Friday, December 27, 2019

The Ecstasy Of Influence A Plagiarism - 1917 Words

Intelligence: A Conversation Humans love to consider that they are the only intelligent beings on earth. They hold their accomplishments in engineering and art as evidence that each human is an intelligent, complex creature, somehow more advanced than any other species on earth, and yet, supposedly unintelligent organisms, like ants, can create very complex structures that would seem to require intelligence. This concept is explored in Steven Johnson’s essay â€Å"The Myth of the Ant Queen,† where he presents the idea that intelligence is not a property of the individual, but is instead a property of groups. There are also however many examples of individuals creating things that appear to require individual intelligence. In Thomas Lethem’s†¦show more content†¦Each individual reacts to an innumerable number of things daily in often hard to predict ways. This indicates that each human is intelligent and is capable of thinking through reactions to problems in front of them, often ev en doing so subconsciously while working on multiple problems at a time. Even difficult issues, such as social interaction, seem to prompt intelligent, complex reactions. The level of complexity involved in these reactions clearly necessitates intelligence. Humans also showcase intelligence in their ability to create. Since prehistoric times, humans have been creating things all the time. Each human is capable of producing never before seen art, tools, and technology. Even creations which seem to simply reuse, like collages, require creativity and intelligence. Lethem says of this reuse that â€Å"The demarcation between various possible uses is beautifully graded and hard to define, the more so as artifacts distill into and repercuss the realm of culture†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (219). Even reuse with slight modification or art heavily influenced by other art, each one of Lethem’s â€Å"possible uses†, requires complexity and creativity and therefore intelligence. Humans can al so assemble complex ideas from simple concepts, leading to innovation. In science and technology creators are constantly assembling many ideas in complex ways to create even more complex ideas. This understanding of and creation of complex ideas requiresShow MoreRelatedThe Ecstasy Of Influence : Plagiarism1589 Words   |  7 PagesPlagiarism has been seen as a harmful practice when it comes to the preservation of an artist’s originality. Jonathan Lethem demonstrates the commonality and convenience of plagiarism by composing his article â€Å"The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism† of phrases and ideas of other writers; however, he also supports the claim that a person can rethink and reinterpret the understandings of other people and create an â€Å"original† idea based off of them. Is this what Lethem truly means when he says thatRead MoreThe Ecstasy Of Influence : A Plagiarism1820 Words   |  8 Pagesoppressor, and those beneath them, the oppressed. In â⠂¬Å"Project Classroom Makeover,† Cathy Davidson explores the struggle between the current state of the American education system and the necessity of an improved one. Correspondingly, in â€Å"The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism,† Johnathan Lethem highlights the problems individuals encounter dealing with the premises of governmental limits on intellectual property. Comparably, in â€Å"Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran,† Azar Nafisi examines the strife betweenRead MoreWhat Can We Call Our Own Except Energy, Strength And Will?775 Words   |  4 Pagesthoughts and ideas that spawn from the very environment we live in. Although some may argue that our society cannot remain cohesive without the idea of intellectual property, it should be acceptable to use others’ works without having to worry about plagiarism laws. This is because, in reality, there really is no such thing as â€Å"original† work, and there is an evident difference between r eplication and reproduction. The idea of â€Å"ownership† over something hinders others’ ability to make something new byRead More`` The Ecstasy Of Influence `` By Jonathan Allen Lethem996 Words   |  4 Pagesby those elements to create new art. Unlike Plato’s Ion, which states that God speaks through the artists, Lethem’s The Ecstasy of Influence: A plagiarism; projects that inspiration comes from the influence of our surroundings which is the key to creation. Jonathan Allen Lethem, a modern American essayists, writes the article in which he talks about how some artists see plagiarism as a wrong doing or stealing. Lethem disagrees with those artists’ point of view. He writes, â€Å"most artists are convertedRead MoreBenefits Of The Crowd-Sourced Approaching In The Art World.1316 Words   |  6 Pageslearning way. She claims that crowd-sourced education allows the students to have collective and creative thinking because this approaching is based on communicate with others. Jonathan Lethem, the author of â€Å"The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism†, demonstrates the opinion about the plagiarism, especially in the art world. He claims that the borrowing materials from others is very ordinary phenomena in the art world and there are actual benefits from this collective working progress which can supportedRead More The Purpose of Copyright Essay1423 Words   |  6 PagesHarperCollins Publishers. Litman, Jessica â€Å"Creative Reading.† Khan, B. Zorina. â€Å"The Democratization of Invention: Patents and Copyrights in American Economic Development, 1790-1920.† Nber: Cambridge University Press. Lethem, Jonathan. â€Å"The Ecstasy of Influence: A plagiarism.† Harper’s Magazine. The Founders Constitution, Volume 3, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8, Document 12 http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a1_8_8s12.html The University of Chicago PressThe Writings of Thomas JeffersonRead MoreThe Ecstasy Of Influence By Sherry Turrkle Summary1763 Words   |  8 Pagescharacteristics such as Tamagotchis and Furbies. One of the specific psychological processes Turkle describes involves a shift between â€Å"a psychology of projection to a new psychology of engagement† with these machines (Turkle, 470). In â€Å"The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism,† Jonathan Lethem talks about the differences between the gift and market economies. Turkle’s psychologies of projection and engagement significantly impact Lethem’s gift and market economies. Turkle is a social psychologist and a professorRead MoreBob Dylan and Intertextuality2482 Words   |  10 Pagesthe norm in music, literature and other media. The challenge for all creative works in this era has become more of an exercise in borrowing from ones influences rather than drawing from ones invention or original thought. And you know what? Its okay. We cannot help but be influenced by what we see; thats just being human. Tracing influence is a very hard task, one that can never be complete because of the countless stimuli encountered every time anyone opens his or her eyes and ears, somethingRead MoreErving Goffman Stigma6568 Words   |  27 Pagesespecially tolerated when the activities at stake are non-zero-sum and when the importance of process is outweighed by the importance of outcome. The use of cognition-enhancing drugs does not unnaturally cheapen accomplishments achieved under their influence; instead, cognitive enhancement is in line with well-established conceptions of collaborative authorship, which shift the locus of praise and blame from individual creators to the ultimate products of their efforts. n an essay on performance-enhancingRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 Pages30 Why Is HRM Important to an Organization? 30 DID YOU KNOW?: A Management Recap 31 The Strategic Nature 32 The HRM Functions 33 Staffing Function 34 Training and Development Function 35 Motivation Function 36 Maintenance Function 37 How External Influences Affect HRM 38 The Dynamic Environment of HRM 38 Laws and Regulation 38 Labor Unions 38 Management Thought 39 Structure of the HRM Department 40 Employment 40 Training and Development 41 Compensation and Benefits 42 Employee Relations 42 vi

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Essay about Why the Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor,...

