Investment Analysis about two companies.-Pratt Ltd and Dana Ltd. Essay

According to a detail investment analysis by assessing performance, efficiency and financial stability between two companies, we may find a company that is suitable for investment. During the period of analysis, accounting ratios are utilized to direct the discussion. However, there are some limitation relates to ratio analysis, which can be addressed further. At last, a company would be recommended by combining discussion of many factors. Introduction Potential shareholder faces two options about whether investing in Pratt Ltd or Dana Ltd. According to detail information from financial statements, we can use accounting ratios to make a better prediction and analysis about potential advantages and drawbacks in investing in one of these companies. Through interpretation of accounting ratios, we can look closely at the financial state of two companies-profitability, efficiency, and financial stability, and then decide which company to invest in. Profitability Profitability relates to companies’ past and future performance, according to Jacklin.et.al(2007), performance is important , not only because it determines investment returns, but also the analysis of performance may provide a good indicator of the risk of bankruptcy. There are a number of ratios that assist in predicting performance. The first one is gross profit margin, which is represented by net sales divided by gross profit. The ratio calculated in Pratt Ltd is 31.2%, while 37% in Dona LTD, which reveals that every dollar sales of returns 0.37$ in Dona is better than 0.31$ in Pratt, after deducting the cost of goods sold. The second ratio is selling expense ratio, which can be represented by sales divided by selling expense. This measures the relative importance of various expenses in the earning of profit by comparing them to the sales for the period. The result is 3.6% in Pratt, compared with 3.9% in Dana, which indicates higher sales revenue involves higher expenses i n Dana than in Pratt. The next one is net profit margin, which measures net sales divided by earnings after interest tax. This reflects final return to shareholders, the result got is 8.9% in Pratt, 10.5% in Dona. Dona achieves a better return for shareholders. The quality of income ratio focus more on cash generated, it is a measure of management’s efficiency. The result got is 43.5% in Pratt, 4.1%in Dana, which indicates that a lower quality of income occurs in Dana, which relates to the level of income in the form of cash flow. The next one is asset turnover ratio, which measures the relationship of sales to total assets. It indicates how effective it is in generating sales from total investment in assets. The result got is 4.86% in Pratt, compared with 4.28% in Dana, which beyond the industry average level. Assuming valuation used the same for each company, the ratio reveals that for every dollar of investment in assets, Pratt produced more sales than Dana. The next ratio is return on assets, which shows earnings from using the total investment in assets results from net profit margin and asset turnover; we can compare firms on their performance in generating profit from their investment in assets. The result is 57.75%% in Dana, which is higher than Pratt’s 56.76%. Both ratios indicate good operating performance, compared with industry average’s 54.39%. However, it is clear that Dana produce more profit than Pratt. Given their low asset turn over rate, Dana has a higher return on sales, because both them are the same type of furniture store. The last ratio to evaluate operating performance is return on equity, which combines the impacts of performance and financial structure. Jackling.et.al(2004) indicates the success or failure of management in using leverage to improve owners’ returns, when compared with ROA. Dana produces 79.87% in ROE, while Pratt brings 78.35%. Both firms experiences better performance than industry average. However, it is wise to chose Dana because more returns can be achieved by the use of leverage. Efficiency Jacking et.al. (2007) indicates that operating efficiency relates to capabilities of firms to manage its assets so that maximum return can be obtained for the lowest level of assets. The first ratio to measure efficiency is inventory turnover. The result got in Pratt is32 days, which is less than 34 in industry average, 36 in Dana. This ratio indicates that Dana takes more time to turn over into sales, compared with Pratt. Inventory levels are higher in relation to sales and may imply poor inventory management in Dana, which results in high inventory holding costs and obsolete stocks that is difficult to sell. However, in Pratt, although it may indicate good management, it also indicates inadequate stock levels, causing lost sales and excessive restocking costs. Therefore, there is no applied standard to justify whether the higher inventory turnover rate, the more efficiency it can achieve. All what we need is a reliable comparable figure, which represents the overall perfect situation. The next ratio is accounts receivable turnover, usually expressed as the average number of days credit customers take to pay their debt to the firm. Generally, a rapid turnover of accounts receivable is desirable, however, it should not be so rapid to require credit terms that deter prospective customers. The maximum allowed normal credit period is 30 days, which is longer than 23 in Pratt, 27 in Dona. Pratt takes fewer days to collect cash perhaps due to lack of credit sales. Besides, it may indicate poor control over accounts receivable in Dana. This may result in some liquidity difficulties and finally, extensive writes-offs of bad debts. The last ratio to measure efficiency is accounts payable turnover, which represent the average number of days the firm takes to pay debts to suppliers of goods and services. Usually, more days firm takes to pay debt, a worse reputation can be established, which may lead to difficulties in gaining finance from suppliers and financiers in the future. The result got is 32 days in Dona, which is longer than 29 in industry average, 25 in Pratt. This indicates Dona’s debt repayment is less efficient than Pratt; perhaps a large amount of leverage finance is used to promote sales. As well as we know, operating performance in Dona is clearly better than Pratt. The financial structure in Dona is complicated, which needs to be reorganized. Inefficiency in Dona may result in discounts for early payment being missed. this would cause larger amount of expenses in Dona. Financial Stability Short-term Jackling.et.al (2007) indicates that short-term solvency can be assessed by liquidity ratios, these ratios reveal whether the entity has managed its liquidity or cash flows accurately, they can also measure the entity’s ability to repay its short-term debts. The first ratio used is current ratio, it indicates that the percentage of debts arising within the next 12 months that can be met by assets expected to be liquidated within the same period. The result got in Dana is 170%, compared with 150% in Pratt. This reveals that Dana has excessive current asset holding, perhaps due to a poor turnover of inventory or accounts receivable. The efficiency achieved in Pratt is better than Dana. However, liabilities are more likely to be repaid within one year in Dana. Another ratio used is quick asset ratio, which excluding the less liquid current assets and the less pressing current liabilities, the result got is 0.64 in Dana and 0.60 in Pratt. Although there is more stable financial structure in Dana, it is not significant if inventory cannot be sold and debtors will not pay. The ideal ratio may depend on how readily inventory and debtors can be converted into cash and how rapidly sales can be converted to a cash flow into the organization. Long-term Jacking et al. (2007) indicates that the main goal of financial management is to balance the maturity structure of assets and liabilities. Debt to assets ratio and debt to equity ratio can be used. Both of the result got in Pratt is 45%.81%, compared with 43%, 76% in Dana. This result indicates that Pratt has higher leverage of the entity, it may result in increase in the cost of finance relating to interest payments and in the risk of bankruptcy. Pratt is less likely to repay all debts because proceeds from liquidation will be insufficient. Moreover, Pratt may be likely to have difficulty borrowing funds or at the least, may accept higher interest charges. The creditors are more likely to take action to appoint an official receiver or liquidate the organization, if it defaults in payment of debenture interest. Another ratio is used, which measures the safety margin of profit over interest payments, is called times interest earned ratio. The result got in Dana is 5.3, which is better than 4.7 in Pratt. It is safer in Dana that interest charges are well covered by EBIT. Limitation Timing problems The analysis is a static one, the ratios produced from the balance sheet show financial position at a point in time. The income summary cannot reveal any trend during the period. The information base The important information is frequently not disclosed, the data that is disclosed lacks detail. The comparison is difficult because of length of time an asset has been held or different valuation policies adopted by entities. End use Ratios use information from the past and they are not good indicators of the future. No evaluation can take place until some standard for evaluation has been established. The use of ratios arises when some ratios appear satisfactory and some appear unsatisfactory. Recommendation Based on my analysis from three areas of profitability, efficiency, financial stability, Dana is more suitable company to be invested in. Operating performance in Dona is clearly better than Dana. Although operating efficiency in Pratt is better than Dana, it reversely reflects that Dana has a more stable financial structure; the credit risk is lower in Dona. There are some limitations for analysis, but for both of two companies, their encountered impact is certain. Reference List: Jackling, B, Raar, J, Williams, B& Wines, G2007, Financial Statement Analysis, Luisa Cecotti, North Ryde.

