Importance of Recruitment and Selection of Salespeople Essay

Importance of Recruitment and Selection of Salespeople - Essay Example This exchange process – sales transaction – makes organizations focused on their clients and making sure the end users are satisfied. However, the sales process itself is what establishes the connection between an organization and a customer. Salespeople, as those who run and manage and sales process, are, in some sense, a chain that connects the business with its external environment and, what is more important, generates sales and, therefore, profits for the company. For this reason recruitment and selection of salespeople is one of the very important aspects of organizational behaviour since effectiveness of recruitment and selection of sales representatives is a basis for future success and effectiveness of the overall sales process of the company. Furthermore, as Darmon outlines (1993, 17), selection of salespeople has a great influence on the performance and profits of the organization. Sales are a direct source of company’s profit. Therefore, since salespe ople determine company’s sales, financial performance and profits, it can be said that salespeople are, actually, the tool that enables a commercial organization to fulfil its major goal of making profit. In addition, Slater and Olson (2000) point out that not only business performance, but the whole business strategy of an organization, is greatly impacted by sales force management (Slater and Olson 2000, 813). Therefore, effective recruitment and selection of salespeople has a direct influence on competitiveness of the business and, if implemented effectively, become a competitive advantage of an organization. Selecting Right People As it has been determined above, salespeople have a direct impact on financial performance, profits, and business strategy of an organization. So, if a salesperson fails in one’s efforts to sell the company’s product effectively, the company itself may fail as well. For that reason hiring right people for the sales positions is cru cial and vital for business success and effectiveness. Correctly chosen employees add value to the employing organization and, according to some estimates, increase sales and productivity to between 6 to 20 percent (Cooper, Robertson, and Tinline 2003, 6). A correct match between the job and an employee benefits the company in terms of reduced absenteeism and employee turnover because of higher employee satisfaction rates, as well as employee’s commitment and loyalty towards the organization. Furthermore, a right choice of a salesperson has a great impact on the company’s overall sales performance. as Armstron et al. (2009, 444) outline, the best salespeople usually make up the top 30 percent of the company’s salesforce, and bring up to 60 percent of the overall sales Armstron et al (2009, 444). This idea is supported by Johnson, Hair and Boles (1989), who believe that â€Å"hiring the right individual for a sales position remains one of the most crucial aspect s of a sales manager’s job† (Johnson, Hair, and Boles 1989, 53). The authors believe that a successful salesperson should have the following characteristics: enthusiasm, good organizational skills, persuasiveness, sales experience, ambition, ability to follow instructions, and sociability. However, while it is possible to identify these qualities when selecting and recruiting candidates, it might be more difficult to identify and recognize the qualities that might lead to a failure. Nevertheless, the very first task of a hiring manager is to identify the key characteristics of an ideal candidate for the position. Clear and precise specifications identified at the start of the selection and recruitment process will minimize the chance for a mistake at the stage of making a hiring decision (Roberts 1997, 4). The role a new employee is

A part of presentation Speech or Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A part of - Speech or Presentation Example r practice platform; whereby on one hand, there is consumer expertise and free creativity, on the other hand the ways that the consumer activities are desirable by marketers. Co-creation however has marketing challenges with the establishment of ambiences that programs the freedom of consumers to exist in ways that allow harnessing of new liberated consumers and productive capabilities (Lury, 2004). The exchange of value and production of products or service depends mostly on capturing and generating iterative social communication as well as cooperation among consumers and corporations and consumers themselves. The principles of co-creation demonstrate the reconfiguration of power and labor characteristic of knowledge based and contemporary capitalism (Prahalad,2000). Putting customers to work is not entirely a new idea. For example, the increase in rationalized processes of the Facebook world that has relied much on appropriating customer work. Facebook allows its users to share their personal information on the website and also collects information from the `like` option then sells the data to other advertising websites hence earning money through the information shared. This makes the company successful and more profitable. Hereby, the co-creation concept illustrates how Facebook transfers the logic of consumer work from the production sphere and process efficiency to innova tion and development of a new product (Ritzer, 2004). Economy of co-creation involves experiments of value creation new possibilities, which are based on expropriation of technological, affective, cultural and social labor of the customer masses. Based on the consumer cooperation, co-creation demonstrates a dialogical model that does not privilege the vision of a company on production but what constitutes on the customer value or the marketing profession. In this case, rather than make customers work to rationalize the process of production as well as focus on their efficiency,

