Health Care for All Essay - 1013 Words

Access to preventive health care should not be definable as one of life’s luxuries, yet that is what is has come to be for the approximately â€Å"50 million Americans† who have no health insurance (Turka Caplan, 2010). Clogged emergency rooms and â€Å"preventable deaths† are just two of the consequences associated with the lack of health insurance that would provide access to preventive care (Turka Caplan, 2010). We as a nation are depriving our citizens of one of our most basic needs—being healthy. Countries that have universal health plans, like Japan and Germany, have better life expectancy rates, spend less on health care, and have more than double the number of its citizens insured (Stephens Ledlow, 2010). While the debate over†¦show more content†¦The emergency room has become the new primary care facility for the millions of uninsured in the United States. Thanks to an â€Å"unfunded mandate passed into law in 1986,† hospitals that participate in the Medicare program must â€Å"screen and treat anyone with an emergency medical condition† (Stephens Ledlow, 2010). This unfortunately leads to emergency rooms full of people who may have something as simple as a sinus infection which then makes it really difficult for someone with a real emergency that did not require ambulatory transport to be seen in a timely manner. Another unfortunate result of this is that â€Å"over 1,100 emergency departments closed over the past decade† (Stephens Ledlow, 2010). Children in the United States are also suffering because of the lack of universal health care coverage. While there is coverage for children living at or below the poverty level, there is no coverage available for those children whose parents make too much money to qualify for the low-income programs and too little money to be able to afford health insurance. â€Å"These gaps in health insurance coverage may lead to delayed or unmet health care needs among children† (Kim Viner-Brown, 2007). As a result, these children are less likely to be taken to the doctor for treatment of chronic illnesses like â€Å"asthma† or â€Å"recurrent ear infections† (Hoffman Paradise, 2008). It boggles the mind to know that â€Å"uninsured newborns, even though they had more severeShow MoreRelatedObama Care: Affordable Health Care Insurance for All900 Words   |  4 Pagesaffordable health care insurance for all, in theory sounds impressive and the practical application seems r ealistic. However, as the idealistic theory unfolds, the cost and the coverage are all falling or failing to deliver every aspect and causing so much controversy. The bill and Obama are rapidly dropping in popularity; initially Obama had the backing of the house and congress, which has changed drastically as well. This topic is a concern to all as everyone would like to have affordable health careRead MoreEthical Principles That All Health Care Providers1340 Words   |  6 PagesThere are ethical principles that all health care providers, especially nurses, should abide by not only for the patient’s safety, health promotion, and satisfaction, but for a peace of mind, knowing that the best possible quality of care was provided. Within this paper, two major ethical principles will be discussed in detail. This includes respect for autonomy and nonmalefience. Autonomy, as defined by Mary Ellen Grohar-Murray and Joanne C. Langan (2011), is the â€Å"capacity of persons to freelyRead MoreHealth Care Should Be Resolved At All Cost1084 Words   |  5 Pageswithin the ethical practice. Discrimination in health care should be resolved at all cost. If the distributive justice agrees that health care is a primary right, universal health care would be implied. Views about justice as a need will depend on the greatest needs to have high priority, and people with similar needs are treated similarly. Other views about health care are primarily a market commodity. In social justice the right to have health care is apparent in the Utilitarian and EgalitarianRead MoreHealth Care for All in South Africa Essay example535 Words   |  3 PagesTopic: Health Care for All 1.1 Constraints to the expansion of Economy and Business. The ANC-led government introduced various systems to improve access to health care for all South African citizens. As a result of this system, pregnant women and children under the age of six are able to access free health care and every South African citizen is able to access free primary care. Senior citizens who qualify for social grant are also receiving secondary health care services free of charge. CurrentlyRead MorePatient Safety Is A Major Concern For All Health Care1618 Words   |  7 Pagesis a major concern for all health care providers. Two areas of safety that are relevant to my practice in an outpatient surgical center are medication errors and the electronic error reporting. The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) is the organization that was used to support my project. The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) Initiative competency that was chosen for my indirect clinical project (ICP) was safety. Everyone in the health care environment wants to beRead MoreEssay on All Americans Have a Right to Health Care1530 Words   |  7 PagesAll Americans Have a Right to Health Care Within the previous four years, the number of uninsured Americans has jumped to forty five million people. Beginning in the 1980’s, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has been trying to fix this problem of health insurance coverage for everyone with a basic reform. The AAFP’s plan imagined every American with insured coverage for necessary improved services that fall between the crucial health benefits and the surprising costs. (Sweeney)Read MoreShould The Government Provide Free Health Care For All Citizens?1575 Words   |  7 Pages Should the U.S. government provide free health care for all citizens? Free health care for all citizens, is a very controversial topic that has been debated for years. This debate concerns many pros and cons, such as â€Å"CNN reporting that 45,000 Americans are dying per year because they do not have access to health care because of costs.† According to research and statistics, majority of the people say tha t they agree with having free health care. Most people agreed because they believe itRead MoreShould All Americans Have a Right to Health Care Coverage3650 Words   |  15 PagesShould All Americans Have a Right to Health Care Coverage? Regardless of Socioeconomics Lois Pullum Ashford University SOC 120 Professor Fandl April 05, 2013 Should All Americans Have a Right to Health Care Coverage? Regardless of Socioeconomics Introduction The United States has the most expensive health care system in the world and some 45 million Americans are uninsured under the current health care system, and these numbers continue to grow. However with universal health care coverageRead MoreEssay about All Americans Need Access to Health Care2226 Words   |  9 Pageswith all the rights and freedoms that American citizens enjoy, there is one particular area where the United States seems to be lacking. That area is health care. The United States is the only industrialized nation that doesn’t have some form of legal recognition of a right to health care (Yamin 1157). Health care reform in the United States has become a major controversy for politicians, health care professionals, businesses, and citizens. Those in opposition to reform claim that health careRead MoreThe Federal Government Is Responsible For Providing Health Care For All American People971 Words   |  4 PagesAmerican have been struggling with a broken h ealth care system for the last twenty-six years. Currently, many American do not have health care. The federal government is responsible for providing health care for all American people. Therefore, the government came up with Medicare and Obama Care. addition, private corporation came up with health insurance plans. A health care system that does not provide healthcare to the majority of sickening American is consider broken because it fails in it purposes

Analysis Of John Orwell s Pig Tales - 1751 Words

â€Å"Real Dystopia in Pig Tales† Pig Tales is the first novel written by Marie Darrieussecq at the end of the twentieth century. It uses many pornographic scenes and bloody depictions to describe a woman’s transformation into a sow. During this transformation, the heroine also encounters men and women with different social statuses including marginalized homeless people, corrupted politicians, an exploitative perfume boutique director, customers in the boutique, a poor teacher, and black immigrants. Like the heroine diverse groups of people who made up a noteworthy part of the contemporary French society but were usually neglected or oppressed. It also make the heroine’s voice more observing and representative that anyone from the lower class†¦show more content†¦He was never successfully elected and the general public often accuses him of being a fascist. As a controversial figure, he had been convicted of racism or inciting racial hatred at least six times by 2004. Edgar, with similar ideolo gy, takes a series of tyrannical approaches and turns France back into a fascist world filled with terror and orgy after he had won in the election. Marchepiede is also portrayed as a religious and conservative lunatic and is criticized subtly in this novel. My paper focuses on Le Pen’s political proposals as they are reflected by fictional characters in the novel and implicitly criticized by the narrative voice of the heroine implicitly. Jean-Marie Le Pen is obsessed with the national identity of France. He used to claim that his political position was neither left nor right, but French. He promotes the identity attached to Western, Humanist, and Christian civilization, and opposes the development of Islamic culture and practices in France and Europe. France had just seen the effects of far right politics on the Jewish community from the Holocaust in the middle of the twentieth century. Its influence was still existing when the novel was written but the topic of the Jewish community was rather avoided by people at that time. Meanwhile, the Algerian war of independence that happened in 1950s brought the relationship between Islamic and French culture into

Fiction and Literary Works free essay sample

With that said, it is important to remember that all literary works cannot always be easily classified into a single genre. Moreover, literary works which might be classified as belonging to one genre might possess many qualities more typical of other genres. For example, Shakespeare’s Macbeth is classified as drama, but in many respects takes the form of poetry. In other words, sometimes the differences between categories like drama, poetry, and the short story are not so easily defined. Often a short story might contain poetic or dramatic qualities, or a poem might include narrative and dramatic features.In your post, summarize the major similarities and differences between the forms of drama, poetry, and the short story. Demonstrate your ideas with textual examples from the course readings. In your response, include at least one example of each literary form. If you wish, you may also point to examples which indicate the blurring of literary genres (e. We will write a custom essay sample on Fiction and Literary Works or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page g. , the poetic qualities of Macbeth or the dramatic elements of Gift of the Magi). There are so much to say when it comes to similarities with drama, poetry and a short story.Personally I see that all three have some subliminal message for the audience whether it is lessons learn or an experience personal to the writer. In literary perspectives, like mentioned above, sometimes a poem or short story can merge with another genre such as drama. An example of a short story that can be drama is perhaps â€Å"The Necklace† because the story is about a lady who borrows and loses something her friend lent her and went through so much trouble to replace it instead of coming clean with the friend.A drama is meant to have characters that perform and we see this is a short story known as â€Å"I’m Going† where we see the characters clearly speaking and also we get narrative information to help the audience understand the plot and setting. Poetry is written in different formats or rhythms but can also tell a story but does not always have a plot. All have some sort of tone to set the seriousness or relax humor of the literary work. â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz† is a poem which tells a story of a father and son yet there are also dramatic features as the story is told.

