Not Your Grandfather’s Farm

Imagine a world where the food you ate was secretly replace with a factory created artificial replica. In this world the imitation food looks, smells and tastes like the original, sometimes even better. Most of this fake food including the meat was made up of only a few plant-based materials and a gang of chemicals. Also, imagine it would slowly kill you trough a range of horrible dieses. We currently live in this bizarre world. America's food industry is one of its deepest, darkest, best-kept secrets. When we think of a farm we picture scenes from Charlotte's Web. Not warehouses with ten thousand chickens, or dairy cows ankle-deep in ordure, huddled together under tin sheds in blistering heat. We picture the cows grazing on grass. Not eating formulas made of poultry waste and orange peels. The way food is produced is so over looked that it takes an outbreak of some sort to focus our eyes on problems beyond the grocery store shelves. Naturally, capitalism produces a natural pressure toward efficiency. In the meat industry this has led to the factory farm. Every effort is bent toward maximizing the output of meat and minimizing the cost. As a result, â€Å"The U. S. agricultural industry can now produce un- limited quantities of meat and grains at remarkably cheap prices† (32). The food that factory farms produced is cheap in terms of monetary value. However, it comes at a high cost. The mass production of farm animals effects the environment, economy, and human health. Inevitably, intensive animal agriculture depletes valuable natural resources. Instead of being eaten by people, the vast majority of grain harvested in the U. S. is fed to farm animals. This wasteful and inefficient practice has forced agribusiness to exploit vast stretches of land. Forests, wetlands, and other natural ecosystems and wildlife habitats have been decimated and turned into crop and grazing land. Scarce fossil fuels, groundwater, and topsoil resources that took millenniums to develop are now disappearing. In addition, industrialized farms are threatening the well being of rural communities throughout the U. S. , and citizens are increasingly working to block their construction in order to prevent pollution and protect the quality of life. Family farms have been the core of agrarian culture for thousands of years, providing the opportunity to connect with the land and to live in tune with the seasons and the weather. Traditional farmers don't produce more than the carrying capacity of the land. They understand the condition of the soil and its ability to sustain various crops from season to season. They commonly produce and save their own seeds, a practice that has helped small farms maintain the integrity of crops, and allow hardier, diverse strains of plants to prosper. Contrasting this, industrial farms use a few strains of high yielding crops, an approach that threatens genetic diversity and often leads to chemical dependency. Short-term efficiency and profitability, rather than long-term sustainability drives the factory farming model. It externalizes costs, such as pollution clean up and health care services, onto others in the community. Neighbors of industrial operations have experienced health problems ranging from chronic asthma to neurological damage. Furthermore, the meat, poultry, dairy and egg industries employ technological short cuts to maximize production. Under these conditions, virulent pathogens that are resistant to antibiotics are emerging. These new super germs, whose evolution is traced directly to the overuse of antibiotics in factory farming, have the potential to cause yet unknown human suffering. Millions of Americans are infected, and thousands die every year from contaminated animal food products. Despite repeated warnings from consumer advocates, the United States Department of Agriculture's meat inspection system remains grossly inadequate, and consumers are now being told to expect animal products to be tainted. Meanwhile, the agribusiness industry, rather than advising consumers to curb their intake of animal products, has devised extreme measures of overcooking and antibiotics. This helps consumers avoid the dangers of animal products and maintain their gross over-consumption of meat and dairy In conclusion, it seems like some appalling conspiracy straight from the pages of a George Orwell novel. Yet factory farming is not plot to manipulate the masses. It's not only of our making, but it also made us. Cheap food accounts for American prosperity. We spend less of our annual incomes on food than any other nation. According to Walsh, â€Å"Americans spend less than 10% of their incomes on food† (33). There are various hazards that stem from our cost efficient food. Consequently, they are the price of the American way of life. Maybe they are telling us that it is time to change.

