Incan Empire Essay Example Essay Example

Incan Empire Essay Example Paper Incan Empire Essay Introduction Afghanistan Opium Production October 1347, the Europeans were greeted with the black plague which wiped out about one third of the whole population in Europe nearly 20 million people. (History) Far before that in about 3400 B. C. the cultivation of the new age plague was being planted by the Mesopotamians which is known today as Opium. Present day, Afghanistan controls nearly 90% of all opium growth and distribution which is a $65 billion market. (Sites) Opium is a dried condescended form of poppy Juice which has a narcotic effect and if used in large doses it may be poisonous. Opium is most opularly found in Heroin, which is a street drug that was once used to sedate soldiers in war. Today Heroin controls the lives about 15 million addicted users worldwide, and in Afghanistan alone about 1 million users. This is due to the availability and cheap price of the drug throughout Afghanistan. (Sites). Just in the past three years Afghanistan’s poppy industry began resurfacing. And with Afghanistan’s ever increasing cultivation of the opiate producing poppy plant, we are seeing the effects of the cultivation and drug use getting worse. Thus making Afghanistan the biggest opium producer today. Addiction is a common thread for mankind everybody craves some form of something. Ranging from that cup of coffee you drink every morning to the television programs you watch at night, there’s always a void that needs tending too. In Afghanistan however, the voids they face differ greatly from most Americans. Notoriously known for their rap sheet of wars the people of Afghanistan have been plagued by terrorism and the failure of their government for years. Creating a poverty ridden war traumatized environment for people to live in. Incan Empire Essay Body Paragraphs Causing voids we as American’s so much take for granted such as income, clean water, and food. These everyday burdens have a heavy toll on the physical and mental well-being of many. Belittling them to succumb to the control of the pain killing derivatives of the poppy plant. Opium is no stranger to the afghan people, many users today have been addicted to the drug for years. â€Å"l started to use the drug for pain relief after my husband died. † says Mesoma, a 25 year old woman from Kabul, Afghanistan. (Cohen) That very response seems to be the common thread between addicts who try opium for the first time. It seems for a majority of users, opium helps them cope with something they lost. But why opium? And not a doctor prescribed drug? According to the World Health Organization or WHO Afghanistan has one of the worst health care systems worldwide. This is due to underfunding and neglect to their health care program, which has been an ongoing theme for years. (WHO). In saying that without the financial backing of the government for health care and the already struggling economy, many people don’t have the money to treat their physical and mental illness. Which is when they turn to the cheap alternative heroin which is sold by the half gram for about $4 U. S. (Cohen) Ironically the same thing that’s helping addicts ope with their problems is in turn causing them bigger problems in the end. A prime example is a 28 year old addict name Reza who was also a part of Anna o en CNN news report. Reza nad this to say â€Å"using drugs made me leave my nome and my family, if I didn’t use drugs I would have a family and a good life. † Reza turned to drugs after a so called â€Å"bad friend† introduced him to heroin a year ago and hasn’t stopped ever since. His last words for camera’s we’re â€Å"l would like to give up but at the moment I cant. † (Cohen) Reza like many users has become so addicte d to the potency of heroin that he no longer has control over the drug . With no money for food or the necessities to live addicts like Reza are beginning to flood the streets of major cities and abandoned buildings to find some type of shelter where they can shoot up and get high. As it stands it is estimated that one million or eight percent of Afghanistan’s population is addicted to opium. Lumahieu) And the thirty six percent increase of poppy cultivation could be to blame for this spike of users. And the worst is yet to come according to Gwen Lighter an author for the Moscow Times, she reports that â€Å"after all foreign military forces depart in 2014 Opium will become the eading economic activity in Afghanistan†. (Lighter). When this happens Afghanistan’s already struggling counter narcotics program will be under more scrutiny by farmers and Taliban and without the backing of foreign forces. This may cause another potential rise in addicts due to the stren gthen corruption within the Taliban and government. One potential solution that’s got the world leaders stirring is the possibility of a Joined force operation of two countries such as Russia who has one of the worst Heroin addiction problems and the US to go in and defuse all turmoil appening in Afghanistan surrounding the Opium plague. (Lighter) The actuality of this actually happening is unknown. One thing we do know is as long theirs money to be had the opium will never stop flowing. Opium production in Afghanistan annually rakes in about $2 billion, which makes up about a tenth of Afghanistan’s economy. (Quraishi) What makes up Afghanistan’s rapidly growing opium production are farmers, the Taliban, and corrupt government officials. Afghanistan’s opium production first relies heavily on farmers. Before poppy, Afghanistan had their fair share of wheat farmers. But once they found out that poppy could make them 10 times more money than wheat could they began growing poppy. In 2012, there were about 200,000 farm families that grew 90 percent of all the worlds’ opium. Quaraishi) And with the rapid increase within the past year the number of farm families may have significantly risen. The average bottom of the business farmer makes about $2,500 which is still more than most Afghanistan families earn. Which is why many farmers are turning to the Taliban for help. In the documentary Opium brides they share stories of farmers who borrow money from rug lords to manifest their own poppy in hopes of earning money for their families. But when the government driven eradication programs come in to sweep out their crops they become in debt with the drug lords. When this happens and the farmers cannot pay back debts the Taliban begin kidnapping the farmer’s daughters to sell as brides for the Taliban. (Quraishi) Many farmers are outraged about the eradication because of the debts they will have to owe. Some farmers even believe t hat the same officials eradicating their crops are the ones splitting up seeds among themselves to sell. It is a harsh reality but farmers need to do what they have to, too survive. While, the poppy production funnels in $2 billion annually for the country. The rest of the $4 billion of the $6 billion industry is being put into the hands of the Taliban who control these grow ops and heavily tax and drive up opium prices tor buyers outside of the country. With this money the Taliban can continue to strengthen their forces and become an ever lingering problem within the Afghanistan community. Making them a more lethal threat too many including the US. The worse part about all of this s that the government is in on the whole thing, making the issue more difficult to fix. Based upon my investigation of the Opium problem in Afghanistan I see two trends that for see this industry to grow more than it already is. The two main reasons for this go back to the backbone of what makes up this b usiness, the money and the addicts. The demand of Opium throughout the world will never stop growing for the simple reason of addiction. Once addicts begin using it’s a known trend throughout my investigation that is extremely hard to shake. With that said the demand will forever stay high. Making for virtually a never ending need of opium. Meanwhile suppliers or Afghanistan at this rate can’t stop because they got the bitter sweet taste of income. Which feeds not only the corrupt but the country as a whole. They would be looking at a 10 percent decrease of national income to their which would be a terrible blow to an already struggling economy. Which brings me to the conclusion that this problem will forever linger throughout the existence of Afghanistan. In saying that although the opium market will never be stopped, the efforts to slow down opium production and addiction is being discussed critically worldwide today. Bibliography 1. Black Death. † History. com . A Television Networks, n. d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. 2. Sites, Kevin. â€Å"Afghanistan’s Opium Plague. † VICE. N. p. , n. d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013. 3. PSS. PSS, n. d. web. 05 NOV. 2013. 4. Norland, Rod. â€Å"Opium Production in Afghanistan. † Ny Times, n. d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013 5. ZAFAR, MORWARI. â€Å"Oblivion In Afghanistan. † New Internationalist 442 (201 1): 27-31. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. 6. â€Å"Afghanistan. † WHO. World Health Organization, n. d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013 7. United Nations. Drugs and Crime. Afghanistan Opium Survey 2013. By Jean-Luc Lumahieu, Sandeep Chawla, and Mohammad Ibrahim Azhar. N. p. : n. p. , n. d. United Nation Office of Drug and Crime. United Nation Office of Drug and Crime. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. 8. Lighter, Gwen. â€Å"Looking for the Reset Button in Afghan Opium Fields. † The Moscow Times. N. p. , 18 NOV. 2013. web. 19 NOV. 2013. 9. opium Brides. Dir. Najibullah Quratshi. PSS. PSS, 03 Jan. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. 10. Holzehu, Nicolas. Addict Smokes Heroin off Tinfoil. [Online image]. Flickr. com. Winter 2010. Thurs 16 Nov. 2013 11. Howard- Gibbon,J. A. Orientale Poppy. [Online image] namethatplant. wordpress. com. 23 May 2010. We will write a custom essay sample on Incan Empire Essay Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Incan Empire Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Incan Empire Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