The Microprocessor Essays - Microprocessors, Microcomputers

The Microprocessor Microprocessors Evolution Only once in a lifetime will a new invention come about to touch every aspect of our lives. Such a device that changes the way we work, live, and play is a special one, indeed. The Microprocessor has been around since 1971 years, but in the last few years it has changed the American calculators to video games and computers (Givone 1). Many microprocessors have been manufactured for all sorts of products; some have succeeded and some have not. This paper will discuss the evolution and history of the most prominent 16 and 32 bit microprocessors in the microcomputer and how they are similar to and different from each other. Because microprocessors are a subject that most people cannot relate to and do not know much about, this paragraph will introduce some of the terms that will be in- volved in the subsequent paragraphs. Throughout the paper the 16-bit and 32-bit mi- croprocessors are compared and contrasted. The number 16 in the 16-bit microproces- sor refers how many registers there are or how much storage is available for the mi- croprocessor (Aumiaux, 3). The microprocessor has a memory address such as A16, and at this address the specific commands to the microprocessor are stored in the memory of the computer (Aumiaux, 3). So with the 16-bit microprocessor there are 576 places to store data. With the 32-bit microprocessor there are twice as many places to store data making the microprocessor faster. Another common term which is mentioned frequently in the paper is the oscil- lator or the time at which the processors ?clock? ticks. The oscillator is the pace maker for the microprocessor which tells what frequency the microprocessor can proc- ess information, this value is measured in Mega-hertz or MHz. A nanosecond is a measurement of time in a processor, or a billionth of a second. This is used to measure the time it takes for the computer to execute an instructions, other wise knows as a cy- cle. There are many different types of companies of which all have their own family of processors. Since the individual processors in the families were developed over a fairly long period of time, it is hard to distinguish which processors were introduced in order. This paper will mention the families of processors in no particular order. The first microprocessor that will be discussed is the family of microprocessors called the 9900 series manufactured by Texas Instruments during the mid-70s and was developed from the architecture of the 900 minicomputer series (Titus, 178). There were five dif- ferent actual microprocessors that were designed in this family, they were the TMS9900, TMS9980A, TMS9981, TMS9985, and the TMS9940. The TMS9900 was the first of these microprocessors so the next four of the microprocessors where simply variations of the TMS9900 (Titus, 178). The 9900 series microprocessors runs with 64K memory and besides the fact that the 9900 is a 16-bit microprocessor, only 15 of the address memory circuits are in use (Titus, 179). The 16th address is used for the computer to distinguish between word and data functions (Titus, 179. The 9900 series microprocessors runs from 300 nanoseconds to 500 ns from 2MHz to 3.3MHz and even some variations of the original microprocessor where made to go up to 4MHz (Avtar, 115). The next microprocessor that will be discussed is the LSI-11 which was pro- duced from the structural plans of the PDP-11 minicomputer family. There are three microprocessors in the LSI-11 family they are the LSI-11, LSI-11/2, and the much im- proved over the others is the LSI-11/32 (Titus, 131). The big difference between the LSI-11 family of microprocessors and other similar microprocessors of its kind is they have the instruction codes of a microcomputer but since the LSI-11 microprocessor originated from the PDP-11 family it is a multi-microprocessor (Avtar, 207). The fact that the LSI-11 microprocessor is a multi-microprocessor means that many other mi- croprocessors are used in conjunction with the LSI-11 to function properly (Avtar, 207). The LSI-11 microprocessor has a direct processing speed of 16-bit word and 7- bit data, however the improved LSI-11/22 can directly process 64-bit data (Titus, 131). The average time that the LSI-11 and LSI-11/2 process at are 380 nanoseconds, while the LSI-11/23 is clocked at 300 nanoseconds (Titus, 132). There are some great strengths that lie in the LSI-11 family, some of

Czech Republic Essays - McCarthyism, Free Essays, Term Papers

Czech Republic Essays - McCarthyism, Free Essays, Term Papers Czech Republic Senator Joseph McCarthys political career was in danger when he walked into the Colony Restaurant in Washington, DC for dinner with three of his friends. The date was January 7, 1950. A month earlier, he had been voted worst U.S. Senator in a poll of Senate correspondents. In his earlier years as Senator, he had been known for taking loans and funds from businesses totaling $30,000. This included the Pepsi-Cola company, which earned him the nickname Pepsi-Cola Joe1, and the Lustron Corporation, which dealt in prefabricated houses. About this time McCarthy was also deemed responsible for the resignation of Senate subcommittee chairman Raymond E. Baldwin, who left politics citing McCarthys abuse towards him during the Malmedy WWII hearings the last straw 2. Not only was his political career in danger, but McCarthy was also suffering from financial troubles. He had squandered all the money from his political funds into soybean investments and horse racing, which left him nearly broke3. With these things in mind, McCarthy and his three associates- William Roberts, a Washington lawyer; Charles Kraus, a political science professor at Georgetown; and Father Edmund Walsh, a dean also at George University set out to discover that fateful night what could possibly rejuvenate the political career of Joseph McCarthy before the upcoming election of 52. The trio of Roberts, Kraus, and Walsh recommended that McCarthy should try taking up a cause, and to do so seriously and passionately. But what should it be? Ideas and issues were tossed about the group concerning old age pension to the St. Lawrence Seaway. McCarthy dismissed them all. But then Walsh suggested communism, and McCarthys ears realized that they had just struck gold. Thats it! exclaimed an excited McCarthy. The government is full of Communists. We can hammer away at them. 4 And with that statement, Senator Joseph McCarthys witchhunt against communism had begun. 33 days later in Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator Joseph McCarthy stood on a podium before the Ohio Valley Womens Republican Club. I have in my hand, he began, a list of 205 card-carrying Communists who are now employed in the State Department and whose identities are well known to the State Department as being members of the Communist party. 5 On that night his life, as well as the lives of many other Americans, would forever change. McCarthy would begin a brief but astounding crusade against the so-called Communist infiltration of the U.S. government. During a span of about 4 years, McCarthy accused hundreds of government and former government workers of being Communist with little or no concrete evidence. Even so, McCarthy was able to win many convictions and victories without much protest and opposition. Why did McCarthy go relatively unscathed throughout his witchhunt until he was finally censured by the Senate in 1954? According to a nationwide poll taken during the era of McCarthyism, 50% of those polled said they approved of his methods, with 21% undecided6. What allowed him to do this for so long with the approval rather than the condemnation of the people? The key to the success and tolerance of McCarthy was due to a combination of several things. First, there was the recent espionage cases of Hiss and the Rosenbergs. McCarthy also greatly benefited from the pro-McCarthy media, which took up and glamorized his cause. There was also the fact that communism was in many cases a viable scapegoat for a frightened and restless people. McCarthyism was also Americanism; it represented the duty of the patriotic American. McCarthyism became an offensive tool against the threat of the spread of communism. At the time of McCarthys infamous Wheeling speech, the nation had just learned that the threat of Communists in high level positions in Washington was in fact real. Alger Hiss, a former State Department official and at the time President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, had been convicted of perjury just one month prior to McCarthys speech7. Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist himself, had charged Hiss with supplying classified information to the Soviet Union. The guilty verdict in this case rose many eyebrows and gave many people cause for alarm. A couple of months later, McCarthys cause was helped along even more by the arrests of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg8. Julius Rosenberg, an army electrical engineer, and his wife, Ethel, were both arrested in the spring of 1950. The two had given sketch blueprints of the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union back in 1945, which had accelerated Soviet development of the atomic bomb. The Soviets managed

Maillard Reaction and Why Foods Brown

Maillard Reaction and Why Foods Brown The Maillard reaction is the name given to the set of chemical reactions between amino acids and reducing sugars that causes browning of foods, such as meats, breads, cookies, and beer. The reaction is also used in sunless tanning formulas.  Like caramelization, the Maillard reaction produces browning without any enzymes, making it a type of non-enzymatic reaction. While caramelization relies solely on heating carbohydrates, heat is not necessarily needed for the Maillard reaction to occur and proteins or amino acids must be present. Many foods brown due to a combination of caramelization and the Maillard reaction. For example, when you toast a marshmallow, the sugar carmelizes, but it also reacts with the gelatin through the Maillard reaction. In other foods, enzymatic browning further complicates the chemistry. Although people have known how to brown food pretty much since the discovery of fire, the process was not given a name until 1912, when  French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard described the reaction. Chemistry of the Maillard Reaction The specific chemical reactions that cause food to brown depend on the chemical composition of the food and a host of other factors, including temperature, acidity, the presence or absence of oxygen, the amount of water, and the time allowed for the reaction. Many reactions are occurring, making new products that themselves begin reacting. Hundreds of different molecules are produced, changing the color, texture, flavor, and aroma of food. In general, the Maillard reaction follows these steps: The carbonyl group of a sugar reacts with the amino group of an amino acid. This reaction yields N-substituted glycosylamine and water.The unstable glycosylamine forms ketosamines through the  Amadori rearrangement. The Amadori rearrangement signals the start of the reactions that cause browning.The ketosamine may react to form reductones and water. Brown nitrogenous polymers and melanoidins may be produced. Other products, such as diacetyl or pyruvaldehyde may form. Although the Maillard reaction occurs at room temperature, heat at  140 to 165  Ã‚ °C (284 to 329  Ã‚ °F) aids the reaction. The initial reaction between the sugar and the amino acid is favored under alkaline conditions.