The Blue Sword CHAPTER TWO

Harry and Lady Amelia took their leave, and the older woman closed the breakfast-room doors with a sigh. Harry smiled. Lady Amelia turned back to her in time to see the smile, and returned it ruefully. â€Å"Very well. We will leave the men to do their uncomfortable waiting alone. I am going to visit Mrs. McDonald, you are going to go riding with Beth and Cassie and bring them back here for luncheon.† â€Å"Perhaps under the circumstances – † began Harry, but Lady Amelia shook her head. â€Å"I see no reason why you should not. If he is here, those girls have very pretty manners, and are just whom I would invite if we were to give a formal dinner. And – † here her smile broadened and became as mischievous as a girl's – â€Å"if he has brought his thousand best men, we shall be terribly short of women, and you know how I dislike an unbalanced table. I shall have to invite Mrs. McDonald as well. Have a pleasant ride, dear.† Harry changed into her riding-clothes, mounted her placid pony, already bridled and saddled and held for her by one of the Residency's many servants, and rode off in a thoughtful mood toward her meeting with her two friends. She wondered first what and how much she should tell Cassie and Beth; and, second, found herself hoping that this Corlath would stay at least long enough for her to see him. Would a witch-king look any different than any other man? The sun was already hot. She pushed her hat back long enough for a cautious squint at the sky. It was more dun-colored than blue, as if it, like everything else near Istan, were faded by the fierceness of its sun. It looked as hard as a curved shell overhead, and brittle, as if a thrown lance might pierce it. The placid pony shuffled along, ears flopping, and she stared out over the sands. The woods to the west of her father's house were old, hundreds of years old, tangled with vine and creeper. Ancient trees had died and, not having room to fall, crumbled where they stood. No landlord had thought the old forest worth clearing and the land put to use; but it had made a wonderful jungle for herself and Dickie as children, to be bandits in, and hunt dragons through. Its twisted shadows had always been welcome to her; when she grew older she liked the feeling of great age that the forest gave her, of age and of a vast complicated life that had nothing to do with her and that she need no t try to decipher. The desert, with the black sharp-edged mountains around it, was as different from what she was accustomed to as any landscape could be; yet she found after only a few weeks in Istan that she was falling by degrees in love with it: with the harsh sand, the hot sun, the merciless gritty winds. And she found that the desert lured her as her own green land never had – but what discovery it lured her toward she could not say. It was an even greater shock to realize that she was no longer homesick. She missed her occupation; and even more she missed her father. She had left so soon after the funeral that it was difficult to believe that he was dead, that he was not still riding around his estate in his shabby coat, waiting for her to return. Then she found that she remembered her parents together again; as if her mother had died recently, or her father five years ago – or as if the difference, which had been so important, no longer mattered. She didn't dream of honeysuckle and lilac. She remembered them with affection, but she looked across the swirled sand and small obstinate clumps of brush and was content with where she was. A small voice whispered to her that she didn't even want to go Home again. She wanted to cross the desert and climb into the mountains in the east, the mountains no Homelander had ever climbed. She often speculated about how other people saw the land here. Her brother never mentioned it one way or another. She was accustomed to hearing the other young people refer to â€Å"that hateful desert† and â€Å"the dreadful sun.† Beth and Cassie didn't; they had lived in one part or another of Daria for most of their lives – â€Å"except the three years our mother took us Home, to acquire polish, she said† – and to both of them, Darian sun and Darian weather, whether it be on the fertile red earth of the south, with the eternal fight against the jungle to keep the fields clear, or the cool humid plateaus of the orange plantations, or the hot sand of the northeast Border, were simply things that were there, were part of their home, to be accepted and adjusted to. Harry had asked them how they liked the Homeland, and they had had to pause and think about it. â€Å"It was very different,† Cassie said at last, and Beth nodded. Cassie started to say something else, stopped, and shrugged. â€Å"Very different,† she repeated. â€Å"Did you like it?† pursued Harry. â€Å"Of course,† said Cassie, surprised. â€Å"We've liked all the places we've lived,† said Beth, â€Å"once we made some friends.† â€Å"I liked the snow in the north,† offered Cassie, â€Å"and the fur cloaks we had to wear there in the winter.† Harry gave it up. The older people at the station seemed to put up with the land around them as they would put up with any other disadvantage of their chosen occupation. Darian service, civilian and military, bred stoicism in all those who didn't give up and go Home after the first few years. The Greenoughs' making-the-best-of-it attitude was almost as tangible as mosquito netting. Harry had once won an admission from Mr. Peterson, Cassie and Beth's father. There were several people to dinner at the Residency that evening, among them the Petersons. Mr. Peterson had been seated across from her at dinner, and had not appeared to pay any attention to the conversation on the other side of the table. But later in the evening he appeared at her side. She was surprised; he spoke rarely enough at social gatherings, and was notorious around the station for avoiding young unattached ladies, including his daughters' friends. They sat in silence at first; Harry wondered if she should say anything, and if so, what. She was still wondering when he said: â€Å"I couldn't help hearing some of what that young chap next to you was saying at dinner.† He stopped again, but this time she waited patiently for him to continue and did not try to prompt him. â€Å"I wouldn't pay too much attention, if I were you.† The young chap in question had been telling her about the hateful desert and the dreadful sun. He was a subaltern at the fort, had been there for two years and was looking forward to his escape in two more. The subaltern had continued: â€Å"But I wouldn't want you to think we have no change of seasons here. We do: we have winter. It rains steadily for three months, and everything gets moldy, including you.† Mr. Peterson said: â€Å"I rather like it here. There are those of us who do.† He then stood up and wandered away. She had not spoken a word to him. But she remembered what he said later as she realized that she too was becoming one of those who liked it here. She pondered who else might belong to their select club. It was a game, and she amused herself with it when she ran out of polite conversation. She took mental note of all those who did not complain of the heat, the wind, the unequal rainfall; and then tried to separate those like herself who actually enjoyed being scratchy with blown sand and headachy from glare, from those like Cassie and Beth who were merely cheerfully adaptable. Harry at last settled on Colonel Dedham as the most likely member of her club, and began to consider if there was any way to broach the subject with him. She thought that perhaps there was a club rule that read, Thou shalt not speak. But her chance came at last, less than a fortnight before Corlath's messenger arrived at the Residency at four a.m. It was at another small dinner party at the Greenoughs'. When the gentlemen brought themselves and an appalling reek of Sir Charles' finest cigars into the drawing-room to join the ladies, Colonel Dedham came across the room and tossed himself down on the window-seat beside Harry. She had been looking out at the mysterious white pools the moon poured across the desert. â€Å"Open the window a bit,† he said, â€Å"and let some of this smoke out. I can see poor Amelia being brave.† â€Å"Cigars should be like onions,† she said, unfastening the catch and pushing back the pane. â€Å"Either the whole company does, or the whole company does not.† Dedham laughed. â€Å"Poor Melly! She would spoil many a party, I fear. Have you ever smoked a cigar?† She smiled, with a glint in her pale eyes, and he reflected that some of the young men had labeled her cold and humorless. â€Å"Yes, I have: that is how I know. My father was used to giving dinners for his hunting friends, and I would be the only woman there. I was not going to eat in my room, like a punished child, and I liked to stay and listen to the stories they told. They permitted themselves to become accustomed to my presence, because I could ride and shoot respectably. But the smoke, after a few hours, would become unbearable.† â€Å"So your father – ?† prompted Dedham. â€Å"No, not my father; he taught me to shoot, against his better judgment, but he drew the line at teaching me to smoke. It was one of his friends – Richard's godfather, in fact. He gave me a handful of cigars at the end of one of these very thick evenings and told me to smoke them, slowly and carefully, somewhere that I could be sick in private. And the next time the cigars went around the table, I was to take one for myself – and he'd help me stand up to my father. It was the only way to survive. He was right.† â€Å"I shall have to tell Charles,† said Dedham, grinning. â€Å"He is always delighted to find another cigar-lover.† Her gaze had wandered again to the moonlight, but now she turned back. â€Å"No, thank you, Colonel. I am not that. It was the stories that made it worth it. I only appreciate smoke when I'm seeing things in it.† â€Å"I know what you mean, but you must promise not to tell Charles that,† he replied. â€Å"And for heaven's sake call me Jack. Three months is quite long enough to be called Colonel more often than business demands.† â€Å"Mmm,† she said. â€Å"Cassie and Beth do it very nicely. Say ‘Jack.' â€Å" â€Å"Jack,† she said. â€Å"There, you see? And for your next lesson I will walk across the room and ask you to say it again, and you will see how quickly I turn around and say ‘Yes?' â€Å" She laughed. It was hard to remember that Dedham was a few years older than Sir Charles; the latter was portly and dignified and white-haired. Dedham was lean and brown, and what hair he had left was iron grey. Sir Charles was polite and kind; Dedham talked to one like a friend. â€Å"I see you staring out of the windows often, at our Darian wilds. Do you see yew hedges and ivy-grown oak and, um, cattle and sheep in green pastures?† She looked down at her lap, a little uneasily, because she had not thought she was noticed; but here was her chance. She looked up. â€Å"No. I see our Darian wilds.† He smiled a little at the â€Å"our.† â€Å"You're settling in, then? Resigned to too much sun all of the time – except for when there is too much rain? But you haven't seen our winter yet.† â€Å"No – no, I haven't. But I'm not resigned.