Iron Crowned Chapter 6

I glanced around uneasily. I knew there had to be guards on watch in the garden and wondered what it would take for them to come tackle a crazy old woman. Unless she openly jumped me or something, I had a feeling I was on my own. â€Å"Unless your power extends to some kind of mind control over Katrice, I don't see how that's going to happen,† I said finally. She crooked me a grin. â€Å"No, that's not a gift the gods have chosen to bestow on any of the shining ones. Even they know the limits of mortals.† I pulled the robe more tightly around me. Seeing as I couldn't sleep, I might as well humor her. â€Å"Then what's your plan?† â€Å"You need to find the Iron Crown.† â€Å"The what?† â€Å"The Iron Crown.† She said it in a grand, ominous way †¦ one that really deserved an echo chamber to give it its full effect. â€Å"Okay,† I said. â€Å"I'll bite. What's the Iron Crown?† â€Å"An ancient artifact. One worn by the greatest, most powerful leaders in the shining ones' history. Leaders feared by all, who ruled many kingdoms.† â€Å"I have a crown. A few of them.† Only one was my official â€Å"crown of state,† but designers had crafted me others to coordinate with my outfits. â€Å"Not like this one,† she said. â€Å"Let me guess. It's made of iron.† She nodded and looked like she was waiting for me to be impressed. â€Å"Sorry. Like I said, short of mind control power, I'm not going on some magic object quest. My life is already like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign.† Masthera frowned. â€Å"Dragons haven't lived in the Otherworld in centuries.† â€Å"Forget it. Thanks for the, er, advice, but I'm not interested.† I shifted uncomfortably. â€Å"I should really get to bed.† Masthera leaned forward, undaunted. â€Å"You don't understand, Thorn Queen,† she hissed. â€Å"Only a few are capable of completing the tasks required to gain the crown. Most would not even be able to wear it.† That was easy to figure out. â€Å"Right. Because it's made of iron. I don't think an ability everyone already knows I have from being human would be that impressive.† â€Å"Queen Katrice would think so. Many of her people would too. Her armies might revolt. She herself would be afraid and back off.† â€Å"All because of the reputation of a crown that doesn't have any power?† I asked skeptically. â€Å"Where is it?† â€Å"Far away, in a place unknown.† â€Å"Oh good grief. If no one knows where it is, then how am I supposed to get it?† â€Å"That's part of the challenge. Find it, and you end the war.† I eyed her carefully. â€Å"If this is such a great idea, why not bring it to Dorian? Your king?† â€Å"He knows of it,† she agreed. â€Å"He's old enough to remember the legends. But he couldn't wear it. Only you.† Now she eyed me carefully. â€Å"Your father sought it – and failed.† I stiffened, my voice turning to ice. â€Å"Is this part of the prophecy? Some way of marking me as the conqueror's mother? Is it something I'm supposed to give to my hypothetical son?† â€Å"No,† she said. Her demeanor turned humble, but those eyes still looked shrewd. â€Å"It is merely a means to help you end your war.† â€Å"I've heard enough of this ridiculousness.† I stood up. â€Å"I'm going to bed.† Masthera started to call after me as I strode away but then bit off her words. I wondered if she had accepted my refusal or simply feared the guards' responding to continual harassment of me. I returned to Dorian's room and slipped back into bed with him. His arm unconsciously wrapped around me, and although it took a while, my troubled mind finally calmed enough to allow me some brief sleep. It was his movements that woke me a few hours later. I sat up in bed, watching as he dressed. Through the windows, the sky was barely a pinkish purple. â€Å"You're going to meet the armies already?† I asked quietly. From a chaise, he lifted a breastplate made of fine copper chain. Normally, he had attendants dressing him, and I knew he was doing it alone so that a group of people traipsing through his room wouldn't wake me. Watching him fumble at fastening it, I hurried over to help. â€Å"Katrice's forces will attack as soon as they have enough light. They may have already. It's only the unfamiliar terrain that stopped them from doing it overnight.† I finished hooking the chainmail, trying not to think about how rare it was for him to wear any sort of armor. It was a sign of the danger he walked into, even if he avoided the front lines. â€Å"I wish you weren't going.† He gave me that easy smile and rested his hands on my bare hips. â€Å"Me too. I'd much rather be back in bed with you. Stay a couple hours. I'm sure I'll be right back.† That brought a smile to my lips, though I felt no humor. â€Å"Yes, I'm sure that's all it'll take.† He released me and turned to a cabinet on the wall. Opening it, he revealed a number of weapons. One of them was an exquisitely made copper sword, crafted by a metalsmith in my employ named Girard. Dorian touched it reverently, then slipped it into a scabbard he fastened around his waist. While dangerous in and of itself, the sword possessed an extra threat because of Dorian's connection to the earth and its elements. He could infuse it with power. â€Å"Dorian †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I hesitated, afraid to ask my next question. â€Å"Have you ever heard of the Iron Crown?† â€Å"Of course.† He finished fastening the scabbard and glanced back up at me. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"I ran into a woman named Masthera last night, who told me about it.† â€Å"Ah, Masthera,† he said fondly. â€Å"Every court should have a seeress. Her predictions are right about half the time – which is quite remarkable. You should see the farce of a seer they've got over in the Maple Land. I'd be humiliated to keep someone like that around.† â€Å"Hey, focus,† I chastised. â€Å"This Iron Crown. Masthera claims it could end the war. That by winning it and proving our – er, my – power, I could make Katrice back down.† The smile faded as Dorian frowned, looking deep in thought. â€Å"That's a very real possibility. And you could wear it, couldn't you?† A sense of wonder lit his words. â€Å"The iron wouldn't bother you. In legends, some shining ones could wear it through strength and force of will. But you'd need none of that. It'd just be in your nature.† I could hardly believe he was speaking about this seriously. â€Å"And you think she's right? This crown – with no power except a reputation – could end the war?† â€Å"Well, it's not the crown's reputation, exactly,† he said. â€Å"It's the reputation you gain by fighting the many obstacles to get it. Show you can do it, and you show your power.† It was similar to what Masthera had said. â€Å"If others have possessed it – â€Å" â€Å"Not for ages,† he interrupted. â€Å"Okay, even if it hasn't been for ages †¦ why would I have to quest for it? Wouldn't the last owner have just kept it around? Passed it through the family?† His smile came back. â€Å"It doesn't work that way. The crown won't stay with anyone unworthy. Once its owner passes, it returns to its home – a home that kills many who seek it.† â€Å"You didn't answer the earlier question,† I pointed out. â€Å"Could it end the war? Peacefully?† He sighed. â€Å"I don't know. Maybe. But as much as you fear me going out today †¦ I'd worry more about you going after this trinket.† I caught hold of his hand. â€Å"You wouldn't help?† I teased, though I still wasn't buying any of it. His free hand cupped my face. â€Å"I would if I could. And maybe I could. If the legends are true, you pass through iron fields to get to it. Hardly any of the shining ones could do that. I might be able to, with my abilities†¦. I'd stand a better chance than most.† I didn't like the tone of his voice. It sounded as though he was actually considering this. He might connect with the elements of the earth, but iron was still beyond him. â€Å"I could bring Volusian,† I said, wanting to distract him. â€Å"If something happens to him, no harm done, eh?† Dorian's face stayed serious. â€Å"No, the legends are quite clear. The Iron Crown's lair is blocked to the dead.† â€Å"Well, none of it matters,† I said. â€Å"The whole idea is ridiculous.† His face lightened, and he pressed a soft kiss to my lips. â€Å"Which is why I leave now.† My heart sank, knowing the inevitable had arrived. I hurriedly put on my jeans and shirt so that I could see him and the accompanying soldiers off. I knew the armies they would join were massive, but as he rode off toward the rising sun, his group seemed so frighteningly small. When he was out of my sight, I went to summon the rest of my own party. It was time for us to go home. Most had enjoyed their â€Å"night out,† but my mood that morning soon set the tone for our journey back. The one small comfort to my dark morning was that Jasmine hadn't gotten impregnated. Shaya assured me that my sister had never left her sight throughout the night and that Jasmine hadn't actually even tried anything sinister. She had simply been content to be away from my castle. Eyeing her tight iron cuffs and the chains that connected them, I felt a small pang of guilt. I quickly banished it. Those constraints had to stay. After that, it was time for another Tucson jump. I first summoned Volusian and sent him to Dorian's side, both for backup and later reports. I knew Dorian wouldn't welcome my minion, but his having a fighter that couldn't be killed would certainly make me feel better. Once that and other household affairs were settled, I went back to join humanity. The scene at my house was nearly the same as yesterday. A quiet morning, with Tim cooking in the kitchen. Only, today he was dolled up in full costume. â€Å"You're Lakota,† I said, once he'd recovered from the shock of my abrupt arrival. â€Å"What happened to Tlingit?† He shrugged. â€Å"The Tlingit are cool, but your average stereotype-loving tourist expects this.† He wore tassled buckskin pants and a long feathered headdress. His bare tanned chest looked like it had been oiled, and it had beaded necklaces hanging on it. Studying him, I reconsidered. He wasn't true Lakota either. Just some amalgamation of stereotypes, like he'd said. â€Å"Why are you dressed up so early? Morning commuters aren't going to stop for poetry slams.† â€Å"It's Saturday, Eug.† â€Å"Is it?† I asked, startled. My timing was all awry with my double life. â€Å"There's a cultural fest out by the university, just begging to hear my beautiful insights on nature.† He flipped some sunny-side up eggs onto a plate with a flourish. â€Å"A cultural – ?† I groaned. â€Å"Tim, the local tribes will be there. You know they'll try to beat you up again.† He flashed me a grin. â€Å"Be a pal. Come protect me.† â€Å"Can't. Too much stuff to do.† A knock at the back door astonished us both. We didn't get a lot of visitors. Hoping it wasn't a missionary, I opened the door and gaped at what I found. I couldn't have been more surprised if Katrice had come calling. It was Lara. She smiled at my shock. I almost never saw her in the flesh. She worked out of a home office, most of our correspondence being handled by phone and e-mail. â€Å"Come in,† I said, still amazed. She stepped into the kitchen, just as tiny, blond, and cute as I remembered. A big stack of papers was in her arms. â€Å"I don't like the looks of that.† â€Å"It's your – â€Å" Lara came to a halt when she saw Tim. Her eyes widened. He flipped his last egg onto a plate and glanced up at her. His eyes registered equal amazement. And in that charming, con-artist way of his, he instantly slipped into character. â€Å"A beautiful blossom has joined us, her petals brilliant and unfurled in the morning sun.† He was using his awful ‘How, white man' voice. Hastily, he pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. â€Å"Join us. We'll feast and enjoy Mother Earth's bounty together.† Dazed, Lara walked over to the table and sat down, unable to take her eyes off of him – his chest in particular. â€Å"Thank you.† â€Å"It is my honor to – shit! The cinnamon rolls!† Tim dove backward, grabbing a mitt and opening the oven, from which smoke was pouring out. Lara turned to me conspiratorially as he groaned about the state of his baked goods. â€Å"Eugenie, why is there a hot Native American chief cooking in your kitchen?† she whispered. â€Å"Well,† I said, suddenly realizing the two had never actually met. â€Å"He's neither a chief nor Native American. That's Tim.† â€Å"That's what – ?† Her baby blue eyes opened even wider. â€Å"Are you sure?† â€Å"Positive.† Tim meanwhile was scraping blackened bottoms off of his cinnamon rolls. He held one up for my inspection. â€Å"It's fine,† I said. He turned to Lara, putting his smile back on. â€Å"I beg your pardon a thousand times for this unworthy feast I must set before you. Such a delicate, beautiful creature like you deserves – â€Å" â€Å"Oh for God's sake,† I exclaimed. â€Å"Will you cut the bullshit, Tim? This is Lara.† â€Å"This is †¦Ã¢â‚¬  The cinnamon roll dropped off his spatula, back onto the pan. â€Å"Are you sure?† I sighed. Both seemed at a loss for what to say. Lara's mouth moved, no words coming out for several moments. Finally, she blurted out, â€Å"I brought tax paperwork.† Tim swallowed. â€Å"I †¦ That's pretty cool.† I moved past sighing or groaning. Now, I was fighting hitting my head against the table. â€Å"No, it's not. Can we get on with breakfast?† â€Å"I †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Tim finally recovered himself. â€Å"Sure. Of course.† He looked at Lara. â€Å"Do you like eggs and cinnamon rolls?† â€Å"I love eggs and cinnamon rolls.† He promptly built her a plate and handed it over. â€Å"Hey!† I said. He shot me a glare. â€Å"Be patient a sec. We have a guest. You should be more polite – especially since she went to the trouble of doing your taxes.† â€Å"I pay her to do my taxes.† Lara bit into a cinnamon roll. In his daze, Tim had forgotten to cut off the bottom. â€Å"This is the best thing I've ever tasted. How is this even possible?† She gave him a shy smile. â€Å"Good looks and cooking skills.† He smiled back, nearly dropping the plate he handed to me. â€Å"I have all sorts of skills.† â€Å"Oh my God,† I said. Until this moment, I'd thought nothing was more annoying than their phone bickering. I suddenly wished they'd get into an argument now. â€Å"Besides,† he added, joining us with his own food. â€Å"You've got mad tax skills. I could never do that.† â€Å"That's because you don't have an income or actually file taxes,† I said. â€Å"Hey,† he shot back. â€Å"Don't judge. You obviously can't do your own.† â€Å"I don't have to! That's why I pay someone.† With great effort, Lara managed to drag her eyes over to me and remember her job. â€Å"They're all done. I just need you to sign them. I wasn't sure you'd ‘get around to it' if I mailed them.† I nodded. As far as the federal government and state of Arizona were concerned, I was a self-employed contractor who did assorted home repairs. Which wasn't that far from the truth. â€Å"That was really nice of you,† said Tim. â€Å"Taking time out of your Saturday for that.† â€Å"I take my job seriously,† she replied. â€Å"Besides, I didn't have any other plans.† â€Å"Really?† He leaned forward. â€Å"Do you want to go over to the university's cultural festival with me? I'll be reading poetry there.† She gasped. â€Å"I would love that. I bet your people have some really amazing insights on the world.† â€Å"He's not – † I began. Lara turned back to me, her business face on. â€Å"Make sure you sign these while we're gone. And you know your schedule today, right? Three jobs?† â€Å"Yes, yes. While you guys are out slumming with college kids, I'll be fighting for my life.† Tim stood up and set his barely touched plate on the counter. â€Å"We can go whenever you're ready.† She handed him her equally untouched plate. â€Å"I'm ready now. Just let me run to the bathroom first.† The instant she was gone, Tim turned on me. â€Å"Why didn't you tell me she was so nice? All this time, you've let me think she was a total bitch.† â€Å"I've told you a hundred times she wasn't a bitch! You're the one who decided that, after talking to her on the phone. You only think she's nice now because you've seen her and want to get her into bed!† Tim gave me a grave look. â€Å"Eugenie, that is not the kind of woman you have a one-night stand with. She's a goddess among women.† â€Å"Unbelievable,† I said. When Lara returned, I noticed she was wearing lipstick and had neatened her hair. â€Å"All set.† I scowled at the dirty plates Tim had left on the counter. â€Å"Don't forget to do the dishes when you get back!† I called as they headed out the door. â€Å"Don't forget to earn a living while we're gone!† he called back. â€Å"This mortgage doesn't pay itself.† â€Å"Neither do you,† I muttered. But they were already gone, lost in the throes of infatuation. Considering all the things that had happened in my life, you'd think nothing could surprise me anymore. Clearly, I was wrong. Turning around, I set to washing the dishes myself, deciding that kicking some supernatural ass was exactly what I needed.