Power, Privilege, Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Power, Privilege, Security - Essay Example Privacy does not include the opportunity to cause harm. What the employee does on his personal time that does not present a danger to others in the workplace, e.g., smoking or having unprotected sex, is not the concern of the employer, not directly under the employer's rightful control, and not subject to scrutiny through any means; much less through a device as inconsistent as a polygraph. It is not the responsibility of an employer to supervise its workers on such a microcosmic level. Even Kant, in his most moralistic application of a categorical imperative would find no duty on the part of the employer to police the employees in such an intrusive manner. Employees are not children and employers are certainly not empowered to treat them as such. As far as the use of a pre-screening process whereby an employer determines what is and what is not acceptable activity in the private lives of its employees, a more arbitrary and capricious means of discrimination could hardly be imagined. Even the libertarian-especially the libertarian-would see such discriminatory practice as rife with the potential for abuse. My Position: I am for the Patriot Act in general because I feel that increasing police powers for the purposes of protecting the American public can be done reasonably and without violating anyone's constitutional rights. Amendments to section... First, it clarifies the level of detail necessary to obtain a section 206 order, particularly where the target is identified by a description rather than by name. Second, it imposes a "return" requirement on investigators, meaning that in most circumstances the government is required to provide notice to the court within 10 days that surveillance has been directed at a new facility or place. Statement in Support of Section 206. As quoted above, Section 206 provides for the issuance of "an electronic surveillance order that attaches to a particular target rather than a particular phone or computer" (DOJ 1). This section of the Patriot Act assists federal authorities in focusing their efforts on a suspect individual and monitor communication across all possible areas of communication rather than having to get court authority for each different mode. In the case of Mr. X, who intended to plant a bomb in the main terminal of Grand Central Station in New York, authorities were severely limited in their surveillance abilities. Having sufficient information from a reliable informer, authorities obtained a warrant to tap the home telephone of Mr. X. The terrorist was technologically astute, and discovered the monitoring of his conversations with the co-conspirators. He immediately began to use a series of cell phones and private chat rooms on the Internet to prevent authorities from stopping his intended attack. Section 206 allows investigative agencies to obtain a warrant for any electronic device that Mr. X might use, and thereby provide a timely response to stop him and his associates from carrying out their plans. Counter Argument. It has been asserted that

Is Poland a consolidated democracy Research Paper

Is Poland a consolidated democracy - Research Paper Example The civil society, which gave voice to social groups, was a striking metaphysical idea that appeared to capture the wide gap between the ruled and rulers in the communist world (Biskupski 23). Only a few countries of the Soviet bloc - Poland and Hungary – exhibited sovereign structures of civil societies before the 90’s. These structures advocated, for this conceptual tool, to be applied in the whole region. Poland, in particular, pulled out from this Soviet bloc when the union broke. The country considers itself as a democracy, but questions have been raised to question this notion. Therefore, this paper will discuss whether or not Poland is a consolidated democracy giving facts in line with the instructions stated. The two-turnover test means that a nation has undergone the process of democratizing itself from an emergent democracy to a stable democracy (Davies 3). An emergent democracy must go through two democratic, as well as a peaceful turnover governing parties in order to become a stable democracy. Poland has undergone these changes, and it can be sternly ranked as a consolidated democracy (Davies 4). Poland, in 1989-1991, endorsed a democratic transition that put an end to the Polish Peoples Republic and created a democratic regime, which was referred to as the Polish Third Republic. After a decade of democratic consolidation, this country joined NATO, in 1999, along with the European Union (EU) in 2004. From the 70s to the 80s, tension increased between the citizens of Poland along with its Communist government. During this period, the rest of the Eastern bloc’s influence on the Soviet Union weakened. With the introduction of "perestroika" under Mikhail Gorbachev, in the Soviet Union, a chance was introduced finally to modify the system of ruling, after the harsh era of martial law (1981-83) brought by General Jaruzelski. After this period, Poland became a consolidated democracy (Davies 6). Poland

Anselms Cosmological Argument Essay Example for Free

Anselms Cosmological Argument Essay Anselm seeks to explain the existence of a greatest being, i. e. God. He approaches this task not via our experience of the universe, but rather attempts to explain it solely based upon reason. Anselm attempts to prove the existence of God by providing us with a logical explanation, based upon our understanding, definition, and necessity of God. It is inconceivable for God not to exist. There is a certain nature through which everything that is exists, Anselm explains, is caused to exist by something. Everything that is, exists by virtue of something, and nothing is able to exist through nothing. The underlying assumption here is that things do not exist through themselves for there is no need for their being. Leading to conclude that it is implausible that anything at all is able to exist because of nothing, and that nothing should exist because of something. Building upon earlier argument, Anselm concludes that â€Å"whatever is [†¦] does not exist except through something. † Since, according to him, this premise is true and since, as pointed out earlier in his argument, everything that is exists either through itself or through something, there must be one, or many, beings though which all things that are exist. Our existence and the existence of everything there is, therefore, must be explained by a virtue of a higher being, or several of them. Anselm identifies and explores several possibilities of existence of a higher being, or beings. He points out that there may be several beings, rather than one, that are the ultimate cause of everything that exists, and presents one with his critical analysis of such idea. Anselm argues that if there is more than one of such beings then they themselves must exist either through (a) one being, (b) separately through itself, or (c) mutually through one another. If, he states, these beings exist through one supreme being, then all things that exist cannot exist through more than one being. Following this premise, Anselm concludes that all things that exist must therefore exist through this one supreme being. If, however, there are many beings, which exist separately and each through itself, then there must be a certain â€Å"power or property of existing through self†, by which they are able to exist. Building upon this premise, Anselm goes on to explain that it is because of this particular â€Å"power or property† that each of these beings is able to exist. Thereby concluding that these beings exist by virtue of one greater power, without which they cannot exist. Once again we are back to the same argument that only one being can exist, for plurality does not explain itself. Lastly, a third alternative proposed by Anselm deals with beings existing mutually through one another. He argues that such thought is contrary to reason. For, it is irrational that â€Å"anything should exist through a being on which it confers existence. † In other words, there cannot be a being that is a giver and a taker. That, which exists by its own virtue and is yet dependent on itself for existence. Taking all of the arguments and points stated above, Anselm concludes that there can only be one greatest being, i. e. God, and it is through him that everything that is exists. If everything that is, exists by virtue of something, and nothing is able to exist through nothing, then God simply cannot be conceived not to exist. God is that, â€Å"which alone exists in the greatest and highest degree of all† and nothing greater can be conceived. For, everything that exists, exists through this greatest being, but it alone exists through itself. One aspect of Anselm’s argument that stands out in particular is a premise upon which the whole argument is based. Explicitly, â€Å"Everything that is, exists either through1 something, or through nothing. But nothing exists through nothing. For it is altogether inconceivable that anything should not exist by virtue of something. † This, he holds to be the self-evident truth. Once again, the underlying assumption here is that things do not exist through themselves for there is no need for their existence. Such things therefore cannot be the cause of their own existence. Therefore, it must exist by virtue of a greater being. BIBLIOGRAPHY S. D. Deane, (Trans. ), St. Anselm, Basic Writings (Second Ed. ), La Salle, Illinois: Open Court Publishing Company, 1994.

Beowulf and The Intent of Christians to Convert Pagans Into Christianit

Before England was the superpower it is known to be today, it was a small country inhabited by many groups of people over time. First to England came the Celts, then the Romans, and then the Anglo Saxons. The Anglo Saxon’s traveled to England from the northern countries of Germany Norway and Sweden. When they arrived, they brought their gods with them. The Anglo Saxon’s religion consisted of multiple gods and goddesses and their own view of Heaven and what it would be like. The Anglo Saxon’s also loved poetry, and they used it to keep track of the history of their people. Beowulf is an epic poem that was past down by the Anglo Saxons from generation to generation. The poem is infused with multiple elements of their pagan religion. However, when they immigrated to England and began to tell the tale of Beowulf, the local inhabitants began to listen and put their twist on it. Douglas Wilson states: Through a heroic poem about pagans that never mentions Christ, Beowulf is the opposite of syncretistic compromise. It is written to highlight the treachery as a way of life that afflicted these pagan societies from within, and the greed and plunder as a way of life that afflicted them from without (whether they were the marauders of the victims.) (30) In an attempt to convert the Anglo Saxons, the Christians of that time changed Beowulf and incorporated many elements of Christianity into the poem. By incorporating elements of Christianity such as portraying Grendel as a descendent of Cain, mentioning the one true God’s name, and portraying the hero Beowulf as a Christ figure, the Roman Catholic Christians hoped to convert the Anglo Saxons to Christianity and instill in them the power and hope of the one true God. First, the Christian... ...nd phrases into the characters mouths, and relating the hero, Beowulf, to the Christian hero, Jesus Christ, the Roman Catholic Christians hoped to convert the pagans to Christianity and lead them toward what they believed to be the one and only truth, Jesus Christ. Works Cited Beowulf. The Longman Anthology British Literature. Ed. David Damrosch and Kevin J. H. Dettmar. 4th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2010. 36-107. Print. Bloom, Harold. Bloom’s Guides Beowulf. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2008. Print. Fry, Donald. The Beowulf Poet. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Print. Streissguth, Thomas. Understanding Beowulf. Farmington Hills: Lucent Books, 2004. Print. The MacArthur Study Bible. Ed. John MacArthur. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2006. Print. Wilson, Douglas. â€Å"The Anglo-Saxon Evangel.† Touchstone. July/August (2007). 30-34. Web.

