Island of the Sequined Love Nun Chapter 62~64

62 Like Clockwork Spies Malink found the old cannibal in a small clearing in the jungle, urinating on a young banana tree. â€Å"I brought you food.† Malink dropped the basket and sat down under a tree. Sarapul seemed to be taking a long time at his task. â€Å"Sometimes it's hard,† Malink said. â€Å"Sometimes I can't go at all,† Sarapul said. â€Å"It hurts.† He shuddered and turned around with a grin, smoothing down his thu. â€Å"But not today.† He sat down next to Malink and reached into the basket for a hunk of fish. â€Å"I heard the music last night,† Sarapul said. â€Å"The white bitch comes more often now.† He offered Malink a piece of fish and the chief took it. â€Å"There are three chosen in only ten days. I think they won't come back sometimes. Vincent says that she is not the Sky Priestess. The pilot said she will kill us.† â€Å"Then we must fight.† â€Å"Knives against guns? You remember the war.† â€Å"I remember. Come.† He got up and led Malink through the underbrush to a hollow log. He reached in and pulled out a long bundle wrapped in oiled sharkskin. â€Å"A man must take the strength of his enemies. If he cannot eat him and take his strength, he must take his weapon.† Sarapul unwrapped the bundle to reveal a World War II vintage Japanese bolt-action rifle. He had obviously been visiting this spot because the rifle was covered with a thin coat of fish oil and gleamed like new. â€Å"I cut off his head and took his gun.† Malink remembered the wrath of the Japanese on his people after the solider disappeared. â€Å"You did that? You were the one?† â€Å"It was a long time ago,† Sarapul said. He reached into the bundle again and pulled out three shining cartridges. â€Å"But I saved these.† â€Å"They have machine guns,† Malink said. â€Å"She doesn't.† The call came a little after midnight. Tuck had slept since he got to the hotel, stuffing toilet paper in his ears to block out the noise of the television and Sepie talking back to it. â€Å"Take a cab to general aviation at the airport,† Jake said. â€Å"The hangar you want says Island Adventures on the side. I'll be waiting.† Tuck climbed out of bed and turned off the television. â€Å"Hey,† Sepie said. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor about a foot from the screen. Tuck crouched and took her face in his hands. â€Å"Tomorrow at six you take the tickets and go downstairs. Tell the man at the desk you want to go to the airport. The bus will take you.† â€Å"I know this,† she said. â€Å"Just listen. A tall man with long hair will be there.† â€Å"Right. Jake,† Sepie said. â€Å"I know this.† â€Å"If he's not there, go to one of the men in the blue hats and tell him you need help getting on your plane. He'll help you. When you get to Houston, go into the airport and call this number. Tell the woman who answers that I told you to call. She'll help you.† â€Å"And you will come and get me soon, right?† â€Å"I'll try.† â€Å"What about Roberto?† They hadn't seen the fruit bat since the mascara bombing. â€Å"Roberto will be fine. He'll live here, but I have to go.† He kissed her on the forehead and before he could pull away she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips so hard he thought he might have cut his lip. â€Å"You come get me.† â€Å"I will.† He stood and went out the door. A few seconds later he heard Sepie call to him from down the hall. â€Å"Hey!† Tuck turned. â€Å"How come you don't try to sex me?† â€Å"I will.† â€Å"Okay,† she said, and she went back into the room. Jake was waiting for him at the Island Adventures hangar. A Hughes 500 helicopter with its doors removed sat on a pad by the hangar. â€Å"I rented it for an hour. I fuck it up and we owe Mary Jean five grand for the deposit.† Tuck looked at the helicopter sitting on the pad like a huge black dragonfly and he began to get a very bad feeling. â€Å"You don't want me to do what I think you want me to do, do you?† â€Å"I'll put the skid right over the hatch. You just step out of one aircraft onto another. No problem. It can't be half as bad as what I had to do to get the hatch left open.† Tuck began to protest, but Jake was already walking to the helicopter. Tuck climbed into the helicopter and slipped on the headset. Jake threw the switches and the turbine began to whine. In a few seconds the blades slowly began to rotate. Tuck keyed the intercom mike on his headset so Jake could hear him over the blades. â€Å"You'll never get past the tower.† â€Å"I've done it before,† Jake said. â€Å"I had to repo a Jet Ranger for a guy once.† â€Å"They'll never clear you.† â€Å"There's no traffic. Besides, you think they're going to clear you? It's Captain Midnight's rock ‘n' roll express from here on out, big guy.† Jake pulled the collective lever by the side of his seat and the helicopter lifted into the air. Within seconds, Tuck heard the tower jabbering over the radio, warning the Hughes 500 to wait for clearance. Jake brought the helicopter up just high enough to clear the top of the hangar and flew in a low wide circle around the airport, then began his own jabber. â€Å"Honolulu Tower, this is Helicopter One, approaching from the west on Runway Two. I have a problem with my tail rotor. Requesting emergency landing.† The tower came back: â€Å"Helicopter One, didn't you just take off without clearance?† â€Å"Negative, Tower. I'm in from Maui. Request emergency clearance.† Of course, Tuck thought. Jake flew the circle below the radar and without the running lights. They have no idea whether this is the same helicopter that just took off. Jake sent the helicopter into a horizontal spin that moved it closer to the planes by the hangars with every rotation, just as it moved Tuck closer to throwing up. Jake stopped the spin for a second and nodded toward a United 747. â€Å"That's your baby. Get out of your harness and get ready. They won't know you're there. Get inside and wait two hours before you start your taxi. I don't want them to connect the helicopter with the jet. By the way, how're you going to get your natives on board?† â€Å"They've got ladders,† Tuck said. â€Å"I hope.† Tuck hung his headset behind the seat and unsnapped his harness just as Jake resumed his spin. Tuck grabbed on to the seat to keep from being thrown out the open door. What looked like an out-of-control aircraft was, in fact, a pretty elementary move called a pedal turn. Tuck found no comfort in that knowledge as he watched the tarmac spin below. Jake pulled the helicopter up just in time to miss the tail of the 747, then leveled it off and crept forward along the length of the huge aircraft. The tail would obscure the view from the tower. â€Å"You ready?† he shouted. Tuck shook his head violently. He could see the line of the hatch he was supposed to go through. He stepped out on the skid. Jake brought the helicopter down and the skid touched the top of the jet. â€Å"Now!† Tuck stepped off onto the plane and ducked instinctively below the blades. He looked back at Jake, shrugged, and shouted, â€Å"That was easy.† â€Å"I told you,† Jake shouted. He pulled the helicopter into the sky and started his spin toward the Island Adventures pad. Tuck got on his knees, dug his fingers into the seal around the hatch, and pulled it open. He jumped into the dark plane, sealed the hatch behind him, then sat in the pilot's seat and began to study the controls. He clicked on the nav computer and punched in the longitude and latitude for Alualu, which he knew by heart, then pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and put in the coordinates for his second destination. He put on a headset and turned on the radios. The frequency was already set for the Honolulu tower. Jake was receiving the official FAA ass-chewing of the century, but there wasn't a word about anyone dropping to the top of a United jet. He had just taken off the headset to settle down for the wait when he heard a scratching sound outside the escape hatch. He opened it and Roberto plopped inside. 63 No Frills The Sky Priestess was drunk. She and the Sorcerer had made two million dollars in the last ten days and she couldn't even buy a pair of shoes. The new pilot, Nomura, was a heavily tattooed, taciturn prick who spoke marginal English and looked at her like he'd rape her in a second, not for the pleasure of the violence, but to put her in her place. Since his arrival, even the ninjas had started to get cocky, joking in Japanese and laughing raucously when her back was turned. Even the Shark People seemed to be losing their fear of her. The last time she had appeared to them the children were left in the village. So the Sky Priestess was watching television in a torn T-shirt and some sweatpants and she was drunk. The intercom beeped and she let it. If it hadn't run on batteries, she would have unplugged it. Instead, she threw it through the french doors, where it beeped the beach for two more minutes, then stopped. The next time she saw it Sebastian was standing in the door holding it like a prosecutor exhibiting a murder weapon to the jury. â€Å"I suppose you think this is funny.† â€Å"Not particularly. Now if it had hit you in the head, that would be funny.† â€Å"We have an order, Beth. A Kidney.† â€Å"Oh, good. I'm in great shape to assist a surgery. Let's do both kidneys. Give the buyer a bonus. What do you say?† She sloshed her tumbler of vodka. Sebastian picked up the empty Absolut bottle from the end table. â€Å"This isn't going to work, Beth. You can't appear as the Sky Priestess like that.† He seemed more afraid than angry. â€Å"You are absolutely correct, ‘Bastian. The goddess has taken the night off.† Sebastian paced back and forth in front of her, rubbing his chin. â€Å"We could stall. We could put you on some oxygen and amphetamines and you could be ready in an hour.† She laughed. â€Å"And ruin this buzz? I don't think so. Tell them to find another source for this one.† He shook his head. â€Å"I don't think I can do that. Nomura's been on the phone with them. He told them we could deliver in six hours.† She hissed. â€Å"Nomura's a fucking grunt. He does what we say. This is our operation.† â€Å"I'm not so sure, Beth. I really don't want to tell him no. Please take a shower and make some coffee. I'll be back in a minute with an oxygen cylinder.† â€Å"No, ‘Bastian,† she whined. â€Å"I don't want to spend six hours in a plane with that asshole.† â€Å"You won't have to, Beth. They've requested that we send him alone this time.† She sat up. â€Å"Alone? Who's going to watch him?† Suddenly she felt very sober. â€Å"No one needs to watch him, Beth. He works for them, remember? You were right. We shouldn't have gotten a pilot from them.