The Applicability Of The Clausewitzian Trinity Politics Essay

The Applicability Of The Clausewitzian Trinity Politics Essay Once considered a vital source of ageless strategic thought, the theories of Carl von Clausewitz have recently come under attack because of the changes in the nature of warfare, especially in the 20th and 21st centuries. It is not disputed that his theories are thought provoking, but it will be argued that his writings can no longer be applicable universally in todays growing methods of warfare such as insurgent terrorism. Modern theorists such as John Keegan, have discredited the Clausewitz theories of war as invalid and having minor to no value in todays study of modern warfare when attempts are made to apply them to prevalent groups such as Al Qaeda.1 It is argued that the primary focus is on the Westphalia model of states and as a result Clausewitzs writings cannot be applied to insurgencies nor can they be applied to identities other than nation-states who wage war. Clausewitz may not have addressed specifically to insurgents warfare and non-state actors but looking closely at t he war on terror indicated that perhaps Carl von Clausewitzs theories may still be relevant because of the phenomenon of globalization. As is often the case with western civilizations way of thinking, problems are only looked at from their own points of view. If the international community were to broaden its perspective to engross the oppositions point of view, it could be seen how Clausewitzs theories of the trinity and the center of gravity remain relevant today and useful in todays method of so called fourth generation warfare. This approach can also identify potential vulnerabilities in the current conflicts with non state actors such as Al Qaeda and the general handling of Warfare in the 21st Century. Warfare has changed much over the past few centuries, especially since Carl von Clausewitz first wrote his manuscripts, which took the form of the book, On War. The world is now in the time of fourth generation warfare. Fourth Generation warfare is a term that was described William Lind and Thomas Hammes. This developed under the new wars thinking. They state that the warfare throughout history has progressed in distinct stages and that the world is currently in its fourth generation warfare. In this form of warfare, advanced western armed forces have to face hard to find and technologically inferior opponents who, through guerrilla warfare, terrorism, and campaigns focused at attacking and undermining western public support, are able to pose quite a significant threat to western security and civilization. Hammes and Lind believe that western forces struggle to capitalize on their military potential because they operate under outdated principles and doctrines of earlier modes of warf are that focused on maneuver warfare which was immortalized by the concept of the blitzkrieg.2 The generations that ran in between are as follows; first generation of warfare, which ran throughout the life of Clausewitz, from 1648 to the 1860s, was characterized by state-run wars. There were Orderly battlefields and militaries fought in formations of lines and columns against one another. As weapon technology, production and effectiveness improved, the order of battlefield began to break down. War I epitomized the second generation, that of attrition warfare. The next generation of warfare which lasted until the outbreak of World War II was trench warfare which evolved, becoming the third generation of warfare; maneuver warfare as stated above. In this scenario, the battlefield became a non-linear entity. Opponents of the concept of forth generation warfare such as Lawrence Freedman criticize the theory due to its selective nature in historical sources defined historical periods. Similar to Lawrence Freedman, Michael Evans found that this thinking had stages too neat and linear. Modern warfare is in fact a merger of forms. Perhaps these critics ascribe too much outward variations of warfare as fundamental changes to its nature. This has led to critics to assign demarcated generations where they are not valid. War has most definitely morph and always will yet these are contextual changes instead of fundamental changes.3 Globalization and the 21st Century It can be argued that Clausewitzs theories remain relevant today because of how globalization has blurred the definition of a nation-state. Clausewitz theorized in On War that war was only possible between nation-states because nation-states were the only forms of identity capable of conducting policy, and war was a continuation of policy by other means.4 John Keegan and others have argued that the international community does not recognize groups such as Al Qaeda as a state and Clausewitzian theory cannot apply to such groups, therefore his theories must be irrelevant in the current form of insurgent warfare. Non-state actors can display major characteristics traditionally associated with the Westphalia definition of a state. Clausewitzs theories were based on the definition of a nation-state as assigned by the treaties of Westphalia.5 these treaties formed the sovereignty of a nation-state in the absolute sense6. These treaties established borders for each nation-state, but gave ri se to the international recognition of the right for the nation-state to exist. After the Peace of Westphalia treaties, scholars and theorists categorized conflicts as internal civil wars or as wars between states. Regarding how Globalization has enabled the rise of the non-state actor to levels of organization that rival that of the traditional state, T. L. Friedman provides a very credible definition of globalization in his book as, the inexorable integration of markets, nation-states, and technologies to a degree never witnessed before in a way that is enabling individuals, corporations and nation-states to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before.7the ability now for people all over this globe to establish communications by voice, text, trade and commodities, recruitment, the ease of sharing of ideas and beliefs, and the influencing of communities and nations swiftly surpassing the emphasis on recognized borders. Globalization has given people the opportunity for to join the pursuit of common goals. Due to communication limitations in the past, movements or events was isolated to their geographic region. With todays media, those limitations do not apply or do not have to. On a side note however, it can be argued that globalization was always in existence, the nature of it however has changed. Reza Aslan argues in his book, How to Win a Cosmic War, that Globalization is not a new phenomenon, as we have seen in history. Empires and trade routes tried to tie the world together into a tighter network of culture and economy. The way modern technology has changed the way globalization has occurred is what paints it in a unique light. Warfare required the organizational ability and capacity of nation states to conduct and wage war prior to the phenomenon of globalization. The advances of the past century have radically changed that. The technology revolution and globalization has enabled non-state actors to be to acquire the knowhow, equipment, and tools required to wage war effectively against a nation state. For example, Al Qaeda, in order to spread its message and recruit, equip and train around the world, they have that ability, and the ability that previously was unavailable to non state actors; influence and resource is now in their reach. Non-state actors compete with the states in the international realm. Given the power and influence the non-state actor can show in todays international field, Clausewitz may recognize them as actors able to wage war. The Trinity Clausewitz claimed that in war exists a paradoxical trinity consisting of a link between the government, the army, and the people. He claimed that there must be a balance maintained between these three identities for the state to be successful in war.8He claimed that these all three are dependent on one another, and change in one affects the others.9 confusion arises from the exact translation of this part of his work and what Clausewitz actually meant when he described the trinity. Christopher Bassford and Edward J. Villacres in 1995 provide a description of the relationship claiming that Clausewitzs on War is describing three categories; non-rational forces (chance and luck irrational forces (violent emotion), and rationality (War as an instrument of policy). They go into further detail of these categories claiming that the people are paired with irrational forces, i.e. the emotions of primordial violence, enmity and hatred (perhaps even without as wars can be fought without care o n both sides for the reasons). The army and the commander are assigned the forces of friction, chance, and probability. This is under the creative guidance of the commander. Creativity shown by the commander can be based on the talent or genius he/she has. The government is assigned with the rational force of calculation; by reason driven policy.10 With regards to absolute and real war we find that this concept led 11 led Liddell Hart to claim that Clausewitz was an advocate of unlimited warfare, and claims by him could be held as responsibility for the devastation that occurred during First World War.12 The apostle of a revolutionary philosophy of war making was how John Keegan described Clausewitz claiming that he was a proponent of unconstrained warfare as being in the best interest of the state. 