How Great Was Alexander The Great?

What is a truly great leader? It is someone with courage, discipline, creativity, remarkable achievement, and integrity. Unfortunately, Alexander the Great does not have any of these valuable traits to be called a â€Å"great† leader. Even though Alexander left a mark in history’s book, it was a mark of a brutal tormenter. Alexander the Great was born in 356 B.C.E. in a kingdom on the edge of northern Greece called Macedonia. (B.G.E.) His parents, Phillip and Olympia, constantly adored and spoiled him.They hired a famous Greek philosopher, Aristotle, to teach him academic subjects, politics, sports, and warfare. (B.E.) As he grew older, an inner beast was growing inside of him and at last it exploded when his father died, and Alexander was only then able to take the throne. But who would want an unjust leader, who is an egomaniac, a ruthless narcissist, and whose empire would not last?Alexander the â€Å"not-so-great† was a psychotic maniac with a huge ego. He wa s conceded and had absolutely no concern for others. For example, when Alexander’s army was struggling across the hot, dry desert of sand, he could’ve taken them around the desert, so they didn’t have to suffer. (doc.D)Also, every new place Alexander went to he founded a new city and named it after himself†¦.. Alexandria!!! In total he named eleven cities after himself. Because he was spoiled and everyone treated him like he was royalty at a very young age, he came up with the idea that he was part god and told everyone to treat him that way. (B.E.)There were always consequences for when people tried to stand up against Alexander. One example is in the battle with Tyre, when they refused to surrender, so he wouldn’t let them be and ordered his army to destruct and destroy all of Tyre into little pieces.(Doc.C) Therefore, because of his lack of concern for others and huge ego, he was proven, once again, to be Alexander the â€Å"not so great†!! !A second reason Alexander was not great at all was because he was a ruthless narcissist who had savage relish. Evidence to prove my opinion is how he  killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people that were slaughtered by Alexander and his army in only four major battles.(Doc.E)Alexander’s main goal was to conquer many territories. Also, during the battle of Tyre his army killed thousands of people and sold the thirty thousand remaining survivors into slavery. How is that the act of a â€Å"great† leader? To add on to all the other horrifying murdering he also crucified two thousand men who didn’t even harm him!!!This shows that Alexander was nothing but a brutal murderer!Many people wonder why Alexander’s empire did not last. Well, I will tell you why! The first thing that Phillip the Second of Macedon did was name an heir to the throne after he died and it was Alexander. But as soon as Alexander gained the throne all he cared about was conquest and he didn’t seem to plan ahead, because after he died he didn’t name a successor who would expand the empire, therefore his whole empire collapsed. (Doc.E)Besides an empire as vast as his took at least 11 years of hard work and conquering to build. Unfortunately it only took 10 years to destroy it which showed what a poor job Alexander did with leadership. Because of Alexander’s ignorance and foolishness towards his empire, he became an irresponsible leader, instead of a caring, great man, as the world thinks he is.In conclusion I believe that Alexander should not be called great anymore and that people should see the villainous side of him. Though, he did have some good points in his life. For example he built an incredibly vast empire, spread Greek art and literature, and was a major influence on Julias Caesar.However, the three reasons presented above- he was a big egomaniac, a ruthless narcissist, and his empire did not last- show that when all is said done, Alexander is not at all what our history books claims him to be. In my opinion I don’t think Alexander the Great should be called a â€Å"legend† of history, but a moronic monster!