† An hour and forty minutes after he dropped through the hatch, Tuck started the procedure to power up the 747. He'd never actually flown anything this big – or anything nearly this big – but he had done twenty hours in a simulator in Dallas and only crashed twice. All planes fly the same, he told himself and he started the first engine. Once it had spooled up, he had the power to start the other three. He put on the headset and looked out the side window to make sure he had room to turn the plane and taxi it to the runway. As soon as it started moving, the tower began to chatter, trying first to get him to identify himself, then to stop. Roberto, who was hanging from the straps on the flight officer's seat beside Tuck, barked twice and let loose a high-pitched squeal. â€Å"You're cookin' with gas, buddy,† came over the radio. Jake was close enough to see the big jet. â€Å"Where are you, Jake?† â€Å"Out of the way, buddy, but thanks for using my name on the radio. Just thought you ought to know that you're going to need fifty-one hundred feet of runway to get that thing off the ground at your destination – and that's with full flaps, so save your fuel now. You'd better tell them what you're doing unless you've got collision insurance on that thing.† Tuck keyed the mike button on the steering yoke. â€Å"Honolulu Tower, this is United Flight One requesting immediate clearance for emergency takeoff on Runway Two.† â€Å"There's no such thing as an emergency takeoff,† the controller said. Tuck could tell he was close to losing it. â€Å"Well, Tower, I'm taking off on Two, and if you've got anything headed that way, I'd say you've got an emergency on your hands, wouldn't you?† The tower guy was almost screaming now. â€Å"Negative on the clearance! Clearance denied, United jet. Return to the terminal. We have no flight plan for a United Flight One.† â€Å"Tower, United Flight One requesting you chill and be a professional about this. Clear to ten thousand. I am starting my takeoff.† â€Å"Negative, negative. Identify yourself†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"This is Captain Roberto T. Fruitbat signing off, Honolulu Tower.† Tuck clicked off the radio, pushed the throttles up, and watched the jet exhaust pressure gauges. When they got to 80 percent of maximum thrust, he re-leased the ground brakes and one hundred and seventy thousand pounds of aircraft rolled down the runway and swept into the sky. At ten thousand feet he began his turn toward Alualu. The fighters joined him a hundred miles north of Guam. Evidently, they had found out that United did not employ a Captain Fruitbat. One of the F-18 fighters came in close and Tuck waved to him. The pilot signaled for Tuck to put on his headset. Why not? Tuck assumed they would be broadcasting across a number of frequencies. â€Å"Yo, good morning, gents,† Tuck said. â€Å"United 747, change your course and land at Guam Airport or we will force you down.† Tuck looked out the window at the sidewinder air to air missiles hanging menacingly under the wings of the fighter. â€Å"And how, exactly, do you propose to do that, gentlemen?† â€Å"Repeat, change your course and land in Guam immediately or we will force you down.† â€Å"That would be fine,† Tuck said. â€Å"Go ahead, force me and my hundred and fifteen passengers down.† Tuck let off the mike button and turned to Roberto. â€Å"Okay, you go in the back and pretend to be a hundred and fifteen people.† As Tuck had calculated, the fighters backed off while they waited for instructions. They were not about to shoot down an American passenger jet without very specific orders, whether it was stolen or not. He believed his biggest advantage was that the FAA and United would insist that no one could steal a 747. That sort of thing just didn't happen. Nice of them to give him an escort, though. He punched some buttons and the nav computer told him he was only half an hour from Alualu. He started his descent. He checked the position of the fighters and hit the mike button. â€Å"This is the UFO calling the F-18s.† â€Å"Go ahead, United.† â€Å"Are you guys both listening?† â€Å"Go ahead.† Tuck affected a singsong teasing tone: â€Å"Neener, neener, neener, you can't get me.† Then he locked the microphone in the on position and began singing an off-key version of â€Å"Fly Me to the Moon.† Malink, I hope you built those ladders, he thought. Malink had been awakened early by the Sorcerer's jet taking off and he was on his way to the beach for his morning bowel movement when Vincent appeared to him. â€Å"Morning, squirt,† the flyer said. Malink stopped on the path and fought to catch his breath. â€Å"Vincent. I build the ladders.† â€Å"You did good, kid. Now get everyone together – and I mean everyone – and tell them to go to the airstrip. Take the ladders. I'm sending a plane for you.† Malink shook his head. â€Å"You send cargo?† Vincent laughed. â€Å"No, kid, I'm taking the Shark People to the cargo. You'll need the ladders to get on the plane. Don't be afraid. Just get everyone.† â€Å"The Sky Priestess has three who have been chosen. One has just come back to the village.† Vincent looked at his feet. â€Å"I'm sorry, kid. You'll have to leave them. Go now. You don't have very long. I'll see you again.† And he disappeared. 64 Deliverance Beth and Sebastian Curtis were cleaning the operating room and sterilizing instruments when they first heard the jet. â€Å"That sounds low,† Sebastian said casually. Then the fighters, running ahead of the 747, passed over the island. â€Å"What in the hell was that?† Beth said. She dropped a pan of instruments and headed for the door. â€Å"Probably just military exercises, Beth,† Sebastian called after her. â€Å"It's nothing to be concerned about.† He was glad to have help cleaning up and didn't want to lose it. Usually, at this point, she was on the plane heading for Japan. â€Å"‘Bastian, come here!† she called. â€Å"Something's up!† Sebastian shoved the last of the surgical draperies into a canvas bag and hurried outside. The sound of jet engines seemed to be everywhere. Outside he found Beth staring at some coconut palms. The guards were standing outside their quarters, looking in the same direction. â€Å"Look.† Beth pointed to the north. â€Å"What? I don't see†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Then he saw movement behind the palms and a 747 coming toward the island at entirely too low an angle. â€Å"It's landing,† Beth said. Sebastian's gaze was caught by more movement in his peripheral vision. He looked across the runway. The Shark People were coming out of the jungle. All of the Shark People. From the 747 the airstrip looked smaller than he had remembered. To conserve runway Tuck wanted to touch down as close to the near end as possible. He pulled full flaps and checked his descent rate. The Shark People were moving toward the plane in a wave. Some of the men carried long ladders. As all sixteen tires hit the runway, Tuck slammed the levers that reversed the engines and they screamed in protest. Immediately, he hit the ground brakes and watched the brake temperature gauge zoom into the red as the jet screamed toward the ocean at the far end of the runway at a hundred and fifty miles per hour. â€Å"Did you see the ladders?† Roberto said, but this time it was Vincent's voice coming from the bat. â€Å"Ya fuckin' mook, I told you they were makin' ladders.† â€Å"You must come,† Malink said. He crouched at the edge of the jungle where the old cannibal was hiding. â€Å"Vincent said all of our people must go.† Sarapul watched as the huge jet slowly turned at the end of the runway. â€Å"No. I am too old. This is my home. They don't want me where you are going.† â€Å"We don't know where we are going.† â€Å"Your people didn't want me here. Would they want me in this new place? I will stay.† Malink looked to the runway. â€Å"I have to go now.† Sarapul waved him off with a bony hand. â€Å"Go. You go.† He turned and walked into the jungle. Malink ran into the open and began shouting orders to the men with the ladders. The Shark People poured onto the runway and surrounded the jet like termites serving their swollen queen. Beth Curtis saw the first of the doors on the 747 open and immediately recognized Tuck. A tall ladder was thrown against the plane and the Shark People started climbing. â€Å"He's taking them away!† she screamed. Sebastian Curtis stood stupefied. Beth shouted to the guards, â€Å"Stop them, you idiots!† The guards had been spellbound by the landing of the jet as well, but her harpylike scream brought them to action. They were in and out of their quarters in seconds, running toward the airstrip with their Uzis. Beth Curtis ran behind them, screeching like a tortured siren. All six doors of the 747 were open now, and the Shark People were streaming up the ladders, mothers carrying children, the strongest men helping the old. The other guards piled up behind Mato while he unlocked the gate. He fumbled with the key, then finally sent it home and pulled the chain from around the bars. Beth Curtis hit the chain-link and curled her fingers though it like claws as she watched her fortune piling into the plane. â€Å"Shoot!† she screamed. â€Å"Shoot that son of a bitch!† The guards had no idea who she meant, but they understood the command to shoot. The first one through the gate pulled up and pointed his Uzi at the crowd of natives waiting to get up the ladder. There was a fat one who seemed to be giving orders. He aimed for the center of his back. A bullet took the guard high in the chest, knocking him back off his feet. His Uzi clattered on the runway. The other guards pulled up, looking for the source of the shot.. â€Å"Kill them all, you fucking cowards!† Beth Curtis yelled. â€Å"Shoot!† The guards crouched to make themselves into smaller targets as they scanned the edge of the jungle for movement. There was a roar and the guards looked up to see two fighter jets coming in low over the runway. Their decision was made. They ran for the cover of the compound as Beth Curtis screamed at their backs. She ran out to the dead guard, picked up his Uzi, and pointed it at the 747. A gunshot came from the jungle and a bullet ricocheted off the concrete next to her. She turned the Uzi toward the trees and pulled the trigger. It roared for three seconds, the recoil pulling her sideways as the bullets chopped a pattern in the vegetation like a remotecontrol Cuisinart. She brought the gun back around on the plane and pulled the trigger, but the clip was empty. She threw the gun to the ground and stood shaking as the last of the ladders was thrown away from the plane and the doors were pulled shut.

