Thomas Jefferson Essay

Thomas Jefferson was a very peculiar man. He was a wealthy aristocrat from the colony of Virginia and was a Democrat in the government. His ideas were very inconsistent with the life he lived. Many of his ideas contradicted his own life which made him a consistently inconsistent man. Thomas Jefferson’s political philosophy contradicted Jefferson’s own life and allow for the less fortunate colonists to prosper. Thomas Jefferson lived a very prosperous and comfortable life in which his political philosophy was the opposite. He was the son of Peter Jefferson and Jane Randolph. His father was a self-made man but his mother came from a distinguished Virginia family which assured the social position of Thomas. In 1575, Thomas’s father died leaving him with over 2,700 acres and a large number of slaves. This privilege Thomas had allowed him to write about human liberty which was supported by the three generations of slaves he encountered. With Thomas writing about human liberty, he was contradicting his own beliefs because he had over 200 slaves himself. Also, under the leadership of Jefferson, Virginia reformers abolished primogeniture. The policy of primogeniture however was the basis of Jefferson’s social and economic success. If the policy of primogeniture was not in place, Jefferson would not have succeeded to the position he had because he would not have received the land his father had after his father passed away. Jefferson also represented a number of different groups in politics that were very different. In American politics, he became the leader of the yeoman farmers and was also the leader of great planters. These two groups were exact opposites which revealed the nature of Jefferson’s political basis- befriend the poor and the wealthy. Jefferson was also the head of a popular group that went against the commercial interests of the nation but the group was also a popular group with economic goals of its own. Jefferson believed that society should keep the agricultural basis but he believed in progress. Jefferson was a very impulsive man. His familiarity with many different countries and nations allowed him to absorb and relay the most abstract ideas of his time. He believed in these abstract ideas and changed them in order to become prevalent in the American society. However he was not quick to break these rules in try to fulfill them. Jefferson lived an unusually long life for a person living during his time and saw many changes in society. This resulted in his ideas varying based on the circumstance. Jefferson was a very inconsistent man but his ideas allowed for the basis of the American government. Jefferson’s inconsistent ideas laid a basis for the American government and allowed the poorer citizens to prosper. Jefferson’s ideas laid the basis for the constitution and the Bill of Rights. When he was part of the Virginia government, Jefferson helped the Virginia reformers lay a base for freedom of thought and religion by disassembling the Anglican Church and forbidding legal or political disabilities for religious dissent. This is the basis of the first Amendment of the Constitution. In 1774, he wrote a very daring treatise in which he applied the natural right doctrine to the controversy in the colonies. This treatise brought immediate attention to Jefferson and gave him the reputation of a literary genius which gave him the job as the draftsman of the Declaration of Independence. After drafting the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson refrained himself from expressing his more unacceptable ideas in public because his ideas guided the direction in which society should be guided. Jefferson greatly affected the poorer society in America which allowed him to become a man who had a perspective of each side of society. He sided with the Agrarians but he also sided with the wealthy. Thomas Jefferson greatly affected American society as a whole by expressing his ideas which were widely accepted and including everyone in society. Thomas Jefferson’s political philosophy contradicted Jefferson’s own life and allow for the less fortunate colonists to prosper. Thomas Jefferson lived a very prosperous and comfortable life in which his political philosophy was the opposite. Jefferson’s inconsistent ideas laid a basis for the American government and allowed the poorer citizens to prosper. Thomas Jefferson was a very consistently inconsistent man who greatly affected American society.