13 On War may start off looking as if Clausewitz supports these views, Liddell Hart and Keegans criticism may not have that much basis. As Clausewitz defines war as an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will and further states that to introduce the principle of moderation into The theory of war itself would always lead to logical absurdity; he then claims there is no logical limit to the application of that force this in turn must lead, in theory, to extremes.14 We can see that based on these sayings Clausewitz was indeed writing about war in a theoretical sense. Later on in his work Clausewitz points out that if you go from from the abstract to the real world the whole thing looks quite different.15 Clausewitz was basically exploring the philosophical nature of war as opposed to advocating absolute and unlimited nature of warfare. He was describing it as something not bound by limitations of reality. When looking at war and the wars absolute tendencies along with factors that limit it in reality, Clausewitz demonstrates that war is not ruled by a particular logic, but a combination of elements demonstrating diverse characteristics. According to Christopher Bassford, confusion occurs due to Clausewitzs use of a dialectical method of presenting his arguments. Therefore Clausewitzs talk about war as an abstract phenomenon should be seen as part of a much larger argument. Clausewitz after describing what is known as the primary trinity, he further describes and defines a secondary one, claiming that the first of these three aspects (violence and hatred)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦concerns the people. The second (chance and luck) the commander and his army; the third (war as a policy) the government.16 This is where Clausewitz has brought on himself a barrage of criticism and is a focal point to target for authors who are advocates of the new war age and 4th generation warfare model. This second trinity, critics argue, implies that war is waged only among states because these political entities are the only entities to have a clear distinction between the government, the people, and the armed forces. With regards to a post world war 2 era, Clausewitzs detractors claim that since most modern wars are conducted or waged by non-state actors, this has led to Clausewitzs theories being mundane and out of date. A state-centric outlook now has become obsolete due to the rise and prevalence of non-state warfare in recent years.17 Bassford in his works has pointed out that Keegan and Kaldor disregard the main point that Clausewitz ascribes to war as a character consisting of violence, chance, and rationality and that these are related to the secondary trinity of people, armed forces, and government primarily as an example, not the rule. There is no sociopolitical nature described in the primary trinity and it is this distinction which is critical to show to critics of Clausewitzs work.18 Entities such as the state, communist revolution movements, tribal warlord, or any international terrorist organization are all subject to the relationship of the forces of violence, chance, and rationality. It can even be said that Clausewitz devoted a chapter in On War specifically to warfare waged by non-state actors as noted by Herberg-Rothe, 19. Daniel Moran claims that the trinity consists of abstractions and that basically viewing it as the 3 distinct arms of the government, army and people is wrong.20 If we are to look at the issue of whether Clausewitzs ideas of Rationality disable his work from being permitted in todays environment of non-state conflicts in which violence itself may be regarded as the only goal, it can be claimed that the primary trinity shows that he assigned to the waging of war no specific rationale. Hatred has as much of a place as reason does and is claimed by Robert Baumann the reasons to push states to declare war are similar to those which motivate tribes or insurgents. 21 Clausewitz himself stated that, policy is nothing in itself; it is simply the trustee for all these interests against other states. That it can err, subs serve the ambitions, private interests, and vanity of those in power, is neither here nor there. 22It can be deduced that Clausewitz did not necessarily enforce the notion that war had to follow a particular noble high and mighty form of rationality. Clausewitz can be seen as being neither an advocate of unlimited warfare nor is his analysis of warfare fully state-centric. His work can be seen as having use with regards to analyzing conflicts where actors other than states participate. Looking at insurgents and groups such as Al Qaeda, it can be argued that their Goals are working towards a cause they perceive perfectly rational and obvious just as the use of force carried out by a state actor would spark violent emotional reactions. Every player in an armed conflict, whether it be current or past has Been subject to the nature of chance and luck. His work is therefore just as relevant in canalizing conflicts of the twenty-first century conflicts and rise of multiple insurgencies across the globe just as he remains valid in the studying traditional interstate warfare. 23 In the primary trinity it is emphasized that the forces governing how warfare is conducted extends beyond the irrational to the rational influences of human emotion and the non-rational effects of chance and luck. It is in the second trinity where a link is formed between the abstract elements of the nature of warfare and warfare in reality by providing an example of how these forces can come together in society as it was at the time of writing. In the modern situation of states being democratic; the demarcation into the government, the people, and the armed forces that the Prussian theorist describes is currently valid and applicable. Clausewitz proves his validity in the current age when he claims that the general character of an era can have a drastic influence on the aims and goals pursued in warfare and importantly the methods used in order to do so. This does not signify a fundamental change in the nature of warfare itself. He stated that the aims a belligerent adopts, and the resources he employs must be governed by the particular characteristics of his own position; but they will also conform to the spirit of the age and to its general character. Certainly this provides a good example to which Clausewitz has clung on to validity in the modern age. The three elements can account for an unlimited number of variations of conflicts which shows how the trinity rejects the concept of demarcated historical periods by showing how the variable relationship gives warfare a particular character based on specifics in context. This notion provides us with historical consistency when it comes to the study of war and shows us that we must remain critical of claims that assign a certain development as a new phenomenon. M. L. R. Smith poignantly wrote; Call it what you will; new war, ethnic war, guerrilla war, low intensity war, terrorism, or the war on terrorismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦in the end, there is only one meaningful category of war, and that is war itself.24 The primary trinity can enable modern scholarship to go beyond the violent aspect of terrorism and focus on the rational motives behind their actions. The second trinity can enable research to be able to point out and analyze the sociopolitical relationships within the movements such as terrorist groups or insurgencies and look at the wider social context i.e. the dynamics that determine the relationship between the combatants and the people who provide their popular base and strength. Studying such aspects is vital when it is the popular base of insurgencies and terrorist groups that are identified as the main aspect to target in order to win a modern conflict. Targeting terrorist groups legitimacy would also demonstrate how brute force with highly advanced weaponry alone is not sufficient to defeat terrorism. As stated before, the central aspect of a terrorist groups strength is with the population behind them which they depend on for legitimacy and recruits. If the terrorism in modern day conflicts is to be defeated, then western leaders will have to focus on the public support that is so vital to insurgents and terrorist groups worldwide. On closer examination of the war on terror now gone and president Obamas current fight against terrorism, it can be demonstrated that the theories of Carl von Clausewitz remain as relevant today in a climate of asymmetrical warfare as they did in the Napoleonic era. His theories provide a theoretical framework with which modern warfare and its aspects can be studied. When the western political and military leader scrutinize the trinity from the point of view of those they are up against, weaknesses in its own approach in the military and political aspects of the conflict can be addressed. Clausewitzs concepts, allowing for the multiple and evolving forms of conflict, remains valid today for the study and evaluation of most forms of warfare. NOTES: 1John Keegan, History of Warfare (New Yorke: Vintage Books 1996), 2. 2 William S. Lind, Keith Nightengale, Joseph W. Sutton, and Gary I. Wilson, Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth Generation, in Terry Terriff, Aaron Karp, and Regina Karp, eds., Global Insurgency and the Future of Armed Conflict: Debating Fourth-Generation Warfare (New York: Routledge, 2008) 3 Lawrence Freedman, War Evolves into the Fourth Generation: A Comment on Thomas X. Hammes, in Terriff, Karp, and Karp, 82 4 Carl von Clausewitz, On War, eds. and trans, Michael Howard and Peter Paret. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976), 81. 5 Peace of Westphalia, available from http://www.schillerinstitute.org/strategic/ hzl_t_of_w_0599.html; 6 Ibid. 7 T.L. Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, 1999 (New York: Anchor, 1999), 7-8; available from http://www.sociology.emory.edu/globalization/glossary.html; Internet; accessed 12 January 2008. 8 Carl von Clausewitz, On War, eds. and trans, Michael Howard and Peter Paret. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976), 88 9Ibid. 10 Christopher Bassford and Edward J. Villacres, Reclaiming the Trinity, Parameters (Autumn 1995); available from http://www.clausewitz.com/CWZHOME/Trinity/TRININTR.htm; Internet accessed 22 September 2007. 11 Carl von Clausewitz, On War, eds. and trans, Michael Howard and Peter Paret. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976), 100 12 Christopher Bassford, John Keegan and the Grand Tradition of Trashing Clausewitz: A Polemic, War in History, 1 (November 1994), 319-36. 13 John Keegan, A History of Warfare (New York: Vintage Books, 1993), 17-18. 14 Clausewitz, 82-84. 15 Ibid., 86. 16 Clausewitz, 104. 17 Martin van Creveld, On Future War (London: Brasseys, 1991) ix 18 Villacres and Bassford, 9-19. 19 Herberg-Rothe, 165. 20 Daniel Moran, Strategic Theory and the History of War (Paper, US Naval Postgraduate School, 2001), 6-7. 21 Robert F. Baumann, Historical Perspectives on Future War, Military Review, 77 (March/April 1997),40-46. 22 Clausewitz, 729. 23 Van Creveld, 60-66, 97; Kaldor, A Cosmopolitan Response to New Wars, 505-14. 24 M. L. R. Smith, Strategy in the Age of Low Intensity Warfare: Why Clausewitz Is Still More Relevant than His Critics, in Duyvesteyn and Angstrom, 41-53