Disclosure Analysis Paper Essay

Disclosures are an essential part of financial reporting for publically traded corporations. The following analysis will look into General Motors Company’s disclosure relating to the company’s current assets of cash equivalents, inventory, and receivables. Disclosures can be found within the General Motors Company’s financial statements and they will help readers gain a better understanding of the financial data. The sections of the company’s disclosures will be analyzed in detail throughout this paper. The General Motors Company uses a table of contents for their significant disclosures so that the reader(s) of their financial statements can easily find whatever he or she may be looking for. The type of disclosure is listed along with a page number where the precise information can be found. The disclosures for the General Motors Company’s assets are very precise. The first note to the reader(s) deals with Presentation. This section explains that G eneral Motors Company’s financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in the United States. This section also lets the reader(s) know of any new accounting standards used by the company. In the year 2010 a few of these new standards were how the company financed receivables, fair value measurements, transfers of financial assets, and variable interest entities. In note three the company gives information about accounting standards, which have been issued, but are not yet in use in the General Motors Company. One standard deals with business combinations a new standard issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The new standard for business combinations according to General Motors Company/Annual Report (2011) deals with â€Å"the disclosure of supplemental pro forma information for business combinations that occur during the current year† (Notes to financial statements). However, this standard was not to go into effect until January 1, 2011 so it was not incorporated into the 2010 financial statements. Another accounting standard that had not yet be adopted dealt with financial services-insurance. This standard was also put into place by  the FASB and it addressed the deferral of acquisition costs within the insurance industry. Basically the new standard changed or modified the type of costs in a company that can be capitalized in the renewal and acquisition of insurance industry. See more: analytical writing This standard would not go into effect until January 1, 2012, so it was not adopted for the 2010 financial statements. Within the notes section Note four contains information about Fair Value Measurements. According to General Motors Company/Annual Report, â€Å"Cash equivalents, marketable securities, and derivative financial instruments are presented on our financial statements at fair value† (Notes to financial statements). The note goes on to explain where the reader(s) of the General Motors Company financial statements will be able to find the fair value of debt, finance receivables, along with the carrying value related to these receivables and debt. According to General Motors Company/Annual Report (2011), â€Å"High liquid investments with a maturity of 90 days or less at date of purchase are classified as Cash and cash equivalents. Investments in securities with a maturity date of greater than 90 days at date of purchase are classified as Marketable securities† (Notes to financial statements). Note five deals with Cash and Restricted Cash disclosures. This note informs the reader(s) of the financial statements that restricted cash would not include cash used to secure debt set up because of securitization business deals. According to General Motors Company/Annual Report (2011) â€Å"Both cash and cash equivalents, which are restricted because of withdrawals of cash or the cash equivalents used under the terms of certain contractual arrangements will be recorded as restricted in other assets on the consolidated balance sheet† (Notes to financial statements). Also discussed in this section are how negative balances are reclassified and the way in which the company treats these occurrences. On the General Motors Company financial statements commercial paper, bank accounts, marketable securities, money market funds, and treasury bills are elements in the cash and cash equivalent sections on the financial statements. All these elements are considered highly liquid and are to be used by the General Motors Company for short-term n eeds if required. Note 10 for General Motors Company’s financial statements deals with inventories. This disclosure states that the company’s inventories are stated at what is lower between market and cost. Also stated is that a large part of the United States inventories cost are determined by a last-in,  first-out (LIFO) inventory method. The LIFO method was used in between 31% to 26% of GM’s inventories at December 31, 2010 and 2009 respectively (General Motors Company/Annual Report, 2011). First-in, first-out (FIFO) inventory method is used for determining cost for their other inventories. In conclusion the General Motors Company’s financial statements contain a great deal of information and included in this information are 31 disclosures. All the company’s disclosures were placed in their financial statements to aid the reader(s) with understanding the financials as well as making an educated evaluation and informed decisions about the General Motors Company and their financial statements.

Accounting - Tax Research Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Accounting - Tax Research Case - Essay Example One of the longest continuing disagreements between the IRS and the taxpayers is the issue about capitalization of an expense incurred in a business. The most crucial queries in income tax law are with regard to an expenditure incurred in the course of a business. The question arises as to whether the expenditure so incurred can be subtracted at present to determine the payer’s tax liability, or should it be capitalized. Capitalization in several cases ensues in an asset which can be amortized or depreciated with the passage of time. But sometimes capitalization may be only an offset to a sale when the asset is sold of or even prevent any kind of subtraction at any time. Over the years, the practice in assortment gave rise to huge uncertainty and court case which has created an extensive body of perplexing and opposing right. Controversies of this kind arose after the decision rendered by the Supreme Court in INDOPCO, Inc. v. Commr, 503 U.S. 79 (1992) (Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw, 2003). In yet another case of Commissioner v. Lincoln Savings & Loan Assn. [71-1 ustc 9476], it was held simply that the formation of a separate and discrete asset may be an adequate condition for categorization as a capital expenditure. But this is not a prerequisite to such classification. Lincoln Savings also does not disallow dependence on future gain as substance of differentiating a regular business expense from that of a capital expenditure. Even though the existence of a subsidiary future advantage may not permit capitalization, a taxpayer’s recognition of profits in future is vital in deciding whether the proper tax treatment is instant deduction or capitalization (Commissioner v. Lincoln Savings & Loan Assn. 71-1 ustc 9476; Pp. 4-12). The court in the case of Commissioner v. Lincoln Savings & Loan Assn. stated thus "the presence of an ensuing

La Noche Triste (the night of sorrows) Term Paper

La Noche Triste (the night of sorrows) - Term Paper Example Due to the fact that the Cortes letters to Charles V were the only written sources of information available then, the conquistador’s words were mostly credited as the truth. The description that the Spanish army was just victims of treachery committed by the Aztecs and that it fought bravely and wisely under the able leadership of Cortes were concepts that were widely considered as accurate. However, as an increasing number of historians came to explore further the details of La Noche Triste, it was soon found out that the letters sent by Cortes to the king of Spain may not be the most accurate source of information regarding the events that took place prior to it. One observation is that made by Jonathan Loesberg, who points out that that Cortes actually used a style of writing that puts him in position to influence instead of just obeying the king. In the letter Segunda Relacion, he used a style in which the king would develop support and sympathy for Cortes and his troops. This would naturally serve Cortes’s self-interests later. ... According to Inga Clendinnen in his book Aztecs: An Interpretation, â€Å"the traditional tale being too much in accord with European preferences to be easily surrendered, and the story the victors told continues to for truth.†2 To base the an analysis of an important historical event on the narratives of one man who happens to have a vested interest related to it would certainly produce inaccuracies that may be upheld as truths in the end. This is the reason why, in order to objectively appreciate such event, it is necessary to seek information from other sources as well. Cortes’s accounts are the bases of the theory that Spain intention of exploring the New World and colonizing it is to the introduce Christianity to pagan natives. Under such pretext, all actions Spaniards in the Caribbean as well as in the mainland of what is now known as Latin America were made with missionary work as the excuse. However, as mentioned earlier, Cortes has his own selfish intentions of gaining political power by getting the favor of the king as well as discovering gold for the crown and for himself. These alone are already powerful motivations that drove Cortes to lead his outnumbered but well-equipped army into the Mexican interior. Prior to this, Cortes had heard about the existence of a relatively advanced civilization among the natives. The city-state of Tenochtitlan was the seat of Aztec power in Mexico and its capture could mean the unquestionable dominance of Cortes’s army. The expedition towards Tenochtitlan proved to be productive for the small Spanish army. They met native tribes who happen to be enemies of the Aztecs, such as the Tlaxcaltecas and the people of Tliliuquitepec. Cortes treated these natives as friends although this was all according

The nature of absolute truth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The nature of absolute truth - Essay Example The paper tells that an absolute truth is something that happens to be a universal truth. However, the thing that needs to be understood is that before proceeding to delve into the practical nature of absolute truth the thing that needs to be understood is that humans arrive at an absolute truth through two aspects: The input that the humans gather from the outside world through their sensory organs like eyes, ears, skin, etc. The processing of these inputs in the human brain by correlating it to the past experiences. It does need to be understood that within the realm of metaphysics, absolute truth is open to argumentative challenges. However, defining and explaining absolute truth is much easier and readily feasible within the realm of the physical. For instance, consider a person who has a pet cat at one’s home. The fact that this person has a pet cat in his home is an absolute truth. People may differ with regards to the subjective endowments ascribed to that cat. For instance, say somebody says that this individual has the most beautiful cat in the world as his pet. Many people may disagree that this cat is the most beautiful cat in the world. Some may say that the cat is indeed very beautiful. Some may agree to the contrary that the cat is indeed ugly and repulsive. However, no one will disagree with the fact that this person has got a pet in his house that is definitely a cat. Thereby the fact that this pet is a cat is an absolute truth. If somebody says that this pet is a dog. It is not true. If somebody says that this pet is a tiger.

