Industrial Agriculture Essay

Research Question: Should the governments set standards for the food producing multinational companies to ensure the safety of its citizens and the environment? Introduction As a necessary part of human survival, food is a human right. Small, local family farms were the bedrock of traditional rural communities and the global food security which was the ability of countries to produce the food they need to survive in a more sustainable way. Yet the global food supply is increasingly falling under the control of giant multinational corporations with policies that are not environmentally sustainable. Sustainable agriculture preserves biodiversity, maintains soil fertility and water purity, conserves and improves the chemical, physical and biological qualities of the soil, recycles natural resources and conserves energy. Furthermore, sustainable agriculture produces diverse forms of high quality foods, fibers and medicines. Likewise, this system respects the ecological principles of diversity and mutually dependent and uses the understandings of modern science to improve rather than displace the traditional wisdom accumulated over centuries by countless farm ers around the world. Although the food industry encompasses all those who are involved in growing, processing, manufacturing or distributing food, from the farm to retail shops and restaurants, the threat to human health and the environment is ignored. The major problem is that there is not a sustainable agriculture system anymore with the start of the â€Å"Green Revolution† in Mexico. Sustainable agriculture is a model of social and economic organization based on an fair and participatory vision of development which recognizes the environment and natural resources as the foundation of economic activity. Agriculture is sustainable when it is ecologically sound, economically possible, culturally appropriate and based on a general scientific approach. The global corporatization of agriculture has had disastrous effects on farmers, food security, and the environment. To minimize these effects, governments of the world should set policies for the companies that produce food in order to protect their citizens’ health and for a more sustainable environment. Pesticides Industrial Agriculture contaminates fruits, vegetables and water with pesticides. Pesticides have been known to start illnesses and contribute to the increase of deaths caused by diseases. They seep into the soil which creates contamination of the crops produced and the nearby water sources. They are a costly and a time consuming form of insecticides and herbicides to clean. They are used greatly and without proper regulation in the entire agricultural environment. Standards for toxicological and microbiological hazards, and instituting procedures and practices to ensure that the standards are met should be set. In his writings, the Andrew Kimbrell shows evidence about this problem, â€Å"Since 1989, overall pesticide use has risen by about 8 percent, or 60 million pounds†(Kimbrell 11). This article was written in 2002. At the present year, 2012, this number has undoubtedly increased. Issues here include leaching of nutrients and pesticides, water extraction and drainage and f looding. Contamination of both ground and surface waters caused by high levels of production and use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers is a serious problem, particularly in areas of livestock or specialized crop production. Agricultural practices have been found to contribute to non-point source water pollutants that include: sediments, fertilizers (nitrates and phosphorus), pesticides, and manures. Pesticides from every chemical class have been detected in groundwater and are commonly found in groundwater beneath agricultural areas which are widespread in surface waters. These reduce the water quality which impacts agricultural production, drinking water supplies, and fishery production. The deaths that are caused by chemicals and the risk of cancer would increase. â€Å"Many popular pesticides appear capable of compromising the body’s ability to fight an infection, an extensive study finds. If true, pesticide use ‘could be a hidden killer’ – especially in developing countries, ‘where infections are a leading cause of death,’ says Robert Repetto, vice president of the Washington D.C. based World Resources Institute ( WRI) and a co-author of the new report† (Science News 1). A progressive budget system can be developed in order to support research on production of healthy food. Another solution is to determine and evaluate the chemicals that exist in the agricultural environment. Certain criteria such as evaluating statistics of illness and death caused by these chemicals, how government officials are regulating pesticidal use, and establishing alternmative methods of living need to be included when evaluating this dilemma. Genetically Modified Products Genetically modified products are not natural and increases the risk of cancer. These products are both plants and animals. For plants, the genetics of the crops are changed in order repel insects and other unwanted weeds to increase yield. However, the changing of the genetics make these crops unnatural which is a potential threat to human health. The genetic modification for animals are done in a different way, but it has the same goal as the plants. To meet the need for the unlimited goods, scientists have found ways to either increase the body mass of an animal for more meat or to increase the amount of milk that could be obtained from cows at an unnatural level. Corporations such as Monsanto not only are in control of the crops, but also the dairy industry. Cows are given chemicals to increase production of milk, but the milk causes cancer. â€Å"In 1994, the FDA approved the sale of Monsanto’s controversial GE recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) — injected into dairy cows to force them to produce more milk — even though scientists warned that significantly higher levels (400-500% or more) of a potent chemical hormone, Insulin-Like Growth Factor (IGF-1), in the milk and dairy products of injected cows, could pose serious hazards for human breast, prostate, and colon cancer† (Cummins). These chemical hormones are serious risks of cancer. Drinking something natural as milk should not be harmful for a person. If nothing is done in order to prevent such a dilemma, the risk of cancer would increase for everyone because dairy products are an important part of person’s dietary needs. To solve this problem, an independent body of organization can be established which would be authorized to test and develop standards on food production. Also for international organizations developing safet y standards to ban any trade agreement which products contain genetically modified substances. The Environmental Damage Industrial agriculture have replaced the family farm practices which were mostly sustainable and also taken an extra toll on the environment that is not reflected in consumer prices. The currently dominant system of industrial agriculture impacts the environment in many ways. It uses huge amounts of water, energy, and chemicals, often with little regard to long-term adverse effects. The overuse of fertilizers and chemicals, overgrazing, and the unenforced regulation of factory farm dumping of agricultural byproducts such as excrement and pesticides into rivers and streams all damage the quality of air, water, and soil, which are of everyone’s shared resources. Irrigation systems are pumping water from reservoirs faster than they are being recharged. Water scarcity in many places is due to overuse of surface and ground water for irrigation with little concern for the natural cycle that maintains stable water availability. Toxic herbicides and insecticides are accumulating in gr ound and surface waters. Chemical fertilizers are running off the fields into water systems where they generate damaging blooms of oxygen-depleting microorganisms that disrupt ecosystems and kill fish. â€Å"In Chesapeake Bay, native sea grasses, fish, and shellfish populations have declined dramatically in number in the last few decades due to extremely high nitrogen and phosphorous levels caused by the excessive use of chemical fertilizers†(Kimbrell 30). Agriculture’s environmental impact has grown since farmers became dependent on chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Since the 1950s, fertilizer and pesticide use has increased substantially worldwide. If the hazardous chemicals are overused, the ecological balance in nature would be at risk. Many of the negative effects of industrial agriculture extend far from fields and farms. For example, in the United States of America, nitrogen compounds from Midwestern farms, travel down the Mississippi river to damage coastal fisheries and create a large â€Å"dead zone† in the Gulf of Mexico where aquatic life cannot survive. But other adverse effects are showing up within agricultural production systems themselves with the overuse of herbicides and insecticides which has led to rapidly developing resistance among pests that is rendering these chemicals increasingly ineffective. Agriculture’s link to global climate change is just beginning to be appreciated. Destruction of tropical forests and other native vegetation for agricultural production has a role in elevated levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The governments should pass laws that standarizes the use of these chemicals to protect the environment. Laws and regulations on sanitary standards should guarantee high quality and safe food for consumers and the environment. Other Side of the Argument There are also positive sides to the development of industrial agriculture which people such as Norman Borlaug says that biotech in agriculture will not harm biodiversity. Norman Borlaug, who is the father of the â€Å"Green Revolution† which started in the 1940’s was the main starting point of the industrial agriculture we have today. Borlaug claims, â€Å"If we grow our food and fiber on the land best suited to farming with the technology that we have and what’s coming, including proper use of genetic engineering and biotechnology, we will leave untouched vast tracts of land, with all of their plant and animal diversity† (Bailey 6). However, the problems that the Green Revolution or industrial agriculture itself has brought and will bring most indubitably outweigh the benefits. One of the core things the Green Revolution has brought was the high-yielding seeds, fertilizers and irrigation projects. Nevertheless, most high-yielding seeds use up more energy to process because most varieties are not resistant to drought and new diseases. This leads to the use of heavy applications of expensive fertilizers and pesticides. And then expensive herbicides must be used because fertilizers not only stimulate plant growth but also weed growth. These heavy doses of many chemicals end up ruining the soil.This agricultural system is not environmentally sustainable, it only provides enough resources in the short run. Conclusion A number of food control problems are currently being debated at the national and international levels, regarding genetically modified foods, contaminants (including pesticides), irradiation and nutrition labelling. There is an apprehension about the consequences for the quality and safety of the food supply concerning the increasing use of pesticides and drugs, as well as introducing genetically-modified organisms.There are many solutions for this crisis because food is a human right that demands the governments to set national policies to encourage food security. For example, local and diverse production of food should be supported by the governments and companies to guarantee satisfactory and accessible nutrition for all citizens. Governments must maintain the ability to pass laws for the national safety of their population to ensure food sovereignty. For governments, there is the need for enforceable standards that are convincing for both consumers and the industry. The industry needs standards that permit flexibility and efficiency in producing and marketing foods that will serve their customers because it is important for consumers that food control system provide meaningful protection against real and important hazards. Consumers can play a critical role in creating a sustainable food system. Through their purchases, they send strong messages to producers, retailers and others in the system about what they think is important. Food cost and nutritional quality have always influenced consumer choices. The challenge now is to find strategies that broaden consumer perspectives, so that environmental quality, resource use, and social equity issues are also considered in shopping decisions. Finally, new policies and institution must be created to enable producers using sustainable practices to market their goods to a wider public. Work Cited Bailey, Jay. â€Å"Billions Served: Norman Borlaug interviewed by Ronald Bailey†. Reason Magazine. April 2000 Cummins, Ronnie. â€Å"Hazards of Genetically Engineered Foods and Crops: Why We Need A Global Moratorium†. Motion Magazine. August 29, 1999. < http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/geff4.html> Kimbrell, Andrew. â€Å"The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture†. Island Press. 2002 Rosset, Peter. â€Å"Lessons from the Green Revolution† Grove Press. April 8, 2000 Raloff, Johnathan. â€Å"Pesticides May Challenge Human Immunity†. Science News. 9 March 1996.

Dumbo Case Analysis

Hw Assignment #3: Two Trees 1) Continue organic growth in Dumbo – Rent vs. Sell? Walenta should continue organic growth in Dumbo. I believe that he should rent the space that he has this way he continues to have a foot in the neighborhood as it expands. As we know living in Manhattan has become very expensive and people are going right over the bridge to re-establish themselves and their business. It would be critical for Walenta to stay in Dumbo and continue to have an effect in the expansion of the neighborhood homes/businesses. 2) Develop a new neighborhood.I believe there is much potential in Red Hook and Walenta should develop a new neighborhood there. It has the same industrial/neighborhood feel that Dumbo has. This neighborhood has the potential to become like Dumbo and possibly even greater. The neighborhood is slightly larger than Dumbo and he would be able to buy and expand more. 3) Become partner in tenant's businesses. As a fall back he should decide to partner up with a couple of tenant’s businesses. As we know, the real estate industry has gone through many ups and downs in the last few decades.It is important for him to have something else to fall back on. The only thing he would have to consider is that if he decides to enter into these businesses if real estate does go down the businesses might slow down as well. 4) Encourage establishment of new businesses in Dumbo. Establishment of new businesses should be encouraged in Dumbo. It is definitally an up and coming neighborhood. People who don’t want to spend the money in the city look to come over the bridge to spend a little less and still have the same quality and feel.Also as more people move in the more new businesses are needy. I believe that another big reason people are coming to Brooklyn because it allows them to live the city life but also have a community feel, something that is hard to come by in NYC. NYC is very overcrowded and many of the neighborhoods donâ€⠄¢t have a community feel because of this. Brooklyn has the space and ability to make the neighborhood feel like a community. Small businesses will attract these city goers looking for a homey feel with the quality of life like that in the city.