Good and Evil King Lear Essay

Shakespeare’s tragedy â€Å"King Lear† discusses many notions the most important being the relationship between good and evil and the constant battle of the opposites; their dependency and the origin of wickedness, as well as the fact that something good can never â€Å"destroy† anything all play a key role in the question of if it is evil that destroys itself. The following essay will deliberate these ideas and compare good and evil throughout the play to show the self-destruction evil caused for itself. Throughout the entire play of â€Å"King Lear† there are many acts of goodness as well as acts of wickedness that represent the two ideas of virtue versus deviltry that depend on each other. Without the good there could not be any evil and the same goes for evil because without the opposite they could not be compared and therefore not be identified as being either good or bad. King Lear would never have realized the horrible mistake he made when he claimed that â€Å"nothing will come of nothing† (Act 1, Scene 1), would it not have been for Cordelia’s vicious sisters that drove evil too far and made their father go mad. Their evil behavior towards their father can be seen in Act 1 Scene 3 where Goneril instructs a servant to be rude and less courteous to Lear. â€Å"Put on what weary negligence you please, you and your fellows: I’d have it come to question† she says, ordering the servant to show Lear no respect which highlights her evil intentions. Only Lear’s craziness makes him see his truthful daughter and also who deceived him. If Regan and Goneril were not evil, Lear would have never noticed his neglect and he could not have seen the truth and his daughter’s real intentions. However, if Regan and Goneril were to have been good, there would not have been a misconception at the distribution of the kingdom which would have led to Lear choosing his favorite daughter over the two others and Regan and Goneril being left with nothing which would have made the audience feel empathy towards them and give every character a new idea of good and evil. Therefore both virtue and deviltry are necessary for the play because they compliment each other’s differences and highlight the opposites even more, further changing the story that depends on both extremes. All the evil happenings in the tragedy of King Lear can be related back to goodness which makes good the cause of evil, adding to another relationship and connection the two opposites share. The virtuous side created wickedness which you can see clearly through Edmond’s treachery against his father and brother. This can be seen in Act 1, Scene 2 where Edmond’s soliloquy clearly underlines his evil plot of replacing his brother as his father’s heir. â€Å"[†¦] Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land. Our father’s love is to the bastard, Edmond, as to th’legitimate [†¦] if this letter speed and my invention thrive, Edmond the base shall to th’legitimate. I grow; I prosper; now gods, stand up for bastards! † he exclaims. This is the first time the audience sees how evil and vicious Edmond is and what his plans are. If Gloucester had not treated his â€Å"bastard son† so badly, he might not have turned so evil. However, because his father continuously showed Edmond that he preferred Edgar over him, Edmond grew up with such a bad attitude towards him which led to his evil plot and his vicious actions. Thereupon, goodness is responsible for the creation of evil and without the good wickedness could not exist. Furthermore, the destruction of evil could not have been through goodness because if goodness were to destroy anything it could no longer be identified as â€Å"good†. This states that the word â€Å"destruction† already implies a negative and evil idea where as good would be determined as the opposite. Cordelia is a purely good character which shows even when she had the chance to fight evil, she did not reach for brutality or destruction of bad but rather tried to help the good and fix the terrible situation. Accordingly, if good were to destroy evil it could no longer be called â€Å"good† because it would be on the same level as evil and could not be differentiated anymore. It is therefore impossible for good to destroy evil, since it is basically incapable of wicked actions. Edmond’s death, however, could indicate the vanquishing of evil through good. The brothers Edmond and Edgar that represent evil and good, fight until Edgar finally kills his brother. On one hand, one could possibly see this as good overcoming evil since the â€Å"good† brother killed the â€Å"evil† brother; yet this certain feeling of hope is quickly crushed by the tragic ending and the deaths of most of the main characters representing goodness in the play. On the other hand, it is evil that caused its own destruction all along due to the fact that it took on more than it could handle, striving for too much power which ultimately led to its own downfall. Edmond started off with a plan of taking over his brother’s and then his father’s position but he got carried away by the idea of power that he competed for a position that was too high for him which eventually made him fail. If Edmond had only aimed for ranks that were within his reach, he would have successfully accomplished his goal. Edmund’s deviltry can be seen until the very end, where he confesses to have ordered for Cordelia and Lear to be hanged, just before he dies. â€Å"I pant for life. Some good I mean to do, despite of my own nature† he reveals, wanting to at least do one good deed before his life is over. Yet because he tried to scheme for even more power, he is responsible for his own elimination and the cause of his failure. Another example of evil’s own vanquishing is the battle between the sisters Goneril and Regan. At the beginning they fight on the same side against their father yet towards the end of the play they both become to obsessed with the idea of power that they turn against each other to strive for everything. They both fight over Edmond and are too greedy to want to share the kingdom. This can certainly be seen in Act 4, Scene 2 when Goneril says â€Å"One way I like this well; but being widow, and my Gloucester with her, may all the building in my fancy pluck upon my hateful life† which indicates that Goneril is scared that her sister will take Edmond away from her. Their betrayal upon each other can also be recognized through Regan’s poisoning by Goneril in Act 5, Scene 3. When Regan falls to the ground ill, Goneril says â€Å"If not, I’ll ne’er trust medicine† foreshadowing Regan’s soon death. The sisters greed for power grew so strong that the betrayed each other just to reach a goal. This shows that the two variants of deviltry destroyed themselves through selfishness and greed. Throughout the tragedy of King Lear the fight between good and evil brings forward many connections and highlights the relationship of the two opposites. Not only are they dependent upon each other, wickedness was created by purity and without one the other could not exist. Virtue is also incapable of destruction leaving all these notions to prove that good did not vanquish evil, but that it was evil that destroyed itself.