Conflict management system design (resolution system design) Research Paper

Conflict management system design (resolution system design) - Research Paper Example Following this, many agencies have developed approaches and models of effective complaint handling system. The stage approach provides a conflict resolution system in stages. It brings together what the customer wants and what the organisation or agency needs. That is, the interests of the organisation and the rights of the customers. However, it gives first preference to the organisation’s interests and focuses on the fulfilment of its objectives in a smooth manner. The first stage in the approach is, frontline complaint handling where the staff resolves the complaint where possible, at first contact with the customer. The members of staff then log the complaint details for later analysis. The second stage is the internal review or investigation. This is where a more senior staff or designated complaint officer reviews the complaints and resolves them informally. He then investigates the unresolved complaints with the interest of the organisation at heart. The last stage is the independent review where the unresolved complaints are referred externally. Alternate dispute resolutions are tried, for example, mediation. Complaints may also be referred to external agency or the complainant is informed of a legal procedure or another legal remedy (NSW Ombudsman, 2010). All this is done in favour of the organization’s interests. This model provides the guidelines for developing and implementing the consumer complaints management initiatives, emphasizing the interest of the organisation but still taking into account the rights of the customers. It involves eight steps that help in managing and resolving the complaints for the better performance and realisation of the agency’s objectives. The first step involves defining the problem and gathering information. Finding common ground on the problems being addressed is essential to moving ahead with solutions. All the people and organisations involved are

Business and Organizational behavior Movie Review

Business and Organizational behavior - Movie Review Example According to the illustration, the management of the Bhopal was to blame for the disaster because of negligence on crucial operations, and the management of the company. The management allowed the storage of the MIC in large tanks that were not recommended, and as if this was not enough, they were filled beyond the recommended levels. This increased the temperature of the gas which, caused leakage. There is also negligence on the earlier warnings of the gas leakage in the factory, which the management ignored to rectify such as a leak on January 1982 that exposed 24 workers to danger, and landed the hospitals. Though the Local Indian Authority warned the company earlier, the management ignored this and failed rectify the problem by the Union CIC. As the movie illustrates the management had switched off several safety systems so that they could reduce operational costs. For example, the MIC tank refrigeration system, which could have reduced the severity of the leakage, was off at the time of the occurrence of a disaster, there was no catastrophe plans put in place by the management in case of any disaster, and finally, the use of undersized safety devices by the factory, also contributed to the disaster. No, the same safety features were not installed or working as those in the United States. In the Bhopal plant, there were looser safety rules compared to those in US. There was no night shift supervisor in the Bhopal plant and the readings were taken after two hours compared to those in US where there must be a night shift supervisor and the readings have to be taken after every one hour as required. In the United States, there is a four stage system compared to the one manual backup system used by the Bhopal plant. The safety audits are done every year in US, but in the Bhopal plant, after two years. I think the Union Carbanide may have different safety features at different plants around the world because of the plants performance. For

Work-based report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Work-based report - Essay Example This is a project on which I worked as part of a team during my placement at the company. The report outlines the working environment of Criminal Records Company, the event, its background and aims, its outcomes, and concludes with lessons learnt. 1.1 Criminal Records Company Criminal Records is an alternative music record label which was formed in 2004. Since then the label has signed a number of bands and artists in a proactive attempt to support a new music scene that has emerged in the UK in within the last five years called underground music. Since its formation, the company has been heavily involved in the promotion of bands. Criminal Records' ethos has always revolved around cultivation of talent, real talent that is organic unlike technology-induced productions. Today, the company is proud of the successes of its roster of musicians and has enjoyed the growth and widespread promotion of the music the artistes make. Some of the successes that the company has attain include col laborations in America, Japan and across Europe, selling out most of its UK tours, major TV coverage for its music videos and countless radio playlists, great reviews and inclusion of its music in TV, film and gaming sites (Criminal Records, 2013). 1.2 Work Description The work allocated to me while on placement at Criminal Records includes the following tasks; 1) Finding venues for events and managing the venue database 2) Researching and keeping up-to-date analyses of competitors 3) Analyzing and monitoring the targeted market for Company events 4) Planning for marketing activities for Company events Apart from the above tasks allocated to me and a number of other workers, I am also expected to carry out other tasks as may be allocated to me by the marketing manager in the Publicity Department, where I am designated. The tasks above are also to be carried out by a team in the department in which I am part and thus I am not working alone in accomplishing them. 1.3 The Work-based pr oject Bringing Club Nights from Criminal Records Company to the West Midlands in the UK is a project that was conceived by the company several weeks to its realization and in which I was included from the planning phase to its implementation. The project mainly involves introduction of ‘Club Nights’ to the West Midlands area of the UK. Club Nights is a musical product from Criminal Records which is mainly based on the popular culture of ‘Clubbing’ but introduces a new aspect of different modern music mainly from unknown underground musicians with extraordinary talent. During the entire project a project team of members from different departments of the company plans, organizes and implements the project. I am a member of the event marketing team, a smaller team forming part of the whole organizing framework. This includes research and organization for publicity, advertisement and invitation of people to the event. The event itself involves a night of club m usic and dance in the West Midlands area in which our company’s artistes will present to the participants their new style of musical art in a number of performances running for three hours of a night. The project organization scales the whole range of arrangements for a music event from venue arrangement, music preparation, invitations to security and logistics. 1.4 Background of the Event Club Nights is one of the events organized by Criminal Records for music lovers in the larger cities in the UK, predominantly in the South East. The culture of Club Nights has been popular in London for a long time being a large city with countless traditional and contemporary forms of music being performed. However, in the past few years Criminal Records has introduced a new musical performance product targeting the new generation of

Effects That Poor Airline Customer Service Has Had On Passengers Essay Example for Free

