on the other hand comes from an elitist standpoint. So, for Nietzsche, the most â€Å"human† or natural of societies are those based on aristocratic principles. Thus, societies with clear and very wide social class divides are the most appropriate of humanity. Clearly defined class distinctions that Nietzsche would have liked are the times of the Ancient Greeks, Romans, Feudalism and even aspects of Nazism. – Orders in which richness, excess, cruelty and sensuality were encouraged. This is where a major difference between Nietzsche’s philosophy and Mill’s becomes apparent. Mill criticises the political control of a tyrant on an individual’s freedom, yet Nietzsche claims that these aristocrats are â€Å"living for themselves† The aristocrats have asserted their will to power over the people. He justifies this by saying that these societies are natural, because the will to power was exercised properly, by the powerful over the weak. Both have similar views on the topic of religion, arguing that no longer should one set of religious truths be imposed on a population. To move forward, to progress, is to explore the world through the exercise of human reason and critical enquiry. For Nietzsche, we must continually question everything, for there is no absolute truth. We have to find our own truth. We do this by being individual, and not following a herd. For Mill, we are rational thinkers, and bases his theory on this view – that we will come to sensible conclusions. Hence, both philosophers advocate maximising negative liberty as a necessary condition for human flourishing. With the freedom to be individual without the barriers or constraints of tyranny, we as a society and as individuals’ progress and new ideas are formed. New values are made, replacing old ones. The Elitist vs. the Liberalist approach is where the two philosophers differ in attitudes. Taking into consideration a rejection of negative liberty, this could be used to pave the way for an alternative account.

Book Review of Domestic Violence Essays

Book Review of Domestic Violence Essays Book Review of Domestic Violence Essay Book Review of Domestic Violence Essay T. B. James has written a hard-hitting and incisive book focusing on current myths about domestic violence in the United States that turns the conventional approach on its ear (Domestic Violence: The 12 Things You Arent Supposed to Know, 2003). A practicing attorney in Minnesota and founder/director of Better Resolutions Mediation Service, Jamess short, quotable book focuses on empirical studies and an extensive review of the literature to make a powerful argument that women are as violent as men, while our legal system is biased against men and refuses to hold females accountable when they are violent dames, 2003). Based on this information, James first twelve chapters are small essays, each addressing one of the dozen things cited in his title. In the 13th and final chapter, he marshals his chilling conclusions from the research literature: men are victimized more often than women and violence against them by females is Just as severe as violence against women. Women are the primary abusers of children and most of their young victims are male. Criminal statistics show, in spite of a rising chorus of voices denouncing violence against women, that violence against males over at least the past twenty ears has been rising, while conversely, violence against women has been decreasing. The same statistics reveal that violence perpetrated by females, in general, has been on the rise dames, 2003). In his most startling chapters, James makes a forceful but controversial assertion that domestic violence against men, ratner tnan raclal crlmes, are tne most under-reported crimes, cltlng Tactors tnat include masculine cultural conditioning about not admitting they are victims and mens real fears about seeking Justice in a legal system that favors women. James demonstrates systemic bias by some lawyers, police and Judges toward men based n the assumption that they are more violent. Assumptions that have been uncritically accepted by many in the legal system include the belief that women are rarely violent, except in self-defense situations dames, 2003). Thomas also cites chilling statistics showing males, not females, as victims of bias in the legal system, noting that men are charged and convicted for all crimes proportionately far more often than females, and when convicted for essentially the same crimes, even capital crimes, face far more serious sanctions (including longer sentences, a vastly higher ikelihood of execution and far more restrictive conditions under their sentences) dames, 2003). A glaring example of this bias is that women, as the primary abusers of children, face minimal consequences for their actions. Sexual abuse of children, while representing less than ten percent (10%) of abuse crimes against them, are primarily committed by men and yet are prosecuted far more often and more forcefully than physical abuse by adult females, which constitute the vast majority of such crimes. When child custody is an issue, males are at an even greater isadvantage-in spite of the clear statistics about the preponderance of child abusers being female. Even when there is significant evidence that a mother is not a fit parent, fathers are correct in their assessment that they are unlikely to win sole custody, primary custody, or be able to significantly limit their childrens contact with abusive mothers dames, 2003). James also skewers the current research base for domestic violence, noting that much of the purported research into domestic violence is characterized by critical flaws; on an intellectual level, these problems included eep-seated prejudices against males based on many researchers feminist-based assumptions about the inherently violent nature of males, the unacceptability of all male violence (even if it is for self-defense) against females, and the presumptively defensive or insignificant nature of violence by women toward their male victims. Data about female perpetrators of child abuse are apparently overlooked dames, 2003). In the domestic violence research world, feminist assumptions-many contradicting better designed studies or more reliable crime data- have tremendous nfluence on how questions are framed, what questions are asked, who is surveyed, and how slanted data are then interpreted to support these pre-existing assumptions. Such studies are based on a circular logic that calls women victims and men batterers dames, 2003). As an example, James cites studies that ask women to report if they have ever been abused according to an extremely generous definition of abuse, then assumes that all instances of abuse reported has been, naturally, perpetrated by their male domestic partners. This data is then reported as reliable, and more importantly, alid. The data is then interpreted to make questionable or untenable conclusions that support the original, simplistic assumptions dames, 2003). James portrays a legal system apparently so intent on correcting past injustices against women that males are now consistently held to a much tougher standard. Not only are females given the benefit of the doubt, much of their violence is viewed as purely defensive or due to Tactors excuslng tnem Trom responslDlllty wnen tney are vlolent. Many people In our Justice system have bought into specious arguments supporting a gender-based ythology as well as uncritically accepting as truth a specific ideology that not only skews the realities of domestic violence but has profoundly negative consequences for males-victims and perpetrators-of all ages dames, 2003). Hard-core feminists who view all women as incapable of violence and all men automatically guilty because of their gender and domestic violence advocates who dont care about the facts will surely attack this book on emotional grounds, but they will have trouble logically refuting the authors impressive grasp of the research literature, including some of its glaring flaws. Advocates of a balanced and fair approach to domestic violence, individuals and organizations fighting for the civil rights of men and equal Justice under the law regardless of gender should welcome this powerful indictment of our societys response to domestic abuse and the systematic mistreatment of males under our current approach dames, 2003). summary As a straight, African-American, heterosexual female I can assure you that Mr. James is well off the mark with this book. Though it would be nice if the stats were skewed and men were truly less responsible for violence in the household, it is imple not the case. This book is irresponsible scholarship, and a prime example of the type of prejudice that exists against the Domestic Violence movement as a whole. It is no longer a feminist issue, but rather a family issue. Domestic Violence is a serious matter, that deserves serious scholarship, and this book does not meet that standard. On any given day the number of male perpetrators of Domestic Violence is ten times that of female. Furthermore, it is almost never the case that a male victim has suffered perpetual abuse or lived in a controlling patriarchal household for the uration of the relationship, as is the case with an overwhelming number of female victims. The issue is real, and despite efforts by radical pro-male groups it is impossible to suggest that the number of men affected by domestic violence is anywhere near that of female victims. As much as people may want to believe there is a conspiracy against males via the Domestic Violence issue, I submit that a battered woman, living in a patriarchal and controlling environment, has neither the time, interest, nor ability to perpetuate such a conspiracy. Be a man, and help stop the violence. Criminal behavior is criminal behavior. Most women, like most men, do not perpetrate violence. The men and women who do such things should be treated as criminals. Violent behavior should not be ignored, because of the gender of the perpetrator. Nor should government services be deliberately denied to men, as they are in the State of Washington, where it was determined that any government aid directed to victimized men would be gender specific and; therefore, terribly unfair. Reference James, T. B. (2003). Domestic Violence: The 12 Things You Arent Supposed to Know. Chula Vista, California: Aventine Press, 2003.