How Does the Early Mobile Phone Compare to those of the 21st Century? Essay

Nowadays, the usage of mobile phones is one of the most common practices that everyone indulges in and this is regardless of the age group or ethnical background to which the person belongs to (Cooper, 2003, n. p. ). Undeniably, mobile phones or cellular phones are tools in our modern world that has changed the way by which humans accomplish their day-to-day tasks. Moreover, further affirmation of the importance of mobile phones in our lives today is evident in the wide variability of the mobile phones that can be found in the market (Cooper, 2003, n. p. ). However, prior to the development of these modern type of mobile phones, these man-made gadgets have undergone rigorous and numerous alterations over the past years (Cooper, 2003, n. p. ). In connection to this, the objective of this essay is to discuss the changes that these products have experienced over the past few decades by utilizing a compare-and-contrast strategy to illustrate the difference between early mobile phones and the wireless phones of the 21st century. The era of mobile phones has started with the introduction of radiotelephones for military purposes which are found in ships, aircraft and military vehicles during the 1940s (Connected Earth, 2010, n. p. ). This was actually the time when telephones were used to pass information from one military camp to another in order to hasten the military operations (Connected Earth, 2010, n. p. ). Potential usage of telephones for commercial uses were introduced in 1947 when a taxi company in Cambridge has availed themselves mobile services in order to improve their service to the passengers and improve the profit input for their companies (Connected Earth, 2010, n. p. ). From then on, the mobile industry has continued to develop in order to become one of the most dynamic industries this world has ever known (Connected Earth, 2010, n. p. ). One of the greatest parameters of the advancements that this industry has encountered is seen on the features of the early mobile phones. It was said that a concept of a mobile phone in the early parts of the 1980s meant that a person was carrying a very big suitcase with a lot of electronic devices and wires inside it and is also characterized by the presence of about three-foot steel antenna that was drilled through the suitcase (as cited by Gow & Smith, 2006, pg. 22). By analysis, it can be said that the early mobile phones provide a perception of a non-easy-to-carry devices and this evident in the features and characteristics of the first and second generation cell phones (Memebridge, 2010, n. p. ). First generation cell phones was represented by the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, considered to be the first portable mobile phone, which had the following characteristics: 28 ounces in weight, dimensions of 13 x 1. 75 x 3. 5, and physical features resembling a brick (Memebridge, 2010, n. p. ). Second generation cell phones, on the other hand, was highlighted by the replacement of analog system frequencies, about 100 to 200 grams, handheld and portable, and were significantly smaller than the first generation mobile phones (Memebridge, 2010, n. p. ). Third generation mobile phones are the type of the present cell phones that we have today (Memebridge, 2010, n. p. ). These mobile phones are characterized by the presence of all of the basic features that were developed from the first and second generation cell phones plus the addition of a number of practical features (Siegel, 2010, n. p. ). Mobile phones of the 21st century do not only serve communication purposes but are also being used to connect to the internet, chat with friends, take pictures and videos, watch your favorite television program, and even use it as a replacement of a computer (Siegel, 2010, n. p. ). These additional features of the modern cell phones have actually revolutionize the lifestyle of man. In addition to these purposes, modern cell phones can be used to save the lives of people who are endanger and this is seen on the events when a person who has encountered an accident uses his or her cell phone to dial emergency services (Siegel, 2010, n. p. ). Consequently, it can be said that cell phones have indeed progressed from being brick-like, heavy, and inconvenient tools to light weight, hand held and multipurpose equipments for communication. In general, it can be said that the greatest comparison of early mobile phones to cell phones of the 21st century lies in the dimensions of the cell phone, physical features, ease of communication rate, and general usability to the person. List of References Connected Earth. (2010). The origins of mobile. Retrieved 06 May 2010, from http://www. connected- earth. com/galleries/frombuttonstobytes/mobilecommunications/theoriginsofmobile/ Cooper, M. (2003). History of cell phone. Retrieved 06 May 2010, from http://inventors. about. com/cs/inventorsalphabet/a/martin_cooper. htm Gow, G. A. & Smith, R. K. (2006). Mobile and Wireless Communication: An Introduction. USA: Mc-Graw Hill Ed. Siegel, A. (2010). Modern cell phones are more than just talk. Ezine articles. Memebridge. (2010). History of cell phones. Retrieved 06 May 2010, from http://www. historyofcellphones. net/

Fight Club Conformity Analysis Essay

Conformity is a major theme in Fight Club, and there are a number of specific scenes that display the rejection of it and characters falling victim to it, sometimes unbeknownst to them. The Narrator, our main character, is a complex individual. He fits into almost every textbook example of social psychology. He is a complete nutcase. In fact, he is so incredibly insane, that he creates an imaginary friend with whom he transforms himself into a different person, free from the bonds of society, free from conformity, free to change the way he lives. Or does he? The film starts off with the Narrator losing sleep, for what reason we aren’t sure. He then proceeds to tell us how he lived his life. He works a 9 to 5 job in a cubicle with people that dress business casual. He owns a small apartment filled with furniture, appliances, and even dishware that he felt defined him best as a person. His Strinne green striped sofa. Rislampa wire lamps made out of environmentally-friendly unbleached paper. The Hovvetrekke Home Exerbike. He is obsessed with creating a self-image that is socially acceptable to others in his life. The Narrator starts breaking out of this normative mold when he meets Tyler Durden. He even proposes during a montage of his daily routine on the job, â€Å"If you wake up in a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?† Tyler is his fellow conspirator in his personal resistance, his partner in crime. He needed someone else to resist the social norms with, so he took the easy way out, and made one up. After the Narrator’s apartment blows up, he grabs a couple drinks with his new imaginary friend, and then shacks up with him. They start fight nights in the parking lot behind Lou’s tavern. As their group grows larger, they move it to Lou’s basement. The more Tyler and the gang meet at their fight club, the less the Narrator cares about his job and life, and the more anti-conformist he becomes. He strolls into work disheveled and with dried blood on his shirt. He’s missing some teeth. He smokes indoors. He just doesn’t give a shit. At one point our two main characters get on a bus. The Narrator glances up at a Gucci ad and says, â€Å"I felt sorry for guys packed into gyms trying to look like how Calvin Klein or Tommy Hilfiger said they should,† and remarking to Tyler, â€Å"Is that what a man looks like?† to which he responds, â€Å"Self-improvement is masturbation†¦now, self destruction†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This particular scene is very ironic, as the Narrator is shunning something that he actually wants to be—Tyler is a projection of his ideal self. He even reveals this in the hotel room scene where the Narrator â€Å"realizes† that they are the same person: â€Å"All the ways you wish you could be, that’s me. I look like you wanna look, I fuck like you wanna fuck, I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I am free in all the ways that you are not.† Therefore, the Narrator is actually conforming by creating a self that is generally more likeable and accepted in society’s eyes. He caves in to normative social influence, and at the same time believes that he has completely rejected it. There is a double meaning to this however, in the one line that starts it off: â€Å"You were looking for a way to change your life. You could not do this on your own.† Tyler was the ally the Narrator needed to break the monotony of his daily routine, to break free from normative social influence. We need just one other person to believe in the cause. There can be a leader, but nothing will happen just because of one person. If you are starting a movement, or a revolution in this case, at least one other person needs to join your cause, and believe in it. That one member needs to privately accept the fact that what you are talking about, what you preach, is the actual truth. And, as more people join a movement, the less risky it is for others to join. â€Å"Fight club. This was mine and Tyler’s gift. Our gift to the world.† Tyler gave every â€Å"normal† man the keys to himself, the one everybody wants to be. As their fight club grows progressively larger, it raises the question: why are so many others conforming to something that they would normally never take part in? Are they rejecting social norms as well? Or has this fight club in turn become the norm, and therefore members are joining it to fit in? Perhaps it is a case of minority influence, when a few influence the many.  Tyler and the Narrator have held the same viewpoint for a while now, months even, that they do not care about clever art or Swedish furniture, and they are comfortable admitting that they have scars from fighting. With this unwavering view, others start to take notice, and even begin to respect their ideology. They join fight club to become loyal members. After a while, Tyler decides that they have to expand or â€Å"move out of the basement,† and hence creates Project Mayhem. People do not always cave into peer pressure. If that is true, then when do we break? When do we give in and conform? According to Bibb Penis Latanà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s social impact theory, it all depends on three specific factors: strength, how important the group is to you; immediacy, how close the group is to you in space and time; and the number of people in the group. The last factor operates differently than you might think however—the larger a group is, the less each additional person has an influence on others. Ever since starting the first fight club, Norton’s character has garnered such a reputation that he has gained a following. People start showing up on his doorstep, waiting and waiting until they gain permission to enter the house and start â€Å"training.† A sole applicant dressed in all black waits on their porch, by himself, for what appears to be days on end. Tyler comes out a talks smack, beats him with a broom, and talks some more smack. But the app licant isn’t going to give up easy. He wants to be accepted, and is willing to put himself through this rigorous test to become Project Mayhem’s first member. After Tyler lets him in, he shaves his head, with Tyler remarking that he looks like a monkey ready to shot into space. He has mentioned this earlier in the film: â€Å"The first soap was made from the ashes of heroes; like the first monkey shot into space! Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.† As soon as the first member is in, two more show up on the doorstep. It grows and grows and grows until Project Mayhem is no longer a small group, but an army. The Narrator says during this sequence â€Å"Sooner or later, we all became what Tyler wanted us to be.† Which was what? Mindless, obedient robots. And, since the first (and second) rule of Project Mayhem is â€Å"you do not ask questions,† not a single member can question the tasks they are given, and therefore are forced to conform to Tyler’s (or for the sake o f making sense, the Narrator’s) wishes. Like the Milgram experiments  and the My Lai massacre, Tyler’s robots are so obedient, that they won’t hesitate and question their actions or accept personal responsibility—they just do it. Tyler is capitalizing on the fact that they respect him for who he is and what he has done. They believe in Tyler and his decisions (â€Å"In Tyler we trusted†), as he was every member’s ally when they wanted to break out of their social norms and become the man they have always wanted to be. Obviously everybody thought about it. â€Å"People do it every day. People talk to themselves, people see themselves as they’d like to be.† Their basement get-togethers were right in everyone’s face—Tyler just made it visible. It was on the tip of everyone’s tongue; Tyler just gave it a name. Without the ability to question authority, Tyler’s â€Å"space monkeys† start wreaking havoc all across the city. It started out as â€Å"homework assignments,† destroying satellite antennas, magnetizing video rentals, and defacing billboards. Then it was amped up: trashing franchise coffee bars, setting buildings on fire, and blowing up pieces of corporate art. Members of Project Mayhem are comfortable with this, because according to their set of rules, they â€Å"have no names.† This is deindividuation at its finest. With such a large group of people, all in this case anonymous, nobody takes any responsibility for their actions. They even wear ski masks on a couple of their assignments, further deindividualizing them. A study done by Robert Watson in 1973 found that warriors who hid their identities before going into battle—for example, by using face and body paint—were significantly more likely to kill, torture or mutilate captive prisoner s than warriors who did not hide their identities. Thanks in part to their ski masks, one of the members of Project Mayhem dies on their last assignment; his body is brought back to the house. Here conformity is at its most rampant, as members will snap to whatever direction is given in a moments notice. Angel Face (Leto’s character) tells them to bury the body and immediately they start to lift it off the table. The Narrator stops them, shouting that he is a real person, a friend of his, a man with a name. One member instantly takes this information and transforms it to fit within the properties of their group, claiming â€Å"in death, members of Project Mayhem, have a name.† The other space monkeys surrounding the table then immediately start chanting his name, over and over. It is at this point that our main character snaps, and takes off  to find out what kind of monster he created.