20 Analysis Essay Topics What to Include in a Paper about Native American Literature

20 Analysis Essay Topics What to Include in a Paper about Native American Literature Literary analysis assignments are designed to give you an in-depth view of a piece of writing and its writer’s motivation. Some instructors will give you specific aspects which you need to focus on. However, if you have carte blanche, examine the literary elements of the text, formulate your central thesis, and then prove your idea by providing arguments/evidence from the text. If your assignment involves studying Native American literature from a critical and analytic perspective, any of these topics will serve your purpose. Some of these are quite specific, so you can simply choose one, look up the appropriate sources listed at the end of this page, and get started. There are also some general topics in the following list. You can use these as a guide to think up your own specific topic. The Moral Lessons in Traditional Native American Trickster Tales How the Hero Archetypes of Oral Myths and Legends Have Shaped Native American Identity and Culture A Comparative Analysis of the Traditional Myths of the Wintu and Zuni Tribes The Symbolism of Spiritual Beings in Ojibway Legends Common Elements of Native American Creation Myths Alienation and Estrangement as Prevalent Themes in Contemporary Native American Literature An Exploration of the Major Themes in The Birchbark Series by Louise Erdrich Representations of Childhood in Traditional Native American Literature Folktales as Reflections of Ancient Native American Ethics Feminism in Contemporary Native American Literature The Challenges of Translating Traditional Native American Oral Story Performances for Modern Audiences Identity and Transition in John Rollin Ridge’s â€Å"The Life and Adventures of Joaquà ­n Murieta: The Celebrated California Bandit† Elements of Christianity in Native American Writings What a Man is and What He Says: An Analysis of N. Scott Momaday’s â€Å"The Man Made of Words† The Connection Between Tribal Literature and Current Societal Concerns of Native American People Thought Woman:The Concept of a Female Creator in Native American Literature Metaphysics and Symbolism in Leslie Marmon Silkos Novel ‘Ceremony’ Eco-Criticism: Lessons from Native American Literature Mythic Realism: A Unique Aspect of Traditional Native American Myths and Folktales The Notion of Time in Native American Narratives These topics will help you write a piece your instructor will enjoy reading. If you want to come up with your own topic, be sure to check out our 14 facts on Native American literature for a literary analysis. Each of these facts can be transformed into a topic. They also come with references to source material which you can use to quickly finish your essay. If you do not know yet how to come up with a Native American literary analysis, you can use our guide on how to write a literary analysis on Native American literature as well as the following essay example for guidance. Sample Literary Analysis on Leslie Marmon Silkos Ceremony Native American cultures have a rich history of oral traditions which include myths, legends, folktales, chants, songs, and prayers. Stories are used to pass on knowledge and moral lessons. Since oral stories had to be memorized, they often included rhythmic and repetitive elements. ‘Ceremony’ has received critical acclaim as it was the first novel ever published in the US by a female Native American writer. As such, it occupies a prominent place amongst contemporary Native American literary works. The Native American art of storytelling is a major theme in Silko’s novel â€Å"Ceremony†. The central plot focuses on the Native American struggle of trying to reconcile one’s identity with an external world that either distances itself from a person or threatens to swallow them whole. Storytelling is used in the novel as a way of reconnecting with one’s own cultural roots. Silko’s novel deals with this complex struggle in a touching way. In â€Å"Ceremony†, traditional Pueblo stories are told in the form of poetry. These poems occupy an important place in the structure of the book. They are found both at the beginning and end of the book, and are also interspersed throughout the narrative because they serve as mileposts for what themes the plot will take on in later chapters. Now storytelling in Native American culture is a way of strengthening communal bonds. The stories in â€Å"Ceremony† are used to make the protagonist realize that he is not alone in his struggles. As he re-enacts the stories, his perspective widens and he learns to let go of past traumas. Through the stories he discovers and readers skim through, he learns to reconnect with himself, his community and nature itself. The elements of traditional tales show the closeness of human beings and nature. Native American religion and philosophy holds that nature and human beings are a continuum. In Western minds, the word nature conjures up an external, disconnected concept. From a Native American perspective, this disconnect does not exist. The content of the stories that the protagonist is exposed to is also important. The stories feature traditional archetypes of heroes, struggle, and rekindling of hope. This is crucial in helping him come to the enlightening and freeing realization that he is not the only one who has faced immense struggles. Others have faced worse and have survived because of their will. The central character uses storytelling to renew his faith in the old traditions. He realizes that even after destruction, the human spirit remains strong and looks with hope to a chance of renewal. Ancient traditions help the protagonist come to terms with his present crisis of identity. The novel makes brilliant use of Native American myths and presents us with a captivating story about the importance of storytelling. The final message of the novel is delivered in a powerful manner when the protagonist learns the value of preserving traditions and bravery in the face of challenges. You will definitely come up with a better essay for sure. So, give it your all and make sure that you do not start working on your assignment late next time. References: Tales of the North American Indians. (2016). Sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 16 March 2016, from sacred-texts.com/nam/tnai/ Thompson, S. (1966). Tales of the North American Indians. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Minderhout, D. Native Americans in the Susquehanna River Valley, past and present. Ballinger, F. (2004). Living sideways. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Thompson, S. (1966). Tales of the North American Indians. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Legends And Stories. (2016). Manataka.org. Retrieved 17 March 2016, from manataka.org/legends.htmlLaPena, Frank R. 1978. Wintu, in California, edited by Robert F. Heizer, pp. 324–340.Handbook of North American Indians, William C. Sturtevant, general editor, vol. 8. Johnston, Basil. Tales the elders told : Ojibway legends. Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto: 1981) Johnston, Basil. Ojibway heritage. Columbia University Press (New York: 1976) Johnston, Basil. Ojibway ceremonies. McClelland and Stewart (Toronto: 1987) Exploring U.S. History | native american creation stories. (2016). Chnm.gmu.edu. Retrieved 17 March 2016, from http://chnm.gmu.edu/exploring/pre_18thcentury/creationstories/pop_sioux.html