Effects That Poor Airline Customer Service Has Had On Passengers Essay Abstract The present research explores the issue of poor customer service that airline industry is said to practice with regard to their product and services. The paper examines this issue from the approach of triangulation of the data. It critically analyzes the situation from three perspectives. For the first one is the issue of customer satisfaction in accordance with recent empirical findings. The paper highlights what customer satisfaction empirically means. The next section explores the present operations and services provided by the airline industry from a number of sources. The last section examines and cross-examines the state of customer satisfaction to be found in the present day airline industry operations. At the end of the paper, findings of the research are discussed along with suggestions and recommendation for policy making and airline industry’s operation with relation to customer satisfaction. Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With the advent of new technology, extensive human intrusion in the mysterious space, and expedited communication in the twenty-first century, the demands, wants, and needs of the customers are said to be so finely met today as never before. With the state-of-the-art approach to any customer-related segments of today’s business world, it is claimed by the business sector in general that today’s customer is the luckiest one to have had so much ease of choice and liberty of opting from one product to another. This maxim goes from the small gadgets to the massive transaction held across countries. However, analyzing the perspective of the customer may not yield the same level of happiness and satisfaction from the side of the customer in today’s world. Airline business has seen a marvelous boom with the high-tech trend and massive investment throughout the world. As such, it becomes the point of this paper whether today’s airlines are really providing their customers the best of what is available to them. The present paper looks into the issue of the effects that poor airline customer service has had on today’s customer. The present study looks at the issue from a multifaceted approach. It aims to critically analyze the issue from a three dimensional view, that is to say, it extensively reviews current literature on customer-airline area; it goes on to investigate the point of view of the airline business itself and point out the major findings; as well as, the present paper critically analyzes the kinds of effects that the poor airline customer service has to have on the prospective customer. Customer Satisfaction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customer satisfaction that a customer derives from a product bears enormous significance for the success or failure of a particular product. A product however technically sound and however economic in terms of use and feasibility cannot be regarded as successful unless and until the customer defines it as satisfactory to their needs and wants. As such, success of a product, we can say, is related to the level of satisfaction that a customer derives from it. Today’s situation, particularly in US business market, is alarming. According to Maier (p. 20, 2002), â€Å"Keeping the customer satisfied no longer is the mantra of American businesses, as studies show a steady decline in customer satisfaction that is projected to continue†. As such, in this section of the paper, the present writer deems it appropriate to critically examine the notion of customer satisfaction; how important is it in today’s business world; and what significance does it hold for the airline customer service? This is important with relation to the understanding of the poor customer service that is reported in today’s airline context. This section is intended to serve as scaffolding or mirror to the later research and findings of our issue of the poor airline customer service. It is important for every firm to offer a bunch of values along with the material product that is the focal point of business to that firm. Only offering the product cannot prove to be successful for a firm’s business. Henceforth, the business firm which has at its disposal superior package of services in the competitive market can certainly win the customer with greater profitability and mounting volume of market reputation. Research has revealed that even most satisfied customer can entertain to defect. According to research while examining the link between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, it is known that customers, of any product whatsoever, come to feel satisfied with products at different levels and with different degrees of satisfaction. As such, the differential levels of satisfaction of the side of the customer have to give birth to a diverse range of conformity to the product of customer loyalty, â€Å"which in turn result in varying levels of behavioral disposition to patronage with a provider†. What this finding of the logical link suggests is that with regard to a product and customer satisfaction, the range of satisfaction is varied. However, another important point here is that although a customer may be satisfied with a product, they can opt for any other competitor’s product. This suggests that customer satisfaction may not necessarily bear customer loyalty. The point is that a customer opting for another competitor’s product may be allured by the services that the competitor is offering. â€Å"Therefore, firms have to strive to achieve higher levels of satisfaction than their competition by providing superior customer value†. This approach is basic to attaining what is regarded as â€Å"sustainable competitive advantage† (John, p. 07, 2003). Now the point of concern at this stage is that what kinds of business strategies are needed so that a firm can offer a bundle of service to address higher customer satisfaction that other firms in the competition cannot. The primary component here is to have a crystal clear understanding of the competitive market. John (p. 7, 2003) cites Pine and Gilmore who may regard such context of competition as â€Å"experience economy†. It is the very stage or state or level of competition â€Å"where products are quickly commoditized and firms compete on other aspects of the total offering†. According to this very researcher, there are three prime factors that contribute toward the success of higher or superior customer satisfaction oozing out of a product either material or service-related. The first is the employees of the firm that engineer the entire operation of the firm starting from the very scratch and ending it while in the front line interacting with the customer. The other is the processes that are observed by the firm both in the micro and macro level. The last one is the use of technology that the firm undertakes in order to address and meet higher customer satisfaction. All of the above must work in higher order harmony if superior customer satisfaction is needed. And, of the three, the least effective is the adoption of technology alone and depending on the use of technology alone. The author gives its reason. This is that technology can be easily replicated. A firm with required capital can do that. As far as the replication of processes and system goes, it should be noted that these two factors may also be at the disposal of any other competitors because â€Å"processes and systems can be designed appropriately to deliver customer satisfaction, but they can be relatively easily replicated†. However, what is significant in this connection is the attitude that the employees offer. A firm’s employees’ attitude is something that â€Å"less easily replicable† as such there is the entire focus of a competing firm should fall in order to meet superior level of customer satisfaction (John, p. 07, 2003). If we look at the present scenario of the services provided by the present day airline industry, one thing is to be noticed that the airline industry is giving more and more importance to technological advances which are apparent from bottom to top operations of the industry. Whether the airline industry does also offer higher customer satisfaction in connection with their employees’ attitude remains a point of concern which will be explored later in this paper. Before we move on, it is necessary to examine as to what it is that the customers in today’s context want from a product or firm so that they can derive superior level of satisfaction. In keeping with the view of John, (p. 08, 2003), it comes to our notice that there are three basic features which customers look for in order to feel highly satisfied by use of a product which can either be a service or a material product. Convenience is something that can be put on the top of the list. Customers want to be conveniently handled when it comes to opting for a product; they want ease of dealing, interaction, and productivity. Next is the matter of cost. Customers want to buy something as less costly as possible. And the last but not least is the quality of the whole product experience that remains with the customer for a considerably longer period of the former two. At this point in the present research, it has been highlighted as to what is customer satisfaction from the viewpoint of an industry as well as from the perspective of the customer themselves. Now it seems feasible to look at the present state of the airline industry so that a sound critical examination can later be made with relation to our point of examination, that is to say, it will later be explored what effects have been held by poor airline customer services on the customers; what are the causes and reasons for this poor customer service; as well as, how can these factors, causes, and reasons can be appropriately eliminated so that higher customer satisfaction can be obtained. Airline Industry in Today’s Context According to the observation of Dempsey and Goetz (1992), there are few industries that inspire the passion and rigor that the airline industry does. It is due to the cross-border voyages that airlines make letting their passengers feel the romance and allurement of the air-travel which is hardly as forcefully evident in other means of transportation as in the air travel. Henceforth, the airline industry can be viewed as â€Å"the most glamorous of industries† (p. 03). Another reason is the defiance to the law of gravity which â€Å"still gives many travelers sweaty palms on takeoff and landing†. And the highly critical issue with respect to the importance of airline industry is that â€Å"few industries are as â€Å"fundamentally important to the nations commerce, communications, and national defense as is aviation† (p. 03). Moreover, the present air travel has become an element of glamour that many people year to attach to. There are exclusive club memberships of entrepreneur power in the industry; celebrity chase of specific kinds of air travel with a bundle of exclusive services and things like that. In addition to the above, â€Å"ticket prices, route patterns, the margin of safety, and the identity of the carriers painted on the fuselages of aircraft on an unprecedented roller-coaster ride† is now a dream voiced in most of advertisement by the airline industry players. However, this very glamorous and alluring picture must be critically viewed with a magnifying-glass like examination so that hidden secrets and fallacies can be brought forward. One such is the poor customer service by the airline industry (Dempsey Goetz, p. 03-04, 1992). In today’s context of airline services, newer concepts and terms of air travel are emerging by the day which enhances the feeling of a customer to be going for an air travel. Today, global carriers, globalization, and mega carriers are catch words that may allure anyone intending to fly for any purpose. However, these terms remain without precise or definite definitions as do the agenda of customer service that the airline industry has to provide. It is note-worthy that the expanded canvas of airline industry is not something recent; in fact, it all can be chased as farther back as the 1930s. By then, Pan American airline was flaying transatlantic and transpacific; it also had a massive network in Latin America. The same time such carriers as the British and Dutch were expanding their services to (as they were known by then) their colonies at a distant location in Asia and East Indies. Moreover, â€Å"Pan American by the 1950s had a round-the-world service† (OConnor, pp. 57-59, 1995). In the present context of the twenty-fist century, however, things have taken a different stance in the business world; now market forces and competition is giving way to more and more mergers, amalgamation and business associations which may be seen as an approach toward more globalized airline industry. More foreign investment is coming to such countries as the US. Today, this all looks like so powerful an airline industry as never before. Air travel becomes more and more feasible so the services provided by the airline industry need to be critically examined with due attention so that real picture of this global trend can be taken (OConnor, pp. 