My Ambitions as a Structural Engineer

My Ambitions as a Structural Engineer Free Online Research Papers Structural engineering plays a pivotal role towards the growth, development and progress of countries as the mass structures like multi-story buildings, bridges, thermal and nuclear power plants all involving structural engineering results in a strong economy of an advancing country. In some other engineering technologies, sometimes it is possible to use hit and trial methods as in geotechnical and hydraulics engineering where the as built conditions are not of such importance to effect the whole design, but in structural design one must abide by all codes of standard requirements, as huge expenditure and high degree of risk is involved at each and every step of execution. The duties of structural engineer became more critical in nature as he always has to fulfill the obligation of related codes, standards, specification and to follow all the stipulations of the same in a short and predefined frame of time with a high degree of accuracy. A structural engineer is most commonly involved in the design of building and non building structures but also plays an essential role in designing machinery where structural integrity of the design item impacts safety and reliability. Structural engineering is vast field and has its application in almost all the important engineering design, that’s why a structural engineer has to be very competent, decisive, efficient and quick decision maker. He has to make all the decision keeping in mind the fact that how his working is going to affect the economy and safety of the resulting structure. My ambition as a structural engineer is to get competency in the field of bridge engineering right from design phase till to the execution of the design; the reason is that bridges are a direct and true reflection of economy and recourses of a country. I always wanted to contribute in the growing economy of my country using my skills, knowledge and capabilities .This is one profession where an advance degree is more a necessity than an option. That’s why I would love to avail any opportunity provided by Nespak (my organization) to enhance my professional capabilities. Along with technical know how, I also need a host of my skills to interact with professional and non-professional co-workers. Sales ability, public speaking and time management are very important. Problem resolution is a skill that is not typically taught in engineering institutions that’s why I would like to work on this too. I know that bridge engineer holds the lives of others in their hands, so it is not just the professional responsibility but the personal liability. Nespak (my organization) is providing me a chance to materialize my dreams and to excel in my specialized field. I will try my level best to come up to the expectation of my organization. Research Papers on My Ambitions as a Structural EngineerOpen Architechture a white paperGenetic EngineeringIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalThe Project Managment Office SystemThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesPETSTEL analysis of IndiaAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into Asia

Jake Drake Bully Buster Chapter Book About Bullying

Jake Drake Bully Buster Chapter Book About Bullying Jake Drake Bully Buster: Summary In Jake Drake Bully Buster, author Andrew Clements focuses on a problem too many kids have to cope with: bullies and bullying. What do you do if youre a bully-magnet? Thats Jakes problem in the chapter book Jake Drake Bully Buster. Fourth grader Jake Drake tells the story of how he went from being a bully-magnet starting in preschool to becoming a bully buster in second grade. Jakes experiences not only make an entertaining story for 7-10 year olds, they also provide a lot of food for thought. Why Jake Was a Bully-Magnet Jake begins his story with tales of all of the bullies who bullied him before second grade, starting when he was a 3-year-old and continuing through preschool, kindergarten and first grade. Jake figures he has these bully-magnet characteristics: Hes small but not so small that he doesnt represent a challenge, he doesn’t have an older brother or sister to defend him, he’s not the type to complain, and he looks â€Å"brainy.† Interestingly, these dont change as Jake goes from being a bully-magnet to a bully buster. Instead, Jakes experiences in second grade change him. Jake and the Grade A, SuperBully Jakes says he didn’t become a bully buster until second grade and then, only after â€Å"being picked on by a Certified, Grade A Super Bully.† Second grade starts out wonderfully. Jake likes his teacher, Mrs. Brattle. There are no bullies in his class, although he still has to watch out for bullies on the playground and in the lunchroom. However, when a new student, Link Baxter, whom Jakes quickly learns is â€Å"a Certified, Grade A Super Bully,† joins the class. Link continually picks on Jake at school and on the school bus. The first time it happens, Jake is so upset that when he gets home he bullies his little sister until his mother stops him, saying, â€Å"What’s gotten into you!?† Jake realizes that â€Å"It was Link. Link had gotten into me! I was being like Link. I had caught BULLYITIS!† When he apologizes to his little sister, she tell him that Link’s sister is in her class, and she is a bully like her brother. Jakes Attempts to End the Bullying Jake decides to try acting like Link’s bullying doesn’t bother him. When Link makes fun of him on the bus, Jake acts like it’s a joke. All day, Jake tries to act cook when Link bothers him, but this only makes Link bully him more. Finally, Link splashes water on Jake so it looks like Jake wet him pants and proceeds to mock him, â€Å"Wook, wook! Wittle Jakey had an accident!† Jake get very mad and can tell Link is pleased about that. Jake is so mad that he hits Link, who acts like he has a terrible injury. Link gets sent to the nurse’s office for ice and sympathy and Jake was sent to the principal’s office. Afterwards, when he and Link meet in the hallway, Jake asks Link why he bullies him and Link doesn’t have an answer. Jake decides, â€Å"†¦if I could figure out that reason – or if I could give him a reason NOT to be a bully – then Link Baxter, SuperBully, would become Link Baxter, Ex-SuperBully.† From Bad to Worse Leads to New Insights Things go from bad to worse when Jake’s teacher decides that everyone in the class has to work in pairs on a Thanksgiving project, and she assigns Jake and Link to work together. Their assignment is to do a project about how Native Americans lived. Jake is appalled, but Link thinks it’s funny and tells Jake that he’s going to have to do all the work. Jake prepares the report but keeps hoping Link will help so they have something to show the class. When the day before the project is due Link tells Jake to do that also, Jake is so mad that he refuses. Link tells him to come over to his house after school so they can make something. At Link’s house, Jake learns two surprising things about Link: Link is skilled at creating models and dioramas and his older sister bullies him. He also learns that when Link is involved in model making, it’s like he’s one of the kids instead of a SuperBully. In fact, according to Jake, â€Å"When he forgot I was there, he had a different face from his bully face, Not mean. Almost nice.† The visit to Link’s house gives Jake a lot to think about, but he’s still not sure how to make Link stop bullying him. Everything Changes With Jakes Good Choices Everything changes again when it is time for Jake and Link to give their project report. Jake finds out that Link has stage fright about doing the presentation. Rather than pay Link back for all Link has done to Jake by humiliating Link in front of his classmates, Jake covers for him. He tells Link he will give the report and Link can point out things in the diorama he made. Their project is a big success, but the best outcome is that Link no longer bullies Jake and Jake realizes that by getting to know the real person â€Å"behind those mean eyes and that bully-face,† he can be a bully buster rather than a bully-magnet. Throughout the book, Jake reacts to the bullying in different ways, not all of them appropriate. He quickly learns that bullying others, being mean, and hitting the bully are all not the responses he wants to, or should, make. As time passes and he learns more and more about the bully, Jake begins to make better decisions: standing up to Link and refusing to finish the project by himself, covering for Link when it’s time for their presentation and acknowledging Link’s model-building skills in front of the class. Its the fact that Jake is essentially a good kid who is willing to take the time and thought to look beyond the bully-face to the person within that enables him to become a bully buster. Jake Drake Bully Buster: Guide Recommendation I recommend Jake Drake Bully Buster for independent readers in grades 2-4. It is also an excellent classroom or family read aloud. At under 90 pages, it is a quick and enjoyable read, but it also has some substance and can easily and effectively be used as a bullying discussion prompt. The Jake Drake series includes a total of four books about the fourth graders experiences st school, and I recommend them all. (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Simon Schuster, 2007 reprint edition. ISBN: 9781416939337) Additional Resources About Bullies and Bullying From About.com Dr. Vincent Iannelli, the About.com Pediatrics Expert, provides statistics about bullying and some of the signs of bullying parents should look for in his article Bullying and Bullies. For information about cyberbullying, see A Parents Guide to Cyberbullying. For picture books about bullies and bullying, see my reviews of Each Kindness, Oliver Button Is a Sissy and The Bully Blockers Club. For a list of books about bullying for older kids, see Bullies and Bullying in Books for Kids to Teens.