Educational Reform in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Educational Reform in America - Essay Example During the permissive era, public schools got permission from the government to organize their subjects according to the local voters’ approval. In the permissive era, parents were given complete authority. The Encouraging Era The encouraging era started in the year 1826 and continued till 1851. During the encouraging era, the government encouraged the development of school districts as well as increased the tax revenues in their support. Nevertheless, the government did not require the schools to be established during the encouraging era. This era is primarily marked by the authority of the parents and children did not face any compulsion to attend public schools. The Compulsory Era The compulsory era in the history of American education ranged from the year 1855 till 1980. As the name of the stage indicates, at this stage, government made the establishment of school districts obligatory and compelled taxation of the government schools. In addition, the structure and curricul um of the schools was also finalized during the compulsory era. In this era, the authority of the parents declined, and children belonging to specific age groups were obliged to go to school. In some of the states, it was illegalized for children to go to non-government schools irrespective of the parents’ affordability of the fee and other expenses. The Freedom Era The freedom era started in the year 1980 and continued till 2009. During the freedom era, there was a noticeable increase in the options of education available to children that included but were not limited to vouchers, homeschooling, scholarship tax credits, charter schools, tax credits of tuition, and deductions in education. The freedom era was marked by increased availability of a variety of options to... This paper approves that the lifestyle in the present age is of such a nature that there are very minimal, if any, opportunities of growth and advancement for the individuals that are not educated. Education is required in every field of life, ranging from engineering to medical sciences, and teaching to business administration. Even business entrepreneurs cannot do without being educated. The educated people can think of numerous ways to dodge a businessman who has a lot of money but is not educated. Education is needed to be eligible for employment in all fields. These days, the level of education of the candidates is one of the most fundamental factors based on which the managers decide whom to recruit for a specific post. Education is not only required to be eligible for employment in a given field; the benefits of education extend far beyond this. For example, an educated person knows how to monitor the diet in such a way that he/she consumes the optimum number of calories to re main smart whereas an uneducated person suffers because of dieting and hunger. This essay makes a conclusion that the participation rate of the remedial courses by the minority students is even higher whereas the rates of completion are significantly lower. It is beyond any doubt that certain level of education and training is fundamental to the attainment of jobs and development of careers to have a good standard of living. To improve the quality of education in America as well as increase the tendency of the American students to acquire good grades in education, reforms are needed in the governmental policies as well as in the educational system.

