THE WEATHERMEN Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

THE WEATHERMEN - Essay Example d against government officials targeted government buildings where warnings of evacuation were given to all officials with a warning that the attacks would be a form of protest against the government (Kirkpatrick, 2009). The rage demonstrations of 6th October, 1969 gave way to the bombing of the statue in Chicago that commemorated police casualties of the 1886 Haymarket riot. On 6th October, 1970 saw the statue rebuilt, however, it was blown up again by weathermen. It was rebuilt again and destroyed a third time by the same group. On February 16, 1970, the group planted a nail bomb on window ledge at the Park police station, San Francisco. One police officer was killed and a second officer was partially blinded. There were arson attacks in new York city were also blamed on the group with the explosion of Molotov cocktails filled with gasoline at the home of the Justice John Murtagh of the New York Supreme court being of the significant cases. Though no one was harmed in the explosion, it sent a very clear message since the judge was presiding over the case against members of the Black Panther party. The bombing of the New York Police headquarters in 1970 also falls into their mandate (Kirkpatrick, 2 009). Their strategic goal was to have the government cave in to their demands and stop bombing the Vietnamese. They wanted the government to provide democracy to all citizens in the world, and having to bomb one of the states would negate this principal (Kirkpatrick, 2009). They were only successful in instilling fear amongst the citizens because the government went on its campaign. They were arrested and by 1976, their numbers were decreasing and the divisions amongst them did not allow them to achieve much. The blacks and Hispanics were against their marginalization in the group and wanted to have a bigger voice in the way things were carried out in the faction (Kirkpatrick, 2009). Pape notes, â€Å"The cohesiveness of most groups is built mainly on having a common

