The Joy Luck Club Essays (1072 words) - Chinatown, San Francisco

The Joy Luck Club The Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan Is it fair to judge someone by their sex? In traditional Chinese culture, many judgments were made about a person just by observing their sex. The woman was looked upon as an inferior being. They had little or no status in society, and little was expected from them. They were discriminated against when they tried to stand up for themselves. Chinese culture was customarily male dominated. The male was expected to do most of the work, and the woman was expected to stay at home with their mouth shut. This custom leaves an unwelcome feeling in a woman's heart. They feel like no one cares, and it makes it much harder to live with an optimistic view on life. In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, reviews the lives of three Chinese women, Ann-Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying Ying St. Clair. These women grow up in traditional Chinese homes, where there is sexism. They deal with serious problems that corrupt their lives. Through perseverance and the passing of time their lives return to normal. Ann-Mei, Lindo, and Ying Ying are subjugated by males because of their sex, and Chinese tradition. Ann-Mei was oppressed in many ways. Her mother was invited to spend time at the home of a wealthy merchant named Wu Tsing. At night he would come into Ann-Mei's mother's room and rape her. Despite emotionally scaring Ann-Mei this demonstrates the lack of respect for a women in China. Ann-Mei's mother is forced into concubinage because of her lack of power as a women. She becomes the third wife. As a third wife she maintains very little status in the home of Wu Tsing. Ann-Mei's family disowns her mother because by becoming a third wife she has brought shame to her family. ?When I was a young girl in China, my grandmother told me my mother was a ghost?. Ann-Mei is told to forget about her mother and move on in her life. The fact that Ann-Mei is told to forget her mother because she has become something she could not control, is preposterous. She was raped and forced into concubinage. The lack of appreciation for a female causes this feeling of shame for the Mei family. Since rape and polygamy is accepted in China, it makes it appear that what Ann-Mei's mother has done is wrong, and what Wu Tsing did was right and normal. Ann-Mei's daughter Rose, reaps the disadvantages of being a woman because she feels that she can't make decisions. ?...Ted decided where we went on vacation. He decided what new furniture we should buy...We used to discuss some of these matters, but we both knew the question would boil down to my saying, ?Ted, you decide.'? This illustrates Rose's disability to be assertive, and her dependence on a male. The life of Ann-Mei demonstrated how women were undervalued in society. The story of Lindo Jong allegorizes how women were discriminated against. At the very young age of twelve, Lindo is betrothed to Tyan-yu. This is an example of the insignificance of a female's feelings. Nobody wants to have an arranged marriage. Marriage is sacred, and is supposed to be exercised by two people who are in love with each other. This is an act of extreme unfairness to Lindo. This shows how an accepted Chinese practice is in actuality hurtful toward the female sex. ?I [Lindo] once sacrificed my life to keep my parents' promise?. Here, Lindo is talking about her arranged, loveless marriage. Chinese tradition is restricting Lindo from being her own person, and living her own life. She is unable to make her own decisions. Lindo is so willing to sacrifice her life in order to preserve the honor of her parents. There is no honor in forcing someone to be unhappy. On another note, Lindo was quickly blamed for not having children. Actually, their lack of offspring resulted from Tyan-yu's lack of interaction with Lindo. It was impossible for Lindo to stand up for herself because no matter what, the male would be believed over the female. Lindo is a perfect example of how Chinese tradition prohibited the female

Free Essays on Software Installation Policies

Who is responsible for installing and supporting software? A software installation policy needs to address the fact that the IT group is responsible for deploying software to computers. The wording of this section should describe the general methods of installing software on client computers. This can be used to guide the IT group internally for decisions on client clone images, software strategies, and upgrade paths. However, users could be involved in the installation procedure. An example would be a step-by-step installation procedure and software media sent out to a user in the field or to a telecommuter. Supporting software is as important as installing it. Before any application goes onto a client computer, some amount of testing should be performed to ensure that it will adequately address the business need and cooperate with the rest of the computing environment in an ongoing manner. What types of applications can exist on corporate machines? Keep a list of software needs within the policy. Supplement that list with specific titles and version(s) of the titles. The policy should state who has the ultimate authority for software that is used. In many cases, that could be a team of people from more than the IT group. User input is more of a factor in some software situations than others but should be balanced with IT feedback. Also address how the applications are to exist. This may be more of an IT-only issue, but it should be addressed in the policy. I feel that software should exist in the following ways only: Part of a clone image or OEM image An IT-drafted step-by-step installation procedure identifying installation options A shortcut only An automated installation through a deployment tool A terminal or Citrix application Some other controlled and documented distribution method By requiring software to exist only in this manner, IT will have a much better idea of what is supposed to be on the client mach... Free Essays on Software Installation Policies Free Essays on Software Installation Policies Who is responsible for installing and supporting software? A software installation policy needs to address the fact that the IT group is responsible for deploying software to computers. The wording of this section should describe the general methods of installing software on client computers. This can be used to guide the IT group internally for decisions on client clone images, software strategies, and upgrade paths. However, users could be involved in the installation procedure. An example would be a step-by-step installation procedure and software media sent out to a user in the field or to a telecommuter. Supporting software is as important as installing it. Before any application goes onto a client computer, some amount of testing should be performed to ensure that it will adequately address the business need and cooperate with the rest of the computing environment in an ongoing manner. What types of applications can exist on corporate machines? Keep a list of software needs within the policy. Supplement that list with specific titles and version(s) of the titles. The policy should state who has the ultimate authority for software that is used. In many cases, that could be a team of people from more than the IT group. User input is more of a factor in some software situations than others but should be balanced with IT feedback. Also address how the applications are to exist. This may be more of an IT-only issue, but it should be addressed in the policy. I feel that software should exist in the following ways only: Part of a clone image or OEM image An IT-drafted step-by-step installation procedure identifying installation options A shortcut only An automated installation through a deployment tool A terminal or Citrix application Some other controlled and documented distribution method By requiring software to exist only in this manner, IT will have a much better idea of what is supposed to be on the client mach...