Traditional Schools versus Charter Schools Essay -- Education

Education is a very important aspect in society and is valued by parents, politicians, educators, and others in the community. The education of children is a vital role in any organized system because the future depends on those who are young to take over in the cycle of society. The institutions that provide children with an education can be divided into two categories known as traditional public schools and nontraditional schools. Nontraditional schools provide students with different learning environments compared to traditional schools and some specific examples of these schools are magnet schools, charter schools, and virtual schools (Newberry). All of these schools are relatively new and have controversial views across the country. A charter school is a public elementary or secondary school that is independent from the local school district and is able to operate due to a state charter that is issued when the institution opens. This type of school lacks various rules and regul ations that are set by the district in traditional schools and allows flexibility and new teaching methods to be used. Each type of school has different benefits that enable the school to function, but there are many arguments that analyze which type of school is more suitable for the education of children across the country. Charter schools have a lot of potential benefits that provide the students with an exceptional education and create satisfaction with the parents in the community. A charter school uses a very unique system to create the foundation of the institution. A charter is issued from the state and is put together by politicians, teachers, and parents in the community. As a result, every charter school is able to invent their own guidel... ...th, Mary. "Public Schools vs. Charter Schools." Education Bug. N.p., 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. public-schools-vs--charter-schools.html>. - - -. "Public Schools Vs. Charter Schools." Education Bug. N.p., 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. public-schools-vs--charter-schools.html>. Newberry, Jennifer. "Understanding Nontraditional Schools: K-State Education Expert Looks at Some Alternatives to Public Schools." K-State Perspective. N.p., Summer 2005. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. webzine/backtoschool/nontraditional.html>. Shilling, Ali. "The New York City Debate." Department of Psychology. Univesity of Michigan, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. finalshilling.356/the_debate__charter_vs._public_schools_in_nyc>.

John Locke Essay

The topic that I chose for my philosophy paper is empiricism. Empiricism is the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience. This idea was developed from a famous English philosopher, John Locke, states that knowledge can only come from our sensory experience, nowhere else. Empiricists believe that getting knowledge without the experience is unachievable. There are three subcategories of Empiricism; Classical, Moderate, and Radical. Classical Empiricism completely rejects the thought of â€Å"in-born† knowledge. It states that at birth, we are born as a blank slate. Throughout the years, the more experience the more we learn. Radical empiricism is a dividend of the theory that concludes that knowledge comes from our senses. When we experience certain things, the sense that comes along with it is what gives us the knowledge that we take from it. Moderate empiricism is a more improved on and fits today’s philosophical and psychological findings. Moderate empiricism writes that not all knowledge should come from what you live through; some of it is simply learned. A valid example that they used to further prove their theory is the understanding of school subjects such as math or history. A person doesn’t have to live through anything to understand that a triangle has three sides or that George Washington became president in 1789. I interpret this theory the way it was written. I understand where john Locke’s idea of empiricism evolved from and there are many pieces of evidence to support it. I think what this theory states is that our experiences define us as humans. What we live through is what gives us the knowledge on either how to improve on it, to learn from it, or to continue doing it. In many ways, I believe that this is true in sculpting our personality. I think this theory goes in search of why people are so different, despite that they are taught the same material in school, and they answer that with the fact that every individual goes through incomparable experiences and that’s what makes us different and therefore gives us our knowledge. There are numerous examples of empiricism. Any experience in which a lesson is taken from is proof of empiricism. That may include a job experience in which the employee disappointed their manager and now knows to do everything he can to avoid doing what it is that he did. This goes along with Classical and Radical empiricism. The individual has learned something based solely on experience, but also through the sense of embarrassment and disappointment. A student who puts in a large amount of effort in his work and then receives praise on it from his teacher will want to go through that experience again and feel accomplishment. I feel very diverse about this theory. In many ways I do agree with it because our experiences are what give us our beliefs and set us as different individuals. However, the theory in ways contradicts itself because it underestimates the power of learning in class and knowing  not to do certain things even. An example that I have lived through that goes along with my opinion on this is my health class in the seventh grade where we were taught all the vital effects of drugs. Therefore, I have learned, but not through experience, not to do drugs. I did not have to go through addiction or even experimentation of illegal substances in order to get the knowledge not to do them. The theory that more closely relates to my belief is rationalism. Rationalism states that knowledge is based off of reason. Examples of that is mathematical problems,  knowing an illusion isn’t real and that your mind is actually being deceived, and why things happen the way they do. We don’t touch a pot of boiling water because we’ve done it before and experienced pain, we don’t touch it because we see the steam coming out of it and with that, we imply our reasoning that it would burn if we do touch it. There is also a flaw in empiricism. We all perceive things differently, and therefore our knowledge may be inaccurate. A student presenting might think he did awful and never volunteer again because his experience gave him the false knowledge that he wasn’t able to do good. Meanwhile, his fellow classmates might have thought greatly of his presentation. Empiricism can give off false knowledge of our experience, making us self-conscious, and even changing our personality completely, all because of how we perceived it. That is why I apply rationalism to my life and personality. I don’t have to experience something in order to gain knowledge from it. I am able to make decisions based off of reasoning, knowing the effect of an action without having to experience it, and knowing what is right without having to do what is wrong first.

Large Scale Manufacturing in Pakistan

Compiled by: Mirza Rohail B http://economicpakistan. wordpress. com/2008/01/27/large-scale-manufacturing/ The manufacturing sector grew at an average rate of 8 percent from the sixties to the eighties, but fell to 3. 9 percent during the nineties. This was mainly caused by reduction in investment levels due to lack of continuity and consistency in policies. Political instability law and order position in the major industrial centers, transport bottlenecks, as well as unreliability and inadequate availability of power supply at affordable rates were additional factors pulling down the sector. The sector has shown impressive recovery recently and has grown at a compound rate of 10. 9 percent per annum during 2001 – 05, with Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) growing even faster, becoming 19. 9% in 2005. The contribution of Large-Scale Manufacturing at basic prices stand at Rs 844 billion as compared with Rs 264 billion in 2000-01, figures from the Census of Large-Scale Manufacturing Industries (CMI) 2005-06 show. LSM contribution to GDP also called as Gross Value Added (GVA) at producers’ prices has been estimated at Rs 912 billion as compared with the previous Census 2000-01 amount of Rs 280 billion. Political and macroeconomic stability, rationalization of tariffs, increase in investments, improved utilization of productive capacity, and growth in demand for manufactured products, resulting from higher exports and consumer financing have been the major factors leading to this growth. Large Scale Manufacturing 1999 and 2000 – 1. 5% 2000 and 2001 – 11% 2001 and 2002 – 3. 5% 2002 and 2003 – 7. 2% 2003 and 2004 – 18. 1% 2004 and 2005 – 19. 9% 2005 and 2006 – 8. 7% 2006 and 2007 – 8. 6% 2007 and 2008 – 5% Census of Large-Scale Manufacturing Industries The contribution of Large-Scale Manufacturing at basic prices stand at Rs 844 billion as compared with Rs 264 billion in 2000-01, figures from the Census of Large-Scale Manufacturing Industries (CMI) 2005-06 show. The CMI is conducted after every five years using the frame of Provincial Labour Departments . It is conducted by Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) in collaboration with Provincial Directorates of Industries and Bureaus of Statistics (BoS) under the Industrial Statistics Act 1942. The basic price is the amount receivable by the producer from the purchaser for a unit of a good or service produced as output minus any tax payable, and plus any subsidy receivable. Census of manufacturing industries 2005-06 shows value of production at Rs 2929 billion depicting an increase of 165 percent over Rs 1104 billion in CMI 2000-01. LSM contribution to GDP also called as Gross Value Added (GVA) at producers’ prices has been estimated at Rs 912 billion as compared with the previous Census 2000-01 amount of Rs 280 billion. Capital stock or value of fixed assets amounted to Rs 1147 billion at the end of fiscal year 2005-06 as compared with Rs 428 billion at the end of fiscal year 2000-01. CMI 2005-06 frame was enhanced using industrial directories provided by provincial directorates of industries as well as results of Economic Census 2001 conducted by FBS. The total number of industries surveyed in CMI 2005-06 was 13,146 establishments. Out of these 6417 establishments supplied requisite data (compared to 4528 units in CMI 2000-01). 2364 establishments were found closed and 3213 establishments gave no response. The results of CMI would be cornerstone for the forthcoming revision of Pakistan’s National Accounts. Pakistan Manufacturing Industry Pakistan’s manufacturing industry is heavily dominated by food, textiles and apparel, and leather industries to the JF-17 Thunder extent of over 50 percent. The share of textiles and its derivatives in exports was as large as 67 percent in 2003-04. Other major segments in manufacturing include chemicals and pharmaceuticals (15. 2 percent), basic metal industry (7. 7 percent), nonmetallic mineral products (5. 1 percent), machinery (4. 6 percent), cement (4. percent), automobiles (4. 4 percent). Automobiles, electronics, cement, fertilizers and textiles have all showed cumulative double digit growth during the last three years. An important feature of the engineering sector is the level of competence reflected in local design and local content, (with deletion levels of 80 – 100 percent in electrical goods, 56-89 percent in automobile s and motor cycles, and 75-100 percent in domestic appliances). Manufacturing Statistics Progressive Year Initial data for Jul-Sep FY08 suggested a deceleration in the growth of LSM production to only 6. percent. Further, Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) growth has declined to 5. 57 per cent during the first five months (July-November) of the current financial year due to economic slow-down and high interest rates and poor law and order situation. Similarly, improved prospects in transportation & storage sub-sectors on the back of relatively better production in major crops, strong contribution by finance and insurance sector and augmented administrative and defence related spending will provide support to adequate level of growth in the services sector. These prospects of the services sector would be neutralized to some extent by negative growth in the LSM, imports contraction, shrinking profits in the telecommunication sector. Leading indicators pertaining to the major sector wholesale and retail trade points towards a reasonable growth in this sub-sector. The targeted growth of 4. 1 percent is already almost half of last year’s actual 8. 2 percent. (c) ECONOMIC PAKISTAN