Research Paper about Marijuana legalization - Criminal Justice Studies

About Marijuana legalization - Criminal Justice Studies - Research Paper Example This research paper is therefore important for identifying whether or not alternative responses to the social, economic and health issues linked to marijuana may be more appropriate. This research paper therefore proposes to identify the social, economic and health issues linked to the abuse of marijuana and whether or not the cost of decriminalizing marijuana is proportionate to these issues. I chose this topic because I have personally observed friends who use marijuana regularly. Some of these friends function no differently than friends who do not use marijuana. Some of these friends however appear to be lackadaisical and unmotivated and do not function productively. I found the disparity in my friends’ functioning interesting and wondered if the different reactions to marijuana use influence the controversy over whether or not marijuana use should be controlled by legislation. This research is conducted by a review of the literature on the pros and cons of legalising mari juana and the literature on the social, economic and health consequences of marijuana use. ... Significance of the Study 10 VI.Research Methodology 10 VII.Organization of the Study 11 Chapter Two 13 A Review of the Literature 13 I.Introduction 13 A.Public Opinion 13 B.Legal Issues 16 C.Economic Issues 18 D.Social and Health Costs 22 II.Conclusion 25 Chapter Three 26 Research Methodology 26 Chapter Four 29 Results and Analysis 29 I.Results 29 A.Semi-Structured Interviews 29 B.Questionnaires 31 III.Conclusion 35 IV.Strengths of the Research 36 V.Weaknesses of the Research 36 VI.Areas for Future Research 36 Bibliography 41 Chapter One Introduction to the Study I. Introduction An increase in marijuana use during the 1990s has given way to an intensification of the debate on the legalization of marijuana (Strang, Wilton, & Hall, 2000). Proponents in favor of legalizing marijuana argue that marijuana is harmless when used as a recreational drug and has therapeutic/medicinal value. Opponents of legalizing marijuana argue however, that marijuana should remain a banned substance since its use is harmful to personal health and to public safety (Strang, et. al., 2000). In more recent times the debate over the legalization of marijuana gained increasing currency with the medical community’s involvement. Within the medical community there was sufficient recognition of the medicinal value of marijuana to persuade some states to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. Medicinal marijuana is said to be an effective therapy for pain, nausea and vomiting linked to chemotherapy, excessive weight loss in AIDS patients and can help patients tolerate the side effects of some conventional treatments. Convinced of its medical value, between 1996 and

HR Practices At For Profit And Not For Profit Organizations Essay

HR Practices At For Profit And Not For Profit Organizations - Essay Example This move toward HR puts information, authority, rewards, and a communication system in place at each stage in an organization. If organizations are to be sustainable in the middle to long-term, workers must be provoked to care about the job they do, to obtain knowledge-related skills, and to execute the work to the best of their capabilities. Superior employee participation can only be attained during a cautiously directed procedure that struggles for contribution by incorporating the personality with the organization to attain high efficiency and spirited benefit. This course engages reformation the work so that it is demanding, motivating, and inspiring as probable. Employees at all stages are set authority to control decision-making, they are given information concerning the organization's processes and presentation, and they are skilled so that they can function with a talented accepting of the industry. Though, elevated quality employees do not guarantee an organization of having a stable spirited benefit or even a short-term benefit. If employees are inadequately aggravated or if the right organizational systems are not in position, the employees' aptitude may be exhausted or lost to opponents (Pfeiffer & Veiga, 1999). As well, leadership is serious to the stability of an organization and it desires to be renowned that the leaders of organizations now need new talent and capability. Old methods of leadership, shatterproof by conventional bureaucratic hierarchies, are no longer suitable to organizations that at the present face confronts of challenging in worldwide markets and speedy technical modifications (Fitz-enz, 1993). Importance of HR Practices Profitable and non-profit organizations have altered noteworthy features of their service policies throughout the 1990s. According to Dyer and Reeves (1995) the function of trade unions has turn down, bartering about employment circumstances and earnings has moved to the endeavor stage and rising numbers of organizations are initiating systems to converse straightly with their employees. There has been an enlargement in reimburse for presentation schemes, supple service practices, teaching, performance evaluations and wider work arrangements. These expansions entail an importance on humanizing employee presentation even as together growing the suppleness of labor. Current literature in the delayed 1990s places tough stress on the requirement for high- participation labor practices, better employee contribution in decision-making and control over how the work is carried out and augmented elasticity and casualization of the staff. The practical and hierarchical managerial structures have given means to wider and praise arrangements where self-directed work teams have become more widespread and workers and employees have a contribution to the

Complaint letter

Complaint letter I wish to present complaints that your business has presented to Yoga Center which have continually worked to strain our relationship as business neighbors. Your employees have always been leaving the garbage carts outside our Day-care premises making it a huge distraction to our clients as well. This is against the accepted code of behavior since the carts should be kept at the appropriate storage areas at all times. We have also noted with concern that your businesses have been dumping wastes and other inappropriate items close to our premises. This is an eyesore to our business and has adversely affected the business. This illegal dumping has made us land into problems with the local authorities as dumping is against the local regulations (Joshi, 2006). Recently Yoga Center was even required to pay a hefty fine. Another complaint which we wish to raise is the noted unfair competition which you have subjected to our business. The billboards which have been erected around our business have largely confused our clients and made the business to not pick-up fast as anticipated. The storage and parking of vehicles has also been a case of distress. Noise has been on increase in the recent past. This being a yoga centre we require total silence in order for the people to effectively reflect and offer adequate care to babies. The increased noise levels work as a distraction and the clients do not achieve the necessary results. This has made our clients not to be satisfied with the results and they have left the yoga classes thus making us to lose profits. Kindly consider these complaints for mutual relations between us, thanks. References Joshi, G. (2006). Writing Skills for Technical Purposes. New York, U.S.A: Gyan Publishing House

Free Awakening Essays: The Parrot :: Chopin Awakening Essays

The Importance of the Parrot in The Awakening "Go away! Go away! For heaven’s sake! That’s all right!" (1) Chopin opens her poetic novella, The Awakening, not with the dialogue of a character, but with the ramblings of a brash parrot. Immediately, Chopin compels her readers to ponder what significance, if any, these seemingly random words will have in the following tale. Yet, it is not until the final pages that we recognize the bird’s true importance and meaning. The parrot, though seldom referred to within the text, comes to symbolize Edna’s role in society and the woman she becomes as she is spiritually awakened. At first impression the parrot’s bold demeanor creates an image of eccentricity. His spirited exclamations give him an air of impertinence, defiance, and intelligence that one would not expect of such a bird. Chopin portrays Edna in the same light, showing that perhaps as the parrot may deviate from the norm, so does Edna, who digresses from the society in which she lives. She does not conform to the image of a typical woman in society, playing the roles of a devoted mother and wife. Edna ignores these standards by engaging in two extra-marital affairs and by placing her own life before those of her children. Her desire to live as she pleases lies in direct opposition to the duties she is expected to perform, and she refuses to put on this performance to satisfy society. As a result, Edna seems as brazen and audacious as the parrot that obviously does not mimic the sounds he hears and instead seems to create his own. Again squawking, "Go away! Go away!" at the bothersome piano playing of two girls, Chopin writes, "He was the only being present who possessed sufficient candor to admit that he was not listening to these gracious performances for the first time that summer." (23) Edna shows similar candor in her unwillingness to accept society’s burdening stereotypes. The seemingly intelligent bird "could speak a little Spanish, and also a language which nobody understood..." (1) Though the parrot’s remarks appear to fall on deaf ears, Edna is one who can identify with his presumable wisdom, as her existence too is misjudged. Both Edna and the parrot are depicted as extraordinary and misunderstood in their surroundings, yet they are not free:as the parrot must exist in a cage, so Edna is caged by the restrictions society places upon her.