Easy and Fun December Writing Prompts

Easy and Fun December Writing Prompts While December is packed with many different holidays, many with religious origins, the prompts below are for celebrating the less traditional, or even odd, events. Here is  a list of writing prompts, one for celebrating each day in December. You can use these as daily warm-ups, journal entries, or for other writing or speaking and listening assignments. December Recognition Safe Toy and Gift MonthUniversal Human Rights MonthWrite to a Friend Month Writing Prompt Ideas for December December 1 - Theme: Rosa Parks DayRead an interview Parks did for Scholastic Magazine.Do you think that racism still exists? Give specific reasons for your answer.December 2 - Theme: Safe Toy and Gift MonthThere are many toys and items that were once commonly given to children that are no longer allowed to be sold. Good Housekeeping keeps a list.Do you think that this is a good thing? Why or why not?December 3 - Theme: International Day of the Disabled PersonThe  Accessible Icon project has designed  the new icon to display an active, engaged image with a focus on the person with a disability.  The new icon is viewable at accessibleicon.orgWhat is the message of this icon, or any other icon, that alerts pedestrians and motorists to be mindful of people with disabilities?December 4 - Theme:  National Dice DayMany of your favorite games use dice (Monopoly, Risk, Trouble, Clue). What was one of those games that you played? Why did you like this game?December 5 - Theme: Walt Disn eys BirthdayWhats your favorite Walt Disney movie? Why? December 6 - Theme: Put on Your Own Shoe DayWhile this holiday may have started as a way to have students learn how to wear and lace up their shoes, you might want to write out what steps towards independence you have taken since you were a child.December 7 - Theme: Pearl Harbor DayListen to President Roosevelts speech on the bombing of Pearl Harbor.What makes the short speech so significant? What language makes this so memorable?December 8 - Theme: Pretend To Be A Time Traveler DayHow far back in time would you go? To yesterday to correct any mistakes? Would you go far back in history? Where would you travel, and why?December 9 - Theme:  Worldwide Candle Lighting Day  The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting unites family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for one hour to honor the memories of the sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren who left too soon. Who would you light a candle for, and why?December 10 - Theme: Human Rights DayWhy do you think that it is important for the world to have a day set aside as Human Rights Day? Explain your answer. December 11 - Theme: Write to a Friend MonthWrite the first paragraph of a letter that you might send to a friend that you havent seen for a long time.December 12 - Theme: National Cocoa DayIf you were given a choice of a hot beverage, which of the following would you choose: coffee, tea, or cocoa? Why?December 13: Theme:  National Day of The HorseEncouraging citizens to be  mindful  of the contribution of horses to the economy, history, and character of the United States. If you cannot write about the horse, then what other animals would you suggest be celebrated on this date?December 14 - Theme: First Miniature Golf Course OpenedHave you ever played miniature golf? What is your opinion of it?December 15 - Theme: Bill of Rights DayDo you think that freedom of speech should be absolute or restricted in certain circumstances? Explain your answer.December 16 - Theme: Boston Tea PartyAre you the type of person who would have participated in the Boston Tea Party, throwing tons of t ea overboard into the water to protest British laws and taxes? December 17 - Theme: Underdog DayDo you tend to root for the reigning champion or the underdog? Explain your answer.December 18 - Theme: Wear a Plunger on Your Head DayDescribe the silliest thing you have ever worn (or been forced to wear).December 19 - Theme: Peace and GoodwillWhat is the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for you? Write a thank you note to that person for their actions.December 21 - Theme: WinterWrite a poem or a short piece of prose about winter. Make sure to include the five senses in your writing.December 22 - Theme: Forefathers DayIt is a commemoration of the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on December 21, 1620.Who are your forefathers or ancestors? What achievements did they make?December 23 - Theme: Date Nut Bread DayFood historians believe that the date palm was first farmed in the Middle East around 6000 BCE. What foods that you eat today may be studied by food historians 1000 years from now?December 24 - Theme: National Egg N og DayWhats your favorite food to eat during the winter holidays? Describe it in detail. December 25 - Theme:  National Pumpkin Pie DayPies are meant to be shared. If you had to divide a pie to share, what would be the size of each slice? Why? Who would you share this pie with?ORDecember 25 - Theme: A’habet of No L DayA’phabet Day or No â€Å"L† Day is a pun on â€Å"Noel.†What is a pun? Read some examples. Can you write a few puns?December 26 - Theme:  Boxing DayBoxing Day is celebrated in the United Kingdom. These boxes are, in essence, holiday bonuses.  If you could not receive money as a bonus, what would you like to find in a box as a bonus for being a good student?December 27 - Theme: Visit the Zoo DayPretend you were visiting a zoo. Which animal would you want to see first and why?December 28 - Theme: Card Playing DayDo you like to play card games? If so, which do you like and why? If not, why not?ORDecember 28: Theme Pledge of Allegiance Day.​Congress formally recognized the Pledge of Allegiance on December 28, 1945.What d o you think about when you make this pledge?December 29 - Theme: BowlingHave you ever been bowling? Do you like this sport? Why or why not? December 30 - Theme: Looking BackWrite a paragraph detailing at least three good things that happened to you during this past year.December 31 - Theme: New Years EveHow do you commemorate New Years Eve? Describe your celebrations in detail. Source Interview with Rosa Parks. Scholastic, 2019.

Process Costing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Process Costing - Essay Example In the contemporary period, process costing is one successfully adopted accounting methodology in organizations. Organizations use process costing for effective cost calculation, especially at times when other costing models (job costing or activity based costing) are futile and not producing desired outcomes. Process costing is applied when activities like cost accumulation, cost assignment and cost assessment are to be performed and conducted. When both cost of fixed and variable natures are to be calculated then process costing comes into organizational application. Importance of Process Costing When an organization involves the multi-level production process and manufactures products in departmental sequence, then cost management is really a critical task. Process costing is a methodology than enables such organizations to calculate costs in the critical times. It is one methodology that can effectively be applied in manufacturing firms and organizations. Organizations where information flow is departmental can successfully adapt the strategic approach of process costing. This elaborates the comprehensive application of process costing in processing organizations. Literature Review Journal Article 1: Process-Based Costing: The Best of Activity-Based Costing Aim: Process costing is considered as a cost allocation process. It is known to be as a methodology that assigns cost to different process patterns with respect to assigning cost to process a sequence. The aim of this study is to determine that how process costing is effective in cost allocation procedure. How process costing applies in the activity of assigning costs to sub-sections of the process is answered in this study. Methodology: The study has adapted the case study format to conduct research and assessment. The case of semi conductor manufacturer is observed and analyzed in this study. The company was earlier a R&D unit which later on became a semi conductor manufacturer. This company was selected to understand process costing in a practical manner. The researcher first performed theoretical research to find out the importance of process costing manufacturing firms. Later the researcher analyzed the case of a manufacturer that produces semi conductors in batch forms. Functio nal activities of the selected company were analyzed to understand the practical implication of process costing(Sievanen & Tornberg, 2002). Conclusion: The study recognizes that a two-dimensional approach can be adopted on the basis of process costing methodology. These two dimensions are strategic and operational information collection. The study identifies that using the process costing with two dimensions, organization’s overall process cost can be calculated. Adopting the two dimension approach of process costing, cost of departmental procedures, functional activities and cost of objects and materials can be calculated. When departmental costs are known, cost allocation is an easy task to perform(Sievanen & Tornberg, 2002). Journal Article 2: Accounting for Process Cost Systems Aim: It has been noted that theories presented on process costing are certainly on a gap with the practical evidence that is present in this subject. There is certainly a gap present between proces s costing theory and practice as projected by most of the UK and Australian companies. The aim of this study is to understand this gap, which is done by means of understanding the New Zealand environment perspective(Parkinson, 2012). Research Methodology: The researcher adopted a pragmatic research design to conduct this study as both primary and secondary sources were used to perform

The effect of various types of electoral balloting on election results Research Paper - 1

The effect of various types of electoral balloting on election results - Research Paper Example Paper ballots for political elections first appeared in America in 1889 (Fund 7). Originally, voters would write the name of their candidate of choice on a piece of paper (Fund 9). In modern times, parties preprint ballot papers, and the voter selects their preferred candidate by ticking or crossing (Fund 9). Incidence of human error that may occur while utilizing such a ballot is high. However, the reason why this system is ineffective is the laws that govern the likely occurrence of these errors. The Supreme Court set standards that ensure objectivity and fairness in the vote counting process (Segal et al 309). However, these standards seem prejudiced because they allow the skilled vote counters the privilege to utilize arguments such as technicalities to disqualify a vote even in situations where the voter displays intent (Streb 74). The ruling party in most instances may use these standards to reduce the votes for the opposition. For instance, the party may ensure its voter offic ials train better than those of the opposition allowing them to detect â€Å"technicalities† with much more ease than the opposition’s officials (Fund 35). As such, the officials favor voter intent for their party while rejecting voter intent for other parties. Currently, less than 2% of American voters utilize this system (Streb 92). Hand counting ballot papers is a time consuming cumbersome process (Streb 91). This may lead to errors as the electoral officials become overwhelmed by the counting. This method also has a high level of fraud as it is easy to steal or misplace them (Streb 91). Mechanical lever machines first appeared in America in the 1892 elections. Their popularity over the years that followed reflects on the fraudulent nature of the paper ballot that people were trying to escape (Avaliktos 160). The citizenry trusted technology (hence the machine) over human