† She paused, surprised at how hard it was to say aloud, and her club's first law floated across her mind. â€Å"I like it. I'm not sure why, but I like it here.† The smile disappeared and he looked at her thoughtfully. â€Å"Do you?† He turned and looked out of the window himself. â€Å"There aren't many of us who do. I'm one – you must have guessed that I love the desert. This desert. Even in winter, and the three weeks of jungle after the rain stops and before the sun gets a good hold again. Quite a lot of my griping about being the oldest colonel still active is noise only; I know that if they promoted me they'd almost certainly promote me away from here – to one of the more civilized parts of this uncivilized land. Most of Daria is not like this, you know.† He paused. â€Å"I don't suppose that means very much to you.† â€Å"But it does.† He frowned a little, studying her face. â€Å"I don't know whether to say you're very fortunate or very unfortunate. We're strangers here, you know – even I, who've been here forty years. This desert is a little piece of the old Damar. It's not even really under our jurisdiction.† He smiled wryly. â€Å"Not only can we not understand it, we are not able to administer it.† He nodded toward the window. â€Å"And the mountains beyond. They stand there, looking at you, and you know you'll never climb them. No Homelander ever has – at least to return to tell the tale.† She nodded. â€Å"It is not a comfortable passion.† He chuckled. â€Å"No; not a comfortable passion.† â€Å"Is that why no one ever mentions it? One hears enough for the other side.† â€Å"God! Don't I know it. ‘Only four hundred and ninety-six days till I get out of this sand pit.' Yes, I suppose so. It's a strange country, especially this corner of it, and if it gets too much in your blood it makes you strange too. And you don't really want to call attention to it.† She recalled that conversation as she rode; and now she saw Cassie and Beth jogging toward her. She was thinking again of Corlath, and trying to recall what little she knew of the Free Hillfolk. Jack had been reluctant to talk about them, and his evasiveness led her to believe that he knew quite a lot about them, because he was always open about saying he didn't know something. He was trying to spare her, perhaps, from her uncomfortable passion. Oh, glory, she thought, and with a quick leap her curiosity transformed itself into excitement: I do hope he's there when we get back. The question of what to tell her friends died painlessly. As soon as their ponies came abreast Beth said: â€Å"Is he here yet?† Harry was expecting a good-morning-and-how-are-you and for a moment didn't know who was meant. â€Å"Corlath,† said Cassie. â€Å"Jack came to our house to see Daddy before breakfast, told him to go up to the Residency, that they would need him there.† Mr. Peterson and Jack Dedham were the only people in the station who knew Hill-speech even passably fluently. Most Darians who had much contact with Homelanders learned Homelander. Harry had picked up a few Darian words, but only a few; no Homelander had thought to write a Darian grammar for general use, and when she inquired further was told that there was no need for her to learn it. The only person who encouraged her, and who had taught her the words she did know, was Jack Dedham, and he had not the time to spare for more. Sir Charles was reasonably articulate in Darian speech, but uncomfortable about it. He felt a responsible commissioner should know the language of those he oversees, but it made him no happier to fulfill his own expectations. He kept an interpreter near at hand. â€Å"Corlath,† breathed Beth, as if the name were a charm. â€Å"Daddy says that the Hillfolk have never liked us much – â€Å" â€Å"We've always known that,† put in Cassie. † – so he'll probably slip in and out again and we'll never even see him.† â€Å"I've permission to invite you to lunch,† said Harry. â€Å"If he's there at all, we'll see him.† â€Å"Oh, how wonderful!† said Beth. â€Å"Surely even he won't have finished his business before lunch. Let's not ride far; we should see something when he comes, and then we'll know when to ride back. It's very tiresome to have a real king come to visit and not even have an excuse to meet him.† â€Å"Do you know anything of the Free Hillfolk?† said Harry. They rode at an angle away from the Residency, where they could keep an eye on it over their shoulders. â€Å"I don't. No one will tell me anything.† They both laughed. â€Å"The Hillfolk are the best-kept secret in Daria,† said Cassie. â€Å"I mean, we know they exist. Some of them come here – to the station, I mean – for the spring Fair.† Harry looked at her. â€Å"Oh, surely Lady Amelia has told you about our pair,† Cassie said. â€Å"After three months of the rains we come out of hiding and work off our foul temper by holding a Fair – â€Å" † – where we sell to each other all the ridiculous little bags and bonnets and dolls and footstools that we've made during the rains to keep from going mad because we couldn't go out,† Beth continued. â€Å"Yes, most of it is nonsense. But everyone is very gay for the first two or three weeks after the rain stops. The weather is cool enough – the only time all year you can go out even at midday; and there're green things growing up from the ground, and everything you own is spread on the roofs and hanging from the windowsills, and they're green too,† Cassie added with a grimace. â€Å"We decorate the streets and the square with paper flowers and real flowers, and banners and ribbons, and the whole town looks like it's on holiday, with the dresses and blankets hanging out everywhere. We do have real flowers here – besides the eternal pimchie – although nothing like what you're used to at Home, I daresay. Everything grows tremendously for two weeks, so for the third week, Fair week, everything is green and blossoming – even the desert, if you can believe it.† â€Å"Then of course the sun kills everything again. That's the fourth week. And you know what it's like here the rest of the time.† â€Å"Yes, but the Fair – everyone comes to the Fair. The Hillfolk too, a few of them, although never anyone very special. Certainly never the king. And it's not all the bead purses that our sort has been making in despair. There are always some really lovely things, mostly that the Darians themselves have made. Even the servants aren't expected to do as much, you know, during the rains. After the first few weeks you're far too cross yourself to give many orders to anyone else.† â€Å"But mostly the best things come up from the south. It's only Way up here that the weather's so ridiculous, but the south knows about our Fair, and the merchants know that when we break out of winter prison we're so mad with our freedom that we're fit to buy anything, so they come up in force.† â€Å"There are Fairs, or celebrations of spring of one kind or another, all around here, but ours is the biggest.† â€Å"Well,† said Beth, â€Å"we've the biggest in things to buy and so forth; and we're the only Homelander station up here. But there're quite a number of Darian villages around here, and they take spring very seriously. Lots of singing and dancing, and that kind of thing. And they tell the most beautiful stories, if you can find someone to translate into Homelander. Which isn't often.† â€Å"We have singing and dancing too,† said Cassie. â€Å"Yes, I know,† said Beth slowly; â€Å"but it's not the same. Our dancing is just working it off, after being inside for so long. Theirs means something.† Harry looked at her curiously. â€Å"You mean asking the gods for a good year – that kind of thing?† â€Å"I suppose so,† said Beth. â€Å"I'm not quite sure.† â€Å"No one will talk about anything really Darian to Homelanders,† said Cassie. â€Å"You must have noticed it.† â€Å"Yes – but I'm new here.† â€Å"You're always new here if you're a Homelander,† said Cassie. â€Å"It's different in the south. But we're on the Border here, and everyone is very aware that Freemen live in those Hills you see out your windows every day. The Darians that do work for you, or with you, are very anxious to prove how Homelander they really are, and loyal to all things Homelander, so they won't talk; and the others won't for the opposite reasons.† â€Å"You're beginning to sound like Daddy,† said Beth. â€Å"We've heard him say it all often enough,† Cassie responded. â€Å"But the Hillfolk,† said Harry. â€Å"Yes. The one thing I suppose we all have in common is a joy in those three short weeks of spring. So a few Hillfolk come to our Fair.† â€Å"They don't act very happy, though,† said Beth. â€Å"They come in those long robes they always wear – over their faces too, so you can't see if they're smiling or frowning; and some of them with those funny patched sashes around their waists. But they do come, and they stay several days – they have the grandest horses you've ever seen. They pitch camp outside the station, and they always set guards, quite openly, as if we weren't to be trusted – â€Å" â€Å"Maybe we aren't,† murmured Cassie. † – but they never sell their horses. They bring the most gorgeous tapestries, though, and embroidered sashes – much nicer than the cut-up ones they wear themselves. These they sell. They stalk around the edge of the big central square, the old marketplace, carrying all this vivid stuff, while the rest of us are laughing and talking and running around. It's a bit eerie.† â€Å"No it's not,† said Cassie. â€Å"You listen to the stories too much.† Beth blushed. After a pause she said, â€Å"Do you see anything at the Residency?† â€Å"No,† said Harry. â€Å"What stories?† There was another pause while Cassie looked at Beth and Beth looked at her pony's mane. â€Å"My fault,† said Cassie presently. â€Å"We're not supposed to talk about them. Daddy gets really annoyed if he catches us. The stories are mostly about magic. Corlath and his people are supposed to be rotten with it, even in this day and age, and Corlath himself is supposed to be more than a little mad.† â€Å"Magic?† said Harry, remembering what Dedham had said earlier. â€Å"Mad?† He hadn't said anything about madness. â€Å"How?† They both shrugged. â€Å"We've never managed to find out,† said Cassie. â€Å"And we can usually wring what we want to know out of Daddy eventually,† said Beth, â€Å"so it must be something pretty dreadful.† Cassie laughed. â€Å"You read too many novels, Beth. It's just as likely that Daddy won't talk about it because he refuses to admit it might be real – the magic, I mean. Jack Dedham believes it – he and Daddy argue about it sometimes, when they don't think anyone else is around. The madness, if that's what it is, is tied up somehow in the king's strength – in return for having power beyond mortal men or some such, he has to pay a price of some kind of mad fits.† â€Å"Who reads too many novels?† said Beth, and Cassie grinned. â€Å"It does rather catch the imagination,† she said, and Beth nodded. â€Å"No wonder you're so eager to set eyes on him,† said Harry. â€Å"Yes. I know it's silly of me, but I feel maybe it'll show somehow. He'll be eight feet tall and have a third eye in the middle of his forehead,† said Beth. â€Å"Heavens,† said Harry. â€Å"I hope not,† said Cassie. â€Å"Well, you know how the legends go,† said Beth. â€Å"No, not really,† said her sister repressively. â€Å"Even when Daddy is willing to translate some, you can tell by the pauses that he's leaving a lot out.