Investigation into customer service at Safeway Willerby Essay Example for Free

Investigation into customer service at Safeway Willerby Essay On Monday the 17th of February my Business group went to the Safeway Superstore in Willerby to interview the customer services manager, Andy Bostock. This was good customer service for us as it is a busy store and he gave up time for us, and with also been customers it was good that he acknowledged us. While we was at the store we were going to carry out an overt and covert investigation (see appendix 1) which means that we was to ask Andy Bostock some questions and we where going to carry out several observations throughout the store. This is where Safeway, Willerby is located: The Safeway store tries to ensure that all customers wants and needs are catered for and they have such things as: * Toilets * Florists * Photo processing * Cafe * Home entertainment department- which sells such things as CDs and TVs * Kosher food * In store banking * Bakery * Meat * Fish * Fruit and Veg * The deli * Chilled * Italian * Beers, wine and spirits * Frozen Food * Health and beauty * Lottery * Organic food * Passport photos booth The importance of customer service to Safeway is that with the store dealing with 20-23 thousand people on a weekly basis it is important that they deal with each customers needs and expectations. If this does not happen it will mean that customers may go else where to a rival store. When new recruits start at Safeway they are given and induction talk which covers every aspects of the job description. They are given work books to fill in and the management will check them to make sure that they understand everything what is asked from them. They do not have off the job training as everything they need to know is within the store so there is no need for them to go anywhere else. The only off the job training is for managers and they may need training in a new aspect of customer service or need re-training for example. They do not re-train their staff which means that they may not gain as much knowledge as they may need. This could be that they do not want to spend any money on retrain ing them, which in the long run is bad because it will mean that employees will not know what they are doing and when customers have a problem may find it difficult to deal with them on the spot. Their training is from 12-16 weeks and they cover every aspect on what department that are going to work on. They only let their employees work on one department because it means that they know the department really well and can deal with every problem, which comes up. This is a good point because all of their staff will know everything about the department and will work hard on it and make sure that all the work is done correctly. The bad point of doing this is that if a customer comes up to a member of staff who does not know anything about the department which the customer wants information on it may annoy the customer cost they will want the problem dealt with quickly. Read more:  Customer Service Investigation Safeway deal with any problems quickly as the always make sure that their is a spare employee to deal with the problem. Also if a customers comes up and asks them where something is within the store, they are trained to ask the customer whether they want them to take them or tell them. This is because the customer may want to make some other purchases before they go to the item what they are looking for, and the thing what they are asking for may be at the other side of the store and it may annoy the customer if they are taken their before making other purchases because they will have to go back on them selfs. When customers pay for their goods they get a receipt and this has information which is relevant to their purchases, but on the Safeway receipt it has the following information: * The store opening times- this means that customer will be able to see the next time the store is open. * Who the customer services manager is- this means that if the customer has a problem they can contact Andy Bostock as quickly as possible. * Who the till operator is- if you have a problem with something then you can report to the customer services manager and they can then deal with the person or give them more training if needed. * Advertising the Safeway magazine- it is making customers aware of the magazine so that they can pick it up. It also has the date, time, address and telephone number at the bottom of the receipt. This is so customers know when they made the purchase and if their is a problem they can contact the store my mail or telephone. (See appendix 2). This related to customer service because if the service what they get is bad, the customer services manager will know who did this and if they have done this before they will be able to discipline them. The information what the customer gets on the receipt is important to only to them but to the customer service manager. If the machine breaks down it will mean that it will effect the customer-employee relations. The methods of payments what Safeway have are cash, card and cheque. So this means what ever the customer wishes to pay with Safeway can deal with it. So this is good because if they only expect cash for example it will mean that if Safeway are not catering for all customers they will start to go elsewhere. Safeway do not offer a home delivery whether it will be by people doing it through the phone or via the Internet. This is because Safeway have never been interested in it and would rather spend their money on investing in other things which will be more beneficial to the employees and customers. With other competing companies such as Sainsburys offering this service it may be wise if they did look into it and if they did not get many customers then stop doing it. It would make it easier for older people to order online or via the phone, this would also be beneficial for people that are in a wheelchair as it means that they do not have to leave their home. Safeway do not have any members of staff who are trained in dealing with foreign customers, as they do not usually get a lot of them. If Safeway did decide to train someone in this it will mean that it will give them a good reputation will foreign people for understanding their needs. When a disabled customer comes into the store, Safeway make sure that they have all the assistance they need. They ask them if they would like a member of staff to help them shop, which is like a personal shopper this is because for example if a wheelchair customer comes in and the can not reach the top shelf for an item the personal shopper will be along side them to get the item. The cater for disabled customers by offering: 1. 6 Disabled parking spaces at the front of the car park so it doesnt mean that they have to travel far to get their. 2. Have wide isles so that it is comfortable for wheelchairs to get through. 3. They have special trolleys which are trolleys that can just fit into an electric wheelchair so it means that they can carry on shopping easily. They also offer smaller trolleys for their customer who have a disability. 4. They have a disabled toilet at the front of the store. Safeway have realized that a lot of disabled people do come into the store, so they have made it easier for them to shop by offering these types of services for the disabled customers to use. Safeway decided to no longer have the crà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½che and make way for the home entertainment department this is because the home entertainment department will effect everyone as the crà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½che will only effect people who are bringing in small children. The crà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½che also lost its popularity with customers and Safeway where losing money on it and it seemed the right place to put it because customers have to walk through the whole store to get to the department. At the tills at the front of the store each one has a change draw and this is easy for the staff to use as if they need change quickly they have access to it and it means that customers will not get distressed. Safeway make sure that they have adequate staffing levels at all times and they do this by knowing what they sold the same time last week and giving the employees the hours on the tills. For example on a Saturday morning they may take à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10,000 so they will need more people on the tills to cater for all the customers, but on a Monday morning they may only take à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1000 so they will not need to have all the tills on, they may only need about 4. When it was Christmas they gave their customers who where waiting in the cue free mince pies which meant that they where offering a good customer service to all of their customers. Every department in the store has its own employees so if they is a promotion on alcohol for example it will mean that they will need more staff to get all the alcohol out onto the shop floor. They also have a night shift who work 10-7 which means that they get all of the stock from the stock room out for the morning and to make room for the delivery the next morning. This is good for the customers as they are getting the freshest products at any given time because as soon as it arrives it will be put out. When we looked at the stock room it was untidy which meant that it might be difficult for everyone to know where everything goes. They did not have a stock room manager, which for a store of that size is a bad thing, as not every member of staff is doing their job correctly. If a stock room manager was introduced it will improve the amount of damaged goods as well as improving the quality of the stock room. With their being no stock room manager it will be made easier for the staff to steal products and whilst we was their he said that there were a lot of unsolved theft and that they lose a lot of money in the Willerby store, and this could be the reason for this. They have eight cameras in the store and one main one on the alcohol department this is because this is the most common theft. This means that it is giving the customers a lot of security and makes them feel more save when they are their and they also have a security guard who works six days a week. When they call code 50 over the tannoy all male members of staff go to the front of the store to stop the thief, this is because if their is more than one the security guard will not be able to deal with them. This is done to make the customers feel more safe when they are shopping at the store. Their health and safety procedures are gone through on the day they get their training. It is important that all staff know the health and safety procedure incase of an emergency such as a fire. When it was the firefighter strike they where given extra training which consisted of videos and leaflets what Safeway came up with to make sure that they where aware of everything what was going on. They also put posters up in the staff room and in the stock room to always keep them aware of the dangers. They made sure that everything was double-checked to cover their backs. This was excellent customer service as they knew that fire fighters may not be able to get to the store incase of a fire, so they make sure that everything is checked for the safety of the customers. When the fire alarm goes off they can detect where about it is in the store and they will then go and see if it was set of deliberately or it was just a prank, and if it was deliberately they will then evacuate the store. Safeways buildings are not insured so this means that with the money what they save they can invest into other things what will benefit the company. But if their is a fire within a store and it gets burnt down they will lose a lot of money and last year two stores went down with fire and it meant that they got no money. So they have to take money from elsewhere. They also have a hazard book which employees fill in if they think there is a problem and this is checked everyday. It means that if there is a problem the management can deal with them quickly to benefit the customers and keep them safe. They have 1st aiders in the store all the time which means that if a problem does arise with a customer been injured they can deal with it quickly and correctly. The 1st aid facilities what are in the store are mainly for the employees not the customers. Safeway communicate with their customers by having the following things: * Tannoys- if a child is lost for example they could tannoy the childs parent or guardian to come and pick them up * Leaflets advertising their special offers- making the customers aware of what they have to offer. These usually come through the post box with the free supplement newspaper what residents get. (see appendix 3) * Walkie-talkies between employees- they can contact each other if a problem comes up and can be easily dealt with. * Notice board- this informs the customers of any events coming up and what they are for. The ways in which Safeway assess and monitor the quality of customer service are that they used to have an ABC card and this could recognize how much money a certain customer spends in Safeway over a period of time. It was a point scheme where if you spent over a amount of money you would get points which in the long run would mean that you will get offers and free things depending on how much money you have spent. They stopped doing this when a new board of director came in and said that it was a waste of money and that money could be spent elsewhere. When we asked Andy on what he thought of it he said the same, and the money what would be saved in producing the cards could be spent on more productive things, but why does store cards work for other supermarkets such as Sainsburys and Tesco? ABC Card: Safeway used to have mystery shoppers but then that stopped because a mystery shopper was not a true reflection on the store as they have two mystery shoppers a month and the Willerby store gets 20-23 thousand customers a week. So the stopped doing this because they started to realize that it was not working. Safeway carried out a survey to get some feed back on what the customers though on the store and what the good and bad points. (see appendix 4) They survey was done by 60 people on Friday 5th April to Sunday 7th April. The survey covers the following things: 1. Hygiene 2. Staff 3. Checkouts 4. Solutions to improving staff service 5. Best in fresh 6. Items which where of a poor quality 7. Product and price 8. Availability 9. Who the shoppers are 10. Where else they shop 11. Suggestions for improvement The survey is then analyzed by head office and the management team of the Willerby store and they will talk about the results and what they are going to do with them and how to make improvements. This is very good customer service because it is giving the customers a chance to express any opinions they may have of the store whether it is good or bad. Also if they do make a suggestion or say what they think and the next time they go in it is dealt with it will make the customers feel as if they have say on what goes on within the store. The customer services desk is at the front of the store as soon as you walk in, which means that it saves the customer walking through the store and hopefully the problem can be dealt with by the people at the customer services desk. Customer complaints are dealt with by either phone, letter of face to face. They do not offer an email service where they can directly email the store with any problems which may need looking at as email is one of the most common ways of communicating. If a customer does complain Any Bostock (customer services manager) will personally deal with the complaint this is because this time he will know that it is dealt with correctly and the other point is why has the customer complaint and what can be done for this customer complaint to come about again. If its a face to face problem he will go to the customer services desk and try and ask the customer what the situation is and come to some compromise. If its on the phone, the customer services desk will try and deal with it then but if its a major problem Andy will take the call and deal with it appropriately. Then finally he will reply to any letter, which is sent to him regarding a customer complaint. The most common complaint is that customers are cueing to long at the tills. They try and deal with this by having enough staff to cover if there is a rush on and this is worked out by using the week before figures. If all tills are on and customers are still complaining the only way you can deal with them is by apologizing to them because their is nothing more you can do at that moment in time. They also had a suggestion box where customers could put in any suggestions or how the felt it would work better, but they had to stop doing this because it turned into a customer complaint box and they did not want this. Safeway need to come up with a new suggestion scheme as it is important for Safeway to understand what the customer wants and the best way is through suggestion schemes because it is easy to do and cheap to operate. Whilst I was at the store I carried out my own observations and I came up with the following results. The car park was shared with Iceland, Focus, Poundstretcher, Jonathan James, Francios and wickes. This meant that by having the store on a retail park it meant that customers could do other types of shopping if they needed to. Safeway did have its owns trolley parks that where scattered around the car park, which meant that customers did not have to walk back with their trolley where ever they are parked because it if they are old, they will not want to be walking back to Safeway with their trolley if they are parked at the other side of the car park. Other benefits what the car park had where: * 16 Child and parent parking spaces- these where directly outside the store so it a parent comes with a small child, the child is not running around the car park, they can just go straight into the store * 6 disabled parking spaces- These where next to the child and parent parking which are directly outside the store. Disabled people may find it had to walk across a big car park but with these parking spaces been their it is making it easier for them to cope. I personally feel 6 spaces is not enough, this is because quite a lot of retired people may be classed as disabled and they have the most free time as they do not have to go to work, so with expanding the parking spaces for the disabled they may create a new customer segment. * 2 Zebra crossings- These where going towards the front of the store where the entrances where. This is good customer service because if their is a lot of traffic and you can not make it across the road with the zebra crossings been their, it will make it easier for the customer. Safeway provide a variety of different trolleys for every type of customer. This is because if they have different types of trolleys it means that if customers only want a small shop their is small trolleys. The advantage of Safeway trolleys are that you do not have to put a pound in, this is good because a customer may not have a pound coin in change and if they dint they would have to go and get it changed before they even started the shopping. With the trolleys not having a pound put in them it means that they could get stolen and this would mean a loss in profits for the company because each trolley costs about à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50 to make. Also around the surrounding area there is always trolleys just dumped because they is no need to return them back to Safeway. All the trolleys are kept under a shelter which means if it does rain the trolleys are still dry so the customers do not have to dry them down. Types of trolleys: * Large trolleys * Medium trolleys * Small trolleys * One seat baby trolleys * Two seat baby trolleys * One seat child trolleys * Two seat child trolleys * Wheelchair trolleys * Baskets They also have a post box which is outside the store with a stamp machine inside the store (which was out of order), but the customer can also buy stamps from the confectionery desk which is next to the customer service desk. With Safeway selling stamps it means that if a customer wished to send somebody a birthday card they could get the stamp and post it all within the store. The post box is emptied several times a day to make sure that the post is delivered on time. Along with stamp machine they where a phone card machine and a savings stamp machine. The phone card machine only sold BT Cellnet cards which meant that if customers wanted to get a different one they would have to go to the confectionery desk because they do not sell the cards at each till. This is bad customer service because they may just want to do all their shopping at once and if they have to go somewhere else in the store it may distress them. With the savings stamps this is a booklet what customers can get and they can collect them over a period of time, usually up to Christmas so when it comes to do their Christmas shopping they will have an amount of money what they will spend. A savings booklet is a good idea because if a customer is buying a stamp a week, you know that they are going to come back at Christmas and spend it and hopefully more to do their Christmas shopping. The toilets what Safeway have are: 1. Ladies 2. Mens 3. Disabled 4. Baby Change The toilets are at the front of the store which means that you can go to toilets before you start your shopping or after it, but if you go after shopping it will mean that you will have to leave you shopping unattended because their is no secure place where you can leave your shopping. When I went into the toilets I was not impressed with the standard of them, this is because as soon as I walked into them their was a smell which was very of putting and meant that I wanted to be as quick as possible. This is bad customer service because their was nothing done about it, if their was some sort of air conditioning in their it would make it easier. The floor was also very dirty and their was water all over the floor underneath the sink, which meant that the toilets are very rarely checked by the employees because in some toilets there is a sheet up to say when it was last checked and if there where any damages. If the toilets are not checked regularly it may stop customers from using them because of the standard of them. When I went into the toilets their where a lot of damages like holes in the wall and their where no bins so people where just dropping their rubbish on the floor. This gave the toilets and overall tacky feel to it and I personally would not use them again. If the toilets are not improved it may put customers of from using the store all together. The music of the store was aimed at the more older people, this is because this is their main target audience because you hardly get children or teenagers shopping in supermarkets. The music is controlled my head office which means that Safeway Willerby have no control which if the majority of customers are different from other stores they may wish to change the music slightly to make them come back. The music what they do play is very upbeat music, this is so that customers are feeling happy when they are shopping their. Whilst we where we was looking in the Entertainment department and we across and adult video which was on the second to bottom shelf which is easy for a small child to get hold of it. On the back of it had sexual images on it which meant that the child would be seeing them. This is very bad customer service because it is of adult content and its easy for the child to get hold of. On Safeways Website, the opening page is filled with information regarding a certain thing what is happening so for example the thing what is happening this month is Mothers day, so the opening is filled with information regarding Mothers day. (see appendix 5). They also have special offers what is making the customers aware of, so that they can purchase them. This can be food related or just other items such as dry cleaning and photo processing. They also have a recipe of the week, which is described in great detail as well as all their other recipes what you can look at online. Their Website is excellent customer because it is giving potential customers a chance to see what is happening within Safeway, and it is offering advice on the recipes that the customers may wish to make. Their Website also includes: * Store guide- this shows you where the nearest store is and how many miles away it is from your house. * Everything what is included in their stores from their specialized food to their service, which is not food related. * Company information- from the history of the company to the activities at the moment. * Drinks guide- this covers all the drinks from fizzy drinks to alcohol and expert advice is given. Overall Safeways Website is excellent because it covers all the information what you will need. Analysis of customer service: I am now going to analyze what the advantage and disadvantages are of Safeway Willerby in terms of customer service: Advantages Disadvantages With Safeway doing a survey it means that they are getting customer feedback which in the long run will benefit the company because with the results of the survey will they can improve the things what has gone wrong. There is no incentive of doing this and it is quite time consuming so the customers may rush it just to get through it, so if an incentive was launched they may be able to get more accurate results. The majority of their staff where of a mature age which meant that they had more experience with customers so they would know what they want. Also with employing older people it means that the management team will know that they are not coming into work with a hangover and they know that they are going to work well and not let them down, with the experience they have with customers. The toilets where a major disadvantage to Safeway Willerby this is because of the overall standard of them was poor. This gives the impression that Safeway Willerby are unhygienic and care very little about the standard of their customer service. If an employee checked the toilets every morning and afternoon, it could improve the standard a bit and it would reassure the customers that something is been done about them. With the security guard working 6 days a week, customers will start to pick up on when he is not their and they might try and get away with things such as theft. With him also working 6 days he will start to get tired and may not do his job properly. If another security guard was introduced it will mean that their is always a security guard in the store, this will assure the customers that they are safe with these security guards in operation.