The report of Robert Reich: â€Å"Why the Rich are getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer,† is an eye opener and a warning for society regarding unemployment that it will be facing and is currently facing due to a lack of technology and education. It clearly articulates that the jobs of routine producers and in-person servers have vanished totally as modern techniques have replaced them. The author has stated that the only people whose jobs are on the rise are symbol analysts. As stated in the report, symbol analysts are the real problem solvers. Their skills are highly in demand worldwide because they are the ones who first analyze the problem and then solve it. The Hart Report, on the other hand, also states the same problem of unemployment†¦show more content†¦The impact of technological advancement and the whole world â€Å"going global† is immense. ATT stopped hiring workers in Shreveport and switched to Singapore and later from Singapore to Thailand because of the cheap routine producers available there as compared to the ones in previous locations. Moreover, an important reason for the decline of routine producers is the rise in the number of Keypunch operators all over the world and their willingness to work at much lower wage rates than the ones prevailing in the U.S.A. Texas Instruments started hiring routine programming technicians in India and linked them to its Dallas headquarters via satellite as India has a large English-speaking population of technicians who are willing to work at a lower wage rate. The reason behind this shift of jobs from advanced to developing nations, which created a great recession in the advanced economies, was the globalization and advancement of technology. This advancement made the employers remain in contact with the whole world with the help of some optical wires and satellites and they started hiring workers who were ready to work for a lower wage. A similar drastic change came about in the employ ment sector of the in–person servers as well. Introduction of new labor-saving machinery such as automated tellers, robotized vendingShow MoreRelatedWhy The Rich Are Getting Richer And The Poor, Poorer924 Words   |  4 PagesAs a Symbolic Analyst In the book by Jacobus, A World of Ideas, Robert Reich writes the article, â€Å"Why the Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer†, and he uses a metaphor to describe the three economic groups that are now in different boats. He compares how the routine producers’ boats and the in-person servers boats are sinking while the symbolic analyst is rising. He also discusses how immigration, and technology competes for the job of routine producers and in-person servers whileRead MoreWhy The Rich Are Getting Richer And The Poor, Poorer925 Words   |  4 PagesAs a Symbolic Analyst In the book by Jacobus, A World of Ideas, Robert Reich writes the article, â€Å"Why the Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer†, and he uses a metaphor to describe the three economic groups that are now in different boats. He compares how the routine producers’ boats and the in-person servers boats are sinking while the symbolic analyst is rising. He also discusses how immigration, and technology competes for the job of routine producers and in-person servers whileRead MoreWhy the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer842 Words   |  3 Pagesï » ¿Robert B. Reich, Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer Reich starts his exordium with a distribution of where American workers found themselves in the early 1990’s in reference to where almost all American workers were just 20 years before. Reich placed most of the workers that contributed to the economy during the Nixon administration as being in one boat, analogous to the famous quote by G.K. Chesterton, â€Å"We are all in the same boat, in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terribleRead MoreWhy The Rich Are Getting Richer And The Poor, Poorer927 Words   |  4 Pageshave to establish new tactics and enhance their emphasis on customer service in order to entice enough customers to purchase from their stores. Thus decreasing the need for retail sales positions. Robert Reich, in his article â€Å"Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer†, also felt this was the case when describing the sinking of his figurative second boat carrying in-person servers. Reich speaks directly about the changes machinery would have on this particular field of work in his article:Read MorePoor Getting Richer Essay995 Words   |  4 PagesAre The Rich Getting Richer and The Poor Getting Poorer? In this world, who are born rich or who are born poor? Nobody. Once, Bill Gates said that if you born poor, it is not your mistake, but if you die poor, it is your mistake. Rich is a state of abundant possession most especially material wealth, while poor is a state of lack of material possession. In the Wall Street Journal , Josh Zumbrun states that there is no standard definition of the upper middle class, which means there is no particularRead MoreEssay on Why the Rich Get Richer, While the Poor Get Poorer1572 Words   |  7 Pageseconomic times, it is clear to see that the rift between the extremely rich and the extremely poor is expanding, with those in the middle being stretched to one extreme or the other. There seems to be no reconciliations for this ever-growing disparity, as the corporations that used to comprise solely our economy lose national borders. Robert B. Reich discussed this issue in his work, Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer. There are many reasons that go into play and many factors that swayRead MoreThe Poor Are Getting Poorer1218 Words   |  5 PagesThe Poor Are Getting Poorer (In Analysts: Why the Poor Are Poorer) â€Å"Thus have the inhibitions been removed. The salaries and benefits of America’s top executives, and many of their advisers and consultants, have soared to what years before would have been unimaginable heights, even as those of other Americans have declined.† (Page 267). America is increasing in certain things, but decreasing in other things. Citizens are able to achieve more and more as technology increases and people strive forRead MoreEffects of Outsourcing Jobs to Overseas641 Words   |  3 Pagessurvive this dreadful and unpleasant situation. More importantly, the reduction in spending money and the deterioration of consumer confidence can hurt the economy severely and exacerbate the situation. Reich in his article â€Å"Why Rich are Getting Richer and the Poor, Poorer† divides the U.S. professions into three major categories: routine producers, in-person servers and symbolic analysts and described the process and likelihood of outsourcing these professions. Routine producers such as manufacturersRead MoreGlobalization758 Words   |  4 PagesWhy richer are getting richer and poorer are getting poorer? Globalization is taken as facilitator of international trade and economic growth. There might be various parameters for the measurement of the connection between globalization, international trade and economic growth that is derived from the mobility of investment, human capital to communication and transportation that fosters interdependency and other forms of economically beneficial and social relationship between countries. In economyRead MoreGlobalization743 Words   |  3 PagesWhy richer are getting richer and poorer are getting poorer? Globalization is taken as facilitator of international trade and economic growth. There might be various parameters for the measurement of the connection between globalization, international trade and economic growth that is derived from the mobility of investment, human capital to communication and transportation that fosters interdependency and other forms of economically beneficial and social relationship between countries. In economy