57-59, 1995). Changing Trends in the Twenty-First Century Today, more than ever before, the climate for airline industry is every changing and opting to more and more uncertainty in terms of international scenario with relation to a number of waves flowing over the international scenario. The twenty-first century has experienced huge calamities like the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers which caused the airline industry to meet a sudden decline. As such uncertainty of business is more apparent today. The entire climate is wrapped in an element of fear which has given rise to issues such as what kinds of customer services do the airlines provide today to both their international and local customers? According to Doganis (2001), in this climate of continuous change and uncertain aura, the coming years for the airline industry will bring more complicated issues and critical problems and serious challenges with them. One more point here is that not only the structures of the airlines will undergo a change, â€Å"but markets too will become more unstable† (p. 211). What is essentially needed of the airlines in such a situation is that they must clearly define their corporate mission with regard to every single aspect of their operations from employees’ attitude to customer service. â€Å"The key issue which needs to be resolved is whether the airline is to be a global network carrier or a niche player† (p. 212). Moreover, the essence of this entire climate of change will put immense pressure on such areas as ticket prices, services provided by the customers, and it will be enhanced by the new entrants who will be carrying more sophisticated business strategies and tactics to destabilize the present market condition. In this very context, the issue of customer satisfaction seems to linger even more loose than every before. There is danger in the coming times that airline products will be commoditized in which the key player will be fare prices only (Doganis, p. 212, 2001). Thus now it is highly important to critically analyze what is happening in the domain of customer services and the experiences that today’s customers are having with regard to the poor customer service. Airline Industry and Customer Service   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this section of the paper, the writer highlights the pertinent issues which are regarded as the real cause for poor customer service by the airline sector. This is very significant if a through analysis of the effects is intended to be drawn. By bringing forward the issues of to the forefront attention, it will be easy to reach an empirical analysis. a) An overview Airline industry with regard to the services that are being provided by this very sector, is facing severe criticism from a number of critics from a number of areas of professional and general walks of life. For example, Reed, (usatoday.com, 2008) notes that the â€Å"shoddy service† of the airline is even coming to USA’s big airlines. In addition to this, Ramon A. Avila, professor of marketing and director of Ball State Universitys Professional Selling Institute, Muncie, Ind. makes a very clear warning about the poor quality of customer service by airlines: â€Å"When it comes to poor customer service, expect more bad experiences in the airline industry† (Avila, p. 01, 1999). There are heaps and heaps of complaints being logged by the day. If we look at the present situation, it seems that airline sector is degenerating instead of rising for a number of pluses on its credit in the twenty-first century. The things that have become commonplace in today’s airline climate are confusing fares with no predefined schemes or policies; the flights are getting more and more mismanaged; delays of flights are nothing but a routine now hinged on the practices of cancellation without regard of the passengers psychological and other troubles being suffered. Avil also notes that Expect rude treatment and expect companies to do the bare minimum because their bottom line is more important than a disappointed customer† (p. 01). The critic also maintains that it seems as if the airline industry is moving toward a fatal end due to so meager performance and stature in the overall picture. To him American airline industry is going to die. The most important point, according to Avil is that â€Å"Good customer service is the keystone to retaining and attracting consumers, and many businesses are missing the point† (p. 01). Although it is important to keep an impartial view of the entire situation, it seems equally important, as of now, whether or not the observations of Avil are up to the mark. For this very reason, a number of different sources will be analyzed to see if poor customer service has really become the norm of today’s airline industry or not. b) Airline industry in context of 9/11 terrorist attacks   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As according to Russell (2007), â€Å"Airline customer service is notoriously bad†, a very important issue with regard to poor customer services by the airlines to the customers is linked to the more recent wave of global terrorism in which the Twin Towers of World Trade Center were hit nothing but by airplanes. A number of officials blame the poverty of service and operations of the airline industry to this horrible event. However, critically examining the situation reveals something else of the position, particularly of the US airline industry. According to Whalen (p. 33, 2004), although it seems very tempting to attach the poor airline services to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, it is not the case altogether. The author reveals a different picture in this regard. The author states that the prime factors for such poor service by the US airline industry are the â€Å"decades-old legal and labor laws, and the U.S. bankruptcy code [which are] at the core of what is wrong with the airline industry† (p. 33). There is, as such, no other industry in the US which is so much kept on watch. And this really creates a problem. Washington, according to author, is busy in keeping the record of each and every activity taking place everywhere in the airline operations from bottom to top. This includes the airlines, their operational nature, watching of the airports, and so on. The author reminds of the 1991-92 crisis when â€Å"five major carriers [went] through bankruptcy† but the government â€Å"did little to change the basic economics† (p. 33). These rules and regulations are influencing the services and the poor quality of the services is directly related to them. Therefore, in the entire US airline industry seems to have been locked in a known financial cycle of growth and stagnation, which if hereby followed by economic default and bankruptcies. According to the author, this entire situation is directly influencing the customers of the airlines who have to suffer a poor level of services. Moreover, â€Å"Overcapacity exerts downward pressure on ticket prices, generating fares that dont allow the airlines to cover the cost of providing service, making the average private airline look more like a public utility think of Amtrak with wings† (Whalen, p. 33, 2004). From this very viewpoint, it is very easily noticeable that there is little to go to the credit to such events as the wave of global terrorism but to the policy making and regulation of the US airline industry. According to the context discussed above, one this must be noted that the customers have yet to suffer. It seems that no attention is being paid to this very area which is both disappointing as critical both for the US authorities and the airline runners. Poor Customer Service Examined   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If we wish to take examples or incidents in which poor airline customer service is intended to be reported, there is no doubt in stating that there are load and loads of such instances that would require tones of paper to be put down and which may not end as the situation continues by the very day. However, to the point of this paper, take the example of the great airline disastrous time of January 2, 1999. It was when a massive snowstorm had his Detroit the afternoon of the day. This virtually gave birth to historical crack downs in the area of customer service. It stranded many airplanes of Northwest Airline on snow-coated taxiways and tarmacs. It was not possible, then, to deplane many of the passengers mounting to more than 7000 who were then returning from New Year’s vacations. Their waiting spanned as long as eleven hours. The available food was insufficient in case of a number of planes; and what is more, many of the planes’ toilets became overflowed. Although the airport had closed, Northwest persisted to hope that the planes would take off; it was all forced in spite of the pleas that the on-site managers of the very company had recorded. This all resulted in what can be regarded as the nightmare of air travel in which the travelers had to let go of even their basic rights (Rosenthal, p. 1857, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Specifically looking at the canvas of the poor customer service by the airline in this regard purports us to look more closely at the issue. Major areas of customer dissatisfaction in this respect are quoted as of the following. These all examples that follow are caused for the Deregulation act that is the root cause of these and other possible poor customer service in which the customer does not entertain any right even to voice their genuine concerns. Delays and Cancellations of Flights   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is the matter of everyday when the customers have to face delays and cancellations of flights for nothing but a number of various reasons. It is possible that in some cases the contract between the airline and the passenger may even be breached. It was the day of August 4th, and the year was 2000, when United Airline’s night-scheduled flight – destined from Washington D.C., to Paris – just stayed in the airport for countless hours only before the airline merely cancelled the en route schedule for â€Å"mechanical reasons†. However, the later published report revealed something that surprised the common and innocent citizens. The reports said that the flight cancellation had nothing to do with any mechanical reason whatsoever. It was actually that the United pilots had just turned down the idea of taking the plane off because Stephen Wolf, former United Chairman was on the flight as a passenger. This single instance is so horrible with regard to a number of passengers who had to suffer only because some people in the cockpit were playing the ego game. What is to be said to Stephen Wolf, who, whatever his past status to the United Airline was, was merely a traveler who really did buy a ticket on the flight. And the passengers were not able to hold any say due to the Deregulation Act. Inattentive Provision of Alcohol   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Inattentive provision of alcohol is also permitted as a service onboard to passengers. This service may be harmful in a number of reasons because of disciplinary actions caused by drunken passengers to the common citizens. In one instance, a flight attendant continued to serve alcohol to a group of inebriated passengers onboard of first-class passengers; afterwards, the drunken person insulted a fellow traveler; it was later to cause great controversy and mayhem because the passenger sued the flight attendant and the airline. However, what about a number of other innocent citizens that were also onboard the plane and could do nothing but suffer the entire scene of drunkenness and insult? The court, as such, plainly ruled the suing passenger for the same reason as the Deregulation Act (Rosenthal, p. 1857, 2002) Lost Baggage and Other Issues   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A couple on the honeymoon trip was on their schedule flight to Anguilla from New York City. The couple lost one of their two suitcases en route. They made repeated phone calls to the airline’s concerned office nothing but to track down their lost bag. All that the representative of the airline did was to repeatedly tell the couple that the airline knew the exact location of the lost bad and that it is just coming along their way. So they asked the couple not to worry. However, this very effective communication by the airline came to a fiasco as the bag was never found. The enraged couple rightly went forward and sued the airline. None the less, a surprise waited to compensate their psychological sufferings, the accused fraud they the airline did with them, and the negligent behavior of the airline. The surprise was that the couple had no remedy and this was just because of the Deregulation Act (Rosenthal, p. 1857, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Besides these instances and incidents, there are a number of other incidents that can be quoted here. Feltner, in her article â€Å"Airline customer service ratings down, and it show† discusses at length the massive misadventure that the author had to undergo while on board of a flight. So many things happened to the author which are discussed at length. According to the author, â€Å"the Airline Quality Ratings survey showed poorer performances for 16 of 18 U.S. carriers over the year before† and â€Å"J.D. Power and Associates released the results of the 2007 North America Airline Satisfaction Study, which included similar findings† (Feltner, 2008, smartertravel.com). The author goes on to discuss the poor ratings report and lower customer satisfaction rankings. She cites that â€Å"The new report shows customer satisfaction rankings for seven out of nine major airlines, as well as low-cost carriers†¦dropped this year† (Feltner, 2008, smartertravel.com).