Textbook Evaluation Justification Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Textbook Evaluation Justification - Assignment Example The first textbook limits the fourth grade students to classroom-based activities thus making in inappropriate. The second book enables teachers to equip students with the skills applicable both within and outside class. In many institutions of learning, teachers are recommended to use different learning strategies in order to make students complete and resourceful people both in school and after graduating. The second textbook balance the content provided to students thus making it the best for teaching fourth grade students (Harcourt School Publishers Staff 2012). Content of some textbooks such as the first one lack sequence thus sabotaging efforts of students to build upon their prior knowledge and foundation skills. The second textbook Harcourt Language becomes preferred choice because sequence of content. Harcourt Language is one of the few books which effectively transfer content from one writing level to another. It equips students with language and writing skills necessary in other levels of education. Null curriculum is unnecessary thus should not have any impact on learning operations of the students. The second book does this best thus making it the most suitable for teaching fourth grade students. Learning institutions comprises of students of different sex and they come from different social, ethnic, political and religious backgrounds. As such, the content taught should factor this aspect. The evaluation of the second book indicates that it meets this criterion thus making it more appropriate. A good textbook uses unlimited primary source materials. It should also encourage students to use higher order thinking skills through examples. Harcourt Language perfectly does it (Harcourt School Publishers Staff 2012). The organization of the chapters and the format of the book are excellent thus enabling the teachers and the students to easily use it. This is also facilitated by outstanding organizational

Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Portfolio - Essay Example ess surplus, they may be restricted to use it.Their main aim is not to be successful in terms of prosperity, but to give value to the groups of people they deal with. These organizations target to help people globally (Neal, 2001). Moreover, organizations are self-governing meaning they are separate from the government and they control their own activities and also non-compulsory involving some meaningful level of voluntary services. This is the attraction of funds from other sources to non-profit organizations. An organization’s resources are obtained from the communication of its needs. These organizations have different marketing strategies that are utilized to get money or revenues while spending little of what they have. For a non-profit organization to be financed it should determine whether the purpose of being financed is viable financially. It should ensure that it demonstrates some competitive advantage to ensure program viability. Marketers learn about the stakeholders who are involved for the course of the organization. The agency of these non-profit organizations understand the world of marketing and tactics more than they are given credits and are better than many institutions think and they need to be treated and also understand that an agency may need to raise funds. Communication program: According to McLeish (2011), marketing can be seen as a systematic philosophy and approach used in carrying out business. It is important to understand that marketing requires interacting business activities and reinforcing the premises that each area of management has a task to play to have a successful operation. Pricing: In non-profit organizations, price is the link between the resource allocation and the resource attraction. The company’s price of a product allows it to attract more resources than what they use in the production. Some of these organizations use more than one constituency donors and clients to get more resources for the day-to-day

University of Wisconsin Admissions Essay Personal Statement

University of Wisconsin Admissions Essay - Personal Statement Example All skills that are necessary for one who ambitions to become a leader and not a follower in the future. These are skills and abilities that I did not realize I had until I became a member of the BBYO and found myself being asked to think about the kind of young leader that I could become. They called upon its members to strive towards becoming a national leader through the grassroots training that they offered. I dove into the challenge with excitement. I organized recruitment events in order to show the positive effect that our organization can have in their lives. All my hard work paid off as I was elected to the post of Regional Vice President for Communication (Northbrook chapter) , then programming (Overall, Illinois Chapter). Having been a ranking member of the BBYO for a number of years, I learned that life is not one person or race. It is about helping people reach their full potential in order to insure a steady flow of successful people in the future. We live in the land of opportunity. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to get the best out of the possibilities presented to them. I know how to do that and I willing to share what I know with my fellow students. I plan to do this by working with the student government in mounting student mixers and career introduction seminars whenever it is possible. I am currently the youngest staff employee of Special Gifts, a Chicago based theater group that helps children with disabilities see that their handicap is not a hindrance but a gift that makes them special. I am truly saddened that I will be unable to continue working with them because theirs is a Chicago based group. But, I have plans of further spreading the good works of the group by founding a Madison community chapter. I hope, that once I am in a well placed position within the student population of UW, I will be able to find some students who would want to help further the cause of my theater

The Veldt Essay Example for Free

The Veldt Essay In the short story â€Å"The Veldt by Ray Bradbury, everything starts with the purchase of their new family home. This home was not your average home because where other homes flawed this house seemed to have perfected itself. This house had features that would cater to the family such as feed them, sing to them, and even nurture them nothing was to good for their children said George. The greatest feature was the nursery. What this nursery would do, was catch the telepathic emanations of the children’s minds and create it in the room. This house did everything for the family; the children quickly grew more and more fascinated by the house then there parents. Soon enough, the children realized there was no need for their parents. As time progressed the kids started to adapt to being spoiled and pampered by the house. As the story goes, one day the parents walked into their three dimensional nursery and they discovered Africa; no longer was there nursery a lovely childish room, but it was now a dead desert with feeding animals. At first they were surprised at what their kids had been imagining then George said, â€Å"Nothing over there I can see but cleaned bone and vultures dropping for what’s left. † Than Lydia suggested that they give a call to the psychologist because there was not any reason why kids of so little age can be imagining this. So they did just that, and the psychologist advisor agreed with them to close the nursery down, and go on a family vacation. So George locked up the room and started turning off all there other machines that would cater to them one by one. That same night Peter and Wendy snuck into the nursery and as they were there a scream was herd all the way into their parent’s bedrooms; so George and his wife woke up to see what the commotion was about. George decided it was time to turn off everything all the machines so he did but right before he did Wendy and Peter got two minutes to say good bye. Too much time had passed and Lydia and George began to worry; they went in the nursery and it automatically locked them in and the lions ate Peter and his wife. The following day the psychologist came to visit the family and Pater and Wendy just acted as if nothing was wrong. Wendy even offered the psychologist a cup of tea symbolizing that she had no remorse over what had occurred to her parents.

Insomnia Essay -- essays research papers

Insomnia comes in many forms and worries people of all ages, most commonly for just a night or two, but sometimes for weeks, months, and even years. Insomnia has many causes. Insomnia is a symptom, much like fever or stomachache. There three symptoms commonly shown by people who have insomnia: difficulty falling asleep, no problem falling asleep but difficulty staying asleep with many awakenings, and waking up too early. Difficulty sleeping at night may be related with the following daytime symptoms: sleepiness, anxiety, impaired memory, impaired concentration, and irritability.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are three basic types of insomnia. The first type is called transient insomnia -- lasting for up to several nights and is usually caused by excitement or stress. Adults may sleep poorly before a key meeting at work or after a quarrel with his or her partner. Many people sleep worse than usual for the first night or two away from home, particularly if they have traveled across many time zones. Nighttime strong physical movements, the flu or other brief illnesses may disrupt sleep temporarily.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second one is situational insomnia. That is two or three weeks of poor sleep and is often developed during ongoing stress at work or at home. Situations such as job delay, divorced, serious illness or death are primary in this type of insomnia. Relief from the situation that provoked disturbed sleep or accommodation to it usually returns a pers...

Hutch Vodafone Takeover

After months of pitched battle, British mobile telecom major Vodafone Monday formally said it is buying a 67-percent stake in India's fourth largest mobile firm Hutch-Essar for $11. 1 billion and targeting a 25-percent market share in the country in five years. The London-headquartered company, that submitted a formal bid to the Hutchison Whampoa group midnight Friday, had earlier offered to pay $19 billion for the entire 100 percent-stake in Hutch-Essar. Vodafone has also agreed to take over a debt worth $2 billion. The remaining 33 percent stake in the mobile phone company is with the Ruias of Essar. Vodafone has offered to buy that stake as well. â€Å"Vodafone announces it has agreed to acquire companies that control a 67-percent interest in Hutch Essar from Hutchison Telecom International Ltd. (HTIL) for a cash consideration of $11. 1 billion,† a Vodafone statement said. For Vodafone, the acquisition will make India their third largest mobile phone market after Germany and the US with over 23 million subscribers and a 16. ercent national market share, industry sources said. â€Å"This announcement is clear evidence of how we are executing our strategy of developing our presence in emerging markets,† said the India-born chief executive of Vodafone Arun Sarin. â€Å"We have concluded this transaction within our stated investment criteria and we are confident it will prove to be an excellent investment for our shareholders. Hutch Essar is an impressive, well run company that will fit well into the Vodafone Group. According to industry experts, the mobile telecom giant, which has considerable expertise in third-generation (3G) mobile telephony segment, will have an edge over others once the new policy is rolled out later this in year or early 2008. Vodafone, which also had 10 percent stake in rival Bharti Airtel, said it will share the infrastructure with the company, based on a pact signed with the Sunil Bharti Mittal group. Infrastructure sharing is expected to reduce the total cost of delivering telecom services, especially in rural areas, enabling both parties to expand network coverage more quickly and to offer more affordable services to a broader base of the Indian population,† the statement said. Vodafone has also offered to offload 5. 6 percent of the said 10-percent holding to the Mittal family for $1. 6 billion. The Mittals, meanwhile, congratulated Vodafone on the deal, which is expected to make competition fiercer in the Indian telecom market. Vodafone's remaining 4.4 percent stake will, however, be retained and the group will act as a financial investor and not have any representation on the Bharti Airtel board, nor have any management rights, the statement added. Other players who had participated in the bidding process were Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications and the London-based Hindujas, both of whom have also congratulated Vodafone for making a successful entry into India's booming telecom market. Vodafone has operations in 25 countries with over 200 million proportionate customers at end of January 2007, as well as 36 partner networks, a company statement said.