Making Friends Essays - Friendship, Acceptance, Personality Type

Making Friends Essays - Friendship, Acceptance, Personality Type Making Friends The process of making a friend is a very unique one. It depends on the person one is trying to become friends with, it depends on one's gender, it depends on one's age, but most importantly it depends one's personality. Every individual is different and how they make friends differs just as greatly. The way I make friends depends heavily on my personality. As an introverted person, I tend to first meet potential friends through what I call forced association. After the initial meeting, I evaluate them and determine whether or not I think they should be my friend. Bonding, specifically male bonding, follows and acceptance is the final stage. Before I can delve into the sometimes mysterious process of becoming friends with someone, I have to divulge some personal information. I am a great believer in personality typing: the theory that a great majority of people fall into one personality type or another. A complete analysis of my personality is not within the scope of this essay, but suffice it to say that I am very introverted. This does not mean I am anti-social, it merely means that new and non-routine interaction with others taxes my energy. The process of making a new friend is by definition a new and non-routine interaction, therefore it is quite difficult for me to initiate the process. This is where the concept of forced interaction comes in. By forced interaction, I mean a situation where another person and I are placed in an environment where we have no choice but to interact with each other. The largest and most important type of forced interaction for me is school, and more specifically, classes. It is impossible to be completely separate from other students in a class. Consequently, I met all my best friends in school (of course, it was a place that I spent most of my time so it is not a big surprise). Another type of forced interaction comes when you meet a friend of one of your friends. It would be extremely rude to not interact with someone that your friend considered to be friend. That is the way that I met a very close friend of mine and one who I will use as an example of my friend-making process throughout this essay. His name is Andres and I originally met him through another friend of mine, Josh. We were all going to the same high school next year (more forced association), so it was only natural for Josh to try to have us all become friends. But I was not friends with Andres when I first met him. I had to figure out who he was before that could happen. Evaluation has always been very important to me. I constantly evaluate and re-evaluate myself, my friends, my schoolwork, and so forth, almost to the point of obsession. I am ruthlessly self- critical and it is only natural that this same criticism would extend to those I consider my friends. Before I can become friends with someone, I have to determine whether or not I want to be friends with them. I have been told that this is an extremely arrogant way of conducting relationships, but I find any other way to be lacking. If one's own needs in a relationship are not met then it is impossible for them to fulfill other's. The first step in evaluation is the establishment of common ground. It is very unlikely that I will become even casual friends with someone who I have nothing in common with. The more important to me the commonality is, the more likely I will desire to become close friends with someone. One of the first things I look for is intelligence. Part of my personality is the love of intelligence, which means: doing things well in varying circumstances. A very important part of a friendship for me is intellectual stimulation. If it is missing, the friendship will invariably begin to wane. So intelligence and knowledge are two things I look for almost immediately in a new acquaintance. Andres possesses both of these qualities and he possesses them in areas that we both find interesting. Both of us have an aptitude for the sciences. This contributed greatly to me finding him worthy to be my friend. But knowledge and skills alone make a person boring, so I also look for common personality traits. A love of humor is also necessary, as is a low degree of self-monitoring: the degree to which people change to match their surroundings. I am extremely low in that area

An Analysis of Emily Dickinsons Poem, Because I Could Not Stop for Death

In Emily Dickinson's poem, I can not stop death, treating death as a gentleman, he surprisingly visits Dickinson and takes her to a trip to eternity ( See page 24). Ironically, we all know that death is a gentleman, but we all know that this is the opposite. In the second quarter, they all started a slow and calm journey. We are driving slowly, he does not know how to rush (I.5). You can see the silence of the scene where they are located. Dickinson understands the seriousness of her situation here, she forgot everything. Emily Dickinson's poem I can not stop dying Out of Emily Dickinson's poem Can not stop dying represents a reflection of the speaker against death. This poem focuses on the concept of life after death. The background of this verse reflects the approach of death, death is kind and considerate. Through immortal promises, fear is removed, and death not only becomes acceptable, but also is welcomed. - Analysis of Emily Dickinson's I can not stop dying The poets of the 19 th century have written many themes. The general topic is death. Death theme happens in various ways. Emily Dickinson is one of many poets who uses death as the theme of her poetry. In her poem I can not stop death Death is depicted as a gentleman who makes the talker an eternal journey. Since I can not stop death, I was declared Emily Dickinson's most famous poem. This poem reveals the acceptance of calm death of Emily Dickinson. She portrayed her death as a gentleman and she was surprised at her visit. Emily depicts everyday scenes as life cycles. Her metaphor is exploring death in a fictional way, but her line often contains as much uncertainty as meaning. Life and death are oriented forever and are considered not so important in the eternal framework. - Emily Dickinson, using symbolism, was able to create a theme with the theme I can not stop death. . We travel with the speakers and guide us through life, death and other stages. In this poem the symbol we first encountered is de ath. At their conference, the lecturer is dying as if he is the boss who is at the meeting.

International Taxation Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

International Taxation Issues - Essay Example 3) Advise what taxation consideration need to be given if the purchase from the Iberican operations by an Australian company were not for arms' length prices. Explain the reason and the rational of this concept requiring to be addressed for Australian Taxation purposes. In Australia, companies and individuals can be taxable persons. They are tax on income derived inside Australia and/or from outside sources and the tax treatment depends whether or not they are residents or non-residents of Australia. A resident individual is taxable on its assessable income derived from any source, whereas a non-resident individual is taxable only on the assessable income derived in Australia. Taxes imposed may come from business income, or in the payment of interests, dividends, royalties, rent, or capital gains. Taxes can be further classified as withholding tax or taxes on the sale of goods or render of service. A company is resident in Australia for tax purposes if: 1) It is incorporated in Australia (irrespective of where central management and control is exercised). Once a company has been incorporated in Australia it can never lose its Australian residence for tax purposes; 2) Central management and control is exercised in Australia (irrespective of which country the company was incorporated in); and, 3) The company is neither incorporated in Australia nor is its central management and control exercised there but carries on business in Australia and its voting control is in the hands of resident Australian shareholders.1 A company which is a resident in Australia is liable to Australian income tax to all its assessable income which is not specifically exempt, less allowable deductions with a credit for qualifying foreign taxes paid. Assessable income includes the income calculated by the normal accounting concepts, with specified adjustments, and certain capital gains. Normally, tax losses can be carried forward indefinitely or transferred amongst group companies, for offset against future profits. A non-resident company is liable to income tax only on assessable income derived from sources in Australia.2 Double Taxation If a resident company or individual in Australia is doing business outside Australia, the taxes applicable to that country can also be available to it, and vice-versa, even if it already paid the same tax in the country of origin. That is what we call double taxation. Double taxation of foreign income for resident Australian companies has traditionally avoided by entering into a tax treaty with other countries. At present, Australia has entered into tax treaty with more than 40 countries. They prevent double taxation and fiscal evasion and foster cooperation between Australia and other international authorities by enforcing their respective tax laws.3 Income from subsidiaries resident in "unlisted" jurisdictions is taxed a second time in Australia but a tax credit is given for any tax