Ikea Paper

IKEA Business Analysis Industrial Organization – Essay I March 17, 2013 Word count: 3397 Introduction IKEA is a privately held, Swedish multinational company that is one of the world’s largest furnishings retailers. This international home products company designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds, chairs, and desks, appliances, and home accessories. The company is the world’s largest furniture retailer. IKEA was founded in 1943 in the South of Sweden, and its name is an acronym of the initials of the founder’s name, Ingvar Kamprad and of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm and village where Kamprad grew up.The company is known for its modern architectural designs on various types of appliances and furniture, often associated with a simplified eco-friendly interior design. In addition, the firm is known for the attention it gives to cost control, operational details and continuous product development, allowing it to lower its prices by an ave rage of two to three percent over the decade to 2010, while continuing its global expansion. As of October 2011, IKEA has 332 stores in 38 countries. Most of these stores are directly owned but some are managed under franchise by owners outside the company.By doing this, IKEA faces a higher chance of success than in a sole proprietorship. In fiscal year 2010, it sold $23. 1 billion worth of goods, a 7. 7 percent increase over 2009. In recent years, IKEA purchases from developing countries have grown from 32% in 1998 to 48% in 2003; 29% of its output comes from Asia, 67% from Europe and 4% from the USA (Arrigo, 2005). For a long time, Poland was the second supplier of raw materials after Sweden, but there was recently a giddy increase in China which, in 2004, accounted for 14% of total output, followed by Poland with 12%, Sweden with 8%, Italy with 7%, and Germany with 6% (IKEA. com).To achieve its goal of boosting efficiency while cutting costs and prices to the end consumer, IKEA i s constantly looking for convenient new locations. This paper will focus on strategic investments decisions with regard to innovation and advertising and strategic product feature decisions. IKEA & Supply IKEA's vision is â€Å"To create a better everyday life for the many people. † To meet its vision IKEA provides many well-designed, functional products for the home. It prices its products low so that as many people as possible can afford to buy them. However, in creating low prices IKEA is not willing to sacrifice its principles. Low price but not at any price† is what IKEA says. This means it wants its business to be sustainable. IKEA supplies goods and services to individuals in a way that has an overall beneficial effect on people and the environment. Customers all over the world have responded positively to IKEA's approach. This is evident in its increasing sales. Supply chain IKEA has an extremely efficient supply chain and its management was the key source in IK EA in cost management which gave it a cutting edge among its competitors as it products where charged 30% lower than the cost of its rivals.With regard to the supply chain, the flow of production and processes go through three industrial sectors before the end product reaches the customer. Firstly, it starts with the primary sector concerning raw materials. Natural resources such as timber are extracted and developed. IKEA buys products from more than 1,300 suppliers in 50 countries (The Times 100). It uses a number of trading service offices across the world. They negotiate prices with suppliers, check the quality of materials and analyze the environmental impacts that occur through the supply chain.IKEA aims that all the products and materials it takes from the primary sector do not harm the environment. They also keep an eye on social and working conditions at suppliers. The second step is manufacturing where primary materials are used to build, manufactured and developed to fini shed goods. A key part of IKEA's success is due to its communications with materials' suppliers and manufacturers. During manufacturing IKEA specifies to its producers that waste should be avoided. Where waste does occur the firm encourages suppliers to try to use it in the manufacture of other products.IKEA has a code of conduct called the IKEA Way of Purchasing Home Furnishing Products, the IWAY (The Times 100). This contains minimum rules and guidelines that help manufacturers to reduce the impact of their activities on the environment. IKEA aims that all there products are manufactured in a responsible way. The tertiary sector provides services needed to meet the needs of the end users such as retailing, distribution, insurance, and customer services. IKEA's retail stores add value to manufactured goods by providing a form of shopping different to the usual high-street experience.They meet the needs of the consumers in a number of different ways. Each IKEA store is large and hol ds more than 9,500 products giving lots of choice. Within each store, there are a number of realistic room settings that enable customers to see what the products would look like in their own homes. In addition, the IKEA store is built on a concept of â€Å"you do half, we do half; together we save money†. This refers to, for example, the customer assembling furniture at home. Customers handpick products themselves using trolleys. Also, IKEA provides catalogues and home delivery to save customers’ time.IKEA stores also have restaurants that provide Swedish dishes alongside local food choices. IKEA & Competition To define the relevant market, IKEA operates in a perfectly competitive market. IKEA is a furniture store and there are many other furniture stores owned by various different entities (so there are many suppliers in this market). Normally the firms in a perfectly competitive market would be price takers. However, IKEA has a lot of market power as it is able to r aise its prices above the perfectly competitive level without losing many consumers. Therefore it can be stated that IKEA is a price setter.There are off course competitors, however it seems that IKEA does not really take competitor’s decisions into account as they are not really relevant to their own decisions. IKEA sets its prices very low because they face low production costs as a result of strong relationships with its suppliers. Competitors are predictable but even if they were unpredictable, IKEA would not be affected by their decisions as the firm is already at the bottom end of the market. IKEA makes use of their concept in a global strategy that designed furniture for a lower price than other competitors offer that can be sold everywhere for the targeted market segment.Sometimes regional differences appear that arise form national habits, lifestyles and culture. What gives IKEA a huge advantage in selling its products at a lower price springs from their â€Å"young † concept is that the customers have to bring home the products and assemble it themselves. No other firm manufactures as much furniture as IKEA. The firm can and will eliminate any local competition by using their global position. It is a fact that they have no competitors on the global market. IKEA’s success was recognized to its vast experience in the furniture retail market, its product differentiation and cost leadership.Across markets where it presently has a presence, products are sold at prices that are 30 to 50 percent lower than competing products. This penetration pricing enables IKEA to gain significant market share. Low prices are a result of large-quantity purchasing, low-cost logistics, and store location in housing areas. In addition, IKEA also benefits from economies of scale and healthy supplier-firm relationships. IKEA enters into long-term contracts, provides leased equipment and technical support in exchange for exclusive, low-cost manufacturing fro m suppliers.For new markets, IKEA should retain its price-image to maintain the brand’s positioning. IKEA strives for cost leadership, and for this reason it negotiates the most cheap conditions with a very large number of suppliers, a large part of whom live in eastern Europe and Asia, where the cost of raw materials, manpower and warehouse rentals is lower than elsewhere. IKEA always tries to acquire raw materials at the best price, choosing the suppliers with the cheapest price but it is equally focused on maintaining good relationships with them to avoid late deliveries or poor workmanship.IKEA’s low cost policy is based on several factors. Firstly, and previously already mentioned, it is based on economies of scale where large volumes reduce the unit cost of production. Secondly, the low cost policy is based on economies of transport where large orders of products permit to IKEA to transfer transport costs to suppliers. Low running costs inside the stores is also a factor. For example, the group uses buildings that are easy to build and inexpensive to manage, and it also has a ‘dressdown policy’, with all employees wearing the same uniforms, which are very simple and ractical. A last factor with regard to low cost policy is the purchases of unassembled products from suppliers with a consequent reduction of costs (taxes are lower for components than for finished products). IKEA & Demand With regard to the number of buyers, this market faces a great number of buyers as IKEA wishes to reach everyone who needs a new piece of furniture or accessory. IKEA provides its products to end consumers as it only supplies their final products. These consumers can be households, other companies, or governments for example.On the demand side, the active participation of its customers, who are seen as genuine partners, is a source of economic saving for IKEA. Most of its products are packed in flat packs and the customer has to take them home and assemble them, paying the cost of transport and assembly, and thus reducing storage costs for IKEA. Wherever consumers go to IKEA stores, products are always the same. Consumers therefore know what they can expect and for what price. This is a very strong characteristic of IKEA because familiarity with a brand makes consumers come back.The 9,500 products that IKEA supplies is available in all IKEA stores and customers can order much of the range online through IKEA’s website. By doing this, IKEA makes products easier accessible, reducing the distance a consumers has to travel when choosing to purchase IKEA products, and bundles its good together with home deliveries of the orders. An IKEA market strategy in terms of service providence to their customers is always a unique one. The stores and services of IKEA are very much different from the other furniture vendors. The stores are very much spacious and divided into cheerful model rooms.This provides wide range of services to its customers to choose the furniture according to the measurements of their house along with the prices and variety of designs that are showed in kiosks. In addition, IKEA also provides childcare centers and include restaurants and cafes serving typical Swedish food. They also have small food shops selling Swedish groceries, everything from the famous meatballs to jam. Stores are located worldwide. It welcomed a total of 565 million visitors to the stores during the year 2008 and a further 450 million visits were made to the IKEA website.Low prices are one of the cornerstones of the IKEA concept and help to make customers want to buy from IKEA. IKEA's products cater for every lifestyle and life stage of its customers, who come from all age groups and types of households. This is vital in times when the retail sector is depressed, as it increases IKEA's potential market. The wide range of products that IKEA offers are of most value for consumers. Consumers prefer to have a lot of c hoice for good quality and low prices. IKEA’s product based market strategy drew many customers to their store and kept it the top position in the global market of the furniture companies.As previously mentioned, IKEA issued variant catalogs of their products in different native languages so as to reach all sections of their customers. IKEA also adopted some of the experimental marketing strategies for the publicity of their products. In earlier years it has taken decision to decorate a chain hotel with their furniture that has become a beneficial market strategy for both the parties. Its main aim is to target the customers of that hotel and market their products. Even the chain hotel gets benefit to decorate their hotels with lavishing furniture at low cost.Furthermore, the most important strategy of IKEA is not providing the exit for the customers who had entered in to their stores without having seen all the furniture in store. In this phenomenon there is scope that the cu stomers may go for the more furniture that is not actually needed (Kotelnikov, 2005). Since it was founded IKEA has always had concern for people and the environment. The IKEA vision â€Å"to create a better everyday life for the many people† puts this concern at the heart of the business. IKEA has responded to the public's rising concern for sustainability in its choice of product range, suppliers, stores and communication.It has also spotted business potential in providing sustainable solutions. IKEA's concern for people and the environment encourages it to make better use of both raw materials and energy. This keeps costs down and helps the company to reach its green targets and have an overall positive impact on the environment. IKEA aims to be a responsible organization and believes that a strong environmental stance is good business practice, as it also has shown as the current trend of more â€Å"green† and environmental friendly preferences of consumers when ch oosing their products.Demand & Supply Function Demand Function There are a couple of variables that are relevant to the quantity (Qd) of IKEA goods and services that consumers are willing and able to purchase, in other words demand. First of all the price of the goods (P) IKEA sets affects the demand. Next to P, prices of related goods and services (PR) are also important as those are goods from which inputs are derived to be used in the production of the primary good. The prices of related goods and services are therefore taken into account when IKEA sets its price (P).The expected future price of products (Pe) might also influence demand because if a consumer believes that the price of the good will be higher in the future, he or she is more likely to purchase the good now. In addition, prices of all other companies’ products (P1†¦Pn-1) have an influence on the demand function of IKEA. If their prices are much lower than IKEA prices, consumers will buy from other firms . However, as already mentioned, this is not the case for IKEA as they offer products for low prices. Also, if the consumer expects that his income will be higher in the future, the consumer may buy the good now.Therefore, expected future income (Ye) also affects demand. Thirdly, the incomes of consumers (Y) are also relevant to demand because this influences the ability to purchase the IKEA goods. Demand is also affected by the number of consumers in the market (N), the more consumers in the market, the higher the demand for the IKEA products. Moreover, advertising expenditure (A) affects demand as well. The more advertising, the more consumers are informed or persuaded to come and buy at IKEA. IKEA shows to be very efficient at this with providing their catalogs.Lastly, consumer tastes and preferences (T) also affect demand. It seems that consumers prefer IKEA products over other products because of its low prices and quality of the products. However, consumers incur transportatio n costs (t) that have an effect on preferring to buy from IKEA (which is often located just outside the city center) or to buy from a shop closer to their homes. Consumers know that IKEA provides very high quality products no matter in which shop they will buy the products and consumers could therefore prefer IKEA products over other. The general demand function for IKEA would therefore be:Qd = f (P, PR, Pe, Y, Ye, N, A, T(t)) or, Qd = a + bP + cPR + dPe + e(P1†¦Pn-1) + fM + gYe + hN + iA + jT(t) Where b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, and j are slope parameters that measure the effect on Qd of changing one of the variables while holding the others constant. We assume that, all in the short run, there is no change in taste and preference, that the income of the consumer is constant, that there is no change in customs, habit and quality of goods, no change in substitute products, related products and the price of the product, and finally, that there are no complementary goods.Supply Funct ion There are a couple of factors that affect supply, the amount of products IKEA is willing and able to sell at a given price all other factors being held constant. Firstly, the price of IKEA’s products (P) influences the supply function. Ikea can be seen as a leader in this market and therefore it might be the case that the firm cuts its price, possibly as an attempt to keep the number of entrants low. Secondly, the price of related goods (PR) influences the supply function.If the PR increases, the cost of production will increase and therefore supply would decrease. Thirdly, technology (T) with regard to production affects supply in a way that whenever there is a technological advancement or technology used making production very efficient, the supply increases as production costs decrease. In addition, the price of inputs (PI) such as labor, energy, raw materials, influence supply. When PI increases, sellers are likely to raise P for each unit of output.For IKEA it is kno wn that they have access to relatively cheap raw materials and an increase in PI would not quickly lead to an increase in P because IKEA aims to keep its prices low. Moreover, the number of suppliers (N) in this market might have a small effect on the supply function of IKEA. There are already many suppliers in this market and an increase in N would not lead to a significant decrease in P of IKEA. As stated previously, in creating low prices IKEA is not willing to sacrifice its principles (â€Å"low price but not at any price†).Expectations (Em) concerning the future market condition can directly affect IKEA’s supply in that whenever IKEA believes that the demand for its product will increase in the foreseeable future, IKEA will immediately increase production in anticipation of this increasing demand and therefore future price increases. Lastly, government policies (G) and regulations can have a significant effect on IKEA’s supply. For example environmental reg ulations could influence decisions IKEA has to take in consideration when switching to a new supplier of raw materials. The general supply function for IKEA would therefore be:Qs = f (P, PR, T, PI, N, Em, G) Assuming that all consumers know all things, about all products, at all times (including knowing the probabilistic outcome of all future events), and therefore always make the best decision regarding purchase. In addition, assuming that Ikea is the leader in a market with a large and endogenous number of firms. Decisions As IKEA is already at the bottom end of the market and operating very efficiently and profitably, the only decisions that they will face would be concerning future investments, advertising, and product features. One of the things that IKEA is now able to do is expanding more to new markets.So far, IKEA has limited its store locations to some of the most heavily populated markets in the countries in which it competes. To continue its growth trends, IKEA may have to begin investigating other (smaller) communities. IKEA has to consider how it will respond if and when a lower priced competitor enters its market. Also, IKEA may want to consider that its product assortment and promotions may not appeal to all cultures. However, for new markets, IKEA should retain its price-image to maintain the brand’s positioning. New cultures mean also that branding has to adapt to popularity in those particular new countries.For IKEA, despite the history of success the company has enjoyed thus far, there are no guarantees for the future. If IKEA does not keep on innovating and making the right expansion decisions, the company will become increasingly vulnerable to new competitors. Word count: 3397 References Arrigo, E. (2005). Corporate Responsibility and Hypercompetition. The IKEA Case. Symphonya, 2, pp. 37-57 Facts and figures, www. IKEA. com. Kotelnikov, V. (2005) Experimental Marketing. Retrieved from: http://www. 1000ventures. com/business_guide/m arketing_experiential. html Building a sustainable supply chain: An IKEA case study. The Times 100.