† â€Å"Yes, but even so,† persisted Beth. â€Å"The old kings and queens were supposed to be taller than mortal – â€Å" â€Å"The Darians are mostly shorter than we are, at least the ones we see,† interrupted Cassie. â€Å"A king could look quite ordinary to us and be very tall for them.† † – and you can tell the royal blood by something about the eyes.† There was another pause. Harry said, â€Å"Something?† Again they both shrugged. â€Å"Something,† said Beth. â€Å"That's one of the things Daddy always leaves out. Like the madness.† â€Å"You're hoping he'll froth at the mouth,† said Cassie. Beth threw a peevish look at her sister. â€Å"No. I'll settle for the third eye.† This conversation had taken them well away from the outlying houses of the station, and the dust kicked up by their ponies' feet was giving up even the pretense of being anything other than desert sand. A silence fell; Cassie suggested a canter, which was duly accomplished. The sun was hot enough that when they pulled up again, after only a few minutes, the ponies' shoulders were dark with sweat. Harry sent another of her long looks across the desert, and had to squint against the shivering light. â€Å"Do you think we might turn back now?† Beth asked wistfully, shading her eyes with an elegantly white-gloved hand. Harry grinned. â€Å"We can spend the rest of the morning in my sitting-room, if you like. It overlooks the front door, you know.† Beth gave her a grateful look, Cassie chuckled; but they all three turned their ponies' heads with dispatch and sent them jogging homeward as quickly as the heat would allow. By the time they reached the suggestion of shade offered by the thin determined trees marking the outskirts of the station proper, Harry was hot and slightly headachy, and cross with herself for rushing back for no reason. Nothing could have escaped their notice; the Residency stood a little apart from the rest of the station, in its own grounds, and the road that ended at its front door had been under their eyes for the entire ride. They had been gone only a little over an hour. Harry considered suggesting that they meet again after another hour, time enough to change and have a bath; in her present condition she didn't feel like meeting any kings, mad or otherwise. But she stole a glance at Beth and saw how anxious she was not to miss anything; and she thought, Oh well, I can wash my face at least, and we can all have some cold lemonade, and watch the front door in comfort. The horses walked slowly up the street to the Residency. Cassie pulled off her hat and fanned herself with it. Harry shut her eyes for a moment. An execrable habit, she told the insides of her eyelids. What if this fat sleepy fourposter with ears and a tail should bolt, or shy suddenly? What if the sky should fall? responded the insides of her eyelids. The fourposter stopped dead in the road and raised its head a few inches just as Beth said in a strangled whisper: â€Å"Look.† Harry and Cassie looked. They had come nearly to the end of the road; what was left was the broad circle in front of the Residency, suitable for turning carriages in, or forming up half a regiment. Off to one side, where the tall house cast a little shade, seven horses and one man stood. The horses stood in a little semicircle around the man, who sat cross-legged near the wall of the house. They stood quietly, stamping a foot now and then, and occasionally one would put out its nose to touch the man; and he would stroke its cheek a moment, and it would raise its head again. The first thing Harry noticed was the beauty of these animals; not a one was less than sixteen hands high, with long clean legs and tails that nearly touched the ground. Three were chestnuts, their coats shining even in the dusty shadow; one grey, one dark bay, one golden dun; but the finest horse stood farthest from three fat ponies standing foolishly in the carriage drive. He was a blood bay, red as fire, with b lack legs and tail; he stood aloof from the other horses and ignored the man at his feet. He stared back at the newcomers as if it were his land he stood on, and they intruders. As the other horses slowly swung their heads around to see what their leader was looking at, Harry noticed something else: they wore no bridles. â€Å"He's here,† said Cassie flatly. Beth drew a deep breath. â€Å"How?† she said. â€Å"Look at those horses,† said Harry, and the longing in her voice was so clear that even she heard it. Cassie looked away from the impossible sight of seven horses that had made their way invisibly across a bleak desert right in front of three people who were looking for them, and smiled with sympathy at her friend. â€Å"Haven't you ever seen a Hill horse before? They're supposed to be the finest in Daria.† â€Å"And they never sell them,† said Harry, remembering. Cassie nodded, although Harry's eyes never left the horses. â€Å"Jack Dedham would give an arm even to ride one once.† â€Å"No bridles,† said Harry. â€Å"No stirrups, either,† said Cassie, and Harry saw that this was true. They wore saddles that were little more than padded skins, cut and elegantly rolled; and she could see the gleam of embroidery on girths and pommels. Not a horse moved from its place in the semicircle, although all now, with the man, watched the three ponies and their riders. â€Å"Horses,† said Beth disgustedly. â€Å"Don't you understand what they mean? They mean that he's here already, and we never noticed a thing. If that's not magic, what is?† She prodded her pony forward again. Cassie and Harry followed slowly and stopped before the steps. Three stable boys appeared, ready to take the ponies back to the stable behind the house. Harry's feet had only just touched the ground – the boy hovering anxiously to one side, since he had learned through bitter experience that this Homelander did not wish to be assisted while dismounting – when there was a commotion at the entrance to the house. Harry turned around in time to see the heavy door thrown violently open, so that its hinges protested; and out strode a man dressed in loose white robes, with a scarlet sash around his waist. Several more figures darted out in his wake, and collected around him where he paused on the verandah. He was the axis of a nervous wheel, moving his head slowly to examine the lesser people who turned around him and squeaked at him without daring to come too near. With a shock Harry recognized four of these small mortals: Sir Charles and Mr. Peterson, Jack Dedham and her own brother, Richard. The man in white was tall, though no taller than Richard or Sir Charles. But there was a quivering in the air around him, like the hea t haze over the desert, shed from his white sleeves, cast off by the shadows of his scarlet sash. These who stood near him looked small and pale and vague, while this man was so bright he hurt the eyes. More men came quietly out behind the Homelanders and stood a little to one side, but they kept their eyes on their king. He could be no one else. This must be Corlath. Harry took a deep breath. He didn't look insane or inhuman. He did look uncooperative. He shook his head and frowned at something someone said, and Sir Charles looked very unhappy. Corlath shrugged, and made a sweeping movement with his arms, like a man coming out of a forest gratefully into the sunlight. He took a long step forward to the edge of the verandah. Then Dedham took two quick steps toward him and spoke to him, a few words only, urgently; and Corlath turned again, as it seemed unwillingly, and looked back. Dedham held out his hand, palm down and fingers spread; and so they stood for a long minute. Corlath dropped his eyes to the hand stretched toward him, then looked into the face of its owner. Harry, watching, held her breath without knowing why. With a nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach she saw a look of terrible strain cross Dedham's face as the Hill-king held his gaze; and the outstretched hand trembled very slightly. Corlath slowly reached out his own hand and touched the back of Dedham's wrist with two fingers; the hand dropped to Dedham's side once more, but as if it were heavy as stone, and the man slumped in relief like a murderer reprieved at the scaffold. The look of strain slid off his face to be replaced by one of great weariness. Corlath swung around again, and set his foot on the top stair, and no one moved to stop him. Five men in the loose robes of the Hillfolk separated themselves from the verandah shadows and made to follow. Harry found she could not take her eyes off the king, but from the corners of her eyes she noticed that the other men too wore vivid sashes: gold and orange and green and blue and purple. There was nothing to indicate the king but the glitter of his presence. Harry stood only a few feet from the bottom step, holding her pony's bridle. Cassie and Beth were somewhere behind her, and the stable boy stood frozen a few steps from her elbow. Corlath still had not noticed them, and Harry stared, fascinated, as he came nearer. There seemed a roaring in the air that beat on her eardrums and pressed against her eyeballs till she blinked. Then he looked up abruptly, as if from some unfathomable depth of thought, and saw her: their eyes met. The man's eyes were yellow as gold, the hot liquid gold in a smelter's furnace. Harry found it suddenly difficult to breathe, and understood the expression on Dedham's face; she almost staggered. Her hand tightened on the bridle, and the pony dropped its head and mouthed the bit uncomfortably. The heat was incredible. It was as though a thousand desert suns beat down on her. Magic? she thought from inside the thunder. Is this what magic is? I come from a cold country, where the witches live in cool green forests. What am I doing here? She saw the anger the man was holding in check; the anger stared at her through the yellow eyes, and swept through the glistening white robes. Then it was over. He looked away; he came down the last steps and past her as if she did not exist; and she cowered out of his way so that no corner of his white sleeve should touch her. The man with the horses emerged from the shade, riding one of the chestnuts; and the six others went up to their riders and nuz zled them. The blood bay reached the king first, and greeted him with a low whinny. Corlath mounted with an easy leap Harry could not even follow with her eyes, although she could see anger informing the set of his legs against the great stallion's sides. The horse felt it too; without moving, all its muscles were suddenly taut, and its stillness was the quiet before battle. The other men mounted. Corlath never looked at them, but the red stallion plunged forward at a gallop, and the other men followed; and the sound the horses' hooves made on the hard earth suddenly reminded Harry how unnaturally silent everyone had been since Dedham's last words. The inaudible thunder faded with the sight of the colored sashes and the bright flanks of the Hill horses. Harry woke up to who she was, and where; Sir Charles and Jack and Mr. Peterson looked their normal size again, and she had a raging headache.