Abortion is a Global Issue :: Essays Papers

Abortion is a Global Issue Sonia Correa wrote an article for Women’s International Network News entitled â€Å"Abortion is a Global Political Issue†. In this article, abortion is looked at as a political issue that affects the world. The idea of a mother terminating her own pregnancy has been an issue since the Ancient Romans ruled the known world and Christianity was established. They did not believe in depopulating a world when the expected age of death for four out of 100 people was 50 years of age. The Catholic Church in the time of the Inquisition was permitting extreme punishment for women who aborted their babies and their midwives, if they assisted in the abortion. After the United States ruled on the constitutionality of abortion in 1973, Senator Jesse Helms achieved an agreement of a provision prohibiting American aid funds in activities related to abortion. Correa uses logic and reasoning in her article that abortion is a political issue that affects the entire world. She states that â€Å"†¦abortion is a worldwide public health problem.† One example is in the time of the Roman Empire. During this time period, the world was having a crisis with depopulation and fertility was looked at as a blessing. Killing an innocent, unborn child would have been unheard of at that time period. Another instance is the European Catholic Inquisition tracked down and even executed those who would abort a child. These women being executed, usually thought as witches, were the mothers and the midwives. The logic of these times would not make abortion a way of life. Abortion was portrayed as wrong for oneself and wrong for the society in which they lived. Many credible sources are used to show how abortion is a political issue that affects the world. The United States Supreme Court in 1973 decided on the constitutionality of abortion. Senator Jesse Helms approved a condition that prohibited activities that were related to abortion were not permitted to use American funds. During this period of time the Right to Life movement was growing. A group of agents from this movement decided to get their point across to bomb clinics and kill the doctors who performed abortions.

Civil War :: essays research papers

The Civil War is widely believed to be the necessary evil our country had to go through in order to come to a common understanding and abolishment of slavery. Yet the slavery had existed in our lands since before our country was even established, so what made us examine it closer so as to see that its nullification was required? Between the years of 1850 to 1861, our country ¡Ã‚ ¯s eyes were turned toward slavery by the major reform movements in the north, the discrepancies that came with the westward expansion, and the dispute over what rights a state was truly granted. The main movement that occurred primarily in the north was the Abolitionist Movement, the goal of which was the eventual emancipation of slaves. This faction began from a moral standpoint, but quickly transformed itself into a political one when it received so much attention. It was also spurred on to new heights when Uncle Tom ¡Ã‚ ¯s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was published, which turned the north ¡Ã‚ ¯s attention to the sensitive (and less spoken of) conditions of slavery. The south saw the Abolitionist Movement as an attempt to displace them by jeopardizing their way of life. The south had come to depend on slave labor, they had actually grown accustomed to the ideas that blacks were complete subordinates to whites and should be happy to serve such a great purpose as being slaves (Document C). Not only were slaves technically owned, they were considered chattel to their masters, even those who belonged to masters living in a state in which slavery had been abolished (Doc ument B). Most southerners were of the opinion that, since they did not infringe on the north ¡Ã‚ ¯s economy of textiles and factories, the north should not contravene on their economy of cotton. Meanwhile, the north has a rather base opinion of the south as a whole, thinking of it as archaic society that was holding them back. The sectionalism was not helped any by the educational reforms taking place in the north. These movements helped education become more accessible to all citizens, while in the south education was  ¡Ã‚ °put on the back burners ¡Ã‚ ±. The movements that occurred during the antebellum of the Civil War simply increased the sectionalist divide of the northern and southern societies, which threw their differences into greater light including slavery. The idea of manifest destiny stimulated the westward expansion of the United States, but the expansion was a divisive factor when considering the issue of slavery.