Value Chain Management Essay Example for Free

Value Chain Management Essay Explain how operations strategy is influenced by customer and business prospective and where in a standard value chain you would expect to see your chosen topic addressed. INTRODUCTION Every organization’s operations strategies are concerned with getting things done; ie producing merchandise for customers. However, most people believe that operations management is only concerned with short-term, day-to-day issues. In essence, all business organisations are concerned with how their business will survive and prosper in future. In contemporary terms, most business strategies are recognised with a plan as part of or a set of intentions that will set theirr long-term directions of their actions that are needed to ensure future organisational success. Thus, no matter how strong their plan is or how noble their intentions, are, any organisation’s strategy can only become a meaningful reality, in practice, if it’s operationally instigated. Every organisation’s operations are equally important because most organisational activity comprises the day-to-day activities within the operations function. It’s the process of daily actions of operations, when considered in their totality that constitute the organisation’s long-term strategic direction. The relationship between an organisation’s strategy and the operations involved is a key determinant of its ability to achieve long-term success or even survival. Organisational improvement is only likely to result if short-term operations activities are consistent with long-term strategies and hence, make a contribution to competitive advantage. The relationship between corporate operations and the other business functions is similarly important. The objective of the operations function is to produce goods and services required by customers whilst managing resources efficiently. This can then lead to conflicts within an organisation. Conflicts between operations and selling functions are likely to centre on the marketing aspect to ensure that operations concentrate on satisfying customers. Whilst this may seem enduring, marketing will usually want operations to suit customer needs under usual circumstances. Therefore, this is likely to lead to demands to produce  bigger volumes, more varieties, better quality, a faster response, and so on, all of which are likely to lead to less efficient operations. Conflicts within the operations, the accounting and finance functions, on the other hand, are likely to centre on the desire of accounting and finance to want operations to manage resources as efficiently as possible. This will pull operations in exactly the opposite direction of that desired by marketing. Conflicts within operations and the human resource management function are likely to centre on issues of recruitment, selection, training, management and the reward of those employed within operations. For example, operational managers may want to vary organisation-wide policies in order to meet local needs; a move likely to be resisted by human resource managers. The operations function lies at the heart of any organisation and interacts with all the other functions. As such, achieving agreement about what decision areas lie within the remit of operations, and what should be the basis of decision-making within operations is an essential part of ensuring the consistency of action over time necessary for a successful organisational strategy. OPERATIONS STRATEGY My introduction towards operational strategic purposes has highlighted the strategic importance of operations to organisational performance. The importance of operational strategy is essential to an organisation as this will determine the extent to which its business strategy can be implemented, but also as its operations can be a source of competitive advantage within any businesses value chain. First I will outline what exactly is meant by the term operations strategy. Slack et al, argues that an operations strategy concerns the pattern of strategic decisions and actions which set the role, objectives and activities of operations. His use of this term ‘pattern’ implies a consistency in strategic decisions and actions over time. This concept is consistent with a theorist guru, Henry Mintzberg’s view of strategy as being a ‘pattern in a stream of actions’ (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985). Henry Mintzberg, views strategy as being realised through a combination of deliberate and emergent actions. An organisation can have an intended strategy, perhaps as a set of strategic plans. However, only some  of his intended strategy may be realized through deliberate strategy. Some of the intentions may be unrealized. Strategies which take no regard of operational feasibility are more likely to have low marketing prospects, remaining merely as a set of intentions. Strategies may also emerge from actions taken within the organisations functions, which over time form a consistent pattern. Actions of this kind will, almost inevitably, arise from within the operations of the organisation. So, whether intentionally planned or otherwise, the business operations are bound to have a major impact on the formation of organisational strategy. It’s often said that strategy is an issue which is somehow separate from day-to-day organisational activities. If taken to extremes, this can result in strategies being regarded as some kind of cerebral activity performed by superior’s who need to be removed from day-to-day operational pressures. Theorists such as Mintzberg is amongst those who point out to the dangers of managers becoming detached from the basics of the enterprise. Mintzberg and Quinn (1991) call this the ‘don’t bore me with the operating details; I’m here to tackle the big issues’ syndrome. They caution that, ‘the big issues are rooted in little details’. Operational strategy, the processes and content: A. Operational strategy processes: How an organisation sets about developing appropriate operation strategies and B. Operational strategy content: What the key decision areas are and what needs to be addressed in developing any operational strategy. OPERATIONS STRATEGY PROCESS As discussed above, operational strategies have a vertical relationship in the corporate hierarchy within business and corporate strategies, and horizontally with the other functional strategies, mostly recognised within marketing strategies. Operations strategy might come about in a top-down or a bottom-up process with regard to business and corporate strategies. Similarly, an operations strategy might be developed in response to market requirements (i.e. market-led) or be based on the capabilities of its operational resources (i.e. operations-led). As this gives rise to four  perspectives on operation strategy (Slack and Lewis, 2002). Each perspective places a different emphasis on the nature of the operations strategy process. Top-down The top down perspective is the operations strategy which it comprises of, and is supportive of the organisation’s business purposes; an operations strategy that the organisation uses to realise its business strategy within any value chain. This concept follows in line with the perspective of the Hayes and Wheelwright stage 3 organisational strategy process. According to this theory, the process of developing an operations strategy would follow Skinner’s approach of identifying an operation’s ‘task’ (Skinner, 1969). The task for operations would be determined logically from the business strategy. Using Slack et al.’s, five operations performance objectives theory, as one way of articulating the operations task. For example, if the organisation’s business strategy involves the offering of low pricing, then the operation’s task should be one of achieving low costs in operations. If the business strategy is based on offering customers fast delivery, then the operations task should be one of achieving speed in operations, and so forth. In a multi-business organisation, the top-down perspective emphasises operations strategy being linked to corporate strategy via the business strategy of each business unit. This then raises the question of whether it is possible to talk of ‘corporate’ operations strategy. If corporate operations strategy means commonality, in all aspects of operations, then this would only be possible if each business unit has similar business strategies and similar operations tasks. (Johnson and Scholes, 1999) However, some theorists such as Hayes et al would argue that any corporate operational strategy does not mean that every facet of operations must be the same in each business unit. Rather, operations decisions are considered enormously at the corporate level with a view to meeting corporate strategic objectives. A failure to do this means that operations decisions are taken only at the level of the business unit, with a view to meeting needs of that business unit. The dangers of doing this have been pointed out by theories, who caution against letting the needs of the business unit dominate strategic thinking. This can lead to operational competences being confined  within individual business units, thereby restricting their future development, which includes preventing their spread to other business units and limiting opportunities for synergistic developments across the corporation. This can be particularly important in multi-site, multi-national enterprises. ( Prahlad and Hamel, 1990) Bottom-up The bottom-up perspective is one which sees the operations strategy as an element emerging through a series of actions and decisions taken over time within operations. These actions or decisions might at first seem to appear to be somewhat risky as operations managers respond to customer demands, seek to solve specific problems, copy good practices in other organizations, etc. However, they usually coincide over time to form a coherent pattern recognisable as an operations strategy. The actions then taken within this kind of strategy are likely to be characterized by a continuous series of sporadic improvements rather than the large one-off technologically led changes that require large capital investments in new plant and machinery. The bottom-up perspective is one where the organisation learns from its experiences, developing and enhancing its operational capabilities as operations managers try new things out in an almost experimental routine using their workplaces as a kind of ‘learning laboratory’ (Leonard-Barton, 1992). Easy Jet Case Study Although EasyJet only undertook its first flight in 1995, when it operated two routes (London Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh), ten years later, the budget airline offered 212 routes to 64 European airports and transported over 29 million passengers in 2005. EasyJet now carries more passengers within Europe than British Airways. Analysts expect EasyJet and its Irish based rival Ryanair, to both overtake all traditional airlines to become the largest short-haul operators in Europe by the end of the decade. The Luton based airline is known as continuously expanding, recently announcing the purchase of a further 20 Airbus A319 planes to service the ever increasing number of routes it operates. In 2005 EasyJet carried up to 30 million  passengers, up from 25.7 million in 2004, making it a  £1.3 billion business! Despite record high fuel level costs, profits were up and around 10 per cent to  £68 million. Passenger numbers rose 21 per cent to 29.6 million and the load factor, indicating how many seats are filled, was 85.2 per cent, reflecting the airline’s popularity. The low cost lines like EasyJet have revolutionised the airline industry in Europe. Modelled on South West Airlines in the USA, these airlines have not only helped create a whole new market of cost-conscious travellers but have taken market share from established operators like British Airways and become the most profitable airlines in Europe. To be profitable, these airlines have to achieve low costs to match the low fares, which are the main attraction to their passengers. With its head office as a large tin shed adjacent to the main taxiway at unfashionable Luton Airport, all of EasyJet’s operations are aimed at minimising costs. This is done in a number of ways: Use of the Internet to reduce distribution costs. EasyJet sells around 95 per cent of all seats over the Internet. Its online booking system uses a variable pricing system to try to maximize load factors.