Alcohol and Family Violence Essay Example for Free

Alcohol and Family Violence Essay Alcohol and family Violence has been an issues with families for many years, these are two demons that some just can’t break, families have been experiencing the traumatic of one’s physical uncontrollable actions. Alcohol has become one’s stress reliever in all views that it began to take over one’s way of thinking and reaction, this is ways individuals express their evil thoughts and the sad thing it that the abuse of alcohol has a domino effect on their children’s as they become adults and parents later in life. If community members understand violence differently, their responses may be inconsistent and even harmful to victims. (Advocate. Minnesota, (2003)). Almost 6,500 children across the world have been a victim of family violence which leads up to being in a single parent home, One in three children globally (30%) said as leader of their country; they would tackle violence by improving law and order. For children in developing countries, improving education (17%) was the next priority (compared with just 6% of children in developed countries). (2003). Child Fund.) Finally, a 1991 study in the United States found that the average amount of alcohol consumed prior to the use of violence was only a few drinks, which â€Å"suggests that the act of drinking may be more related to woman abuse than the effect of alcohol.† Two other studies indicate that drug use is more strongly correlated to domestic violence than is alcohol. (2003). Child Fund.) Improving their self-esteem, they abuse the victim physically, emotionally, and sometimes, sexually. Another key factor in wife abuse is alcohol. When the man is stressed, he turns to alcohol to relieve it. Little does he know that the alcohol makes him more irritable? â€Å"He started really drinking excessively and that is when the abuse started. He had been drinking I sat down to read the paper and he wanted his supper . . . he kicke d the cat to the ceiling, he started slapping my face with both hands,† (Berger, 1990, pg. 42). So, if you’re in an abusive relationship what is the best way to get out and stop of the battering abuse? After notorious acts of abuse, usually, the woman will finally realize that the situation will never get better. Basically there  are three basic reasons why women leave a violent relationship: Educated themselves about the necessary available help, being faced with the impact on their children (mentally, physical, sexually and courage to know when enough is enough) and women having a tolerance level of abuse. (Berger, 1990, pg. 48). Family Violence is Willfully or knowingly placing, or attempting to place, a family member in fear of hurt, causing hurt, wrongful confinement or restraint against the family member’s will or continual harassment which causes anguish.. A family member can be your spouse or ex-spouse, child (including adopted and step child), sibling, parent or in-law. Now there are many factors that contribute to family violence, the most commonly see n are the characteristics of the abused and the abuser. There is no one specific country or culture that is more abusive than another, abuse is spread across countries, cultures, socio-economic statuses, races, religion and ethnic groups (Goldman, Salus, Wolcott & Kennedy, 2009). For example, one may be very educated and well-kept but if unable to control behavior caused by emotions, he may be abusive. While if one may be poor and lowly educated, if he is well controlled in his behaviors and emotions, he will then not be abusive. More often, in cases of child abuse, the abuser usually a parent, father or mother, could be one who may be in situations of stress or someone who simply cannot control their emotions, anger. In a paper written by Professor Harry J. Gaynor (1998), in 1,356 cases of child abuse reported by National Burn Victim Foundation, there were 176 spontaneous cases, of which 97% of them are parents that are known to have aggressive response behavior. There are two kinds of aggressive response, active and passive. Active aggressive behaviors do not have concern over the impact that anger will have to the abused, this translates to actions of hurting the abused verbally, could be hurling hurtful words, humiliating, and physically, hitting the abused. While the passive aggressive response behaviors are those that have cooped up, suppressing negative emotions of a length of time and a blow up or breakdown can be expected, this translates to behavior of neglect and not paying attention to the abused (Gaynor, 1998). Children are victims of adult’s uncontrollable behavior of anger. As much as we blame abusers, and we should look at their background and past, that when they were children were tormented as well. Baltimore County, Maryland Police Department (2012),  shared some facts about child abusing inmates, that 84% of them were abused as children, families with more than four children have higher rates of abused and neglect, more than 80% of the abusers are parent or someone the child is close to and parents on drugs is physically abused regularly. There are parental histories and the cycle of abuse that we have to factor into the characteristics of the abuser. Many of these individuals who are maltreating their own children were victims of abuse and neglect themselves. (Goldman et al., 2003). There is no major difference in percentage of perpetrators being female or male. An apparent close percentage of 50% and 58% of mothers and fathers are found to abuse their own children. However, while single mothers are accused of child neglect, many fathers who abandon the child are almost never considered in the neglect (Newton, 2001). Abuse often happen in environment or family situation where it is overcrowded, usually happens with families with more than four children. If the living conditions are cramped and isolated and parents do not hold proper stable jobs, the chances of abuse in those families, whether parent-child or sibling abuse may occur (Baltimore County, Maryland Police Department, 2012). From the Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders (n.d.), some causes of abuse at times are simply due to parent’s ignorance of developmental stages. This ignorance can lead to frustration and eventually aggressive behaviors. They are under stress because their child has issues with toilet training or not meeting their expectations. Understanding developmental stages can help parents to understand their child’s learning curve better and they will learn to cope with their expectation. Another cause is mental disorders, parent with depression, personality disorders or anxiety disorder etc., can affect their ability to care for their children. The abused, children as the focus, can contribute toward family violence toward themselves and they may never know it. Disabled children, children with mental disorders, children with development disorders, hyperactive children are all at a higher risk compared to a healthy child in receiving abuse. These children have needs that are special, if they do not attain required needs, manner of communication from them can be highly distressing. According to Sullivan (1996) from the Boys Town National Research Hospital, children with disabilities are found to be at greater risk of abuse and neglect compared to children without disabilities (Official Journal of the American Academy  of Pediatrics, 2001). Children with disabilities of any form may be unable to retort, have no understanding that they are abused or cannot communicate the happenings of the abuse may have issues because adults know that they can get away with it because their abuses will not be reported. Knowing one can get away with it makes it easier to push through the abuse compared to risking the child complaining to others about the abuse. Children although still the ultimate victims whether or not they are the cause of the abuse and abused children and the abuser may have much effect in the society. There are long term effects surrounding family violence and any forms of family violence have effects to both the abused and the abuser. Some of the effects are physical and neurobiological, cognitive and emotional and social and educational. First, physical and neurological damages are the visible effects on a child, direct trauma from physical abuse can cause ruptured organs and even possible brain deformity or retardation. Neglect will cause the child to be underfed and/or nutritional deficit, the child will have slow growth rate and development of the physical and brain would be unhealthy. This makes deficient in mental growth as well. Repeated trauma produces changes in the neurochemistry of the brain that affects memory formation. This causes the person to will time to time continually getting flashbacks of fragmented memories of emotions throughout their life. Cognitive and emotional damages are relative unseen. Some children resort into extreme methods to deal with the trauma tic experiences. Some lash out at people around them and themselves. Some become depressed and do things that make them feel better, example by taking drugs and alcohol, some even go to the extent of attempting suicide. Bonding and attachments with their parents or people in general may cease and understanding of the abusing behavior might become permanent if assistance does not come. Children that have been abused also show no concern when someone else is under distress, they may even result to behave in ways like hitting the other child the same way their abuser did to them (Sigelman & Rider, (2012). A social and educational effect becomes obvious when the child become less sociable or not sociable at all, isolating himself. The child may also become distrustful toward people in general making them unable to properly have a normal relationship. Due to this, the child will grow up having issues with self-esteem, have low level of confidence. Behaviorally, some children may  grow up to become abusive or they become isolated (Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders, n.d.). Some of the children who do not seek and have support to recovery may consider what they have been through has normal and appropriate. This is how the cycle of abuse goes on. Abused children are often emotionally and physically in pain at school; hence they are unable to concentrate at what they have to do, leading to them falling behind their grades. They find it hard to make friends and hence either become a bully or get bullied at school as well. Because of this, teachers at school might see them as a problematic child if they are not aware of the happenings that are going on at home. With society (school) labeling them as problematic and being abused at home by parents they are likely to feel rejected by everyone. Intervention as a Human Services Professional I would suggest that all family members seek counseling to express all issues and get to the root cause of the problem. When children are involved seeing a therapist with the family and without the parents would be one of my intervention to help their family, I would also have the parents go to parenting classes. Advocate. Minnesota, (2003).Alcohol and Domestic Violence. www.umn.edu/hutments/svaw/ domestic/link/alcohol.htm Attorney-General’s Chambers (31 October 2009). Interpretation of this Part. In Women’s Charter (Chapter 353, Section 64). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you