The Return: Nightfall Chapter 36

Elena had been waiting in her tree. It wasn't, as a matter of fact, all that different from her six months in the spirit world, where she had spent most of her time watching other people, and waiting, and watching them some more. Those months had taught her a patient alertness that would have astounded anyone who knew the old, wildfire Elena. Of course, the old, wildfire Elena was still inside her, too, and occasionally it rebelled. As far as she could see, nothing was happening in the dark boardinghouse. Only the moon seemed to move, creeping slowly higher into the sky. Damon said this Shinichi had a thing about 4:44 in the morning or evening, she thought. Maybe this Black Magic was working to a different schedule than any she'd heard of. In any case, it was for Stefan. And as soon as she thought that she knew that she would wait here for days, if that's what it took. She could certainly wait until daybreak, when no self-respecting Black Magic-worker would ever thing of beginning a ceremony. And, in the end, what she was waiting for came to rest right below her feet. First came the figures, walking sedately out of the Old Wood and toward the gravel pathways of the boardinghouse. They weren't hard to identify, even at long range. One was Damon, who had aje ne sais quois about him that Elena couldn't miss at a quarter of a mile – and then again there was his aura, which was a very good facsimile of his old aura: that unreadable, un-breachable ball of black stone. Avery good imitation, in fact. Actually, it was almost exactly like the one†¦ It was then, Elena later realized, that she felt her very first qualm. But right now she was so caught up in the moment that she brushed the uneasy thought away. The one with the deep gray aura with crimson flashes would be Shinichi, she guessed. And the one with the same aura as the possessed girls: a sort of muddy color slashed with orange must be the twin sister Misao. Only those two, Shinichi and Misao, were holding hands, even occasionally nuzzling each other – as Elena could see as they came up close to the boardinghouse. They certainly weren't acting like any brother and sister that Elena had seen. Moreover, Damon was carrying a mostly-naked girl over his shoulder, and Elena couldn't imagine who that might be. Patience,she thought to herself.Patience. The major players are here at last, just as Damon promised they would be. And the minor players†¦ Well, first, following Damon and his group were three little girls. She recognized Tami Bryce instantly from her aura, but the other two were strangers. They hopped, skipped, andfrisked out of the Wood and to the boardinghouse, where Damon said something to them and they came around to sit in Mrs. Flowers' kitchen garden, almost directly below Elena. One look at the auras of the strange girls was enough to identify them as more of Misao's pets. Then, up the driveway came a very familiar car – it belonged to Caroline's mother. Caroline stepped out of it and was helped into the boardinghouse by Damon, who had done something – Elena had missed what – with his burden. Elena rejoiced as she saw lights coming on as Damon and his three guests traveled up the boardinghouse, lighting their way as they went. They came out on the very top, standing in a row on the widow's walk, looking down. Damon snapped his fingers, and the backyard lights went on as if it were a cue for a show. But Elena didn't see the actors – the victims of the ceremony that was about to begin, until just then. They were being herded around the far corner of the boardinghouse. She could see them all: Matt and Meredith and Bonnie, and Mrs. Flowers and, strangely, old Dr. Alpert. What Elena didn't understand was why they weren't fighting harder – Bonnie was certainly making enough noise for all of them, but they acted as if they were being pushed forward against their will. That was when she saw the looming darkness behind them. Huge dark shadows, with no features that she could identify. It was at that point that Elena realized, even over Bonnie's yelling, if she held herself still inside and focused hard enough, she could hear what everyone on the widow's walk was saying. And Misao's shrill voice cut through the rest. â€Å"Oh lucky! We got all of them back,† she squealed, and kissed her brother's cheek, despite his brief look of annoyance. â€Å"Of course we did. I said so,† he was beginning, when Misao squealed once more. â€Å"But which of them do we start with?† She kissed her brother and he stroked her hair, relenting. â€Å"You pick the first one,† he said. â€Å"You darling,† Misao cooed shamelessly. These two, Elena thought, are real charmers. Twins, huh? â€Å"The little noisy one,† Shinichi said firmly, pointing to Bonnie. â€Å"Urusei, brat! Shut up!† he added as Bonnie was pushed or carried forward by the shadows. Now Elena could see her more clearly. And she could hear Bonnie's heartrending pleas to Damon not to do this to†¦the others. â€Å"I'm not begging for myself,† she cried, as she was dragged into the light. â€Å"But Dr. Alpert is a good woman; she has nothing to do with this. Neither does Mrs. Flowers. And Meredith and Matt have already suffered enough.Please! â€Å" There was a ragged chorus of sound as the others apparently tried to fight and were subdued. But Matt's voice rose above it all. â€Å"You touch her, Salvatore, and you'd better make damn sure you kill me, too!† Elena's heart jerked as she heard Matt's voice sounding so strong and well. She'd found him at last, but she couldn't think of a way to save him. â€Å"And then we have to decide what to do with them to start with,† Misao said, clapping like a happy child at her birthday party. â€Å"Take your pick.† Shinichi caressed his sister's hair and whispered into her ear. She turned and kissed him on the mouth. Not hastily, either. â€Å"What the – what's going on?† Caroline said. She had never been shy, that one, Elena thought. Now she had moved forward to cling to Shinichi's unoccupied hand. For just an instant, Elena thought he would throw her off the widow's walk and watch her plunge to the ground. Then he turned, and he and Misao stared at each other. Then he laughed. â€Å"Sorry, sorry, it's so hard when you're the life of the party,† he said. â€Å"Well, what do you think, Carolyn – Caroline?† Caroline was staring at him. â€Å"Why's she holding you that way?† â€Å"In theShi no Shi , sisters are precious,† Shinichi said. â€Å"And†¦well, I haven't seen her in a long time. We're getting reacquainted.† But the kiss he planted on Misao's palm was hardly brotherly. â€Å"Go on,† he added quickly, to Caroline. â€Å"You choose the first act in the Moonspire Festival! What shall we do with her?† Caroline began to imitate Misao, kissing Shinichi's cheek and ear. â€Å"I'm new here,† she said flirtatiously. â€Å"I don't really know what you want me to pick.† â€Å"Silly Caroline. Naturally, how she di – † Shinichi was suddenly smothered by a great hug and kiss from his sister. Caroline, who had obviously wanted the attention of choice put to her, even if she didn't understand the subject, said huffily, â€Å"Well, if you don't tell me, I can't choose. And anyway, where's Elena? I don't see her anywhere!† She seemed about to say more when Damon glided over and whispered in her ear. Then she smiled again, and they both looked at the pine trees surrounding the boardinghouse. That was when Elena had her second qualm. But Misao was already speaking and that required Elena's full attention. â€Å"Lucky! Then I'll pick.† Misao leaned forward, peeking over the edge of the roof at the humans below, her dark eyes wide, summing up the possibilities in what looked like a barren clearing. She was so delicate, so graceful as she got up to pace and think; her skin was so fair, and her hair so glossy and dark that even Elena couldn't take her eyes off her. Then Misao's face lit up and she spoke. â€Å"Spread her on the altar. You brought some of your half-breeds?† The last was not so much a question as an excited exclamation. â€Å"My experiments? Of course, darling. I told you so,† Shinichi replied and added, staring into the forest, â€Å"Two of you – er, men – and Old Faithful!† And he snapped his fingers. There were several minutes of confusion during which the humans around Bonnie were struck, kicked, thrown to the ground, trampled on, and crushed as they fought with the shadows. And then the things that had shambled forward before, shambled farther forward with Bonnie held in between them, dangling limply from each by a slim arm. The half-breeds were something like men and something like trees with all the leaves stripped off them. If they had beenmade , it looked as if they had been made specifically to be grotesque and asymmetrical. One had a crooked, knobby left arm that reached almost to its feet, and a right arm that was thick, lumpy, and only waist-high. They were hideous. Their skin was similar to the chitin-like skin of the insects, but much bumpier, with knotholes and burls and all the outward aspects of bark on their branches. They had a shaggy, unfinished look in places. They were terrifying. The way their limbs were twisted; the way they walked, shambling forward like apes, the way their bodies ended on top with treelike caricatures of human faces, surmounted by a tangle of thinner branches sticking out at odd angles – they were calculated to look like creatures of nightmare. And they were naked. They had nothing in place of clothes to disguise the ghastly deformities of their bodies. And then Elena really knew what terror meant, as the two shambling malach carried the limp Bonnie to a sort of roughly hewn stump of tree like an altar, laid her on it and began to pluck at the many layers of her clothing, clumsily, pulling at them with sticklike fingers that broke off with little crackling sounds even as cloth tore. They didn't seem to care that they broke their fingers off – as long as they accomplished their task. And then they were using bits of torn cloth, even more clumsily, to tie Bonnie, spread-eagled, to four knobby posts snapped off their own bodies and hammered into the ground around the trunk with four powerful blows by the thick-armed one. Meanwhile, from somewhere even farther away in the shadows, a third man-tree shuffled forward. And Elena saw that this one was, undeniably, unmistakably male. For a moment Elena worried that Damon might lose it, go mad, turn around and attack both the were-foxes, revealing his true allegiance now. But his feelings about Bonnie had obviously changed since he had saved her at Caroline's. He appeared perfectly relaxed beside Shinichi and Misao, sitting back and smiling, even saying something that made them laugh. Suddenly something inside Elena seemed to plummet. This wasn't a qualm. It was full-blown terror. Damon had never looked so natural, so in tune, sohappy with anyone as he did here with Shinichi and Misao. They couldn't possibly have changed him, she tried to convince herself. Theycouldn't have possessed him again so quickly, not without her, Elena, knowing it†¦. But when you showed him the truth, he was miserable, her heart whispered. Desperately miserable – miserably desperate. He might have reached for possession as a defiant alcoholic reaches for a bottle, wanting only forgetfulness. If she knew Damon, he had willingly invited the darkness back in. He couldn't stand to stand in the light, she thought. And so now, he's able to laugh even at Bonnie's suffering. And where did that leave her? With Damon defected to the other side, no longer ally, but enemy? Elena began to tremble with anger and hatred – yes, and fear, too, as she contemplated her position. All alone to struggle against three of the strongest enemies she could imagine, and their army of deformed, conscienceless killers? Not to mention Caroline, the cheerleader of spite? As if to corroborate her fears, as if to show her how slim her chances really were, the tree she was clinging to seemed suddenly to let go of her, and for a moment Elena thought she would fall, spinning and screaming, all the way to the ground. Her handholds and footholds seemed to disappear all at once, and she only saved herself by a frantic – and painful – scrambling through serrated pine needles up to the grooved, dark bark. You are a human girl now, my dear,the strong, resinous smell seemed to be telling her.And you are up to your neck in the Powers of the undead and of sorcery. Why fight it? You've lost before you've begun. Give in now and it won't hurt so much. If aperson had been telling her this, trying to hammer it in, the words might have sparked some kind of defiance from the flint of Elena's character. But instead this was just a feeling that came over her, an aura of doom, a knowledge of the hopelessness of her cause, and the inadequacy of her weapons, that seemed to settle over her as gently and as inescapably as a fog. She leaned her throbbing head against the trunk of the tree. She had never felt so weak, so helpless – or so alone, not since she had been a newly wakened vampire. She wanted Stefan. But Stefan hadn't been able to beat these three, and because of that she might never see him again. Something new was happening on the roof, she realized wearily. Damon was looking down at Bonnie on the altar, and his expression was petulant. Bonnie's white face was staring up at the evening sky in determination, as if refusing any longer to weep or beg again. â€Å"But†¦are all thehors d'oeuvres so predictable?† Damon asked, seeming genuinely bored. You bastard, you'd turn on your best friend for amusement, Elena thought. Well, just you wait. But she knew the truth was that without him, she couldn't even put together Plan A, much less fight against these kitsune, these were-foxes. â€Å"You told me that in theShi no Shi , I would see acts of genuine originality,† Damon was going on. â€Å"Maidens hypnotized to cut themselves†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena ignored his words. She concentrated all her energy on the thudding pain in the center of her chest. She felt as if she were drawing blood from her tiniest capillaries, from the far reaches of her body, and collecting it here at her center. The human mind is infinite, she thought. It is as strange and as infinite as the universe. And the human soul†¦ The three youngest of the possessed began dancing around the spread-eagled Bonnie, singing in falsely sweet little-girl voices: â€Å"You are going todie in here, When you die inhere , outthere They throwdirt right on your face!† How delightful, Elena thought. Then she tuned back in to the drama unfolding on the roof. What she saw startled her. Meredith was now up on the widow's walk, moving as if she were underwater – entranced. Elena had missed how she'd gotten there – was it by some sort of magic? Misao was facing Meredith, giggling. Damon was laughing, too, but in mocking disbelief. â€Å"And you expect me to believe that if I givethis girl a pair of scissors†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he said, â€Å"she would actually cut her own – â€Å" â€Å"Try and see for yourself,† Shinichi interrupted, with one of his languid gestures. He was leaning against the cupola in the middle of the widow's walk, still trying to out-lounge Damon. â€Å"Didn't you see our prizewinner, Isobel?You carried her all the way here – didn't she ever try to speak?† Damon held out a hand. â€Å"Scissors,† he said, and a dainty pair of nail scissors rested in his palm. It seemed that, as long as Damon had Shinichi's magic key, the magic field around them would continue to obey him even in the real world. He laughed. â€Å"No, adult-size scissors, for gardening. The tongue's made of strong muscles, not paper.† What he held in his hand then were large pruning shears – definitely not toys for children. He hefted them, feeling their weight. And then, to Elena's utter shock, he looked straight up at her in her treetop refuge, not needing to search for her there at all – and winked. Elena could only stare back in horror. He knew, she thought. He knew where I was all the time. That was what he had been whispering to Caroline about. It hadn't worked – theWings of Redemption hadn't worked, Elena thought, and it felt as if she were falling and would fall forever. I should have realized it would be no good. No matter what's done to him, Damon will always be Damon. And now he's offering me a choice: see my two best friends tortured and killed, or step forward and stop this horror by agreeing to his terms. What could she do? He had arranged the chess pieces brilliantly, she thought. The pawns on two different levels, so that even if Elena could somehow climb down to try to save Bonnie, Meredith would be lost. Bonnie was tied to four strong posts and guarded by Tree-Men. Meredith was closer, up on the roof, but to get her off Elena would have toget to her and then through Misao, Shinichi, Caroline, and Damon himself. And Elena had to choose. Whether to step forward now, or be pushed forward by the anguish of one of the two who were almost a part of her. She seemed to catch a faint strain of telepathy as Damon stood beaming there, and it said,This is the best night of my life. You could always just jump,came the fog-like hypnotic whisper of annihilation once again.End the dead-end road you're on. End your suffering. End all the pain†¦just like that. â€Å"Now it's my turn,† Caroline was saying, brushing past the twins to face Meredith herself. â€Å"It was supposed to be my choice in the first place. So it's my turn now.† Misao was laughing hysterically, but Meredith was already stepping forward, still in a trance. â€Å"Oh, have it your own way,† Damon said. But he didn't move, still staring curiously, as Caroline said to Meredith, â€Å"You've always had a tongue like an adder's. Why don't you make it forked for us – right here, right now? Before you cut it into pieces.† Meredith held out her hand without a word, like an automaton. Still with her eyes on Damon, Elena breathed in slowly. Her chest seemed to be going into spasms as it had when the sucker plants had wound their way around her and cut off her breath. But not even sensations in her own body could stop her. How could I choose? she thought. Bonnie and Meredith – I love both of them. And there's nothing else to do, she realized numbly, the feeling draining from her hands and her lips. I'm not even sure if Damon can save both of them, even if I agree to†¦submit to him. These others – Shinichi, Misao, even Caroline – they want to see blood. And Shinichi not only controls trees, but just about everything in the Old Wood, including those monstrous Tree-Men. Maybe this time Damon has over-reached himself, taken on more than he could handle. He wanted me – but he went too far to get me. I can't see any way out. And then she did see. Suddenly everything fell into place and was brilliantly clear. Sheknew . Elena stared down at Bonnie, almost in a state of shock. Bonnie was looking at her, too. But there was no expectation of rescue in that small, triangular face. Bonnie had already accepted her fate: agony and death. No,Elena thought, not knowing whether Bonnie could hear her. Believe,she thought to Bonnie. Not blindly, never blindly. But believe in what your mind tells you is the truth, and what your heart tells you is the right path. I would never let you go – or Meredith either. I believe,Elena thought, and her soul was rocked by the force of it. She felt a sudden surge within herself, and she knew that it was time to go. One word was ringing in her mind as she stood and let go of her handholds on the tree trunk. And that one word echoed in her mind as she dove headfirst from her sixty-foot perch in the tree. Believe.