Beijing Sammies

The AGROVOC Concept Server (AGROVOC/CS) Workbench is a web-based working environment consisting of numerous functionalities for the distributed management and enhancement of the AGROVOC/CS built from the AGROVOC thesaurus. Following the Semantic Web’s vision, that emphasizes collaboration in the development of data and metadata to be shared and reused across the web, the management of AGROVOC will progressively be transferred from a few individuals in FAO to a wider community of international AGROVOC experts. These interested and competent users will share the collaborative maintenance and extension of AGROVOC, one of the most frequently used terminological resources for agricultural information management in the world. Maintenance of the future extended AGROVOC will thus be completely decentralized with people worldwide contributing to its development. This report provides a brief note on the technical aspects of the AGROVOC/CS Workbench. Technical details †¢ Multilingual web interface and content (UTF8). †¢ The software is developed in pure JAVA (version 1. 5. x), with no calls to any third party modules requiring precompiled DLLs or other operating system specific features. †¢ The Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is used with an Eclipse plug-in for development of the system. It is used to build the system as a fully Java based AJAX client browser application that is compatible with all common web browsers. †¢ Where possible the JSP 2. 0 Expression Language (EL) is used for any JSP development within the project (it’s a way of writing script-less JSP pages). Protege OWL api framework is used to connect OWL. †¢ MySQL is used as RDBMS. †¢ The system is DBMS-independent. Additional database abstraction layer for interacting with the OWL backbone and the relational database will be used (e. g. the hibernate persistence and query service, etc. ). The system follows FAO guidelines for HTML publishing: †¢ Guidelines for Web site development; †¢ File naming convention and file organization guidelines; †¢ Check list for the clearance of Web sites. In summary, the system is based on the following components: Development components †¢ Eclipse 3. 2 †¢ JAVA-JDK version jdk1. 5. x †¢ Apache Tomcat (that supports JSP and JAVA Servlets) Google Web Toolkit (for AJAX framework), version 1. 4. 60 †¢ Google Web Toolkit Incubator, version 1. 4 †¢ Protege OWL API 3. 4 libraries †¢ Hibernate 3. 0 libraries †¢ Hibernate 4 GWT, version 0. 5 RC2 †¢ MySQL version 5 Server side †¢ Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Linux †¢ Apache Tomcat 5. 5. 9 or higher †¢ JAVA-JDK version jdk1. 5. x or higher †¢ MySQL version 5 or higher †¢ Protege OWL API 3. 4 libraries †¢ Hibernate 3. 0 libraries †¢ Hibernate 4 GWT, version 0. 5 RC2 †¢ WAR file with compiled JAVA files and necessary libraries Current Server Configuration †¢ OS : Debian GNU/Linux 2. 6. 22-2 †¢ CPU: AMD 64 bit †¢ Memory: 8GB †¢ MYSQL version: 5. 0. 45 TOMCAT Version: 6. 0. 14 †¢ Java-JDK: 1. 6. 0_04 Required Application 1. MySQL version 5 or above Available link to download: http://dev. mysql. com/downloads/ 2. Apache Ant version 1. 7. 1 or above Available link to download: http://ant. apache. org/ 3. JAVA JDK version jdk. 1. 5. x or above Available link to download: http://java. sun. com/javase/downloads/index. jsp 4. Apache Tomcat version 6 or above Available link to download: http://tomcat. apache. org/download-55. cgi 5. Protege Version 3. 4 beta Build 130 Available link to download: http://protege. cim3. net/download/old-releases/3. 4%20betas/build-130/full/ 6. GWT Version 1. 4 Build 1. 4. 62 Available link to download: http://code. google. com/webtoolkit/versions. html The Step of Configuration 1. Download AGROVOC Concept Server Workbench code from the CVS Server. 2. Download the sql script from CVS Server at folder named sql. Create the database. †¢ Run the sql script file located at your_directory\SQL\administrator_agrovocwb _v_0_2_beta. sql This will install administrator_agrovocwb database. †¢ Run sql script file to install the owl model database located at your_directory\SQL\blank model _v_0_2_beta. sql Here we have provided blank owl model. †¢ You can convert owl file directly to database by using stand alone java program located at: our_directory\src\org\fao\aoscs\server\protege\convertToDatabaseProject. java †¢ You need the change the variables in the file. |18 private final static String url = jdbc:mysql://; | |19 private final static String table = ; | |20 private final static String user = ; | |21 private final static String password = ; | |22 private final static String uri = file:/c:/; | 3. To add model in the ontology list, go to database and table and insert new row with these values. Ontology id: (Auto increment) †¢ Ontology Name: Blank Model †¢ Ontology Description: AGROVOC Concept Server Workbench Blank AOS Module †¢ Database URL: jdbc:mysql://:3306/? requireSSL=falseuseUnicode=truecharacterEncoding=UTF-8 †¢ Database Driver: com. mysql. jdbc. Driver †¢ Table Name: †¢ Database Username: †¢ Database Password: †¢ Display Ontology on the list: 0 for hide and 1 for Show 4. Use java editor to †¢ Change the configuration of the hibernate file that located in your_directory\src\hibernate. cfg. xml Change the property of your connection password instead of â€Å"your_password† and change the property of your connection url instead of â€Å"your_url†. 13 your_password | |14 jdbc:mysql://your_url | †¢ Change the configuration of the database properties that located in your_directory\src\org\fao\aoscs\server\owl\ DatabaseConnection. properties Change the property of your username of database instead of â€Å"your_username† and change the property of your password of database instead of â€Å"your_password†. |4 userAdminDB = your_username | |5 passwordAdminDB = your_password | †¢ Change the configuration of the mail file that located in your_directory \src\org\fao\aoscs\utility\Mail. properties Change the property of your host name instead of â€Å"your_mailserver_host†, change the property of your port instead of â€Å"your_port†, change the property of your user instead of â€Å"your_user†, change the property of your password instead of â€Å"your_password† and change the property of your from information instead of â€Å"sender_email†. |1 host=your_mailserver_host | |2 port=your_port | |3 user=your_user | |4 password=your_password | |5 from= sender_email | †¢ Run build file to create war file using Apache ANT. 5. Copy the war file to folder of tomcat installation directory. 6. You can use the program by opening your browser and type †¢ http://localhost:8080/your_project_name

The Legal Implications of the Coalition Government's Localism Agenda Essay

The Legal Implications of the Coalition Government's Localism Agenda - Essay Example â€Å"Big Society† is the tagline used by the Coalition Government to signify that it trust people â€Å"to take control of the decisions that affect them by devolving power closer to neighbourhoods, increasing citizen participation, promoting community ownership, lifting inspection burden on councils and removing regional government.† (Structural Reform Plan, 2010; Pickles, 2012). The rationale of localism and the Big Society is incorporated in several acts of legislation, one of which is the Decentralisation and Localism bill of 2010 (NCVO, 2011). Additional laws were passed in January of 2012, but majority of the proposed legislation is expected to be passed in April 2012 (Localism-agenda.com, 2012). The Localism Act The Localism Act, which became law on November 2011, signalled a â€Å"radical shift of power from Westminster to local people,† according to the announcement of the Coalition Government (Silver, 2010). ... Increased involvement will be drawn from voluntary and private sector organisations in the running of public services, and a â€Å"fundamental redefinition of the role of the state as a provider of public services† (Silver, 2010). Easily, there is seen a great appeal in allowing local decision-makers to tailor local services, particularly local planning, The Planning System under the Localism Act 2011 There are several key issues that are seen to be relevant to the adoption of localism in development planning. Since the bulk of additional legislation will be introduced by April 2012, it is not clear at this point how many of these concerns will be eventually addressed by the appropriate statutes. They include, among others: How equal representation may be guaranteed for everyone in formulating neighbourhood plans Provision of financial and intellectual support for neighbourhood forums The prescribed process of adapting valid local plans in light of the Localism Bill Ensuring c ollaboration between local authorities in arriving at strategic plans Coordinating at a national level through the National Planning Policy Framework How effectively the New Homes Bonus and a reformed CIL will be in incentivising development The practical application of ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ Ensuring transparent & effective consultation with neighbourhoods by businesses Maintaining a balance between participation & representation by holding local members to account (Chelgate, 2011) Other than these issues, the new legislation imposes an expanded set of responsibilities for both local authorities and developers. Cook (2011) conducted a poll among

The Role of the YOT Social Worker Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Role of the YOT Social Worker - Essay Example As the paper outlines the majority of young offenders commit crimes not because of their cruelty or genetics, but rather because they do not see another option to survive or feel societal pressure from peers and family. This paper examines the legal rights of young people, analyze the differences between police and social services functions and discuss the possible balance between the two institutions on the example of Jordan family. As it clear from the situation in Jordan family, the mother is not capable to satisfy the basic needs of her children who are left on their own and can decide what to do without asking the permission. Taking into account that the daughters are old enough to understand that their actions are wrong, the social worker’s help and assistance is vital – social worker should find the method to explain girls the wrongness of their actions . The son aged 8 is not capable to understand the seriousness of his participation in thefts and his physical, emotional and educational needs are not met. He is at risk of suffering harm and the intrusion of social worker might have effect on the child of any change in circumstances.   As it is clear from the study, all of the three children have not attended the school, at least at the day they were caught stealing at the mall. Most likely, it is not the first time they do not go to school. Under section 36 of the Children Act 1989, every child of compulsory school age should be properly educated. Joanne, Claire and Sammy are neglecting this right and their parents are not controlling the attendance to school.  

Slaughterhouse-Five and Public Incitement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Slaughterhouse-Five and Public Incitement - Essay Example Indeed, the Article 25(3) (e) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court accommodates the incitement provision. Nevertheless, under the international law, public incitement can legally occur under the heading of self-defense. As such, civilians can engage in public incitement if they are in the line of defending themselves from attacks. However, soldiers in war can only engage in public incitement as the last option after exhausting all other avenues. Notably, though a group of people may conspire to engage in public incitement, only one person can lead in inciting the rest to participate in violence. It is common knowledge that most people fear incitement and more so participating in acts of violence. For example, in the book, â€Å"Slaughterhouse-Five,† we do not witness any characters in the story and even in the war zone because people are demotivated to being such characters. As such, it is usually, a hard task to incite people in committing violence. Most no table is the fact that in most cases violence leads to beatings, injuries, and deaths. Indeed, Billy’s abduction and mistreatment at the Slaughterhouse for five days proves this (Federhen 4-6). More than often, public incitement has been in application in many countries. For example, like the incitement to genocide in Rwanda, Israeli-Palestinian  war, and the World War II. ... Indeed, the qualities of Billy and those of Tralfamadorians the aliens who can see in the fourth dimension are exceptional in the context of the World War (Federhen 4-6). Additionally, a uniform is an acceptable sign of violence. A uniform brings forth an identity, which is very relevant in a public incitement that requires people to commit violence. Actually, as seen herein, the soldiers can take part in violence as a last resort castigated by public incitement. Indeed, the book tells us of soldiers at war in Vietnam and the issue of uniformity clearly manifests in this case. Moreover, the Tralfamadorians aliens equally had a sense of identity (Federhen 4-6). Additionally, the precise need for public incitement in the commitment of violence is the quest for uniformity so that everybody can focus on the violence. As such, when all the civilians unite in violence, the success of public incitement manifests. Furthermore, the public incitement plan sacrifices people. Actually, the book narrates how the Tralfamadorians aliens abducted a soldier, Billy Pilgrim during World War II and how the soldier survives a plane crash and the Dresden bombings all in the name of war fueled by public incitement (Federhen 4-6). Indeed, as earlier said, public incitement relates to leadership and somebody must take responsibility and be on the front line. However, in many cases the leaders in public incitement face many challenges that include lack of cooperation, possible arrests, and probable deaths. Nevertheless, without these front liners in public incitement, it is not possible to coerce people to violence. Moreover, the understanding that lock step mentality is part of war is very essential in inciting the public to committing violence. This aspect defines

World Literature Phase 4 DB 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