Economic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Economic - Essay Example For instance, oil products in global market are becoming scarce and volatile because of the continuing crisis in the Middle East, the primary suppliers of oil products. In lieu of this, oil prices rose to its highest point in just a very short period of time while demand is getting faster. Conversely, if this oil producing countries return in their normal business term, then the production of oil products will increase, thereby bringing a stability of price. This environment is one of the current examples of inflation and deflation that is happening in reality. The main thrust of this paper is to discuss the causes of inflation and deflation, and how these affect corporate decision-making. To have a better understanding on this anomaly, it is a requirement to study the complex movements of prices and their effects through current situations and events. Inflation and Its Causes Inflation is described by Mukherjee (2002, p.26) â€Å"as a process in which the price level is rising and money is losing its value.† As you can see in figure 1, if the aggregate demand (AD) is increasing faster than the rate of the aggregate supply (AS), the general price level also increases, and this phenomenon is known as inflation. Nowadays, many countries are suffering from higher rates of inflation and sometimes government had to compromise by paying the cost of the reduced productivity. However, many economists have argued that pouring too much money into the economy as a solution would only lead to a more serious inflation (McNeese, 2000, p.22). The main causes of this phenomenon include: Too much demand in the economy. If the demand is high and the available supply cannot meet the demand, general price level would eventually move upward, thereby bringing in inflation or particularly known as demand-pull inflation. This is a situation wherein the rate of demand is faster than the rate of supply leading to a shortage of supply which means that â€Å"an increase in demand will affect prices more than output because firms may not be able to recruit staff more easily or produce more...† (Gillespie, 2007, p.381). Cost-push, monetary, and supply shock inflation. This type of inflation occurred when the supply of money in the circulation is high, causing the purchasing power of people to increase and eventually lead to a demand-pull inflation. On the other hand, cost-push inflation happened when the level of productivity among workers is increasing, labour expenses are also increased and the rate will be added up to the general price level (Grant & Vidler, 2003, p.132). Lastly, supply shock is more or less interrelated with demand-pull inflation; however, this time the supply is generally scarce. For example, the steady increase in prices of oil products in the world market brought by subsequent events particularly in Libya have also contributed to the increase of prices in almost all of the basic commodities. Deflation and Its Causes â€Å"Deflati on is a sustained decrease in the average price level of the entire economy† (Saunders & Gilliard, 2000, p.32). The steady and continuous fall of prices sound interesting to those who are not fully aware of deflation, but this term is not good for the monetary economy because falling prices would adversely affect income that eventually to bankruptcy. As sale, profit and investment fall together, producers are forced to cut

How fast fashion industry impact on Chinese customer behaviour With Dissertation

How fast fashion industry impact on Chinese customer behaviour With Zara case study - Dissertation Example There are two main types of research methods. One is inductive methods and another is deductive methods. In deductive research method, research is generally started from more general overview of the research topic to more specific to the hypothesis. It is often termed as top down research approach or research methodology. The researcher also implements theory related to the topic of the research and narrow it down to the specific hypothesis. Even, the researcher narrows down to more practical observations to address or test the hypotheses and then come down to conclusion of the research. Opposite to deductive research, inductive research is worked out in different way by the researchers. It is one types of back calculation or bottom up research approach. In this type of research approach, the researchers begin with a specific observation or findings and start analysing the regularities and pattern. Finally the researchers end up drawing some general conclusion about the research topi c. In this study, deductive research method has been used and therefore, the research has been started from a general overview of this research topic. 3.1 Primary Empirical Material The Primary data collection from focus group was selected for this research in order to identify the opinion and feelings of a group of a people. Zara is one of the famous fast fashion retail chains among these respondents (Chai, 2011, p.196). Moreover, the advantage of this focus group is that the data collection method will be face to face. Focus group is an effective method of qualitative research market. As the research is depending upon the customer’s motivation, behaviour and approaches, this qualitative method will be appropriate. Primary research has been conducted in Chinese high street markets and questions will be asked to the customers of fashion products in China. The questionnaire consists of 20 questions those were handed out to 25 respondents in a shopping mall. When respondents were identified, the researcher intended at random individuals who are aged between 15 and 30. Several conditions have been measured before the designing of questionnaire. Firstly, they should understand the questions properly; secondly, respondents should provide the appropriate information; and finally, respondents must be willing to give the information. Implementing this kind of face to face questionnaire handing out has a major advantage that response rates will be generally higher comparing to telephone interviews or mail surveys. The designed questionnaire is provided in Appendix. 3.2 Results of questionnaire There were total 25 numbers of people who participated in this method. Among them 15 were female and 10 participants were mail. A number of 10 students and 8 office workers have answered these questions. And the rests are health staff and civil servants respectively. The major target audience for the questionnaire were individuals between 15 and 30. Personal income level has an influence of spending. Most of the respondents earning were between 2000 and

How has the UK retail sector adapted to recent changes in the economic Literature review

How has the UK retail sector adapted to recent changes in the economic climate effectively - Literature review Example The Global Financial Crisis had a profound impact on almost all parts of the world. Millions of people around the world had to change their lifestyles, many financial institutions went bankrupt, thousands of employees lost their jobs, many people ended up living on the streets, governments in most part of world had to interfere, with bail out plans regardless of the fact that how capitalistic and free market their economy was, to save their institutions. Many countries, which were climbing up the ladder of economic growth, witnessed decline in growth rates and worse, many western countries ended up posing shrinking of the economy. Stock markets in all around the world crashed very badly. The Gross Domestic Product of the world economy was 61.38 Trillion US dollars in the year 2008, which fell down to the level of 58.26 trillion in the year 2009. The trend also continued in the year 2010, however, there are no authentic figures released for the same yet (Buckley, pp. 201-203, 2011; Un ited States Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, pp. 28-30, 2011). Most the countries, specifically the United States government turned towards the Keynesian school of thought of overcoming an economic recession. John Maynard Keynes, who became prominent in the United States and Europe during the great depression, strongly believed that there is no invisible hand in the economy, which causes business troughs and peaks. If an economy wants to move upwards in the business cycle then the economy will have to increase its aggregate demand, which is the sum of consumption, investment, government spending and net exports (exports minus imports). Higher aggregate demand would force the economy to move towards an upward spiral of growth and thus pushing the economy towards a boom. In hope of stimulating the economy with fiscal packages, the US government announced bailout packages of worth more than one trillion US dollars to help the economy to recover (Carpenter, Sanders & Harling, pp. 3148-352, 2011). The UK government also injected money into the econo my in various fashions to help solve the liquidity crisis. The United States injected money into various corporations such Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,

The Role of Media in National and International Development Essay

The Role of Media in National and International Development - Essay Example This essay stresses that the role of media in national and international development is best described in relation to the community development theories. The community development theories give a guideline on the practicability of the community development plan. They also analyse various aspects of development such as the forms and processes it takes. Some of the most common community development theories include the diffusion theory, the decentralisation theory, group development theory, group behaviour theory and the growth pole theory among others. This paper makes a conclusion that the contribution of the media to the national and international development cannot be underestimated. An active and unbiased media is needed so as to maintain democracy, good leadership and equality in a country. It helps educate, inform, sensitise and mobilise the public among other functions. By carrying out the above functions, the media facilitates growth and development. National development is achieved through the positive change in the social, political and economic sectors of a country. On the other hand, international development is achieved thorough the creation of a developed world community. The dissemination of information portraying a positive image of the whole world has been the key factor in community development. The theory of community development helps in determining and understanding the role of media in development. The theories have been conceptualised to guide the implementers of policies focused to national and international development.

Project Management in the Saudi Organizations Dissertation

Project Management in the Saudi Organizations - Dissertation Example 16 2.3 Projects and Operations 17 2.4 Strategic fit between organizational and project management 19 2.5 Project Management Knowledge Areas 24 2.6 Overlap between Project Management and other management disciplines 31 2.7 Organizational Influences in Project Management 33 2.8 Performance Measurement constructed 39 2.9 Types of Performance Measures 40 2.10 Attributes of performance measures 41 2.11 Organisational Metrics Categories 43 2.12 Synthesis and research gap 45 Chapter 3: Methodology 48 3.1 Chapter Overview 48 3.2 Aims and objectives of research 48 3.3 Nature of research 49 3.4 Research Philosophy 49 3.5 Research approaches 49 3.7 Data collection methods 51 3.7.1 Questionnaire 51 3.8 Setting of research 52 3.8.1 Unit of Analysis 52 3.9 Population and sample 52 3.9.1 Population 52 3.9.3 Sample Method 53 3.10 Research instrument 53 3.11 Data analysis 54 3.11.1 Methodology Limitations 55 3.11.2 Research Limitations 56 3.11.3 Ethical Considerations 56 3.11.4 Validity and Reliabili ty 56 3.12 Chapter summary 57 Chapter 4 – Data Presentation and Analysis 59 4.1 Chapter Overview 59 4.2 Respondents’ Profile 59 4.3 Importance of Project Management Knowledge Areas and Organizational Performance Measures 63 4.4 Impact of Organisational Performance Measures on Knowledge Areas of Project Management 66 4.5 Results of Paired Casewise T-Test analysis 69 4.6 Chapter Summary 72 The just-concluded chapter presents the data collected by survey questionnaire and spot interview pursuant to the research design and methodology discussed in the preceding chapter. Data on the respondents’ profile, the importance they ascribe the variables identified,... The evolution of organisational structure has been generally responsive to the changing demands of the business and economic environment, in order for firms to ensure survival during downturns and maintain competitiveness in anticipation of recovery. One recent trend that has been largely inspired by the implementation of total quality management in large-scale manufacturing organisations is the move towards more project-based operations and leaner, flatter organisational hierarchies.In relation to this development, management systems and practices have likewise felt the need to evolve together with the organisational structure; however, long-time policies and standards that are in place are not easily or quickly adjusted to suit the new structure. One such system is the body or organisational performance measures which are applied to organisational units to determine their level of performance and by which to assist decision-making, rewards implementation for excellent performance, and adjustments or sanctions for laggard performance. The introductory chapter sets the context of the research and identifies the problem it seeks to address. The background to the topic under study is provided to impart to the reader an understanding of the issue to be resolved. The research objectives and problem statement are thereafter stated to draw focus on the precise intentions of the research.