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CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM The campaign finance system is corrupted. Spending is out of control, and there are various loopholes in federal campaign finance law. Money buys access and influence, which effectively causes the majority of Americans to have no real capacity to influence public policy. State and federal legislation is needed to fight corruption and unjust influence, to ensure the public’s right to know where a candidate’s money comes from, to enable all candidates to compete equitably in elections, and to allow maximum citizen participation in the political process. Rock the Vote believes that the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill, in its current state, should be the first piece of legislation signed into law in 2001. Bolder approaches could include: reducing the duration of political campaigns; requiring television and radio stations to air campaign advertising free of charge as a condition for maintaining their broadcast licenses; barring campaign advertising from the ai rwaves altogether; or placing strict limits on the amounts of money that can be spent by candidates and any and all of their supporters. Rock the Vote supports passing comprehensive legislation for meaningful campaign finance reform. The Mccain-Feingold bill proposes to end the soft money system by prohibiting candidates and national political parties from raising soft money. Soft money is a financial contribution intended to be used for issues advertising that dies not advocate on behalf of, or against, a specific candidate. Political parties currently use the legality of soft-money donations as a loophole in current campaign finance law, finding ways to channel this money into candidates' campaigns. The McCain-Feingold bill prohibits state political parties from spending soft money on activities which affect federal elections, The Current practice of raising unlimited soft money cont... Free Essays on South V. West Free Essays on South V. West CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM The campaign finance system is corrupted. Spending is out of control, and there are various loopholes in federal campaign finance law. Money buys access and influence, which effectively causes the majority of Americans to have no real capacity to influence public policy. State and federal legislation is needed to fight corruption and unjust influence, to ensure the public’s right to know where a candidate’s money comes from, to enable all candidates to compete equitably in elections, and to allow maximum citizen participation in the political process. Rock the Vote believes that the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill, in its current state, should be the first piece of legislation signed into law in 2001. Bolder approaches could include: reducing the duration of political campaigns; requiring television and radio stations to air campaign advertising free of charge as a condition for maintaining their broadcast licenses; barring campaign advertising from the ai rwaves altogether; or placing strict limits on the amounts of money that can be spent by candidates and any and all of their supporters. Rock the Vote supports passing comprehensive legislation for meaningful campaign finance reform. The Mccain-Feingold bill proposes to end the soft money system by prohibiting candidates and national political parties from raising soft money. Soft money is a financial contribution intended to be used for issues advertising that dies not advocate on behalf of, or against, a specific candidate. Political parties currently use the legality of soft-money donations as a loophole in current campaign finance law, finding ways to channel this money into candidates' campaigns. The McCain-Feingold bill prohibits state political parties from spending soft money on activities which affect federal elections, The Current practice of raising unlimited soft money cont...