(Prices start very low – sometimes free, and rise as seats are filled.) The fuller the aircraft the lower the unit cost of travel. (Scholes and Johnson,1999, pg12) Ticketless travel Passengers are emailed with their travel details and booking reference numbers. This helps reduce significantly the cost of issuing, distributing, processing and reconciling millions of tickets each year. Neither does EasyJet pre-assign seats on board. Passengers sit where they like. This eliminates an unnecessary complexity and speeds up passenger boarding. No free on board catering. Eliminating free catering on board reduces cost and unnecessary bureaucracy. Passengers can purchase food and refreshments on board. Efficient use of airports. EasyJet flies to the less crowded airports of smaller European cities and prefers the secondary airports in the major cities. These also have lower  landing charges and normally offer faster turnarounds as there are fewer air movements. EasyJet’s efficient ground operations enable them to achieve turnarounds of less than 30 minutes. This means EasyJet can achieve extra rotations on the high-frequency routes, maximising the utilization of aircraft. EasyJet’s ability to offer point-to point travel means that it does not have to worry about onward connections for passengers and their baggage, further simplifying its operations. Paperless operations. EasyJet have embraced the concept of their paperless office, with all its management and administration undertaken entirely on IT systems. These can be accessed through the use of servers from anywhere in the world thereby enhancing flexibility in the running of the airline. (Scholes and Johnson,1999, pg12) Many of the manufacturing practices that are now considered leading edge such as JIT, TQM, Statistical Process Control, were developed in just; such a fashion by Japanese manufacturers responding to the constraints placed upon them in the aftermath of the Second World War. One of the problems associated with this perspective is that the organization may not recognize what its operations strategy is. Mills et al. (1998) have developed a technique that aims to overcome this by enabling managers to construct a visual representation of operations strategy as realized. It does this by tapping into the organization’s collective memory, whether written or verbal, to map all of their most significant events in operations over the previous number of years. This should enable managers to recognise the patterns that now make up the existing operation’s strategy. Market-led The market-led perspective is one where the operations strategy is developed in response to the market environment in which the organisation operates. There’s a number of approaches within operations strategy that suggest how this might be done. The best known of these theorists is that of Terry Hill (1985). He suggests that an organisation’s operations strategy should be linked to its marketing strategy by considering how its products and  services win orders in the market place. He believes it’s possible to identify two types of competitive criteria in any market. Market qualifying criteria are those factors that must be satisfied before customers will consider making a purchase in the first place. Order winning criteria, on the other hand, are the factors in which customers ultimately make their purchasing decision. For example, for many airline passengers, the order winning criteria is price, with criteria such as destination city, time of flights and convenience of travel to and from airports being market qualifying criteria. For others, notably business travellers, the order winning criteria may be factors such as in-flight service or total travel time. Consequently, an operations strategy should be developed which will satisfy market qualifying criteria, but excel at order winning criteria for the market segment that the operation wishes to serve. Platts and Gregory 1990, use an approach that audits the products or groups of products that the organisation offers to its markets. The aim is to identify any gaps between market requirements for particular products and services and the performance of the organisation’s operations in delivering those products and services. First the market requirements for the product or service are analysed in terms of various competitive factors (such as cost, quality, reliability). The performance of the organization’s operations against those factors are then assessed. An operations strategy should be developed which will enable operations to match the level of performance required by customers in each of the competitive criteria. Operations-led The operations-led perspective is one in which its excellence in operations is used to drive the organisation’s strategy. This is in line with the Hayes and Wheelwright stage 4 organisation and fits with the resource-based view (RBV) of strategy that currently dominates the strategic management literature. The premise of the RBV is that superior performance comes from the way that an organization acquires, develops and deploys its resources and builds its capabilities rather than the way it positions itself in the market place (Barney, 1991; Wernerfelt, 1984). Thus, the process of strategy development should be based on a sound understanding of current operational capabilities and an analysis of how these could be developed in  the future. This can then provide the basis for decisions about which markets are likely to be the best in which to deploy current and future capabilities, which competitors are likely to be most vulnerable and how attacks from competitors might best be countered (Hayes et al., 2005). Mills et al. (2002) have developed methods through which organizations can apply these ideas in practice. This involves undertaking an analysis of the resources that have underpinned the activities of a business unit over an extended period of time (at least the previous three to five years). Six resource categories, which are not mutually exclusive, are used: tangible resources, knowledge resources skills and experience, systems and procedural resources, cultural resources and values, network resources and resources important for change. The resources are evaluated against three criteria: value, sustainability and versatility. Resources that individually or collectively score highly in these criteria are considered to be important resources. They are sources of existing or potential competitive advantage to the organization. OPERATIONS STRATEGY: CONTENT What then are the key decision areas of operations management that need to be considered when an organization is developing an operations strategy? Although there are a number of classifications in use, operations management scholars generally agree (e.g. Leong et al., 1990) that the major strategic decision areas in operations can be conveniently divided into ten categories under two broad headings: structure (the physical attributes of operations; the hardware) and infrastructure (the people and systems of operations; the software). The structural decision areas comprise: Facilities: the location, size and focus of operational resources. These decisions are concerned with where to locate production facilities, how large each facility should be, what goods or services should be produced at each location, what markets each facility should serve, etc. Capacity: the capacity of operations and their ability to respond to changes in customer demand. These decisions are concerned with the use of facilities, for example through shift patterns, working hours and staffing levels. Decisions about capacity will affect the organisation’s ability to serve particular markets from a given location.  Process technology: the technology of the equipment used in operations processes. For example, the degree of automation used, the configuration of equipment, and so on. Supply network: the extent to which operations are conducted in-house or are outsourced. Decisions about vertical integration are also concerned with the choice of suppliers, their location, the extent of dependence on particular suppliers, and how relationships with suppliers are managed. Structural decisions often involve major capital investment decisions, which once made will set the direction of operations for many years to come. They invariably impact the resources and capabilities of an organisation, determining its potential future output. It may be prohibitively expensive to change such decisions once implemented, and hence these must be considered to be truly strategic decisions for the organisation. It may be much easier to change the organisation’s marketing strategy (e.g. its target markets, or its promotional activities) than it is to change its operations strategy with respect to the structural decision areas. Infrastructure decision areas comprise: * Planning /Control: the systems used for planning and controlling operations. * Quality: the use of quality management policies and practices. * Work Organisation: Business structures, responsibilities and accountabilities in operations. * Human Resources: recruitment and selection, training and development, management style. * New Product Development: the systems and procedures used to develop and design new products and services. * Performance Measurement: financial and non-financial performance management and its linkage to recognition and reward systems. These issues are important to every organisation as this involves the use made up of the operating hardware as discussed above. It is possible to change aspects of operations infrastructure more quickly and easily than the case for operations structure. Nonetheless the difficulty of doing so should not be underestimated or neither should the impact of making inappropriate infrastructural decisions parallel. Conclusion Organisational strategy is concerned with the actions a company takes in order to survive and prosper within the environment it operates over the long-term. Strategy can exist at three levels in an organisation: which are; corporate, business and functional. Any organisation’s operations strategy includes the totality of the actions and decisions taken within the operations function. The decisions or actions taken have a direct impact on the organisation’s business and corporate strategy. An organisation’s operations can be a source of competitive advantage if they are managed strategically in pursuit of a clear goal for operations. These are five possible operations objectives; cost, quality, speed, dependability and flexibility. It is unlikely that any operation can excel at all of these simultaneously, so competitive priorities must be determined on which to base the operations strategy. The process of operations strategy concerns the way in which an organisation develops its operations strategy. This might be top-down (i.e. formed in pursuit of its business and corporate strategy), bottom-up (i.e. formed from the actions and decisions taken with operations), market-led (i.e. formed in response to market requirements) or operations-led (based on the resources and capabilities within its operations). The content of operation strategy consists of the key decision areas concerned with the structure (i.e. the physical attributes of facilities, capacity, process technology and supply network) and infrastructure (i.e. planning and control, quality, organisation, human resources, new product development and performance measurement). Through a value chain, operations strategy would be placed in line with the company supply chain strategies and perspectives where business process are involved. This concerns the pattern of strategic decisions and actions which set the role, objectives and activities of operations. (Slack et al., 2004). References Johnson, g and Scoles, k Exploring corporate strategy, 6th Edition. England: Prentice Hall Ltd Miller, R Jentz, G (2009) Fundamentals of Business , 2nd Edition. England: Cengage Learning Soulsby, S Marsh, J (2002) Business , 8th Edition. London: Nelson Thornes Ltd Rush, J Ottley, M (2006) Business for students. London: Thomson Learning www.wikipedia.org Accessed: 15.20pm: 24.1.12