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   All this mayhem on the part of the airline industry has caused great panic and psychological distress on the part of the customers. Either it is the Deregulation Act of the legitimate law, or competition, or inappropriate rules or labor law, the entire burden is left dangling on the week shoulders of the customer who is already burden with so many other societal, social, and ethical problems. There seems to be no way out with regard to the problems that customers have to undergo on the hands of the airline poor performance and poor customer service. In the next section of the paper, the present writer discusses the requisite measures that need to be taken if poor customer service has to be eliminated or at least has to be reduced to a tolerable level. One such important point is the notion of customer relation management. This specific area and studies in this area are examined in the following section so as to reach a possible ground that leads to a healthier climate in which the ill-struck airline customer can experience better services by the airlines and breathe in fresh air. Poor Customer Service and Customer Relation Management   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To the present day, what is required to meet higher customer satisfaction in the lucrative business of airline is known as Customer Relation Management or CRM. It was actually in the 1980s that airlines started to introduce frequent-flyer segments of their program in order to enhance the loyalty level of their prospective customers. This trend gave birth to a new approach in marketing known as CRM. In today’s context, CRM programs are used in a number of businesses with focus on customer satisfaction. However, when it comes to the airline industry, it is not very surprising to note that the situation is not very satisfactory here. According to Binggeli et al. a survey was conducted for 17 major airlines around the globe. This very survey disclosed that even the most technologically equipped and sophisticated of the airlines â€Å"have only a rudimentary understanding of who their most valuable customers are or could be, which factors affect the behavior of these customers, and which CRM levers are most effective in ensuring loyalty† (p. 06, 2002). What in subsistence was being practiced was that airlines lagged behind best practices in CRM due to the fact that they were merely self-satisfied; they, as such, gave little importance to systems which were not functional and which were non-critical; or they did not worry about grasping financial implications of getting matters in the right place. â€Å"The result: today. Airlines [sic] know only marginally more about the people who fly on their planes than they did ten years ago† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to the researchers, today, more than ever before, the airlines need to make an urgent approach toward effective implication of the CRM approach if they really want to make a difference. This is fairly for the reason that if an airline adopts the CRM approach, there is empirical evidence that such an airline can easily increase its revenue by as high as 2.4 percent growing by every coming year, â€Å"representing a bottom-line annual impact of $100 million to $250 million for a large carrier† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the present scenario, most of the working airlines do not have sufficient feasible conditions and lack systems and other processes that are required to implement a CRM program and therefore they do not have absolute or reliable data on their customers. For example, though airlines have contact with their customers through a number of channels, such as the Internet, customer service desks, airports, and airplanes, what is simply the matter, data on these sites are not collected with a consistent pursuit or are not accurate at any of these points of customer-interaction activity. (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Most of the airlines cannot recognize their most precious customers, â€Å"because their frequent-flyer programs are little more than general-ledger systems that track accrued and spent miles. Although a general correlation does exist between the tiers of a frequent-flyer program and the value of the customers enrolled in them (meaning that in most cases a frequent flyer in the elite category is the most profitable kind of customer), further analysis can prove illuminating† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002). It must be noted in the same connection that different customers within the very tier usually hold widely differential degrees of value to different airlines, additionally, a small but noteworthy number of customers in the category of lower tiers. In this example, we can take the regular customers who let go of full fare out of their pockets. Such passengers can carry great value for the airline as compared to those customers who travel in the upper ones. (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002). One more critical problem is the reality that they scarcely know how much money their customers let go of with their competitors in the very market. For example, it is possible that a customer who travels by airline A, may also extensively travel by airline B, and â€Å"would thus be a more fruitful target for marketing than its own frequent travelers† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002). Thus what is required in the overall picture to meet greater customer satisfaction is CRM approach which not only has to yield great profitability conditions and enhanced market reputation for an airline, it also goes a long way on the continuum of customer satisfaction that can definitely satisfy today’s aggrieved and frustrated customer. The Experience of Singapore International Airlines   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One airline that has surprised the critics of airline customer focus is the Singapore International Airlines. According to Smith (customerservicezone.com, 2008) Singapore International Airlines (SIA) is â€Å"so superior that it leaves other carriers in its vapor trails†. The very point that the author makes here is that the entire success story of the SIA is that â€Å"It places the needs of passengers first, and offers services above and beyond the ordinary†. With this airline, even the experience in the economy class is something that a traveler forgets hard. It is simply a remark that all classes seem to enjoy benefits with equal share of customer satisfaction. â€Å"One of the primary reasons Singapore Airlines provides superior service is because they only hire people that enjoy a service roleenjoy serving others† (Smith, 2008). Thus the example of SIA should be an eye-opener for other airlines too. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be fairly stated that there a number of complex matters which give birth to poor customer service by most of the present day airlines both public and private. If customer satisfaction means superior services on the part of airlines, it can be openly calimed that most of the airlines both local and global fail to meet this criterion. Although it is a right remark to suggest that much of this is credited to the regulations and rules that a government (in this case USA and the Deregulation Act along with decades-long labor laws, for insatnce) holds, it is not right to suggest that only government rules and regulations are solely responsible for a number of dissatisfactory segments of poor customer service by the airlines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A number of airlines do not practice such important approaches as CRM due to a number of reasons. Whatever they want, one thing empirically becomes clear that today’s customers continue to suffer on the hands of the airlines. Moreover, as quoted above, the suffering customers do not find a proper channel to voice their concerns with relation to massive frustration caused by airlines. Today, â€Å"little attention is being paid to the effect poor internal customer service has on overall customer satisfaction† which is a real problem (Harrison, n.d. principledprofit.com).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Now according to my personal analysis of the entire situation, the poor customer service can only be reduced to an acceptable level only if three-dimensional approach is adopted. On this triangle first come the government that need to make policies that support the customers as the most important part of any airlines related rules and regulations. Next corner of this triangle is the airlines themselves that need to make sure that their customers do not feel that their services are still poor. For this very issue they need to look more closely at the area of customer contact and gather as many data as possible and sort them out in a technically sound manner so that they can be used to make sound empirical investigations. The last corner of this triangle is the customer themselves and airlines need â€Å"information about prospective new customers† (Hagel and Rayport, p. 3, 2002), for successful operations. Unless and until the customers are not considered an integral part of any policy and regulation, no better improvement toward the present meager state of poor customer service can be carved on the canvas of airline business. For this reason the customers must be involved in the process of change and alterations of any kinds. References    Avila, A. R. (August, 1999) Customer service is bad-and getting worse! USA Today. (128) 2651. Page Number: 10. COPYRIGHT 1999 Society for the Advancement of Education; COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group Binggeli, U., Gupta, S., Poomes, C. D. (2002).CRM in the air. The McKinsey Quarterly. Page Number: 6+. COPYRIGHT 2002 McKinsey Company, Inc.; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group. Dempsey, P. S., Goetz, A. R. (1992). Airline deregulation and Laissez-faire mythology. Westport, CT.: Quorum Books, pp. 05-30. Doganis, R. (2001). The airline business in the twenty-first century. London: Routledge. pp. 200-225. Feltner, M. (2008). Airline customer service ratings down, and it shows. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/today-in-travel/airline-customer-service-ratings-down-and-it-shows.html?id=2382874 Hagel III, J., Rayport, J. F. (2002). The coming battle for customer information. The McKinsey Quarterly. Issue: 3. Page Number: 64+. McKinsey Company, Inc.; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group Harrison, C. (n.d.) Turning customer service inside out! How poor Internal customer service affects external customers. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://www.principledprofit.com/internal-customer-service.html John, J. (2003). Fundamentals of customer-focused management: competing through service. Westport, CT.: Praeger. pp. 05-30. Lindsey Russell (March, 2007). Surviving Airline Customer Service How to Cope with a Flawed System. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/166932/surviving_airline_customer_service.html Maier, T. W. (2002). Customer service is an oxymoron. Insight on the News (17) 1. Publication Date: January 1, 2001. Page Number: 20. COPYRIGHT 2001 News World Communications, Inc.; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group. OConnor, W. E. (1995). An introduction to airline economics. Westport, CT.: Praeger, pp. 25-65. Reed, D. (2008). Airlines may never fly right on customer service, experts warn. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2007-10-16-bad-airline-service_N.htm Rosenthal, D. H. (2002). Legal turbulence: the courtss [sic.] misconstrual of the airline deregulation acts Preemption Clause and the effect on passengers rights. Duke Law Journal (51) 6. Publication Year: 2002. Page Number: 1857+. COPYRIGHT 2002 Duke University, School of Law; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group Smith, G. P. (2008). Secrets of superior customer service: Singapore International Airlines. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://customerservicezone.com/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=5769 Whalen, C. (March, 2004). The plane truth about airline woes; its not fallout from the 9/11 attacks that is causing the airline industry to crash, aviation experts contend but government overregulation and loose bankruptcy laws. Insight on the News. Page Number: 33. COPYRIGHT 2004 News World Communications, Inc.; COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