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

History of the company Amazon.com free essay sample

AmazonKindle, Amazon.com, Businessmodel, Customerservice, Electroniccommerce, JeffBezos, StrategicmanagementHistory of the company Amazon. com is an American multinational electronic commerce company with headquarters in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the worlds largest online retailer. Amazon. com started as an online bookstore, but soon diversified, selling DVDs, CDs, MP3 downloads, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewelry. The company also produces consumer electronics—notably the Amazon Kindle-book reader and the Kindle Fire tablet computer—and is a major provider of cloud computing services. Jeff Bezos started the company in his garage. He started out by selling just books, but now they sell just about anything. The Mission and Vision Statement of Amazon. com: Amazon. com has had a clear focus and a solitary mission since it began. Founder Jeff Bezos has publicly referred to the Amazon. com mission statement as the guiding force behind his leadership decisions many times in the companys 18-year history. We will write a custom essay sample on History of the company Amazon.com or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It can be concluded that the success of Amazon. com as the top Internet retailing company in the world is due at least in part to their unwavering commitment to this mission and the daily execution of it. Our vision is to be earths most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online. † Says the founder of Amazon. com . The companies six core values are: customer obsession, ownership, bias for action, frugality, high hiring bar, and innovation. They seek to be Earth’s most customer-centric company for four primary customer sets: consumers, sellers, enterprises, and content creators. Amazon. om has 3 customer service call centers in the United States and several others in several different countries to make sure they have phone support in all hours of the day and night. To reduce costs, they have what are called door desks. They are called that because that is what they are. Desks made out of do ors. The mission of Amazon. com is to secure the growth of the business in a sustainable manner, while at the same time constantly improving the company’s profitability. Amazon is always looking for simple solutions in order to provide lower prices to its customers. Amazon is always innovating to improve its users experience and make them feel at home. Let’s have a look on Amazon’s customer-centric innovations. Amazons Innovation Strategy Amazon was not the first online bookstore. But they were both the first to do a good job at selling their good services for a good profit. In retrospect, their successes seem amazing, but at the time, the goals were simple and the objective humble and clear: Be good, or at least better than the other guys. For they knew that alone was hard enough. One of the most unexamine facets of Amazons high-profile success is its unabashed embrace of transformational growth in its white space. Amazon survived the dot-com bust because it had a viable and innovative business model built around a market-changing customer value proposition and a radical profit formula, which upended the staid book industry. Then it quickly expanded beyond books to include all sorts of easily shippable consumer goods, growing from its core into near adjacencies. But Amazon didnt stop there. A few years later, the company seized its white space when it devised a new value proposition, offering a commission-based brokerage service to buyers and sellers of used books. Then it moved into its white space again by developing a model to serve an entirely different customer: third-party sellers. By opening up its storefront to other retailers that were essentially competitors, Amazon transformed its business from direct sales to a sales-and-service model, aggregating many sellers under one virtual roof and receiving commissions from the other companies sales. Then Amazon did it yet again, identifying a new area of potential growth by finding another new customer—the IT community. Serving this new customers needs required different processes, different resources, and a different profit formula—in short, another new business model. In 2002 Amazon launched a web services platform. Perhaps it was risky for a young company that had only reached profitability in that same year to invest its innovation resources in new business models rather than stick to its core, but within five years the site used by Amazons web-services platform had grown into the seventh-largest in the world. And Amazon kept going. In late 2007, it set up Lab126, whose first product, the Kindle e-book reader, came to market wrapped in a business model not only foreign to Amazons DNA but also potentially disruptive to the entire publishing industry. To launch this high-margin, product-based offering, Amazon had to become an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). It wrapped this technology in a seamlessly integrated iTunes-type digital media platform that combined both transaction- and subscription-based content delivery. It partnered with content producers in innovative ways and created an open back-end that allowed independent publishers to generate new content for the Kindle. In its first year, Amazon sold an estimated 500,000 Kindle. Amazon has greatly expanded the market for e-books and positioned itself for success not only in this market but in newspaper and periodical distribution as well. Amazon at its roots is built to transform. When it finds opportunities to serve new customers, or existing customers in new ways, it conceives and builds new business models to exploit them. Amazon has the unique ability to launch and run entirely new types of businesses while simultaneously extracting value from existing businesses. Amazons journey forward will likely be marked by a series of transformations, as it continues to pursue its vision unafraid of white space, business model innovation, or renewal. To be built to transform requires the courage to focus on delivering value for the customer first. Identifying value begins by thinking of an important un-served or underserved job that customers want done and then coming up with a well-defined value proposition to address that job, however foreign to your current offerings that may be. If you want to continuously revitalize the service that you offer to your customers, you cannot stop at what you are good at, says CEO Jeff Bezos. You have to ask what your customers need and want, and then, no matter how hard it is, you better get good at those things. With a well-defined customer value proposition serving a focused, well-articulated job, business leaders and project teams can work together to design the appropriate profit formulas, key resources, and key processes the company needs to thrive. Business Strategy of Amazon. com The strategic intent of Amazon is to become the number one choice of the online shopping for their shopping needs. Their website has been made to provide more convenience for customers who wish to buy certain items right away rather than wait for the delivery. Amazon can now direct their customers to local stores that presently have the product in inventory. Consumers need not call all the local stores and tolerate taped messages and long waits to find a product. Even such Internet pure-play firm as Amazon, through its partnership with Borders, for which it provides website operations, can direct customers to the nearest Borders store offering the desired product. Customers need only provide a zip code. Integration of physical stores and online operations can also lead to greater efficiencies. The strategy of the company uses the Internet and took advantage of its capability to reach more clients. Furthermore, Amazon strategic intent is to provide more options for their clients by partnering with other international and local suppliers. The company also diversified their offerings to different products, services, categories and other physical assets. The company’s strategic intent is to sustain their competitive advantage by compelling what the needs and demands of their target market and expanding their business portfolio in the global market. The company’s strategic intent is to do their business in a slow but sure manner by becoming innovative in what they are offering for the customers. Another strategic intent of Amazon is its goal to be recognised and respected as a global bookstore and online shopping brand and to dominate the global market through their high quality product and service offerings. The advertising and marketing strategy of Amazon have been focusing on how the products would gain interest from their target market and how they can be able to generate sales with their products. This is Amazon’s stronghold where it continues to yield strong sales revenue by leveraging off its excellent online shop in different locations, such as in UK and other country, strong brand name and excellent reputation among customers. Amazon has also been continuing to create affiliate websites to expand their business market among various consumers. About the business approach and strategies of Amazon it can be said that the company has been able to continue to grow and expand their business in the online market. Amazon has been able to use various strategies which enable them to sustain their competitive position in the global market. Amazon strategy includes differentiation approach and innovative approach. In doing so, the company has been able to have a sustainable focus on their core business values ensuring that their goals, objectives and mission are achieved. In addition, the company has been able to sustain good relationship with its target market and all other stakeholders and the company -focus itself on atisfying the costumers by providing them quality products and services in the online. The ability of the management to manage their financial resources and limit their expenses to sustain their needs for expansion has also been considered as one of the capabilities that sustain their competitive advantage. The strategies used by the Amazon include Intensive strategy, which aims to competently position and promote their products and services in the online market. The industry has also utilized the Integration strategy and forward integration in order to promote and closely manipulate where all the Amazon products and services are being sold. To improve financial performance, the company sees to it that they utilize all their resources in a manner that will be beneficial to enhance the performance of the company. The ability of the company to expand their business is through their flexibility and innovation which enable Amazon to counter the risks of erosion and losing of their competitive advantage. In order to cope with the various influences and effects of market environment changes, and to sustain their competitive advantage, the management of Amazon has been able to improve and expand its organization so as to conduct business operations and activities on a global scale which include the expansion of Amazon through the online presence of the brand in different parts of the world and by making specific websites as well as considering merging and acquisitions. The e-commerce business model has been widely used by Amazon. om since the year 2001, but the application of this model has started to spread up to this time. Instead of selling the products directly, Amazon. com nowadays is doing the process of selling their monthly or yearly access to products and services. As a result, the company is able to convert a one-time sale of a product into a recurring sale of a service. Amazon. com benefits from this strategy because of the fact that they are guaranteed of a constant revenue stream. The Company regards its patents, copyrights, service marks, trademarks, trade dress, trade secrets, proprietary technology and similar intellectual property as critical to its success, and relies on trademark, copyright and patent law, trade secret protection and confidentiality and/or license agreements with its employees, customers, partners and others to protect its proprietary rights. For the most part, Amazon has earned a reputation for strong service by letting customers get what they want without ever talking to an employee. Sales clerks are nonexistent. Orders ship with a few mouse clicks. Packages arrive on doorsteps quickly. It all happens with monotonous regularity even as the number of customers has doubled in the past five years to 88 million. Outsourcing StrategyAmazon. com has purchased majority of its products from two major wholesalers, Ingram Inc. , and BT, which enabled Amazon. com to have less, inventories and reduce internal overhead such as operating expenses. Strategic PartnershipAmazon. com has established long-term relationships with Internet companies to become a premier merchant on the Internet: America Online, Yahoo! Excite, Netscape, Geo Cities, AltaVista, @Home, and Prodigy. Compelling ValueThrough the innovative use of Internet technology, Amazon. com was dramatically able to lower the price and provide enhanced selection, high-quality content, a high level of Consumer service, and personalized service. Active AdvertisingAmazon. com has spent a large portion of its expenses to strengthen the brand name. For th e years ended 1995, 1996, 1997, the company incurred advertising expense of $30,000, $3. 4 million, $21. 1 million, respectively. Porters Five Forces Threat of new entrant: Low However, threat of new entrant remained low in areas where it is very costly to set up similar information system because of the underline technology that is fortified by innovation making it rather unique. This is particularly true by looking at Amazon. coms One-click shopping technology where Amazon. com has patented it to deter their competitors from copying the technology. Amazon. com has also brand recognition in selling books online thus this would make it rather difficult for other competitors, namely Barnes and Noble, to enter to the online business. This is true because Amazon. om has successfully create an awareness among the public where buying books online would be linked to Amazon. com. Bargaining power of buyer: High Bargaining power of buyer remained high because there are a wide variety of choices to purchase any given books from various sources. Intense competition from various sections of Amazon. coms business has prompted them to price their product competitively. These products encompass books, music, electronics and much more. Bargaining power of supplier: Low However, bargaining power of supplier in Amazon. coms online book sector is relatively low. Their power is low because Amazon. om has opened five new automated distribution centers in the US to lessen dependence on their main distributor. In this case, Amazon. com has become lesser dependence from Ingram that is their main distributor in the US. Threat of product substitute: High Threat of product substitute is very high in Amazon. com online business. Physical bookstores have an established brand name in their brick-and-mortar business and customers might not be comfortable buying books online. A more competitive competitor that might be able to offer better services and prices that would be able to substitute Amazon. coms products. However in this case, Amazon. oms One-click shopping might provide some form of switching cost to the customer. Industry rivalry: High As the result of h uge and wide presence of competitors, namely physical bookstores and other online bookstores, Amazon. com faces high industry rivalry in their online book business. Established bookstore have cause intense rivalry in this industry because they have the advantage of a larger and well established customer base, greater brand recognition and brand awareness and wider selection of books. The entry of established bookstore into the online arena has further increase industry rivalry in this sector. Amazon. com also faces intense rivalry from their online music sector. RD and Technology in Amazon Amazon. com’s commitment to research development activities has always been one of its top strategies to remain competitive in the market. The Companys objective is to become the best place to buy, find and discover any product or service available online. Amazon. com will continue to enhance and broaden its brand, customer base and electronic commerce expertise with the goal of creating customers preferred online shopping destination, in the United States and around the world. It can be said that Amazon’s resources and capabilities can be divided in the management of the company specifically their leader which is Bezos, the ability of the management to effectively use strategic supply chain management and aligning it with their business process and information technology, their competitive advantage in the online market, and the financial resources that it gains through its successful approaches. The management of Amazon has also been able to focus on their research and development department and to initiate innovative strategies designed to provide a competitive advantage and edge in the marketplace. As business gravitates towards a global scale, entrepreneurs find themselves faced with the challenge of producing new and better products at reduced cost and market price. Daft (2003) pointed out that in managing a global environment, managers of Amazon must be characterised by the ability to bring about change through innovation and creativity. Further according to Daft, a revolutionised manager sees change, rather than stability, as the nature of things (2003). Innovation as a ground for doing business in the 21st century will be the consistent tugging force that the organisation must either strive to adopt or suffer the consequences of being left behind by competitors. Through the marketing of differentiated products originating from their research and development activities, Amazon. com is able to create its own firm-specific advantages. The continuous pursuit of research and development processes enables the company to sell a steady stream of originally differentiated products which makes it difficult for competitors to find substitutes. Because of this differentiated approach, Amazon. com is able to market their products worldwide, which enables them in turn to maximize the returns on research and development expenditures. The Company has implemented numerous site management, search, customer interaction, recommendation, transaction-processing and fulfillment services and systems using a combination of its own proprietary technologies and commercially available, licensed technologies. The Companys current strategy is to focus its development efforts on creating and enhancing the specialized, proprietary software that is unique to its business and to license or acquire commercially developed technology for other applications where available and appropriate. The Company uses a set of applications for accepting and validating customer orders, placing and tracking orders with suppliers, managing and assigning inventory to customer orders and ensuring proper shipment of products to customers based on various ordering criteria. The Companys transaction- processing systems handle millions of items, a number of different availability statuses, gift-wrapping requests and multiple shipment methods and allow the customer to choose whether to receive single or several shipments based on availability. These applications also manage the process of accepting, authorizing and charging customer credit cards. Amazon. com Web sites also incorporate a variety of search and database tools. Systems administrators and network managers monitor and operate the Companys Web sites, network operations and transaction processing systems. The continued uninterrupted operation of the Companys Web sites and transaction-processing systems is essential to its business and it is the job of the site operations staff to ensure their reliability. The Company uses the services of five Internet service providers to obtain connectivity to the Internet, both domestically and internationally, over multiple dedicated lines. Click Technology. Amazon. com provides customers with a streamlined ordering process using 1-Click technology. If a customer has previously activated 1-Click functionality, a customer can place an order by clicking one button without having to fill out an order form. The customers shipping and billing information is automatically referenced on the Companys secure server. Secure Credit Card Payment. Amazon. com utilizes secure server software for secure commerce transactions. It encrypts all of the customers personal information, including credit card number, name and address, so that it cannot be read as the information travels over the Internet. Customers can select from a variety of delivery options, including overnight and various international shipping options, as well as giftwrapping services. The Company uses e-mail to notify customers of order status under various conditions and provides links to shipping carriers so that the customers can track their shipments. The Company seeks to provide rapid and reliable fulfillment of customer orders and to continue to improve its speed of availability and fulfillment. Return Policy. Within 30 days following the customers receipt of their order, Amazon. com will provide a full refund for any book in its original condition, any Amazon. om recommended book in any condition, any unopened music CD, DVD, VHS tape or software, and any other merchandise item in new condition, with its original packaging and accessories. Web site responsiveness, functionality and features, acquire and license leading technologies, enhance Amazon’s existing services, develop new services and technology and respond to technological advances and emerging industry standards and practices on a cost-effective and timely basis. Due to the fact that technol ogy remained one of the core aspects in Amazon. coms business, Amazon. com should keep track of the fast changing technological environment. Example, advancement in any areas of IT systems should be adopted, if appropriate, and in turn guarantee timely response and quality of service to the customer that ensure total customer satisfaction in return. It would be preferable to stay ahead of competitors by embracing new technology to gain competitive advantage. Example of some of the technology that is unique in Amazon. com is their One-click shopping, email alerts, and much more. Amazon. com has also taken to the extent of patent their One-click shopping so that their competitors would be unable to copy this technology. Core Distinctive Competencies Unique to Amazon is its patent-protected software technology. This resource would surpass industry standards with benefit of securing the right to exclusively use and sell the developed innovation. Other close-rival firms may have strategic and innovative-like leaders with experience and knowledge of the industry but the value-adding capability that it can offer to customers would be amputated, if not, eradicated for use due to legal constraints. In a similar manner, large firms wanting to enter the industry would have large capital base and shareholder or public financing capable of pirating Amazon key employees or buying close competitors. However, without buying the whole company such seemingly unethical would not injure the competitive advantage of Amazon much because patents do not accrue to individual employees rather the company. As a result, stagnation or over-complexity of technology would be the long-term position of imitating rivals. The most prominent core competency of the firm would be its strategic plot of expansion though customer innovation. It has the costly-to-imitate financial and technological resource, valuable firm infrastructure, rare strategic leader and top management composition and non-substitutable software technology. These resource and capability combinations that possess the four criteria suggest that sustained competitive advantage is present to the firm’s patented innovation. Amazon. com has several core values which play a crucial part in the success of the company. One of them is excellent customer service based on extraordinary technology. The company provides various services such as book reviews from other customers and from staff. In addition, many featured books contained descriptions, snippets of reviews and interview posted by authors. Convenience and price is the second core value of the company. It sells books through Internet and has its own distribution system. Similarly, Amazon does not have to spend too much money on real state and other operation because it is pursuing Internet-based business. Thus, it can reduce its inventory expenses. On one hand, the company has several key resources and capabilities to meet the challenges presented by opportunities and threats. These resources and capabilities have thus far allowed the company to be the world leader in the special retail industry. Jeffrey P. Bezos, founder and chairman of Amazon since 1994, is the driving force behind the company. He is a valuable resource that gives the company the competitive advantage with above-average return. Amazon. com has also a very strong brand name presence in the online-retail market, which is primarily due to their successful exploitation of their ‘first-mover’ advantage. It would be able to leverage this brand name as it realizes its plans for expansion in the future. In addition, the technological infrastructure of the company also gives its competitive advantage against the other rivals. It can pen a new store which has different products very easily because its core shopping technologies are easily re-usable. On one hand, its website is elegantly designed, easy to navigate and quick to load. It also has numerous proprietary inventions like the click shopping, personalized recommendations and user rating which make shopping more pleasurable. The four strategies such as outsourcing strategies, strategic partnership, compelling value, and active advertising implemented by the company have contributed to its success in sales growth and cost efficiency. Information technology enables forms to pay more attention to what makes consumers different from one another. Focusing on such variation serves as the basis for positioning a brand as being highly intimate with consumers. Amazon uses customers’ purchase histories to make suggestions about additional books that they might enjoy. The system is based on detecting patterns in the purchase histories of other customers who have bought some of the same books as the target customer. Such automatic response systems are simply usage-based segmentation systems that capitalize on the firm’s database to create more customized communications than traditional mass media. Even though one can search online and find the identical book at a lower price than at Amazon. com, Amazon is the clear leader in selling books online. This is a combination of greater awareness of Amazon and unique value. Amazon built a customer-focused principle. It targets customers on a one-to-one basis through Internet-based services.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Is Morality Dependent on Religion free essay sample