Muscles In The Human Body :: essays research papers

The musculoskeletal system is made up of bones, joints, and muscles. This system gives the body form and support, and protects the body while allowing it to move. Basically, the muscles in this system perform three important body functions: the movement of body parts, maintenance of body parts, and production of body heat. These muscles all consist of a mass of protein fibers grouped together, and most are of mesodermal origin. And almost all of the muscle fibers you will ever have or need were present at birth. Nearly half of your body mass is muscles, the largest and strongest being in the shoulders, upper arms, hips, and thighs. There are over five hundred muscles in the human body.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Muscle fibers are basically classified according to their size and speed of contraction. There are three main types of muscles. The first is skeletal. Skeletal muscle makes up the largest mass of muscle in the body, and is the type of muscle that is attached to bones and moves the skeleton in a conscious control, so therefore it is a voluntary muscle. Its contractions are short and strong, providing the force needed for movement. The muscle contractions produce and provide some heat needed in the body. Skeletal muscle tissue is made up of smaller fibers called myofibrils. These myofibrils are composed of even smaller protein filaments. These filaments can be either thick or thin. The thick filaments are made of the protein myosin, and the thin filaments are made of the protein actin. The arrangement of the myosin and actin gives skeletal muscle its striated (or striped) appearance. Each section of a myofibril is called a sarcomere, and is the functional unit of muscle. How muscles contract is directly related to their structure. The sliding filament theory is an explanation of how muscle contractions occur. This theory states that the actin filaments within the sarcomere slide toward one another during contraction. But, the myosin filaments don’t move. The second type of muscle is smooth, which is found in internal organs and blood vessels. It consists of collections of fusiform cells that don’t show its striations under even a light microscope. The most common function of this muscle is to squeeze, which puts forth pressure on the space inside the tube or organ it surrounds. Contractions of smooth muscle are weak and slow compared with the contractions of the other two kinds.