Photographic Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Photographic Industry - Essay Example Photography begins with the actions of photojournalists. They produce images for publications using cameras. Moreover, photo documentarian and photojournalist both capture issues of current affairs around the world (International Center of Photography, 2009). However, photojournalists specifically do the work of publications. Besides, journalists are witnesses of specific events and translate events into visual images that are normally recognizable and emotive without any interpretation. Developments in landscape photograph advances than portrait photography. Photojournalists’ must be aware of the current issues around the world, research specific topics and accept the responsibility of current culture. Therefore, the history of photography has many developments that include the actions of photojournalists and photo documentaries. They help in developing photographic industry through the research and study of current cultures across the world (Vartanian, Crump, Blahnik & Olymp ia, 2011). In fashion photography, the photographer normally tells a story. The main fashion photographers are Tim Walker and Cecil Beaton. They develop photographs in professional ways that catch the attention of contemporary society in broad and diverse ways. The two fashion photographers give stories that enhance the experience of the viewer and client. Moreover, from the business point of view, storytelling with the use of images gives the opportunity of selling more client books, prints and making more of shoot experience.

Are terrorists ideologically driven Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Are terrorists ideologically driven - Essay Example Though their tactics may be similar, the objectives and targets are very different. This discussion will explain the reasoning for terrorism using Al-Qaeda and the IRA as models for the ‘new’ and ‘old’ types of terrorism and illustrates the differences. It will also delve into the psyche of the terrorist so as to gain a better understanding of why an otherwise rational individual would offer themselves as a martyr for an ideological cause. According to U.S. President George Bush, the Islamic terrorists ‘hate us because of our freedoms.’ This, of course, is faulty, simplistic reasoning much the same as the logic he used to promote his ‘Global War on Terrorism’ which has served only to increase terrorist attacks. The U.S. approach to terrorism is examined and explains how the Bush administration policies and actions have encouraged a worsening of what was previously an unacceptable global situation. Most terrorists feel that they are doing nothing wrong when they kill and injure people, or damage property. Most seem to share a feature of a psychological condition known as anti-social personality disorder or psychopathic personality disorder, which is an absence of empathy for the suffering of others – they don’t feel other people’s pain. However, they do not appear unstable or mentally ill. Someone who is mentally ill may want to commit an act of terror, but as most terrorism requires cooperating with others, this makes it less likely that a mentally ill person will actually carry out such an act because of the difficulty they have in working with others. Terror groups usually dislike or distrust those who wish to join them, who appear to be unstable. â€Å"It is very rare to find a terrorist who suffers from a clinically defined ‘personality disorder’ or who could in any other way be regarded as mentally ill or psychologically deviant† (Silke, 1998). It is

Feature story base on interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Feature story base on interview - Essay Example you are currently placed, if you believe that you have it in you, you are today more likely to fit into the increasingly diverse and inclusive world of PR. In a modern day PR firm you are very prone to find PR teams comprising of generously assorted misfits like self style writers and editors, compilers of cheap record books, university drop outs, techno geeks, part time waiters, blog writers, fitness enthusiasts and what not. It’s a brave new world. A simpleton may construe this to mean that the standards of contemporary PR professionals have deteriorated abysmally. No sir, it is nothing like that. The real thing is that the next generation of PR professionals not only avoid giving in to ego hassles, when it comes to gaining experience, but a grass root level insight into the mass consciousness actually endows them with an eye for value and mass interest. Yet, nobody will advice the likely aspirants to drop on the basics because many acclaimed PR professionals did so. Having a sound academic base and taking care to allay the parental anxieties by securing good grades curtails much unwanted stress and opposition. In fact, doing is more likely to provide you with the much needed emotional support and financial backup, which you will need during the initial years. If the contemporary PR environment defined by multimedia portals and a diverse consumer base has increased opportunities for the newcomers, it has at the same time curtailed the honeymoon periods that the editors could extend to the newcomers. The saving grace is that as in any other vocation, in PR also, some old fashioned values still hold. Young professionals who enter the world of PR because they have a passion for it are more likely to make it, as compared to those who enter, lured by the craze for money. The learning graph is often long and arduous, marked by much bitter criticism, disappointments and ample failures. Therefore, only those who have a real interest, manage to hold on and sustain

Analyze how spiderman fits the classic heroic models while still Essay

Analyze how spiderman fits the classic heroic models while still presenting a uniquely american prespective - Essay Example For example, in the film Spiderman, when the super hero saves her, the character of Aunt May says, â€Å"Everybody loves a hero. People line up for them†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.just to get a glimpse of the one who taught them how to hold on a second longer. I believe theres a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  In mythology, a classic hero is a character who has a problem and must fight to overcome it. In classic mythology, a hero always had to make a journey and he is required to pass through many tests and ordeals as he comes up against forces of evil, however what ultimately helps him to overcome the ordeal and win is confronting his own nature.(Campbell, 1993). According to Campbell, the mythological hero sets forth from his hut or castle and proceeds to the threshold of adventure. There he must move forward fighting the forces of evil in the world of darkness and evil. When he returns , the boon that he brings is able to restore the world. This hero journey model essentially begins with the introduction of the character and his problem, then it follows him through several stages until he finally gets his reward. This classic pattern is also reiterated in Spiderman, whose alter ego is Peter Parker, the typically conflicted hero who is nerdy and a geek, but who rises above his limitations to achieve self knowledge and becomes a force to reckon with, as he fights the forces of evil so that good can triumph. At first, he is just an ordinary guy who lives with his aunt and Uncle and pines for the girl next door – Mary Jane – who is the shallow but popular school leader’s girlfriend. The threshold of the adventure begins when Parker is bitten by a spider and acquires unusual powers, such as the ability to spin webs, a spider sense which tingles in the presence of evil and superb acrobatic strength. He then begins the