Commercial fishing

Commercial fishing Commercial fishing is a worldwide enterprise that involves the capture of marine and freshwater fish and shellfish and their preparation for market. Fishing equipment ranges from small boats whose nets are cast and hauled in by hand to factory ships equipped with the most advanced technologies for finding, harvesting, and preparing huge amounts of fish. These large catches are very costly, however, not only in the price of their equipment and fuel, but also in the depletion of fishery resources their use brings about.The major portion of the total fish harvest consists of few fish species, which are divided into two primary groups. Pelagic species - those which live in the near-surface layers of the oceans, this include several species of herring, tuna, salmon, anchovies, pilchard, sardines, menhaden, and mackerel. Demersal species - fish that live in the near-bottom layers of the ocean, this includes cod, sole, halibut, haddock, hake, and flounder.Bering Sea and the North Pacific Oc eanLarge catches are also made of a group of fish classed commercially as SHELLFISH - shrimp, lobster, scallops, oysters, clams, crabs, mussels, and squid. WHALING was once a major part of the fishing industry. Overfishing has endangered many whale numbers, however, and the field has lessened in importance.Almost all large pelagic and demersal fish catches are made over or near the continental shelf, the underwater plateau around the continents and large islands. In these waters temperatures, water depths, and the currents that influence the amounts of available food create an environment that is highly favourable to the existence of large schools of fish.The animals living in and on the bottom of the continental shelf serve as additional food sources for demersal fish. Also, most species spawn on continental shelves, and the main nursery grounds of many species are also in coastal regions. The main fishing...

Red Blood Cells.

Red Blood Cells. Red Blood CellsI am erythrocytes, or otherwise known as red blood cells. I have one of the most important roles in the entire body. Out of all kinds of blood cells, I am the most numerous. My job in the body is to carry oxygen and carbon dioxide throughout the body. I contain lots of iron, which is how I transport the oxygen and carbon dioxide around. While I am floating around the blood, the iron magnetically attracts the molecules, the molecules attach to me, and then I transport them all around the body. On average, men have about 5,400,000 per cubic millimeter. Women, on the other hand, average only 4,800,000 per cubic millimeter. A single drop of blood can contain over one million of me. On average, I am about 7.5 thousands of a millimeter wide. Because my only purpose is to transport oxygen and carbon dioxide, when I am made, the nucleus is squeezed out of my cell.Figure 2 - Schematic of Maxwell model using one da...Macrophages that are near eat the nucleus, then break down the DNA.The only reason that I am red is because I contain a special protein chemical called hemoglobin. Hemoglobin contains iron, which is what is used to make the oxygen and molecule attach to me. If the hemoglobin were not in the cells, all of your blood would be yellow-colored. Once I pass through the body tissue, the hemoglobin releases all of the oxygen and molecules out to all of the cells. The hemoglobin that is left over then bonds with carbon dioxide, or whatever other waste gasses there are in the body, then transports it all away (Riding on the Red Road 1).One thing that is unique about me is that I am terminally differentiated. This means that I can never divide. I live for approximately...

The End of Social Security Paper Checks

The End of Social Security Paper Checks The U.S. Department of Treasury began phasing out paper Social Security checks and other federal benefit checks on May 1, 2011. It required anyone applying for Social Security checks and other federal benefits on and after that date to receive their payments electronically. Those who began receiving Social Security checks before May of 2011 have until March 1, 2013, to sign up for electronic payments, the Treasury Department announced. Those who dont sign up to have their Social Security checks direct-deposited by that date would receive their benefits through the Direct Express card program. Getting your Social Security or Supplemental Security Income payment by direct deposit or Direct Express is safer and more reliable, Michael J. Astrue, the commissioner of Social Security, said in announcing the change. Whos Impacted by End of Paper Checks The change applied to Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Veterans Affairs benefits, and anyone who receives benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board, Office of Personnel Management and Department of Labor (Black Lung). You dont have to worry about your check being lost or stolen and your money is available immediately on your payment date, Astrue said. There is no need to wait for the mail to arrive. In 2010, more than 540,000 Social Security and Supplemental Security Income paper checks were reported lost or stolen and had to be replaced, the Treasury Department said. Savings from End of Paper Checks Phasing out paper Social Security checks entirely is expected to save taxpayers about $120 million every year, or more than $1 billion over 10 years. Government officials also pointed out that eliminating paper Social Security checks will provide positive benefits to the environment, saving 12 million pounds of paper in the first five years alone. More than 18 million baby boomers are expected to reach retirement age during the next five years, with 10,000 people a day becoming eligible for Social Security benefits, said Treasurer Rosie Rios. It costs 92 cents more to issue a payment by paper check than by direct deposit. We are retiring the Social Security paper check option in favor of electronic payments because it is the right thing to do for benefit recipients and American taxpayers alike. What You Need to Do Now If you are applying for new benefits, you are now required to choose an electronic payment method, whether its a direct deposit of your Social Security check or other federal benefits into a bank or credit union account. When you apply for your Social Security check or other federal benefits, you will need: Your financial institutions routing transit number often found on a personal check;The account type, checking or savings;And the account number often found on a personal check. You can also choose to receive your Social Security check on a prepaid debit card or Direct Express Debit MasterCard card. What You Need to Do By 2013 If you currently get your Social Security check or other federal benefit payment on paper, you must switch to electronic payments before March 1, 2013. You can switch from paper checks to direct deposit at www.GoDirect.org, by calling the U.S. Treasury Electronic Payment Solution Centers toll-free helpline at (800) 333-1795, or by speaking with a bank or credit union representative. Anyone already receiving federal benefit payments electronically will continue to receive their money as usual on their payment day. No action is required. About Paper Social Security Checks The first monthly Social Security check was received by Ida Mae Fuller on Jan. 31, 1940, according to the Treasury Department. Since then about 165 million people have received Social Security benefits. The movement toward electronic payments has been steadily increasing, the Treasury Department said. By May of 2011, electronic payments made up more than three-quarters of all noncash payments nationwide. There were 5.7 billion fewer checks written in 2009 than in 2006, a decline of 6.1 percent per year - while electronic payments grew 9.3 percent during that same period. Among federal benefit recipients, about eight in 10 receive their Social Security check or other federal benefit payment electronically, according to the Treasury Department. What About Social Security Statements?   On January 9, 2017, the Social Security Administration also stopped mailing annual Social Security Statements to all workers under age 60. The Social Security Statement shows the worker’s expected monthly Social Security benefits based on their current and potential future income. Paper statements are still mailed only to workers age 60 and older three months before their birthday if they don’t receive Social Security benefits and don’t yet have a â€Å"my Social Security† account. Workers over age 60 will stop receiving their statements by mail once they set up their â€Å"my Social Security† account. Workers under age 60 can now view their personal Social Security Statement online only by using their â€Å"my Social Security† account. Using a â€Å"my Social Security† account, workers of all ages can view their Social Security Statement online at any time. With a free and very secure â€Å"my Social Security† account, workers of all ages, retired or not, can view online their personalized estimates of future benefits based on their real earnings, see their latest Statement, and review their earnings history. In addition, â€Å"my Social Security† can be used to request a replacement Social Security Card or check the status of an application, anytime. A â€Å"my Social Security† is free, secure, and easy to create at: https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/.