Morality is often referred to religion, as a lot of our laws come from religion; however that doesn’t mean morals are always dependent on religion; as some people believe in autonomy where they believe the principles of morality are based on reason and experience (the morals from society) and not necessarily on religious concepts. Whereas people that believe in heteronomy believe that morality comes directly from god, so there for is dependent on it.However some people believe points from both sides so think that morality doesn’t have to be completely dependent on religion but does sometimes need it. But if morality was based on religion we would all have the same rules and religion as all religions are different and if this was true then their shouldn’t be any conflict. In the view of heteronomy, they would say that religion and morality are linked it is even linked our rules with such things as the Ten Commandments. We will write a custom essay sample on Is Morality Dependent on Religion or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Even though some people may argue and say it is just known and is common sense for us to know not to kill, they would say without religions we would not know this, they would go on about how religion makes our society moral as without it, it would be based completely on autonomy, which they believe indicates that people would be able to do what they liked without having to be concerned with the consciences and become deontological.Overall heteronomy suggests that morality is dependent on religion as a guide for us to use to do right rather than everything being permissible. Corresponding to this autonomy and some Theonomy believers would argue that there are negative sides and opinions to morality and its suggested dependency on religion. For example a humanist would say â€Å"don’t believe in god, have a strong code of ethics, but believe that religion does more harm than good. † And even Lucretius C. 60 BCE believed that â€Å"such evil deeds could religion provoke. This all suggest that even before the Common Era religion brought negativity into society and created conflict so how can such an evil this decide and influence what is right and wrong let alone morality actually being dependent of it. A lot of people believe that if religion wasn’t hear our world would have developed more and be far more peaceful as there have been a lot of holy wars. A lot of religions discriminate against people they don’t agree with, but surely harming and disrespecting others is morally wrong and god wouldn’t tolerate it if he really was omnibenevolence then why would he allow and influence such things.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Grammar Translation Method free essay sample