Importance of Scientific and Technological Development in China

Countries are defined by a lot of factors, which include its geography, demography, technology, economy and military power. Whichever country is superior in all aspects gets to be described as one of the most powerful countries in the world, like America, the British Empire, and Soviet Union, for example. In the history of the world, these mentioned countries were known as superpowers and were capable of influencing other countries in major ways. In recent years, though, there is another country that is slowly on its path on having such a title as well. This country is China.China is a very famous country not only because it is one of the largest and most populated countries in the world but also because it is one of the four ancient civilizations of the world. In terms of technology in the ancient world, China was probably not far behind. After all, China was to the ancient world like America is to the rest of the world today. And in the present 21st century, China is starting to pr ogress again as it continues to improve its technology. After all, technological development can produce a better environment for the people of a country since it could make them happier and have good, satisfying lives (Spring 119).And truthfully, technology is one of the key factors for a country to be called successful or powerful. Whoever has the advanced technology is capable of holding the world in its grip. And since this paper is about the importance of scientific and technological development in China, then it is only proper to discuss first how the science and technology of China developed from the early times to the present. Anyway, China is an emerging power that given probably a decade or so, at least, will be able to compete with America on equal footing. And that statement is not an unfounded assumption.After all, there are now books like China: Friend or Foe by Hugo de Burgh (2006) and China, Inc. : How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World by Ted C. Fishman (2006) that fully discuss and explain the facts behind that assumption. Importance of Science and Technology in China Pre-Imperial China China’s science and technology had been booming since the fourth century BC1. According to David Wright in his book The History of China, pre-modern China, which was 1840 and earlier, already had advanced technology in the aspects of engineering, agriculture, and warfare, to name a few.Apparently, there were a lot of inventions, discoveries and innovations that the Chinese already made years before the Western world did the same thing. For example, in agriculture, the Chinese were the first to develop the trace harness. This was a very important agricultural invention, since prior to its invention, the farm animals that were used to plow the fields were harnessed around their throats and stomachs. (40) Of course, one can only imagine the pain those animals must have gone through.Not only would such a painful experience crea te an uncooperative attitude for the animal, but it probably could choke the animal if it carries a heavy load. With the trace harness, a yoke was placed â€Å"†¦across the animal’s chest from which traces or shafts connected it to a carriage. 1† He adds that it was only nine hundred years later that medieval Europe harnessed farm animals in the same way. At around the same time, the Chinese also did straight-line cropping, which was only practiced by Europeans in the 18th century AD, and in the sixth century BC, started using an iron plow.In medicine, the Chinese already understood that the blood circulates around the body and that it is pumped by the heart around the second century BC. This knowledge was obtained by the Arabs who later spread it to Europe. Also two centuries earlier, they were already using natural gas as a means for heating. They were even able to transport and store it after a few innovations. And even more amazing is the fact that around the same time, someone in China already thought of the first law of Newton and defined a circle properly as shown by Mo-ist writings (Wright, 41).Then, in 14th century BC, they were already using the decimal system and already understood and used the concept of a zero. The compass and crossbow also came from the Chinese. In addition, they were also the first ones to use chemical and poison gas as weapons in battle (Wright, 42). Early Imperial China During early imperial China, around 221 BC to AD 589, technological innovations in China did not cease. The Chinese were probably the first ones to use the power of rivers and streams and the waterwheel to produce power (Wright, 64). The fact that they already had this technology during that time is already amazing.Then add the fact that they actually used this to power huge bellows for iron-casting (Wright, 64). When I imagine the movies I watch were there are medieval blacksmiths, all I can visualize are the smiths themselves or their assis tants doing the bellows work. The Chinese were also the first ones to use suspension bridges. It wasn’t really a flat passage then because the â€Å"bridge followed the curved contours of the suspended rope. † (Wright, 64) But later, the Chinese were able to remedy this after their invention and use of iron-chain suspension techniques1.Then, when they first invented paper, the first kind they made were so durable, rough and hard it was not only used for writing but also for clothing, light armor, mosquito nets, and curtains (Wright 65). They were also the first ones to develop the stirrups for horses in third century AD (Wright 65) and invent and use a seismograph (Wright 66). The seismograph did not really measure the intensity of an earthquake but it could provide the direction which helped the government officials to efficiently provide help to the affected area. The Chinese were already hang gliding and using parachutes long before da Vinci sketched his design of o ne.There were actual recorded events that the Chinese really did so like an emperor requiring prisoners to jump from unbound kites or an instance of a Chinese jumping from a height and landing safely with the use of â€Å"several large conical straw hats tied together to his body† as written by the Chinese historian Sima Qian (Wright 66). Middle and Late Imperial China According to Wright, the technological ingenuity of the Chinese ceased after Mongol conquest. However, it was also during this time that the Chinese invented and perfected one of the most important inventions that had a great impact to the world, the gunpowder.The effect of this invention is an undeniable fact and further discussion on it will be made later in the paper. Then, the Chinese also were the first to print books, but not printing itself, via woodblock printing and invent the first movable type printing. They did the latter around 1040s, four hundred years earlier than Gutenberg’s invention, bu t did not make further efforts on it since it was impractical to use due to the thousand individual characters present in the Chinese writing. Then, they also made the first working mechanical clock and Mercator map projections (Wright 96).In addition, the Chinese made the first vaccines against smallpox and the first phosphorescent paintings (Wright 97). Spread of the science and technology outside China From the study of world history, one can determine that there are a number of factors responsible for how a certain country is today. For example, trade between people and countries in the early times were an important source not only of livelihood but also of science and technology. Knowledge, customs and cultures can also be spread to a certain area of the world via, ironically, war or conquests and religious activity.For a number of the inventions and innovations of the Chinese, some were spread to other parts of the world, both intentionally and unintentionally, probably by tra ding with other people and war. For example, despite efforts of the Chinese to prohibit its spread, the crossbow and secret of papermaking still spread anyway. Especially, the papermaking techniques, which was said to have been guarded by the Chinese for centuries, were supposedly shared to the Arabs when those who knew it became prisoners after the Tang dynasty were defeated by Arab armies (Wright 65).Then, there are the stirrups that were probably shared with Westerners by the Avars, whom the Chinese also knew (Wright 66). For the most part, it was revealed that Europe, the Arabs and the countries near China, Korea and Japan, were the beneficiaries of the science and technology of China. For example, for Europe, it was probably because it was then the superpower of the world. From world history, up until World War II, Europe had a lot of Asian colonies and having read parts of the history of China, it can be seen that Europe was interested in China as well.After all, it repeatedly tried to have both a friendly and not-so-friendly relationship with China. As for the Arabs, they were basically known to be desert nomads and thus it is not impossible for them to have been to China and traded with them. And since there also came a point in Arabic history that they were able to build their own dynasty that spread by conquering in Asia, they must have been to China as well and tried to conquer parts of it. And of course, Korea and Japan are just neighboring countries of China. Eighteenth century to the present ChinaUnfortunately, I was unable to find more technological inventions or innovations that the Chinese have made during this time. As Bodde mentions in his book, it is indeed puzzling that the Chinese did not have the same scientific and technological revolution that really changed Europe and the rest of the Western world (3). After all, the Chinese did have a civilization that had existed for so long and produced so many useful inventions and technology that are actually the groundwork of today’s advancing science and technology way before the Westerners did.To think that if the Chinese continued on with their work, it is interesting to think where they would be at this point in time. Would they be the superpower instead of America? But as Bodde writes, such decline may have something to do with the mindset of the Chinese during that time. After all, the Chinese do adhere to their Confucian beliefs which are opposed to war and competition (3). Then, there’s also the Taoist distrust of innovative technology (4). The social aspect was probably partly a reason for the decline.Or maybe, as Bodde said, the Chinese recognized the hazards of an advanced technology (4). After all, technology is like a double-edged sword. It is capable of defending one’s self and at the same time attacking others. Technology can help man have an easier life but it could also be used for his destruction. One of China’s most important inventions: Gunpowder Speaking of technology that had been used both for the good and bad of mankind, we’ll now talk about gunpowder.It’s probably weird to say that it was actually used for the good of mankind when it has been primarily and most efficiently used in war. Well, according to Embree, the Chinese weren’t looking for gunpowder when they discovered it during the Tang dynasty. In actuality, they were in search of a pill that could fight aging (849) and prolong life, in short, a form of the fabled elixir of life. The product was able to treat some skin diseases, fevers and ringworm. Its recipe was even included in some pharmacology texts.They called it huoyao, or firedrug, because of its explosive tendencies that led to fire in the alchemists’ laboratories. It was then later used for firecrackers and blasting and thus, its military applications were immediately realized. Conclusion It is ironic that the Taoists, who are known for their practices i n prolonging the lives of its devotees, were the ones who produced the gunpowder which was able to do the exact opposite. As mentioned earlier, its application was mainly in the military that used it to make bombs, grenades and cannons.Earlier designs of cannons used bamboo barrels. But they were probably able to improve it since bronze cannons that date back to 1332 were unearthed and are now at the Chinese History Museum. However, it was also discovered that as early as 1128, metal bombards were already used. Then, gunpowder was also used for its rocket-propelling capabilities which the Chinese used to develop â€Å". . . more than thirty different kinds of fire-arrows designed to rain down on the enemy, explode, and catch everything around on fire. † (Embree 850)The invention of gunpowder did not have as much impact to Chinese society as its introduction to the Western world did. After all, with gunpowder, Europe was able to move out of its medieval era via destroying the frontiers of the feudal castles that ruled it then and establishing a monarchy. This monarchy then further utilized gunpowder to strengthen and stabilize its position in Europe. It was later on innovated and used in guns and artillery and as the years go on in bombs, grenades, and everything else that explodes. But with the Chinese, the gunpowder did not have such an impact, as mentioned.Embree adds that it was because during the Tang dynasty, China was already a united empire and thus did not have feudal castles to destroy like the Europeans. Of course, the Chinese did not want to share the gunpowder and the other things they invented or innovated with it. What country would? However, they were unable to stop its spread. After using it to fend off invaders like the Jurchen from forests in the northeast and the Mongols, the Chinese still lost to them anyway in 1127 and 1234, respectively. Then, the Mongols ruled â€Å". . .China and used gunpowder against the Southern Song, the Jap anese, and kingdoms in Southeast Asia. † (Embree 850) As for the spread of gunpowder to the west, the Arabs are certainly not the ones responsible, even if it appeared suddenly in Italy during the fourteenth century. Embree quotes an article by Lynn White, Jr. titled â€Å"Tibet, India, and Malaya as Sources of Western Medieval Technology. † Although the article does not explicitly mention gunpowder, what he says in his article is a probable explanation of how at least the technology of gunpowder suddenly appeared in Italy.White explains that it might be because of the slave trade in Italy. Since the Muslim slaves were gruff and almost always escaped and due to canonical prohibitions, the Genoese merchants thought of securing slaves from central Asia and made it the main source of slaves. It is not impossible for the Genoese merchants to do this since they are known to have been the first Europeans to have traded with the Mongolians, Russians and the Chinese (Embree 853 ). In addition, the slaves that were sold were of both sexes and were relatively old enough to have accurate memories of their own homelands.A study on the records of the slaves also revealed that the majority of the slaves came from areas near Tibet and China (Embree 852). Thus, it certainly implies that the technology of the gunpowder may have been carried through to Italy and into the Western world by the Asian slaves. And gunpowder is still relevant today as the other inventions that the Chinese came up with centuries ago. In connection with that though, the thought of what the world might have been today if it was the Chinese who did it continues to bug the mind.Anyway, it certainly seems that after a long rest, the Chinese government is taking steps to revive its scientific community. China has now established its new science and technology management system that integrates science and technology with industrial and agriculture production. And with their opening up policy, its scientists and engineers concentrated on the world’s advanced level of scientific and technological development. Thus, international exchange and cooperation is now the priority of China since technology acquisition will continue to bring about changes in China’s own technology (Yu 222).An example of this is the increase in the information and communication technology in China, which has one of the world’s largest telecommunications market. Its information technology industry has also been helping the economy triple its gross domestic product (Qiang 2). Indeed, the reforms and opening up that China did brought positive effects, with a fast economic growth. With its continual development and improvement of its science and technology policies, it will certainly close the gap between those with other countries in the near future.