Gatsby’s Attraction to Daisy Essay

In the novel ‘The Great Gatsby’, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main character – Gatsby – is in love with Daisy Buchannan. Moreover, the protagonist’s love for the young woman is the result of the objectifying and romanticizing of the latter. Throughout the novel, Nick shows Gatsby as the epitome of grandeur and the American Dream. Gatsby’s greatness, however, lies in his ability to pursue his dreams and, from them, create realities. This is the very case with Daisy. The main character feels attracted to her because she represents everything he ever wanted: wealth, glory and a high-class status. Without question, Gatsby is driven to desire Daisy because she is â€Å"dressed in white† (pg. 65) and other officers â€Å"demanded the privilege of monopolizing her† (pg. 65). It is important to note how Fitzgerald uses the word monopolizing instead of others that would set a more romantic tone. This is, however, because, in Gatsby’s eyes, Daisy is a trophy or a prize. And, thus, Daisy being such a big reward or achievement for Gatsby, he tries to attract her with exuberant parties. Furthermore, the fact that Daisy is so used to the upper class and ridiculous amounts of money also makes Gatsby find her â€Å"excitingly desirable† (pg. 28). It is not Daisy’s beauty or smile that wakens Gatsby’s heart; it’s the fact that her mansion was a thing â€Å"as casual to her as his tent out at camp to him† (pg. 128). We can see that Fitzgerald is trying to show to the reader why is that all the extravagant qualities Daisy possesses are so attractive to Gatsby; she, like money, represents the American Dream- the illusion of greatness and superiority. It is also important to see the words Fitzgerald uses when Gatsby describes Daisy. The fact that many others also desired the young lady, the main character says, â€Å"increased her value in his eyes† (pg. 128). The word value is, in a way, the summary of how the protagonist sees Mrs. Buchannan. It is not her beauty, her kindness or her personality – which behind Gatsby’s illusion is completely amoral and unethical –that makes Gatsby so interested in her. It’s her value; as if she were an expensive piece of jewelry to buy as a collection or a business to invest in. Nonetheless, it is what attracts Daisy that also attracts Gatsby. Because she’s attracted to â€Å"pomp and circumstance† (pg. 66), it adds to her value. Since he was very young, Gatsby fell in love with wealth and high-class standards, and though he never belonged there, he also desired the supposed ‘greatness’ that came with them. Daisy, in the main character’s eyes, is the representation of these very things. In conclusion, we can see that Gatsby, after creating an unreal version of Daisy, wants her more as an object than as an actual woman. Thus, the protagonist is attracted to her social hierarchy, her wealthy lifestyle and her popularity.

The War in Uganda Essays

The War in Uganda Essays The War in Uganda Essay The War in Uganda Essay The War in Uganda â€Å"We make war that we may live in peace. † This is a quote that the famous Aristotle said but is this always true? The civil war that is currently going on in Uganda is a case that the war being made is not so the people can live in peace, but rather live in a country that is completely divided. The war in Uganda is driving the people of this country to vast extremes and far away from peace. Throughout this war, it has always been the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) against the government which causes more heart breaks and separation. But who is the LRA consisting of? How are the people of Uganda being affected? Can a country like this ever live in a state of peace? Is there anything that we, as Americans, can do? Are you wondering what happen in Uganda that started this ever-lasting war? Well it can be traced back to a woman named Alice Lakwena. (Invisible Children) Lakwena claims that the â€Å"holy spirit† came to her one night and told her to over throw the Ugandan government. After saying such an outrageous thing like this, the Ugandan government exiled her, and this is when things started to take a turn for the worse. A man by the name of Joseph Kony would become Lakwena’s understudy and would now pick up where she had left off, only this time the Ugandan government would not be strong enough to exile him. Kony claims that he was possessed by spirits, the same spirits that had â€Å"talked† to Lakwena soon before this. War would officially be on the horizon. Kony soon became hated by many, even by Lakwena. But if he was Lakwena’s understudy then why would she hate him? This is because the vision that Lakwena had was to over throw the government, not to kill the citizens of Uganda. Kony had officially made his own plan and nothing was going to stop him or get in his way. Imagine one day you and your sister are running around your village, your mom is making dinner in your hut, and your dad has been working all day to support the family. Things seem fine until the LRA come rampaging into your village; they kill your mother and father, rape your sister, and kidnap and force you to be a part of their army. This is what has been going on for almost thirty years, that’s Africa’s longest running war. But who is the LRA and how do they have so much power? The LRA is an army that Kony himself created. Their values were based on those that came from many sources, Christianity, Mysticism, various African faiths, and witchcraft. Kony took it upon himself to do everything in his power to make sure that the Ugandan government would be overruled. (Invisible Children) But wait, a man that was hated by many has an army that has caused a thirty-plus year war? How is this possible? Remember the fact I said about how they â€Å"kidnapped you and made you fight for them† well it turns out the 90% of the LRA are abducted children; this is how Kony supplies his army. This has brought nothing but devastation to Uganda as a whole. What is this doing to the country as a whole? Well the government forced the citizens of Uganda to evacuate their villages and homes and move to displacement camps where they would be safe. (Global Security) Although this was a step in the right direction, the children of Uganda have to walk over 3 miles to shelters just so they do not become yet another number added to the LRA. Another issue that has caused a serious state of depression and desperation is that these camps were, and still are, in horrible conditions where everyone is packed in like sardines. World Vision) How are the people of Uganda being affected? Just imagine your child being abducted and then coming back to your village and being told that he/she will be killed if they don’t kill you. After a while this would take a beating on one’s health and well being. Again one has to ask, can a country that seems to be centralized by war ever have p eace? Peace? Does Uganda even know what this word means anymore? Can and will there ever be peace again? As time goes by, year by year, Uganda is slowly inching closer to total peace. Since 2008, there have been many peace attempts, but full peace has not yet been achieved. The United States is finally taking action and realizing that this war must stop, not just for the sake of humanity but for the sake of the world’s peace. (Global Security) With the help of the United States and support from thousands and thousands of people who are involved in an organization called ‘Invisible Children’ (which does nothing but work with the Ugandan government to advance peace talks and treaties), the peace treaties are becoming more and more realistic. One has to be realistic and think can the LRA and the Ugandan government exist in the same proximity? Considering there have already been so many attempts at peace treaties, I think that sooner or later they will be able to live in harmony together again. Kony is realizing that he is vastly losing support and members of his army. One can clearly see that the war in Uganda can be ended and stopped for good, but it will take time and patients. The citizens of Uganda, excluding those involved in the LRA mean well and want what is best for their country as a whole. We, as Americans, can show our support for this country in need and show them that we will not walk away and act like this is not happening. Just think if you were in their shoes, no family, no clean water, packed in so tightly into a hut, and being forced to live in fear; wouldn’t you want someone to come and help you! This is a picture of a young boy who is in the LRA This is a picture of one of the displacement camps†¦. notice all the small cramped huts! These are members of the LRA planning where they will invade next.