Afterthoughts on Material Civilization and Capitalism

Frenand Braudel’s â€Å"Afterthoughts on Material Civilization and Capitalism† offers very sharp insight on the birth and the growth of capitalism in the history of material civilization. His theory has been used as a theoretical tool explaining the globalization of modern capitalism. Yet, the value of his book is more than its utility in globalization studies. In this book, he criticizes the European point of view on the history of material civilization and extends his scope to non-European economy.Especially, he portrays economic history as a spontaneous, slowing evolution with long term equilibriums and disequilibriums, ignoring the history of economics as the successive transitions of big events such as the stages of slavery, feudalism, and capitalism. He thinks that the preindustrial economy is also characterized by the coexistence of inflexibility, inertia and slow motion. www. rpi. edu/~kime2/ehtm/myissues/braudel. htm Braudel notes that the exchanges from Europe across Siberia to China â€Å"formed a system of interdependence.† Moreover, â€Å"at the beginning of the sixteenth century, Russia's principal foreign market was Turkey† which Braudel also classifies as a separate â€Å"world-economy† â€Å"reminiscent of Russia. † Braudel terms the Turkish economy â€Å"a fortress,† but also a â€Å"source of wealth† and a â€Å"crossroads of trade, providing the Turkish Empire with the lifeblood that made it mighty. † The Turkish economy was not any more isolated from the rest of the world than the Russian economy: A long French report on the Levant trade confirms this impression: â€Å"[French] ships carry more goods to Constantinople than to all other ports in the Levant.The surplus funds are transferred to other ports by means of bills of exchange which the French merchants of Smyrna, Aleppo and [Port] Said provide for the Pashas. † Braudel then asserts that European trade in the Turkis h empire was minimal and â€Å"merely passed quickly through [because] money, the sinews of western trade, usually only made fleeting appearances in the Turkish Empire†: as part went to the sultan's treasury, part oiled the wheels of top-level trade, and â€Å"the rest drained away in massive quantities to the Indian Ocean.† In that case, Braudel should have asked what intermediary role the Turkish economy played between Europe and India. Then too, Braudel notes that caravan routes ran from Gibraltar to India and China â€Å"the whole movement-in-space which made up the Ottoman economy,† which â€Å"owed its suppleness and vigour to the tireless convoys which converged from every direction. † Far from having a self-contained â€Å"fortress† economy, then, the Ottoman empire drew its lifeblood from being a crossroads between other economies, none of which were independent of each other.Of course, the Turks tried to maintain their power, derive maxim um benefits from their intermediary position, and bar others from sharing in it as best they could. Turkish merchants, not content with their intermediary role at home, also â€Å"invaded Venice, Ferrara, Ancona, even Pesaro, Naples and the fairs of the Mezzogiorno† in Italy and â€Å"were soon found all over Europe, in Leipzig fairs, using the credit facilities provided by Amsterdam, and even in Russia or indeed Siberia as we have already seen. † The Turkish empire hardly sounds like a dosed economyBraudel calls Asia the â€Å"greatest of all world-economies,† which â€Å"taken as a whole, consisted of three gigantic world-economies,† Islam, India, and China. He even allows that â€Å"between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, it is perhaps permissible to talk of a single world-economy embracing all three. † Toward the end of this period he observes that the center of this single economy became stabilized in the East Indies (beyond the bounda ries of these three economies) in a network of maritime traffic comparable to that of the Mediterranean or the Atlantic coasts of Europe.Of India he writes that for centuries it had been â€Å"subject to a money economy, partly through her links with the Mediterranean world. † Gold and silver were â€Å"the indispensable mechanisms which made the whole great machine function, from its peasant base to the summit of society and the business world. † Braudel suggests that the foundation of Europe's trade with India was the low wages of the â€Å"foreign proletariat† there, which produced the cheap exports exchanged for the inflow of precious metals to India.As â€Å"a historian of the Mediterranean,† Braudel declares himself â€Å"astonished,† to find that Red Sea trade in the late eighteenth century was still the same â€Å"vital channel† in the outflow of Spanish-American silver to India and beyond as in the sixteenth century. He might have n oted how American silver reached this economy not only via the Red Sea and the Levant, but also around the South African cape, and with the Manila galleons. Braudel did observe that the â€Å"influx of precious metal was vital to the movements of the most active sector of the Indian, and no doubt Chinese economy.† According to one historian, the â€Å"series of interconnected regional markets dispersed and overlapping around the globe† were really a â€Å"world market for silver. † Perhaps as much Spanish-American silver crossed the Pacific to Asia, where it competed with Japanese silver, as crossed the Atlantic. Like exchanges elsewhere, trade in the Far East was based on goods, precious metals and credit instruments. European merchants could apply to the moneylenders in Japan or in India . . . and to every local source of precious metals afforded them by the Far East trade.Thus they used Chinese gold . . . silver from Japanese mines . . . Japanese gold coins . . . Japanese copper exports . . . gold produced in Sumatra and Malacca . . . [and] the gold and silver coins which the Levant trade continued to pour into Arabia (especially Mocha), Persia and north-west India. . . . [The Dutch East India Company] even made use of the silver which the Acapulco galleon regularly brought to Manila. (Dennis O. Flynn, 1991). Temporary shortages of silver had an impact on Asia that may have helped bring down China's Ming dynasty.Prior to 1630, the inflow of silver from Spanish America and Japan promoted the monetization of the Chinese economy. The abrupt decline in silver production during the world recession after 1630 caused economic turmoil and bankrupted the Ming government, making it an easier prey to the Manchus in 1644. One scholar argues that it was no coincidence that the British monarchy was overthrown in 1640, and the Turkish government nearly fell at about the same time. (Jack A. Goldstone, 1991) Moreover, Braudel also finds a de facto globa l if not a world economy beyond the monetary sphere.â€Å"Long-term control of the European world-economy evidently called for the capture of its long-distance trade, and therefore of American and Asian products. † Braudel wrote: Who could fail to be surprised that wheat grown at the Cape, in South Africa, was shipped to Amsterdam? . . . Or that sugar from China, Bengal, sometimes Siam, and, after 1637, Java, was alternately in demand or out of it in Amsterdam, depending on whether the price could compete in Europe with that of sugar from Brazil or the West Indies? When the market in the mother country was closed, sugar from the warehouses in Batavia was offered for sale in Persia, Surat, or Japan.Nothing better demonstrates how Holland in the Golden Age was already living on a world scale, engaged in a process of constant partition and exploitation of the globe. . . . One world-economy (Asia) . . . [and] another (Europe) . . . were constantly acting on one another, like two unequally laden trays on a scale: it only took an extra weight on one side to throw the whole construction out of balance. Few historians have tried to determine whether and how cycles coincided across the supposed boundaries of these economies, yet such evidence could reveal much about whether they formed a single world economy.Braudel himself offers only a few indications of simultaneity across the boundaries of his world-economies. He devotes a special section to conjunctures, considers fifty-year cycles, as well as others that are twice as long and more; of these he writes â€Å"four successive secular cycles can be identified, as far as Europe is concerned. † On the one hand Braudel claims that â€Å"the world-economy is the greatest possible vibrating surface. . . . It is the world-economy at all events which creates the uniformity of prices over a huge area, as an arterial system distributes blood throughout a living organism.† Yet, on the other hand, Braudel ob serves that â€Å"the influence of the world-economy centered in Europe must very soon have exceeded even the most ambitious frontiers ever attributed to it. . . . The really curious thing is that the rhythms of the European conjuncture transcend the strict boundaries of their own world-economy. † Furthermore, â€Å"Prices in Muscovy, in so far as they are known, lined up with those of the West in the sixteenth century, probably by the intermediary of American bullion, which here as elsewhere acted as a ‘transmission belt'.† Similarly, Ottoman prices followed the European pattern for the same reasons. Braudel then demonstrated how such exchange transcended the economic boundaries he describes since the system extends throughout the global economy. Indeed, he observes â€Å"knock-on effects† as far away as Macao, even beyond the Manila galleon route. He also remarks that â€Å"historians (Wallerstein included) have tended to underestimate this type of exch ange. † Yet, Braudel underestimates this exchange as well.After reproducing a graph of the yearly fluctuations of Russia's exports and its wade balance between 1742 and 1785, he only observes â€Å"two short lived drops in the [trade balance] surplus, in 1772 and 1782, probably as a result of arms purchases. † The graph also shows a third big drop in 1762-63. All three coincide with a sharp drop on the graph of Russian exports, whatever may have happened to imports of arms or anything else. These three short periods occurred in Russia in the same years as three world economic recessions, which Braudel discusses at some length in another chapter without making the connection.In still another chapter, Braudel reproduces a graph of Britain's trade balance with its North American colonies between 1745 and 1776 that shows sharp declines in British imports, and lesser declines of exports in the same years, 1761-63 and 1772-73. But again Braudel does not look for connections b etween these recessions. This omission is curious since about the first of these recessions he writes that â€Å"with the currency shortage, the crisis spread, leaving a trail of bankruptcies; it reached not only Amsterdam but Berlin, Hamburg, Altona, Bremen, Leipzig, Stockholm and hit hard in London.† Regarding the next recession Braudel observes catastrophic harvests in all of Europe in 1771-72 and famine conditions in Norway and Germany. According to Braudel â€Å"capitalism did not wait for the sixteenth century to make its appearance. We may therefore agree with Marx, who wrote (though he later went back on this) that European capitalism – indeed he even says capitalist production – began in thirteenth-century Italy. . . . I do not share Immanuel Wallerstein's fascination with the sixteenth century† as the time the world capitalist system emerged in Europe.Braudel is â€Å"inclined to see the European world-economy as having taken shape very early o n. † Indeed he observes â€Å"European expansion from the eleventh century† when it was â€Å"suddenly covered with towns – more than 3,000 in Germany alone. † â€Å"This age marked Europe's true Renaissance. † Furthermore, â€Å"the merchant cities of the Middle Ages all strained to make profits and were shaped by the strain. † Braudel concludes that â€Å"contemporary capitalism has invented nothing. . . . By at least the twelfth century . . . everything seems to have been there in embryo . . .bills of exchange, credit, minted coins, banks, forward selling, public finance, loans, capitalism, colonialism – as well as social disturbances, a sophisticated labour force, class struggles, social oppression, political atrocities. † Braudel also doubts that capitalism was invented in twelfth- or thirteenth-century Venice. â€Å"Genoa seems always to have been, in every age, the capitalist dry par excellence. † Several other Ita lian cities also had capitalist activities earlier than Venice. In all of them, â€Å"money was constantly being invested and reinvested,† and â€Å"ships were capitalist enterprises virtually from the start.† He further notes that â€Å"It is tempting too to give Antwerp the credit for the first steps in industrial capitalism, which was dearly developing here and in other thriving towns of the Low Countries† in the sixteenth century. Moreover, the term â€Å"capitalism† also seems to apply at the most macro-economic level, for â€Å"if today's cycles do in fact have some resemblance to those of the past . . . there is certain continuity between ancient regime and modern economies: rules similar to those governing our present experience may have operated in the past. â€Å"Braudel, however, also cast doubt on the idea that capitalism was invented in Western Europe and then exported to Asia: Everywhere from Egypt to Japan, we shall find genuine capitalis ts, wholesalers, rentiers of trade, and their thousands of auxiliaries, commission agents, brokers, money-changers, and bankers. As for the techniques, possibilities or guarantees of exchange, any of these groups of merchants would stand comparisons with its western equivalents. Braudel avers that â€Å"the rest of the world . . . went through economic experiences resembling those of Europe.† On the other hand, referring to North and West Africa before the Europeans arrived, he writes that â€Å"once more we can observe the profound identity of action between Islam's imperialism and that of the West. † Braudel wants to â€Å"challenge the traditional image† that describes Asiatic traders as â€Å"high-class peddlars. † Moreover, after Braudel writes of Asians taking turns in a monotonous repetition for a thousand years of shifts in economic dominance, he concludes that: â€Å"For all the changes, however, history followed essentially the same course. â⠂¬  If we asked what changes in or after 1500 as per Wallerstein, the answer would be not much.Braudel quotes a contemporary French sea captain writing from the Ganges River in India: â€Å"The high quality of merchandise made here . . . attracts and always will attract a great number of traders who send vessels to every part of the Indies from the Red Sea to China. Here one can see the assembly of nations of Europe and Asia . . . reach perfect agreement or perfect disunity, depending on the self-interest which alone is their guide. † No Europeans, including their Portuguese vanguard, added anything of their own, only the money they derived from the conquest of America.A standard work on Asian trade notes that â€Å"the Portuguese colonial regime, then, did not introduce a single new element into the commerce of southern Asia. . . . The Portuguese colonial regime, built upon war, coercion, and violence, did not at any point signify a stage of ‘higher development' econ omically for Asian trade. The traditional commercial structure continued to exist. † Even Wallerstein recognizes â€Å"an uncomfortable blurring of the distinctiveness of the patterns of the European medieval and modern world†: Many of these [previous] historical systems had what we might call proto-capitalist elements.That is, there often was extensive commodity production. There existed producers and traders who sought profit. There was investment of capital. There was wage-labor. There was Weltanschauungen consonant with capitalism. . . . â€Å"Proto-capitalism† was so widespread one might consider it to be a constitutive element of all the redistributive/tributary world-empires the world has known. . . . For they did have the money and energy at their disposition, and we have seen in the modern world how powerful these weapons can be.Wallerstein's proto-capitalism also negates the uniqueness of his â€Å"modern-world-capitalist-system. † He even acknow ledges â€Å"All the empirical work of the past 50 years on these other systems has tended to reveal that they had much more extensive commodification than previously suspected. † (Wallerstein, 586-87, 613, 575) Thus, Europe's incursion into Asia after 1500 succeeded only after about three centuries, when Ottoman, Moghul, and Qing rule was weakened for other reasons. In the global economy, these and other economies competed with each other until Europe won.Historians should concede that there was no dramatic, or even gradual, change to a capitalist economy, and certainly none beginning in Europe in the sixteenth century. In conclusion it is useful to cite an Indian historian who writes that â€Å"the ceaseless quest of modern historians looking for the ‘origins' and roots of capitalism is not much better than the alchemist's search for the philosopher's stone that transforms base metal into gold. † It is better for historians to abandon the chimera of a uniquely capitalist mode of production emerging in western Europe.It is far more accurate and important to recognize that the fall of the East preceded the rise of the West, and even that is only true if we date the rise of the West after 1800. The West and the East were only parts of a single, age-old, world economic system, within which all of these changes took place, then and now. The historian Leopold von Ranke is known for having pleaded for writing history â€Å"as it really was,† but he also wrote that there is no history but world history. (Andre Gunder Frank, 1994) Reference: Gunder Frank, 1994. The World Economic System in Asia before European Hegemony; The Historian, Vol.56 Dennis O. Flynn, 1991. â€Å"Comparing the Tokugawa Shogunate with Hapsburg Spain: Two Silver-based Empires in a Global Setting,† in The Political Economy of Merchant Empires: State Power and World Trade, 1350-1750, ed. James D. Tracy (Cambridge), 332-359. Jack A. Goldstone, 1991. Revolutions and Rebellions in the Early Modern World (Berkeley); William S. Atwell, â€Å"Some Observations on the ‘Seventeenth Century Crisis' in China and Japan,† Journal of Asian Studies 45, no. 2 Wallerstein, â€Å"The West, Capitalism, and the Modern World-System,† 586-87, 613, 575.