Negotiation styles & strategies

The teachers were very un-collaborative in their approach towards the negotiation and seemed quite unwilling to bend in their resolve not to accept the proposal offered by the board of Education. The teachers basically attempted to force the hand of the board by deciding to go on a strike. Considering that the area had only recently suffered from the effects of the September 11 strike on the Twin Towers and that there was some amount of adjusting to be done, the teachers seem to have manipulated the situation in order to achieve their objectives.The strike commenced only a few hours after the end of an agreed moratorium period according to Hanley (2001a). This is suggesting that little or inadequate attempt was made to pursue peaceful negotiations prior to decide to enter into an industrial strike. Furthermore the teachers made no attempt to relent or relax their position but were willing, even under punishment of imprisonment, to hold firm to their original position without any or l ittle adjustments or compromise. The board wanted to increase the teachers’ maximum contributions to the health insurance scheme from $250 to $860 (Hanley & Jacobs, 2001). The teachers were adamant in refusing any sort of increasing wanting the figure to remain as was.So determined was their resolve that at the time of the unsuccessful conclusion of the negotiations 225 teachers, secretaries and other union members had being jailed because of their refusal to obey the court order to return to work (Hanley, 2001c). Had the union leaders not decided on the 29th of November to instruct its members to obey the court order to return to work, the impasse would have probably continued with even more teachers being jailed.The union however, seemed at one point willing to relax the teachers’ position on the issue of the proposed increase in teachers’ contributions to the health fund. The teachers relaxed their positions partially when they agreed to a set of settlement r ecommendations proposed by the mediators which would have seen them compromising their position significantly. However the position of the board was even more adamant and thus no solution was arrived on the issue.The teachers attempted to justify their rejection of the proposal put forward to them. The proposal put forward by the board sought to increase maximum payments by about thirty per cent in one instant. This amount appears to be very unreasonable. Of course the board could not accept the teachers’ proposition that the fees stay as they were before. In their opinion, payments for teachers’ health benefits was costing the district much too much, approximately $8 million (Hanley & Jacobs, 2001). On the extreme though the proposed level of increase in itself appeared exorbitant and too great a percentage increase.Additionally the teachers felt that their proposal was a lot more reasonable. They suggested helping the board to cut costs by no longer requiring reimbur sements on prescriptions (Hanley, 2001b). This proposal would lead to saving on the part of the board and would also ensure that the teachers do not have to pay increased premiums. This alternative seems like a very feasible position but the board was not willing to negotiate on this issue.On the 29th of November the teachers were instructed by their union leaders to return to work even though the negotiations had not concluded and there was no decision on the issue. It would seem in this regard that the teachers were the ones to have lost because, aside from being imprisoned for a few days, they have to suffer the embarrassment of returning to work without their original demands being met.It would therefore seem that the teachers did not carry out the negotiations as best as they could since they did not end up reaching a reasonable solution. A number of factors could have contributed to this failure suggesting of course, that the teachers erred in a few areas. First the teachers d id not choose an appropriate time to commence the industrial strike. While, in their view the matter seemed to be urgent, they did not consider the psychological environment at the time. The area had only recently been affected by the terrorist bombing of the World Trade Centers. The district was still recovering from the effects of this national disaster and therefore it was not appropriate for the teachers to strike at this particular time.In addition the teachers did not garner enough support from the community. Hanley & Jacobs (2001) point out that â€Å"it was hard to find support for the teachers among Middletown residents.† The members of the community were upset that the teachers chose such an inappropriate time to strike. They were also concerned about the welfare of the students who would be without instruction until the issue was resolved.Probably a meeting with the parents of students prior to going on a strike could have explained the seriousness of the teachersà ¢â‚¬â„¢ position to them and asked for support. In addition many parents did not agree that in that economic climate that the proposed increase was as terrible as the teachers were making it out to be. The fact that there was not widespread support for the teachers’ strike may have pushed the union to demand its teachers back in the classroom even though negotiations were not finalized.Finally the teachers themselves seemed not to have entered the negotiation with a correct mindset. They seemed only to be heading for a win/win decision and were not willing to lose not even a little bit. The option they proposed to the board, though it sounded reasonable, did not see them compromising as significantly as they expected the board to compromise to meet their demands. The teachers were unwilling to collaborate effectively to come to a decision feasible and acceptable to both sides.REFERENCESHanley, R. (2001a, Nov 30). Abrupt Walkout by Teachers Closes Schools in Middletown, N.J. T he New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)), D5.Hanley, R. (2001b, Dec 4). New Jersey Teachers Jailed for Continuing to Strike. The New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)), D1.Hanley, R. (2001c, Dec 8). In Middletown, A Strike Ends Without a Deal For Teachers. The New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)), D1.Hanley, R. & Jacobs, A. (2001, Dec 6). Teachers' Strike Grows Angrier, But Support of Residents Is Elusive. The New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)), D1.