Differences and Similiraties Between Dickens and Hardy Essay

Dickens was born in Portsea, in 12. His father, John Dickens, was a kind and likeable man, but incompetent with money, and due to his financial difficulties they moved to Camden when Dickens was nine. When Charles was twelve his father was arrested and taken to the debtors’ prison in Southwark. He started working at Warren’s blacking-warehouse and its strenuous working conditions made an impression on him, later influencing his fiction. He became interested in writing (and acting) and, after having learnt shorthand in his spare time, he began working as a freelance reporter at the Parliament and the Old Bailey. Under the nom de plume Boz he published the eponymous Sketches (36), a collection of short pieces concerning London scenes and people. In 36 he married Catherine Hogarth, the daughter of a fellow editor, yet this union proved to be an unhappy one and, though she bore him ten children, he decided to separate from her after 22 years, having fallen in love with an 1 8-year-old actress, Ellen Ternan. This fact often constituted a reason of doubt, regret and depression for his Victorian frame of mind. The Sketches were immediately followed by the Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, a publication in installments which confirmed his success as a humorist and satirist. His rise to fame continued with Oliver Twist (38), David Copperfield (49-50), Little Dorrit (57), all influenced by his childhood memories (he purportedly had a near-photographic memory), and his journalistic career. By means of subtle irony, he denounced the exploitation of children in the slums and factories. His later novels Bleak House (53), Hard times (54) and Great Expectations (60-1) revolve around various social issues, emphasizing the difficult condition of the working class and the poor. Throughout his life he edited several newspapers and magazines, e.g. Household Words or All The Year Round, which hosted serializations of many prominent novels. His last years were marked by numerous reading tours, even in America, and the foundation of charities to help the poor. After his death in 70 his remains were b uried in the Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. Above all, Dickens was a storyteller, as he was influenced by the Bible, fairy tales, fables and nursery rhymes as well as 18th-century essayists and Gothic novelists. His novels have been praised – from Tolstoj to Orwell – for their realism and good story planning. On the other hand, Wilde and Virginia Woolf complained of their episodic nature and artificial vein of saccharine sentimentalism. Of course the publication in monthly or weekly installments imposed strict terms, preventing unified plotting and creating pressure on Dickens to suit the taste of the audience. Most of his novels are set in London, a city he knew well and of which he gave vivid and realistic sketches. In Dickens’s first works, his characters are taken from the bourgeoisie, although often satirized, whereas in the latter novels he presents a more radical point of view on society, still without being a revolutionary thinker. His awareness of the increasing spiritual and material corruption as a consequence of industrialization made him more and more critical of society. His mature works managed to draw popular attention to public abuses, evils and injustices by means of the juxtapositions of terrible descriptions of London desolation and crime and hilarious sketches of the city. He created caricatures by exaggerating and ridiculing the distinctive social characteristics of the middle, lower and lowest classes in their own voices and conversations. His female characters are feeble, and either completely good or irrecoverably evil (a black-and-white morality possibly derived from his difficult relation with his mother). He sympathizes with the poor and the outcast: he shifts the perspective from the upper middle-class world of 18th-century fiction to the life of the lower orders and the working class. Children are often the most relevant characters in his works, a means to fictionally invert the natural or der of things, as their good-natured personality makes them more likely to be the moral teachers than the pupils of the adults (either into insignificant parents or hypocritical grown-ups), the exempla than the imitators. He succeeds not only in making his readers sympathize with the children, but also in proposing them as models of the correct way people should behave to one another. His aim lies in teaching a moral lesson to the reader. To accomplish this he uses the most effective language, i.e. a careful selection of adjectives, lexical and syntactical repetitions, juxtapositions of images and ideas and hyperbolic and ironic comments, thus achieving the most vivid depictions of life and character ever attempted by any novelist. In Coketown, a fictitious industrial town, Thomas Gradgrind, an educator firmly believing in facts and figures, has founded a school based on the suppression of imagination and feelings, the same theories by which he raises his children Louisa and Tom. His daughter is compelled to marry Josiah Bounderby, a wealthy banker thrice her age, and she accepts so that her brother can be apprenticed at Bounderby’s bank, yet the marriage proves to be unhappy. Tom, grown up to be dissipated and self-interested, robs his employer, initially managing to make everyone suspect an honest laborer, Stephen Blackpool , then discovered and snuck out of the country by his sister. Hard Times is composed of three books of three chapters each: Sowing, about the seeds planted by means of the Gradgrind/Bounderby method, Reaping, showing which fruit the plants have borne (Luisa’s unfortunate marriage, Tom’s dishonesty/hedonism which leads to Stephen’s framing) and Garnering, disclosing further details. Hard times revolves around the dichotomy in Dickens’s age between the rich and the poor. The Hands are forced to work interminable shifts for terrible wages in squalid and dangerous factories, with no hope of improving their living or working conditions due to their lack of education and job skills. Through his characters and stories he denounces this gap, thus criticizing the money-oriented and narrow-minded nature of Utilitaria nism, the prevalent approach to economics in Victorian England, which, according to Dickens was transforming humans into machines by forbidding the development of any form of emotion or imagination. In fact, Gradgrind indoctrinates the children of the school, as well as his own, into his system of facts, whereas Bounderby considers his laborers nothing more than emotionless objects to be exploited at his own liking. Mr. Gradgrind argues that nature is a measurable, quantifiable entity entirely dominated by rational principles, and strives to transform the pupils of his school into little machines unquestioningly following these rules. Dickens’s objective lies in showing how dangerous allowing the â€Å"mechanization† of humans can be, hinting that with no compassion and imagination life would be unendurable. The extract is centered on the description of the Victorian industrial Coketown, a fictitious Northern-English mill-town whose name, the town of coke (coke being a fuel derived from the distillation of coal) is meaningful as it hints at the contribution of industrial pollution to the blackening of buildings. This town is an unpleasant place, where everything is a triumph of fact (all fact, workful): it is not only polluted, as demonstrated by â€Å"the unnatural red and black† and the â€Å"river than ran purple with ill-smelling dye†, but also noisy, due to the never-ending â€Å"rattling and trembling† of the steam-engine (one of the symbols of industrialization). Dickens employs metaphors and similes connected with nature, yet they all have negative and unsettling undertones, as the savage is war-donned, the serpents never-uncoiling, the elephant in â€Å"melancholy madness† (i.e. in musth). Therefore life in Coketown is not only marked by unpleasant alienation as well as by a fundamental opposition to the laws of nature and common sense. The whole place is monotonous as not only the streets are very similar to one another, but also the people, synchronized in all their activities. Even public buildings are standardized, looking like factories with â€Å"no taint of fancy† as artistic expression is contrary to Utilitarianism. Dickens was an important denouncer of the vices and injustices of Victorian England, employing fiction as a means to condemn public evils and abuses. He drew popular attention to the cruelty of some schools, to the squalid misery of London slums and its criminal underworld by means of his social/humanitaria n novels. He greatly influenced the contemporary reform movement, yet he was not a revolutionary per se, as he never questioned the pre-constituted order of his time, as noted by Orwell. He advocated a change not in the whole society but in the single individual, who is the real target of his moral, not political or revolutionary, message. He argued that if men behaved decently, the world would be decent, and made good win over evil in his novels as a sign of his fundamental optimism. Hardy was born of a humble family in Upper Bockhampton , a hamlet in Dorset, in 40. He became apprenticed to a local architect at sixteen and then moved to London. He read a lot, including the works of Comte, Mill, Darwin and Schopenhauer, who all influenced his novels, especially Schopenhauer, from whose The World as Will and Idea he adopted the notion of Immanent Will. His first success was Far from the Madding Crowd, published in installments throughout 74. His fame increased even further with a series of tragic novels: the Mayor of Casterbridge (86), the Woodlanders (87), Tess of the d’Urbervilles (91) and Jude the Obscure (95). The last book caused an outrage due to its nihi lism and immorality: dubbed Jude the Obscene by some, it was publicly burnt by the bishop of Wakefield. Its negative reception induced Hardy to turn his efforts exclusively to poetry. After his death in 28 his ashes were buried in the Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. Hardy’s characters are defined through their surroundings. His works are set in Wessex, a semi-fictional county in South West England corresponding to Dorset based on the eponymous Saxon medieval reign (as stated in the Preface to Far from the Madding Crowd). Being an architect, he had an exceptional sense of place, which allowed him to describe medieval ruins as well as important landmarks like Stonehenge or the college of Oxford. His early life in Dorset granted him with an extensive knowledge of the folk traditions connected with country gatherings or fairs. In his novels the rural group assumes a role similar to that of ancient Greek choruses, commenting on the actions of the character, either to provide the reader with an interpretation or a form of light relief. In the village of Marlott, the poor pe ddler John Durbeyfield is stunned to discover that he is descended from the D’Urbevilles, a once-wealthy aristocratic Norman family now extinct. The difficult conditions of his family worsen after the death of their horse caused by their eldest daughter Tess, who consequently agrees to go to the D’Urberville estate and â€Å"claim kin† (unaware of its non-existence). She gets a position as a poultry maid thanks to Alec, the mistress’s lascivious son who constantly makes undesired advances on her. He eventually takes advantage of her after a fair. She returns home and gives birth to a sickly child, who is christened Sorrow just before his death. After a year she seeks employment far from her past, i.e. in a distant valley, becoming a milkmaid at the Thalbothays Dairy. There she re-encounters Angel, a reverend’s son apprenticing as a farmer. They fall in love, yet Tess is uncertain whether to reveal him her past and resolves to slip a confessional letter under his door, which unfortunately ends under the carpet. The marriage goes smoothly nevertheless when on their wedding night they confess each oth er their past Angel is struck dumb, and resolves to leave her, boarding a ship for Brazil. Tess experiences many sufferings and difficulties and is obliged to accept a job at an hardscrabble farm. During a walk she overhears a wandering preacher who turns out to be none else than Alec, converted to Methodism by Reverend Clare. Tess eventually accepts his proposal to support her family after her father’s death. However, Angel returns from Brazil and seeks Tess to ask her forgiveness, but she stoically refuses. Heartbroken to the point of madness, she stabs Alec to death and flees to Angel. She is arrested at Stonehenge, where she felt asleep on a large rock, and is eventually executed. He is the most important pessimistic novelist of late Victorian England due to many reasons: first of all, he was born in the Hungry 40s, a period in which the price of bread was kept high by the Corn laws and many people starved to death; secondly his first marriage was an unhappy, childless one, though he felt remorseful after his wife’s death; lastly he was influenced by Darw in and his vision of life as a never-ending struggle for the survival of the fittest as well as by Schopenhauer ‘s universe governed by the blind â€Å"Immanent will†, and he started to put into discussion his religious faith. Furthermore, he was profoundly touched by the collapse of the rustic world, which he loved and experienced first-handedly since his birth. In fact his county, Dorsetshire, in South West England, was suffering from the consequences of the mechanization of agriculture, the severe economic crises of the 70s and the mass-migration to the towns. Hardy argues that life is a struggle for survival against wicked impersonal powers. Love is a destructive natural instinct. In fact man is in thrall to fate, i.e. an impersonal unforeseeable entity governing over both the inside and outside of man (personality and surroundings). Therefore human life is nothing but a useless, excruciating struggle with destiny, also known as Immanent will as per his reading of Arthur Schopenhauer . It is a kind of Anti-Providence, an unstoppable apparatus operating through a series of unfortunate coincidences. According to Hardy, the universe is at the mercy of Chance, blindfolded casualness either unconcerned or antagonistic to man. As a matter of fact, in Tess this malignant power amuses itself by tormenting her to death. â€Å"Justice was done, and the President of the Immortals, in Aeschylean phrase, had ended his sport with Tess†. Tess, and, more generally, man, is a marionette in the hands of Chance, a worthless varmint in the universe. Tess is fated to sorrow and death from the very moment she came into being. There are three important themes in his works: the difficulty of being alive; nature, unaffected by man’s fate yet co-protagonist with him; Victorian hypocrisy, which is criticized as well as conventional moralism, in particular as far as women are concerned: in fact Tess, a falling woman as per Victorian morals, is presented as a pure, guiltless vict im of chance and her love interests. His language is measured, abundant in details and symbolism. The metaphors, similes and personifications he employs reflect his love for nature. The language of sense impressions is central to his writing, as objects are perceived through touch, sight, sound and smell. Though his novels were composed during a period of literary experimentation, he persevered in employing the Victorian omniscient narrator, who is always present, sometimes commenting on the characters or events by expressing his opinions and view on life. Furthermore, he anticipates the cinema in that he employs narrative techniques alike to the camera eye and the zoom (e.g. in Far from the madding crowd).

How to buy a used car Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

How to buy a used car - Essay Example Do merciless bargaining without any hesitation,† he cautioned me. When I reached the umbrella shop, the shopkeeper had just opened the shutters, and I was his first customer of the day. I selected an umbrella, looked at the price tag and exclaimed â€Å"Oh, my God!† and showed my disinclination. The price was $60. â€Å"Don’t you worry? You are my first customer of the day I will give you the discount of 10% and will make it $54† he said. Remembering the golden advice of my guide I said, â€Å"Can you make it $30?† He short back, though not angrily, â€Å"Do you think we make 100% profits?† I was not interested in arguments, and I was about to move. â€Å"Well, take it, you see I am a bit superstitious by nature and you are the first customer of the day. The deal is done†, he said. I decided I must engage this man in shameless bargaining. I said, â€Å"Sorry, I just now recollect I have seen similar umbrellas in the 10Dollar Shop.† The shopkeeper was shocked and said, â€Å"Leave it then†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I was about to move, he held me by my hand and said in a low tone, â€Å"Why don’t you understand †¦your are my first customer and I don’t want to spoil my mood for the entire day, by disappointing the first customer†¦well, take it†. I had chosen my dealer carefully after the google search for days together and after listening to the agony of buying the used cars from my friends and relatives. One of my friends had told me curtly, â€Å"Buy a second hand car, if you wish to buy incurable headaches.† The engine of the first car that I examined was roaring as if it was about to declare war on me and I was its sworn enemy. â€Å"The sound will gradually die down as it picks up speed† the dealer assured me. â€Å"This is the best in the lot considering your price range. If you increase the range by $1000 dollars, I will show you better models. Let me assure you, I am an honest and straightforward dealer. I show to the customers

The Ideology Of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria Research Paper