Keep Going - An Interview With Two #1 Amazon Bestsellers

Keep Going - An Interview With Two #1 Amazon Bestsellers "Keep Going" - An Interview with #1 Amazon Bestsellers Mark Edwards and Louise Voss Success doesn’t happen overnight. It is often the result of hard work put in over the years. And Mark Edwards and Louise Voss’ success story tells us as much. They are known for being the first indie authors to ever reach #1 on Amazon.co.uk back in 2011. Now with Amazon Publishing, their latest book is From The Cradle (and the best one, they tell me). Their story begins much sooner, though. They have been through the ups and downs that characterize a writer’s life, but they have been through them together and always determined to keep going.Today, we have the pleasure of interviewing both of them. They share their whole story (not only the success part) and their advice for starting indie authors. They also debunk a metadata-myth, analyze why Amazon Publishing is so powerful and explain how to co-write a book using Dropbox.So sit down with a nice cup of tea/coffee, and hit play. Or alternatively, read through the whole transcript below (courtesy of the Reedsy team). REEDSY: Hi Mark and Louise, I’m really pleased to have you here. You are known for being the first indie authors to have reached the top of the charts on Amazon.co.uk, a few years ago, with two books that you had co-written. But your collaboration started long before that, right Louise?LOUISE: Sure, it’s a good story, though it can make me sound a bit like a stalker. It started years ago, around 1998-99, and Mark was on this TV documentary about â€Å"wannabe writers†. I was in the exact same situation as him: I had an agent but she wasn’t very enthusiastic. We were both getting lots of rejections but they were really positive rejections. So I just sent him a little email via his agent, basically saying â€Å"I really liked your interview†.He wrote back, and we started corresponding via email about books and writing for around 18 months before we finally met in person. And then we thought: rather than just critiquing each other’s stuff, why d on’t we write something together? That’s when we started writing Killing Cupid. We did it all by email, because at that time Mark was in Japan.MARK: Yes, I was in Tokyo, and Louise was in London. We wrote an entire novel without even speaking to each other, literally. This was back in 2001, and Killing Cupid was optioned by the BBC but we didn’t manage to get a publishing deal for it.Then, a few years after, I came back from Japan and we decided to write another one together: Catch Your Death. Back then, however, we didn’t have an agent, we still couldn’t get a publisher, we were really back to square one, so we pretty much gave up at that point, didn’t we?LOUISE: Yes, I think the problem with Killing Cupid was a genre one. When we sent it to publishers, they said â€Å"well, it’s not really enough of a thriller to be a thriller; and it’s a comedy as well, we don’t know what to do with it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And that’s why we decided to write Catch Your Death, because that was unquestionably a thriller.MARK: Yes, so we both more or less gave up. I came back to the UK, got a good job, and thought: it’s really not worth the pain of trying to find a publishing deal.Then, 2010 when was I first heard about KDP. And I got a Kindle for my 40th birthday. So I said to Louise: why don’t we take our two old novels, spruce them up a bit, self-publish them and see what happens? And she was very reluctant.LOUISE: Yes, I thought â€Å"oh, no, it will be humiliating, we’ll sell 4 copies†¦Ã¢â‚¬ MARK: So we spent a few months rewriting and reworking them, because they were really out of date. There were no mobile phones, social media, etc.We put Killing Cupid out in February 2011, and as Louise predicted we sold around 4 copies on our first day, to people that we knew†¦ But then I became completely obsessed about trying to sell it. I had a full-time job, my girlfriend was pregnant, and she still talks about how I neglected her during that time! And Louise did promotion stuff too.LOUISE: Yes, we had a list of all the bloggers that accepted unpublished books - there weren’t that many of them but we put together this list and divided it up. Mark started at A and I started at Z and we worked our way to the middle, contacting all of them. It was a lot of work.REEDSY: And Mark, you did a very good job on the metadata too, right? I read about it on Joanna Penn’s blog, but maybe you can tell us what in your metadata helped make your book successful?MARK: Yes, we used subtitles. On Killing Cupid, I think it was pretty simple: â€Å"Killing Cupid, a psychological thriller†: nothing fancy, really. But we kept rewriting the blurb (book description). Back then, you used to be able to see what percentage of people who viewed your book had bought it, which was fantastic, you could see your conversion rate from browser to reader. So I kept looking at th e books in the top 10, especially the self-published thrillers and the ones that had the highest conversion rates, and tried to figure out what it was about those books that incited more people to buy them after they looked at them.So I was continually tweaking the description and I think that at one point I got it right, because it suddenly doubled our sales in just an hour. I had made the description shorter, more straightforward about the book while also making it sound more intriguing.We did something much more interesting for the second book, Catch Your Death. We called it: â€Å"Catch Your Death (For fans of Dan Brown Stieg Larsson)†. This quickly became a controversial point, with people starting to talk about it in The Bookseller magazine.But I actually believe, to this day, that it didn’t make any difference to the sales, because I think we put off as many people as we attracted. If you searched for Dan Brown at the time (and I did it quite a few times), our book didn’t come up, not even on page 30. It didn’t make any difference to the search results.What really made a difference, and this is a lesson for all indie authors, is that we were patient and hardworking in building a readership. We hand-sold every copy of Killing Cupid in the first 3-4 months: every single sale was hard work. And as we did that, we built a momentum and started climbing up the charts, which made our book more visible. And because it was good, word-of-mouth really worked in our advantage and more people started to buy it.We released Catch Your Death around 3-4 months after Killing Cupid, as Killing Cupid was climbing into the top 100. And Amazon then sent out an email advertising Catch Your Death to all the people who had previously purchased Killing Cupid.And it was the day that this email went out - even though we only realized this quite a long time afterwards - that more and more readers started buying both books and we shot up into the top 1 0. A couple of days later, Amazon removed the Dan Brown subtitle, and it didn’t make any difference at all.So there was a lot of hype about our metadata at that time, but I really don’t think it made any difference in the end. It was all about slowly building that readership.REEDSY: I think that’s a great lesson indeed for indie authors. But if we go back to the writing process, Louise, how does that technically work? What tools do you use: Google Drive, Dropbox, †¦?LOUISE: Dropbox, we have everything in Dropbox. It works really well for us, you can see the last things people have worked on and when. Though sometimes it happened that we were both working on the same document at the same time, so when we saved it created conflicted copies, which are a nightmare to sort out. But we don’t do that so much now, we’ve got better at it.We also email a lot, and text, when it’s particularly urgent, but we don’t actually talk that much, un less there is a problem, or in the beginning and the end, when there are things to figure out.MARK: For Dropbox, we have a â€Å"master document† - we do it all in Word - and we write separate chapters in separate Word documents, save them into Dropbox for the other person to make comments. The original author then goes back to that chapter to amend it and when we’re both happy with it we add it to the master document!We also have other Word documents and spreadsheets for our chapter plans. I think that, ideally, we’d use Scrivener, because that’s what we both write on for our solo novels, but you can’t really use it for collaborative work, as far as I’ve been able to work out.REEDSY: Now, with the success of Killing Cupid and Catch Your Death, you were prompted to partner with an agent, who got you into traditional publishing. How was that experience?LOUISE: It’s quite ironic, because we spent years trying to get a publishing deal for both books. But we didn’t have an agent at all until we were #1 on Amazon. I was talking with an author friend of mine and he suggested me to contact his agent. I said â€Å"well, he turned us down a few years ago so I don’t think he’ll be interested†. He answered â€Å"oh, it’s different now, you’re #1†. So we contacted his agent and he quickly got us a deal with HarperCollins, which was fantastic! I don’t regret it, really, because it was just so lovely to finally have this public validation through a traditional publishing deal, and the idea to have our books in shops, the advance, etc.I often wonder, with the benefit of hindsight, whether we would do it differently if we had to do it again, and I don’t think we would change much, other than to get more involved in the marketing and publicity of these traditionally published books. We were thinking that the publisher would do most of the marketing and promotion, a nd it didn’t happen. So I think our mistake wasn’t taking the deal, it was not pushing the books as much as we had when we were self-publishing.MARK: Louise literally just took the words out of my mouth. I definitely don’t regret it either, it was â€Å"a dream come true†. Louise had already had a traditional publishing deal in the past, but for me it was something I’d wanted for years.LOUISE: Yes, I guess I was a bit more cynical about it, because I already had had an experience with a publisher who dropped me after not promoting the books - and that was back in the day when you could do little yourself. But I still don’t regret it, we had a lovely editor, who did an excellent editorial work, really improving the books. It’s just that not many people got to see them.MARK: Yes, that was the frustrating thing. What happened is that after the first and second books didn’t do as well as they hoped, the third and fourth ones were pretty much dead in the water.LOUISE: It basically took the exact same trajectory as my first publishing deal: sales got smaller and smaller and the publisher’s interest got smaller and smaller. Also, one thing to take into account is that two of the four books had already been self-published before and picked up by a lot of people. So I think that didn’t help us as much as we thought it would.MARK: That was the problem, really. Catch Your Death and Killing Cupid came out a year after we first self-published them, which means the sequel to Catch Your Death came a year and a half after the first book, and by then, everyone had lost interest. And it wasn’t pushed at all, it wasn’t in any shops, it had no visibility.I actually think that we were a little bit like guinea pigs, because we were the first â€Å"indies† to go through that process over here in the UK. The publishers learned from what happened with us for some of the following indie success stories that they picked up.REEDSY: So you were with a publisher that didn’t do as much as you hoped on the marketing side of things. But now you’re with Amazon, right? Which is almost the opposite.MARK: Yes, but there is a stage in between. In January 2013, we were in a dark place. We’d had a very disappointing 2012 with the two paperbacks, and when the third one came out in January it just disappeared without a trace. Literally without trace, it left nothing.I had gambled by quitting my job to be a full-time writer, and I was in a very difficult financial position, with massive tax and credit card bills, plus my wife and I had another baby on the way. So I really was in a state of constant panic, thinking â€Å"what am I going to do?† I can laugh about it now, but it was terrible at that time. Every now and again I think â€Å"I can’t believe I managed to get myself out of that dark pit that I was in†.I remember Louise and I had this meeti ng with our agent in London and he - now, he would probably deny it - but he had lost a bit of interest in us as well. But we were determined to make it work so we decided we would not give up, and start a new series of books instead.Now, I had this book â€Å"The Magpies† that I had had sitting in my bottom drawer for years, and I’d been tinkering with it, on and off. Louise said: â€Å"why don’t you just do it, just self-publish it?† So I went home that day, read through it, and thought â€Å"actually, this is quite good†. So I self-published The Magpies via my agent (it’s called â€Å"agent-assisted self-publishing†) and it basically completely transformed everything, because The Magpies ended up selling (in its self-published version) 170,000 copies. It simply changed my life, and it’s what led to the deal with Amazon.Amazon Publishing bought the rights for it and for another solo novel from me. And when Louise and I fini shed our new co-written one, it did go out in submission to various publishers, but Amazon pre-empted it and our commissioning editor there read it in a few days. They made an offer, and because I’d had such a great experience with them already, Louise thought: â€Å"why not?†Everything so far with Amazon Publishing has been fantastic. I mean, I’d like to sell more books in the US, but in the UK it couldn’t have gone any better I think.REEDSY: Yes, and we actually interviewed another Amazon-published author, Bob Mayer, a few weeks ago who highlighted the â€Å"marketing reach† of Amazon publishing imprints. What does that mean exactly? What do these imprints do in terms of marketing that makes it worth it signing away royalties to them?MARK: Well, they’ve got the most amazing database in the world. They’ve got anyone who has ever bought anything, including anyone who has ever read a psychological thriller! That’s what sets them apart from all the other publishers. Plus, they’ve got the platform of their website, and they also do a lot of on-device marketing. So if you’ve got a Kindle Fire, you’ll see that whenever you turn it on, an advert will appear on the home screen, and they rotate, but they’re often books.That visibility that you get with Amazon publishing is just fantastic. The restriction of being with them is that you’re pretty much only on the Amazon platform, although they do print books and they are making efforts to get them into the shops. But they’re not on any of the other digital stores, so you’re in kind of a walled garden, like a luxury gated development!When somebody from a big publisher said to us: â€Å"well, wouldn’t you rather be with a traditional publisher and have your books in the shops?†, my answer was that that all sounds great, but when we did have that opportunity, our books were barely in the shops anyway†¦REEDSY: So, do you now still produce some marketing effort yourselves or is it all Amazon?LOUISE: We’ve worked very hard on building up our Facebook page. It’s not like we have tens of thousands of followers, but the ones we do have are so loyal that it’s really helping us get the word of mouth thing going, which is the holy grail of marketing anyway. But we still do work very hard, especially when we do online launches.REEDSY: To finish on an encouraging note for other authors out there: you’ve been through everything, both of you, in a writer’s career; the ups, the downs, so what would be your advice for an author who’d be in a â€Å"dark year† like you had in 2012?MARK: I think it’s certainly nurturing your existing fans and readers. That is what goes through in our Facebook group, where we have really loyal readers as Louise pointed out. They were really really helpful and acting as cheerleaders to keep us going. And then when we did start selling well, they were there and helped spread the word.REEDSY: And Louise, what would be your advice?LOUISE: Keep going!We lost the rest of Louise’s advice due to recording problems, but feel free to ask her (or Mark) anything in the comments below!Sharing is caring, so here are our Twitter handles: @ReedsyHQ, @mredwards and @LouiseVoss1