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Final examination - Assignment Example During his time, there was the introduction of tea for drinking, invention of gunpowder and the introduction of money as means of exchange. All these innovations took place during the reign of the Song dynasty (Asia for Educators 1). Additionally, the Song dynasty was characterized by an enormous commercial growth, and most of the historians referred to this era as an era of pre-modern character. Because of industrialization, there was the production of non-agricultural good. Production of nonagricultural was of dominance. China has been distinguished as the only nation that had early developments. Furthermore, urbanization became abundant in the Chinese cities. Writers like Marco polo came from one of the most sophisticated cities in Europe during his time, but he was amazed on the organization of the Chinese cities, which he visited in the year 1200. There was also an enormous population growth that shifted its locus towards Southern China due to the rapid civilization of the Chinese in Song Dynasty. Moreover, during the Song dynasty Chinas population became more concentrated to the North of China where wheat was grown. After 1127, Song made Hangzhou the Capital in Southern China (Asia for Educators 1). This coincided with the concentration of population on the southern parts of China along River Yangtze. During Songs reign, Rice was the stable crop in Southern China and produced higher yields per acre (Asia for Educators 1). Additionally, the civilization of the Tang Dynasty became evident when Tang reestablished a unified government after the civil war of China. The influence of the Tang emperors then was extended to Vietnam, Korea, Southeast and Central Asia. There was the introduction of confusion scholars to run the government and Tang redistributed land peasants (Regents Prep 1). Additionally, the emperors established a law code that was used to govern the country. Tang also refurbished the channel system and

Urban Issues in Canadian Cities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Urban Issues in Canadian Cities - Essay Example Canada is a highly urbanized country, with the majority of its population being city centered in the world. The issues that Canadian cities face on an urban level are divided into three main categories social, economic and ecological. All these play a major role in the overall urban growth of the area. A good interlinked transport system is one of the most basic requirements of a good urban space. Since interaction is one of the most important factors to let the urban environment flourish, a nicely designed transportation system is the backbone of an urban environment. (Le Gates, 2009) There has been a greater increase in population in Canada after the year 1996. More people have started to move into the cities and hence the economic and social factors are changing too, there has been an increased demand. There are basic elements that define a good urban space, legibility, permeability, variety, robustness, richness and visual appropriation. Any urban space can be analyzed with respect to these elements. Keeping the Canadian Cities in the view, one can look into the urban space that is offered by these cities. First of all, let’s look into what these elements mean. Legibility is basically defined as the ease with which one can understand the layout of the space; this includes both the physical form and activity patterns. Permeability both visual and physical describes the level of penetration that an urban space offers. A good urban space usually has the higher level of legibility and permeability. Variety includes both the visual elements and the mixed land use that break the monotony of an urban space. Robustness is basically the quality of urban space that allows multiple uses of the same space, more or less appropriateness. Richness is the quality of build environment in the urban space, whereas the visual appropriateness means how the visual elements can add up to the other elements  of urban design. (Alto, 1993)

Following WWII Japan again was put into a fundamental Reform and Research Paper

Following WWII Japan again was put into a fundamental Reform and Renovation mode - Research Paper Example The new Japanese government would be more similar to its occupying counterpart. Major reform of land ownership was instituted. About 6 million acres (almost 40% of Japans arable land) were purchased from the landlords and resold at low prices to the farmers. It dismantled a power structure that landlords had long dominated. This was one way of permanently changing economic disparities between classes. Despite instances of mass rape and the re-institutionalization of the Japanese Geisha system, women enjoyed relatively increased civil rights. They earned the right to vote and engage in roles that were traditionally male dominated. Furthermore, favoring Japanese beliefs and gradual modification and dissolution of the Japan-United States Mutual Security Assistance Pact, the Clean Government Party attracted many women. During Post-World War II, the victors implemented changes in the Japanese constitution, Japanese land, and Japanese women. The occupation and MacArthur Reforms profoundly changed public policy in many areas. These changes aimed at the roots of traditional Japanese power, and Japan had changed at a fundamental