The Boxer Rebellion and the Christian Response

The Boxer Rebellion was a vicious uprising against non-Chinese in China during the final years of the 19th century, from November 1899 to September 7, 1901. The areas of conflict included the commercial market, political domain, religious concerns and technological advancements. This extremely unique and glaring because in a very short span of time, thousands of Christians, both Chinese and foreign were killed as a result of the revolt and its suppression. Then ironically, the revolt itself was crushed by the very thing it stood against – foreign influence. About 20,000 troops came from outside to thwart this movement forever.â€Å"Thus as 1900 dawned, China was swept by a movement known as ‘Yao rebels’ who believed that they had been made invulnerable by sorcery and incantation. Screaming mobs, determined to kill every Westerner, were egged on by the Yao society whose title, â€Å"The Fist of Righteous Amity† was translated by Americans and English into B oxers† (Guy, 2006). It is not possible to highlight where this anti-western sentiment in China was actually born, but one may refer back to the opium war between Britain and China (1839-1842) for some indication. In 1839, the First Opium War broke out, and China cut a sorry figure in front of Britain.Eyeing the weakness of the Chinese, not only the British, but the Russians and the French as well started to exert their respective pressures upon the country. Due to their lack of power and ability to impose their will, China was forced into a number of treaties that subjugated its interest against others. These include: the Treaty of Nanking (1842), the Treaty of Aigun (1858), the Treaty of Tientsin (1858), the Convention of Peking (1860), the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895), and the Second Convention of Peking (1898). Obviously, the public voice was against these treaties at large.Their ego was hurt badly, and their pride seemed to falter in front of the might of the foreigners. A s is common in such times, rumors also began to spread away. The foreigners were considered to be responsible for much crime and lawlessness that was prevalent. It was believed that the Church had started exercising more power than the state. It was also felt the Church had started to impose certain Christian practices, and had excluded certain tradition Chinese practices from the society. Thus in the late 19th century, feelings of unrest against the Chinese and the foreigners started to develop at a very rapid pace.Another major event was a row over a temple. The Catholics claimed that it was originally a church that had later been abandoned. The local court ultimately gave the verdict in favor of the Church. The locals could not tolerate this, as it was their place of worship and also a place to practice martial arts. To add to that, the colonization during the following decades did no good to boost up the morale of China. What was more, Asian powerhouses Russia and Japan also joi ned the rat-race for territorial supremacy. China came out as a good target for all those hungry to cut a slide of the earth’s map for their good.After the 1895 war of China with Japan, many European powers stepped forward to occupy Chinese territory. All of this mustered up into an intolerable feeling of hatred within the Chinese against their oppressors. â€Å"The conservatives then gave clandestine backing to the antiforeign and anti-Christian movement of secret societies known as Yihetuan (Society of Righteousness and Harmony). The movement has been better known in the West as the Boxers (from an earlier name–Yihequan, Righteousness and Harmony Boxers). In 1900 Boxer bands spread over the north China countryside, burning missionary facilities and killing Chinese Christians.Finally, in June 1900, the Boxers besieged the foreign concessions in Beijing and Tianjin, an action that provoked an allied relief expedition by the offended nations. The Qing declared war agai nst the invaders, who easily crushed their opposition and occupied north China. Under the Protocol of 1901, the court was made to consent to the execution of ten high officials and the punishment of hundreds of others, expansion of the Legation Quarter, payment of war reparations, stationing of foreign troops in China, and razing of some Chinese fortifications† (Onwar, 2000).While external forces were still contemplating a productive way out of the situation, the Chinese rulers came out with a message to the provinces. Given the circumstances and the options the rulers had, the message was by no means peaceful. It stated that the world was after Chinese resources and land, and that the time had come when the last resort should be adopted. Peace, therefore, was not an option to be considered. Meanwhile, in the northern Shandong province, a distressing drought was pushing people to the edge of starvation.There were not many who were thinking about peace anyways. All this energy had to be vented out somewhere, and hence came the time of catharsis, but in a violent way. Anti-foreign feelings caused the quick outburst of a Chinese secret society that was previously more docile. It was known as the I Ho Ch’uan, meaning the Righteous Harmonious Fists; hence the name ‘Boxers’. Understandably, with their name and mission, the Boxers asked for the expulsion of the external parties, more casually referred to as the ‘foreign devils’, along with their Chinese Christian converts.This was the time when conventional Chinese arts and skills thrived, especially martial arts and the use of traditional Chinese weapons. â€Å"At first, the Boxers wanted to destroy the Ch'ing dynasty (which had ruled China for over 250 years) and wanted to rid China of all foreign influence (which they considered a threat to Chinese culture). When the Empress Dowager backed the Boxers, the Boxers turned solely to ridding China of foreigners. By late 1899, ban ds of Boxers were massacring Christian missionaries and Chinese Christians† (Rosenburg, 2006).The resentment towards foreigners, Christians and Chinese converts started to rise immensely, with a greater tinge of violence. The circumstances forced the external lobbies to join hands, and they lodged strong protests with the government of China. However, the then Empress, Tzu Hsi’s response surprised many, when she declared that the Boxers were actually a part of the Chinese society, and hence should not be condemned as such. The reaction was also unexpected because it actually went against the local Chinese army, which was striving against the rebellion, and directed in favor of the Boxers.This made it inevitable for the external forces to make a show of military might close to China’s borders. â€Å"The empress dowager publicly opposed the Boxers, but her ministers quietly convinced them to join forces in order to drive foreigners from China. In the early months of 1900, thousands of Boxers roamed the countryside, attacking Christians. When an international force of 2,100 soldiers attempted to land in China, the empress dowager ordered her imperial army to stop the foreign troops.Throughout the summer of 1900 the Boxers burned churches and foreign residences and killed Chinese Christians on sight† (Dowling, 2001). Gradually, the Boxers started to gain autonomy over their beliefs and actions. The government was not ready to curb them, and their views were supported by many in the masses. The only effort that were going were in the direction of strengthening forces against the external attack. Finally, when the pressure was too much, the foreign elements inside started vocally seeking help from outside. It was then that the eight-country attack came into operation upon China.There were multiple operations, many of them fierce; gradually the Chinese rebellion started to weaken. Over the next several months, the forces from outside starte d to grow within China. They overtook Beijing (then Peking) and expanded into the country. Ultimately, the Boxers just a local might were no match for the military power of the industrial nations. Ultimately, in early 1901, the Chinese government gave in, and agreed to abolish the Boxer movement completely. Needless to mention, it was not merely an attack on the territory of China, but also on its ego.Succumbing to the demand of the external powers was worse than actually loosing a battle. Subsequently, due to its recent weakening in the region, China could do nothing in the war of Russia and Japan a couple of years later, and stood watching while Japan proclaimed supremacy in the East. In the entire episode, the United States played a very significant role. This is because it had a tactical advantage, having a major portion of its navy already established around the Philippines during the Spanish American War (1898) and the subsequent Philippine insurgent activity.This was actually a reinforcer for those policy makers in the US who were of the opinion that the US should maintain control in the Far East. It was a very unique time in the history of China, repeatedly, it had to face occasions when foreign invaders came in and took control of her land and might. The emperors were just too weak to make any resistance to this offer. An additional reason was that the foreign armies were far better equipped with warfare technologies and tactics than China was at that point in time. It was a time when the Empress began to reconsider her option regarding removal of these elements from her soil.