The Ideology Of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria - Research Paper Example They employ the vicious Hudud punishments in enforcing sharia laws in the areas they control in Iraq and Syria. The Jihadist group is also known as the â€Å"Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant† (ISIL) and controls an unrecognized state and caliphate in the Middle East. ISIS originated from the almost fallen Al-Qaeda. The Al-Qaeda who embarked on the arbitrary and brutal treatment of civilians tried to ignite a sectarian war to the majority Shia community in 2006 under Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The ignition was almost a success after they bombed a Shia shrine, Al-Askariya Mosque, in Samarra sparking retaliatory attacks. Their leader was however killed and the group was nearly destroyed (Charles River Editors, 2014, 10). When the US forces left Iraq, a ‘third generation’ of Al Qaeda emerged. Rebranding their name to Islamic State in Iraq, 2006 saw the birth of this new generation of Al Qaeda. They would later add and Syria to the name to complete the name ISIS. The Shia-dominated government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, they claimed, starved resources and excluded the Sunnis from a share of power. The new leader, Abu Omar al Baghdadi re-established the group’s influence through ideologies when Sunni senior political leaders were being arrested and people from the Sunni dissent suffered heavy-handed suppression (Charles River Editors, 2014, 16). In 2010, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi was killed in a joint US-Iraq operation paving way for the Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi governance. In 2013, ISI absorbed the Al-Nusra Front which was an Al Qaeda backed militant group in Syria. Al-Baghdadi named the group ISIS. Al-Nusra Front’s leader and Al Qaeda however later renounced the ties after months of infighting. The group then started taking control of cities starting with Mosul and Tikrit freeing prisoners and radicalizing young people. The group is both politically charged and still rules through Islam fanaticism.

An urban precedent explaining why your choice of city illustrates Essay

An urban precedent explaining why your choice of city illustrates appropriate qualities necessary in a sustainable city - Essay Example The central theme of the Cliff City project is ‘green’ architecture, meaning that it firmly lays emphasis on sustainability and preservation of surrounding ecology. Apart from the usual urban provisions for a library, pub and cafà ©, the project features such innovations as roof-top gardens and has equipment installed for tapping wind and solar energy. Examples such as these not only point the future direction of urban architecture, but also expose the deficiencies of conventional methods of design and construction that was insensitive to the demands of the environment. For example, urban planners throughout the twentieth century paid very little attention to how their constructions will interact with the enveloping environment. The design of Cliff City project near Portland, Dorset breaks away from this tradition, in that it sees architecture as an organic enterprise. It is also informed by the drawbacks of traditional styles of architecture, as it attempt to incorpora te remedial measures toward preservation of organic world. In this respect, the Cliff City stands as a near-perfect model for the perusal of urban planners. Planet Earth is already being damaged by industrial effluents, over-exploitation of water resources, alarming levels of toxic pollutants like carbon monoxide and the phenomenon of Global Warming. In the backdrop of humanity’s appalling record at preserving the natural environment, projects such as the Cliff City, serve as ideal examples of how urban architecture should to be approached in the future. Cliff City’s more relevant today than at any time in the past, as planet earth is confronted with problems of over-population, increased urbanization, genetically modified seeds in agriculture, rising sea levels, etc. A good starting point for mitigating this precarious situation would be the adoption

Indian Cuisine Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Indian Cuisine - Research Paper Example Although India is famous for its spices, some of its most important spices, including a few that are fundamental not only to cuisine but also to local healing traditions, are exotic. They include turmeric, garlic, ginger, fenugreek, asafetida, and cinnamon. Certain cultural perspectives contribute to India’s diversity and uniqueness in the matter of food (Nandy, 11). Contemporary forces of international business integration have picked up the themes of food as a social rite and food as health. This is to reorganize and formalize the cuisines of all nations in relation to the global needs (9). These advances have stimulated subtle transformations in the cultural features and significance of Indian cuisines. These changes take place regularly outside the array of vision of ethnographers, journalists and nutritionists writing on food or restaurants. Moreover, the conventional ethnographic concerns of food have fused now with a modern, more fluid politics of food in India. These ethnographic concerns of food include the uncontaminated and the impure, commensality and its absence, the cooked and the raw as well as the sanctified and the sacrilegious (Nandy, 10). Unique aspects of the Indian cuisine There are strict rules governing good eating habits in India. One is only allowed to use the right hand during eating. In addition, the palm of the hand should remain dry and clean as only the fingers are used. It considered a poor form of eating to let curry to dribble down the arm. It is right to use the right hand to tear off the pieces of chapatti and wrap them around vegetables and pickles, or use them to scoop curry into one's mouth. Mostly, when one mixes rice with other food, he uses the fingers to eat. Although some people will use a spoon for the accompanying curry, it is not the norm since service of most meals does not include any cutlery. The main use of the left hand is to drink water, to wave away the flies or to help oneself to more food. There is no more use of the right hand after one has started eating because that would be polluting the food everyone will serve from the common pot (Dandekar, 41). India is popular for spices an d herbs, and this greatly contributes to the choice of spices to use during cooking. Most of these spices are chosen mainly because of their medicinal values rather than for flavor. Many of them aid in digestion while others are antiseptic. In addition, most of these spices used in Indian food do not make the food too bland (3). On the other hand, these spices give trace amounts of antioxidants or other chemicals that help in digestion. Others act as effective mouth fresheners that prevent heartburn, curb nausea and help in digestion (Dubey, 4). The most common spice in India especially the southern region is Cumin. In addition, there is use of fruits, which are fried or dry-roasted before usage. Cumin fried in ghee usually flavor the seeds form a crucial part of curry powder and legumes particularly lentils by. The mixture of cumin is set up to savor its sweet and aromatic flavor (Kumar, 49). In recent decades, the South Indian food creations like vada, uthappam, dosai and idli hav e partially outdone the colonial fast food preparations in popularity. In fact, when one talks about Indian fast food, these are the food items that first come to one’

Starting a Four-day Workweek Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Starting a Four-day Workweek - Assignment Example Several organizations have used it, and it is already proving to be successful in achieving its purpose and benefits. One of the companies that offer cosmetic products and a four-day workweek for its employees is Advanced Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery Company. The company offers facials, waxing, cleansers, muscle relaxers, general skin care products, and several other cosmetic services (Advanced Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery Company, 2015). Apart from cosmetic and skincare products, the company also offers cosmetic surgery. The company has an accredited surgery facility used to perform facelift surgery for outpatients under anaesthesia to improve the skin. The areas of the skin that are sagging are accessed by incision through the ear and the airline. According to Indeed, a company offering job search database, Advanced Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery Company in Ormond Beach Florida, USA likes the four-day workweek because it leads to improved work-life balance and flexible work schedule, leading to higher productivity at the workplace (Indeed, 2015). Following this example, Skin Essentials can provide its employees with four-day workweek. My recommendation is that the policy should be implemented immediately so that employees can establish a work-life balance as soon as possible, and achieve energy-saving opportunity by reducing use of fuel on driving and commuting to the workplace.

Operation management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Operation management - Essay Example But one thing we wouldn’t like to do is to pay much for such services. To be able to deliver quality services and goods to the customers, there are management skills that are needed. Operations management therefore focuses on such management skills that lead to higher productivity and increase responsiveness, providing more choice to customers and delivering quality standards. In short, operations management involves analyzing business processes and how to improve them (Investopedia, 2013). Progressing further, operations, management can be defined as the administration of business practices in order to create the highest level of efficiency in an organization. It is thus concerned with converting materials and labor into goods and services in an efficient way in order to maximize the profit of an organization. Therefore, the operational management team is concerned with designing the inputs (materials, labor, and overhead) conversion methods, into outputs (goods, services and value added products), that brings benefits to the organization. Arguably, one would say that high level efficiency in an organization may be attained without employing certain administrative practices; hence operational management has no importance in making the business attain efficiency or maximize profit. This paper is meant to find out the solution between either using operation management or no operation management to achieve organizational efficiency. Nonetheless, one would wonder if firms that do not employ proper operations management techniques would also be able to maximize on their profits as they improve on the efficiency of the firms. This is as opposed to those firms that are keen about the kind of operations management techniques that are employed in their daily operations. Obviously, it becomes very necessary for all types of organizations to consider operations management since they all produce a mixture of some goods and services. In smaller organizations, many o perations management activities are done by the other employees who are involved in many other operations of the firm such as marketing staff and accountants. Operations management is considered important in any organization as it aids in making the decisions that would impact the costs of producing the products and services that the firm is involved in. It also aids in making a decision that would impact how well the products and services are delivered, which then is critical to the revenue that the organization receives. This would then mean that, when good operations management programs are put in place, the cost of production would be less while the products and services delivered would be of high quality, hence the resulting revenue that would be received by the organization will be high. When poor operations management programs are put in place, less revenue will be earned, hence good operations techniques are essential for profit maximization in any organization. Following th at, to illustrate this fact, a certain restaurant has employed two different operations management techniques in order to compare the cost of operations involved in running the restaurant. For the first three months, the restaurant hired excess workers and used to purchase materials in excess so that extra material could be given to the workers to avoid going bad. After the here months, a new management was put in place and there was a difference in the