Leanpub Serial and Continuous Publishing, by Len Epp

Leanpub Serial and Continuous Publishing, by Len Epp Serial and continuous publishing, an interview with Len Epp of Leanpub Last updated: 07/31/2017Serial publishing is not new. Many of Dickens books were published serially. This and Eric Ries' Lean Startup approach is what drove co-founders Len Epp, Peter Armstrong and Scott Patten to create Leanpub. This fascinating (and successful) startup has built  a lean publishing model where you "publish early, publish often" in order to build an audience.Our co-founder and CEO Emmanuel decided to have a chat with their co-founder Len Epp. Press "play" below if you want to hear a passionate discussion about publishing, Dickens, serializing, book marketing, and new forms of writing. Basically, they're imagining the future of publishing, and their vision might be quite accurate. Alternatively, we have supplied, as always, the transcript right below! Welcome to a new Reedsy podcast. So today I'm very happy to talk with Len Epp, Lead Customer Development and Co-Founder of Leanpub. So well Sir, good morning or good afternoon - depending on wherever you are. Yes, it’s morning here on the West Coast of America.Yeah, it's evening now in London, so dark! So I'm pretty excited to have you today. I've been a big Leanpub fan for a while actually and think the model is super interesting. You guys created a concept where authors can continuously publish their books – and even if they’ve only written the first chapters, people can already buy it. We also decided to do this interview to announce that Reedsy and Leanpub will start working together to help Leanpub users create beautiful covers for their books - since it's one of the main things to discover books on Leanpub. So just for our listeners, who may not know about Leanpub, can you tell us a bit about yourself, and then about the vision for the company and the team? So Leanpub has 3 co-founders - Peter Armstrong, Scott Patten and myself. Peter and Scott actually had the idea back in 2010, when Peter had written a programming book.He’d realized that he didn't want to wait until the book was completed before he started getting it out to readers. And there were a number of reasons for that, one of which was motivation and another one was community copy editing. And so he creatively added a link to a special chat room that you could access if you bought the book. He built this community of avid followers of his computer program – they would help him if they found errors and make suggestions. And it was a feedback loop of motivation. People were asking for the next chapters, and he wanted to give it to them - and that worked really well.So how would it work for fiction? Isn’t it harder to work with your readers to release new chapters based on their feedback?Fiction is a really interesting application. Serial fiction is a really old idea. Many of Dickens books were published serially: "The Brothers Karamazov", "Crime and Punishment", "'War and Peace", and "Middlemarch" all started out being published serially. And serial publishing was more or less the norm. "Many of Dickens books were published serially: serial publishing was more or less the norm." @leanpub That opens up really interesting ideas. For example, a novel is not a book, right? Like we say, "I wrote the book", but you actually wrote a text. It's only a book if it's published in that particular format. For example, if I had all of the copies of all the magazines in which one of Mary Elizabeth Braden’s novels were published, I've got the novel but I don't have the book. I also have the pamphlets that â€Å"Middlemarch† was published as: I don't have a book, but I have a novel. So Leanpub enables serial publishing so you would publish chapters as separate books serially.Now, I think what you're getting at, which is really good, is the idea of â€Å"in-progress publishing†, which is different from serial publishing (serial publishing is publishing finished works in serial).Exactly.I think the only person working on a novel that way is me. But that's kind of like performance art in a way, right? I think most people would find it frustrating to read the first c hapter of a novel and have the author go, "I changed it."You came up with that continuous publishing concept and now you're coming up with this idea: a book is only a book if you decide to make your text a book. But in fact maybe people don't want to read a book, they want to read a series of novels or something that's constantly evolving.I’d like to come back to the fact that Leanpub is mainly for technical writers at the moment. And for it to work well, you've integrated Leanpub with many services such as GitHub, Dropbox and a few others. What's the proportion of the authors using them and how does it change the way they write their books?Most of our authors use Dropbox, fewer use GitHub. We've got an option on Leanpub to download what you've been working in the e-pub, PDF or mobi formats - or all 3 if you want.All authors say that working with Dropbox is kind of magic because when you're working through Dropbox, you've got a file on your computer, and you just press "save" when want to. And you work on whatever text editor you like. And then, because you're sharing that file with Leanpub through Dropbox, when you want to publish a new version - you just go to Leanpub and hit the publish button, and it's done! There's no emailing back and forth, nothing. It just takes away a huge amount of complication from the conventional process.You have also built the Leanpub editor where authors write using Markdown. How popular is it?For anyone who isn't familiar with Markdown, Markdown is a mark-up language or syntax that was developed to make it easier to write webpages. And so Leanpub books are written in what we call â€Å"Leanpub flavored Markdown†, which is essentially plain text: you don't see the bold thing turn bold in the text that you're writing - any more than you would if you were writing on a typewriter, and it's very very simple.And do you think this tool could be adopted more broadly, outside of the tech community?I do, but I know from exp erience that for a lot of people, as soon as you tell them they have to learn something new and you use a technical word they're not exactly running to the hills. But the analogy for that is the typewriter, right? When the typewriter came out, you had to buy and object and learn how to use it, which was time-consuming.I think that people are going to learn Markdown, in the same way that they learned to use the typewriter. The 5 minutes it will take you to learn this new way of typing out books is way better. It will catch on. It will become a convention. People will understand that it's better but it's going to take time. "People are going to learn Markdown, in the same way that they learned to use the typewriter." @leanpub So let's say, so I've written my manuscript and I'm publishing it with Leanpub, now what happens?You would create a landing page for your book with information like â€Å"about the book†, â€Å"about the author†, maybe a bit of a teaser and then you would hit one button: "publish". If you've used our writing workflow, from one source text you get all those ePub, PDF and mobi versions magically created, then your book is up for sale on Leanpub.You can also set up variable pricing: you set a minimum and a suggested price for your book and as soon as you hit "publish" it's available for sale at those prices. Readers will see a slider at the suggested price, but they can slide it down to the minimum price that you've set, or they can slide it up and pay more.Since Leanpub pays such a high royalty rate compared to other publishing platforms, 90% minus 50 cents per sale, how much we pay authors is a feature. So underneath the slider that shows how much you pay, it shows how m uch the author is getting. This is why we'd see people paying strange prices like $11.67 and we'd be like. In fact, that corresponds to $10 to the author. So they were taking the author slider, "How much do I want to give the author for this book?" 10 bucks.So this variable pricing totally changes the relationship with readers: if you go into a conventional bookstore, you're automatically in consumer mode, "I want to pay as little as I can for as much as I can get." "If you go into a conventional bookstore, you're automatically in consumer mode." @leanpub But with Leanpub and with variable pricing, because it gives you a choice, all of a sudden you're making a decision about how much you can afford to pay and how much you think it's worth. "With Leanpub and variable pricing, you make a decision about how much you think a book is worth." @leanpub There are tons of people setting up a crowdfunding campaign for their publishing projects. And they're like, "Okay, I'm going to raise some money so that I can keep on writing my book, and then produce it at some point." What you're doing with Leanpub is you say, "Okay, I'm going to write the first chapter and I'm going to find readers who are really interested in what I'm writing and start making money out of my book so I can potentially invest more for the coming chapters." Do you feel like crowdfunding for books should work this way, and not the way Kickstarter works - where you wait for months before you can actually read the book?I would say that when it comes to writing, for most projects, the best thing to do is to make a little bit first and get it out there, and see if you are getting attention before you ask people to start giving you money for it.At Leanpub there's a page where you can ask people if they'd be interested in reading a book if you wrote it. It's possible at s ome point we'll do pre-sales, because pre-sales are becoming quite big in publishing land. Personally, I don't think I would want to personally give a writer an advance on a book they hadn't started writing yet though.My co-founder Ricardo has interviewed quite a few publishing startups and that concept of customer validation before you actually invest everything into your book keeps coming back.So let’s say I've decided to put my book out there on Leanpub, then what happens? How do you help authors find their readers?We’ve got a bookstore that has various categories, sellers. But mostly, right now, it's up to Leanpub authors to go outside the Leanpub ecosystem. It's up to them to bring readers.So how many books have been published through Leanpub so far?Nearly 2,000 authors, and we've had nearly 3,000 books published.You talked about that mailing list that authors can build on Leanpub. Is it mainly for people coming from the Leanpub community, or just anyone coming to the book’s page and thinking, "I'm interested, I'm going to sign up." And then, the author can use this mailing list the way they want?The way the mailing list works is that if you express interest in a book that hasn't been published, you can subscribe to get notified when it gets published. You choose whether or not you want to share your email address with the author. If you do, we have integration with MailChimp.So let's talk about when the book is ready. Peter, your co-founder was telling me about Leanpub authors who were looking to get a finished product to distribute on different ebookstores or even a physical version of their book. And that’s why there is now a referral program in place for Leanpub authors who can get a Reedsy coupon of $20 towards editing or design services on Reedsy. Awesome. It's really exciting. We've had our most successful Leanpub authors make a print version and also try other channels like putting their book up on Amazon or the iBookst ore.People say "don't judge a book by its cover". In the 20th century romantic modernism, the publishing house made the cover with very little input given to the author. So my joke is that you can't judge a book by its cover†¦ if a traditional publisher publishes it. Traditional publishers have this whole apparatus for selling that has nothing to do with writing. "  You can't judge a book by its cover†¦ if a traditional publisher publishes it." @leanpub But with a self-published book you can often judge a book by its cover: if the author took the time and care and chose a good designer to make a good cover, it means that they probably wrote a good book too. Having a cover that shows care is profoundly important. "Traditional publishers have this whole apparatus for selling that has nothing to do with writing." @leanpub It's also a form of art. There’s a deep relation between that cover and what you've been writing. It's going to be interesting in the coming months to see if there are great covers coming from this collaboration. I look forward to it. So thanks a lot I think that was really interesting for our readers to learn more about Leanpub.Okay, thanks very much and I look forward to interviewing you next week for the Leanpub podcast!Follow Leanpub and Reedsy on Twitter:  @leanpub  and  @ReedsyHQWhat do you think of Leanpub's publishing model? Would you be ready publish early in order to build an audience? Leave us your thoughts, or any questions for Len, in the comments below!