Are terrorists ideologically driven Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Are terrorists ideologically driven - Essay Example Though their tactics may be similar, the objectives and targets are very different. This discussion will explain the reasoning for terrorism using Al-Qaeda and the IRA as models for the ‘new’ and ‘old’ types of terrorism and illustrates the differences. It will also delve into the psyche of the terrorist so as to gain a better understanding of why an otherwise rational individual would offer themselves as a martyr for an ideological cause. According to U.S. President George Bush, the Islamic terrorists ‘hate us because of our freedoms.’ This, of course, is faulty, simplistic reasoning much the same as the logic he used to promote his ‘Global War on Terrorism’ which has served only to increase terrorist attacks. The U.S. approach to terrorism is examined and explains how the Bush administration policies and actions have encouraged a worsening of what was previously an unacceptable global situation. Most terrorists feel that they are doing nothing wrong when they kill and injure people, or damage property. Most seem to share a feature of a psychological condition known as anti-social personality disorder or psychopathic personality disorder, which is an absence of empathy for the suffering of others – they don’t feel other people’s pain. However, they do not appear unstable or mentally ill. Someone who is mentally ill may want to commit an act of terror, but as most terrorism requires cooperating with others, this makes it less likely that a mentally ill person will actually carry out such an act because of the difficulty they have in working with others. Terror groups usually dislike or distrust those who wish to join them, who appear to be unstable. â€Å"It is very rare to find a terrorist who suffers from a clinically defined ‘personality disorder’ or who could in any other way be regarded as mentally ill or psychologically deviant† (Silke, 1998). It is

Analyze how spiderman fits the classic heroic models while still Essay

Analyze how spiderman fits the classic heroic models while still presenting a uniquely american prespective - Essay Example For example, in the film Spiderman, when the super hero saves her, the character of Aunt May says, â€Å"Everybody loves a hero. People line up for them†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.just to get a glimpse of the one who taught them how to hold on a second longer. I believe theres a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  In mythology, a classic hero is a character who has a problem and must fight to overcome it. In classic mythology, a hero always had to make a journey and he is required to pass through many tests and ordeals as he comes up against forces of evil, however what ultimately helps him to overcome the ordeal and win is confronting his own nature.(Campbell, 1993). According to Campbell, the mythological hero sets forth from his hut or castle and proceeds to the threshold of adventure. There he must move forward fighting the forces of evil in the world of darkness and evil. When he returns , the boon that he brings is able to restore the world. This hero journey model essentially begins with the introduction of the character and his problem, then it follows him through several stages until he finally gets his reward. This classic pattern is also reiterated in Spiderman, whose alter ego is Peter Parker, the typically conflicted hero who is nerdy and a geek, but who rises above his limitations to achieve self knowledge and becomes a force to reckon with, as he fights the forces of evil so that good can triumph. At first, he is just an ordinary guy who lives with his aunt and Uncle and pines for the girl next door – Mary Jane – who is the shallow but popular school leader’s girlfriend. The threshold of the adventure begins when Parker is bitten by a spider and acquires unusual powers, such as the ability to spin webs, a spider sense which tingles in the presence of evil and superb acrobatic strength. He then begins the

My Dream Job Essay Example for Free

My Dream Job Essay Everyone has a dream. I too dream of a job that will make me child’s dream comes true. My grandfather and father both traditional Chinese physician. They have excellent medical skill and lofty medical ethic. In China, The doctor is called ‘angles in white’, People respect them. I used to get sick in my childhood. My father always can cure my disease by traditional Chinese medical. I think everything like a magic. I feel so amazing. I adore my father, so when I was a child, I want to be a traditional Chinese physician. And then the dream is not changed. History By learning about more knowledge, I know Traditional Chinese medicine has a history of several years. It is one of Chinese splendid cultural heritages. It is the science dealing with human physiology, pathology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases. During several thousand years it has made great contributions to the promotion of health, the proliferation and prosperity of the Chinese nation, and the enrichment and development of world medicine as well. pic] Li Shizhen, one of the famous physicians in the Chinese history. He is very important for the traditional Chinese medical’ develop. He makes people start attention it. He wrote too many books that about how to use the tradition skill to cure the sickness to save the patient. [pic] ‘Ben Cao Gang Mu’ is the most famous of traditional Chinese medical books by Li Shizhen wro te. The book consists of 52 volumes with 1,892 medicinal herbs, including over 10,000 prescriptions and 1,000 illustrations of medicinal items. It is a great contribution to the development of pharmacology both in China and all over the world. Methods of treatment †¢ Diagnose skills †¢ Chinese massage †¢ Acupuncture †¢ Chinese herbs ? Diagnose skills [pic] There is a combined use of the four diagnostic methods among herbalist doctors: observe, hear and smell, ask about background and touching After the four steps, the doctor can know patient’s illness. Then treatment was deferred pending further diagnosis. ? Chinese massage [pic] Chinese massage is known as Tui Na, uses wave-like motions to loosen joints and nourish muscles. Bring awareness back to a person’s body and making it a first step in the healing process. Stimulate the flow of Qi, blood and body fluids can be used to treat pain, stress or digestion problem. The masseur can give you an all-over massage and focus on specific areas with pain or do a treatment on the affected area. So tradition Chinese medical can use our life. Chinese massage need skilled technological and more experiences. So I should constant practice. ? Acupuncture Acupuncture is both One of the oldest forms of Chinese Medicine. It as same as massage are both important. Acupuncture involves the stimulation of anatomical points on the body with thin needled. Needles are placed at â€Å"Yin/Yang Meridian points†. Contrary to what you might think, acupuncture patients usually feel little to no pain, because acupuncture needles are hair-thin and are manipulated either by hand or electricity. [pic] ? Chinese herbs Except for use these skills, tradition Chinese physician also need know Chinese herbs purposes. Herbs are a vital part of Chinese healing. Chinese herbs have many kinds. Differentiate into many species. Each ingredient has unique characteristics. The ingredients work in harmony to help a person’s body. Herbs can help boost Qi and balance Yin/Yang. [pic] Advantage †¢ Whatever traditional Chinese physician or other doctors, they have many same effects. They like an angel who brings patients from illness to happiness and give the hope to the patients to live on. They may let these experiences personally the human which the indisposition suffers to get rid of the pain and they saved many people’s lives during their work. †¢ Traditional Chinese physician not only can help patients take away the pain, but also help people keep in good health by some traditional methods. For example: Chinese food therapy is good for our health, and it can use to our daily life, for food and drink. Certain foods and herbs are prescribed to restore balance to the body. Combining Qigong with exercise is a good choice, because it regulates the mind and breathing to promote the flow of Qi. It can make our sound in body and mind. [pic] [pic] †¢ Traditional Chinese medicine contains thousands of year people’s wisdom. It is only belong to Chinese unique culture. †¢ And Chinese herbs are from nature, without adding any chemicals. So the herbs don’t have bad effect for health. Tradition Chinese medicine is an abstract subject. It has many different skills. The effects of different, but they are the same important. So I know that if I want to be a good tradition Chinese physician, I need spend many energy and time to master different knowledge and learn how to become a good doctor. I will try do my best that make dream come true.