Finance & Law for Engineers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Finance & Law for Engineers - Assignment Example In order to achieve this Telit is currently seeking to grow its market for the M2M technology. The company is seeking to identify with the technology and be a major dealer with this M2M technology in the short run. This has had the effect increasing gross margin from 37.1% to 38.2% as a result of redesigning operations involving M2M technology. Telit has a wide distribution network for the M2M technology which has over five thousand dealers distributed worldwide. The company’s mode of dealership is to contact customers directly or through the dealers. Over the year, Telit recruited more employees all over the world. The 17.3% increase in revenues can be attributed to the efficiency of this distribution network. The new employees and dealers will be responsible with maintaining good relationship with clients, hence steady revenue. All this was done as part of the strategy to increase the company’s market base whose effect will be increased revenues (Telit Communications, 2013). Recently, Telit has made some acquisitions and is in the process of making more acquisitions. In its growth strategy, Telit wants to diversify its products. The company has invested in seven research and development centers that have the responsibility of coming up with new competitive products as well as innovatively improve the existing products. This had the result of an increase in research and development expenses from four million dollars to twenty four million dollars. Telit has already acquired ILS Technology LLC which will offer complementary contribution to the company’s growth strategy. ILST will offer services and products that will be used to connect M2M devices to the existing clients’ systems. Alongside ILST, the company has also acquired CrossBridge Solutions that deals with mobile data connectivity. This acquisition will assist the company to tap and properly establish itself in the Internet of Things (IoT) business. These acquisitions cost the company eleven

Business Ethics Mid-Term Examination Assignment

Business Ethics Mid-Term Examination - Assignment Example The ethical philosophies of an individual are characterized by ethical principles and norms that they possess as their ethical frames for reference. Every individual faces to take moral decisions on daily basis. These decisions revolve around the questions related to correct or false. Therefore, the bases in accordance with which these decisions are produced are shown several researchers (Stead, Worrel, & Stead, 1994). Purtilo (2005) showed that the three steps in the Individual Ethical Decision-Making Process are recognizing and defining the issues that are ethical, reflecting upon and interpreting the information gathered in recognition of the issues, implementing and evaluating the decision taken. Define business ethics and explain the value of focusing on conduct rather than characteristics. Business ethics is the appliance of our perceptive of good and right to the collection of technologies, institutions, transactions, pursuits and activities. According to Rossouw et al. (2007) business ethics has been referred to those ethics that focuses on what is good and right especially in economical activities. Hence business ethics is more focused upon morally evaluating economic activities and practices. For the long term survival of any business and its profitability the ethics involved in the business are very essential to be followed. The failure of many companies is due to unethical behaviors. The companies with sound principles of business ethics are likely to benefit more and have a lesser risk of developing a bad reputation that can be harmful for the company in terms of future perspective. The board has the responsibility to actively manage the ethics performance of the company. Virtues have been defined as the main features that are valued by moral philosophers and religious thinkers. Identify and define the six high virtues presented by Peterson and Seligman. Select a virtue you believe is inherently important to the study of business ethics, identify i ts corresponding character strengths and explain why it is important. The six high virtues presented by, Peterson & Seligman (2004) are intelligence and awareness, bravery, humanity, fairness, self-control and transcendence. Wisdom and knowledge involves the cognitive strengths which engage the acquisition and use of knowledge the creativity thinking, curiosity, open-mindedness and things like love for mastering new skills etc. Courage involves the emotional strengths, the implementation of will to achieve goals, always speaking and supporting truth and being pure and genuine. Humanity relates to interpersonal strengths like kindness, doing good deeds for other, social intelligence and being aware of the feelings of others. Justice involves fairness in treating all people similarly and working well in teams. Temperance refers to the strengths that protect against excess, forgiveness, modesty, and prudence etc. Transcendence relates to appreciation of excellence and being aware of an d thankful for the good things happening. Although all the virtues are important but justice, honesty, fairness happen to be the most important of all as all the other virtues revolve around it. If a person is not capable of doing justice and being honest then none of the other virtues apply

10 Tenets of MOT and the IT Organization Essay Example for Free

10 Tenets of MOT and the IT Organization Essay A tenet is a principle based on observation, intuition, experience, and in some cases, empirical analysis. Based on a study presented in the Handbook of Technology Management by Gerard Gaynor, Ten tenets are proposed as guiding principles for an organization to operate within a technology cycle framework. These are: 1. Value diversification is a poor substitute for MOT. 2. Manufacturability must keep pace with inventiveness and marketability. 3. Quality and total productivity are inseparable concepts in managing technology. 4.  It is management’s responsibility to bring about technological change and job security for long term competitiveness. 5. Technology must be the ‘servant’ not the ‘master’; the master is still the human being. 6. The consequences of technology selection can be more serious than expected because of systematic effects. 7. Continuous education and training in a constantly changing workplace is a necessity, not a luxury. 8. Technology gradient is a dynamic component of the technology management process, to be monitored for strategic advantage. 9.  The RTC factor must be carefully analyzed and meticulously monitored for gaining the most out of any technology, particularly a new one. 10. Information linkage must keep pace with technology growth. See more: The Issues Concerning Identity Theft Essay In the case of an IT Organization, the essence of the management several factors of technology are realized based on the above specified MOT principles. The following may be derived: †¢ Importance of Core Technologies and Core Competencies. Analysis of the competencies and technological capability of an IT Organization will provide information on the inherent competitive ability of the organization, or the absence of such. This is a step towards active management of technology. †¢ Inventiveness versus Market Drive. For an IT Organization, this translates to building an output-driven innovative culture versus customizing products and processes based on Market-demand. †¢ Total Quality Management. Quality Assurance and Quality Control procedures are essential to monitor processes and the process improvement practice within an organization. †¢ Initiation and Management of Technological Change. Conscious effort to improve current technology should e a consistent activity in an IT Organization. This may be a result of observed updates in the industry or an internal effort to innovate and update according to changing business needs. †¢ Security for Competitiveness. As an industry with established processes, functions and professional track, job security through skills-based retention and promotion should be encouraged. This will invite constructive competitiveness and improve the industryà ¢â‚¬â„¢s workforce. †¢ Technology is the medium and the tool, it is not the solution.  The main product for an organization that offers Information Technology as a service is the solution. The technology is the enabler, while the process is the company-specific activity that adds value to the solution. †¢ Organizational Systems and the Effect of Technology. The effect of information technology to the organization encompasses structures and organization systems. As processes and needs are updated, technologies or the manner that it is implemented should be revised complementarily. The reverse does not always follow. The Essence of Training and Education in an IT Organization. With the Human Resource as the main and sole source value and new service introduction, investment in further education is essential to an IT Organization. Technology managemet assessment: TA is the study and evaluation of new technologies. It is based on the conviction that new developments within, and discoveries by, t he scientific community are relevant for the world at large rather than just for the scientific experts themselves, and that technological progress can never be free of ethical implications. Also, technology assessment recognizes the fact that scientists normally are not trained ethicists themselves and accordingly ought to be very careful when passing ethical judgement on their own, or their colleagues, new findings, projects, or work in progress. Technology assessment assumes a global perspective and is future-oriented, not anti-technological. TA considers its task as interdisciplinary approach to solving already existing problems and preventing potential damage caused by the uncritical application and the commercialization of new technologies. Therefore any results of technology assessment studies must be published, and particular consideration must be given to communication with political decision-makers. An important problem, TA has to deal with it, is the so-called Collingridge dilemma: on the one hand, impacts of new technologies cannot be easily predicted until the technology is extensively developed and widely used; on the other hand, control or change of a technology is difficult as soon as it is widely used. Some of the major fields of TA are: information technology, hydrogen technologies, nuclear technology, molecular nanotechnology, pharmacology, organ transplants, gene technology, artificial intelligence, the Internet and many more. Health technology assessment is related, but profoundly different, despite the similarity in the name. Forms and concepts of technology assessment The following types of concepts of TA are those that are most visible and practiced. There are, however, a number of further TA forms that are only proposed as concepts in the literature or are the label used by a particular TA institution. 2] †¢ Parliamentary TA (PTA): TA activities of various kinds whose addressee is a parliament. PTA may be performed directly by members of those parliaments (e. g. in France and Finland) or on their behalf by related TA institutions (such as in the UK, in Germany and Denmark) or by organisations not directly linked to a Parliament (such as in the Netherlands and Switzerland). [3] †¢ Expert TA (often also referred to as the classical TA or traditional TA concept): TA activities carried out by (a team of) TA and technical experts. Input from stakeholders and other actors is included only via written statements, documents and interviews, but not as in participatory TA. †¢ Participatory TA (pTA): TA activities which actively, systematically and methodologically involve various kinds of social actors as assessors and discussants, such as different kinds of civil society organisations, representatives of the state systems, but characteristically also individual stakeholders and citizens (lay persons), technical scientists and technical experts. Standard pTA methods include consensus conferences, focus groups, scenario workshops etc. [4] Sometimes pTA is further divided into expert-stakeholder pTA and public pTA (including lay persons). [5] †¢ Constructive TA (CTA): This concept of TA, developed in the Netherlands, but also applied and discussed elsewhere[6] attempts to broaden the design of new technology through feedback of TA activities into the actual construction of technology. Contrary to other forms of TA, CTA is not directed toward influencing regulatory practices by assessing the impacts of technology. Instead, CTA wants to address social issues around technology by influencing design practices. †¢ Discursive TA or Argumentative TA: This type of TA wants to deepen the political and normative debate about science, technology and society. It is inspired by ethics, policy discourse analysis and the sociology of expectations in science and technology. This mode of TA aims to clarify and bring under public and political scrutiny the normative assumptions and visions that drive the actors who are socially shaping science and technology. Accordingly, argumentative TA not only addresses the side effects of technological change, but deals with both broader impacts of science and technology and the fundamental normative question of why developing a certain technology is legitimate and desirable. [7] †¢ Health TA (HTA): A specialised type of expert TA informing policy makers about efficacy, safety and cost effectiveness issues of pharmaceuticals and medical treatments, see health technology assessment.