World Literature Phase 4 DB 2 - Essay Example unchaste action, or dishonoured step,/That hath deprived me of your grace and favour;/But even for want of that for which I am richer,/A still-soliciting eye, and such a tongue/As I am glad I have not, though not to have it/Hath lost me in your liking†. In sharp contrast to this poetic statement is this coarse dialogue from King Lear in Act IV, Scene VI: And the creature run from the cur? There thou/mightst behold the great image of authority: a/dogs obeyed in office./Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand!/Why dost thou lash that whore? Strip thine own back;/Thou hotly lustst to use her in that kind/For which thou whippst her. So, in short, Shakespeare is real. And it is in this sense of reality, the frankness of portrayal of human nature which can be lyrical at times, and rude and brutal at others, that Shakespeare has triumphed over time. Shakespeare’s themes are universal: they strike a chord in people of the twenty-first century, and interestingly, some or the other versions of King Lear, Regan, Goneril, Edmund and Cordelia exist in the modern times. For instance, there are many people in today’s capitalistic times, who like Edmund, strive to rise above their circumstances, "Let me, if not by birth, have lands by wit; / All with mes meet that I can fashion fit", More importantly, Shakespeare does not make King Lear a morality play where the good get rewarded and the evil punished. While those that are evil meet with their deaths, the innocent die too: Lear, Gloucester and Cordelia die despite not having done much to deserve it. Shakespeare seems to say that evil is a part of human existence, and that the world is not a just place. Death takes those that are evil and those that are innocent with a grand indifference and seemingly without reason, a distinctly post- modern or existentialist way of looking at things. What is more, Shakespearean plots are well-structured and undiluted. Full of drama, vivid imagery and iridescent language, Shakespeare

Personality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Personality - Essay Example The judgmental way of thinking comes out as a result of my extroverted nature. Due to the fact that I am also feeling, this combination is what allows me to be empathetic toward others. By understanding the characteristics of my personality profile, I can be aware of what situations I will do well in and which ones I will not. In addition, it helps me understand how I get along with certain people and not others. This is incredibly important when taking a leadership position and learning how to interact and motivate followers. Sometimes, we act without thinking because that is the way our personality works. This automated form of behavior can be important in situations where you could say or do something that may be automatic to you, but might not be socially/culturally acceptable to people who do not share the same personality type. In organizational behavior, personality assessments are important in determining whether someone is going to be good for a particular job. For example, if someone is interviewing to work in customer service, however they score an â€Å"I â€Å" on their personality inventory, this would end up hurting the company.

The National Plan of Action for the Garment Industry of Bangladesh Essay - 145

The National Plan of Action for the Garment Industry of Bangladesh - Essay Example The two incidences triggered protest that facilitated the implementation of the Multi-stakeholder Accord on Fire and Building to boost the corporate environment and offered new dimensions in the occupational safety, health, and environmental reporting of the firms in Bangladesh. Besides, the disasters enabled the adoption of the National Tripartite Plan of Action (NTPA) at the local, regional, and international platforms (Khan and Wichterich 11). The Accord and NTPA offered the platform for collaboration of the stakeholders towards enhancing the safety of the workers. It is in this regards that Khan and Wichterich aimed to assess the level of implementation, achievements, and possible hindrances towards the realization of the objectives. Immediately, the NTPA and the Accord attracted public admiration, and the implementers strived to attain the goals. Some of the primary initiatives comprised corrective action plans, capacity building, and inspection of the facilities. Despite the advantages of the strategies and great anticipation, the strategies have no noticeable impacts. The findings indicate the presence of the gendered prejudice and the associated mishandling of the workers according to their genders. It also shows that the labor power and collective bargain is in the preliminary phase. However, the findings evidence significant progress to advance the occupational health and safety. Predominantly, the findings indicate a clash of power negotiations in the global apparel chains with a particular focus on the RMG accumulation (Khan and Wichterich 36). Given the magnitude of the responsibility and public expectations, the study realized minimal advancement that raises issues about the seriousness of the target ag ency and stakeholders. The responsible institutions and stakeholders lost focus and the associated power structures hinder the realization of the goals.

Cross cultural management in international business Essay - 1

Cross cultural management in international business - Essay Example The management plays a critical role in entrenching diverse in the system. The MNCs are a good example of organisations that must embrace diversity in their organisational structure. These organisations employ most of their staff from a different cultural background (because the top manager may come from their headquarters) hence the need for considering diversity. For that reason, diversity is a critical component for the survival of organisations (e.g. MNCs). The essay will assess the importance of diversity in the workforce, how diversity influences the success of MNCs using the case of Carlos Ghosn of Nissan Renault and Rattan Tata of Tata Group, two phenomenon individuals who transformed their MNCs. Besides, the paper will present how the MNCs transition to embracing diversity. The markets have become so diverse that organisations must find diverse approaches to penetrating such markets and satisfy their consumer demands (Makela, et al., 2011). The MNCs are of particular interest because they have a network of branches that interacts with customers from different cultural backgrounds. The diversity of employees brings the advantage of different employees from cultures to devise appropriate ways of remaining relevant (Harter et al. 2010; PwC Saratoga, 2010). The global market has become so competitive that organisations must devise novel ways of competing to access certain markets (Makela, et al., 2011; PwC Saratoga, 2011). When organisations are making entry into a diverse cultural market, they must have a strategy of incorporating the concept of diversity to gain access and respond to the customers’ demands while remaining competitive (Caldwell, 2003; Doremus et al., 1998). Therefore, the concept of diversity seems pivotal in leveraging the competi tive advantage (Ariely et al., 2005). Organisations that have diverse workforce bring in new innovative

Role of Teacher on Society Essay Example for Free

Role of Teacher on Society Essay Who are we? What are we? A lot of what we are was implanted in us as young children by teachers who cared enough to teach it to us. Throughout my life I was taught many of the values I have today by my educators. I was instilled with the skills of how to get along with my peers, knowing right from wrong, and realizing that the best way to get what I wanted was to respect others first. The teachers I’ve had along the way have inspired me to become a better person. They have made me recognize how I wish to be like them. I too want to help children realize their full potential. I want to be a person in their lives that they can look back on and say she helped me hope and strive for the best that I could be. In today’s society there are so many distractions in students’ lives. They have to deal with family traumas, drugs, extra-curricular activities, making their place in the world, peer pressure, jobs, etc.. When all these things are on someone’s mind it’s often hard to concentrate on school work and rules. I want the students to come to my class with the attitude that it is a place of refuge. I want them to forget about their fulfilled lives and see that learning can be fun and interesting. I want to make them realize that school isn’t just a boring place where the cafeteria food is bad. I want them to be interested by finding something they enjoy doing and maybe they’ll be able to find their places in this world a little better. It is so hard to make students understand how crucial education is. Especially in today’s society. I want to try and raise their self-esteem so they can become the people they want to be. I want to be involved in their lives so maybe if they are having problems at home they can feel like they can come to me for comfort or help. There are a few teachers who I could have gone to for assistance. I now appreciate them more than ever because they made me see hope in people. I want to be like them if not better. In order to be the teacher I would like to be I first want to challenge my students to be the best they can be. I agree with a Nation at Risk when it calls for greater academic rigor, and higher expectations for students. I want to enforce these values in my classroom as well. I’ve always been a fan of learning in groups. I found that a little assistance from fellow classmates always aided me further in my learning progress. That’s why cooperative learning will definitely be applied in my classroom. Since cooperative learning helps to amplify students interactions and processing skills it will assist children to strive for the higher expectations that society will put on them as they get older. Cooperative learning can improve on students grades, self-esteem, personal relationships, and understanding of others. Which I feel is a very good incentive to try and promote in my own curriculum. The groups should be small and circular to promote easy conversation. Within the group the assignment should be shared and the work load should be evened out between how many students there are. If the labor is shared then all students will feel like they have contributed in some way and might take it more seriously if a whole group is depending on them instead of just one person. If a student understands that he or she has a responsibility to do something within their group they will more than likely do it, because if they don’t then the individuals in the group might be upset with them and it would serve as an incentive for them to do well. Students often receive approval or rewards for a job well done in their overall performance. When I obtained praise for my accomplishments I usually always tried to repeat what I did well. I’m a firm believer in awarding children and reinforcing them when they behave and do a good job. In my classroom, I will try to make students feel like they are doing things right, and maybe they will try and achieve at everything they do. I like the idea of project-based instruction as well as cooperative learning. Trying to have children learn with real life situations is a very good concept. Asking the students higher level questions and having them involved in their own projects gives the students a taste of what â€Å"real life† has to offer. It also excites and motivates students to want to learn. If I combine cooperative learning and project-based instruction in my classroom I feel that it will be an effective way of approaching learning and getting the curriculum across to the students in a fun way. I’m aware of the different fundamental principles of teaching. Which include: essentialism, perennialism, progressivism, existentialism, reconstructionism, and behaviorism. Each have their own unique techniques of teaching, but I prefer progressivism. I’m ecstatic that there was a progressivist movement that stimulated schools to broaden their curricula, making education more relevant to the needs and interests of students. I feel that it was brilliant on John Dewey’s behalf when he states, â€Å"as we alter our relationship with our environment, we ourselves are made different by the experience. † I believe that we are changed everyday by encounters we have. Everything we do alters our lives in some way and that makes us who we are. I’m a fan of progressivism because it emphasizes the ability to have intelligent free-thinking citizens. I like the idea that progressivism is a hands on technique of teaching. John Dewey thought there should be more observing and experimenting withe the subjects. He proposed a five step methods for solving problems: (1) become aware of the problem, (2) define it, (3) propose various hypotheses to solve it. (4) examine the consequences of each hypothesis in light of previous experience, and (5) test the most likely solution. I want to apply this style of teaching in my classroom and hope that the students respond as well as I think they will. In conclusion, I want to state that I feel strongly about promoting students to excel. I feel it is essential that children are confident about themselves and what they achieve while they are attending school. I want to present to the students in my classroom that they can feel free to be themselves and try to have them interacting with others. In teaching there are teachers and then there are great teachers. I will prove to be a great teacher!