It was also hoped that, through the study of the grammar of the target language, students would become more familiar with the grammar of their native language and that this familiarity would help them speak and write their native language better. Finally, it was thought that foreign language learning would help students grow intellectually; it was recognized that students would probably never use the target language, but the mental exercise of learning it would be beneficial anyway. Grammar Translation dominated European and foreign language teaching from the 1840s to the 1940s, and in modified form it continues to be widely used in some parts of the world today. At its best, as Howatt (1984) points out, it was not necessarily the horror that its critics depicted it as. Its worst excesses were introduced by those who wanted to demonstrate that the study of French or German was no less rigorous than the study of classical languages. We will write a custom essay sample on Grammar Translation Method or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This resulted in the type of Grammar-Translation courses remembered with distaste by thousands of school learners, for whom foreign language learning meant a tedious experience of memorizing endless lists of unusable grammar rules and vocabulary and attempting to produce perfect translations of stilted or literary prose. Although the Grammar-Translation Method often creates frustration for students, it makes few demands on teachers. It is still used in situations where understanding literary texts is the primary focus of foreign language study and there is little need for a speaking knowledge of the language. Contemporary texts for the teaching of foreign languages at college level often reflect Grammar-Translation principles. These texts are frequently the products of people trained in literature rather than in language teaching or applied linguistics. Consequently, though it may be true to say that the Grammar-Translation Method is still widely practiced, it has no advocates. It is a method for which there is no theory. There is no literature that offers a rationale or justification for it or that attempts to relate it to issues in linguistics, psychology, or educational theory [2, p. ]. In the mid and late of 19th century opposition to the Grammar-Translation Method gradually developed in several European countries. This reform movement laid the foundations for the development of new ways of teaching languages and raised controversies that have continued to the present day. Initial Principles of Grammar-Translation Method This has been just a brief introduction to the Grammar-Translati on Method, but it is probably true that this method is not new to many of you. You may have studied a language in this way, or you may be teaching with this method right now. Whether this is true or not, lets have some observations about the Grammar-Translation Method, identifying principle characteristics of that method. ? A fundamental purpose of learning a foreign language is to be able to read its literature. Literary language is superior to spoken language. Students study of the foreign culture is limited to its literature and fine arts. ? An important goal is for students to be able to translate each language into the other. If students can translate from one language into another, they are considered successful language learners. ? The ability to communicate in the target language is not a goal of oreign language instruction. ? The primary skills to be developed are reading and writing. Little attention is given to speaking and listening, and almost none to pronunciation. ? The teacher is the authority in the classroom. It is very important that students get the correct answer. ? It is possible to find native language equivalents for all target lan guage words. ? Learning is facilitated through attention to similarities between the target language and the native language. ? It is important for students to learn about the form of the target language. ? Deductive application of an explicit grammar rule is a useful pedagogical technique. Language learning provides good mental exercise. ? Students should be conscious of the grammatical rules of the target language. ? Wherever possible, verb conjugations and other grammatical paradigms should be committed to memory. Reviewing the Principles The principles of the Grammar-Translation Method are organized below by answering the ten questions. Not all the questions are addressed by the Grammar-Translation Method; we will list all the questions, however, so that a comparison among the methods will be easier to make. 1. What are the goals of teachers who use the Grammar-Translation Method? According to the teachers who use the Grammar-Translation Method, a fundamental purpose of learning a foreign language is to be able to read literature written in the target language. To do this, students need to learn about the grammar rules and vocabulary of the target language. In addition, it is believed that studying a foreign language provides students with good mental exercise which helps develop their minds. 2. What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students? The roles are very traditional. The teacher is the authority in the classroom. The students do as he says so they can learn what he knows. 3. What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process? Students are taught to translate from one language to another. Often what they translate are readings in the target language about some aspect of the culture of the foreign language community. Students study grammar deductively; that is, they are given the grammar rules and examples, are told to memorize them, and then are asked to apply the rules to other examples. They also learn grammatical paradigms such as verb conjugations. They memorize native language equivalents for foreign language vocabulary words. 4. What is the nature of student-teacher interaction? What is the nature of student-student interaction? Most of the interaction in the classroom is from the teacher to the students. There is little student initiation and little student-student interaction. 5. How are the feelings of the students dealt with? There are no principles of the method which relate to this area. 6. How is language viewed? How is culture viewed? Literary language is considered superior to spoken language and is therefore the language students study. Culture is viewed as consisting of literature and the fine arts. 7. What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills are emphasized? Vocabulary and grammar are emphasized. Reading and writing are the primary skills that the students work on. There is much less attention given to speaking and listening. Pronunciation receives little, if any, attention. 8. What is the role of the students native language? The meaning of the target language is made clear by translating it into the students native language. The language that is used in class is mostly the students native language. 9. How is evaluation accomplished? Written tests in which students are asked to translate from their native language to the target language or vice versa are often used. Questions about the foreign culture or questions that ask students to apply grammar rules are also common. 10. How does the teacher respond to student errors? Having the students get the correct answer is considered very important. If students make errors or dont know an answer, the teacher supplies them with the correct answer. Some Considerations about the Initial Techniques of Grammar-Translation Method There are some useful techniques associated with the Grammar-Translation Method. Below is an expanded description of some of these techniques. †¢ Translation of a Literary Passage Students translate a reading passage from the target language into their native language. The reading passage then provides the focus for several classes: vocabulary and grammatical structures in the passage are studied in subsequent lessons. The passage may be excerpted from some work from the target language literature, or a teacher may write a passage carefully designed to include particular grammar rules and vocabulary. The translation may be written or spoken or both. Students should not translate idioms and the like literally, but rather in a way that shows that they understand their meaning. Reading Comprehension Questions Students answer questions in the target language based on their understanding of the reading passage. Often the questions are sequenced so that the first group of questions asks for information contained within the reading passage. In order to answer the second group of questions, students will have to make inferences based on their understanding of the pass age. This means they will have to answer questions about the passage even though the answers are not contained in the passage itself. The third group of questions requires students to relate the passage to their own experience. Antonyms/Synonyms Students are given one set of words and are asked to find antonyms in the reading passage. A similar exercise could be done by asking students to find synonyms for a particular set of words. Or students might be asked to define a set of words based on their understanding of them as they occur in the reading passage. Other exercises that ask students to work with the vocabulary of the passage are also possible (Allen 1983). †¢ Cognates Students are taught to recognize cognates by learning the spelling or sound patterns that correspond between the languages. Students are also asked to memorize words that look like cognates but have meanings in the target language that are different from those in the native language. This technique, of course, would only be useful in languages that share cognates. †¢ Deductive Application of Rule Grammar rules are presented with examples. Exceptions to each rule are also noted. Once students understand a rule, they are asked to apply it to some different examples. †¢ Fill-in-the-blanks Students are given a series of sentences with words missing. They fill in the blanks with new vocabulary items or with items of a particular grammar type, such as prepositions or verbs with different tenses. †¢ Memorization Students are given lists of target language vocabulary words and their native language equivalents and are asked to memorize them. Students are also required to memorize grammatical rules and grammatical paradigms such as verb conjugations. †¢ Use Words in Sentences In order to show that students understand the meaning and use of a new vocabulary item, they make up sentences in which they use the new words. †¢ Composition The teacher gives the students a topic to write about in the target language. The topic is based upon some aspect of the reading passage of the lesson. Sometimes, instead of creating a composition, students are asked to prepare a precis of the reading passage. p. s. It does virtually nothing to enhance a students communicative ability in the language. On the other hand, one can understand why Grammar Translation is so popular. It requires few specialized skills on the part of teachers. Tests of grammar rules and of translations are easy to construct and can be objectively scored.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Sleeping Bags Essays - Camping Equipment, Insulators, Bags, Bedding

Sleeping Bags Essays - Camping Equipment, Insulators, Bags, Bedding Sleeping Bags Choosing a Sleeping Bag Listed below are descriptions of the key characteristics differentiating Sleeping Bags. Price We list the Average Street Price (ASP) for a sleeping bag. Although ASP may be higher than the best retail price you can find, it is a good indication of what you may pay at a typical retailer. When an ASP is not available we list the Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price. (MSRP). The price listed is for the standard size sleeping bag. Often there are long (and occaisonally short) versions of the bag as well. The long version typically adds an extra 10 to 20 dollars to the price tag, while the short version is either the same price or a few dollars less. Range: $20 to almost $800. 80% of sleeping bags are between $80 and $450, with a median price of $180. Brand Brand is usually the name of the company that makes the particular sleeping bag, although sometimes companies will produce several brands. Shape Have you ever had the desire to be wrapped up tight just like King Tut? Then look at the mummy shaped sleeping bag, which is specially designed to form fit the body. The mummy is the most popular shape for sleeping bags, with the advantage of being very compact and warm. Still, some people get a little claustrophobic with no room to toss and turn, in which case the semi-rectangular bag is a good choice. It gives you space to store a few things in the bag and move about, without sacrificing the tapered foot area or the mummy-style hood. However remember it is less heat-efficient and a bit heavier than the mummy shape. Rectangular bags are the bulkiest and heaviest of the bags, but they are cheap, roomy, and easy to zip together to form two-person bags. Range: Mummy, Semi-Rectangular, Rectangular Temperature Rating Temperature rating is a hotly debated subject in the outdoor world. It is the indicator of the lowest temperatures (in Fahrenheit) you can use the bag in and still be comfortable. There are no standardized ratings and so each manufacturer provides an estimate. In any case, this number may be different for you personally, according to whether you are a hot or cold sleeper. Use this number as a guideline, but keep in mind your own sleeping habits and choose conservatively according to the coldest weather you think you will encounter when camping. Range: -65 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Fill Type Do you prefer down or synthetic insulation? This is the big choice that everyone faces when buying a sleeping bag. Down fanatics will tell you there's absolutely no replacement for a sleeping bag filled with the down from a goose. Down bags are generally warmer, lighter, more durable and more compactible than synthetic bags. They mold to your body to fill the voids that steal heat and compress down to a little pouch at the bottom of your backpack. However, down bags are cold when they get wet, don't dry as quickly as synthetic bags, and can only be dry-cleaned. They are also more expensive. Synthetic bags are cheaper, machine washable, and more water resistant (it's even said they're comfortable when wet, although no bag is comfortable if soaked through). They dry quickly, resist mold and are non-allergenic. If you do a lot of camping in rainy conditions, a synthetic might be the way to go. However if money is no option and you want a high quality sleeping bag that will last three times longer than a synthetic bag, take a good look at down. Range: Down or Synthetic. Water Resistant Shell A wet sleeping bag is a miserable experiencecold and clammy to sleep in and sometimes difficult to dry. Some shells are made of a water resistant material that helps keep moisture out (blocking the wind as well). This is great in difficult weather. However, water resistant shells have their negatives as well. They are not as breathable as non-resistant shells, which means that you may be protected from the elements on the outside, but soaking your sleeping bag with sweat from the inside. They are also more expensive than the non-resistant shells, particularly the DryLoft shell, which can add over $100 to the price of the bag. When deciding if a water resistant shell is important to you, consider the weather you plan to be camping in to help you decide if the investment is worth it. Range: Yes or No. Insulated Draft

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Selecting and Model and Anticipating Barriers posts Assignment

Selecting and Model and Anticipating Barriers posts - Assignment Example In matters of oral health, â€Å"...perceived severity...and...Perceived benefits† should be the main concepts in promotion of oral hygiene. Perceived severity of oral problems is usually low as oral problems are not perceived as fatal; however, quality of life is significantly lowered e.g. through pain and a problem like halitosis limits social interaction. Dentists thus can be involved in HBM by showing the benefits of prevention and healthy living; especially financial benefits and avoidance of pain (Maurer & Smith, 2009). I agree that â€Å"People know what is good for their health but it is difficult for them to change their behavior.† This might stem from them not knowing the actual steps needed to lead healthier lives in spite of them having insight to the health problems they face. By integrating people in decision-making, they are part of the solution thus likely to adopt change than when they feel the proposed changes are alien to them (Center for Disease Control and