Exploring The Concept Of Cubism Art Essay

Exploring The Concept Of Cubism Art Essay Cubism was one of the most influential art movements of the 20th century. It took place between 1907 and about 1914. The innovators of the Cubist movement were Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881 1973) and Georges Braque (French, 1882 1963). Cubism was one of the most significant changes in ideas in the history of art. It allowed for the development of many of the abstract modern art movements in areas such as Futurism and Constructivism. The one of the main characteristics of Cubism would be the presenting of a three dimensional object as an abstract form on a two dimensional surface. In order to achieve this, objects are defragmented, analysed, and reconstructed in an abstract form. The shapes are flattened onto the two dimensional surface of the canvas so that different angles of the object can be seen at the same time. Another distinct feature of Cubist paintings would be the breaking up and interlocking of background and object in geometric arrangement, creating a shallow sense of space. Both Picasso and Braque, who were living in Paris at the time, began the Cubist movement. They met in late 1907 and began developing the idea of Cubism in their works by using complex patterns of defragmented objects, continuous outlines, and a monochromatic colour scheme. The term Cubism can be sourced back to a conversation between French art critic Louis Vauxcelles and Henri Matisse in 1908. Matisse described Braque s paintings, which he had submitted to the Salon d Automne, to have little cubes . However, it was Vauxcelles who coined the term Cubism in a review about the Salon des Independants just a few months later. Cubism can be divided into two phases: Analytical Cubism and Synthetical Cubism. In the early phase, starting in 1907, objects were broken up, analysed, and put back together in an abstracted form. The use of the technique of representing various sides of an object at one time defined the work as Analytical Cubism. In 1912, the second phase came about, when Picasso and Braque began creating papiers colles. The technique involved pasting various types of paper in their work, which characterised Synthetic Cubism. The prominent influences on the development of Cubism were Cezannes later work and African sculptures. In Cezannes later work, Picasso and Braque admired his concept of simplifying objects by seeing them as basic shapes such as cylinders, spheres, and cones. By exploring these concepts further, representing objects various viewpoints at the same time, they revolutionised how objects could be visualised in art. In the beginning of the 20th century, Europe was discovering art from exotic continents such as Africa and Asia. Artists, such as Picasso, were inspired by the primitive and simplistic styles of the foreign cultures. Picasso had first seen African art when he visited the ethnographic museum in Paris in 1907. We can see its influence clearly in Les Demoiselles dAvignon (1907), the precursor to Cubism. In his painting, he deconstructed and rearranged the faces of two of women in his painting to appear like African masks. In doing this he created a direct link between the movement and its inspiration. The Cubist artists developed on the ideas of fauvism, the art movement that had gone before it. The Fauvists wanted to simplify art by going back to basics. They did this by using distorted images, bright sections of colour and flat patterns. Their name Les Fauves means wild beasts in French, referring to their violent approach to their compositions. Cubists took this idea a step further by using straight lines and geometric patterns. Analytical Cubism is one of the two main parts of Cubism. It was developed between 1908 and 1912 by Picasso and Braque. During this time they studied natural forms and deconstructed the forms into basic geometric parts on the two-dimensional plane of the canvas. Their only use of colour was a monochromatic scheme of greys and ochre. Many of their compositions by neutral colours that had no relations to the colour of the object they were depicting. Instead of focusing of colour, they concentrated on representing the natural world with shapes such as cylinders, spheres and cones. They used varying shades to create light and dark sections of their works to give their works a three dimensional quality. Examples of the early analytic phase would be Braques Houses at LEstaque (1908) and Picasso s Girl with a Mandolin. Synthetic Cubism was the second part of Cubism. It was developed by Picasso, Braque, and other cubist artists between 1912 and 1919. There was a noticeable change in the works of the Cubist artists in the second phase of the movement. Synthetic cubism is characterised by the introduction of collage and papier coll , which allowed them to explore the new effects of depth. The technique of pasting coloured or printed paper fragments, usually newspaper clippings or sheet music, in the paintings of the Cubists marked the first use of collage in fine art, and the basis for all subsequent collage techniques in the years that followed. The use of collage refined the idea of using found objects , objects artists came across by chance, and making them part of their compositions. The idea behind it was that art could be found in the chaos of everyday modern life. Examples of the synthetic phase would be Picasso s Still Life with Chair Caning (1912), and his piece entitled Pipe, Glass, Bottle o f Vieux Marc (1914). However, it is important to note that dividing of the Cubist movement into analytic and synthetic phases were not used by the artists at the time. The terms were coined by critics of the period. By categorising the Cubist works, it imposes rigid distinctions in the method of the Cubists. However, their techniques used in each phase can be seen throughout Cubist art. Braque was initially involved in the Fauvist art movement, but he moved away from this style in 1908 when he rediscovered Paul Cezanne and met Picasso. Braque responded to Picassos Les Demoiselles DAvignon by painting his Grand Nude in the cubist style of geometrisation of form and new spatial relationships . In 1909 Braque and Picasso started working together, using their various influences to develop a whole new way of depicting form and space. Although Braque started out painting landscapes with Picasso, they soon found the advantages of painting still-life s instead, such as them being able to see multiple views of an object as opposed to a landscape. They became close friends and worked closely together up until the First World War in 1914. The outbreak of war broke up their artistic collaboration as Braque was enlisted in the French Army and had to leave Paris. In the period between World War I and World War II, Braque adapted a more relaxed and open approach to Cubism. He was bolder in his use of colour and was less calculating in his depiction of objects. However, he was still powerfully dedicated to using the cubist techniques of fragmentation and simultaneous perspective. Before beginning the Cubist period of his art, Picasso became interested in African art, which was currently being brought into Paris museums due to the expanding of the French empire. These exotic artefacts inspired his work during his African-influenced period (1908-1909) and into his Analytic Cubism (1909-1912). During this time, Picasso was also inspired by the works of Cezanne. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Cezanne developed the idea of painting a painting for what it was a two dimensional flat surface. From the Renaissance up until this point, artists had been trying to create the illusion of three dimensions within a painting, as if it were a window. Another technique of his, that greatly inspired Picasso, was to present multiple angles of an object all at once in a painting. His idea behind it was that the eye viewing the object does not stay fixed on one angle of the object, but instead moves around and receives various perspectives. When Picasso and Braque were introduced in late 1907, they formed a close bond due to their shared interests in Cezanne and the Cubist techniques Picasso was experimenting with in his painting Les Demoiselles dAvignon . In the painting, Picasso depicted the faces of the five women to resemble Iberian masks. The bodies of the women are angular and not in proportion. The changing perspectives, unnatural proportions and flat, mask-like faces in the painting shocked and confused it s viewers at first. However, these motifs were explored and developed by Picasso and Braque throughout the Cubist movement and a new style was born. At times during this period, the work of Picasso and Braque was so similar that they themselves could not tell them apart. Picasso, in his examination of primitive sculpture and masks, arrived at the conclusion that the faces consisted of a quantity of clear shapes placed side by side. He figured that the features of the face that divide up the face should be seen as distinct sections. As Picasso progressed through the Cubism movement, he began to paint just one object at a time, painting it from several different perspectives at the same time. Picasso was successful in keeping a balance between naturalism and abstraction in his work. Before his cubist phase, he painted predominantly natural compositions, but as he explored his Cubist ideas, his work became more abstract. The objects he depicted during the period were of distorted proportions and broken into fragments, but because he used simple objects, they were generally recognisable. Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler was a gallery owner and art critic during the Cubist movement and was largely responsible for the broadcasting of Cubism as a style of art. When Picasso and Braque were producing their Cubist works in Paris, there were but a few opportunities for their works to be shown, usually the spring and autumn salon exhibitions. However, in 1910, Kahnweiler who was also an art dealer sent works by Picasso and Braque to avant-garde exhibitions outside of France. This began a growing acceptance for Cubist art around Europe at the time. To conclude, the main features of the Cubist art movement are displaying objects from multiple viewpoints at the same time and intersecting the surfaces to create a shallow space. The Cubist art movement revolutionalised how space and form could be visualised in art. The movement, created by Picasso and Braque, paved the way for future art movements to be abstract and began the re-examination of how space and form interact that changed the course of Western art.