Facial Emotion Recognition Systems

Facial Emotion Recognition Systems CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION 1.1: Introduction Face plays important role in social communication. This is a window to human character, reactions and ideas. the psychological research shown that nonverbal part is the most enlightening channel in social communication. Verbal part offers about 7% of the message, vocal 34% and facial expression about 55%. Due to that, face is a theme of study in many areas of science such as psychology, behavioral science, medicine and finally computer science. In the field of computer science much effort is put to discover the ways of automation the process of face detection and segmentation. Several methods addressing the problem of facial feature extraction have been proposed. The key problem is to provide suitable face representation, which leftovers robust with respect to diversity of facial appearances. The method of face recognition plays an important role in peoples life ranging from commercial to law enforcement applications, such as real time surveillance, biometric personal identification and information security. It is one of the most challenging topics in the interface of computer vision and cognitive science. Over past years, extensive research on face recognition has been conducted by many psychophysicists, neuroscientists and engineers. In general views, the definition of face recognition can be formulated as follows Different faces in a static image can be identified using a database of stored faces. Available collateral information like facial expression may enhance the recognition rate. Generally speaking, if the face images are sufficiently provided, the quality of face recognition will be mainly related to feature extraction and recognition modeling. Facial emotion recognition in uncontrolled environments is a very challenging task due to large intra-class variations caused by factors such as illumination and pose changes, occlusion, and head movement. The accuracy of a facial emotion recognition system generally depends on two critical factors: (i) extraction of facial features that are robust under intra-class variations (e.g. pose changes), but are distinctive for various emotions, and (ii) design of a classifier that is capable of distinguishing different facial emotions based on noisy and imperfect data (e.g., illumination changes and occlusion). For recognition modeling, lots of researchers usually evaluate the performance of model by recognition rate instead of computational cost. Recently, Wright and Mare ported their work called the sparse representation based classification (SRC). To be more specific, it can represent the testing image sparsely using training samples via norm minimization which can be solved by balancing the minimum reconstructed error and the sparse coefficients. The recognition rate of SRC is much higher than that of classical algorithms such as Nearest Neighbor, Nearest Subspace and Linear Support Vector Machine (SVM). However, there are three drawbacks behind the SRC. First, SRC is based on the holistic features, which cannot exactly capture the partial deformation of the face images. Second, regularized SRC usually runs slowly for high dimensional face images. Third in the presence of occluded face images, Wright et al introduce an occlusion dictionary to sparsely code the occluded components in face images. However, the computational cost of SRC increase drastically because of large number of elements in the occlusion dictionary. Therefore, the computational cost of SRC limits it s application in real time area, which increasingly attracts researchers attention to solve this issue. 1.2: Psychological Background In 1978, Ekman et al. [2] introduced the system for measuring facial expressions called FACS Facial Action Coding System. FACS was developed by analysis of the relations between muscle(s) contraction and changes in the face appearance caused by them. Contractions of muscles responsible for the same action are marked as an Action Unit (AU). The task of expression analysis with use of FACS is based on decomposing observed expression into the set of Action Units. There are 46 AUs that represent changes in facial expression and 12 AUs connected with eye gaze direction and head orientation. Action Units are highly descriptive in terms of facial movements, however, they do not provide any information about the message they represent. AUs are labeled with the description of the action (Fig.1). Fig. 1: Examples of Action Units Facial expression described by Action Units can be then analyzed on the semantic level in order to find the meaning of particular actions. According to the Ekmans theory [2], there are six basic emotion expressions that are universal for people of different nations and cultures. Those basic emotions are joy, sadness, anger, fear, disgust and surprise (Fig. 2). Fig. 2: Six universal emotions The Facial Action Coding System was developed to help psychologists with face behavior analysis. Facial image was studied to detect the Action Units occurrences and then AU combinations were translated into emotion categories. This procedure required much effort, not only because the analysis was done manually, but also because about 100 hours of training were needed to become a FACS coder. That is why; FACS was quickly automated and replaced by different types of computer software solutions. 1.3: Facial emotion recognition systems The aim of FERS is to replicate the human visual system in the most analogous way. This is very thought-provoking job in the area of computer vision because not only it needs effective image/video analysis methods but also well-matched feature vector used in machine learning process. The primary principle of FER system is that it would be easy and effective. That relates to full automation, so that no extra manual effort is obligatory. It is also chosen for such system to be real-time which is particularly significant in both: human-computer interaction and human-robot interaction applications. Besides, the theme of study should be permitted to act impulsively while data is being captured for examination. System should be intended to evade limitations on body and head movements which could also be an important source of data about shown emotion. The limitations about facial hair, glasses or extra make-up should be reduced to lowest. Furthermore, handling the occlusions problem looks to be a test for a system and it should be also considered. Other significant features that are wanted in FER system are user and environment independence. The prior means that, any user should be permissible to work with the system, regardless of of skin color, oldness, gender or state. The latter relates to conduct the complex background and diversity in lightning conditions. Further advantage could be the view independence in FERS, which is likely in systems based on 3D vision. Face Detection As it was stated earlier, FER system comprises of 3 steps. In the first step, system takes input image and does some image processing methods on it, to detect the face region. System can function on static images, where this process is called face localization or videos where we are working with face tracking. Main problems which can be come across at this step are different scales and orientations of face. They are generally produced by subject movements or changes in remoteness from camera. Substantial body actions can also reason for severe changes in position of face in successive frames what makes tracking tougher. What is more, difficulty of background and variety of lightning circumstances can be also quite puzzling in tracking. For example, when there is more than one face in the image, system should be able to differentiate which one is being tracked. Finally, obstructions which usually give the impression in impulsive reactions need to be handled as well. Problems stated overhead were a challenge to hunt for methods which would crack them. Among the methods for face detection, we can differentiate two groups: holistic where face is treated as a whole unit and analytic where co-occurrence of characteristic facial elements is considered. 1.3.2. Feature Extraction Afterward the face has been situated in the image or video frame, it can be examined in terms of facial action occurrence. There are two types of features that are frequently used to define facial expression: geometric features and appearance features. Geometric features quantity the displacements of certain parts of the face such as brows or mouth corners, while appearance features define the variation in face texture when specific action is done. Apart from feature type, FER systems can be separated by the input which could be static images or image sequences. The job of geometric feature measurement is generally connected with face region analysis, exclusively finding and tracking vital points in the face region. Possible problems that arise in face decomposition job could be obstructions and incidences of facial hair or glasses. Besides, defining the feature set is tough, because features should be expressive and possibly not interrelated. Recognition of Expression The latter part of the FER system is based on machine learning theory; exactly it is the classification job. The input to the classifier is a set of features which were recovered from face region in the previous stage. The set of features is designed to describe the facial expression. Classification needs supervised training, so the training set should consist of labeled data. Once the classifier is trained, it can distinguish input images by assigning them a specific class label. The most usually used facial expressions classification is finished both in terms of Action Units, proposed in Facial Action Coding System and in terms of common emotions: happiness, unhappiness, fury, surprise, disgust and fear. There are a lot of different machine learning methods for classification job, viz.: K-Nearest Neighbors, Artificial Neural Networks, Support Vector Machines, Hidden Markov Models, Expert Systems with rule based classifier, Bayesian Networks or Boosting Techniques (Adaboost, Gentleboost). Three major problems in classification job are: picking good feature set, effective machine learning method and diverse database for training. Feature set should be composed of features that are discriminative and characteristic for expression. Machine learning method is chosen usually by the sort of a feature set. In conclusion, database used as a training set should be adequate and contain various data. Methods described in the literature are presented by categories of classification output. 1.4: Applications Enormous amount of different information is encoded in facial movements. Perceiving someones face we can absorb about his/her: †¢ Affective state, connected with emotions like fear, anger and joy and moods such as euphoria or irritation †¢ Cognitive activity (brain activity), which can be seeming as attentiveness or boredom †¢ Personality features like sociability, nervousness or unfriendliness †¢ Honesty using analysis of micro-expressions to disclose hidden emotions †¢ Psychological state giving information about illnesses helpful with diagnosis of depression, mania or schizophrenia. Due to the variety of information visible on human face, facial expression analysis has applications in various fields of science and life. Primarily, teachers use facial expression investigation to correct the struggle of the exercise and learning pace on a base of reaction visible on students faces. Virtual tutor in e-learning planned by Amelsvoort and Krahmer [26] offers student with suitable content and alters the complexity of courses or tasks by the information attained from students face. Additional application of FERS is in the field of business where the measurement of peoples fulfilment or disappointment is very important. Usage of this application can be found in many marketing methods where information is collected from customers by surveys. The great chance to conduct the surveys in the automatic way could be able by using customers facial expressions as a level of their satisfaction or dissatisfaction . Furthermore, prototype of Computerized Sales Assistant, proposed by Shergill et al.   chooses the appropriate marketing and sales methods by the response taken from customers facial expressions. Facial behavior is also studied in medicine not only for psychological disorder diagnosis but also to help people with some disabilities. Example of it could be the system proposed by Pioggial et al.   that aids autistic children to progress their social skills by learning how to recognize emotions. Facial expressions could be also used for surveillance purposes like in prototype developed by Hazel hoff et al.. Suggested system automatically perceives uneasiness of newborn babies by recognition of 3 behavioral states: sleep, awake and cry. Furthermore, facial expression recognition is broadly used in human robot and human computer interaction Smart Robotic Assistant for people with disabilities based on multimodal HCI. Another example of human computer interaction systems could be system developed for automatic update of avatar in multiplayer online games. 1.5: Thesis Organization The thesis is organized as follows: The thesis is opened with an introduction i.e., Chapter 1, in which it is discussed about the introduction, physiological background and facial emotion recognition systems along with the Thesis organization and the Tools used for the whole project. Chapter 2 discussed about the literature survey in which the brief explanation of previous works is given and explained. Chapter 3 discussed about the proposed system in which the each part of the face was detected and the emotion of the person is detected based on extreme sparse learning. Here we use the spatial-temporal descriptor and optimal flow method to recognize the emotion. Chapter 4 plays key role in this project which gives the information of software that used for the project i.e. MATLAB. The results and discussions are presented in Chapter 5. This chapter describes the results that are obtained for the proposed system. Chapter 6 discussed about the advantages of the proposed system and disadvantages of the existing systems. Hence the conclusion and future work, references are presented in chapter 7. Then the references are mentioned in the chapter8. 1.6: Tools Used Image processing toolbox MATLAB R2013a(version 8)