Reflaction Paper (Earth Science) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflaction Paper (Earth Science) - Essay Example I found the discussions about the tectonic plates to be fascinating. I especially liked the parts about the shifting of the tectonic plates and the natural disaster results. I would like to know more about these phenomena, and how to avoid the injuries and catastrophic damage that occurs when these shifts happen. How global warming will affect the next generation? With the increasing usage of fossil fuels worldwide, I think the effects of global warming are the most troublesome and threatening to mine and the next generation. Global warming is affecting the temperatures, the biology and botany of the planet, the air quality, the water levels, the plant life and the populations around the world. This increasingly dangerous event is contributing to the widespread emergencies of drought and famine, flooding and polar ice melts. Glaciers are melting every day. The rain forest is decreasing each day. The beaches are eroding. The rains are increasing, with monsoons and hurricanes. The wind currents are producing terrible tornadoes, all because of the global warming effect. ` Most disturbing of all, is the rapidly increasing death toll caused by mosquitoes that breed from the pools of stagnant water. In Africa last year alone, over 1 million people died of dengue fever. It is expected that dengue fever, carried by a mosquito, will be the world’s next endemic.

The Importance and Impact of Training and Development of Employees Assignment - 1

The Importance and Impact of Training and Development of Employees - Assignment Example Training and development do not come cheap, but in a competitive commercial environment, a failure to realize the human potential within an organization can be very costly. Training and development are not only the responsibility of the organization but also of the individual employees. Given that training and development require an investment by both the individual and the organization, an investment that can be measured in both financial and time terms, it is important that both partners receive value for money. It is also important to note that training and development do not occur in an organizational vacuum – they should be linked to the overall goals and strategies of the organization and to the life goals and strategies of the individual. In this paper, I will endeavor to define what organizations, specifically the Human Resource Department, mean by training and development, and how these processes impact the organizations’ performance and success. Towards the end of this research stories of three recognized international companies that have shown success and growth through recognizing the importance of investing in training and development will be discussed. In order to understand how training and development benefit an organization’s performance and success, concepts relating to training and development need to be discussed first. These concepts that will be covered in this section of the paper are learning, training, development, education, coaching and mentoring. Learning is the process by which behavior and attitudes are changed. One of the major debates in child development and education has been on the question of how much behavior is innate and how much is learned – the ‘‘nature or nurture’’ debate.

The Importance of Culture for Managing and Controlling the workforce Literature review

The Importance of Culture for Managing and Controlling the workforce - Literature review Example Undeniable changes are taking place in the workforce mainly due to globalisation and changing composition of national populations of individual countries. National population composition is changing as a result of increased immigration and cumulative effects of high birth rates among minority groups. Apparently, this is reflected in the workforce (Inceoglu, 2002, p. 37). Globalisation has made both small and large companies face competition resulting from overseas companies at home while at the same time confronting the need to be competitive in the foreign markets. In order to prevail from the competition, organisations require adopting new ways of carrying out business, with sensitivity towards the needs of diverse cultural practices. Businesses have to struggle for the best gifts they can find, as well as look for ways to obtain the best from workers they currently have. Most of these employees will be situated at different nations as many firms move to a worldwide way of conducti ng business. As a result, culture becomes important in managing and controlling the workforce. People from different cultures bring forth diversity, which refers to the ways in which people differ, not just the more common aspects like ethnicity and gender (Idea group publishing, 2005, p 580). Literature review Organisations exist on the productivity and output of employee interaction with clients and customers. A company with productive workers is able to offer better customer service that result in more income. Employees’ productivity and customer relations and interactions are influenced by how workers feel about their work. Such emotions are heavily dependent on the culture in the workplace. Sandra Collins (2009, p 30) defines culture as the system of shared values, beliefs, norms, language and social institutions, which steer the daily lives of a group of people. Culture may be collectivist or individualist, reflecting on the extent to which people value their associatio n with the group against their independence as individual. Collectivist cultures value the group above an individual whilst an individualist culture places personal independence above the group. Western Europe, United States and Canada countries have an individualist culture while South American and Asian countries embrace a collectivist culture. Both collectivist and individualist have different approaches towards conflict. Collectivists tend to avoid conflict and prefer harmony, whilst individualists do not enjoy conflict, though they are less likely to stay away from it. Culture builds an atmosphere in which human resources work and establish their value and worth in the company, their opportunities within the organisation as well as their opinion of their management team. The culture could also be measured in terms of conflict resolution policies, language, dress code and industry. Communications also varies with culture, with some opting for direct communication while others em brace indirect style. Cultures that adopt indirect communication usually have relational exchanges before involvement into the business. Such cultures tend to be context-dependent since an immense deal of the message’s meaning lie in the context of the communication. Cultures also differ in terms of time interpretation, with some placing value on multitasking, and others opting for doing one thing at a time. The management is able to build models

Transmission of ebola virus Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Transmission of ebola virus - Research Paper Example The analysis therefore involves looking at the article and analyzing it. The researchers, subjects, methods and the results and conclusion of the research are all discussed in this paper. The study was carried due to the prevalence of the Ebola disease in the countries the West Africa. There was a total of 4507 of confirmed Ebola cases together with 2296 death caused by the virus. These statistics had been reported from five countries including: Nigeria, Senegal, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone (Team, 2014). The recent epidemic however had been reported to be high as compared to the past ones in terms of mortality and morbidity. There had been reports of symptomatic individuals escaping treatment and diagnosis of laboratory diagnosis provided in the national databases. Several persons have been suspected buried from the disease before the diagnosis was carried out. The largest past outbreak was seen in districts of Mbarara, Masindi and Gulu in Uganda. There were about 425 cases over a three month course from October 2000 to January 2001. This outbreak was being controlled through meticulous application of intervention to reduce further transmission. This was deliver ed by way of care system at the local health level with support provided by the international partners (Gire et al. 2014) . The research was carried out by WHO when they were alerted of the high rates of evolving EVD outbreak in the 23rd of March, 2014. The epidemic was pronounced to be an international concern public health emergency. In between September, nine months later after the occurrence of the first phase, there were still high growths of the numbers of deaths and cases resulting from the disease on weekly basis in spite of efforts of multisectoral and multinational to bring the disease spread under control. The epidemic has grown to the extent of causing huge challenges in control measures implementation to the level expected to prevent transmission and give clinical

Dyslexia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Dyslexia - Essay Example The entire of this entail utilizing of symbols to convey information. These circumstances can appear in combination or alone. Dyslexia usually runs in families. A student suffering from dyslexia can have the problem of separating sounds and rhyming that make up spoken words. The abilities seem to be significant in the progression of learning on how to read. The student’s first reading skills are founded on word recognition which entails being capable to disconnect out the sounds in words and equal them with letters and groups of letters (Ahissar M, November 2007). Because students with dyslexia have the problem of connecting sounds of language to letters of words, they can have problem comprehending sentences. True dyslexia is wider than simply transposing or confusing letters for example mistaking â€Å"d† and â€Å"b†. Other factors causing learning disability and especially the reading disability should be stated out before a diagnosis of dyslexia is performed. Emotional disorders, brain diseases and mental retardation, and particular education and cultural issues, can cause learning difficulties (Jones KM et.al, October 2004). Moore DR (2007), the duty of getting students’ attention and ensure they are engaged for a period of time needs majority of managing and teaching skills (Ahissar M, November 2007). Students with problem in following directions are usually assisted by asking them to repeat those directions in their own words. Give students with graphic organizer: outline, blank web or chart may be given to students to fill during presentations. This assists students listen for major information and internalize the link among related and conceptual information. Use of balanced presentations and activities: Effort ought to be performed to balance oral presentations with participatory activities and visual information. Likewise, there ought to be the balance between huge group, small