Utilitarianism As The Principle Of Happiness Philosophy Essay

Utilitarianism As The Principle Of Happiness Philosophy Essay According to John Stuart Mill (author of Utilitarianism), utility is happiness, and happiness is pleasure minus pain. Widely known as a universal hedonism, utilitarianism is an ethical philosophy in which the most ethical acts are those which serve to increase the happiness for the most people or at the very least, decreases the suffering for the most people. Nonetheless, albeit with the fact that happiness is recognized as a universal though objectively valuable goal , utilitarianism has been for centuries recognized as the doubt of most moral philosophers, criticized for being impractical, cold and distant from individual rights and the real complexities of life. Bernard Williams is one of the critics, who brought about explicit series of objections against utilitarianism in his book, A Critique of Utilitarianism (Williams 1973b). Obviously, it is impossible for me to cover all areas concerning utilitarianism and so concentrating on morality objections, I will first of all attempt to present Bernard Williams integrity objection and the well known counter-examples against utilitarianism. Then, I will try to counter these objections, and rebutted Williams argument with stern objections as well, with Mills Utilitarianism as my reference. At the end of this essay, I hope to show that utilitarianism is indeed right, and likewise, moral intuitions are without a doubt unreliable to be used as a base in criticising utilitarianism. From what I can understand, Williams believes that utilitarianism fails to recognise the reality of complexities in life, the value of integrity, and as I mentioned earlier, individual rights. Morality comes with the recognition of individual rights and if decisions or judgments are made based on numerical value of the greatest number of happiness in a situation, the happiness of this lesser number group is ignored. Hence, integrity failed to be satisfied. In order to maximize the number of happiness, simply favour the largest number of members in a group and this irked the mind of Williams. Moreover, according to Williams, a normal utilitarian man wouldnt be able to fulfil the demanding ridiculous principle of utilitarianism. It is asking too much of an individual person and so because of that the theory must be flawed. From experience itself we can be sure that morality indeed, does not require so much of us.   Yet, the latter argument of Williams can still be argued as it is not that the theory is demanding, it is just that people dont want to fulfil their moral obligations, and that we just dont like being told to do what we dont want to do.   After all, a moral theory that wouldnt ask us to do what we dont want to do would be useless. Critics of utilitarianism have never fail to construct hypothetical situations where in each of them is the definite clear expectation of what the utilitarian would say, and it is also clear that the saying of the utilitarian would always be potentially wrong in almost all hypothetical cases. These counter-examples against utilitarianism do not conclusively show that utilitarianism is wrong, but indeed they are common reasons why people are rejecting it. And so because of that, I will present two such common counter-examples and the expected utilitarian response for these counter examples. First Counter-Example: Hypothetically speaking, there would be a television show of the future, a show where a person is taken and subjected to tortures on the show.   This is a pay-per-view show that costs a good amount of money to get.   Only people who want to see the show will ever see it, but there are a large number of people who get a great amount of pleasure from seeing this plus all the profits go to charity.   This isnt a regular program, it may only happen once.   Should this show be made? Speaking in a utilitarian manner, it is indeed right to give a green light to this show as even though, it is really sad and bad for this one person, it is however, brings a lot of happiness and pleasure to those who will see it (obviously thousands of watchers). Moreover, all the profits will go to the charity thus benefited a lot more people! Clearly, the benefits outweigh the harms. But obviously, it is indeed still wrong to torture people. This could indeed be the main argument of the opponents. Regardless of the benefits, it is still a violation of that tortured mans rights. Furthermore, to enjoy watching the torture could indeed be more morally wrong than to be physically involved in the show. Second Counter-Example: Jim, a botanist travelling in South America, comes upon a public execution in a small town. A military captain has lined up 20 Indians. He explains to Jim that they have been chosen at random from the local population, which has recently been protesting against the government. The captain offers Jim a guests privilege. If Jim wishes, he can select one of the Indians and shoot him; the other nineteen will then go free. Otherwise, the execution by the captains henchman, Pedro, will go as planned. Utilitarianism seems to claim that it is obvious that the right thing to do is for Jim to just select one of these Indians to be shot at, so that another 20 lives could be spared. To not choose, or refusing to choose could lead to unhappiness of 20 persons, whereas to choose could only cause unhappiness of one. And so as we are referring to the theory of maximizing utility, to lose one is better than to lose 20. However, the objector will claim that it is just obvious that this is the wrong thing to do.   Killing a persons life is still wrong for whatever the reason is. From what that I can deduce, the two counter-examples have one thing in common that is our sense of Morality or our moral intuitions clashes with the principles that utilitarianism hold. Indeed, opposite commands. Nevertheless, it does not mean that utilitarianism must be wrong or flawed. First of all, the arguments made by these counter-examples can only be conclusive if only our moral intuitions are correct.   However, as we all know, our moral intuitions are volatile due to the complexities of life and due to the significant numbers of gray areas that could result in confusion, according to Mill, that is why we refer to moral theories in the first place. Since it is unclear to us of the universal approval for moral intuitions, the critics cannot use their moral intuitions as the base for rejecting a moral theory which is in this case, the moral theory of utilitarianism. Indeed, of course, for example, stealing is a disgrace yet to think of it now, maybe our other supposed to be right moral beliefs might be wrong. Yet, is stealing really wrong? What about Robin Hood? Is he a hero or just a plain mere thief? The point that Im trying to state here is that we dont really know which are right and which are wrong. Our moral beliefs are inconsistent.   Some may percei ved certain things are right. Some may not. And so, we cannot know that our common sense moral intuitions about The Torture Show or Jim and The 21 Indians are right mainly because we dont really know which of our moral beliefs to trust. Second of all, the counter-examples are based on complicated moral situations; and truth to be told, biased as have they are design in such a way that the morally right answer seem obvious.   In reference to Jim and the 21 Indians, let me re-describe the situation to highlight the utilitarian benefit. Indeed, it is hard to overlook how terrible the consequences would be if 20 Indians are to be killed, when Jim has the power to prevent that. We must acknowledge the fact that, yes, although it is easy to sympathize with one innocent unfortunate person, we must also sympathize with the other 20 people, each of whom will suffer greatly if they are to be killed.  In this case, the morally right action is not obvious.  The situations presented are almost always unusual and extraordinary they are situations that one is unlikely to come across, much less to be prepared for when one does come across it.   And so conclusively, we based our moral intuitions on our moral educations. Mor al education is applicable to our daily lives and if it was to be applied in aggravating counter-examples and in every possible situation, it is indeed impossible. And so because of that, moral intuitions are not valid and any objections based on them are flawed and can be disregarded. Conclusively, these could somehow rebut the arguments made by William on the basis of integrity and morality. Conclusively, we can actually deduce that things that are morally wrong usually involve the harming of people and things that are of high moral values such as charity work, heroic deeds all contribute to the welfare of the people. Moreover, it is not a coincidence that wrong actions harm people and right action help people.  Indeed, utilitarianism claimed that the reason that right actions are right is that they help people, and the reason that wrong actions are wrong is because they harm people.   The basis of morality is inside the principle of utilitarianism. You make people happy when you help them and you make them unhappy when you harm them. And so, conclusively, as long as a person accepts that it is best to help people as much as possible and hurt them as little as possible, he or she must accept that utilitarianism is right! Works Cited/References: Crisp, Roger 1997: Routledge Philosophy Guide Book to Mill on Utilitarianism. E. Goodin, Robert 1995: Utilitarianism as a Public Philosophy. Mill, John Stuart (Reprinted in Penguin Classics 1985, first published in 1859): On Liberty. Would you kill someone to save one hundred people? CreateDebate. Retrieved on 15th November 2009, from http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/ould_you_kill_ someone_to_save_one_hundred_people Utilitarianism Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia. Retrieved on 12th November 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism Bernard Williams Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia. Retrieved on 12th November 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Williams Introduction to utilitarianism. Retrieved on 16th November 2009 from http://www.utilitarian.org/utility.html Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill Retrieved on 18th November 2009 from http://www.utilitarianism.com/mill2.htm

The Pet Food Market :: Business Marketing Studies

4. Draw a perceptual map for the pet food market as a whole to be included as an appendix of the final report. The perceptual map shows us the spending on advertising of different brands against the average sale price of their products. It can be seen that although some brands have very high advertisement expenses, their products aren?t classified in the super-premium price class. Whiskas products are priced averagely whereas IAMS charges a high price for its products, although it doesn?t promote its image in such a way. Whiskas is surely more well-known than the rest, having a advertisement expenditure far greater than any other brand. This is mainly due to the multinational position of Mars Incorporation, its products being retailed all over the world. 5. Produce a fully referenced macro-environmental analysis for the national pet food market. Approx. 250 words On the political side, the UK has a great number of legislation governing the pet food market. Though the pet food market is subject to the same legislation as human food, there are a number of individual parts of legislation for that particular market as well: The Animal By-Products has guidelines on what ingredients are permitted for the production of pet food, as well as the processing procedures of these products. (Great Britain. Statutory Instruments, 2001) The Feeding Stuffs Regulations 2000 include regulations about appropriate labelling of the advertised product and criteria for the use of additives and contaminants. (Great Britain. Statutory Instruments, 2000) To ensure that the customer is properly informed about the product, the Packaging Goods Regulations requires that the net weight of pre-packed foods is displayed properly on each pack. There?s the problem with the VAT on pet food varying widely across Europe. Some countries apply the same tax rate on pet food as on human food, whereas others impose a higher rate on pet food. As for the UK, human food is zero-rated, but pet food is charged at the standard rate of 17.5%. This causes discontent amongst people in the industry, seeing themselves in a competitive disadvantage. (PFMA) Economic factors don?t have a large impact on the pet food market, because it is a necessity rather than a luxury. A decline in the economy would probably enable owners to move away from premium brands to low-cost supermarket pet food. Social benefits are explained thoroughly in the ?pets are good for you? report by the petcare trust (2003). According to the statistics pets make their owners feel happier and reduce health problems like The Pet Food Market :: Business Marketing Studies 4. Draw a perceptual map for the pet food market as a whole to be included as an appendix of the final report. The perceptual map shows us the spending on advertising of different brands against the average sale price of their products. It can be seen that although some brands have very high advertisement expenses, their products aren?t classified in the super-premium price class. Whiskas products are priced averagely whereas IAMS charges a high price for its products, although it doesn?t promote its image in such a way. Whiskas is surely more well-known than the rest, having a advertisement expenditure far greater than any other brand. This is mainly due to the multinational position of Mars Incorporation, its products being retailed all over the world. 5. Produce a fully referenced macro-environmental analysis for the national pet food market. Approx. 250 words On the political side, the UK has a great number of legislation governing the pet food market. Though the pet food market is subject to the same legislation as human food, there are a number of individual parts of legislation for that particular market as well: The Animal By-Products has guidelines on what ingredients are permitted for the production of pet food, as well as the processing procedures of these products. (Great Britain. Statutory Instruments, 2001) The Feeding Stuffs Regulations 2000 include regulations about appropriate labelling of the advertised product and criteria for the use of additives and contaminants. (Great Britain. Statutory Instruments, 2000) To ensure that the customer is properly informed about the product, the Packaging Goods Regulations requires that the net weight of pre-packed foods is displayed properly on each pack. There?s the problem with the VAT on pet food varying widely across Europe. Some countries apply the same tax rate on pet food as on human food, whereas others impose a higher rate on pet food. As for the UK, human food is zero-rated, but pet food is charged at the standard rate of 17.5%. This causes discontent amongst people in the industry, seeing themselves in a competitive disadvantage. (PFMA) Economic factors don?t have a large impact on the pet food market, because it is a necessity rather than a luxury. A decline in the economy would probably enable owners to move away from premium brands to low-cost supermarket pet food. Social benefits are explained thoroughly in the ?pets are good for you? report by the petcare trust (2003). According to the statistics pets make their owners feel happier and reduce health problems like