One Poet Two Poems Essays - Because I Could Not Stop For Death

One Poet Two Poems Essays - Because I Could Not Stop For Death One Poet Two Poems Two Poems. Two Ideas. One Author Two of Emily Dickinson's poems, Because I Could Not Stop For Death and I Heard A Fly Buzz-When I Died, are both about one of life's few certainties: death. However, that is where the similarities end. Although both poems were created less than a year apart by the same poet, their ideas about what lies after death differ. In one, there appears to be life after death, but in the other there is nothing. Only a number of clues in each piece help us determine which poem believes in what. In the piece, Because I Could Not Stop For Death, we are being told the tale of a woman who is being taken away by Death. This is our first indication that this poem believes in an afterlife. In most religions, where there is a grim reaper like specter, this entity will deliver a person's soul to another place, usually a heaven or a hell. In the fifth stanza, Death and the woman pause before ...a House that seemed A Swelling of the Ground- The Roof was scarcely visible- The Cornice in the Ground- (913). Although the poem does not directly say it, it is highly probable that this grave is the woman's own. It is also possible the woman's body already rests beneath the soil in a casket. If this is at all accurate, then her spirit or soul may be the one who is looking at the house. Spirits and souls usually mean there is an afterlife involved. It isn't until the sixth and final stanza where the audience obtains conclusive evidence that Because I Could Not Stop For Death believes in an afterlife. The woman recalls how it has been ...Centuries- and yet feels shorter than the Day I first surmised the Horses' Heads were toward Eternity- (913). To the woman, it has been a few hundred years since Death visited her, but to her, it has felt like less than 24 hours. Since the body cannot live on for hundreds of years, then it must be none other then the soul who has come to the realization that so much time has passed. The final part with the horses refers to the horse drawn carriage the woman was riding in when she passed away. In those two final lines, the horses seem to be leading her into Eternity, possibly into an afterlife. It is just the exact opposite is Dickinson's other poem, I Heard A Fly Buzz-When I Died, With this particular piece of literature, the clues which point to the disbelief in an afterlife are fewer and not as blatant, but are all still present. In this poem, a woman is lying in bed with her family standing all around waiting for her eventual death. While the family is waiting for her to pass on, she herself is waiting for ...the King... (914). No, we're not talking about Elvis, but instead this King is some sort of omnipotent being, a god. Later as the woman dies, her eyes (or windows as they are referred to in the poem) fail, then she ...could not see to see- (914). When she says this, what she seems to mean is she could not see any of the afterlife or Kings she expected to be there. The woman's soul drifted off into nothingness with no afterlife to travel to. To conclude, the beliefs of the two Dickinson poems in regards to life after death differ significantly. In one, life does exist, in the other it does not. To determine which poem believes in what, one must dig through the clues in each.