Internet Procedures Essay

The Internet is considered the â€Å"world’s largest computer network† (Encyclopedia Americana). The Internet dates back to the early 1960s. The Internet consists of small computer networks that are connected to each other. It serves as a tool for different organizations to share and exchange electronic data. It links different computers from all over the world through TCP/IP protocols (The Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2006). Each computer has a software that allows it to provide information and conversely, to access and view information (The Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2006). The Internet has grown in size over the years that the Internet Software Consortium estimated that by early 2003, more than 170 million computers or hosts are connected to the Internet (Encyclopedia Americana). A person who wants to access the Internet through a computer must have a telecommunications link, such as modem, and software that is necessary to be able to connect to an Internet Service Provider (The Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2006). A computer needs an IP address to be able to connect to the Internet. An IP address consists of a unique set of numbers that allows the computer to receive data using the TCP/IP. Transmission or sharing of computer files occurs when each packet of a computer file finds its destination, which is the IP address of its intended recipient (Encyclopedia Americana). The Internet differs from the World Wide Web (WWW), in that the Internet is the network that serves as the conduit of all computers connected to it, while the World Wide Web is â€Å"a service that allows computer users to quickly and easily navigate the Internet† (Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia). References Internet. (2007). Encyclopedia Americana. Retrieved February 21, 2007, from Grolier Online http://0-ea. grolier. com. novacat. nova. edu:80/cgi-bin/article? assetid=0216805-00 The Library, University of California, Berkeley. (2006). What is the Internet? Retrieved February 20, 2007, from http://www. lib. berkeley. edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/WhatIs. html World Wide Web. (2007). Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 21, 2007, from Grolier Online http://0-gme. grolier. com. novacat. nova. edu:80/cgi- bin/article? assetid=0315535-0

Taking the Train in France Master Typical French Train Announcements

Taking the Train in France Master Typical French Train Announcements Youve studied the train related French vocabulary, read my 7 tips you should know before taking the train to France, read my 20 questions and answers to know when traveling by train, so now, lets practice with some typical train announcements in French. â€Å"Le TGV 8330 en provenance de Paris Montparnasse et destination de Tours va rentrer en gare voie 6.   Il dessert les gares de ..., et Tours, son terminus. Les rà ©servations sont obligatoires dans ce train. Nous vous rappelons que dà ©sormais, l’à ©tiquetage des bagages est obligatoire. Pour votre sà ©curità ©, à ©loignez-vous de la bordure du quai†. The TGV coming from Paris Montparnasse and going to Tours is going to enter the station track 6. It stops at the stations of... and Tours, it’s final stop. Bookings are needed for this train. We would like to remind you that from now on, writing your name on your luggage is compulsory. For your security, please stay away from the edge of the platform†. â€Å"Bienvenue dans le TER 5506 destination de Guingamp. Ce train desservira les gares de Paimpol, ...† Welcome in the TER 5506 going to Guingamp. This train will stop at the following stations: Paimpol, ...† â€Å"Gare de Pontrieux. Une minute d’arrà ªt. Correspondance pour Paris voie A. Pour votre sà ©curità © attention l’espace entre le train et la bordure du quai†. Pontrieux station. One minute stop. Connection to Paris on track A. For your security, mind the gap between the train and the platform†. â€Å" cause de travaux sur la route, nous vous informons que notre TGV va rester en gare pendant 10 minutes. Nous nous excusons pour le retard occasionnà ©Ã¢â‚¬ . Because of roadworks, (we are telling you that) our TFV is going to stay in the station for 10 minutes. Please accept our apologies for the delay†. â€Å" cause des grà ¨ves, le TGV en provenance de Lyon sera retardà © de 30 minutes. Merci de prendre contact avec un agent de la SNCF pour plus d’informations†. Because of the strikes, the TGV coming from Lyon will be 30 minutes late. Please contact an SNCF agent for more information. â€Å"Mesdames, messieurs, dans quelques instants notre TGV desservira la gare de Pontrieux. Une minute d’arrà ªt. Assurez-vous de ne rien avoir oublià ©.† Ladies and gentlemen, in a few minutes our TGV will enter Pontrieux station. One minute stop. Make sure you don’t forget anything. â€Å"Toute l’à ©quipe de la SNCF vous remercie pour votre confiance et espà ¨re vous revoir trà ¨s bientà ´t sur le rà ©seau†. The SNCF team thanks you for your trust and hopes to see you again very soon on our network. â€Å"Au nom de la SNCF et de l’à ©quipe TGV, je vous souhaite une bonne journà ©e.† On behalf of SNCF and the TGV team, I wish you good day. I post exclusive mini lessons, tips, pictures and more daily on my Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest  pages - so join me there! https://www.facebook.com/frenchtoday https://twitter.com/frenchtoday https://www.pinterest.com/frenchtoday/ Follow these links for more of my taking the train in France related articles: - ​French Train Vocabulary,- 7 Need-to-Know Facts Before You Take the Train in France- 20 Typical QA Youll Use When Taking the Train in France- Master Train Announcements in French- Lets Take the Train Together - Bilingual French English Story​

An Assessment to the New Deal to Determine How Neoliberal Ideology Threatens Democracy