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

An Empirical Project on The Effect of Variable A on Variable B Research Paper

An Empirical Project on The Effect of Variable A on Variable B - Research Paper Example In this research, the two variables in the investigation is the price of a pair of shoe and its demand in the market. To achieve this, several tools would be in place to determine whether there is indeed a relationship between the price and demand of a commodity. The tool used in this research is the price of elasticity of demand. In calculating the price elasticity of demand, the tool exploits the use of other several factors which have a role in determining demand and price of a commodity. The price of a single type of shoe can influence the demand for that pair in a number of ways. Price is in different stimuli that affect demand. To come up with the right conclusion on the effect of price on demand, certain price factors to be considered include the average price, nominal price, real price, nominal price, price levels and price changes (Landsburg 18). To explore such dimensions of price, it would depend on the data available. The price level refers to the price that is set on a c ommodity in a certain region. To approximate the price level, it is important to use the price index. The nominal value is the value of the commodity in terms of real currency. The real value is a measure of the market purchasing power after some period of time. In determining the estimates for the price elasticity of demand, the following model was in use; wGi= aGi + bGln xi + qGHln pH + †¢ zi + uGi. ... This formula could manipulate the amount of data that would be used to determine the price elasticity of demand for a pair of shoe in the market. An important tool to determine the relationship between price and demand is the study of the price elasticity of demand. The price elasticity of demand is an economic tool that shows the change that exists when there is a change in quantity demanded, on the price of the commodity. In addition, the price elasticity of demand could give a percentage change in the quantity in demand, when the price of the commodity changes by a single percentage. Most of the goods in the market would have a negative price elasticity, thus a negative price elasticity of demand. In many cases, the sign is not that important when analyzing the data. With a price elasticity of demand that is less than one absolute value, the demand is inelastic. This is interpreted as the change that occur at the price have little effect on the quantity that the market would deman d of the good. When the price elasticity of demand is more than one percent, the demand for the commodity is elastic, that is, a slight change in the price of the commodity would result to great change on the good’s quantity demanded (Landsburg 478). The above diagram shows a perfect inelastic price elasticity of demand. (Landsburg 489) The above diagram shows a perfect elasticity. The price elasticity of demand for a pair of shoes would depend on the following factors; if the substitute good is available, the percentage of income, necessity and other factors. As stated above, the price elasticity of demand for a good relates the price of a commodity to its demand. Therefore, when calculating the price elasticity of demand for a pair of shoe

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Screening of Sugar Cane Alley and Eve's Bayou Essay

Screening of Sugar Cane Alley and Eve's Bayou - Essay Example It is one of the French films, which were directed by Palcy Euzhan in 1989. It has its setting in Martinique during the 1930s. The film revolves around the story of the mistreatment by the whites as they worked as slaves during the 1930s. The film is mainly based on the semi-autobiographical novel that was compiled by Zobel Joseph (Rue). The cinematography that has been used in the movie consists of tilt-shift photography. The cinematographer applied medium sized lenses to ensure the control of the plane of focus orientation making certain parts of the image appear sharp. This is the reason for the different shapes and lightings of the image in the film. Part of the film also reveals the traditional cinematography with dull brown outlooks. The music in the movie is has slow rhythm and low tone that allows for the clear narration of the movie hence facilitating the comprehension of the viewers. The teacher, Mr. Rock has the most influence on Jose. His influence is academic and racial related (Rue). He accuses him falsely because of plagiarism when he writes an essay explaining the suffering of the slaves in the sugar cane plantations. I identify myself with Jose. He is focused and is forgiving. He actually marches my traits. Formal education is portrayed in the film through the school learning system. Scholarships are other examples or elements found in the formal education. The movie also shows that formal education does not allow for copying of other people’s ideas (plagiarism), therefore, it stresses on creativity and absolute originality. Joe runs away from school after being accused of plagiarism. Informal education is shown on the movie through the teachings of Joe by his grandmother. This form of education does not require class work or education.... Joe runs away from school after being accused of plagiarism. Informal education is shown on the movie through the teachings of Joe by his grandmother. This form of education does not require class work or education. It is not also expensive like formal one hence no scholarships for it. Contrast, in the film, is portrayed through the depiction of class difference in the film. Joe’s grandmother, Tine is one of the extreme poor individuals in this society. There are extremely rich people in the same society, for instance, Leopold’s parents who are landowners. The filmmaker has employed his tactics and experience in ensuring that the entire film is not about the sentiments of Jose’s education, through the inclusion of his grandmother. The way Tine is treated is meant to inform the viewers on the core theme of the film, which is racism, and class disparities during the 1930s American societies. Leopold and his parents have been portrayed as opportunistic individuals. They offer Jose food in return for his labor service in their farm making him miss classes. This, in turn, is a portrayal that the society consists of class disparities and unfairness reins the entire society. The scene with Jose and Medouze is an educative one whereby Jose learns of the past and the experience undergone by his grandparents and ancestors (Rue). Despite being the fact that the movie is based on the novel, there is a distinct between the novel and the movie. The difference is on the settings of the two. The settings are on two different places and time. The movie was produced in the 1960s whereas the book was published earlier than that. Gender issues have been revealed in the movie as one of