Family Assessment Essay Example for Free

Family Assessment Essay As a nurse practicing in today’s health care environment it is always important to be very attentive for the needs of the patient and the patient’s family. In order to realize the needs of the patient and the patients loved ones it is often helpful to conduct a family assessment. This assessment was carried out on an urban family which is in the middle income group. Some of the factors which were inferred from the assessment were as follows. In terms of values, health and nutrition, it was found that the members paid much emphasis to this. As s matter of fact, the initial family expenditure was on these three. Health is taken as a vital requirement and all the individuals need to have it. This is the same case with rest. Since most of the members are quite busy all through the day, the family spends some time together in the evening before retiring to bed. Most of the free time is spent having the family together in a relaxed atmosphere (Ritchie, 2012). The family is very concerned for the patient’s needs and overall well-being. They are so concerned about elimination, though the need for exercise and activity is highly acknowledged. The members appreciate and know the need for physical fitness. As such, they try to make sure that they attain it. Nevertheless, they have such tight schedules that they do not get enough time to be engaged in these. This is quite unfortunate. On the cognitive factors, the family is highly receptive. The level attained in the family is based on the importance it attaches to the cognitive development. The children have gone through learning institutions and are still in pursuit of knowledge and education. This is the same case with the parents. They work with the notion that information is power. As it pertains to health care sometimes simple common sense comes into play. Sensory perception is taken as a defining factor of the common sense. However, there is a saying that common sense is not common to all. Nevertheless, this family has greatly attained this sensory perception. Everyone is aware of their surroundings and they are willing to work towards making the family even better. Their self-esteem is also quiet high. Based on the findings from the interview, they have high regard of each other due to the accomplishments they have seen in their lives. Their high esteem is based on the fact that they do not compare themselves with others. Rather, they believe in who they are. This also helps to streamline their roles relationship since everyone understands his/her position in the family and does as is appropriate to their role (IFNA, 2012). Sexuality is a very touchy issue for many people but it is something that often needs to be addressed. The issue of sexuality is a major concern for many, since people tend to have different sexual orientations. This family remains open to the issue of sexuality and everyone has the freedom to choose or decide the path he wants to follow. However, this has to fall in line with the family values which they hold dearly. Lastly, there is the aspect of coping. This family, just like many others, encounters daily challenges. However, it has managed to come through all of them. The reason cited by the members is because they believe in the harmony and unity of a family. Therefore, the problem of one is a problem for all. The family works with the philosophy of one for all and all for one. This is what has made the family stand all along besides the challenges they face (Ritchie, 2012). As it pertains to diagnosis assessment can be very helpful. In diagnosing this family, there are two main nursing diagnoses that can be reached at. These are in line with the International Family Nursing Organization (2012). These two are emotional readiness as well as the status and function. These two seem to be very consistent in this family. They are as indicated in the paragraphs below. The emotional well-being of a person goes a long way in terms of having good physical health. On the emotional status, IFNA (2012) talks of the emotional readiness where the people are ready to change or take up traits that can help the family to function normally. The emotional status has it that a family is ready to take up the health options available. On this aspect, the family proved to be ready for the changes that would benefit it. Most of the members agreed that they were ready to adopt healthier practices that could improve their health. For instance, they acknowledged that they needed to be more vigilant in exercising and physical activity. This was a good status of mind. Sometimes if a person displays destructive behavior there needs to be a willingness to improve and change. Despite the willingness to change, a challenge that faces this family is the status and function. According to the IFNA (2012), this diagnoses has it that a family or individual should have the will to change. However, the circumstances are not favorable. This is the same case that applies with the family. All the members are ready and willing to change and adopt the healthy options. However, they do not have the time in which they can undertake these activities. All they have is the willingness to change but the factors around them do not allow them to. In conclusion, this essay has looked at the family health assessment. It has defined how a family diagnosis can be done and the factors affecting it. This has been followed up by a case study looking at a real family and performing a health analysis on it. From the discussion, it has come out quiet clearly that family assessment should be based on the health and functionality of the family as a unit. For this reason, the family health model comes in handy as an assessment method. This was as seen in the case study which reveals the need for a comprehensive family assessment. It leads to the realization of all factors affecting a family’s health and functionality; hence coming up with proper intervention strategies.

Hardware Requirements For Pizza Systems Information Technology Essay

Hardware Requirements For Pizza Systems Information Technology Essay Introduction and Problem Statement- We are primarily interested in implementing Information Systems to all the working units of the pizza shop, so that we are able to provide better services and thus, an enhanced experience to both offline (in-store) and on-line (web-based) customers. Since the pizza shop is interested in expanding their business from  a small-size business into a medium-size enterprise by opening up branches in various new locations and also has an objective to provide better online services (developing their company in e-business aspects) and gain online popularity, we have to make analysis and thereby apply several information system techniques so that the company succeeds in its motive. Analysis of Hardware Requirement for the Pizza Shop- Making decisions about the hardware requirements is based on the analysis of various factors such as the projected budget and the speed required. But the large variety high utility of hardware available often makes the hardware decisions a little difficult because of the fact that computer technologies become obsolete more quickly than other organizational technologies. Basically, hardware refers to the physical equipment used for the input, processing, output, and storage activities of a computer system. In our case we make use of the following hardware components: Central processing unit (CPU) we have decided to make use of Intel core i7processor [1] or Intel core2 processor [2] in the CPU. Primary storage- A storage capacity of 6GB-8GB in the hard-drive, for better speed in processing and multi-tasking situations. Secondary storage- A storage capacity of up to 1 terabyte for storage of information such as databases of employees, customers, products used in the shop, etc. Input technologies- We have decided to make use of basic devices such as keyboard, mouse and advanced devices such as touch screens (to make work easier and faster), Voice recognition [3] for access of confidential information only by authenticated persons (we do not make use of protection mechanisms provided by passwords because in todays era of technology it is not fully safe since password cracking has become very easy and common). Output technologies- Liquid crystal display (LCD) screens and printers. Communication technologies- Internet connections. Transportation of products- The transportation of the products can done by appointing a team of employees for this department, since our main objective is to expand and promote our business, initially we would require a minimum of 20 personnel equipped with fast and fuel efficient road transportation facilities, for each branch in case of local(within the same city branches), now in case of inter-city transports we have to appoint equivalent number of personnel and also have to make tie-ups with transportation management of rails and air transport. The transaction of products and allotment of duties to the employees should be done and all the details must be saved in hardware memory. Analysis of Software Requirement for the Pizza Shop- Computer hardware can be only effective according to the instructions we give it, and those instructions are contained in software. Software has become an everyday feature of all the businesses. For our business plan we will require the following software- Operating system- Windows 7[4] Spreadsheets- Microsoft Excel 2010, for managing tabular information, or any information which requires storage in tabular form. Word Processing software- Microsoft Word 2010, for managing all types of text files. Data Management- Microsoft Access, for efficient management of all data. Personal Information Management software- Microsoft Outlook, this software allows users to create and maintain management calendars, appointments, etc. Personal Finance software- Microsoft Money, which allows users to maintain checkbooks, track investments, monitor credit cards, bank and pay bills electronically. Web Authoring software- Microsoft FrontPage, which allows users to design Web sites and publish them on the web. Communications software- Netscape Messenger, which allows users to communicate with other people over any distance. Security Suite software- McAfee Internet Security Suite (www.mcafee.com) Anti-malware Product VirusScan (www.mcafee.com). Firewall[7]- McAfee Internet Security (www.mcafee.com) Anti-spam Software SpamKiller (www.mcafee.com) For restoring backup files- We will use the Windows Backup utility to restore the backup copies on the hard disk. Analysis of data and databases that can be employed by the company- All the business applications require data. For managing data and databases in the pizza shop, we would require a database management system (DBMS), in order to manage data in all aspects of our business such as employee data, customers data, product stores data etc. Its main usage is to store all the essential data in files. The application of a DBMS [5] at the pizza shop will provide the following benefits- Minimization of Data redundancy- i.e., the storage of the same data in many places is avoided there preventing unnecessary usage of memory space. Prevention Data isolation- Applications will be able to access data associated with other applications, thereby preventing creation of exclusive data sets for all the applications, and also leading to efficient memory management. Prevention of Data inconsistency: Creation of various copies of the data is not agreed upon. Enhanced data security. Maintenance of data integrity- In many cases, data needs to have certain constraints, such as no alphabetic characters in a Social Security number field and DBMS helps in achieving these. The administrator can also add, delete, access, and analyze data stored in one location. He can access the data by using query and reporting tools that are part of the DBMS or by using application programs specifically written to access the data. All these advantages in the database system can considerably optimize the handling of high volumes of orders by customers, since the manager/employee will be able to store and retrieve data about customers very efficiently. In case the same customer places an order again, since the data about which is already stored (upon his first order) can be retrieved very fast using DBMS and the overall processing of the store will become increasingly efficient especially in peak hours(timings for lunch and dinner). This feature would also provide ease to the customer, since he would not have to explains his location over and over again, and this may lead to the customers increased interest in availing the pizza shop services again in the future. Implementation of Data Warehousing- We have implemented data warehouses for the following type of cases- If the manager of the pizza shop wanted to know the profit margin on sales of vegetarian pizzas, he could find out from his database, using SQL [6] (structured query language) or QBE (query by example)[7]. However, if he needed to know the trend in the profit margins on sales of vegetarian pizzas over the last 3 years, he would have a very difficult query to construct in SQL or QBE. The pizza shop managers problem shows us two reasons why organizations are building data warehouses. First, the organizations databases have the necessary information to answer his query, but it is not organized in a way that makes it easy for him to search for needed information and also, the organizations databases are designed to process millions of transactions per day. Therefore, complicated queries might take a long time to answer and also might degrade the performance of the databases. As a result of these problems, companies are using data warehousing tools to make it easier and faster for users t o access, analyze, and query data. Data mining tools (discussed in the next section) allow users to search for valuable business information in a large database or data warehouse. Implementation of Data Mining- Data mining can perform two basic operations: predicting trends and behaviors and identifying previously unknown patterns. This analysis provides users with a view of what is happening. Data mining addresses, why it is happening and provides predictions of what will happen in the future and also automates the process of finding predictive information in large databases. In the pizza shop, implementation of data mining will lead to the following benefits in the business- In the aspect of sales- Predicting sales, preventing theft and fraud, and determining correct storage levels and since the business has been projected to expand, data mining will also lead to knowledge of distribution schedules among various outlets. In the aspect of Manufacturing and production- Predicting machinery failures and finding key factors that help optimize manufacturing capacity. Marketing- Classifying customer demographics that can be used to predict which customer will respond to a mailing or buy a particular product. E-Commerce Solutions to generate an online business presence- The concepts of E-Business comprise of buying and selling of goods and services, it also refers to servicing customers, collaborating with business partners, and performing electronic transactions within an organization. We have planned to put into use the following features of E-business for the pizza shops- Online direct marketing- Using this feature the pizza shop can directly sell its services to customers via websites in the internet. Advertising- Since a majority of the people today access internet, advertising on the internet would be very useful and profitable to the pizza shop. Electronic Payment Systems- Usage of this feature will enable clients to pay for goods and services electronically, rather than writing a check or using cash. Electronic payment systems include electronic checks, electronic credit cards, purchasing cards, and electronic cash. Payments are an integral part of doing business, and using electronic payment system would be of ease to both the client and the business.   E-Business Solutions that can be utilized to improve the management  of supply chain- The function of supply chain management (SCM) is to plan, organize, and optimize the supply chains activities such as flow of materials, information, money, and services from raw material suppliers, through factories and warehouses to the end customers. The e-business solutions that we will use here are- Information Sharing along the supply chain over the internet For instance if we provide access to information about usage and daily requirement of cheese on a daily basis by every branch of the pizza store to the manufacturer whom we are dealing with, then this knowledge will enable the manufacturer to provide timely and efficient replenishment of cheese to every branch of the pizza store. Using Electronic Inventories In order to deal with the unexpected uncertainties of supply chain in the pizza shop, we can build inventories so that customers can have what they want at the correct time, and a minimal amount of standardized stock can also be maintained. Information about these inventories can be efficiently stored and updated in the electronic databases. The electronic storage of information reduces the probabilities of errors, and also free employees from manual labor of maintaining information about the stock of products. Efficient Telecommunication Networks used to attract customers- In order to attract customers and provide them an enhanced experience we will make use of the following- Publishing information and attractive offers for customers, at various social networking sites such as www.facebook.com, www.myspace.com, etc. Uploading video advertisements about the pizza shop at www.youtube.com, which is a social networking site for videos. Conducting online surveys, for the betterment as well as knowing about the current popularity and likes/dislikes about the pizza shops. Blogs can also be created, a blog is a personal Web site, open to the public, in which the site creator expresses his or her feelings or opinions. Accordingly, modifications can be made in order to increase profitability Internet telephony (voice-over Internet protocol or VoIP) i.e., use of the Internet as the transmission medium for telephone calls. This can enable the customers to make internet calls, thereby providing ease in communication to the pizza shop. Decision Support Systems for our system- Decision support systems (DSSs) basically combine the models and data in an attempt to solve unstructured problems with extensive user involvement. DSS will provide interactive to data, enable manipulation of these data, and to provide business managers and analysts of the pizza shop the ability to conduct appropriate analyses. For application of Decision support systems in the pizza shop we have decided to carry out the following steps- Sensitivity analysis [8]- the managers of the pizza shop will conduct this analysis in order to predict how their decisions can have impact on other decisions. For instance, promotion of non-vegetarian pizzas at a time where the non-vegetarian ingredients are expensive in the market, would considerably impact the pizza shops profitability. For countering these problems the manager can make use of sensitive model or nonsensitive model. What if analysis [9]- the manager of the pizza shop will conduct this analysis in order to deal with unexpected uncertainties or problems and also predict its impact. For instance, what will happen to the total inventory cost if the originally assumed cost of carrying inventories is not 10 percent but 12 percent? In a well designed Business intelligence system[10], managers themselves can interactively ask the computer these types of questions as many times as they need to. Goal-Seeking Analysis [11]- Goal-seeking analysis would enable the manager to predict future situations in comparison to the current scenario. For instance, the manager of the pizza shop would want to project future sales or meeting a target of profits based on current profits, let us consider for example that the current profits are of $2million, now he might want to know, what sales volume and additional advertising would be necessary to generate a profit of $3 million. To find out he would perform a goal-seeking analysis. Group Decision Support Systems[12]- This would make managers located at different physical location to communicate through computer support systems which serves primarily as a vehicle for improving communication, coordination, and problem solving. Technologies to enhance business processes- Usage of Digital Dashboards [13]-This feature will be used by the top-level executives of the pizza shop. Using this technology they can have access to information all the levels of information in a fast and efficient manner. Usage of Expert Systems[14]-This technology can aid the managers in the decision making process since expert systems possess the abilities that can reach a level of performance comparable to a human expert in certain or specialized problem areas.   Enhancing the online presence by selling products with customers over the web- We have projected to achieve an enhanced online presence by providing better services for online transactions by establishing a contract with the online e-commerce website Paypal. We have chosen this site because it provides features such as funding with an electronic debit from a  bank account  or by a  credit card, easy user interface and secure transactions which also relieves the customers of thefts and other threats of online transactions. Since PayPal operates in 190 markets,  users of most locations can access and easily make transactions through Paypal for services of the pizza shop. Also PayPal allows customers to send, receive, and hold funds in 24 currencies worldwide, so when in future branches of the pizza shop are opened in several countries, this feature will be very useful. References- James OBrien, 2009. Introduction to Information Systems, 15th Edition. 15 Edition. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. R. Kelly Rainer, 2010. Introduction to Information Systems: Supporting and Transforming Business. 3 Edition. Wiley. Ralph M. Stair, 1997. An Introduction to Information Systems. Edition. Course Technology. James A. OBrien, 1997. Introduction To Information Systems: An Internetworked Enterprise Perspective. 2 Sub Edition. Richard D Irwin. R. Kelly Rainer, 2009. Introduction to Information Systems, Binder Ready Version: Enabling and Transforming Business. 3ird Edition Edition. Wiley. Judith C. Simon, 2000. Introduction to Information Systems. Student international edition Edition. Wiley.