The Labyrinth of Solitude Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Labyrinth of Solitude - Essay Example Paz turns spiritual to explain the desperate search for identity by the Mexicans thus: He urges the Mexican people to wake up from their dream state, know the ground realities, and act on in the world outside with the practical approach, without the feeling of self-pity of self-condemnation. In that state of inner concentration, he states that Mexicans will realize that they are a cosmic race freed from all sorts of negativities and confusion. That will be the beginning of real progress for the Mexicans. Octavio Paz tries to provide the national dimension to solitude, essentially a personal trait. Wit intelligent arguments the author proves his point that solitude can be a national characteristic, the trait of an entire culture or nation. He argues that solitude is intrinsic to the historical character of Mexico and as such it is the key to understand its history in its proper perspective. Though not a negative trait, solitude is linked to melancholy and for Mexico it originates in a psychological complex of defeat, according to the author. The reasons can be found in the political history of Mexico, its own authoritarian rulers to begin with. People live under oppression and suppression under such rulers and will not have the opportunities for the free and full growth of their individual personalities. Subdued individual personalities make a subdued and dispirited society and nation. The process began with the rule of its own authoritarian rulers followed by the authoritarian Spani sh conquerors that were cruel and ruthless and they were then replaced by the authoritarian oligarchies during the era of independence. Another factor by which the people of Mexico were overawed was the intimidator posture of United States. People were not exposed to peaceful disposition under all these conditions and their inner resentment was brewing often resulting in violent expressions. But the same cannot be categorized as inferiority complex. Paz explains this

Early Childhood Curriculum Essay Example for Free

Early Childhood Curriculum Essay In Early Childhood Education you use philosophies to help you succeed. You also make sure that you look into the NAEYC position and standards to make sure you are running a classroom that is within the standards. These are two critical factors in an Early Childhood classroom and you have to know how to implement them in your teaching. John Dewey was an American educator and philosopher. He helped develop the idea of pragmatism. He felt that children should explore and discover. â€Å"Dewey and other progressive followers suggested a curriculum for young children that focused on the situation and challenges that children faced as members of a democratic society† (Eliason Jenkins pg. 5). Maria Montessori is best known for her teaching method that has her name the Montessori Method. She believed that the scenes were the source of intellectual growth and development. â€Å"She emphasized the importance of the schools and families working together† (Eliason Jenkins pg. 5). Jean Piaget is known well for his cognitive development theory. â€Å" Programs that incorporate Piagentian theory emphasizes that children learn through experimentation and initiative and construct their own knowledge and understanding through adaptation o the environment† ( Eliason Jenkins pg. 5). There are many different ways to teach. Some of the goals of teaching are: â€Å"1. understanding the nature of development and learning. 2. Know what to teach, how to teach, and know how to access what children have learned. 3. Create a caring and responsive learning environment. 4. Establish positive mutual relationships of trust and respect with families 5. Pursue professional training and knowledge. 6. Treat every child with respect, dignity, and positive regard† (Eliason Jenkins pg. 13). â€Å"The NAEYC is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with the focus on quality of educational services for all children birth to age eight† (NAEYC. ORG). NAEYC position statements are their position to issues related to early childhood education. Some of the issues are: anti-discrimination, code of ethics, developmentally appropriate practice and early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation. â€Å"Naeyc’s first commitment is to the rights and interest to all children† (NAEYC. ORG). They believe that one should be hired on their competence and qualifications to perform their designated duties and that it should not be based on gender, race, national origin, religious beliefs, age, marital status, disabilities, or sexual orientation. The NAEYC code of ethics â€Å"offers guidelines for responsible behaviors and set fourth a common bias for resolving the principal ethical dilemmas encountered during early childhood care and education† (NAEYC. ORG). It also does not allow educators, doctors, and nurses to deny services to children. The developmentally appropriate practice is to â€Å"to promote excellence in early childhood education by providing a framework for best practices† (NAEYC. ORG). It promotes quality of care and education. The NAEYC â€Å" constructs comprehensive systems of curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation guided by sound early childhood practices, effective early learning standards and program standards are a set of core principles and values, belief in civic and democratic values† ( NAEYC. ORG). They make sure that children are active, and engaged curriculum goals are shared by all and that curriculum is evidence based. â€Å"Early childhood classrooms should communities of inquiry, problem posing, and problem solving, where children perceive that in math lessons they are expected to offer their thoughts about questions posed and to find resolution to these problems† (Eliason Jenkins pg. 319). Teachers need to incorporate problem solving and math in the curriculum to do this teachers must avoid gender bias regarding math. They should recognize different opportunities during the day to teach math and also to make sure that early math is concrete and manipulative. † The focus in early childhood is in understanding numbers and the number system and understanding operations specifically addition and subtraction† (Eliason Jenkins pg. 323). Children are counting all their life. They learn by playing different games or things such as climbing stairs. Repetion helps the child to memorize the sequence and sounds of numbers. When you are doing songs or finger play the children are learning their numbers and the correct order they should be in. â€Å"The basis of a high quality program in early childhood is promoting feelings or self esteem and dignity in each child† (Eialson Jenkins pg. 143). Teachers have to help the children build their self esteem. Some ways to help strengthen a child’s self esteem would be to make sure you are honest, sincere, and consistent in expressing feelings. Teachers should make sure they value the children’s work and effort. If a child has a problem you can help in anyway that you can. Violence is not good for young children. â€Å" Violence results in children believing that there is no safe place, that their protectors can no longer protect them â€Å" ( Eliason Jenkins pg. 149).â€Å"This can influence their  emotional development. â€Å"Stress develops when we can not cope with either external or internal demands† (Eialson Jenkins pg. 148). Some external sources of stress would be hunger, pain, illness, fatigue, shyness, and emotions. External stress would be divorce, family separation, hospitalization, and death. Teachers can help children deal with stress in many ways such as: encourage the child, praise the child, ect. â€Å"Development in cognitive language and literacy allows young children to construct meaning and build understanding† (Eialson Jenkins pg. 189). Teachers should make language and literacy development in all curriculum. â€Å"Literacy development begins in the very early stages of childhood, even though the activities of young children may not seem related to reading and writing† (Johnson, D. ). When you are helping your children with their literacy development you need to help to encourage them. Some ways to help encourage them would be: To provide many opportunities for talking, make sure you listen, ask the children questions, make sure they are in a comfortable relaxed atmosphere, and recognize and help correct if the child use grammatical errors. Sharing stories and poetry are good activities to help support language development. â€Å"The primary factors influencing the development of language appear to be 1) The child’s innate ability to learn language,2) The quality of the model or the early stimulation and variety provided by the model. 3) The ability of the caregiver to expand or extend the Childs language† (Eialson Jenkins pg. 204). â€Å"Children’s development in semantics, or the meanings of words, is directly related to the experience and interactions that they have† (Eialson Jenkins pg. 193). If a child hears a word they have never heard before they will not be able to use it, but they can use sentences they have never heard before. Books help expand their language meanings and vocabulary. â€Å" It is very important that adults constantly share, converse, extend, exchange language, and provide labels for words as children have experiences at zoos, grocery store, park, school, home, in the car, in the classroom, or in any setting† ( Eialson Jenkins pg. 193). Children tend to learn to read different signs that they see constantly over and over even before they can actually read. These signs include ones such as stop signs, McDonalds, burger king, ect. â€Å"Syntax is the set of rules for creating or understanding a sentence† (Eialson Jenkins pg. 193). When children first begin to use words there is no evidence of syntax but as the child turns four you can start to here this with the children. The children learn to imitate sentences when they are first learning and this is how they learn syntax. You can also help the child learn by expanding what the child says till they learn to add this in themselves. As teachers we need to make sure that we speak ton every child using correct grammar. â€Å"As children grow, they gain increased facility with syntactic structure, leading us to believe that maturation is a variable in syntax growth† (Eialson Jenkins pg. 194). â€Å" Through music and movement young children express themselves, explore space, develop language and communication skills, increase sensory awareness, and express themselves through rhythm, gesture, time, and space† ( Eliason Jenkins pg. 353). Adding music to your curriculum is important because it helps children learn about different cultures as well as about their own culture. Through music they express their emotions and it helps them release their feelings. Depending on what music you are listening to it can either calm, or help soothe troubled feelings. It can help the children enhance their self worth. Music also helps with children’s listening skills, attention span, and their memory. Language and language concepts can also be developed through music. â€Å"Research supports the notion of the physical and psychological advantages of music on the body and mind† (Eialson Jenkins pg. 354). â€Å"Young children have a natural curiosity about the world, and this is where science education should begin† (Eialson Jenkins pg. 237). Science should be taught as hands on learning, it should be a natural part of the everyday curriculum. â€Å"Language and literacy development are strongly supported when science activities are included throughout the curriculum† (Eialson Jenkins pg. 239). Science is taught through observing, manipulating, problem solving, and engaging with science activities. They learn to classify, compare, define, measure, listen, ect. When they are learning science. Early childhood education is a very critical time in a young person’s life. This age has a big influence on their learning for the rest of their lives. The government developed The No Child Left behind Act to make sure that all children have an equal opportunity to a good quality education. The government designed grants to help all children succeed. The Special Education Preschool Grant â€Å" provides formula grants to states to make available special educated and related services to three to five year  old children with disabilities† ( ED. GOV). They also have grants to help with high poverty communities to help improve their knowledge and skills. â€Å"Currently American schools and early childhood programs focus on standards-based education† (Eialson Jenkins pg. 17). Some of the qualities o0f effective childhood teachers are: Caring, enthusiastic, flexible, and creative. Early childhood teachers must be willing to be patient and help these children learn so that the children will be ready for their future. Philosophies are an essential part of early childhood curriculum. They help the teachers to help the children to learn in different ways. The NAEYC standards are implemented to help teachers understand what the proper way they should teach the children. They help the teacher set up their classroom and understand the way the children should be taught. â€Å" Early childhood educators must strive to be learners who are willing to continually study, grow, and change to think and solve problems† ( Eialson Jenkins pg. 19).