Friday, November 15, 2019

Renewable And Non Renewable Energy Sources

Renewable And Non Renewable Energy Sources The world provides everything to human. The resources make people live better and better. There are many forms of resources; different resources have completely different functions and effects to people. People should protect them because some of them are not renewable. I will introduce the different types of resources, they are renewable or non-renewable and a lot of things about environment in this research. More and more industries are building up in the world. The pollutions are more serious than before. People cannot live without nice environment, so we should get some solutions for those pollutions. If people do not stop making pollutions, the consequences will be horrible and bad to human. Because everything is connected, no one can escape from it. World is our home, we should understand it, respect it and love it. Resources can be separated to be renewable and non-renewable. Or resources can be separated to be those five kinds: mineral resources, energy resources, land resources, water resources and biological resources. Mineral resources: All of minerals are non-renewable resource. Minerals include all materials extracted from the earth. Mineral resources include: Metallic minerals: iron, copper, aluminum, lead, zinc, tin and so onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Non-metallic minerals like limestone, sandstone, sand, clay and so onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ South Africas wealth has been built on the countrys vast resources nearly 90% of the platinum metals on Earth, 80% of the manganese, 73% of the chrome, 45% of the vanadium and 41% of the gold. Energy resources in the world: Coal-Non-renewable. Oil and gas-Non-renewable. Coal, oil and gas are called fossil fuels because they have been formed from the organic remains of prehistoric plants and animals. Thats why they are non-renewable. Except those three kinds of energy resources, most of other energy resources are renewable resources. Name of Energy Resources Non-renewable or Renewable Wind power Renewable Wave power Renewable Solar power Renewable Nuclear power Non-renewable Tidal power Renewable Hydroelectric power Renewable Geothermal power Renewable Bio mass Renewable Pumped storage Renewable Land resources-Renewable Water resources-Renewable Biological resources-Renewable Sustainability of energy resources: Definition: Sustainable energy is about using energy cleverly and using energy generated from pure sources and clean technologies. Using sustainable energy is benefit for humans present and future. Being efficient with our energy will reduce energy bills, reduce the amount of energy we need to produce in the first place and decrease pollutions. In fact, sustainable energy is not just about using renewable energy; perhaps it is about using energy wisely and introducing energy efficiency measures. Energy demand A number of factors are clearly. The worlds population will continue to grow for several decades at least. Energy demand increases faster and faster, and the proportion supplied by electricity will also grow faster still. The main question is how people generate that electricity? According to surveys, these days, 64% comes from fossil fuels, 16% from nuclear fission and 19% from hydro, with very little from other renewable in worldwide. Sources of energy Renewable energy like wind and solar are appropriate first consideration in sustainable development, because apart from constructing the plant, there is no destroy of mineral resources and no direct air or water pollutions. But these free sources cannot be the only option. Renewable sources other than hydro notably wind and solar, are diffuse and unreliable by nature of their occurrence. Except for renewable resources, another most important thing is what resources have most abundant and less polluting. The criteria for any acceptable energy supply will continue to be cost and safety, as well as environmental considerations. Energy resources There is abundant coal in many parts of the world, but with the constraints imposed by concern about global warming, it is likely that these will increasingly their large-scale use for electricity production will be scaled down. Current proposals for clean coal technologies may change this outlook. The main technology involves using the coal to make hydrogen from water by a two-stage gasification process, then burying the carbon dioxide and burning the hydrogen. Elements of the technology are proven but the challenge is to bring the cost of this down sufficiently to compete with nuclear power. Natural gas is also reasonably abundant but is so valuable for direct use after being reticulated to the point where heat is required, and as a chemical feedstock, that its large-scale use for power generation makes little sense and is arguably unsustainable. Fuel for nuclear power is abundant, and if well-proven but currently uneconomic fast breeder technology is used, or thorium becomes a nuclear fuel, the supply is almost limitless. The Hydrogen problems Hydrogen is expected to come into great demand as a transport fuel which does not contribute to global warming. It may be used in fuel cells to produce electricity or directly in internal combustion motors. Fuel cells are at an early stage of technological development and still require substantial, research and development input, although they will be an important technology in the future. Hydrogen may be provided by steam reforming of natural gas by thermonuclear processes, or by electrolysis of water. Advantages and disadvantages of energy resources: Name of energy resources Advantages Fossil fuels Very large amounts of electricity, fairly cheaply. Gas-fired power stations are very efficient. The power station can be built almost anywhere. Wind power Wind is free, wind farms need no fuel. Wave power The energy is free no fuel needed, no waste produced. Not expensive to operate and maintain. Solar power Solar energy is free and no pollutions. Nuclear power Nuclear power costs about the same as coal, so its not expensive to make. Produces small wastes. Nuclear power is reliable. Tidal power Once youve built it, tidal power is free. It produces no greenhouse gases or other waste. It produces electricity reliably. Not expensive to maintain. Hydroelectric power Once the dam is built, the energy is virtually free. No waste or pollution produced. Much more reliable than wind, solar or wave power. Geothermal power Geothermal energy does not produce any pollution, and does not contribute to the greenhouse effect. Once youve built a geothermal power station, the energy is almost free. Bio mass It makes sense to use waste materials where we can. The fuel tends to be cheap. Less demand on the fossil fuels. Pumped storage Little effect on the landscape. No pollution or waste Conclusion: Most of those energy resources have below advantages: No pollution. No waste. Cheap some of them free. Build up stations easily. Power is reliable. Name of energy resources Disadvantages Fossil fuels Burning any fossil fuel produces carbon dioxide, which contributes to the greenhouse effect, warming the Earth. Pollution. Wind power The wind is not always predictable. Suitable areas for wind-expensive. Can kill birds. Wave power Depends on the waves sometimes youll get loads Solar power Doesnt work at night. Very expensive to build solar power stations. Can be unreliable. Nuclear power Although not much waste is produced, it is very, very dangerous. Tidal power A barrage across an estuary is very expensive to build, and affects a very wide area. Only provides power for around 10 hours each day, when the tide is actually moving in or out. There are few suitable sites for tidal barrages Hydroelectric power The dams are very expensive to build. Building a large dam will flood a very large area upstream, causing problems for animals that used to live there. Water quality and quantity downstream can be affected, which can have an impact on plant life. Geothermal power The big problem is that there are not many places where you can build a geothermal power station. You need hot rocks of a suitable type, at a depth where we can drill down to them. Bio mass Collecting or growing the fuel in sufficient quantities can be difficult. We burn the biofuel, so it makes greenhouse gases just like fossil fuels do. Some waste materials are not available all year round. Pumped storage Expensive to build. Once its used, you cant use it again until youve pumped the water back up. Conclusion: Most of those energy resources have below disadvantages: Build up stations is expensive. Danger. Not easily to get power. Sometimes, bad weather will affect it. Pollution. Problems with resources: The major resources problems around the world: Natural resources are being degraded. The oil, the water, the old growth forests are all limited resources. They must be conserved for the most important future uses. Oil is necessary for the operation of all sorts of machinery, yet it is not being conserved but recklessly pumped out of the earth and sold to the highest bidder. Forest resources. In the early history, the earth is approximately 2/3 of the land is covered by forests. The area of forest nearly 76 million hectares. Now, world only has 36 hectares of forests because deforestation and forest clearing. The fresh water shortage. Human consumption of freshwater is increasing rapidly; it causes serious shortage of water resources. The freshwater resources on the earth are limited, and distribution is not balanced. Water shortages became very important problem to restrict many countries economy development especially the agricultural production. Drinkable water is increasing rare; indeed, it is sold in stores for the same price of colas. But underground water is needed for crops, and the underwater reserves are running out. Here, national and international management are required. Plowland decreases. Due to the population growth and the non-agricultural population increases, the land is almost zero. Meanwhile, many area face soil erosion and desertification of land degradation. Every year millions of hectares of arable land about loss. Desertification. The reasons are overgrazing, deforestation denudation and drought. Problem with resources in South Africa: The South African mining industry has been consistently churning out some of the worlds foremost natural resources, including precious metals such as gold and platinum. The world leader in platinum production, South Africa is suffering from an energy shortage. Two major shortages of resources are water and electricity in South Africa. Solutions: Firstly, citizens should save water and electricity. Secondly, South Africa government sets up more stations and use high developed technologies to use energy resources produce water and electricity. Finally, if SA does not have high technologies, it needs to buy them from other countries or scientists should start to make plans. Effect of mining on the environment: Mining has strong power to destructive to the environment. It is one of the main reason which causes of deforestation. In order to mine, people clear and burn trees and vegetations. The ground becomes completely bare, large scale mining operations use huge number of bulldozers and excavators to extract the metals and minerals from the soil. In order to cluster the extractions, they use chemicals such as cyanide and mercury. These chemicals go through tailings and are often discharged into rivers, streams, bays, and oceans. These pollutions contaminate all living organisms within the body of water and ultimately the people who depend on the fish for their main sources of protein and their economic livelihood. Small scale mining is equally devastating to the environment, if not more. There are two types of small scale mining ¼Ã…’land dredging and river dredging: Land dredging involves miners using a generator to dig a large hole in the ground. They use a high pressure hose to expose the gold-bearing layer of sand and clay. The gold bearing slurry is pumped into a sluice box, which collects gold particles, while mine tailings flow into either an abandoned mining pit or adjacent forest. When the mining pits fill with water from the tailings, they become stagnant water pools. These pools create a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other water-born insects. Malaria and other water-born diseases increase significantly whenever open pools of water are nearby. River dredging involves moving along a river on a platform or boat. The miners use a hydrolic suction hose and suction the gravel and mud as they move along the river. The gravel, mud, and rocks go through the tailings (pipes) and any gold fragments are collected on felt mats. The remaining gravel, mud, and rocks go back into the river, but in a different location than where it was originally suctioned. This creates problems for the river. The displaced gravel and mud disrupt the natural flow of the river. Fish and other living organisms often die and fishermen can no longer navigate in the obstructed rivers. Think about the fact that producing a single gold ring generates 20 tons of mine waste. Disadvantages of mining: It destroys forest and wetlands. It may mean that you have to cut down lots of trees just to get to the spot that has all the gold or iron ore. Underground coal mining can require the removal of almost an entire layer of material deep under the surface. When the timber supports collapse, this can lead to subsidence. The subsidence can mean damage to natural areas. It can even cause cracks in river beds, leading to loss of river flow. Some mining involves the inadvertent dispersal of heavy metals, such as lead, into the atmosphere. This can have serious health effects, including mental retardation in children. Asbestos mining causes the dispersal of asbestos into the environment. This will cause deaths among local residents and workers, often several decades later. Fortunately, the mining and use of asbestos are banned in most parts of the world. Industry and its exploitation of the resources: Gold: Gold is one of the most important roles in South Africas economy. A number of different techniques can be used to mine gold. The three most common methods in South Africa are panning, open cast and shaft mining. Panning Panning for gold is a manual technique that is used to sort gold from other sediments. Wide, shallow pans are filled with sand and gravel from river beds that may contain gold. Water is added and the pans are shaken. Open cast mining This is a form of surface mining. Surface layers of rock and sediments are removed so that the deeper gold rich layers can be reached. This type of mining is not suitable if the gold is buried very deep below the surface. Shaft mining South Africas thin but extensive gold reefs slope at an angle underneath the ground, and this means that some deposits are very deep and often difficult to reach. Shaft mining is needed to reach the gold ore. After the initial drilling, blasting and equipping of a mine shaft, tunnels are built leading outwards from the main shaft so that the gold reef can be reached. Iron: Iron is one of the most abundant metals on Earth. It is extracted from iron ore and is almost never found in its elemental form. Iron ores are usually rich in iron oxide minerals and may vary in colour from dark grey to rusty red. Iron mining and iron ore processing: One of the more common methods of mining for iron ore is open cast mining. Open cast mining is used when the iron ore is found near the surface. Once the ore has been removed, it needs to be crushed into fine particles before it can be processed further. As mentioned earlier, iron is commonly found in the form of iron oxides. To create pure iron, the ore must be smelted to remove the oxygen. Definition Smelting Smelting is a method used to extract a metal from its ore and then purify it. Smelting usually involves heating the ore and also adding a reducing agent (e.g. carbon) so that the metal can be freed from its ore. The bonds between iron and oxygen are very strong, and therefore it is important to use an element that will form stronger bonds with oxygen that the iron. A blast furnace is a huge steel container many metres high and lined with heat-resistant material. STEP 1: Production of carbon monoxide. STEP 2: Reduction of iron oxides takes place in a number of stages to produce iron. STEP 3: Fluxing: The flux is used to melt impurities in the ore. Phosphate: A phosphate is a salt of phosphoric acid. Phosphorus is seldom found in its pure elemental form, and phosphate therefore refers to a rock or ore that contains phosphate ions. Mining phosphates: Phosphate is found in beds in sedimentary rock, and has to be quarried to access the ore. A quarry is a type of open pit mine that is used to extract ore. In South Africa, the main phosphate producer is at the Palaborwa alkaline igneous complex, which produces about 3 million tons of ore per year. The ore is crushed into a powder and is then treated with sulfuric acid to form a superphosphate, which is then used as a fertilizer. In the equation below, the phosphate mineral is calcium phosphate. Coal: Coal is what is known as a fossil fuel. How coal is removed from the ground? Coal can be removed from the crust in a number of different ways. The most common methods used are strip mining, open cast mining and underground mining. Strip mining Strip mining is a form of surface mining that is used when the coal reserves are very shallow. The overburden (overlying sediment) is removed so that the coal seams can be reached. These sediments are replaced once the mining is finished, and in many cases, attempts are made to rehabilitate the area. Open cast mining Open cast mining is also a form of surface mining, but here the coal deposits are too deep to be reached using strip mining. One of the environmental impacts of open cast mining is that the overburden is dumped somewhere else away from the mine, and this leaves a huge pit in the ground. Underground mining Undergound mining is normally used when the coal seams are much deeper, usually at a depth greater than 40 m. As with shaft mining for gold, the problem with underground mining is that it is very dangerous, and there is a very real chance that the ground could collapse during the mining if it is not support. Pollution due to industry: Pollutants produces and the environment impact on the lithosphere and atmosphere include nitrogen cycle and the carbon cycle. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/AlfedPalmersmokestacks.jpg/260px-AlfedPalmersmokestacks.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution Major primary pollutants produced by industries include: Sulfur oxides Nitrogen oxides (NOx) especially nitrogen dioxide are emitted from high temperature combustion. Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless, non-irritating but very poisonous gas. It is a product by incomplete combustion of fuel such as natural gas, coal or wood. Carbon dioxide (CO2) a greenhouse gas emitted from combustion but is also a gas vital to living organisms. It is a natural gas in the atmosphere. Many of the largest polluters come from the chemical, pesticide, oil refining, petrochemical, metal smelting, iron and steel, and food processing industries. All are major users of energy that produce large amounts of waste products and pollution. Other industries have less potential impact but are still considered highly problematic when it comes to pollution. These industries include the textile, leather tanning, paint, plastics, pharmaceutical, and paper and pulp industries. Industries that are often outside the traditional manufacturing sector-but nevertheless contribute to environmental degradation-include the construction industry. Atmosphere: Air pollution is produced by industry. The plan sets overall national fixed emissions caps for industrial pollutants causing smog and acid rain. Air pollution can result in poor air quality, both in cities and the countryside. Some air pollutants make people sick, causing breathing problems and increasing the likelihood of cancer. Others are harmful to plants, animals, and the ecosystems in which they live. Some air pollutants return to Earth in the form of acid rain, which corrodes statues and buildings, damages crops and forests, and makes lakes and streams unsuitable for fish and other plant and animal life. Man-made air pollution is also changing the Earths atmosphere so that it lets in more harmful radiation from the Sun. Meanwhile, people release more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, preventing heat from escaping back into space and leading to a rise in global average temperatures. Global warming will raise sea levels and change climates all over the world. Some places will become hotter and drier, others wetter. The incidence of severe storms and flooding is likely to increase. Global warming will also affect food supply and increase the spread of tropical disease. Lithosphere: The lithosphere is the solid shell of a rocky planet called earth. That means the crust and the upper part of the mantle which is joined to the crust (see picture on the right). Under the lithosphere there is the asthenosphere, the weaker, hotter, and deeper part of the upper mantle. Nitrogen cycle: Four processes participate in the cycling of nitrogen through the biosphere: nitrogen fixation, decay, nitrification and denitrification Nitrogen Fixation The nitrogen molecule (N2) is quite inert. To break it apart so that its atoms can combine with other atoms requires the input of substantial amounts of energy. Decay The proteins made by plants enter and pass through food webs just as carbohydrates do. Nitrification Ammonia can be taken up directly by plants usually through their roots. However, most of the ammonia produced by decay is converted into nitrates. This is accomplished in two steps: Bacteria of the genus Nitrosomonas oxidize NH3 to nitrites (NO2à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢). Bacteria of the genus Nitrobacter oxidize the nitrites to nitrates (NO3à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢). Both soil and the ocean contain archaeal microbes, assigned to the Crenarchaeota, that convert ammonia to nitrites. Denitrification The three processes above remove nitrogen from the atmosphere and pass it through ecosystems. And denitrification reduces nitrates to nitrogen gas, thus replenishing the atmosphere. Carbon cycle Carbon exists in the nonliving environment as: Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and dissolved in water, carbonate rocks. Carbon enters the biotic world through the action of autotrophs like plants and algae, that use the energy of light to convert carbon dioxide to organic matter. Links to photosynthesis and to a small extent, chemoautotroph bacteria and archaea that do the same but use the energy derived from an oxidation of molecules in their substrate. Carbon returns to the atmosphere and water by respiration, burning and decay. Greenhouse effect Greenhouse effect is always be treated as negative terms. The negative concerns are related to the possible impacts of an enhanced greenhouse effect. This is covered in more detail in the Global Climate Change section of this Web site. It is important to remember that without the greenhouse effect, life on earth as we know it would not be possible. While the earths temperature is dependent on greenhouse-like action of the atmosphere, the amount of heating and cooling are influenced by several factors is like greenhouses are affected by some factors. In the atmospheric greenhouse effect, the type of surface that sunlight first encounters is the most important factor. Grasslands, forests, ocean surfaces, deserts, and cities all absorb, reflect, and radiate radiation differently. Sunlight falling on a white glacier surface strongly reflects back into space, resulting in minimal heating of the surface and lower atmosphere. Sunlight falling on a dark desert soil is strongly absorbed, on the other hand, and contributes to significant heating of the surface and lower atmosphere. Cloud cover also affects greenhouse warming by both reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching the earths surface and by reducing the amount of radiation energy emitted into space. The consequences of pollution around the world and South Africa: All of land pollution, air pollution and water pollution can affect wildlife, plants, and humans in a number of ways, such as: Lead to birth defects. Cause various kinds of cancers. People cannot eat fish and any animals. People cannot breathe. People cannot live anymore. The consequences like people build up industries, industries make pollution, and people cannot live because of pollutions. Solutions: People should be educated and made aware about the harmful effects of littering Items used for domestic purposes ought to be reused or recycled. Personal litter should be disposed properly. Organic waste matter should be disposed in areas that are far away from residential places. Inorganic matter such as paper, plastic, glass and metals should be reclaimed and then recycled. Decreases amount of industries. Save water. Plant trees and flowersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Conclusion and recommendation: Through this research, I think that humans activities effect environment a lot. People cannot live without good environment, everything is connected to human. People should respect environment and set a good relationship with it. According to this research, people will get some knowledge of resources such as the kind of energy resources, are whether renewable or non-renewable and how to exploit mineral resources. People will realize how much hurt they have made to environment. This research is worth to do and read; it teaches and tells people the truth of the world. Bibliography and Acknowledgements: http://www.bing.com/search?q=consequence+of+pollutionsrc=IE-SearchBox http://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%E7%A9%BA%E6%B0%94%E6%B1%A1%E6%9F%93%E7%89%A9ie=UTF-8oe=UTF-8bar=13tn=baofengyingyin_cb http://www.travel-university.org/general/geography/mineral-resources/ http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/index.htm http://tongfuzb.blog.163.com/blog/static/301218772007112422653429/ http://www.invest.net.cn/country/news/news_index.asp?id=85 http://www.southafrica.info/business/economy/sectors/energy.htm http://people.bath.ac.uk/hssam/sauner/mainresults.html http://www.bing.com/search?q=effect+of+mining+on+the+environmentsrc=IE-SearchBox http://www.bing.com/search?q=industry+and+its+exploitation+of+the+resourcessrc=IE-SearchBox http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/Atmosphere/Older/Pollution.html http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_effect_does_mining_have_on_the_environment