Fiscal Policy Essay Example for Free

Fiscal Policy Essay The United States’ economy has gone through many different stages from deficits and surpluses to a large debt. These can affect people in many ways. This paper will cover the United States’ deficit, surplus, and debt and how it affects taxpayers, future Social Security and Medicare users, unemployed individuals, University of Phoenix students, the United States’ financial reputation on an international level, a domestic automotive manufacturing exporter, an Italian clothing company importer, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Tax Payers The United States’ deficit, surplus, and debt effect taxpayers greatly. The deficit affects taxpayers because when the country is running a deficit, it means that the supply of money is low. The taxpayers are then called upon to lessen the low supply of money that the government uses to run. A surplus affects taxpayers because even though the country may be running a surplus and taxes decrease, they are still there. The citizens of the country will still be required to pay taxes even if there is a surplus. The country’s debt affects taxpayers the most because it is the tax revenue that is used to pay off the debt that the country has gotten itself into. Future Social Security and Medicare Users The future Social Security and Medicare users will be impacted by the United States’ deficit, surplus, and debt. The United States’ surplus can be beneficial for the future of Social Security and Medicare because it provides additional funds into the funds that are already available. However, this is not the same with the deficit and the debt. As the deficit and the debt increases, more funds are borrowed from these trust funds, which are eliminating any surplus. Before long, funds for Social Security and Medicare will be exhausted, and the programs will no longer be able provide help to the disabled and elderly. Unemployed Individuals The United States deficit, surplus, and debt do have effects on the unemployed. During a deficit, the employees can find themselves unemployed and trying to find another job but with the government budget having to make cuts the unemployed employees are having issues with finding new jobs. Even the surplus budget can cause changes with the workforce. The problem is that with the government having a surplus of resources, it can cause the employee to overspend and things can change very quickly to where the government is back to a deficit, which in return causes employees to lose their jobs. University of Phoenix Student The United States deficit, surplus, and debt have an impact on the University of Phoenix students as well. Many of the students at the University of Phoenix depend on financial aid from the government to help pay for their schooling expenses. When the budget is lowered some of the students that attend the University of Phoenix will not be able to pay for classes on their own and will be forced to drop out of school. On the other hand if the United States had a surplus the government would be able to raise the budget for education and put more money towards schooling. The United States Financial Reputation on an International Level The United States financial reputation on an international level is becoming an issue that has been debated repeatedly; it sometimes becomes a fundamental and comprehensive issue that hinders the acknowledged strength of the U.S. as a â€Å"power-house† on an international level. The United States financial reputation on an international level is giv en its proper respect, the major problem that is seen in the stock market and the Nasdex are the budget deficit and the U.S. debt, which limits the resources to spend on production and investments. A domestic automotive manufacturing (exporter) The United States national debt could also affect exporters. When the United States deficit is high and the government owes money, interest rates are raised. The increased interest rates have an effect on domestic automotive manufacturing companies. Domestic automotive manufacturing companies would have to let go some of their employees or outsource to another country that has a competitive lead in labor and production costs, due to the company’s loss of income. However, when the government is operating under a surplus interest rates are lowered. Making it affordable for domestic automotive manufacturing companies to produce more and grow their company, which supports spending increasing the number of jobs and the export of goods. Italian Clothing Company The deficit, surplus, and debt of the United States affects an Italian Clothing Company because; when it comes down to the United States deficit, it would cause the market to be over-run by foreign products. The rate in which a country is exporting is not at the level with it’s’ exports, a surplus would lead to more importation by the Italian Clothing Company and debt, it would cause the imports to be reduced (because many business partner would be hesitant to do business with the importer. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a better way for the government to measure how the nation handles deficit. It also provides input on the nation’s capability of paying off debt. The GDP helps determine what size deficit and how much debt the nation can manage. If there is a surplus within the funds of the GDP it is removed from the national debt. If there is a deficit, it is added to the national debt. The debt can be reduced through inflation and real growth as the GDP grows. This can still leave large nominal budget deficits with small real deficits. With real growth, the nation can handle more debt so more debt can be incurred. This occurs when the nation becomes financially enriched. The economy of the country has a great effect on many aspects of the lives of its citizens. The U.S.’s deficit, surplus and debt greatly impact each aspect of our everyday lives. It’s something that we have to deal with together as a whole because everyone deals with the effec ts of it.

The Globalisation Issue In The Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay

The Globalisation Issue In The Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay Globalisation is a key issue  for the  hospitality industry. Identify and critique up to three impacts of  globalisation on the hospitality industry and discuss strategies that hotel companies may implement to address globalisation. Abstract  Globalisation is becoming increasing important these years in international hotel industry. In this essay, a literature review has been conducted to identify 3 impacts of  globalisation on the hospitality industry. When hotels flag their properties in a new country, they must localise their products and services in order to adapt the culture traditions of that country. Thinking global and acting local (glocal) is vital strategy for no matter big or small hotel companies. Besides the glocal strategy, differentiation strategy is also useful for hotel companies to become competitive in the global environment. Hall (1997) indicates that globalization has become a key concept in business, economic and political activities since 1990s. The hospitality industry is often regarded as one of the most global in the service industry (Litteljohn, 1997). Nowadays, more and more people are traveling around the world, when they are far from their home they need a place to stay, a bed to sleep, food to eat. They might end up choosing hotels. This is where the hospitality industry comes into play (Frink, 2009); this is why hotels are everywhere. Due to the fast increase of tourism and business activities around the globe, in every corner of the world, there must be hotels such as Hilton, Marriot, and Westin. Go Pine (1995) state that the hospitality industry is a subsector of the travel and tourism sector, and one of the most rapidly expanding fields in the service sector. This article is going to identify and review 3 impacts of globalisation on the hospitality industry. And discuss strategies that ho tel companies may implement including standardisation and localisation strategies and differentiation strategies when they enter into the globalisation. Frink (2009) described globalisation as the process of companies developing their business or operations overseas. It has several impacts on the hospitality industry. First of all, it forces hotel companies to choose best locations all over the world to expand their properties. Location is essential to a hotel, no matter whose target market is business travelers or tourists. Johnson Vanetti (2005) state that the size and nature of the place in which the hotel is located are seen to be the most important factor for big or small chains. The famous tourism destinations and CBD of a city are the best choice for hotel groups to develop their properties. However, when those areas are not in their own country, or when they want to flag their hotels as many as possible, hotels have to globalise. There is a good example of how a good location can benefit a hotels business. Hyatt group has one hotel in shanghai which name is Grand Hyatt Shanghai, it is located in the centre of the Lujiazui bu siness district, and occupies 53rd to 87th floors of the Jin Mao Tower building (Hyatt, 2010). Jin Mao Tower building is a business building as famous in shanghai as the World Trade Center in New York. There are many 500 fortune companies in this building, when those big and wealthy companies have employees or clients come from other world to visit shanghai, Hyatt is the first hotel on their list. This is part of the reason why Grand Hyatt always has the highest RevPAR (revenue per available room) in Shanghai. Reversely, wrong location will lead hotels to failure. For example, The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas closed on  May 2, 2010 after several years struggle, this was the first time for the reputable Ritz-Carlton brand and this negative record will have inevitably impact on this brand in the future. Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas locates in the suburb of Las Vegas, though it was a luxurious and high-end resort hotel, people come to Vegas for a much more exciting and lively vacation (Hernandez, 2010). The next impact of globalisation is economics, which is also very important. There is only so much of the market share a hotel company can get by staying local or in their own country. Frink (2009) states that globalisation enables hotel companies to expand their business to other countries to gain additional market share. The more properties the hotel group has, the more customers it might have, thus the more opportunities for them to gain more profit. Frink also states that many hotel companies go global mainly because they desire to achieve a larger customer base. Ohmae (1989) claimed that big companies must become more global if they want to compete, they must view the whole world as one single borderless marketplace (as cited in Vignali, 2001). Most big hotel group such as Intercontinental, Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt are surviving even when economic crises come because they have globalized. According to Hotels Giants Survey 2008, Intercontinental has hotel in 100 countries, whic h is the most, followed by Starwood, which has establishments in 95 countries and Accor has hotels in 90 countries. A great number of hotel companies are forced to globalize in order to remain competitive, otherwise they can not survive, and they should always expand their business to make progress and keep pace with the rivalry. Generally speaking, the more places of business that a hotel company has, the better chances for the hotel company to be successful in the hospitality industry (Frink, 2009). In terms of cost economies, quantity buying can always reduce purchasing cost, thats why many international hotel companies set up their central procurement department to sign global contracts with suppliers and do the centralized purchasing  for their respective establishments in the meantime maintain the same standard. The third impact of globalisation on the hospitality industry is culture. The world is a global village and difference places have different culture and traditions. Frink (2009) mentioned that globalisation makes hotel companies adapt different culture and alter their approaches when they enter a new country. Expansion to a country with totally different culture is a big risk to most hotel companies, they must consider the different cultures in the destination image of the places, what cuisine the locals or natives have and what types of foods are forbidden due to the religion or law when they are trying to sell their products. Frink (2009) also mentioned that hotel companies must understand the difference in currency and the difference in language. For example, Hilton Tokyo Bay Hotel located in Japan cannot have too many English speaking front office receptionists, who can not speak Japanese, in order to serve local Japanese guests. There must be someone there who knows how to speak Japanese to effectively serve the guests. And they will have local employees who understand the local culture and speak the native language to serve the native guests. Frink indicated that globalisation forces companies adapt different cultural perspectives; if a company refuses to adapt it might lose. Globalisation also brings culture diversity to the industry, which is always a positive thing and it also brings hotel companies more understanding of the perspectives of different cultures, which help them to do better. Besides those above three impacts, Frink (2009) also mentioned other impacts, for example, globalisation in hospitality industry has created more job opportunities help with the growth and stability of the hospitality industry. When hotel companies entered into globalisation, it actually becomes survival of the fittest. Strong businesses will survive and become stronger and the weak ones will be eliminated and fade away. Frink (2009) states that globalisation requires adjusting and evaluation of various factors. Harvey (2007) indicated that hotel companies need to keep the same standard in each and every establishment because customer loyalty will depend on whether a hotel can deliver the brand promise consistently throughout their hotel experience. In the mean time, the companies need to think appropriate ways to present their products to different cultures, which means they really must use and balance the standardisation and localisation strategies. Rutihinda Elimimian (2002) indicated that standardisation requires operations with resolute constancy, providing same things in the same way everywhere, while localisation needs adjusting of products and practices in every single place. It is not so easy to b alance the two exactly opposite strategies. However, both of them are equally important. In another word, hotel companies must think global and act local. This concept is becoming increasingly vital for hotel companies no matter big or small, to remain competitive. The term glocalisation used by Salazar (2005) perfectly expresses the concept think global and act local, it helps one to take hold of the many interconnections between the standardisation and the localisation strategies. Peters and Frehse (2005) stated that already in the 1970s international hotel companies tried to use standardisation strategy in their services with an appropriate consistency in terms of quality. Whitla et al. (2007) state that standardisation makes a hotel brand recognizable and that is what people are looking for, the consistency and the predictability especially for business travelers. However, Whitla et al. (2007) also mentioned that hotel chains need to balance the provision of a standardized level of service and amenities with customers tastes or preferences in some degree of local adaptation. Frink (2009) found hotel companies, when they decide to globalise into foreign countries, are faced with many barriers to overcome, such as language, funding, competition, and cultural differences Sometimes it is very hard for a hotel company to enter a new country, especially when the new county has a totally different culture and tradition. For example, alcohol is forbidden in muslin s ocieties, Indians dont eat beef, gambling is illegal in many countries. Whitla et al. (2007) believe that adaptation is required for many reasons including consumer interests, laws, culture and traditions. For instance, hotels in western countries often rely on accommodation revenues to make profit, whereas hotels in Asia count on food charges. Asian hotels therefore need to focus more on offer more and larger restaurant outlets, targeting local diners as well as overnight foreign guests. Rutihinda Elimimian (2002) mentioned that many hotel companies who localised their marketing strategies and products have been successful. However, some others fail due to their applications of wrong implementation strategies and insensitivity to the consumer culture of the country. Czinkota Ronnenken (1995) emphasized that glocalisation in the marketing plans is essential and vital to suit local tastes, to meet special needs and consumers non-identical requirements (as cited in Vignali, 2001). B esides, some customers, especially tourists are looking for local flavor in hotels (Armstrong et al., 1997), which means hotels design could reflect the destination image (Hawkins, 2007). In term of this, the famous 7-star hotel Burj al Arab has got great success, the hotel were designed in the shape of a billowing Arabian dhow sail, it represents a significant tribute to the nations seafaring heritage (Jumeirah, nd). It has already become the icon of Dubai, the destination image of Dubai, and the hotel itself became the tourist attraction of the country. Besides hotel design, Heide et al. (2007) believes hotel ambience is also very important part of the glocalisation, because ambience is a key success factor that is directly linked to financial consequences. It is worth mentioning that Human resource management (HRM) also needs to use glocalisation strategy in the hospitality industry. HRM departments are the spine of every organization; they must learn and understand the employee rights and laws for not only their home companies, but for all of their establishments around the world. Different countries have different employee rights and labor laws. Frink (2009) states the hospitality industry Human resource managers must be very careful of these employee rights and labor laws or it could cost those hotels millions in fines and penalties. Nowadays many hotels are localised in term of staffing. Local staff members know their own culture very well and they can speak local language to serve local guests while having multilingual staff is better to serve the guests from all over the world. Harvey (2007) mentioned it is always good to have staff from different counties which brings diversity, but they have different beliefs, background, custo ms and traditions. How to think global and act local when dealing culture differences is a challenge that HR managers need to conquer. Sometimes hotels glocalisation strategies are still not enough, especially for the purpose to attract leisure guests. Ghemawat (1991) stated that when tourists travel to another place to spend a vacation, they want to experience difference and try something new. Otherwise they lose fun when they stay at the hotel. Nowadays the global competitions between hotels are getting fiercer; some hotel companies are using differentiation strategies in order to succeed. Rutihinda Elimimian (2002) stated that differentiation strategy is based on the ability to provide guests with distinct products or services. Ghemawat (1991) stated that these special and distinctive attributes make them unique in the eyes of their guests (as cited in Rutihinda Elimimian, 2002). For example, there is a hotel in America called Dog Bark Park Inn, the hotel looks like a giant beagle. Guests sleep and have breakfast in the body of the beagle. For another example, in German there is a hotel which name is Alcatraz H otel, it used to be a prison, the owner kept the original spirit of the building, so every guestroom is like a cell, and the toilet is just next to the bed. Guests also get striped pajamas instead of a normal bath robe which makes them look like prisoners, the only difference between this hotel and a real prison is seem like guests can leave it whenever they want. The more special one is a hotel made of real ice, it sounds unbelievable but it is true, its called the Ice Hotel in Canada, this hotel has become world- famous for winter experience. The architecture of the hotel including artwork and furniture carved form ice blocks. Most guests believe this hotel is amazing and beautiful and the experience is special and enjoyable. These successful stories have told us, the hoteliers must not only think and act glocal, but also think difference. In conclusion, Globalisation has become a key issue  for the  hospitality industry. It is the process of hotel companies expanding their business or operations to foreign markets, and taking their business to new heights. This literature review addressed three impacts of  globalisation on the hospitality industry including location, economics and culture. Globalisation enables hotel companies to choose locations all over the world to expand their business. If businesses expand, the hospitality industry will expand with it. Globalisation helps hotel companies to gain other market share and thus gain more profit and reduce purchasing cost through quantity buying or centralised purchasing. Besides globalisation also causes hotel companies to consider different cultures and traditions when they enter a new country and bring culture diversity into the industry which is always a positive thing. When hotel enter into globalisation, they should use standardisation and localisation stra tegies which means they should keep the same standard in terms of service and quality while altering their service and product to adapt to the different culture and traditions. The concept Thinking global and acting local (or thinking glocal) is essential for hotel companies development. Besides, using differentiation strategies is also a good way to become competitive. Differentiation strategy is about providing guests with distinct products or services. These unique and distinctive attributes make them attractive in the eyes of their guests.

Anne Sexton: Poetry as Therapy Essay -- Anne Sexton Poet Poem Poetry E

Anne Sexton: Poetry as Therapy Many great literary and artistic geniuses have been troubled with deep depression and mental illness. Anne Sexton is an example of a poet with such problems who used her personal despair to inspire her poetic works. Not all of Sexton's work is based solely on her mental health; but a good portion of her work is influenced by her constant bouts with depression. As she struggled to deal with her own marital infidelity and the problems associated with being a female poet in a male dominated genre, she combined the theme of depression with one based on the roles of women in society. In turn, she gained a wider audience and received recognition for her work. But all the fame and fortune were not enough to compete with her lack of mental stability. Anne Sexton was born Anne Gray Harvey on November 9, 1928 in Newton, Massachusetts. She was the youngest of three daughters to Ralph and Mary Gray Staples Harvey. Life in the Harvey household was difficult for Anne. Her parents, especially her father, were very concerned with appearances and she failed them in these standards most of the time. As the Harvey children grew older, the household became much more tense. Anne's father was an alcoholic and her mother drank nearly as much as he did. Her mother's failed aspirations to become a famous writer increased the tension among the family members as Anne's mother began to resent her husband and children (Middlebrook 4-16). The ingredients for future depression were already in the works for Anne. There was a history of mental illness in the family with both Anne's great aunt and grandfather. As Anne grew older, she was pretty and popular with the boys. However, her performance in school was lacking in m... ...tudied today but the inspiration for her poetry, her constant depression, forced Sexton to take her own life. In her work, she expressed the inner torture she endured and explored the depths of her mind and society. Works Cited Kumin, Maxine. Foreword. The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. xix. Middlebrook, Diane Wood. Anne Sexton: A Biography. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991. Parini, Jay. Editor. The Columbia Anthology of American Poetry. New York: Columba University Press, 1995. Sexton, Anne. "Her Kind." Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia, eds. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 8th ed. New York: Longman, 2002. 770. Wagner-Martin, Linda. "Sexton, Anne Gray Harvey." 13 November 2001. <http://www.anb.org/articles/16/16-01490-print.html> Anne Sexton Reads Her Poetry. Audiocassette. Caedmon, 1999.