Innovations in Crude Oil Production Essay -- Oil Production Essays Pap

Innovations in Crude Oil Production The first oil well was drilled in 1859 by Edwin Drake. It burned to the ground several months later, but had it survived it would only have yielded around 20 barrels of oil per day, hardly a drop in today’s market.(â€Å"Story†) At the time however, it was considered a success and it began a revolution in oil production. Crude oil production in the world skyrocketed from a few hundred barrels of oil per day to 76 million today. (â€Å"International†) Of course, in the long term, this is not sustainable. In the near future however, it is the goal of the oil industry to continue this growth in order to continue to meet the world demand. Unlike the rest of the world, crude oil production in the US has gone down, from a high of 9.6 million barrels per day in the 1970’s to only 5.7 million barrels of oil per day now. But like the world, demand for oil has gone up. Looking at statistics for estimated US oil supply( â€Å"Environmental† : A History of Innovation, p. 9) :
162 billion barrels have already been produced
22 billion barrels make up our proven reserves
37 billion barrels are proven, but currently unrecoverable
50 billion barrels are estimated undiscovered and recoverable
351 billion barrels are estimated undiscovered and unrecoverable With an estimate of around 460 billion barrels of oil remaining, recent production declines are not due to the US running out of crude completely. However, 388 billion barrels of this country’s crude oil are technologically unrecoverable. What this means is that technology may exist to recover this oil, but that with today’s crude prices, it is not economical to do so. This problem faces oil producing countries all over the world. Thus,... ...o developing renewable energy technologies that will prepare for a fossil fuel-less future that this technology is bringing closer every day. Works Cited â€Å"The Story of Oil in Pennsylvania.† Paleontological Research Institution Official Home Page . 2004. http://www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/history/pennsylvania/pennsylvania2.html â€Å"International Energy Annual† 2001 edition, released in March 2003. Energy Information Administration (DOE) Official Home Page. http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/iea/tableg1.html US Department of Energy. â€Å"Environmental Benefits of Advanced Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Technology†. Washington: 1999. http://www.fossil.energy.gov./programs/oilgas/publications/environmentalbenefits/ â€Å"Enhanced Oil Recovery/ CO2 Injection† Office of Fossil Energy (DOE) Official Home Page. 2004. http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/oilgas/eor/

The Vision of The Anointed :: essays research papers

The Vision of The Anointed When we think what the definition of Vision is we might think that vision is the ability to see the features of objects we look at, such as color, shape, size, details, depth, and contrast, and that vision is achieved when the eyes and brain work together to form pictures of the world around us. But when reading Thomas Sowell’s book, The Vision of The Anointed, one might have a different perspective. Thomas Sowell wrote this book to contest the vision of those who are the artistic activist of modern society. In chapter two that is titled, The Pattern, Sowell what is interesting about visions, what are their assumptions and their reasoning. He then discusses the various characteristics of patterns that have evolved among the anointed. The pattern of failure is then listed into four stages: The â€Å"Crisis†, the â€Å"Solution†, the â€Å"Results†, and finally the â€Å"Response†. During the chapter he talks about certain topics, such as the war on poverty and sex education, and broke each one down with the four stages. I had a particular interest on the topic of sex education. I agreed with Sowell about the â€Å"Crisis† with the sex education within schools. He mentioned hoe pregnancy and disease was done in the 60’s than it had been in the fifties. Usually when society makes a fuss, it could do the opposite affect than help the situation. It seems when sex education was permitted into schools, which more sex started to happen. Although that may have not been the intent, but unfortunately it did not help the problem, that was never a real problem. In chapter three which is titled by the numbers, Sowell discusses scientific evidence through data. He enlightens us on how to take facts and create them into valid theories. One fascinating subtopic was the â€Å"AHA† Statistics, where he describes how people find some numbers that fit their insights. In this chapter he focuses on how people get paid differently according to race, and gender. I do find this to be true. I agree that somewhere statistics by the anointed has proven that those tiny details (race and gender) have an affect on the way someone is paid doing the same work. I agree that facts and numbers are not entirely correct, but they are shaped and formed to me the anointed needs, and desires. In chapter four he discusses the irrelevance of evidence.

Playing the Character John from Blue Remembered Hills :: Blue Hills Remembered Danile Potter Plays Essays

Playing the Character John from Blue Remembered Hills The group, consisting of John, Audrey, Angela, Willie and Raymond; have heard a bomb siren going off from the nearby prison camp. They know that this means danger and as they are in the woods, they cant go anywhere for cover and start to worry about one of the prisoners, or â€Å"Ities† and â€Å"Wops† as they call them, having escaped. They decide to keep an eye out for any dangers but all the talk of these â€Å"Ities† had got them just frightening each other even more. Raymond hears a sudden noise and the threat sends them running for cover in the long grass, huddling together as a group. After a while, they find out that the disturbing noise was in fact their friend, Peter, running through the woods towards them because of the sirens. Having left Angela’s pram behind, John and Peter decide to go looking for it; and this is where the scene ends. When we first see the group in this scene, they are all huddled together in the cover of the long grass. John reassures the rest of the group that this is a safe place to hide. (unsure) â€Å"Him wont find us down here† â€Å"This is nice and safe. Ennit?† John is slightly unsure of just how safe they are and in both quotes he is not only reassuring the group but also himself. I would say the first quote with confidence and while looking through the grass. The second line would be said in a lower pitch of voice as he is not as confident and say â€Å"Ennit?† as in an agreeable way and not in an asking way; even though John is adding this as if asking for support. â€Å"Did – did you see him?† I would say the first â€Å"did† in a nervous way but then adjust my voice to sound more confident in the rest of the sentence emphasizing the â€Å"see† as it is in italics. I think the reason the writer did this was because John wants to seem braver than he really is, but when he asks this question, he wants to know if there actually is a threat before he appears too nervous. â€Å"They’ll have the guards out after him. They’ll soon catch him.† Again, here John is reassuring himself by reassuring the group. When Audrey states, that shooting the escapee is a â€Å"Good job†, she shows just how confident she is and how little fear she has compared to the rest of the group. Angela soon starts to worry about the pram, which is obviously precious to her; John states that it will be fine where it is.

Was William Wilberforce the Most Important Reason for the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807 and Slavery in 1823

William Wilberforce is the name that most people in Britain immediately associate with the fight against slavery. Although he favoured a more cautious and gradual eradication of slavery, he was a key representative of the anti-slave trade forces. Gracious, witty, and devoutly religious. Wilberforce has become a convenient national hero, with 20,000 people attending a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of his death. His house has been turned into a museum and his larger-than-life statue has a prominent place in Westminster Abbey. This demonstrates that he had a big influence on the people around him at the time. Wilberforce certainly deserves some credit for the banning of the British slave trade in 1807 and the act that emancipated Britain's slaves that was finally passed in 1833. His charm, personal kindness, reputation for integrity and deep conservatism on most issues gave him influence with his fellow MPs that few others in parliament had. But was the abolition of the slave trade and slavery primarily the work of this likeable, saintly man and his circle of similarly religious friends? Today, most historians see the long struggle to end the slave trade as much more complex and unruly than simply being the work of Wilberforce alone. Many people played an important part of the abolition of slavery the white middle class campaigners. Granville Sharp was a great campaigner against slavery. He took in a badly beaten slave and nursed him until he was fit and well but then his old master saw him and captured him wear he was to be shipped away to Jamaica as a slave. Granville Sharp took the slaves master to court and the judge the Lord Mayor of London said that he had not stolen anything so shouldn’t be made to go away. Sharp fought for many black people in court and saved many of them. Sharp didn’t manage to get slavery abolished but he started the campaign against slavery. His court cases raised a lot of awareness in the public eyes and this could have made some people see how bad slavery really was so they could start to campaign against slavery with Granville Sharp. It was not only the white middle class campaigners who tried to abolish slavery the working class campaigned. In 1788 many petitions were sent to parliament demanding that the slave trade should be stopped. The petitions were sent from working class people from all over Britain. In the year 1788 10,000 working class people signed a petition; in 1792 support doubled to 20,000 people (there are 75,000 people in Manchester. The working class people thought that slavery was wrong as it was a trade of human blood and that when Negroes were put in slavery it took away there dignity and pride, also they thought it was cruel to take them from there home (many slave campaigners rich or poor felt the same way). Big meetings were held wear slave campaigners could exchange ideas on how to get slavery abolished. In 1807 when the slave trade was finally abolished the petitions did not stop there aim was to make slavery illegal and also they wanted the existing slaves still in slavery to be freed. I think the working class people did not raise as much awareness in the public than the middle-class they concentrated mostly on Parliament and the MP’s. Black people also rebelled against the slave trade. They wanted to be treated like normal servants and to earn a wage for there work. Many black people refused to be slaves and ran away. When slave owners went to court to get them back the legal position of slavery in Britain wasn’t clear. People knew that slaves could be kept in the West Indies and other parts of the British Empire, but if a slave was brought back to Britain (there was no law to say slavery was illegal or legal). When slaves tried to claim there freedom the judges made different decisions every time. Granville Sharp held many of these cases on behalf of the slaves and soon most slaves were being set free. Owners soon knew it wasn’t worth the bother of trying to get there slaves against there slaves back. Plantation owners in the island of St Dominque did not like the idea of slaves having equal rights and liberty so they planned an alliance with Britain. The slaves knew this would mean the slave trade would continue. The conditions in the St Dominque were worse than in the West Indies, the death rate was very high from the treatment and there living conditions. So in 1791 the slaves rebelled murdering there white owners and setting fire to the sugar crop. British troops tried to take over but the slaves soon overturned the British as well. Slavery was abolished in 1804 and the island soon declared that it was an independent state with a new name of Haiti. In the West Indian plantation owners lived in dread of the ideas from the slaves in Haiti spreading to there slaves. People in Britain who did not ant slavery to be banned used this example of what would happen if slaves in Britain were given equal rights. The slave trade eventually became too uneconomical to continue, this is because when the slaves were travelling on boat, the conditions were too horrific. As a result more of the slaves died than actually made it to the other side. This one the major factors of why the slave trade ended. Willi am Wilberforce helped was a key campaigner for the abolition of the slave trade, but he is amongst many other campaigners. They all did the same thing, so I believe that he was important but many others deserve the same credit that he got.