Job Satisfaction and Employee Performance Essay

Job Satisfaction and Employee Performance - Essay Example OCB incorporates behaviours, like volunteering to help each others at the workplace, speaking in the most favourable manner of one’s business organisation and also to the supervisor. These aspects are effective in terms of making different useful suggestions for initiating improvements at the workplace, by voluntarily putting in additional hours to meet up tight deadlines as well as sacrificing self-interests for the betterment of the entire group or the organisation. In overall terms, OCB improves the economic, social as well as psychological setting in the place of work in a way where it supports different task expertise and also can increase the group presentation (Lapierre and Hackett, 2007, p.539). Job satisfaction and employee performance: Creation of significant level of job satisfaction and the corresponding effects on the performance of the employees of business organisations across the globe are regarded as one of the most important concepts in modern times (Williams and Anderson, 1991, p.601). There are significant amounts of research which have shown that there is a close association between the employee performance and creation of greater level of job satisfaction at the workplace (Narang and Dwivedi, 2010, p.1). The meta-analysis based on these researches has revealed the fact that there are close association between the dispositional, attitudinal and relational aspects which are again correlated with the notion of OCB. These relations are known as trait conscientiousness (Lapierre and Hackett, 2007, p.540).... This notion is also known as the leader-member-exchange and by the job satisfaction as well. The meta-analytic research has identified the fact that job satisfaction is regarded as among the most important and the strongest correlates in respect to greater level of performance presented by the employees. In this context, the notion of trait conscientiousness is regarded as the second most important and strongest correlate of greatest level of job satisfaction. These greatest levels of job satisfaction are considered most important among â€Å"the big five personality traits, second only to neuroticism† (Lapierre and Hackett, 2007, p.540). Empirical studies: A meta-analysis in respect to close association between creation of greater level of job satisfaction and employee performance has been conducted by Michelle T Iaffaldano, Paul M Muchinsky (1985). This research has shown that out of 74 empirical studies regarding job satisfaction and effective job performance, it has been f ound that the greater the job satisfaction among the employees, the larger will be the level of performance by the employees in any organisation (Iaffaldano and Muchinsky, 1985, p.251). Aggregated studies had been comprised of a size of the sample as 12,192 and 217 satisfaction performances have been found to be correlated. Findings of this research have also shown that, the most efficient predictor of the (measured) true population parameter, the correlation between the degree of job satisfaction and the degree of employee performance has been relatively low (0.17) (Iaffaldano and Muchinsky, 1985, p.251). This research has shown that much of this variability in the result has been obtained in the previous research conducted by the same researchers. This has been due to fact

The Childhood Phase of a Person Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Childhood Phase of a Person - Essay Example The childhood phase of a person is developed through his activities in a school. The major part of the childhood of a person is spent in the schools. The preliminary and secondary schools are the basic foundations on which the overall values, goals, and personality of a person are developed. However, special care must be taken by the schools as organizations to foster the well-being and safety of the children attending their schools. The transition from one school to another may be a new experience for the children which involves stress and requires adjustment on the part of the children1. A transition phase encompasses the loss of old friendships formed in the schools and finding their place in a new environment. These may add to the worry of the children when joining a new school. The adjustment of the children in the new environments should also be supported by the schools so that the children can deal with the stress and imbalances associated with the transition process. The spor ts activities and social activities in secondary schools can support the children to become adjusted and involved in the new environment easily. Also, the people at home may also be helpful in guiding and supporting the children in adapting to the transition process more easily. Managing the emotional and physical health of children is necessary to ensure that they do not succumb to the stress caused by the transition phase. Schools not only play an influential role in the learning and development of children but they are equally important in developing hygienic concerns and healthy outlooks from the early years of the children. The schools play important roles in shaping up the good habits of the children with respect to hygiene, health, and safety.  

Reflective Response on Gioconda Belli and Slavenka Drakulic books Essay

Reflective Response on Gioconda Belli and Slavenka Drakulic books - Essay Example Belli grew up in a high class Nicaraguan family and her entire family was very unsympathetic towards the Somoza dictatorship that reigned at the time, in Nicaragua. She was a political activist and was against the views of her family because right from a young age, she established a position for herself in the Sandinista Party and joined the revolutionary government. At the family front however, in order to not disturb the minds of her parents and close knit family members, she kept her bourgeoisie job at a lush advertising company. The story follows as she becomes a very immediate part of the totalitarian regime and upheaval taking place in her country. It is an account of a political as well as personal encounter with the realities that the revolution presents forth. She finds herself disagreeing to a number of things her family want her do, and soon is not able to take control of her heart because of a need to liberate it and set herself free from the active militant she had becom e. On the other hand, Drakulic wrote a nonfiction piece about the various ramifications of various social and political conflicts taking place in East of Europe. She has written an account of how the failure of Communism resulted in a failure to meet the needs of women belonging to several countries like Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Poland and Germany, with the help of primary information in the form of interviews that she took with women belonging to these countries. (The Country Under My Skin: A Memoir of Love and War) She has written the narrative in the form of an essay, explaining the impact of the political strata of society on women and feminism in general. She has made references and given examples as to how women were subject to oppression and were treated terribly during the time, for example, how they were forced to live under a careless government that refused to supply them with basic necessities including toilet paper and even tampons. Thus, Drakulic is different from Bel li in this aspect as she did not experience the totalitarian regime taking place in Europe on her own, but through the eyes of various other women living in different countries across Europe. At the same time, Belli was able to give a very personal and first hand stance as to the experiences she had and the times she went through under the totalitarian regime that reigned in Nicaragua during the course of her growing up. Belli lived under a right wing totalitarian regime by becoming a part of the government whereas Drakulic was completely against the Communist regime and tried her best to make an attempt and resist it. Belli managed to smuggle weapons, run roadblocks, and also form legions with various revolutionists. She writes about how she made arguments with Castro and his regime, and contributed to representations at Third World conferences in order to liberate Nicaragua. She was thus a true insider and has been able to provide an honest opinion from the view of a woman of that time. On the other hand, Drakulic criticized the Communist empire and helped women liberate themselves in order to achieve a level of empowerment. She has tried to point out the inadequacies of the government in power and how they thought they were radical, but in reality, they were far from reaching that stage. She has tried to express through her writing, how women were looked down upon and forced to undertake steps

E-marketing Master Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

E-marketing Master - Essay Example On the other hand , following are some disadvantages of e-Marketing: lack of personal approach; dependability on technology; security, privacy issues ;maintenance costs due to a constantly evolving environment; higher transparency of pricing and increased price competition; and worldwide competition through globalization Perhaps nothing is more conducive to the success of a firm than the image that it conveys of itself to the public. The marketing activities of a company, because they act directly on the consumer, do most to shape this image and thus must be developed with great care. As marketing has become increasingly complex, a need has arisen for executives trained in the social sciences who also possess statistical, mathematical, and computer backgrounds. Marketing, since time immemorial, has pretty much been around. It has taken its form in one way or another, but it had always been there and forever it will be. Ordinarily, marketing is considered an activity or function performed by business firms. However, marketing can also be carried out by other organizations and even by individuals. Whenever you try to persuade somebody to buy something, you are performing a marketing activity. Broadly viewed, the essence of marketing is a transaction - an exchange. Marketing occurs any time one social unit strives to exchange something of value with another social unit. Thus, marketing consists of all activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchange intended to satisfy human needs or wants ( Stanton, 1991). The methods of marketing have changed and improved. From the primitive method of barter, to use of currency, marketing has now become more sophisticated . This process is now called eMarketing. eMarketing is the "product of the meeting between modern communication technologies and the age-old marketing principles that humans have always applied E-marketing or electronic marketing refers to the application of marketing principles and techniques via electronic media and more specifically the Internet. The terms eMarketing, Internet marketing and online marketing, are frequently interchanged, and can often be considered synonymous." eMarketing is the process of marketing a brand using the Internet. It includes both direct response marketing and indirect marketing elements and uses a range of technologies to help connect businesses to their customers. By such a definition, eMarketing encompasses all the activities a business conducts via the worldwide web with the aim of attracting new business, retaining current business and developing its brand identity. E-marketing involves marketing planning within the context of the e-business e-environment. So not surprisingly, the successful e-marketing plan is based on traditional marketing disciplines and planning techniques, adapted for the digital media environment and then mixed with new digital marketing communications

US Intel Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

US Intel Community - Essay Example The great thing about this agreement is that there is a common face to it and is apparently diplomatic and open addressing on alien nations1. But there is as well a dark and covert side and although they allegedly are not appropriated to operate domestically, they do act domestically through the big private institutions - enforcing the policies of the UN Organizations. Understanding that explains how UN policies are interconnected and enforced in the United States. From the start of this nation history, there have been two sects - Internationalists and Nationalists. The Nationalists were our Founders. The Internationalists were the Tories - oppositions of independence. Traditionally, the military have been accountable for interior security and homeland defense. The National Security Act of 1947 regrouped the leadership of the armed forces following Second World War, validating a Defense Department (DOD) with a Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) that content directly to the Commander-in-Chief. As we now acknowledge, the NSC was not arranging a great job aligning all the facets of Office of Homeland Security2. For instance, border security was addressed in a split way by a number of agencies. Intelligence was not being effectively shared. To start with, from ethical point of view, the National Security Act of 1947is an act that governs all partaking office with origins and roots from the US governance. Taking the account that United nation is excluded from the provision of United states intelligence information is unethical on account that the organization has rights as far as the laws is of concern. The organization has been of help in identification of individuals disputes and always alerted the States on any prevailing measures needs to be taken just on time. 2. How would you define "morally intolerable" and "morally acceptable" from an intelligence operation perspective concerning national security? Is torture of terrorists or enemy