Female Oppression History And Its Role Today Philosophy Essay

Female Oppression History And Its Role Today Philosophy Essay Humanistic/sameness feminism is that everyone is equal; everyone is a self no matter their gender. The main focus is on the common humanity between woman and men (Notes from 10-6). In Mills argument he states that we would be equal, however women suppress themselves into the stereotype theyre in. Years ago they did not speak up; they were expected to be the arm candy and only do what was told of them. No one had the courage to step outside the box and speak up for themselves. Women made themselves into artificial beings. They allowed the men to mold them and bake them into any form they wished. They initiated the stereotype for non-educated, child bearer, step ford wife. Mills argument was telling woman that we needed to break free from all of this instead of sitting back and watching it kill the beauty from within. Sameness feminism in his eyes was to break the stereotype against women, against discriminated groups, so that we could all be treated equally. Schechter also explains humanist feminism in her argument. She explains the problem with battered women cases and how theyre not handled properly. They need to be dealt with just as much importance as a case involving a male would, or the way any other case of that nature would be treated. If battered cases were categorized with cases of abused children or gang violence, they would receive the same strict consequences and the probability of them happening would decrease. In her article, Schechter discusses how she feels the problems should be worked out between the families. This I completely disagree with because I feel that no one, whether the victim male or female, would want to be counseled with the person who threatened their life. The victim is not going to want to work on the problems because the same situation could potentially play out again. All in all I feel that society is too concerned with keeping the families together instead of focusing on the safety of each individua l within the case. Humanist feminism in this case is not so much about making everyone equal (because women were still a suppressed gender), but making the cases against them and every discriminated race/gender qualify for equal attention. Simone de Beauvoir also discusses the idea of a humanist feminism approach. The article discusses how women are inferior to men. They lack the qualities and characteristics that would make a powerful leader. She talks about that no matter what the definition of the other is; society would always categorize a group as being that because there are two; men and women. When de Beauvoir discusses the bipolarity between the sexes, stating that men are the positive and neutral pole and women are the negative pole, it best explains the humanist feminism approach. Women are striving to become not of man, but of their equal; equal as in work distribution, income, social status, etc. They need to stop portraying us as a negative, and start treating us as a neutral gender, just like man. Question #2 Gynocentric feminism is women centered feminism. It emphasizes the point of view from a woman. It is the different fundamental attributes of men and women (Notes from 10-6). Gilligan explains this idea with two main points; justice perspective and care perspective. The justice perspective is what is right or wrong by law or how a person views justice within their own society. It is how you think the problem through based on the laws and what you know is right/wrong, rather than relying solely on your gut feeling. Care perspective is based on how you feel the situation should be handled based on your experiences. It is like the Golden Rule, Treat others the way you would want to be treated. I mix these two perspectives daily based on the situation and who is involved. With family you would lean more towards gut feeling because you have a bond with them and a love that you need to maintain. With strangers or situations you stumble across, you would use the justice perspective. This way you can handle the situation based on facts and law and both people get an equal chance. Young discusses the Five Faces of Oppression. No matter what type of group is being discriminated against or bullied because of race/gender, it all leads back to oppression in society. Woman often face these more than other categories just based on our history. We have been suppressed in every form possible and these are issues that we still have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. We deal with exploitation within the workplace; suffer from rape and battery, sovereignty, othering. Young doesnt just focus on women; he focuses on all discriminated categories and states that they will experience a different combination of the five faces at some point (from Young handout). Lorde exemplifies gynocentric feminism in the sense that women are disempowered based on the fact that their sexual and erotic behaviors are denied. Erotic in the form of being a strong suppressed feeling women have towards something the desire. It is entirely a womans feeling. In our lives we were conditioned to feel erotic only in the bedroom with our male companion. It was unheard of for woman to feel erotic with themselves or even with other women. Being only a feeling and idea from women, it can threaten patriarchy because men have no control over it. We have finally broken out of the mold and have found other means of pleasure than solely from a man. Question #3 Dominance feminism is basically stating that men are dominant and women are suppressed. It explains that the dominant figure is one who has the upper hand in politics, businesses, and religion. Marilyn Frye discusses the idea of being a Willful Virgin or a Lesbian. Her idea is that youre either a virgin, a married woman who is not having sex; one who is free and socially and sexually on her own (Pg. 330). Then youre categorized as being a tease or a bitch, or even a lesbian. On the other hand if youre openly having sex and youre a straight woman, youre a whore and easy. Youre either the stereotypical housewife or you must be a lesbian. Why cant it be that you just want to express who you really are and not fall into the same category as a majority of the women? Frye is trying to explain dominance feminism in the way that women dont even have control over their sexual desires. They are constrained and conformed to keep their bodies hidden for only their man to see. Bartky also exemplifies dominance feminism by discussing many ways in which men hold the upper hand and women are suppressed. The idea of the Panopticon is a structure that allows you a view from all angles. It gives the watchmen the overall feeling of the highest power. Thats how men want to be perceived over woman. Woman diet and focus their day around perfecting the latest fad or trend. They are expected to be soft and delicate, and keep to themselves. Our bodies are expected to be a timeless piece; never aging, never showing sign of wear. We are so used to this way of life that even when no one is there to tell us how to act or what to do, we have disciplined ourselves so much that these behaviors are natural. Kimmel discusses the idea of masculinity. We believe that every man has manhood. We shrug off their actions because we expect it from them. If men are to branch out from the stereotype then we categorize them as gay. Men judge men just as the world judges women. It is just as much of a competition for them as any other being. They see who can get the nicest car, best job, biggest muscles, and the best looking girl. They use us to their advantage because it means that they must be doing something right. Men hold the power to overthrow another mans power. They fear that another can strip away their exterior and find that they dont possess the qualities that an ultra-man should. They themselves are the dominant gender, yet they suppress within their society. It is not a matter of whether or not what theyre doing (suppressing women or themselves) is right, its more about keeping their mouths shut to avoid being frowned upon. So all in all, men have the choice to either remain dominant ov er women as well as their own gender, or fear that they will be excluded and shut out from their manhood. Question #6 I believe that womens personal lives matter in the case of sameness feminism. The whole idea behind creating men and women equal depends solely on their lives on a personal level. I believe that whether or not women will continue to dig themselves farther into the pit of suppression will determine which way feminists will lean. The idea of battered women is also a big personal issue. You have a choice whether or not to act upon it or hide because you feel you wont be taken seriously. Of course women do this to themselves, but its only because of the way weve been conditioned all of these years. Gynocentric feminism rests solely on a womens personal level; mainly because it translates into women centered feminism. It emphasizes a womans point of view and focuses on what would benefit her. The care perspective goes hand in hand with this. That is how we react to situation based on our internal feelings and past experiences weve had. We then dissect the situation and handle it in a way that we would expect it to be if it were us on the receiving end. How we deal with exploitation and the suppressing of our erotic feelings can determine the class of woman that you become. We are conditioned to be of a certain nature, however it is our duty to break the mold and create a new meaning for the word woman. Dominance feminism is the main issue in regards to othering of the female gender. It is exactly what it states; men are dominant and women are suppressed. Whether women stick to that suppression is the real situation. We have become so disciplined within ourselves that we act without being told. We have conformed ourselves to be the picturesque wife; flawless skin, perfect body, and well-mannered. Not all women want to be perceived in that light, but without it wed be ridiculed. Men hold such power over us. They control our actions, words, movements, sexuality. If we break the mold we are then placed into a new category; lesbian, whore, or even psycho. These are all things that we have to take into consideration on a daily basis. We walk on eggshells trying not to bring attention to ourselves in a negative sense. Whether it is in the workplace or out having drinks with our friends, we try to keep a cool and collective faà §ade so that we can prove to men that they dont have the control. We hold jobs in high positions, we run for president; we have our work published in books when it was unheard of. We have begun to crack the glass, now we just need to do something to make it shatter.

Edgar Allan Poe :: essays research papers

Edgar Allan Poe was a master of his craft, gifted with the talent of introducing each reader to his or her own fears. As the first writer to compose tales of horror, death, and mystery into literature and poetry, he is blessed, maybe even cursed, with an imagination that set higher standards in the field of writing. However sinister or dark it may be, Poe’s writing continues to have an impact on the world of writing. A look into Poe’s childhood might shed some light on where his fascination with death comes from.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts to drifting actor parents. Denying his parental responsibilities, Edgar’s father abandoned his wife and children, leaving her to support the family as best she could. He died somewhere around 1810. His mother traveled through various cities acting in as many stage performances as she could get, but the struggle eventually took a toll on her health. Towards the end of 1811, shortly after turning 2, while in Richmond, Virginia, she became ill and died. Her three children were put into homes. His brother William died young, his sister Rosalie later became insane, and Edgar was placed into the home of a well-off, yet unsupportive man named John Allan. Allan was emotionally detached from Poe, refusing to even legally adopt the boy. This move would begin a chain of events, eventually triggering a drinking problem, that would cause majority of Poe’s psychological troubles later in life. He was raised in an wealthy home, but lacked the emotional support needed to build determination and confidence in himself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Edgar would attend the finest boarding schools to train to be a proper gentleman. But, when it came time to go to the University of Virginia in 1826, his foster father barely gave him enough money to survive. In those days, the average college freshman was nineteen years old. Edgar was certainly wise beyond his years, enrolling in college only a month after his seventeenth birthday. This made it harder on Edgar to survive out on his own at such an early age. John Allan had always been strict and harsh, and sometimes even cruel to Edgar, but this was the first time he denied him the means to survive outside of his home. Adding insult to injury, he also forbade Edgar to study what his heart so desired: poetry.