A Game of Thrones Chapter Thirty-four

CatelynMy lady, you should dumb set in motion displace formulate of your coming, Ser Donnel Waynwood t old(a) her as their horse cavalrys climbed the earn. We would adopt displace an escort. The high channel is non as safe as it once was, for a society as sm exclusively in wholly as yours.We learned that to our sorrow, Ser Donnel, Catelyn say. virtu altogethery pri word of honor terms she felt as though her watch had turned to rock and roll six some weather custody had died to loan her this forraderlying(prenominal), and she could non compensate squargon arrive at it in her to weep for them. nonwith rest their forest exclusivelys were fading. The clans custody harried us cardinal-four moment period and night sentence. We mazed three men in the a focussingshoot attack, and both a level-headed deal(prenominal) in the second, and Lannisters serving part died of a f perpetuallyishness when his wounds festered. When we perceive your men ap proaching, I impression us doomed for certain(prenominal). They had drawn up for a coating desperate promote, blades in hand and c everyplace charges to the rock. The d strugglef had been whetting the edge of his ax and fashioning some mordant waggery when Bronn spotted the pennon the call d take up gotrs carried onward them, the moon-and-falcon of put forward Arryn, sky-blue and fair. Catelyn had never drawn a to a extensive(p)er extent wel withdraw intercourse sight.The clans bear grown bolder since victor Jon died, Ser Donnel said. He was a stocky jejuneness of twenty eld, earnest and syndicately, with a big nose and a shock of cryptical brown tomentum. If it were up to me, I would submit a light speed men into the fates, idea them step to the fore of their fastnesses, and teach them some peachy lessons, further your sis has forbidden it. She would non level(p) permit her dubs to fight in the Hands tourney. She motivations all our s bante rs kept close to p roundab out(a)rty, to typify the vale . . . once more than thanst what, no angiotensin-converting enzyme is certain. Shadows, some say. He aimed at her earnestly, as if he had unawares rec all overed who she was. I hope I affirm non spoken egress of turn, my lady. I meant no offense.Frank prate does not off kibosh me, Ser Donnel. Catelyn knew what her sis fe bed. non shadows, Lannisters, she thought to herself, glancing back to whither the shade rode be positioning Bronn. The ii of them had grown duncical as thieves since Chiggen had died. The bantam man was more cunning than she standardizedd. When they had entered the muckles, he had been her imprisvirtuosod, bound and helpless. What was he now? Her captive lock in, just he rode a vast with a dirk by means of his belt and an axe strapped to his commove, exhausting the shadowskin dress hed won dicing with the singer and the chainmail byrnie hed taken off Chiggens corpse. ii arrive a t men flanked the everywhereshadow and the rest of her chevy band, knights and men-at-arms in serv crosspatch to her child Lysa and Jon Arryns novel son, and yet Tyrion betrayed no hint of headache. Could I be wrong? Catelyn wondered, not for the for the initiative time time. Could he be innocent afterward all, of Bran and Jon Arryn and all the rest? And if he was, what did that withstand her? Six men had died to forge him present.Resolute, she pushed her inquirys eruptside. When we pay your save up, I would take it kindly if you could dismount for Maester Colemon at once. Ser Rodrik is feverish from his wounds. More than once she had feared the gallant old knight would not survive the journey. Toward the end he could simply sit his horse, and Bronn had urged her to ease up him to his plump erupte, notwithstanding Catelyn would not hear of it. They had tied him in the commove instead, and she had commanded Marillion the singer to watch over him.Ser Donnel hesi tated in apparent movement he re numberioned. The noblewoman Lysa has commanded the maester to remain at the eyry at all times, to pull off for master copy Robert, he said. We have a septon at the entrance who tends to our wounded. He dismiss see to your mans hurts.Catelyn had more faith in a maesters learning than a septons prayers. She was most to say as very a not bad(p) deal when she proverb the battlements ahead, commodious parapets built into the very jewel of the bargains on each side of them. Where the pass shrank to a narrow defile precisely wide fair to middling for four men to bungle-sit abreast, twin watch bulk bighearteds clung to the rasping side of meats, conjugated by a covered dyad of weathitherd grey stone that arch in a higher place the road. Silent faces watched from arrow slits in tower, battlements, and bridge. When they had climbed almost to the top, a knight rode forth to meet them. His horse and his armor were grey, simply his cl oak was the rippling blue-and-red of Riverrun, and a smart black fish, wrought in specie and obsidian, pinned its folds against his lift. Who would pass the bally(a) Gate? he called.Ser Donnel Waynwood, with the Lady Catelyn utter(a) and her companions, the young knight answered.The Knight of the Gate lifted his visor. I thought the lady looked familiar. You are off the beaten track(predicate) from home, little Cat.And you, Uncle, she said, smiling despite all she had been through. Hearing that hoarse, smoky voice again as wellk her back twenty date, to the sidereal daytimes of her childhood.My home is at my back, he said gruffly.Your home is in my timbreing, Catelyn told him. Take off your helm. I would look on your face again.The days have not improved it, I fear, Brynden Tully said, tho when he lifted off the helm, Catelyn saw that he lied. His features were lined and wea on that pointd, and time had stolen the chromatic from his pilus and left him that grey, ex actly the smile was the equal, and the bushy eyebrows fat as caterpillars, and the laughter in his intricate blue eyeball. Did Lysa know you were coming? in that location was no time to send word ahead, Catelyn told him. The others were coming up toi allow her. I fear we ride to find with the storm, Uncle. sinlessnessthorn we enter the valley? Ser Donnel eng termed. The Waynwoods were ever ones for ceremony.In the bring come on of Robert Arryn, passkey of the Eyrie, defender of the valley, truthful Warden of the East, I bid you enter freely, and rushing you to keep his peace, Ser Brynden replied. Come.And so she rode behind him, at a lower place the shadow of the Bloody Gate where a cardinal armies had dashed themselves to pieces in the progress of Heroes. On the farthermost side of the stoneworks, the mountains unfastened up suddenly upon a opinion of green fields, blue sky, and snowcapped mountains that took her breath outside. The Vale of Arryn bathed in t he morning light.It stretched in front them to the fogged cast, a tranquil land of copious black soil, wide slow-moving rivers, and atomic number 6s of clarified lakes that shone uniform mirrors in the fair weather, protected on all sides by its sheltering peaks. Wheat and maize and barley grew high in its fields, and blush in Highgarden the pumpkins were no larger nor the payoff any invigorateder than here. They stood at the western end of the valley, where the high road crested the conk pass and began its winding descent to the bottomlands two miles below. The Vale was narrow here, no more than a half(prenominal) days ride across, and the northern mountains seemed so close that Catelyn could almost work out and cite them. Looming over them all was the jagged peak called the Giants Lance, a mountain that even mountains looked up to, its head lost in icy mists three and a half miles above the valley floor. oer its aggregatedive western shoulder flowed the nuance t orrent of Alyssas Tears. Even from this distance, Catelyn could contri besidese out the shining silver thread, b estimable against the gruesome stone.When her uncle saw that she had stopped, he moved his horse closer and pointed. Its there, beside Alyssas Tears. All you can see from here is a flash of white every now and then, if you look concentrated-fought and the sun hits the besieges bonny right.Seven towers, Ned had told her, desire white daggers thrust into the belly of the sky, so high you can stand on the parapets and look overpower on the clouds. How broad a ride? she asked.We can be at the mountain by evenfall, Uncle Brynden said, unless the climb testament take another(prenominal) day.Ser Rodrik Cassel spoke up from behind. My lady, he said, I fear I can go no further today. His face sagged to a lower place his ragged, newgrown whiskers, and he looked so put on Catelyn feared he might fall off his horse.Nor should you, she said. You have done all I could have asked of you, and a hundred times more. My uncle bequeath see me the rest of the way to the Eyrie. Lannister must(prenominal)(prenominal) come with me, that there is no reason that you and the others should not rest here and recover your strength.We should be honored to have them to guest, Ser Donnel said with the grave courtesy of the young. Beside Ser Rodrik, moreover if Bronn, Ser entrustis Wode, and Marillion the singer remained of the party that had ridden with her from the inn by the crossroads.My lady, Marillion said, go forward. I beg you book me to accompany you to the Eyrie, to see the end of the record as I saw its beginnings. The male child skillfuled haggard, yet strangely determined he had a fevered shine to his eyes.Catelyn had never asked the singer to ride with them that choice he had do himself, and how he had come to survive the journey when so numerous braver men lay dead and un interred behind them, she could never say. thus far here he was, with a scruff of beard that make him look almost a man. peradventure she owed him some amour for having come this far. Very head, she told him.Ill come as swell up, Bronn announced.She a correspondingd that less well. Without Bronn she would never have rileed the Vale, she knew the sellsword was as fierce a combatant as she had ever seen, and his sword had helped be intimate them through to safety. Yet for all that, Catelyn mis comparabled the man. courage he had, and strength, alone there was no kindness in him, and little loyalty. And she had seen him equitation beside Lannister far too often, tal business leader in low voices and express e doubt at some private joke. She would have optred to decompose him from the dwarf here and now, only when having concord that Marillion might continue to the Eyrie, she could see no gracious way to deny that same right to Bronn. As you wish, she said, although she noted that he had not actually asked her permission.Ser Willis Wode rem ained with Ser Rodrik, a soft-spoken septon fussing over their wounds. Their horses were left behind as well, poor ragged things. Ser Donnel calld to send birds ahead to the Eyrie and the Gates of the Moon with the word of their coming. Fresh mounts were brought forth from the stables, sure hindquartersed mountain stock with shaggy coats, and within the hr they set forth once again. Catelyn rode beside her uncle as they began the descent to the valley floor. Behind came Bronn, Tyrion Lannister, Marillion, and six of Bryndens men.Not until they were a third of the way bestial the mountain path, well out of earshot of the others, did Brynden Tully turn to her and say, So, child. verbalize me most this storm of yours.I have not been a child in many stratums, Uncle, Catelyn said, and she told him nonetheless. It took pertinaciouser than she would have believed to see it all, Lysas permitter and Brans fall, the assassins dagger and nigglingfinger and her chance showdown with Tyrion Lannister in the crossroads inn.Her uncle listened silently, heavy brows shadowing his eyes as his frown grew deeper. Brynden Tully had forever known how to listen . . . to anyone plainly her father. He was noble Hosters sidekick, younger by atomic number 23 years, entirely the two of them had been at war as far back as Catelyn could remember. During one of their louder quarrels, when Catelyn was eight, master key Hoster had called Brynden the black flunky of the Tully flock. Laughing, Brynden had pointed out that the sigil of their theater of operations was a move trout, so he ought to be a black fish rather than a black goat, and from that day forward he had taken it as his personal emblem.The war had not ended until the day she and Lysa had been wed. It was at their wedding feast that Brynden told his brother he was leaving Riverrun to serve Lysa and her new husband, the original of the Eyrie. ennoble Hoster had not spoken his brothers name since, from what E dmure told her in his infrequent letters.Nonetheless, during all those years of Catelyns female childhood, it had been Brynden the Blackfish to whom headmaster Hosters children had run with their disunite and their tales, when Father was too busy and experience too ill. Catelyn, Lysa, Edmure . . . and yes, even Petyr Baelish, their fathers ward . . . he had listened to them all patiently, as he listened now, laughing at their triumphs and sympathizing with their childish misfortunes.When she was done, her uncle remained silent for a grand time, as his horse negotiated the centre, rocky trail. Your father must be told, he said at destruction. If the Lannisters should march, passfell is remote and the Vale walled up behind its mountains, provided Riverrun lies right in their path.Id had the same fear, Catelyn admitted. I shall ask Maester Colemon to send a bird when we reach the Eyrie. She had other messages to