Human Genome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Human Genome - Essay Example Learning about the diseases imminent in one’s genetic code and sharing it with doctors could facilitate many new opportunities for and ways of curing common diseases. For instance if I receive a genetic test that states that I have a 85 percent chance of developing Parkinson’s disease, I will approach the associated medical experts with these results and will solicit their advice. I will ask them as to what is the realistic likelihood of me developing Parkinson’s disease and will also ask them regarding the medications and treatment I could avail to avoid developing the Parkinson’s disease or to slow down the progress of this disease if I ever develop it. Knowing about this in advance will endow me with much time and resources to deal with it. The biggest challenge before the researchers and research administrators conducting genetic trials is to find the fasters and easier ways of sequencing DNA (Lee, 1991). The other challenge is to decide as to how multiple human genes collaborate to control one single human trait (Lee, 1991). The researchers also need to know as to how to regulate and control gene

US Intel Community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

US Intel Community - Essay Example The great thing about this agreement is that there is a common face to it and is apparently diplomatic and open addressing on alien nations1. But there is as well a dark and covert side and although they allegedly are not appropriated to operate domestically, they do act domestically through the big private institutions - enforcing the policies of the UN Organizations. Understanding that explains how UN policies are interconnected and enforced in the United States. From the start of this nation history, there have been two sects - Internationalists and Nationalists. The Nationalists were our Founders. The Internationalists were the Tories - oppositions of independence. Traditionally, the military have been accountable for interior security and homeland defense. The National Security Act of 1947 regrouped the leadership of the armed forces following Second World War, validating a Defense Department (DOD) with a Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) that content directly to the Commander-in-Chief. As we now acknowledge, the NSC was not arranging a great job aligning all the facets of Office of Homeland Security2. For instance, border security was addressed in a split way by a number of agencies. Intelligence was not being effectively shared. To start with, from ethical point of view, the National Security Act of 1947is an act that governs all partaking office with origins and roots from the US governance. Taking the account that United nation is excluded from the provision of United states intelligence information is unethical on account that the organization has rights as far as the laws is of concern. The organization has been of help in identification of individuals disputes and always alerted the States on any prevailing measures needs to be taken just on time. 2. How would you define "morally intolerable" and "morally acceptable" from an intelligence operation perspective concerning national security? Is torture of terrorists or enemy

Cases of Greece and Sweden Working Conditions Essay Example for Free

Cases of Greece and Sweden Working Conditions Essay Cases of Greece and Sweden Working Conditions Introduction            The essay has three major parts. The first part analyses Greece working conditions and how government officials respond to the issue. This is accompanied by a moral assessment of the issue presented in this section. The second part discusses Sweden working conditions, a country which is said to have one of the best working conditions around the world. This part analyses the policies passed by the Swedish government and all ethical issues arising from such policies. The third part is a personal assessment of the two issues presented parts one and two. This section employs virtues of ethics framework to come up with ethical implications of the issues presented. Working Condition in Greece            Greece working standards are relatively lower compared to those of other European countries. Different studies that support this argument have been conducted. From the data provided by the Social Insurance Foundation and Labor Inspectors in Greece, 35.8 percent of the participants in a survey conducted in 2011specified that there were no health and safety provisions in the firm they worked. 48.7% stated that, to their knowledge, there was no physician assigned to them. In the construction sector, 53.5% had a health and safety provision document while 58.9% in the manufacturing sector had the same. 66.1% of the respondents in the public sector said they lacked such a document (Alexopoulos 2012, p.115).            In its efforts to raise labor standards in Greece, the Greece government initiated several reforms. The reforms aimed at improving working conditions in the country and protecting people’s welfare. Greece is of the countries which experienced the wrath of European crisis. The aftermath of the crisis required tremendous changes in the labor markets. However, these reforms led to limited protection of workers in the labor market. This aspect violated business ethics and essential social rights. Law number 3863/2010 introduced fundamental changes in the labor market. Some of the unfavorable reforms were; shortening the period given as a notice to the termination of white-collar workers, reducing white-collar workers reduced by a half, keeping operational costs must between 5% and 10%, which led to layoffs. However, the minimum wage rates for workers under the age of 25 years reduced to 84% of the set minimum wage. For underage workers, the minimum wage rate set at 70% of the set minimum wage.            Apart from the labor market reforms, the government instituted in 2010, service cuts in pension and other important reforms in the social security regulations. The regulations include; zero increase in the current pension over the next 3 years. For the uninsured persons over the age of 65, their basic pension criteria underwent reforms. The amount of the pension is set at â‚ ¬360. The national budget will finance the pension from the year 2018. Salary cut for employees between 25 years was set between 22% and 32%. The employer can impose this cut without the consent of the employee (Matsaganis 2012, p.450). Analysis of Ethical Implications of Greece Work Policies            Greece policy makers seem to employ utilitarian principle, which states that one determines what is right by contrasting the outcome of all related agents of alternative policy for a particular condition (Bentham 2000, p.70). This principle does not take into account all the people in the society. Undesirable policy can be passed which does not benefit the society at large. Greece labor laws and polices does not seem to benefit the entire society. On the contrary, they benefit a section of the community.            According to (Daluka 2001, p.20) it is right to exercise what is good for the largest population of people. The study reveals that the greatest number of people in the work environment had the health and safety document. Companies in Greece seem to value policies that yield the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people. However, James Rachel, critic of the utilitarian rule, would have argued otherwise. In his criticisms, he points out that, everyone is equal and that everybody’s happiness is important. The group of people who lack the document in this case can claim that businesses in Greece did violate business ethics. This means that utilitarianism is not the best framework to formulate rules and regulations which affect the entire society. Labor markets affect the whole economy in several ways .This means that if there is a fault in formulation of labor laws, the economy will experience problems arising from shortage of labor, a crucial factor in the production process (Rachel 2007, p56). Greece labor reforms further show how the government violates ethics. A salary cut without the consent of employees is unethical, and violates ethics. However, according to utilitarianism, this might not be a big issue so long as it yields maximum benefits to the largest number of people. According to (Goodin 2007, p.245) utilitarianism as a principle should guide political leaders while making decisions that affect the society at large. He points out that leaders must take into account the impacts of the policies they pass on the entire society, other than focusing on a small group of people. Working Conditions in Sweden            Working conditions in Sweden are one of the best on the planet. This is the case because the government has introduced strict worker-safety and environmental regulations. Its manpower of 4.3 million is disciplined, instructed, and experienced in the most current technologies. About 87 percent of Swedish laborers have a place with a workers party, ostensibly the worlds most astounding rate. In addition, unions are active accomplices with organizations in actualizing more proficient projects. Swedish enactment accommodates work representation on the board of directors of large organizations and obliges administration to arrange with the unions prior to actualizing significant changes. Management-labor cooperation participation is customarily non-conferential, meaning labor strikes are rare in the country (Cox 1950, p.390). There is no fixed minimal wage, and all wages are determined through collective bargaining. Since 1991, the real wage increments have surpassed th ose of most EU nations. As the EMU civil argument picks up force, workers parties are calling for buffer funds, like those made in Finland, as a cushion for benefits funds and other laborer benefits throughout the shift period to the euro, in cases where there are huge currency fluctuations (Hammarstrà ¶m 2013, p.142).            Many business spectators, including those from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have suggested some crucial labor market changes, including wage differentiation (to reduce labor costs for unskilled jobs). These reforms are an incentive to raise individual competence, reduction of income taxes, making labor unions bears the costs of unemployment in the insurance system, as well as liberalization of labor protection legislation. These measures are believed to increase efficiency and competitiveness. Labor representatives in Sweden complain that such measures would burden workers.            On the major Sweden’s labor- related issue is high levels of unemployment. Within a very short time in the early 1990s, the unemployment rate rose from a level which was considered the lowest in the industrialized world to the normal EU levels, where it stayed until the business cycle improved in 1998-99. By 2000, the unemployment rates were less than 5%. However, the rate was 8.7 percent for those workers included in training programs. Swedens government has a plan to reduce the unemployment rate to 4 percent and to guarantee that 80 percent of the working-age populace has a full-time work by 2015 (Drobnic 2012, p.205). Assessment of the issue and its ethical Implications            A careful examination of Sweden’s labor laws and policies shows that the policy makers employ social justice. This is clearly depicted the way polices have been formulated. According to (Betham 2000, p.80) social justice theory asserts that people should exercise fairness in their when dealing with one another. Rawl’s theory of social justice postulates that the society consists of free and equal persons who must be treated equally in political and socio-economic affairs (Blocker 2000, p.30). Swedish government seems to take into account social justice principles before passing labor regulations.            First, the government has come up with strict anti-discrimination laws, contained in Swedish Antidiscrimination Act of 2009. One of the rules of social justice theory is protection against any form of discrimination. By passing the Act, Swedish legislature took into account the rights and freedoms of workers. Therefore, their rules and decisions are in line with the social justice framework. The Act aims at eliminating discrimination in all places of work. It applies to all employees, employers, and job applications irrespective of whether or not the discrimination is intentional. This means that people expect to be treated with dignity, regardless of their appearance or beliefs. If an employer in Sweden is found discriminating his/her workers, he or she is required to pay damages. Failure to this, he/she may end up in prison, and this acts as a lesson to all others who practice discrimination.            On the other hand, Swedish government has made it mandatory for all workers to belong to a labor union (Blau and Khan 1999, p130). This is aimed at protecting the welfare of all workers in Sweden. This is another dimension of social justice. If a member of the union faces a problem, the union is supposed to take care of him/her. All members of the unions are treated equally. This ensures that all of them have equal representation. Rawl’s theory disallows unequal representation in political and social matter.            Swedish Work Environment Authority is governed by the Work Environment Act, which requires employees, employers and equipment suppliers to share responsibility in maintaining safe working conditions. According to this Act, these parties should restrict workplace hazards and prevent accidents. This clearly shows that the policy makers take into consideration the importance of social cooperation. Social justice principles require each person in the society to benefit others, and to prevent harm. This way, social justice is said to prevail in the society. Individual Moral Assessment of the Issue            To better understand moral implications of the cases presented above, a careful analysis using a different ethical framework is necessary. This section discusses how the issues presented above relate to the ethics of virtue framework.            According to Martha Nussbaum arguments, a just society must be characterized by conditions that promote fundamental entitlements for all people. The entitlements include; bodily health, normal life, bodily integrity, senses and imaginations, as well as practical reason, just to mention a few. Failure to recognize these entitlements constitutes unethical behavior (Nussbaum 1993, p 89) . Greece law makers seem to deviate from this moral framework. Some of the policies do not take into account virtues of ethics. For example, cutting an employee’s wage without his/her consent is morally wrong. It hurts one’s feeling and violates virtues of ethics such as kindness, prudence, integrity, and more importantly respect. Passing laws that lower people’s welfare is not consistent with the virtue ethics framework.            On the other hand, Sweden takes into consideration virtues of ethics framework. The laws and polices discussed above clearly show how that policy makers in the country are very much concerned with people’s welfare. Being mindful of others welfare is a crucial virtue. It ensures respect in the society and promotes justice. Moreover, Swedish government promotes fairness in worker’s representation. Again, this is a clear indication of the government’s commitment to promote virtues which promote people’s moral excellence and their well-being. Conclusion            From the analysis presented in this paper, it is clear that governments across the world employ different ethical frameworks when formulating their policies. The distinction between Greece and Sweden working condition reveals that different countries value different policies. However, the paper points out several unethical practices in Greece. On the other hand, Sweden government seems to follow ethics when drafting their laws and regulations. In addition to this, the paper reveals that people and companies’ ethical understanding across the world tend to be influenced by government’s actions. This means that Swedish citizens tend to practice ethics more than Greece citizens. References            Alexopoulos, E. (2012), ‘Sickness absence in the private sector of Greece: Comparing shipyard industry and national insurance data, International journal of environmental research and public health , Journal of Social Affairs, Vol. 34, pp, 1171-1181. Betham, J.(2000), ‘Principles of Morals and Legislation,’Principles of Morals and Legislation. Newyork: Botache Books, pp.78-85. Blau, F., and Khan, L. (1999), ‘Institutions and laws in the labor market’ Handbook of labor economics, vol.3, pp.130-140.Blocker, G. and Elizabeth S. (2000), ‘John Rawls theory of social justice’, Sages Journals ,pp. 24-34. Cox, A.,(1950), ‘Regulation of Collective Bargaining by the National Labor Relations Board’ Harvard Law Review, pp.389-432. Daluka, F. (2001), ‘Global Ethics and Business: A Philosophical Approach’, Global Ethics and Business: A Philosophical Approach, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 17-20. DrobniÄ , S.(2012), ‘Good job, good life? Working conditions and quality of life in Europe’, Social indicators research, pp.205. Gordin, S. (2007), ‘Utilitarianism as a public philosophy,’ Cambridge: Cambridge University Press., Hammarstrà ¶m, A. (2013), ‘Higher education and psychological distress: A 27-year prospective cohort study in Sweden’, Scandinavian journal of public health. Pp.140-145.Matsaganis, M..(2012), ‘Social policy in hard times: The case of Greece’, Critical Social Policy, pp.406-421. Nussbaum, M. (1993), ‘The quality of life’, NewYork: Oxford University Press. Rachel, J.(2007), ‘Utilitarianism; for and against’, Havard Journal Of Business Affairs, pp. 56 Source document