William Goldings Lord of the Flies :: English Literature

Golding 's Lord of the Flies Golding implements his use of language and choice of words to make this a disturbing part of the novel. We can see this on many occasions throughout the passage. And what makes this passage so important is the boys attitudes changing and developing on a number of issues and taboos. In the beginning part of this passage the reader can see that the hunters have just tried to kill their first pig and at the same time overcoming the taboo in question, which is, whether it's right to kill an animal for food. The reader can see that Ralph is full "Of fright and apprehension" and most importantly "Pride" when he hit the boar with his spear and we notice that "He sunned himself in their new respect and felt that hunting was good after all". Later on we see another example of disturbing language as "The circle moved in and around. Robert squealed in mock terror, then real pain." And as Ralph had a "Sudden thick excitement", he grabbed Eric's spear and "Jabbed at Robert with it". As Jack has Robert pinned down in the circle the reader is told that Jack is "Brandishing a knife," with this added to the background cheering of "Kill him! Kill him!" the boys have overcome another Taboo; not one of is it right to kill animals but one of is it right to injure other people for the sake of the game. Another disturbing part of the passage is the language and imagery involved in "Make a ring!" Here we can imagine a giant set of claws engulfing Robert ready to kill leaving him no escape. And as Robert "Squealed in mock terror, then in real pain" we see that the boys playing the game can easily get carried away without them knowing just how much damage their causing. As "The butt end of the spear fell on his back", and the rest of the boys started to "Hold him!" Ralph grew a "Sudden thick excitement", and jabbed Robert with "Eric's spear". With the ritual chant of "Kill him! Kill him!" Jack soon finds himself holding Robert "By the hair" whilst "Brandishing a knife" this part of the passage is also very important because we can even see that Ralph, who was "Fighting to get near" and finding "The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering". Was normally one of the boys who would be least likely to participate in one of these savage "games". It is in these games were the boys get carried away and Ralph feels a

Technology & Business Essay -- essays research papers

Preliminary draft of Q1: The Internet has opened up a range of new marketing opportunities for the commerce world. A wide range of advertisement options are available: Banner ads Text ads Popups Targeted ads The last is of particular interest because it can provide advertisements targeted at the location of the user (country, town etc). Take this example: Your business has a small advertising budget and you want to do some Internet advertising. Every click your ad gets, that costs you money. Say you only operate in Masterton, do you want people from Auckland or USA to see your ads and click on them, hence costing you money? Internet advertising is much cheaper than TV marketing. The bid for a 30 second advertising slot in the Superbowl went for a record 2.4 million dollars. Most Internet Advertising agents do not charge you for the amount of times your ad is viewed, but by the amount of people who click on it, this makes it much cheaper than TV advertising. Google Adsense program uses an advanced computer program to analyze the content of the page and deliver ads relevant to the page content. For example: Your looking at a page reviewing books, the targeted ads will show bookstores in your area. http://www.gaebler.com/Television-Advertising-Costs.htm https://adwords.google.com/select/main?cmd=Login&sourceid=AWO&subid=US-ET-ADS&hl=en_US https://www.google.com/adsense/?sourceid=aso&subid=ww-et-awhomegap&hl=en_US Preliminary draft of Q2: Since the...