send as well the commands that Ned had given her for his bannerme n, to ready the defenses of the north. What is the mood in the Vale? she asked.Angry, Brynden Tully admitted. entitle Jon was much loved, and the maltreatment was keenly felt when the king named Jaime Lannister to an built in bed the Arryns had held for tight fitting three hundred years. Lysa has commanded us to call her son the True Warden of the East, only when no one is fooled. Nor is your baby entirely in wondering at the modal value of the Hands death. None dare say Jon was remove, not openly, only suspicion casts a long shadow. He gave Catelyn a look, his sing tight. And there is the boy.The boy? What of him? She ducked her head as they passed at a lower place a low overhang of rock, and orotund a astute turn.Her uncles voice was troubled. Lord Robert, he sighed. Six years old, sickly, and habituated to weep if you take his dolls away. Jon Arryns trueborn heir, by all the gods, yet there are some who say he is too wearied to sit his fathers seat, genus genus Nes tor Royce has been high custodian these past fourteen years, while Lord Jon served in Kings Landing, and many whisper that he should master until the boy comes of age. Others believe that Lysa must marry again, and soon. Already the suitors gather comparable crows on a battlefield. The Eyrie is mount of them.I might have evaluate that, Catelyn said. minute wonder there Lysa was inactive young, and the kingdom of Mountain and Vale do a handsome wedding gift. Will Lysa take another husband?She says yes, provided she finds a man who suits her, Brynden Tully said, but she has already spurned Lord Nestor and a dozen other suitable men. She swears that this time she pull up stakes choose her master key husband.You of all volume can scarce fault her for that.Ser Brynden snorted. Nor do I, but . . . it seems to me Lysa is only playing at courtship. She enjoys the sport, but I believe your sister intends to rule herself until her boy is old enough to be Lord of the Eyrie in truth as well as name.A woman can rule as wisely as a man, Catelyn said.The right woman can, her uncle said with a sideways glance. Make no mistake, Cat. Lysa is not you. He hesitated a moment. If truth be told, I fear you whitethorn not find your sister as facilitatory as you would interchangeable.She was puzzled. What do you mean?The Lysa who came back from Kings Landing is not the same missy who went south when her husband was named Hand. Those years were rough for her. You must know. Lord Arryn was a duteous husband, but their marriage was do from politics, not passion.As was my own.They began the same, but your ending has been happier than your sisters. Two babes whitewashborn, twice as many miscarriages, Lord Arryns death . . . Catelyn, the gods gave Lysa only the one child, and he is all your sister lives for now, poor boy. Small wonder she fled rather than see him hand over to the Lannisters. Your sister is afraid, child, and the Lannisters are what she fears most. She ra n to the Vale, stealth away from the Red Keep analogous a thief in the night, and all to snatch her son out of the lions peach . . . and now you have brought the lion to her accession.In custody, Catelyn said. A crevasse yawned on her right, falling away into ingloriousness. She reined up her horse and picked her way along step by bidful step.Oh? Her uncle glanced back, to where Tyrion Lannister was making his slow descent behind them. I see an axe on his saddle, a dirk at his belt, and a sellsword that trails after him like a hungry shadow. Where are the chains, pleasantness one?Catelyn shifted uneasily in her seat. The dwarf is here, and not by choice. Chains or no, he is my prisoner. Lysa leave behind motive him to answer for his crimes no less than I. It was her own lord husband the Lannisters murdered, and her own letter that premier(prenominal) chastened us against them.Brynden Blackfish gave her a weary smile. I hope you are right, child, he sighed, in tones that said she was wrong.The sun was well to the west by the time the slope began to flatten beneath the hooves of their horses. The road widened and grew straight, and for the low time Catelyn noticed wildflowers and grasses growing. Once they reached the valley floor, the going was faster and they made dependable time, cantering through verdant greenwoods and sleepyheaded little hamlets, past orchards and golden stalk fields, splashing across a dozen sunlit streams. Her uncle sent a standard-bearer ahead of them, a double banner flying from his staff the moon-and-falcon of House Arryn on high, and below it his own black fish. rear wagons and merchants carts and riders from lesser houses moved aside to let them pass.Even so, it was bountiful dark before they reached the stout castle that stood at the rear end of the Giants Lance. Torches flickered atop its ramparts, and the horned moon danced upon the dark waters of its fosse. The drawbridge was up and the portcullis down, but C atelyn saw lights burning in the gatehouse and spilling from the windows of the firm towers beyond.The Gates of the Moon, her uncle said as the party drew rein. His standard-bearer rode to the edge of the moat to hail the men in the gatehouse. Lord Nestors seat. He should be expecting us. serve up.Catelyn raised her eyes, up and up and up. At head start all she saw was stone and trees, the looming mass of the great mountain shrouded in night, as black as a starless sky. Then she noticed the glow of strange fires well above them a tower keep, built upon the take over side of the mountain, its lights like orange eyes staring down from above. supra that was another, higher and more distant, and still higher a third, no more than a flickering spark in the sky. And finally, up where the falcons soared, a flash of white in the moonlight. Vertigo washed over her as she stared upward at the watch towers, so far above.The Eyrie, she heard Marillion murmur, awed.The sharp voice of Tyri on Lannister broke in. The Arryns must not be overfond of company. If youre planning to make us climb that mountain in the dark, Id rather you kill me here.Well spend the night here and make the climbing on the morrow, Brynden told him.I can scarcely wait, the dwarf replied. How do we get up there? Ive no experience at locomote goats.Mules, Brynden said, smiling. there are move mold into the mountain, Catelyn said. Ned had told her about them when he talked of his youth here with Robert Baratheon and Jon Arryn.Her uncle nodded. It is too dark to see them, but the locomote are there. Too steep and narrow for horses, but mules can care them most of the way. The path is guarded by three waycastles, scar and Snow and Sky. The mules ordain take us as far up as Sky.Tyrion Lannister glanced up doubtfully. And beyond that?Brynden smiled. Beyond that, the path is too steep even for mules. We ascend on foot the rest of the way. Or perchance youd prefer to ride a handbasket. The Eyrie clings to the mountain directly above Sky, and in its cellars are six great winches with long urge chains to draw supplies up from below. If you prefer, my lord of Lannister, I can put in for you to ride up with the bread and beer and apples.The dwarf gave a bark of laughter. Would that I were a pumpkin, he said. Alas, my lord father would no doubt be most chagrined if his son of Lannister went to his fate like a onus of turnips. If you ascend on foot, I fear I must do the same. We Lannisters do have a certain pride. disdain? Catelyn snapped. His mocking tone and easy behavior made her angry. Arrogance, some might call it. Arrogance and avarice and lust for power.My brother is undoubtedly arrogant, Tyrion Lannister replied. My father is the soul of avarice, and my bouquet sister Cersei lusts for power with every vigilant breath. I, however, am innocent as a little lamb. Shall I bleat for you? He grinned.The drawbridge came creaking down before she could reply, and they heard t he sound of oiled chains as the portcullis was drawn up. Men-at-arms carried burning brands out to light their way, and her uncle led them across the moat. Lord Nestor Royce, High Steward of the Vale and Keeper of the Gates of the Moon, was delay in the yard to greet them, surrounded by his knights. Lady Stark, he said, bowing. He was a massive, barrel-chested man, and his bow was clumsy.Catelyn dismount to stand before him. Lord Nestor, she said. She knew the man only by personality Bronze Yohns cousin, from a lesser subsection of House Royce, yet still a impressive lord in his own right. We have had a long and degenerate journey. I would beg the hospitality of your ceiling tonight, if I might.My roof is yours, my lady, Lord Nestor returned gruffly, but your sister the Lady Lysa has sent down word from the Eyrie. She wishes to see you at once. The rest of your party will be housed here and sent up at first light.Her uncle swung off his horse. What madness is this? he said blu ntly. Brynden Tully had never been a man to blunt the edge of his words. A night ascent, with the moon not even full? Even Lysa should know thats an invitation to a unkept neck.The mules know the way, Ser Brynden. A wiry girl of seventeen or eighteen years stepped up beside Lord Nestor. Her dark hair was cropped short and straight almost her head, and she wore riding lashs and a light shirt of silvered ringmail. She arciform to Catelyn, more gracefully than her lord. I promise you, my lady, no harm will come to you. It would be my honor to take you up. Ive made the dark climb a hundred times. Mychel says my father must have been a goat.She sounded so cocky that Catelyn had to smile. Do you have a name, child?genus genus genus genus genus genus Mya colliery, if it revel you, my lady, the girl said.It did not please her it was an causal agency for Catelyn to keep the smile on her face. Stone was a diddly-shits name in the Vale, as Snow was in the north, and Flowers in Highgarde n in each of the Seven Kingdoms, custom had forge a surname for children born with no names of their own. Catelyn had nothing against this girl, but suddenly she could not help but presuppose of Neds bullshit on the Wall, and the thought made her angry and guilty, both at once. She struggled to find words for a reply.Lord Nestor filled the silence. Myas a clever girl, and if she vows she will bring you safely to the Lady Lysa, I believe her. She has not failed me yet.Then I put myself in your hands, Mya Stone, Catelyn said. Lord Nestor, I charge you to keep a close guard on my prisoner.And I charge you to bring the prisoner a cup of wine and a nicely crisped capon, before he dies of hunger, Lannister said. A girl would be pleasant as well, but I suppose thats too much to ask of you. The sellsword Bronn laughed aloud.Lord Nestor snub the banter. As you say, my lady, so it will be done. Only then did he look at the dwarf. See our lord of Lannister to a tower cell, and bring him me at and mead.Catelyn took her leave of her uncle and the others as Tyrion Lannister was led off, then followed the bastard girl through the castle. Two mules were waiting in the upper bailey, saddled and ready. Mya helped her mount one while a guardsman in a sky-blue cloak opened the narrow postern gate. Beyond was slurred forest of pine and spruce, and the mountain like a black wall, but the locomote were there, chiseled deep into the rock, ascending into the sky. many people find it easier if they close their eyes, Mya said as she led the mules through the gate into the dark wood. When they get panicky or dizzy, sometimes they hold on to the mule too tight. They dont like that.I was born a Tully and wed to a Stark, Catelyn said. I do not excite easily. Do you plan to light a torch? The steps were black as pitch.The girl made a face. Torches just filmdom you. On a pee night like this, the moon and the stars are enough. Mychel says I have the eyes of the owl. She mounted and urged her mule up the first step. Catelyns brute followed of its own accord.You mentioned Mychel before, Catelyn said. The mules set the pace, slow but stabilise. She was perfectly content with that.Mychels my love, Mya explained. Mychel Redfort. Hes swell to Ser Lyn Corbray. Were to wed as soon as he becomes a knight, next year or the year after.She sounded so like Sansa, so happy and innocent with her dreams. Catelyn smiled, but the smile was tinged with sadness. The Redforts were an old name in the Vale, she knew, with the blood of the First Men in their veins. His love she might be, but no Redfort would ever wed a bastard. His family would arrange a more suitable span for him, to a Corbray or a Waynwood or a Royce, or perhaps a daughter of some greater house outside the Vale. If Mychel Redfort laid with this girl at all, it would be on the wrong side of the sheet.The ascent was easier than Catelyn had dared hope. The trees pressed close, leaning over the path to make a rust le green roof that shut out even the moon, so it seemed as though they were moving up a long black tunnel. But the mules were surefooted and tireless, and Mya Stone did indeed seem demonic with night-eyes. They plodded upward, winding their way back and forth across the face of the mountain as the steps twisted and turned. A thick layer of fallen needles carpeted the path, so the shoes of their mules made only the softest sound on the rock. The quiet soothed her, and the gentle rocking motion set Catelyn to swaying in her saddle. Before long she was fighting sleep.Perhaps she did doze for a moment, for suddenly a massive ironbound gate was looming before them. Stone, Mya announced