Other Word Formation Processes English Language Essay

Other Word Formation Processes English Language Essay The language learners referred to in this essay are software engineers, in the age group of 23-26, tasked with developing software products for the travel industry. They were selected on the basis of their performance in a language assessment and identified as intermediate users of the language. All of them had studied English for 10 years in school and later at the university English was the medium of instruction. A few of them were risk takers, ready to take on tasks regardless of any mistakes they may make. There were those who were spurred on by the possibility of their deficient language skills impacting their career graph; they were also ready for self-learning and willing to take responsibility for their learning. Some were hesitant, unsure of their knowledge and afraid to make mistakes. All of them were, however, comfortable with technical language, but were very diffident to face situations that called for regular communication. They needed help with everyday vocabulary to communicate effectively with colleagues and clients. Word parts If we consider words as independent/freestanding units with meaning, a notion proposed by McCarthy (1990), then we can see that these units of meaning can further be broken down and re-combined to form other words. Though the word cancelled is an independently meaningful item, under closer observation it becomes clear that this word consists of two units cancel and the past tense marker -ed. The linguistic item cancel is a freestanding word in English, but there is no such word as -ed in English, even though -ed is a meaning-bearing unit. Such linguistic items that are not freestanding are said to be bound and these forms can occur only in combination with other forms. The two meaningful parts, cancel and -ed are called morphemes. Morphemes Katamba (2003) defines morphemes as the atoms with which words are built. Morphemes are the smallest unit of lexical and grammatical meaning and they are realized by morphs, as morphemes do not have a physical representation. A single morpheme can be manifested as multiple complementary morphs in distinct phonological or morphological contexts. Let us look at the past tense marker -ed to understand the distribution of these complementary morphs known as allomorphs. Free morphemes can stand alone as words; whereas bound morphemes such as -ed are only used in combination with other morphemes. There are word forms which have but a single unbound morpheme and others which consists of more than one morpheme. Words like talk, eat and mend are examples of freestanding morphemes and words such as predictable and reflection are formed by combining many morphemes. Affixation Affixes are bound morphemes attached to a stems either to create a new word or a word form. Affixation of morphemes can be either inflectional or derivational. Inflectional affixes Katamba (2003) posits that the English language has minimal inflections because of its tendency to be an isolating language. The few inflections it has are all suffixes. These suffixes are bound morphemes and are attached to the stem to inflect or change words to express grammatical features, such as the changes in tense, number, possession, and degrees of adjectives. There are 8 inflectional suffixes in English and they are: Derivational Affixes In English derivational affixes include both prefixes and suffixes. Katamba (2003) says that the purpose of derivation is to create lexical items and not to produce grammatical units that will fit in a given syntactic position. The three important derivational processes in English are: affixation, conversion and compounding. Affixation is one of the commonest methods of forming words in English. Derivational affixes can be either prefixes, those that are added before the base, or suffixes, that are attached after the base. Word forming processes like creating nouns from verbs, adjectives from verbs and verbs from adjectives are examples of a few derivational practices in English. Derivational affixes are different from inflexional affixes in many ways: They change the word class as well as the meaning of a word to which it is linked energy (n) +- ise -Æ’Â   energise (v) Even though they combine to create a new word they are not affected by syntactic relations outside of the word, they can be separated and recombined with other morphemes to form other combinations. Stem Suffix Derived word Govern (v) -able Governable (adj) Enjoy (v) -ment Enjoyment Derivational morphemes can be attached only to certain stems. Stem Suffix Derived word Violin -ist Violinist Drum -ist *drumist Drum -er Drummer *drumist is not an acceptable word. Other word formation processes Conversion or zero derivation is the predominant method of generating lexical items in English. In this process a lexical item is assigned to a new syntactic category. The word permit can be used either as a noun or as a verb; the phonological representation and the grammatical context in which it is placed are the two aspects that can alert the change in the word-class. (Permit (v) and perMit (n). Crystal (2012) quotes from Shakespeare, Petruchio is Kated as an example of conversion the name of a person becoming a verb to further his argument that conversion was a customary word-formation process even during Shakespeares time. Compounding is the process of joining two bases to create a new word; of the two words, one which is syntactically dominant is considered the head and the other as the modifier. Generally the modifier is placed in front of the head and any suffix that might later be added to the compound word is attached to the head. Compound words are different from phrases; the meaning of a compound word, unlike a phrase, is not the sum of the meaning of the base units that form the word. Iin a compound word the primary stress is on the first word and in a phrase the primary stress is on the last word. Phrase Compound word Meaning of the compound . Blue print Blueprint an early plan or design for a project green house Greenhouse a building used for growing plants that need warmth Should word parts be learned? A cost/benefit analysis of the learning of word parts should be reason enough for a learner of English language to study word parts. Nation quotes from Roberts (1964), Grinstead (1925) and Bird (1987,1990) to point out that around 60% of the English vocabulary is derived from German, French, Latin and Greek and that a large proportion of these words make use of affixes. The analysis of the LOB Corpus carried out by Bird revealed that 97% of the words in the LOB corpus were derived from around 2,000 roots. Nation maintains that the origins of the English vocabulary and the frequency of word parts validate the study of word parts. The two arguments levelled against the teaching/learning of word parts are based on the contention that, the effort involved in learning word parts is not commensurate with language output. A word is not a sum of its parts The first argument against the teaching of word parts is that the meaning of a word is not the sum of its parts (Deighton, 1970); This argument has been countered by White, Power and White (1989) drawing on their own as well as Nagy and Andersons (1984) empirical evidence that most of the affixed words probably at least 80% convey the meaning their parts suggest. Katamba (2003) argues that compositionality is the key to understanding a word. He says that if we know the meaning of the smaller units which make up the larger units we can decipher the meaning of the whole. For example, if we know the meaning of the suffix -ful (filled with x), and the meaning of the base to which these suffixes are attached, then the meaning of words like useful, careful, fearful and cheerful become self-explanatory. Most of the morphemes that form a word have regular/stable meaning; for example, the prefix re- means again in almost all the words in which it occurs. In the light of the empirical evidence and the example we saw we can conclude that the meaning of most of the English words is what its parts suggest and therefore knowledge of the meaning of the parts can help a learner understand a word across contexts and usage. If we were to extend this argument further we could say that this knowledge along with the contextual clues would be useful in decoding even the metaphorical meaning of a word; a head hunter would thus lose the sinister overtones of the past and acquire the current meaning of someone who recruits people into key business positions. Word families in the lexicon The next argument against teaching/learning of word parts is that the knowing the parts of a word may not familiarise a learner with all the members of that word family (Schmitt 1998, 1999, Schmitt Meara 1997). Nation argues that the notion of word family is psychologically real and a word is to be seen as a member of a word family. Knowledge of the word parts can help the learners understand a word in its relation to the other members of the family. For instance, knowledge of the various inflections of English and the meaning of the base of the word predict can familiarise a learner with all the possible combinations (family members) of predict; predict- predicted- predicting- predictable and prediction are just some of the members of that family. Nagy, Anderson, Schommer, Scott, and Stallman (1989) points out that the speed of recognition of a word is based on the frequency of occurrence of the members of that word family. They quote the findings of Stanners, Neiser, Hernon, Hall (1979) to advance their argument that related words are linked in the mental lexicon. So there are linked entries for create, creates created and creation and accessing any word from this family can partly activate other family members. Word parts are not just linked in the mental lexicon, but morphologically ordered to represent the relation. Interpreting the meaning Another argument against learning word parts is that L2 learners using this for guessing the meaning of a word might cause the learner to misinterpret the word. Schmitt quotes Haynes (1993) to validate this argument; Haynes found that learners continued with the wrong meaning even though it didnt contribute to the context. For example Inflammable is often misinterpreted to mean non-flammable. Clarke and Nation (1980) caution that word parts strategy should be used to verify the guesses drawn from the context. Furthermore, knowledge of the word parts empowers the learner by teaching him to apply his understanding at the receptive and productive level. At the receptive level it teaches him a) to identify the different components of a complex word, b) to be aware that these word parts can be used to make other words, c) how the meaning of the different parts combine to make a new meaning, and d) how the sum of the parts relates to the dictionary meaning. At the productive level it makes him aware of how the formal changes can affect the spelling, pronunciation and the word class of the base when a complex word is formed. (Nation) The challenges Learning word parts presents a set of challenges to language learners. The greatest challenge is that of time and exposure. Studies conducted by Nagy, Diakody, Anderson (1993) point out that L1 learners do not acquire proficiency in morphology until their high school; if this takes so long to develop in L1 learners despite their advantage of maximum exposure, then L2 learners are likely to take more time to learn this aspect (Schmitt). Even though the learners in my group had studied English for ten years, they have learned inflectional suffixes only as part of grammar exercises and have never been explicitly taught derivational affixes. Their exposure to morphological forms was not commensurate with the duration of their study. They have used these forms productively without much knowledge about the rules that guide most of these formations; Though I have putted remainders for this tasks, accidently the remainder was unanswered; the meeting is preponed to three in the afternoon, he is very confidential during presentations are examples of the common errors. Schmitt points out that lack of consistency in affixation can cause problems even if the meaning of the parts is clear. He gives the example of the suffix -ist. Stem Suffix derived word Cycle -ist Cyclist Act -ist *actist Act -or Actor Another challenge for the L2 learner is the lack of awareness that not all words can be broken into parts. Learners sometimes try to decompose words like refuse, repel, repeat, revamp and attempt to use the perceived stem, resulting in a meaningless word. Learners often have difficulty with the formal changes that occur with affixation in spelling and pronunciation. Some derivational affixes lack consistent spelling and has to be learned individually. base suffix word suggest -able suggestible afford -able affordable Gairns Redman notes that affixation sometimes produces changes in stress and sounds in a word. democrat /demÉâ„ ¢kraet/ democratic /demÉâ„ ¢kraetÄÂ ±k/ democracy /dÄÂ ±mÉ’krÉâ„ ¢sÄÂ ±/ Derivational suffixes need to be do not follow rules strategies- guidelines how A good starting point for any teacher wishing to remedy this situation would be to train the learners to break, the complex words that are already known to the learner, into its components and to help them understand the functional meaning of these components. encourage the learners to become more aware of these morphological instill in the mond of the learner that all aspects of language learning is incremental an beA teachers task has probably never been well defines as in this situation Language learning is incremental A good game plan to remedy t Nation suggests that learners should be taught complex words as unanalyzed wholes before they begin to analyze word parts. teacher I would explicit teaching of select morphological units appropriate to the learner level, training the learners the .A teacher needs to introduce the learners to complex words before they are trained to analyse the different parts of that word. Because morphological acquisition is incremental in nature explicit teaching of level suitable affixes ,encouraging them to notice the correct forms encountered in newspapers regular exposure through exercises and receptive material. This rules out the possibility of a completely graded approach; instead I would collect words for analysis from their Collocation Time consuming Not all words can be broken into parts Affixes are not transparent Some affixes are used mor frequently than others so need to be selective Guessing a wrong meaning and sticking on with that explanation even though it made no sense. (Haynes 1993) -Clarke and Nation (1980)- word parts best used to confirm/verify the meaning. Difficulty in guessing the word class deciding on an appropriate stress, formal changes in spelling, phonetics and word forms Derivational suffixes need to be learned individually do not follow rules strategies- guidelines how Furthermore, it empowers the learner by teaching him to apply his understanding at the receptive and productive level. At the receptive level it teaches him a) to identify the different components of a complex word, b) to be aware that these word parts can be used to make other words, c) how the meaning of the different parts combine to make a new meaning, and d) how the sum of the parts relates to the dictionary meaning. At the productive level it makes him aware of how the formal changes can affect the spelling, pronunciation and the word class of the base when a complex word is formed. (Nation)

The Civilizing Process By Norbert Elias Essay example -- essays resear

DP Summary: The Civilizing Process by Norbert Elias Social scientist, Norbert Elias, examines in part two of his book, The Civilizing Process, the development of manners and the subsequent ‘civilizing’ of Western Europe since the middle ages. This journey in time is an attempt to understand what actually happened to humanity during several transitional periods. Elias perceives the development of western civilization in three historical stages. (From the middle ages with a progression to the renaissance (extended to 1750) and finally to modern day society) Each society of the three stages had it’s own standards of behavior, which influenced the individual to act in a certain â€Å"accepted† way. A correlation was also found between the sudden appearance of words in a language and the transitional periods between each historical stage of the civilizing process. Meaning, as people change and grow, so to does society. In essence, Elias is speaking of the maturity of a people. The usage of the word courtoisis acquired its meaning from Western society during the middle ages. This concept gradually diminish in the upper class, while civilite’ grew more widespread in France during the Renaissance. The concept of civilite was an expression and a symbol of a social formation, which was embraced by most nations. Civilite owes its specific meaning to a short treatise by Erasmus of Rotterdam, (On civility in boys), which became socially accepted in 1530. Erasmus provided a fresh sharpness a...

A Studentss Guide to First-Year Writing :: Personal Narrative Suicide Death

A Students's Guide to First-Year Writing Now, and at the Hour I was not with You I. Laurie is crying again, â€Å"You are not with me,† she says. â€Å"Wait, Rae, don’t move.† I watch the silver image of the Virgin Mary on a swaying chain around her neck as she snaps the shutter to trap me in black and white. Laurie is the photographer of our little society; Michael is the sculptor, Stacy and I are the painters, and George has had a thing for performance art lately. We’re smoking cigarettes in the moldy bowling alley. George says: â€Å"I’m bored of this- all of it. Everyday’s the same shit. We need to fucking do something before my skin rots off.† Laurie is quiet, but Mike shrugs his shoulders, â€Å"What do you propose that we do, George?† â€Å"I don’t know, rob a bank, be punk rock and spread some anarchy... man, I don’t know, just anything.† I look at Laurie. She’s quiet. I motion to the bathroom to take her from George’s little angst party. We stand together in the stall, so I kiss her and touch her hair and say, â€Å"You okay, swe etie?† â€Å"Do you want the truth?† she asks. I nod and she replies, â€Å"No, Rae, I’m not okay. I’m really very, very not okay. I’m losing my shit over absolutely nothing... Rae, I just can’t do it anymore.† I’ve heard Laurie like this before; it makes my stomach go sharp and black because I want her to be okay. I need her to be okay. But she hurts so deep; her depressions come in torrents. Her tears stream the Chanel foundation off of her cheeks into puddles on her black dress, all in such slow motion. She brings a bottle from her bag, clicking and childproof, to her burgundy lips and then shares it with me. We return to the group with hydracodone breath, so that the rest of the day will be a senseless opiate dream. You are not with me. You are not with me. None of you. You stand around and let words drool out of your lips. You speak of punk rock and of anarchy, but you don’t even care... about anything. You don’t even care. You can’t even see me crying. You say, "Laurie, you okay, sweetie?