Overcrowding Creates Unhappy Students Essay -- Expository Journalistic

Overcrowding Creates Unhappy Students Every high school student’s idea of typical college life involves living in the school’s dorms and eating disgusting food from the cafeteria. What most future college students don’t realize is that usually after the sophomore year of college, many universities do not guarantee housing, leaving students to fend for themselves. Housing is an issue on almost every university’s campus nationwide at one point or another. There is always a high demand for housing, and an even higher demand for on-campus housing. Many universities offer guaranteed housing to freshmen, but after that it is rare to receive anything better. To solve this problem universities are attempting to expand their campuses to incorporate more dorms, or are converting other buildings on campus into dorms. Not only is this process expensive for the university, it has also come to involve the local neighborhoods. When the university wants to expand that means the neighborhoods surrounding the school have to accommodate these changes; this has led to feuds between universities and residential neighborhoods around them. For example Harvard University; which already owns quite a bit of land in Boston, recently decided to expand its campus into Alston and a little into Brighton. In an article in the Boston Globe the residents of Alston and Brighton expressed their concerns about what will happen to the land, and how fast it will happen. Their main concern is that the new developments will increase the cost of living, and there will not be enough affordable housing. This will be an ongoing battle that will likely end with Harvard paying excessive amounts of money to the town to obtain the land. In an article in the Bos... ...e numerous complaints. â€Å"We will address this issue quickly and thoroughly,† Phelan said. â€Å"We want to be good neighbors.† According to the Globe article, city officials plan to ask Northeastern to appear before the licensing board, and have also hinted at legal action if the university doesn’t obtain a dorm license for the buildings. From problems of infestation to not enough rooms, universities around the state are in the same dilemma. Many have found solutions and are in the process of alleviating the problems, while others are still looking for a suitable solution. In the case of Northeastern, they have attacked the issue of over crowding by building numerous new buildings, but have yet to fix those buildings that are slowly deteriorating. Until they do this, they will have to find a way to make the living situation in these buildings a bit more bearable.

american folk :: essays research papers

The dancer is a man wearing leather boots, loose fitting red silk pants, and a white shirt with colored embroidering down the middle. His hair is shaved to the scalp except for a small circle on the top of his head, where the hair is about half a foot long. He squats down low, and kicks his feet out with his body upright and his arms folded. The dance has a historic meaning behind it, dating back to when Russia took over Ukraine. A group of organized rebels known as the Cossacks, who hoped to end Russian Rule, isolated themselves in a fort in the Carpathian Mountains. The dancer symbolizes a triumphant Cossack warrior. During festivals and other celebrations, the Hopak was a common dance. This dance is still taught to Ukrainian Americans today, starting at age seven. At Ukrainian debutante balls, the men who know the dance do it during a specific song, which is played at every ball. There are also professional dance groups who perform the Hopak around the United States and Canada. T he dancers today still wear the traditional clothing, but the hairstyle has become much less common. Many Ukrainians forget the dance with time, but those who remember it take great pride in their ability and perform the dance at nearly every ball and celebration they attend. This dance exists as a representation of Ukraine’s history, in particular the conflict with Russia. However, in the past, it served an entirely different function. The Hopak originates from the Kozac, which is an older Ukrainian dance. The Kozac is named after the Cossacks, who performed it, and it’s essentially the workout they performed to â€Å"warm up† for battle. â€Å"The movements were part of a regime of calisthenics to keep the Cossacks fit for battles.