Psychological Continuity Of Personal Identity Philosophy Essay

Psychological Continuity Of Personal Identity Philosophy Essay In this chapter I describe my position with regards to personal identity over time. I describe the limits of acceptable psychological change, and discuss which elements of the psyche are essential to our survival. I also attempt to address whether psychological change has a physical cause or not. The Psychological Criterion for Identity Sydney Shoemaker suggested the theory of psychological continuity as an improvement upon memory continuity. While losing our memories would certainly be a huge loss, it could be possible for people to maintain the same psychological life despite this. But what do we mean when we speak of psychological life? This encompasses more than just memories, including beliefs, passions, and tendencies. Clearly, our mentality changes greatly during the course of our lifetime. This theory, then, allows for a similar transition as Lockes memory criterion. As long as I am psychologically connected to my past self, I am still the same person as I was. Criticisms of this position But what about almost complete personality changes? For example, people who have lived lives of terrible sins may experience a religious conversion and change almost every aspect of their lives totally willingly. Does this mean they are literally no longer the same person they used to be? Marya Schechtman claims that if people change their beliefs, they must have empathic access to their old beliefs. This does not simply entail having a good memory of those beliefs, but being able to recall them with the same passion as when they were fervently held. Schechtman states that they must look upon their old beliefs favourably and still give them some weight in the decisions they make today. However, many people dismiss their old beliefs and do not wish to give them any weight at all, because they no longer see these old beliefs as relevant to their current decisions. Schechtman gives the example of a party girl who mellows after becoming a mother, to the point that she views her younger days with embarrassment and even disdain. According to Schechtman, this woman is not the same person as she was as a teenager. But it seems that maturity, and the changes in belief which come with it, are inevitable. For example, children tend to have a very self-centred approach to life and only behave in their own interests. Yet as they mature they gain a greater understanding of manners and courtesy, and are able to put others before themselves when necessary. If we must give weight to our old opinions, as Schechtman claims, we must all give the selfish child within us an opportunity to disregard the feelings of others. It seems that giving all our previous beliefs some consideration results in us giving weight to a lot of contradictory views. More importantly, Schechtmans attempt to keep a link open to our old selves results in us behaving a manner which is untrue to our new selves. I, however, believe what is more important is that the changes a person undergoes as they grow older and presumably wiser, are voluntary changes. As long as the changes are not somehow imposed upon the individual, perhaps as a result of brainwashing or conditioning, the changes a person goes through should not cause them to become an entirely new person. [I believe that change in identity over time is unavoidable, unless one lives in a box from birth. The first few years of our life are spent developing an identity. After that, most of our life is spent learning and trying new things which challenge that identity. Sometimes we integrate our new knowledge (not just factual, but also societal and emotional) into the identity we have at the time, and sometimes our old beliefs are pushed aside and replaced by this new information.] I believe that the Ship of Theseus is an appropriate analogy for the development and changes which occur in ones identity. The usual type of development which occurs in our identities is a gradual one, where new knowledge is integrated alongside the knowledge we already had. If, however, we were to dismiss all of our previous passions, dispositions, beliefs and opinions at once, it is difficult to defend the position that we are still the same person as we were before. It seems the only way we could defend this position is with the criterion of bodily continuity, which we have already seen is not that helpful. From this we can conclude that what is needed for us to retain our identity over time is for the changes to be gradual and voluntary. Some may claim that any psychological changes we undergo must have a physical cause. This has not yet been confirmed by science, though. Many psychological disorders which may affect our identity do have physical symptoms on the brain. But it is impossible to determine causality in these cases. For example, people with depression have lower levels of serotonin(?) than people who are mentally healthy. However we cannot determine whether this is the cause of the depression or the result of it. So we cannot tell whether it is brain continuity or psychological continuity which is the real issue here. But regardless of whether or not psychological change has a physical cause, it seems the brain is still needed to encapsulate our psychology. As we discovered from the chapter on bodily continuity, our DNA is an important aspect to the continuity of our selves. This means that our psychology in a robot would not really be us. Look at: What Matters For Psychological  Continuity Defining psychological continuity in terms of style of thought which, though possibly a result of past experiences, do not depend upon our memories of them. Amnesiacs often demonstrate the same styles of thought as they had shown prior to their loss of memory. It is also possible that we regularly forget bits of information and later reform those memories in the same way as before. http://bookstove.com/non-fiction/on-psychological-continuity/ But what if the personality change is not total? What if there remains one tenuous psychological link to our past self, while everything else is lost. How many psychological links must there be in order for our identity to live on? During the course of our lifetime the majority of our psychology changes, so majority isnt good enough. Refers again to Ship of Theseus- perhaps if the change is gradual enough its okay. Problem tends to occur when the change is a majority one and sudden. What if memories were downloaded to a robot? This would still be you according to psychological continuity. Again, suggests that the physical body is needed to encapsulate and verify the mental element (although this is dangerously Cartesian. But to be fair, the only person who objects to that is Ryle, who isnt all that great). Ultimate challenge: what is psychology if not, essentially, the brain? Cannot defend an argument based on a mysterious immaterial mind, but may have to resort to this until neuroscience is able to explain the location of each element of the personality. Similarly, cause and effect cannot be established. Is the change in personality a result of a change in the brain, which seems to suggest it would be involuntary, or does our intentional change or development of personality cause our brain to work differently? Parfit describes a scenario where a scientist attaches a number of switches to a mans brain. As each switch is flicked, they cause the man to become slightly more psychologically like Napoleon. After half the switches have been flicked, the mans psychology is half his own and half Napoleons. Once all the switches have been flicked, his psychology is completely identical to Napoleons. Williams argues that, as each change caused by the switch is so slight, changes in identity are subject to the same problem as Sorites problem and the heap paradox. This is because each change is so slight that we are inclined to say that individually they do not change the mans identity. But if no switch changes his identity, we must conclude that when all the switches have been flicked he is still the same man he was, despite having none of the same tendencies or memories. Parfit suggests that we are simply mistaken in our belief that the question Will I die when the next switch is flicked must have an answer. He argues that it is absurd to believe that there is a sharp borderline which is so incremental that we could never really know the location of it. Therefore, he concludes, it is far more sensible to adopt a reductionist view of personal identity. Which is? However, I argue that the sharp borderline which exists can be knows quite easily. While many may claim that we lose our identity somewhere around the 50% mark, where the majority of our psychology becomes more similar to that of someone elses, I claim the distinction is much sooner. I believe that our identity is lost as soon as the scientist flips the first switch. Although the effects are minimal, our psychology has been artificially altered into something which is not the same as us. The fact that we allow this tampering simply because the effects are minimal is what lures us into the heap of the paradox.

A Book Review on Northern Lights :: English Literature

A Book Review on Northern Lights Northern Lights is an adventure and a fantasy story written by Phillip Pullman in the third person. The story takes place in Jordan College, which is in Oxford. The Master rules Jordan College and the other place is in the North. In the North, armoured bears rule the ice and witches fly in the skies. These places are in another world than that we live in. In this world, people have daemons, a sort of pet, which is attached to them by an invisible force. Daemons can also change into different animals. Lyra is a young girl who goes on an adventure with some gypsies, to try and stop some people called Gobblers from kidnapping children to see what happens to the child if their daemons are cut away. The Gobbler who started this criminal action was Mrs Coulter, whose daemon is a golden monkey. First of all, Lyra was going to go to the North with her Uncle, Sir Asriel, when she just saves him from poison. When they are debating about it, one of the people there is Mrs Coulter who asks for the child and is given her. Just before Lyra leaves, she is given an alethiometer, which is like a compass, but you can ask it questions by matching up symbols and then the needle swings round and points to a symbol as a reply. When Lyra finds out who she is at a party, she runs away to find some gypsies who agree to take her with them to the North. The leader is called John Faa. Unfortunately, Lyra is kidnapped by the workers of Mrs Coulter and is taken to their hospital where they perform the slicing, but Lyra finds a plan to escape from there, just before it is too late. Before she rescues the other children and escapes, she sets all the daemons free from their glass jars. The gypsies send the children home and Lyra walks off into the sunset as the book ends. The three main characters featured in Northern Lights are Lyra, her daemon Pantalaimon, and Mrs Coulter. Lyra was brought up in Oxford at Jordan University, where she spent most of her time causing mischief with a boy called Roger. She is a very determined girl who is prepared to risk her life for what she thinks is right. She never gives up, always ready to go. Lyra never complains about anything, she just goes along with everyone else. She is also very caring and secretive. She is a tomboy, who does not mind getting dirty. She is also very nosy and inquisitive, because she goes

Essay --

When an individual relates to the Bible and refers as God as an ultimate power and a divine power, it would be identical to Judaism. Learning about Judaism has put a whole different perspective on my outlook of life because it doesn’t mean that Christian’s only believe in God, Jews do also. Their services and rituals are very similar to Christianity but not identical. From the experience of going to Beth El Temple, I noticed differences right away. Walking in, a person of authority, not sure who it was, greeted everyone passing through the doors. I felt very welcomed and I felt like I didn’t stand out at all. One thing that greatly stood out to me was the way every individual dressed up. All the men were dressed up in suits and ties or bowties with the usual yamaka. All women had nice sundresses on that covered their shoulders and if it didn’t they had a shawl on that did cover their shoulders. Up at the bimah, instead of usually one priest in Christianity, there were two Rabbi’s and a musician playing the guitar and singing. The two Rabbi’s start off the ceremony saying â€Å"Shabbot Shalom†, which I’m pretty sure means welcome to all or hello. After the Rabbi’s say it to the audience and the audience, including myself, says it back they sing a song similar to us Christian’s : â€Å"Allel ujah†. As many also see in videos of Jews saying prayer or singing a song, many get into it and move their whole body in a rhythm. After this song ended, this service was special because two boys were going to get bar mitzvahed. After these boys are introduced, everyone greets each other so there are no strangers. Next they sing another song called â€Å"Matto Bu† which is words of blessing given by God. After this song they say that individuals of Judaism c... ...any others have the same views as me and I like that. Me: What is the most challenging aspect of being a member of this religion? Jason: The most difficult part of belonging to this religion is how it is not accepted by most of today’s society. Most individuals make fun of me for being Jewish because the Holocaust. Personally, I think it has nothing to do with the extermination of many Jews. Being Jewish is mostly about faith, and going through the suffering to get to the higher power and achieving the ultimate goal. In conclusion, I did not realize how in-depth another religion could be and how similar it could be to my own religion. Many individuals should be open to this religion because it is very similar in a lot of ways. I feel like if we worship the same God and all have the same destination, there shouldn’t be any social problems in today’s society.

Dont Mess with Nature :: science

Don't Mess with Nature Of all the things a student needs to make it through a typical day, probably the most important, yet least appreciated, is paper. Paper is used for academic, social, and personal purposes by nearly all students every day. The most obvious use is for the academic or classroom assignment, whether it comes in the form of a test, an essay, or a summary of plant life on Easter Island. The social uses of paper center around the "note," which any student can tell you is s important a part of a student’s social life as Friday night ball games or the Junior Prom. As for the personal applications, there is doodling for the nervous mind, and there is scrunching for the nervous hand. The traditional paper airplanes and spit wads are still around, but they seem less popular than in days gone by-probably because it is easier for a student to move freely about the classroom today than it used to be. In any case, there can be no doubt that paper is just as important as ever to the student whose days would be a waste without it. Not only students, but everyone needs paper. Just as students use the paper, so does everyone else. The social purpose surrounds the mail, which we receive everyday. For personal use, there’s the diary and the note pads to remind us the things we need to remember. There are many examples that I can give for instance, paper plates, paper bags, cardboard boxes, etc†¦ Anyhow, the point that I am deriving at is that paper and cardboard boxes are all made from trees. Millions of trees are being destroyed every year to produce paper. Not only for paper, but for housing projects as well. New programs are being set up to plant trees in replace of the destroyed ones. Little do people realize how much damage could be done when dealing with nature. These housing projects are built, where beautiful trees use to sit letting cool breeze pass through their leaves. Now, the Recycling foundation has set up a program for young kids to plant trees in their neighborhood to save "Mother Earth." These trees are being planted at almost every street corner. The kids don’t know what’s likely to happen. They think they are doing good for their community. Now, trees as thick as fifteen baseballs put together, creep up underneath the sidewalk all over town.