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Argumentive Essay Essay

I believe that a child should complete a parent’s life. On the other hand I don’t believe that it is biblically right for homosexual couples to be able to adopt a child and raise that child. In the bible God created man and woman for a purpose. This purpose was to be able to reproduce the population and for one man to be in love and with one woman. I do not believe that in a homosexuality house hold that a child would be raised properly and normally like most children are able to be raised. I feel putting children in that environment is suggesting that homosexuality is okay and it truly isn’t when in terms of the bible. This sin was so important to God that he directly approached the subject in the bible saying it is a sin and that a man should be with a woman and a woman should be with a man. Being a huge supporter of the Christian faith because I am apart of that faith, I believe that being a homosexual is dishonorable and truly upsets God. On the other hand I am aware that not every heterosexual home in the world is a stable and a suitable home to raise a child in. In many homes in this world there are children that are beaten, raped, hungry, and also very poorly supported. In those terms and in those cases I do believe that it may be acceptable for a child that are in those conditions to be placed in a home where they will be loved and supported and be loved. I do also agree that a homosexual couple is very capable of loving and providing and taking care of a child. If the child is being beaten and unloved and raped and other extreme conditions I would be supportive and feel that it was okay for a child to be adopted into a homosexual home. I also feel that it is hard for the children that are being adopted to be able to accept what is going on and being able to know what is natural and taboo. Same-sex couples raising children must stand ready to prove to the world they are a family, just one that happens to have two mothers or two fathers. For example I would like to share this one homosexual couple’s tory. This constant burden of proof is especially difficult for families like the Muzingos, who live in a state that doesn’t allow them to establish legal ties to each other. Michelle Muzingo was in the delivery room when her wife, Katrina, gave birth to each of their three children, who are now 7, 4 and 1. She cut their umbilical cords and was the first to hold the children, who call her â€Å"mommy. † Yet because they live in Ohio, a state that does not allow gay couples to adopt, she is unable to make that title official. We are always scanning the circle around us to see what we need to put in place to protect ourselves,† said Katrina, 37. A report released earlier this week illustrates just how vulnerable these couples and their children are, both legally and financially. After all, 30 states do not have laws that allow same-sex parents to either adopt, while six states restrict them or impose outright bans. Even families who live in states that recognize their relationships can run into trouble if they travel or move. And if something were to happen to a parent who was unable to adopt or otherwise establish legal ties, the child might be denied certain federal benefits something that children of most heterosexual parents receive automatically. When having a child normally, with one man getting one woman that is married pregnant, it can be an extremely rocky road. Also I believe that not every home is perfect and there are many problems within each family. But I just think that too many complications can come from homosexual couples adopting a child.