History of Weapon Essay

A weapon simply means a device or a tool that is used to inflict injury upon opponents. It is used with application of effort manually or through electronic automation for the purpose of attack or defense in war. It could also be aimed at rendering the enemy’s weapons powerless by destroying their weapon with a superior gadget (Anthony1988). The simple force that is applied produces such a magnified effort that is capable of causing injury along the directed path. In the ages, weapon takes many forms on a chronological annul of history depending on technological advancement and discovery update in applied science. Most weapons used are designed purposefully to perform a particular task by the manufacturer in an engaging war or execution plan where there is no war. The simplicity of weapon model can appear in form of a club or taking form of a ballistic multipurpose missile with such a huge destructive capacity. Philosophically, there is an interesting side to the definition of the material weapon. Weapon is often metaphorically described as any means through which damage can be executed upon intended opposition party (Anthony1988). This means we could have a psychological weapon, a social weapon and other non physical tools. In more modern times, there has been development of non-deadly weapon by the paramilitary or security men for a mere incapacitation of targeted subject. Its advantage is found useful in a situation where criminal activities is rarely involved or to prevent accompanying damage to property and physical environments when used. In this study, we shall demonstrate how events over time led to technological advancement in weapon development from historical lane, paying more emphasis from the middle ages to the present days. Brief Review of Historical Weapons Figure 1: Picture displays arrays of bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools (Anthony 1988). About 5 million years ago, a researcher in the University of Southern California demonstrated that chimpanzees communities are first to use â€Å"spears† as a weapon (Rick 2007). Following this is the use mystery is the deduction that primitive hominids must have equally used â€Å"clubs and staves† s weapon of war within their community (Craig 1776). The evolution of conflicts among man in fight for supremacy began with the use of modified primitive weapons used by hominids. Man also used this weapon to hunt in a wide bush for possession and the driving away of wild inhabitants of the deep forest. In the early years of human history is found the use of axes fashioned with strong stones as weapons to make attack. The archeologist discovered the use of earliest cache camping â€Å"wooden spears known as schoninger speere† (Hartmut 1997). This is dated to as far back as four hundred thousand years ago. The stone fashioned axes were soon replaced by fire-hardened materials around. Bow and arrow is comparative recent and dated to about sixty thousands years back The use of wooden darts is dated to the era of mid-Paleolithic age (Jill 2007 ). Weapons used in The Middle Ages (Early 19th Century) Figure 2: A Cannon in Ancient London The middle age is also known as the medieval era. Historical advancement in weapons can be categorized into inventories on weapons not in prehistoric existence and inventories in terms of modifications on the existing weapons for a better performance. Dominating the desire for advanced weapons was born out of the need for faster, more fulfilling and deadlier weapons. Middle ages weapon by far is a show of development military technological advancement over the ancient weapons. The significance of this development is in the improvement in the force applied in relation to the destructive measure achieved. Weapons are now developed to perform a closer specific action without unnecessary invasion of large volume of land. This was a major revolutionary record in the history of military achievements in the middle ages. Over the use of armed chariots and spoke wheel which lost importance in the fourth century, the medieval period was characterized with the use of two weapons. The middle age weapons development was noted for knights and cannon. Knights, an evolved technological advancement over ancient cavalry, are heavily armed horse ridden soldiers with developing military operation that negates the use of castle. There was development of large caliber gun powder called cannon. Cannons had a more technologically advancement in historical findings (Jill 2007). A form of cannon is a heavy artillery weapon that is large enough to required mounting for firing. It is used on a warship and tracked vehicle. It is also more recently used, it is a rapid firing gun mounted on aircraft during air combat. Historically, medieval weapons are indeed a true evolution over what has been in existence earlier. Weapons are made with technologically skilled military personnel themselves who have witnessed the need for exact perfection over outdating weaponry tools. Ever since this inventory time, human being cannot forget the importance of paying close attention to weaponry industries in the role of killing. Most early technological advancement in weapon is in the area of rebranding metallic tools (Jill 2007). Steels crafting provides advancement over iron tool in that there is advantage of pliability, durability and more sharpened edges that kills faster with minimally applied effort. The prehistoric use of simple weapons like sword and catapults during personal fight evolved into a refined iron alloy (steel) in producing some materials and others like arrows and axes. Still an advancement of steel is the melting process that increases steel characteristic qualities to give increasing satisfaction of flexibility and light-weighted weapons. In middle ages of history, the little sword of prehistoric tools was not left over in the technological advancement that evolves over time in weaponry. There is stronger building materials for sword, the attached blade now has sharper edges and less likely to brake or bend in fierce use and above all, there exist flexibility in swinging to the direction of desired target to kill (Rick 2007). As part of a community war pride in the middle age was the possession of technologically advanced sword of a caucus over the order. Second to this is the experience of man power in their usage over time. The shaping took change into wide flat bladed sword with a guarding close to the handle. These were the technological advancement that caught up with sword in the middle age era. Others include the sharp pointing end that made it potent when forcefully thrust on an enemy at a distance before close contact. During the advancement, there was also the arrival of â€Å"bastard sword† in the fourteenth century. The potent weapon can be maneuver with a single hand, having a narrower and sharply pointing end that accomplished ultimate killing at a distance thrust. Evolutionary advancement was also recorded for bows and catapults. Producers became more proficient in crafting suiting tool that can increase swift killing thus, making advancement over older fashion (Rick 2007). The trend was historical advancement in the production of crossbows to a later substitution with long bows. More inventory techniques increase the production speed in order to outrun enemies’ arsenal and armory. The success of technological advancement is also in the place of speed and accuracy. The deadlier catapult was also part of the discovery credited to advancement in technology. Examples were â€Å"ballista and mangonels† advancement with the evolution of â€Å"trebuchet†. The trebuchet is a medieval siege engine with a sling attached to a wooden arm for flinging large stones with great projectile. Some version could be that effective as to throw over three hundred pounds or stone. With the increasing requirement by war men, trebuchet indeed was a significant advancement over catapults in the middle age by lifting the older approach in castle war with more siege capturing. Weapons in the Pre-Modern Age The rebirth of weapons into modernized tools is peaked in the invention of sophisticated firearms. There was notable advancement in the approach to battle field with the production of early guns and rocket-propelled weapons. The advancement here is such a resounding one as it touched the basis of energy transfer. Firearms qualitatively improve over other previous weapon in that the energy is not transferred by the tensile string or weighty object but by simple particles – gunpowder or other combustible explosives. The rapidity of energy transfer is also remarkably outstanding over earlier weapons. There is no time lagging in recoiling requirement when compared to primitive weapons. Firearms were markedly used during 16th to 19th centuries where there were several moments of ongoing conflict among nations. Notable conflicts that result into war during this era were proliferation of many European nations in the establishment of empires without official ceding. Some of the newly formed European federation survived with the won battle aided by evolution of firearms. Firearm continually received efficient development with more effortless triggering ignition to initiate firearm shot. Another beneficiary of technological advancement during early modern age is the U. S. Civil War against proliferated Federation of United State. This war featured the use of machine gun and ironclad warship. Up till today, these tools still find their relevance in the military armory. Armored ships also advance in the substitution of fueling with fossil fuel. These age equally witness rifle development over sword. This invention was an icon in the revolutionary history of military technological advancement quest. Shortly we enter the industrial age where we had advancement in the escalation of aircraft and armored tanks. There was not a significant improvement on the land combat weapons. Technological Improvement of Weapons in The Modern Age Figure 3. Soldier handling Machine Gun The beginning of 20th Century was welcome with cruel war between India and French where there is virtually absence of mechanically driven weapon for rifle weaponry. This era is often referred to â€Å"The Age of Rifles† since the least weapon used in battle field is reduced to rifle. Foot soldiers used rifle and canon for combat. Furthermore, there was the introduction of more mechanized weapons like machine gun with high capacity to shoot at distance. Other notable technological advancements in this era were aircraft carriers supplied for naval warfare. The evaluation of weapon inventories with important chronological event in this period would make one conclude that World War I heralded a full industrial revolution. More so, weapons modern proliferated at a higher rate with skilled technology without compromise on standard. The evolution of biotechnology also birthed chemical and biological weapons during this age. The availability of motor vehicle is also significant in the record of technological advancement since this aid weapons’ maneuvering during war as opposed to footing in the earlier centuries. Ever since the time of World War II, the evolution of more mechanized and sophisticated weapons set a standard for the rest of military advancement. This poised the invention of atomic bomb during this time (1939 to 1945). Post World War II Technological Improvement on Weapons The immediate war post WWII was cold war. During this period, the technological advancement peaked with the nations boosting of nuclear power that can destroy the world within few seconds. The drive continues in the invention of weapons of mass destruction and counter weapons. Another recent technological advancement in weaponry is the introduction of ballistic missile known as Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). There was also the development of hydrogen bomb and other war missiles. Despite many conflict of interests, the basis of existing peace among nations is sometimes traced to mutual possession of these nuclear power and ICBM by the two powerful war giants. There exist an atmosphere of peaceful comport since a breach in peace could lead to proportional destruction. The peak of technological advancement in the invention of nuclear weapons almost made its discovery useless since the achieved destruction through them is highly non specific at targeted enemy. It use could return the world back into the historic era where economic crisis dealt on the world sequel to WWII destruction. The proposed loss with the use of nuclear power would be rather more devastating. It is vital to further point out the invention of computerized weapons few years back. It aids precision and accuracy of target. Two notable ones are â€Å"precision-guided munitions and computer-aided tank rounds†. Furthermore, the present modern age with ICT and other developments in the 21st century, helped improves on night vision through goggles gadget that is technologically powered to see clearly at night like day vision. This is important among land combatant in a strange environment. Identification of target at long distance is equally now possible with the weaponry tools of high technological surveillance gadget and automated aerial. Modern communication enhancement also contribute immensely to effective coordination of weapons and controllers, hence, Information technology advancement has brought tremendous improvement to weaponry (U. S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment 1995). In conclusion, chronological history of weapon technology improvements from the Middle Ages to the present day has demonstrated vast growth in man search to possess power and protect it with unending weaponry development every century. It is not unlikely for technologist to soon invent the mother of all advancements in weapon engineering considering the need for competitive possession of power and acquisition of protective gadgets with the most sophisticated version in a dynamic global village. Works Cited Anthony, Isaac. Understanding Physics and Weapon of War (1988). New York: Barnes & Noble. p. 88. Hartmut Thieme. Lower Palaeolithic hunting spears from Germany. Letters to Nature. Nature 385, 807 – 810 (27 February 1997). Hind, Edward, My Magazine: Being a Series of Poems, Tales, Sketches, Essays, Orations, Etc. ,: The Present Age – An oration J. and H. Clarke, London, 1860. Jill D. Pruetz1 and Paco Bertolani, Savanna Chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes verus, Hunt with Tools†, Current Biology, March 6, 2007 Medieval Weapon History – An Evolution in Killing. Site Available at: www. medieval-castle-siege-weapons. com Pijush Roy, Paul, Akshoy, Sanchayan Mukherjee. Mechanical Sciences:Engineering Mechanics and Strength of Materials (2005). Prentice Hall of India. p. 215.

Creative Writing – My Baby

I was walking in the thick white snow, my cheeks pale pink, and my eyes wet, from the cold, razor-sharp wind that seemed to blow across my face. My hands in my pocket, and my head down prevented me from seeing my way, so I raised my head. All of a sudden, my eyes met his across the street; he was tall, with sea blue eyes and long strawberry blond hair, which made him look ugly. But his eyes distracted me from seeing his flaws. His small white teeth showing in a smile, when he returned my stare. I was warm; my cheeks grew bright red, my eyes flooded with admiration for his looks. â€Å"Was it love or lust†? I thought as, I continued to stare at him. He was so kind, loving and caring, with a great personality that always made me smile, while I slept. He constantly made me feel good, and I loved him so much; that I could stay awake just to hear him breathing. Due to the fact that we were so young, we couldn't consummate our love for one another. I was 17, and he was 18, when we both decided that we should take our love to the next level. We wanted it to be special, so we could treasure the moment for the rest of our lives, therefore we lied to our parents about where we were going. We stayed in a cottage, which had a fire place. We made love in front of the fire place. The fire made our body, so hot, and sweaty. I smiled, keeping the pleasure from showing in my eyes. I wish could spend the rest of my life in this sweet surrender. After we made love I felt, like I have never felt before; I was far away dreaming, I was in ecstasy. The art of making love was new to me, but was exhilarating. Satisfaction drowned my body. Our body became one; and we shared deep love and feelings. I have no recollection of being this happy before, but we made one mistake. We forgot to use protection-condom. At school we were never taught sex education. Anytime I asked my mum, about sex she would make me wash my mouth out with soap, then take me to church and tell the priest he should pray for me, because I was turning to sin. I always laughed when she did it. So I did it often just to watch her reaction. Three months later I found out I was pregnant. I knew I was pregnant because I had missed my period for three months; also I got fat, and had morning sickness. I did not tell the father that I was pregnant. I didn't want to, he wouldn't have stayed anyway. But every moment I spent with him I treasured. I didn't want to have the baby, I was too young. I thought of many ways of getting rid of the baby with out killing it. I didn't know what to do, or who to tell. It was too much for me to handle. So I decided to tell my mum. Telling my mum was the worst. When I told, her normally blue-gray eyes grew green with hatred. Then her lips tightened against her reply â€Å"ok darling†. She did not shout, scream nor sob. I felt as if in her reply there was a plan. Six months later. I was ready to give birth. I preferred making the baby, than  giving birth to it, as I dreamt far away of the night it happened. It was as if my scream of pain, triggered the baby. My baby was born; he was small, and breathtaking. My breath was taken away when my mum said â€Å"you can't keep him†. There was no way I could speak; my voice had gone with shock. She took my baby away from me. I turned away so she could not see the expressions in my eyes. It took a moment for the shock-wave of pain to travel down my body, to my brain. The agony was so intense that a scream involuntarily tore its way from my throat. I hated her for what she did. My mum and I lived in silence, in a house where the love had been stolen. Although I stayed to take care of her, because she was ill with Alzheimer. Since my baby was gone I had no love to give, I had put a brick wall around my heart, which was guarded by my hatred for the world. At home in the sitting room drinking my daily caffeine shot, while watching DR PHIL, and my mum rambling incoherent words to the T.V. The phone called for me. The voice came through the telephone, echoing through a corridor 12 months long. â€Å"We have an address†, said the voice on the phone, my heart started to beat loud; it got so loud it made the voice the inaudible. 314 maple road, Leicester, could be where  my son lives.  I hesitated when I got to the door. I didn't want to ruin his happiness, in his new  life. â€Å"But my happiness has already been ruined,† I said selfishly. My finger trembled as  I rang the bell twice. A little boy answered the door. Many questions argued in my mind all at once; could he be my son? Could this be my baby? I felt happy when he spoke; â€Å"hello â€Å"said the soft voice. I could stay lost in this moment forever.