BILL GATES Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

BILL GATES - Research Proposal Example He remains as one of the largest shareholders within Microsoft and has more than 8 percent of the common stock. Gates’ family comprised of his father who was a rich and famous lawyer, his mother being on the board of directors for United Way and First Interstate Banc System. Bill’s elder sister Kristianne and younger sister Libby completed the family. Gates used to visualize a pretty low career for his own life, right from the very beginning. As he was a bright student his parents registered him at Lakeside School, where he first made his acquaintance with computers. As for as his personal family is concerned, he married Melinda French in 1994. He and French have three children from their marriage – Jennifer, Rory and Phoebe. The house in which his family resides looks like a 21st century earth-sheltered home overlooking the Lake Washington, in Medina, Washington. Bill Gates has been a very avid reader and enjoys spending time playing golf, bridge and tennis. (Fridson, 2001) In January 1975, after reading the copy of â€Å"Popular Electronics† that showed Altair 8800, Bill Gates contacted the makers of the new microcomputer, known as MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems), and told them that he and his friend Paul Allen had developed a BASIC Programming Language that could be used on the Altair. Bill Gates did not have an analyst nor did he have an Altair system but still he and Paul Allen developed the interpreter, eight weeks before the demonstration. MITS agreed to dispense Altair Basic after the interpreter worked at the demonstration. Bill Gates shifted to New Mexico where MITS was situated and where he established Microsoft. The name Microsoft became a registered trademark in 1976. Microsofts name originally is a combination of "microcomputer software". Microsoft is an American multinational computer technology corporation that has yearly sales of more than $41.36 Billion, globally. They have around 64,000 employees

William Kaye Estes Essay Example for Free

William Kaye Estes Essay William Kaye Estes is one among the founders of mathematical psychology and a leading statistical learning theorist. Estes demonstrated the comparison of experimental observations of behavior with computer simulation model. His work of mathematical psychology reflects theoretical matters relating to perception, choice, learning, memory and categorization. A major concern about the theorist is creation of clear understanding and application of statistical methods in psychology. One major consideration in mathematical psychology is the application of Markov process in real life situations. Markov process arises in statistics and probability. It is a random process whereby expected or future behavior cannot be predicted by considering past behavior (FABBS Foundation, n d). Some applications of Markov analysis in real life situation is in the case of traffic flow, business behavior or progress of an epidemic. A real life situation reflected in Markov analysis is traffic flow which is a major problem in many parts of the world especially developing cities. Markov process as is applied in traffic flow clearly describes probalistic behavior of traffic queues in many urban centers. This is applied properly in areas that are closely seen especially in an intersection considering spatial extension. Markov process is applied in traffic flow in estimation of travel times that is vehicles arrivals and departure or traffic volumes through applications of origin destinations. Detecting devices record the arrival and departure time of vehicles, airplanes or trains. Vehicle concentration at various road segments is a clear indication of a posterior distribution which provides a clear estimate of traffic flow (FABBS Foundation, n d). Estimation of origin destinations is difficult but application of simulation model easily finds traffic counts at intersections. Application of Markov process therefore simulates transportation network which reflects the actual traffic counts. Reference FABBS Foundation. William Kaye Estes. Retrieved on 22nd July 2010 from, http://www. fabbs. org/Estes_Honor. html

Music Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) | Research

Music Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) | Research CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION â€Å" Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind,  flight to the imagination and life to everything† Plato Head injury (Traumatic Brain Injury) is defined as an insult to the brain, not a degenerative or cognitive nature, but caused by an external physical force, that produces a diminished or altered level of consciousness which results in impairment in cognitive abilities or physical functioning. (American Head Injury Foundation, 2012) Traumatic Brain Injury can result when the head suddenly and violently hits an object, or when an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue. Approximately half of severely head injured patients will need surgery to remove or repair hematomas or contusions. Some common disabilities include problems with cognition, sensory processing, communication and problems with behaviour or mental health. (Newman, 2003) Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) are the sixth leading cause of death in India with a greater share of hospitalizations, deaths, disabilities and socioeconomic losses in young and middle-age populations. It also place a huge burden on the health sector in terms of pre hospital, acute care and rehabilitation. (WHO, 2012) Almost 10 million head injuries occur annually, about 20 % of which are serious enough to cause brain damage. Among men under 35 years, accidents, usually motor vehicle collisions are the chief cause of death and > 70 % of these involve head injury. Furthermore, minor head injuries are so common that almost all physicians will be called upon to provide immediate care or to see patients who are suffering from various sequels. (Allan H Ropper, 2011) The advancement in medicine and technology has increased the survival rate of patients with head injury and many of them do have various disabilities. When injury is severe or even minor it lead to large number of behavioural and cognitive problems with the physical disability. Each patient represents a unique disabilities which include physical, visual, cognitive and behavioural abnormalities. Sensory Stimulation Programmes are usually started in the Neuro Intensive Care Unit and should be continued in rehabilitation. This may include tactile, olfactory, visual, gustatory and auditory. (Ellen Barkers, 2002) Music is a magical medium and a very powerful tool. Music can delight all the senses and inspire every fiber of being. Its multidimensional nature touches the individual’s physical and psychological levels of consciousness suggested that music exerts its effect through the entertainment of body rhythms. (Wilson Parsons, 2002) Music has been used as a healing force for centuries. Appolo is god of music and of medicine. Aesculapius was said to cure diseases of the mind by using song and music. Aristotle taught that music affects the soul and described music as a force that purified the emotions. Aulus cornelius advocated the sound of cymbals and running water for the treatment of mental disorders. Music therapy goes back to biblical times, when David played the harp to rid King Saul of a bad spirit. In the thirteenth century, Arab hospitals contained music-rooms for the benefit of the patients. Music therapy began in the aftermath of World Wars I and II. Musicians would travel to hospitals, particularly in the United Kingdom and play music for soldiers suffering from war-related emotional and physical trauma. (Lee Mathew, 2000) Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) is the therapeutic application of music to treat cognitive, sensory and motor dysfunctions that come from neurologic impairment. The treatment is based on stimulating music perception and production parts in the human brain. The targeted neurologic disorders like Stroke, Autism, Huntington’s disease, Cerebral palsy, Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disease affecting cognition, movement and communication (mild , moderate or severe traumatic brain injury). (Blosser DePompei, 1994) Need for the Study: Everyday men, women and children suffer head injuries. A fall, a car accident, a sports injury – these everyday injuries can range in severity from concussion to coma. Traumatic Brain Injury can be fatal or, in survivors, can produce persistent problems that significantly affect the livelihood and well-being of millions around the globe. Ninety-five percent of trauma victims in India do not receive optimal care during the â€Å"golden hour† period after an injury is sustained, in which health care administration is critical. (Indian Head Injury Foundation, 2010) The annual global incidence rates of traumatic brain injury ranges from 91 per 100,000 populations to 546 per 100,000. The traumatic brain injury constitutes 70–90% of all head injuries, with rates of hospital treatment ranging from 100 to 300 per 100,000 populations per annum. This high variability in incidence is due to sampling of population ranging from only hospitalized patients to all the patients who visit emergency department. A large number of cases are not treated at hospitals; the actual rate is possibly in excess of 600 per 100,000 cases. There is bimodal distribution of brain injury with peaks at age group 15–24 years and after 65 years. (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010) The annual national incidence rates among 28 states of India, the mortality rate per million population due to road traffic accident. A varied from as low as 20 in Nagaland to as high as 216 in Tamil Nadu. States with rapid and high growth in motorization had a higher number of deaths. Nearly half of the total road fatalities were in the 4 states of India, Tamil Nadu (14.5%), Andhra Pradesh (11.4%), Maharashtra (11.1%) and Uttar Pradesh (10.2%). (National Crime Records Bueareau, 2005) A combination of neurological and neuropsychological deficits seems to contribute to residual handicap in patients with head injury. Neurological deficits include motor deficit (55%), ataxia (49%) and anosmia (46 %) along with memory impairment, poor initiativeness and increasing irritability. Among them very least could return to their occupation and occupational and psychological rehabilitation may found to be more effective. (Zebenlozer and Oder, 1998) Over the past few decades major advancements have been made in the management of patients with traumatic brain injury and significant improvements have been made in their care in the pre hospital and emergency department settings. Patients with complex, multisystem trauma are admitted to critical care unit and these patients require complex care. (Lind D Urden, 2010) Rehabilitation is an important part of the recovery process for a traumatic brain injury patient. The patients with brain injury are completely dependent on health care providers to meet all their needs. Rehabilitation should begin as soon as possible after brain injury patient is stable, often with 24-48 hrs after resuscitation. The overall goal of rehabilitation after a traumatic brain injury is to improve the patients ability to function at home and in society. (Davis White, 1995) Music therapy benefits patients across the spectrum, from premature infants in neonatal intensive care units responding to lullabies to swing band numbers in elderly Alzheimer’s patients’ moods and appetites. Involving the primary care givers take care in auditory stimulation program will helps in continuity of care and also helps to reduce cost of care. (German, 2003) Broca’s area is important in processing the sequencing of physical movement and in tracking musical rhythms. It is critical for converting thought into spoken words. Scientists speculate, therefore, that Broca’s area supports the appropriate timing, sequencing, and knowledge of rules that are common and essential to music, speech, and movement. The brain areas involved in music are also active in processing language, auditory perception, attention, memory, executive control, and motor control. Music efficiently accesses and activates these systems and can drive complex patterns of interaction among them. (Michael Thaut Gerald Mclntosh, 2010) Complementary and alternative therapies are now the fastest growing areas of health care. Music therapy is one of the best and cheapest alternative methods. Teaching the care giver about the auditory stimulation helps to promote care and satisfaction to the patient. For many individuals, music is a source of pleasure and therefore more preferable. Hence the researcher believes that the use of auditory stimulation for patients with brain injury provides the rehabilitative as well as physical assistance with most cost effective manner. Statement of the Problem: A Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Auditory Stimulation on Motor and Verbal Responses among Patients admitted in Intensive Care Unit with Traumatic Brain Injury at Selected Hospitals, Salem. Objectives: To assess the motor and verbal responses among patients with traumatic brain injury in experimental group and control group. To evaluate the effectiveness of auditory stimulation on motor and verbal responses among patients with traumatic brain injury in experimental group and control group. To associate motor and verbal responses among patients with traumatic brain injury with their selected demographic variables in experimental and control group. Operational Definitions: Effectiveness: Improvement of motor and verbal responses among patients with traumatic brain injury after implementing auditory stimulation along with routine nursing care as observed by Glasgow Coma Scale Score. Auditory Stimulation: In this study it refers to auditory stimulation in which classical instrumental music therapy is given to patients with traumatic brain injury using I pod for twenty minutes for three times a day. Motor function: In this study it refers to patient actively moving upper extremities or lower extremities as response towards the auditory stimulation with best motor response 6 in G C S score. Verbal response: In this study it refers to ability of the patient to respond orally towards the auditory stimulation with maximum GCS Score of 5. Traumatic brain injury: It refers to injury to the brain resulting from external mechanical force such as violent blow or jolt to the head. In this study it refers to patients diagnosed to have traumatic brain injury with GCS between 8 -12. Assumptions: Sensory stimulation may increase the motor and verbal responses among patients with traumatic brain injury. Nurses can enroll music therapy as a simple nursing intervention to promote the well being among patients with traumatic brain injury. Hypotheses: H1:There will be a significant difference in the pre test and post test motor and verbal responses among patients with traumatic brain injury after administering auditory stimulation in experimental group at P ≠¤ 0.05 level. H2:There will be a significant association between pretest scores on motor and verbal responses among patients with traumatic brain injury with their selected demographic variables in experimental group and control group at P ≠¤ 0.05 level. Delimitation: Study period is limited to 4 weeks. Projected Outcome: This study would help the nurses to enlighten their knowledge regarding auditory stimulation. Nurses can utilize music therapy as an integral part of their routine care to the brain injury patients. Conceptual Framework: Conceptual models are made up of concepts which are words describing the mental images of phenomena and proportions which are statements about concepts. It provides a schematic representation of some relationship among phenomenon. Ernestine Wiedenbach, (1964) proposed a prescriptive theory for nursing which is described as conceiving of a desired situation and the ways to attain it. Prescriptive theory directs action towards an explicit goal. The present study is based on the concept of providing auditory stimulation to patients with traumatic brain injury patients. The investigator adopted Wiedenbach’s Helping Nursing Art Theory (1964). This theory, describes the desired situation and way to be attained. It directs action towards the explicit goals. This theory has three factors Central purpose Prescription Reality Central Purpose: It refers to what a nurse wants to accomplish. It is an overall goal towards which a nurse strives. The central purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of auditory stimulation on motor and verbal responses among patients with traumatic brain injury Prescription: It refers to the plan of action for the patient. It will specify the nature of the action that will fulfil the nurse’s central purpose. The prescription of this study is providing auditory stimulation to patients with traumatic brain injury . Reality: It refers to the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual factors that come into play in situation involving the nurses. The five realities identified by Widenbach’s are agent, recipient, goal, mean activities frame work. According to this theory, nursing practice consist of 3-steps, which are all guiding the researcher to attain the desired objectives. Step – I Identifying the need for help. Step – II Ministering the needed help. Step – III Validating that the need for help was met. Step-I: This involves determining the need for help. The investigator assesses motor and verbal response among patients with traumatic brain injury by Glasgow Coma Scale score and demographic variables through the structured interview schedule. Step-II: After identification of the patient’s needs ,the researcher facilitate the plan for care and implement it. In this study , the researcher provided auditory stimulation to the experimental group. Wiedenbach theory defines the five realities: Agent: Nurse Investigator. Recipient: Patients with traumatic brain injury. Goal: To determine the effectiveness of auditory stimulation on motor and verbal responses among patients with traumatic brain injury. Means and activities: Implementation of music therapy. Frame work and facilities : Sri Gokulam Specialty Hospital and Sri Gokulam Hospital Step-III: This is accomplished by means of validation of the prescription. It is done through the pretest and posttest assessment of the motor function and verbal response among patients with traumatic brain injury. If there are no significant changes in the perceived behaviour we need to reconstruct the experience to ascertain step – I II. Not included in study Figure-1.1: Conceptual Frame Work Based on Modified Wiedenbach’s Helping Art of Clinical Nursing Theory (1964) on Effectiveness of Auditory Stimulation on Motor and Verbal Responses among Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury. Summary: This chapter dealt with introduction, need for the study, statement of the problem, objectives, operational definitions, assumptions, delimitations, projected outcome and conceptual framework