Hydrogen Gas Lab Essay

* For the mass, an uncertainty of0.01g was used, as the uncertainty was stated on the weighing machine. * For the volume, an uncertainty of0.05mL was used, as it was half the smallest increment on the graduated cylinder. * For the temperature, an uncertainty of0.5 was used, as it was half the smallest increment on the thermometer. Sample Calculation Converting mL to L Data Processing: Magnesium+HCl Reaction -Finding the molar volume at STP of hydrogen gas when HCl is reacted with magnesium. Finding Pressure of (Pressure of H2O at 21=0.02763) Finding Volume of at STP 0.002 Sample Calculation Finding Uncertainty for Finding moles of Moles of Finding Molar Volume of at STP. Zinc+HCl Reaction – Experimentally calculating molar mass of zinc using the ideal gas laws. Finding Pressure of (Pressure of H2O at 21=0.02763) Finding Moles of Determining Molar Mass of Zn Conclusion: In conclusion it was found that the molar volume of hydrogen gas that was produced when hydrochloric acid reacted with magnesium was 19L/mol3. Ideally it should be 22.4L/mol according to the ideal gas laws. There is a percent difference of 15% between the two values. But if uncertainties are considered the percent difference is reduced to 2%. This is an acceptable value because the actual value of 22.4L/mol is an approximation in ideal conditions according to the ideal gas laws. The ideal gas laws don’t take into consideration the attractive forces between atoms, or the volume of the atoms. And most likely if those factors were considered then the percent difference would be 0%. For the second part of the experiment it was experimentally found using the ideal gas laws that the molar mass of zinc is 124 g/mol. When compared with the actual value of 65g/mol, there is a percent difference of 90%. And even if uncertainties are considered, the percent difference is only reduced to 64%. This is too big; therefore the data is rendered unreliable. There were quite a few weaknesses and limitations in this lab. First of all the volume of H2O mixed in with the H2 gas was not considered. Had it been considered, then the volume found at STP would have been lower, and it would give a more accurate measurement to what the experimental value is. Another weakness in this lab was the fact that the molar mass of zinc was twice as big as its accepted value. The most likely reason for this is that when the zinc reacted, it is likely that some of the hydrogen gas was not in the beaker, but the hydrogen gas escaped into the air. That is why when the formula n=PV/RT was used, the volume in the numerator was half as big as it should be, which in turn caused the calculated molar mass to double. So it can be assumed that approximately half the hydrogen gas escaped into the air. Another weakness was the fact that the apparatus was left over night, and so if there was a microscopic hole or crack, then the chances of the hydrogen escaping is very high. This would be true because, and since hydrogen has the lowest molar mass of all the elements, it would have a very high velocity, and so it is possible that the hydrogen gas was able to escape through a microscopic hole at a fast rate because it has such a high velocity. Not only that, but since it was left overnight, it would have had more time to escape the beaker. There are a number of ways that this lab could be improved. First of all, a new graduated cylinder should be used to ensure that there are no cracks or holes through which the hydrogen gas can escape. Along with that the apparatus should not be left out overnight, but instead the reaction should be speeded up by heating up the apparatus, and then taking the measurements of the volume of gas every 1 minute. This in turn would decrease the amount of energy lost to the environment, and it would end up giving more accurate results. Next time, the volume of should also be considered. A percentage value can be used, since we know the pressure that gives, that pressure can be converted into a percent, and multiplies by the total volume, and then inversed. This in turn will in turn give the volume of .This will hold true because V=nRT/P, so pressure and volume are inversely proportional, and since nRT is a constant V and P have to change accordingly.