High-commitment HRM is more rhetoric than reality Essay

High-commitment HRM is more rhetoric than reality - Essay Example The paper tells that the term high commitment HRM can be defined as a set of HR policies and practices which are aimed to bring performance improvement in all the organization. There are various components of high quality HRM policies which are described below. Employee is the most primary element of the human resource management. One of the major component which deals with the high commitment HRM is regarding their security and the internal condition of the labor market. Employment security has been regarded as a high matter of concern because organizations cannot demand the best of the employee’s performance and dedication without providing them security and having concern for their career. Providing of employment security enhances the employment relationship. The most significant factor about the inclusion of employments security in the human resource policies is that it aims at eliminating job reductions and the employee’s expectation from the organization reaches a substantial level. Such policies also bring in to fact that the human resource management aims to highlight that they do not treat the workers of the organizations as variable cost but rather treat them as an asset who had their major contribution towards the organizational development. High commitment HRM also specifies that the employees hired in the organization through the selective recruitment process needs to be undergone through extensive training sessions to have a clear knowledge regarding their roles and the working of the organization. ... t significant factor about the inclusion of employments security in the human resource policies is that it aims at eliminating job reductions and the employee’s expectation from the organization reaches a substantial level. Such policies also bring in to fact that the human resource management aims to highlight that they do not treat the workers of the organizations as variable cost but rather treat them as an asset who had their major contribution towards the organizational development. High commitment HRM also specifies that the employees hired in the organization through the selective recruitment process needs to be undergone through extensive training sessions to have a clear knowledge regarding their roles and the working of the organization. Much importance has been stressed on the importance of the individual and organizational learning. Skill specific forms of training are being suggested in the principle of high commitment human resource management. Providing employee s with the necessary training also contributes to their overall development. Employee involvement and sharing of information among them also appears to be one of the vital components of the high commitment HRM. Sharing of information relating to organizational performance and financial matters will provide the employees with the updated information and would also be helpful in conveying the message that the employees are trusted and treated in an open environment with a positive manner. Employee participation can also be helpful for the management in providing them with legitimacy for their actions. Employee information and participation involves downward communication, problem solving groups which are designed to increase the rate of the employee participation. The importance of employee voice

Martin Heidegger Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Martin Heidegger - Article Example He practiced phenomenological analysis of human existence in an attempt to access being, with reference to the temporal and historical character. He also discussed the nihilism of modern technology, and its generated society and tried to correlate the thoughts and perspectives of the western philosophical tradition with the question of being. He employed methods of phenomenology to pursue metaphysical goals. The perspective of phenomenology was established by the German thinker Edmund Husserl. Phenomenology is the science of consciousness and the related objects. Husserl tried to analyze the human consciousness. He proposed that consciousness is an intentional act. "Intentional" means that it is directed towards an object. Heidegger tried to analyze the phenomenon of "being" in a different way from which Husserl tried to interpret it. Heidegger's philosophy has much in similar with the philosophy proposed by Edmund Husserl. Husserl's basic idea was that the mind is directed towards objects under aspects. One orients or directs ones emotions towards an object. Thereby directness becomes a unique feature of the mind. The suggestion was that the mind responds to what is before it in a direct and spontaneous manner. 'Heidegger himself who is supposed to have broken with Husserl bases his hermeneutics on an account of time that not only parallels Husserl's account in many ways but seems to have been arrived at through the same phenomenological method as was used by Husserl' (R Dostal 1993).The Cartesian tradition has been foundation for phenomenology. Husserl is of the opinion that one can reach the phenomenological attitude, based on the detailed analysis of the content of consciousness, from natural attitude, based on actual world and related affairs by the application of methodological procedure. Freedom from preju dice and achievement of purity is possible through phenomenological reduction. Heidegger believes that phenomenology is based on separate analysis of consciousness. The Cartesian tradition of depicting reality was something against which Heidegger reacted. Heidegger's equation of subjects and objects was quite different. He suggested that when a subject is totally engrossed in something his mind need not be focused on every action that is going on in the process. S/he can carry on two or three mental activities at the same time. 'Heidegger calls this kind of every day skillful coping 'primordial understanding' and the entities 'ready to hand' (B Magee 1987). But if there is a problem with the routine we will consciously think about it. This is what Heidegger defines as "unready to hand". When we are in the action of closing a door or washing clothes we will do this activity while letting our mind wander in other areas. But if the door becomes suddenly heavy or if a cloth gets torn we will start thinking about the action in which we are involved. So according to Heidegger there is a different equation between subjects and objects at different ti mes. Perception is not a direct, neutral activity. It is embedded in the situations which are an inevitable part of it. When we are in a contemplative mood we are able to perceive objects in a different manner. We see that object not in terms of its use but we see it in terms of its components. The structure of the object becomes apparent to us. This state can be termed 'present at hand'. We see the objects as separate from its function. The hammer we use