Pre-speech Thought :: essays research papers

Speech is defined as the use of audible words and/or sounds to communicate. But doesn’t it involve much more? This is where what I call pre-speech thoughts comes into play. In any normal person, much thought goes into what they say or do, since very rarely do people talk just to communicate. People talk with a given motive in mind, be it to obtain, impress, or to pass time. However, when people speak, they prepare themselves ahead of time within their mind. They prepare their phrases, predict what the other person would say or how they would respond, and prepare answers or phrases in a way fitting each of the predicted responses the other person could have, all before the speaking even begins. Take the following example into mind: A boy sees a girl who is attractive to him and of course would like to speak to, and perhaps, court her. Through his head run many phrases that he has perhaps heard elsewhere or formulated on his own. Before even approaching her he plans his actions: will he say â€Å"hi†, â€Å"hello†, â€Å"what’s up†, or a similar greeting. He then decides whether or not he will continue the action and follow up with a way to connect with the girl in some way with a phrase such as â€Å"My name is [ ] what’s your name?† or â€Å"Do you come here often?† The boy predicts her answers and formulates responses accordingly. If she says, â€Å"Yes, I come here all the time,† he will say â€Å"Really, me too, but I haven’t seen you here before.† But if she says â€Å"No, not really,† he will say â€Å"Oh, are you from around here?† or a similar response. He will then plan to try to find a connection, and given her respons e, he will try to expand on it. For example, is she says â€Å"yes†, he might ask, â€Å"Do you live close?† and try to expand on that phrase in engage in conversation. All this occurs before he even approaches the girl, although some people might plan to different levels, all people do indeed plan. If he knew the girl came to the same place every weekend, he might plan for days without knowing it. I don’t mean in an obsessive way, but in a nonchalant way, just a few days before the weekend. He might even subconsciously prepare physically for the meeting by â€Å"dressing up† or putting on his favorite cologne in order to be more presentable or simply to impress.

gutenberg Essay -- essays research papers

JOHANN GUTENBURG AND THE PRINTING PRESS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Long ago there was a man named Johann Gutenberg. He was a very intelligent man. He created one of the greatest inventions in history. He created the printing press. You may ask yourself, what is the printing press? I will soon explain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Johann Gutenberg was born in 1399 named Genefliesch zur Laden. He changed his name to Gutenburg after the name of his wealthy father’s house. Gutenberg died in 1468 in Mainz, Germany where he was born.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the footsteps of his father, he first trained as a goldsmith in Strasburg, Germany and joined the goldsmith’s guild in 1434. He moved back to Mainz and befriended Johann Fust who became his partner and provided him with money to create the printing press. The most well known publication was the Gutenberg Bible, which showed the perfection of his invention. Later Fust sued Gutenberg for possession of the Gutenberg Bible. No other information was ever recovered from this incidence but it is assumed that Johann Gutenberg got his hands on the printing press.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Gutenberg’s time, not everyone was educated. There was not enough time to hand-write hundreds or even thousands of books. So, instead of learning, people worked. In 1448, Johann Gutenberg made it possible for many people to learn. The printing press was a machine that could write many books with ink. Around this time there was a w...

The Media Needs Regulation Essay example -- Media Argumentative Persua

The Media Needs Regulation      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The death of Princess Diana on August 31, 1997 shocked the world; her death was considered the biggest tragedy of the year, and the media responded accordingly. Her death prompted the media into a frenzy to sanctify her memory; however, through the documentaries and commemorative magazines, the media proved their guilt of invasion of Princess Diana's privacy by displaying the immense amount of information they gathered throughout her life. In fact, a week before she died, she vacationed in Greece with writer friend Rosa Monckton, and they tried to outsmart the paparazzi for simple privacy. Diana said to Monckton, "It's a hunt, Rosa. It's a hunt. Will you really tell people what it is like?" The article expressing to people the paparazzi's hunt lay half-written on a desk when Monckton learned her friend died being "hunted to her death" (108-109). This opened my eyes to the fact that the media needs limitations. The media should refrain from intruding into the personal lives of people, and in the United States the problem is evident throughout media history. Proper actions can be taken in the United States to hinder invasion of privacy by the media without reducing the power of the first amendment. If the United States adopted an organization similar to Great Britain's Press Complaints Commission which self-regulates their media, it would be a great start for protecting people's right of privacy from the media in the United States.    The media in the United States did not begin by reporting the private lives of people in the news or people in the public eye. The 1960's i... ...the PCC." Available: www.pcc.org.uk/about/home.htm.    "Code of Ethics." Available: www.pcc.org.uk/about/default.htm.    Day, Nancy. Sensational TV. Springfield, New Jersey: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1996.    "Key Benefits of the System of Self Regulation." Available: www.pcc.org.uk/about/benefits.htm.    "Minnesota News Council Determinations." Available: www.mtn.org/newscouncil/determinations/determin_index.html.    Monckton, Rosa. "My Friend Diana." Newsweek Commemorative Issue: Diana, A Celebration of Her Life. October 1997: 108-112.    Shaw, Bob. "How to Start a News Council." Available: www.mtn.org/newscouncil/General/Shaw.html.    Sobel, Robert. The Manipulators. Garden City, New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1976.    Weiss, Ann E. Who's to Know? Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1990.