Payless Service Blueprint

Payless Shoe Source is a discount footwear retailer with over 4,572 retail stores in 15 countries. This company does not only focus on providing different fashion possibilities for the family at a great price, but distinguishes themselves by offering an engaging, easy-to-shop experience and outstanding customer service. Our group chose this company to blueprint because it has a very elaborate customer service process.This company focuses heavily on providing the customer with a great shopping experience by following a series of â€Å"critical actions† that must be delivered to one hundred percent of the customers during their journey in the store. In addition, one of our group members works in this company and therefore, it would be easier to grasp an in depth understanding of the service process and be able to have easier access to all the information we needed.When shopping at the store, the customer goes through five different steps in their shopping experience. The company calls this process the â€Å"customer journey,† consisting of the following stages: Enter, Browse, Try-on, Check-out, and Walk-out. When the customer approaches the store, the customer is impacted by the store’s physical evidence for the first time. The first physical evidence the customer comes across is the store’s outer appearance. They may ask themselves does the store look in good condition and/or is it open.Once they get that established, they notice the parking lot to see if there are any available spaces to park and also if it’s clean. Once they park, the first thing they see on the store is big posters on the windows. The store always has advertisements on the windows to show customers what sales they have going on during that time. The sale posters alone can influence a customer to walk in the store and that alone can make a customer walk in the store with certain expectations, such as prices and brands. As the customer walks in the store, the Enter stage begins.The customer walks into a lobby area, which contains a little jewelry/sunglasses section slightly to the side and in front of them, there are displays of the latest or â€Å"hottest† shoes for customers to view at first. To the left or right wall of the store, there would be handbags/purses for the customer to see, many which match certain shoes. Payless Shoesource as the name says it, is mainly to shop for shoes, but all these extra items that the customers come across in their shopping experience influence a customer who initially went in for a pair of shoes to walk out with two or three extra items, or ccessories they might not even need or did not realize they needed. Once the lobby area has been viewed, the customers are offered assistance and are directed to their size. If they are shopping for children, an associate offers to measure the child’s feet and then directs them to the kid’s aisle. This is where the Browse stage begins. The ai sles are divided by men’s, women, and children. The aisles containing the shoes should be well-organized, put in correct order by size and department, and should be color-coded. This helps the customer and employees to find things easier.In this stage of the customer journey, an associate approaches the customer and initiates interaction. The salesperson asks the customer an open ended question such as, â€Å"What type of shoes are you looking for today† to better understand the customer’s needs. The associate then suggests the customer styles for them to try on and helps them find the right size. Furthermore, in this stage the associate also ensures that the customer understands the promotion that the store has in case they were not yet given that information at the Enter stage.If a certain style is not found in the aisles, the associate checks the inventory system (support process) with a handheld computer device called a scanner. With this device the associat e can check inventory, prices, and in what other payless locations the shoe is in stock. This device is very important physical evidence because it can influence a customer’s experience positively. This allows the employees to give a faster and more accurate service. After the customer begins trying on shoes, the associate goes back to check on the customer and delivers the critical actions for the try-on stage.This stage is very important because the company has determined that sixty-four percent of customers who try on shoes make a purchase. The associate begins by complementing their selection. This can change the sixty-six percent to eighty-eight after a customer receives follow-up. The associate then offers the customer a second style or a matching accessory to increase the units per transaction. Once the customer picks the products they want to buy, the associate offers to take the shoes to the registers which are at the front of the store, where the Check-out stage beg ins.In the beginning of the transaction a customer is asked for personal information such as name, address, and email address that is input in to the registration system in the support process. This data is stored and used for marketing purposes and comes up every time the customer shops in the store, allowing for a more personalized service. The cashier then proceeds by checking that the correct shoe mates are taken. This is done verbally to reassure that the customer is taking what they want and to avoid any returns.Underneath the registers, are shoelaces and shoe care merchandise for the customer to purchase at last minute. In the Check-out stage, these items are offered by the cashier because the company determined that one out of five attempts to sell additional items at the register is successful. The shoe care merchandiser influences the customers experience because they are strategically placed to create additional needs to consumers, making them purchase at the last minute. This helps the company, but it also satisfies the customer because they now have an item that can improve the life of their product.Finally, the customer is thanked and invited back. The last stage of the customer journey is the Walk-Out stage. This is whenever a customer is leaving the store without making a purchase. An associate stops the customer and asks then an open-ended question, such as â€Å"Did you find everything you were looking for. † Many times an associate prevents the customer from leaving and directs them back to the aisles for further help and may actually save a sale. If not, they give the customer a reason to come back by informing them of an upcoming promotion or the day new shipment arrives.Of course, even the best process has potential fail points where problems may occur and/or bottlenecks where backups or slow delivery may occur. There are three different types we can identify. The first bottleneck is the handling of uncooperative customers. All the critical actions that the service employees need to deliver during the customer journey require cooperation from both ends; the customer and the firm’s employees. Customer participation is crucial in effectively delivering all aspects of the service delivery the company wishes to give all of its customers.However, sometimes the company comes across â€Å"difficult† customers, or often called â€Å"get out of my face† customers that can slow the delivery process or even cause a fail point. There are times that customers do not want to be offered assistance and they will either keep walking, ignoring the salesperson, or they will respond with a quick phrase like, â€Å"I am just looking. † For instance, during the Browse stage, the employee is required to interact with the customer.If they are explaining the current promotion to the customer, but a customer refuses to respond to the employees help by not listening to them, then this part of the service del iver creates a fail point if the associate gives up or it makes the process slow down is the associate later attempts to explain the same information once again during a different stage, to avoid the customer arriving at the register not understanding the promotion. Another instance would be at the Enter stage, where the associate offers to measure children’s feet.It is the salesperson’s job to deliver this critical action, however how successful this is also depends on the customer’s participation. If a customer does not allow the associate to measure their child’s feet, then the whole purpose of this part of the service delivery fails because the associate will not be able to give the customer this service. The purpose of doing this is to allow the associates to interact with the children as well as the parents in order to create a pleasurable experience for the whole family.This is a service that many competitors don’t offer, so it is a competit ive advantage. The only solution to this bottleneck is for the front line managers to exercise continuous training with their employees. This will help them gain ease in talking to customer in general. It will provide the associates with practice that will help them learn to enhance customer participation and to effectively deliver good service. That way if a customer shuts down an associate, the associate will be trained to not give up and instead exercise the learned ways to gain a customer’s trust.Unenthusiastic employees are another fail point we identified. Employee’s unwillingness to participate in delivering the customer service can be a potential fail point in the service delivery process. Uncooperative employees can be the result of a variety of things. The first is that the company was involved in an ineffective hiring process. Another is that the company failed to exercise proper training. The employee must be trained to switch from tasks to customer service whenever a customer walks in.Fortunately, this fail point is somewhat controllable by the company. To avoid this, the company should hire the right people from the start. A solution is for the company to develop strategies to determine who is right for this position. Another alternative is to treat their employee’s right. The company must know when to reward their employees and must provide motivation that will drive them to try their best. A third fail point identified is out of stock merchandise. Not meeting the demands of the ustomers can be a big problem that can lead to many lost sales. The solution to this is to exercise more effective communication during the support process where the manufacturer sends the merchandise to the pool point and from there it is sent to the store, and it is received and input into the inventory system. Every time an associate uses the inventory to search for a shoe and prints out a receipt for the customer to go to another location is valu able information that should be used in benefit of the company.This is additional information that should be considered when making the inventory and should be effectively and accurately communicated within the support process to successfully meet the specific demands of customers. A service blueprint not only allows for a quantitative description of critical service elements, such as time, logical sequences of actions and processes, but also specifies both actions/events that happen in the time and place of the interaction and actions/events that are out of the â€Å"line of visibility† for the users, but are fundamental for the service.With the realization of the importance and the domination of services in the world’s economies, there is a growing emphasis in business practice on creating meaningful, memorable customer experiences. Payless Shoe Source has reinvented itself and repositioned its brand as a business that is as passionate about helping customers as they are about the products they sell. By using a detailed service blueprint, Payless can strengthen its Marketing, HR Management, and Operations areas and achieve a stronger bond with its customers.The company’s blueprint showcases key points where customers are more attracted to, spend more time at, and are more likely to focus on promotions, ads, and its products. This will especially be helpful to the stores’ â€Å"extensive media plan. † Measuring the stores traffic in customers, sales, and productivity, the company develops the plan which determines what amount of advertising impressions would be the most effective in T. V, radio, magazine, and newspapers. It was this plan that led them to be awarded the â€Å"2006 Marketer of the Year† by Footwear News among other recognitions. Another important aspect of the organization is its’ employees.Payless is proud of its associates and has a culture that encourages personal, informal feedback between al l employees and includes programs in its stores and corporate offices to recognize excellence by individuals and teams. Through the blueprint Payless can evaluate associates, their relationships with customers, and manage their Development, Recognition, and Compensation Programs. For example the quarterly and annual Pinnacle Awards program recognizes top store and district performers in their three regions. Payless is also an organization looking to innovate their service to customers.Its store operations are a critical, important area in its service process. A blueprint will be helpful to create performance standards for workload scenarios, improve alignment among key business functions, and implement new technologies where needed the most. An example of how payless optimized it’s workforce was the creation of KRONOS. Kronos is a an integrated, analytical workforce management system which pulls data from various sources such as the POS, traffic counters, supply chain systems , and associate preferences to create automated, optimized work schedules.Through this assignment we learned how significant a service blueprint can be to an organization for it to be successful among its customers. The blueprint allows firms to visualize the service process, points of customer contact, and the physical evidence associated with their services from their customers’ perspective. The uniqueness of this technique is its continuous focus on the customer as the center and foundation for innovation, service improvement, and experience design. That doesn’t mean that customers are the source of innovation, but rather that value to the customer is the central purpose of innovation.The service blueprint helps firms improve and innovate their service and create a â€Å"customer-focused† design for the firm, which in turn increases customer retention, creates a competitive advantage and mainly increases brand equity. Payless Shoesource is a perfect example o f how a blueprint can be successfully used to innovate, improve, and communicate the firms’ philosophy of great service to its customers.Works Cited Bharat Book Bureau. February 2009. 5 July 2010 http://g51studio. com/parsons/ServiceBlueprinting