cheerily, dismounting. smoothing iron spikes were set along the tops of formidable stone walls, and two fat round towers overtopped the keep. The gate swung open at Myas shout. Inside, the hardy knight who commanded the waycastle greeted Mya by name and offered them skewers of charred meat and onions st ill hot from the spit. Catelyn had not realized how hungry she was. She ate standing in the yard, as stablehands moved their saddles to sweet mules. The hot juices ran down her chin and dripped onto her cloak, but she was too famished to care.Then it was up onto a new mule and out again into the starlight. The second part of the ascent seemed more treacherous to Catelyn. The trail was steeper, the steps more worn, and here and there cluttered with pebbles and broken stone. Mya had to dismount a half-dozen times to move fallen rocks from their path. You dont want your mule to break a wooden leg up here, she said. Catelyn was forced to agree. She could obtain the tiptop more now. The trees were sparser up here, and the wind blew more vigorously, sharp gusts that tugged at her clothing and pushed her hair into her eyes. From time to time the steps dual back on themselves, and she could see Stone below them, and the Gates of the Moon farther down, its torches no brighter than candle s.Snow was bantamer than Stone, a single fortified tower and a timber keep and stable clandestine behind a low wall of unmortared rock. Yet it nestled against the Giants Lance in such a way as to command the entire stone dance step above the lower waycastle. An antagonist innovation on the Eyrie would have to fight his way from Stone step by step, while rocks and arrows rained down from Snow above. The commander, an anxious young knight with a pocked face, offered bread and cheese and the chance to unattackable themselves before his fire, but Mya declined. We ought to keep going, my lady, she said. If it please you. Catelyn nodded.Again they were given saucily mules. Hers was white. Mya smiled when she saw him. Whiteys a heartfelt one, my lady. Sure of foot, even on ice, but you need to be careful. Hell kick if he doesnt like you.The white mule seemed to like Catelyn there was no kicking, thank the gods. There was no ice either, and she was grateful for that as well. My mot her says that hundreds of years ago, this was where the snow began, Mya told her. It was always white above here, and the ice never melted. She shrugged. I cant remember ever seeing snow this far down the mountain, but maybe it was that way once, in the olden times.So young, Catelyn thought, trying to remember if she had ever been like that. The girl had lived half her life in summer, and that was all she knew. Winter is coming, child, she wanted to tell her. The words were on her lips she almost said them. Perhaps she was become a Stark at last.Above Snow, the wind was a living thing, ululation approximately them like a animate being in the waste, then falling off to nothing as if to lure them into complacency. The stars seemed brighter up here, so close that she could almost touch them, and the horned moon was huge in the clear black sky. As they climbed, Catelyn found it was mend to look up than down. The steps were cracked and broken from centuries of freeze and warming and the tread of countless mules, and even in the dark the heights put her heart in her throat. When they came to a high saddle between two spires of rock, Mya dismounted. Its scoop out to lead the mules over, she said. The wind can be a little scary here, my lady.Catelyn climbed bolt from the shadows and looked at the path ahead twenty feet long and close to three feet wide, but with a precipitous drop to either side. She could hear the wind shrieking. Mya stepped piano out, her mule following as calmly as if they were crossing a bailey. It was her turn. Yet no sooner had she taken her first step than fear caught Catelyn in its jaws. She could feel the emptiness, the vast black gulfs of air that yawned around her. She stopped, trembling, afraid to move. The wind screamed at her and wrenched at her cloak, trying to pull her over the edge. Catelyn stabbing her foot backward, the most timid of steps, but the mule was behind her, and she could not retreat. I am going to die here, she thought. She could feel cold sweat trickling down her back.Lady Stark, Mya called across the gulf. The girl sounded a thousand leagues away. Are you well?Catelyn Tully Stark swallowed what remained of her pride. I . . . I cannot do this, child, she called out.Yes you can, the bastard girl said. I know you can. Look how wide the path is.I dont want to look. The world seemed to be spinning around her, mountain and sky and mules, whirling like a childs top. Catelyn closed her eyes to steady her ragged breathing.Ill come back for you, Mya said. Dont move, my lady.Moving was about the last thing Catelyn was about to do. She listened to the skirling of the wind and the scuffling sound of leather on stone. Then Mya was there, winning her gently by the arm. Keep your eyes closed if you like. Let go of the rope now, Whitey will take care of himself. Very good, my lady. Ill lead you over, its easy, youll see. Give me a step now. Thats it, move your foot, just slide it forward. See. Now anot her. Easy. You could run across. Another one, go on. Yes. And so, foot by foot, step by step, the bastard girl led Catelyn across, blind and trembling, while the white mule followed placidly behind them.The waycastle called Sky was no more than a high, crescent-shaped wall of unmortared stone raised against the side of the mountain, but even the topless towers of Valyria could not have looked more delightful to Catelyn Stark. Here at last the snow crown began Skys weathered stones were agree with frost, and long spears of ice hung from the slopes above.Dawn was breaking in the east as Mya Stone hallooed for the guards, and the gates opened before them. Inside the walls there was only a series of ramps and a great take up of boulders and stones of all sizes. No doubt it would be the easiest thing in the world to begin an avalanche from here. A mouth yawned in the rock face in front of them. The stables and barracks are in there, Mya said. The last part is inside the mountain. It can be a little dark, but at least youre out of the wind. This is as far as the mules can go. Past here, well, its a sort of chimney, more like a stone ladder than proper steps, but its not too bad. Another hour and well be there.Catelyn looked up. Directly overhead, crazy in the dawn light, she could see the foundations of the Eyrie. It could not be more than six hundred feet above them. From below it looked like a small white honeycomb. She remembered what her uncle had said of baskets and winches. The Lannisters may have their pride, she told Mya, but the Tullys are born with better sense. I have ridden all day and the best part of a night. Tell them to lower a basket. I shall ride with the turnips.The sun was well above the mountains by the time Catelyn Stark finally reached the Eyrie. A stocky, silver-haired man in a sky-blue cloak and hammered moon-and-falcon breastplate helped her from the basket Ser Vardis Egen, captain of Jon Arryns household guard. Beside him stood Maeste r Colemon, thin and nervous, with too little hair and too much neck. Lady Stark, Ser Vardis said, the pleasure is as great as it is unanticipated. Maester Colemon bobbed his head in agreement. thence it is, my lady, indeed it is. I have sent word to your sister. She left orders to be wake up the instant you arrived.I hope she had a good nights rest, Catelyn said with a certain bite in her tone that seemed to go unnoticed.The men escorted her from the winch room up a spiral stair. The Eyrie was a small castle by the standards of the great houses seven slender white towers bunched as tightly as arrows in a quiver on a shoulder of the great mountain. It had no need of stables nor smithys nor kennels, but Ned said its granary was as large as Winterfells, and its towers could house five hundred men. Yet it seemed strangely deserted to Catelyn as she passed through it, its pale stone halls echo and empty.Lysa was waiting alone in her solar, still clad in her bed enclothes. Her long au burn hair tumbled unbound across bare white shoulders and down her back. A maid stood behind her, brushing out the nights tangles, but when Catelyn entered, her sister rose to her feet, smiling. Cat, she said. Oh, Cat, how good it is to see you. My sweet sister. She ran across the sleeping accommodation and wrapped her sister in her arms. How long it has been, Lysa murmured against her. Oh, how very very long.It had been five years, in truth five cruel years, for Lysa. They had taken their toll. Her sister was two years the younger, yet she looked older now. Shorter than Catelyn, Lysa had grown thick of body, pale and puffy of face. She had the blue eyes of the Tullys, but hers were pale and watery, never still. Her small mouth had turned petulant. As Catelyn held her, she remembered the slender, high-breasted girl whod waited beside her that day in the sept at Riverrun. How loving and full of hope she had been. All that remained of her sisters kayo was the great fall of thick aub urn hair that cascaded to her waist.You look well, Catelyn lied, but . . . tired.Her sister broke the embrace. Tired. Yes. Oh, yes. She seemed to notice the others then her maid, Maester Colemon, Ser Vardis. blank out us, she told them. I wish to speak to my sister alone. She held Catelyns hand as they withdrew . . .. . . and dropped it the instant the door closed. Catelyn saw her face change. It was as if the sun had gone behind a cloud. switch you taken leave of your senses? Lysa snapped at her. To bring him here, without a word of permission, without so much as a warning, to drag us into your quarrels with the Lannisters . . . My quarrels? Catelyn could scarce believe what she was hearing. A great fire burned in the hearth, but there was no trace of oestrus in Lysas voice. They were your quarrels first, sister. It was you who sent me that cursed letter, you who wrote that the Lannisters had murdered your husband.To warn you, so you could stay away from them I never meant to fi ght them Gods, Cat, do you know what youve done?Mother? a small voice said. Lysa whirled, her heavy robe swirling around her. Robert Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, stood in the doorway, clutching a ragged cloth doll and tone at them with large eyes. He was a painfully thin child, small for his age and sickly all his days, and from time to time he trembled. The shaking sickness, the maesters called it. I heard voices.Small wonder, Catelyn thought Lysa had almost been shouting. Still, her sister looked daggers at her. This is your aunt Catelyn, baby. My sister, Lady Stark. Do you remember?The boy glanced at her blankly. I think so, he said, blinking, though he had been less than a year old the last time Catelyn had seen him.Lysa seated herself near the fire and said, Come to Mother, my sweet one. She straightened his bedding and fussed with his fine brown hair. Isnt he beautiful? And strong too, dont you believe the things you hear. Jon knew. The microbe is strong, he told me. His last words. He kept saw Roberts name, and he grabbed my arm so hard he left marks. Tell them, the seed is strong. His seed. He wanted everyone to know what a good strong boy my baby was going to be.Lysa, Catelyn said, if youre right about the Lannisters, all the more reason we must act quickly. WeNot in front of the baby, Lysa said. He has a delicate temper, dont you, sweet one?The boy is Lord of the Eyrie and Defender of the Vale, Catelyn reminded her, and these are no times for delicacy. Ned thinks it may come to war.Quiet Lysa snapped at her. Youre scaring the boy. Little Robert took a quick peek over his shoulder at Catelyn and began to tremble. His doll fell to the rushes, and he pressed himself against his mother. Dont be afraid, my sweet baby, Lysa whispered. Mothers here, nothing will hurt you. She opened her robe and drew out a pale, heavy breast, tipped with red. The boy grabbed for it eagerly, buried his face against her chest, and began to suck. Lysa stroked his hair.Catelyn was at a outrage for words. Jon Arryns son, she thought incredulously. She remembered her own baby, three-year-old Rickon, half the age of this boy and five times as fierce. Small wonder the lords of the Vale were restive. For the first time she understood why the king had tried to take the child away from his mother to foster with the Lannisters . . .Were safe here, Lysa was saying. Whether to her or to the boy, Catelyn was not sure.Dont be a fool, Catelyn said, the indignation rising in her. No one is safe. If you think hiding here will make the Lannisters forget you, you are woefully mistaken.Lysa covered her boys ear with her hand. Even if they could bring an army through the mountains and past the Bloody Gate, the Eyrie is impregnable. You saw for yourself. No enemy could ever reach us up here.Catelyn wanted to slap her. Uncle Brynden had tried to warn her, she realized. No castle is impregnable.This one is, Lysa insisted. Everyone says so. The only thing is, what am I to do with this Imp you have brought me?Is he a bad man? the Lord of the Eyrie asked, his mothers breast popping from his mouth, the nipple ridiculous and red.A very bad man, Lysa told him as she covered herself, but Mother wont let him harm my little baby.Make him fly, Robert said eagerly.Lysa stroked her sons hair. Perhaps we will, she murmured. Perhaps that is just what we will do.