An Assessment to the New Deal to Determine How Neoliberal Ideology Threatens Democracy Neoliberal Ideology Threatens Democracy This paper will assess the New Deal and argue that the desire to dismantle it through laissez-faire capitalism or neoliberalism threatens the wellbeing of all citizens. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 set the stage for the Great Depression, which was Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ticket into the White House against his Republican foe Herbert Hoover. The U.S. economy had been crippled severely and was in dire need of economic stimulation. Consumers had lost confidence and hope within the banking system causing the American people to withdraw their money in record numbers. Unemployment and poverty spiraled out of control. As he campaigned, Franklin D. Roosevelt metaphorically proclaimed that the American people were in need of a new deal, one in which that would restore their faith in the United States. When FDR took the Oval Office, he setout passing massive legislations. President Roosevelt’s objectives were simple and clear. His first goal was to restore consumer confidence within the banking system. His second goal was to reduce the level of unemployment and poverty. These series of legislative acts and executive orders passed by FDR and Congress became famously known as the New Deal. Indisputably, the New Deal worked, creating a more sustainable and harmonious economy. However, the ideological liberalism that was once prominent made its way to the center of the stage one again, calling for a breakdown of these government programs. It is important to note, that the term liberalism has changed over time and the term conservatism has changed out of response to this transformation of the word liberalism. Prior to the era of the New Deal, the liberal ideology advocated for an unhampered market economy, deregulation, privatization, and limiting public expenditure. In the case of the New Deal, liberal meant reform that benefited the well being of all through protective regulatory measures and welfare programs In 1932, September 23rd, Franklin Roosevelt delivered a presidential campaign speech in San Francisco called the Commonwealth Club Address. His message was that individualism must make way for collective action. The ideological liberalism that has allowed for the U.S. economy to spiral out of control through its commendation of free market enterprise and lack of government intervention must come to a halt. â€Å"Some of my friends tell me that they do not want the Government in business. With this I agree; but I wonder whether they realize the implications of the past. For while it has been American doctrine that the government must not go into business in competition with private enterprises, still it has been traditional particularly in Republican administrations for business urgently to ask the government to put at private disposal all kinds of government assistance. The same man who tells you that he does not want to see the government interfere in business—and he means it, and has plenty of good reasons for saying so—is the first to go to Washington and ask the government for a prohibitory tariff on his product. â€Å" (Franklin Roosevelt, Commonwealth Club Address) Franklin Roosevelt acknowledged that the lack of regulation, especially in the banking industry contributed to the poor economic conditions of the Great Depression. When he took office in 1933, that March, President Roosevelt proclaimed a Bank Holiday, shutting down the banking system. This put an end to the bank runs consumers were making on U.S. banks. FDR understood the importance of the financial system to the economy. Although he wanted to regulate it, he knew he must restore consumer confidence in the financial system and their government. On March 13th, when the institutions reopened for business depositors stood in line to return their cash to their neighborhood banks. Before two weeks had even passed, Americans had redeposited more than half of the currency that they had hoarded prior to the suspension. Even the stock market was suspended and recorded the largest one-day percentage increase once reopened. Franklin D Roosevelt knew in order to jumpstart the economy he had to build the American people’s confidence in the institutions. Thus, it was ironic when businessmen were calling for less government intervention, when it was government intervention that solved the Great Depression. During a speech he gave while on campaign for reelection, he metaphorically referred to the private sector as a train that has gone off the rails. He states that this train did not uplift itself out of the ditch but was hauled out by the Government. This strong message had to have been reassuring to the citizens of United States. With FDR leading the United States Government, deflation and falling prices ceased, industrial workers had more purchasing power, interest rates, power rates, and transportation rates were reduced, the rate of unemployment rate and poverty even fell. These things happened because of a strong central government that sought to create fair conditions for the public. Under FDR, social welfare programs were immense and life changing. For example, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief program that operated for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families as part of the New Deal. Also the Works Progress Administration (renamed in 1935 as the Work Projects Administration; WPA) was the largest and most ambitious American New Deal agency, employing millions of unemployed people to carry out work to be done in the public sector, mainly infrastructure. Millions of dollars were injected into the economy through the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, liquidating the assets of the closed banks. Millions of dollars were pumped into the economy through the Federal Housing Program, which loaned money out to finance and build homes. This sort of public expenditure allowed money to circulate once again. The government spe nding on social welfare for the public put money into circulation for the economy to spend itself. President Roosevelt felt that it was his administration’s duty to combat this increase in income inequality and save American democracy, against the abuse of concentration of economic power that had been insidiously growing up among us in the past fifty years. FDR even recalled a warning of one of the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson. President Jefferson forewarned that increasing poverty with a large concentration of wealth couldn’t sustain side by side in a democracy. However after World War II, it did not take too long for entrepreneurs to revert back to their desire to limit the government. In fact, many of them thought the government should only intervene as a last resort when the economy cannot be stimulated through the private sector. This allowed for classical liberalism to revive itself. While some liberals (welfare liberals) came to embrace the government for its growth promoting, economy-managing and its concern for social welfare, there were a minority (corporate liberals) that evolved into an anti-state faction within the conservative party that only wanted growth. â€Å"As government became more responsive to political movements for reform, conservatives became more suspicious of government while liberals became more attracted to it.† (American Political Thought) Another dilemma arose from this division amongst liberals, and that is whether the have-nots were entitled to a large share of economic opportunities and wealth. There grew a huge resentment for the focus the nation had placed on social welfare. Daniel Bell, sociologist wrote a booked titled The End of Ideology arguing that the material benefits of modern capitalism had been so widely shared that, the nation had solved all the major economic issues between classes or groups of people. Therefore, suggesting for a reemergence of a free market enterprise. Ultimately meaning, the government had done its job and can go away until needed. By the 1980s, the neoliberal ideology had fully revived itself, especially with Milton Friedman, free-market economist serving as an advisor to president Reagan. It is hard to fathom, how the neoliberalism can thrive when there is empirical and historical data showing that the government’s involvement in the economy creates a sustainable and stable market environment. As public expenditure increases it serves as spending money for the people and businesses within the economy. As long as neoliberalism remai ns the dominant ideology in the U.S. income inequality will only continue increase. Therefore, it serves as a threat to the bottom middle-class and lower-class citizens of society.

Bio-statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bio-statistics - Essay Example It can be either additive or subtractive. In case of additive procedure, the significant predictive variables are included in the regression model one after another. In case of subtractive approach all the expected variables are included in the model and then those which do not show statistically significant association with the predicted variable are dropped from the equation. In univariate analyses each variable is analysed separately for its statistics like mean, median, mode, standard deviation, range, skewness etc. Association on the other hand comes by looking at trend between two variables. If values of two variables show a tandem movement, then there exists significant association between the two variables. Though it looks very similar to correlation, it is completely different as in case of association, there may not be any causal relationship between two variables, which is there in case of correlation. What has been stated in the quoted sentence is that univariate analysis resulted in significant association between ‘allogeneic transfusion’ and ‘older age’; ‘allogeneic transfusion’ and ‘female sex’; ‘allogeneic transfusion’ and ‘hip procedure’ and so on. It means that instances of allogeneic transfusion were more in older people, females and so on. But it does not necessarily mean that this relationship was causal as well, it may be or may not be. g) ‘Revision hip’ was associated with the highest probability of transfusion as ‘Risk ratio’ is highest for this procedure. This means that those going for â€Å"Revision hip’ are at the greatest risk for allogeneic transfusion than those going for other procedures. h) The older person (aged 77) is at greater risk of requiring a transfusion after operation than the younger one. This comes from the fact that the multivariate regression model throws up risk ratio of 1.77 for those aged from 70 – 80 as compared to that of those aged below 70.