Comparison: Supervision and Leadership

Compare and contrast supervision and leadership. How are they alike and/or different? Give examples that will help clarify the distinction. Leadership is the process of enlisting and guiding the talents and energies of teachers, pupils, and parents toward achieving common educational aims. A leader is someone who others consistently want to follow for new trends and ideas. A leader has followers that believe in the leader's overall vision and idea of a place. A leader manages a group and helps inspire them using their own strengths.The leader is responsible for the placing together the right people for the right Jobs. A person who oversees workers or the work done by others can be considered a supervisor. Supervisors are charged with managing others' performance, including conducting performance evaluations. A supervisor is a step above the lead position in an entity. â€Å"Under the law, a supervisor is any person with authority over you, in other words, any person who can direct y ou (the worker) as to when and how to do a task' (Ministry of Labor, 6).Sometimes the supervisor is the same person you call the boss. Their position is behind the scenes and they basically hold others responsible for the plans being implemented and developed. Ministry of Labor. (06, 2014 28). Employers and supervisors. Retrieved from http://www. Workstation's. Gob. On. Ca/scripts/ &mcategory=health Else- You mention the concept of supervisors being the observers and monitors-I think this is a very good explanation of the roles that they play In the education system.Because supervisors are not exactly hands-on, they do a lot of their observations with check lists and rubrics. They are responsible for ensuring that curriculum Is being taught effectively and the monies and the budget for a school are allocated properly. A leader, however Is a person (or group of people) manages others with guidance to make them better at the Job they are Implementing. A leader has followers that belie ve In their vision. I agree with your statement about leaders being the ones who make their strengths known while helping other Identify theirs!

The Old English Language Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Old English Language - Research Paper Example Sandwich, for demonstration, is spoken as "samwich". "D" is omitted and "N" becomes "m", and it makes simpler to pronounce. (Gardiner A 2003) Earlier than the Anglo-Saxons invaded, is the Language voiced in the British Isles were Celtic Jutes and Angles Saxons in the UK population their tribes were at conflict with the indigenous persons and shoved them back to the West and North to what is now Scotland and Wales. (Crystal D 1998) The initial Celtic Language still exists as Gaelic, Welsh, Breton and the Isle of Man. This is a new locality became the ground of the Anglo-Saxon or Angle-land ". The Language was alike to Modern Frisian. Old English three dialects: About 850, the Vikings invaded and leveraged by the Language of numerous North German phrases in their Language of Old Norse. The Language utilized in this time span (500-1100) called Old English. Christian missionaries presented the literacy and Language soaked up numerous Latin phrases, particularly phrases attached with the church. Old English Language was initially in writing in runic alphabet called Runic alphabet. It occurred out of 24 Runes Elder Futhark. It was in writing level in any direction. Similarly, the phrase alphabet is entitled after the Greek phrase alpha + beta. Many of the notes in the runic alphabet apparently resemble the Modern matching of (B, R, F, T, P and M). Graddol D et al, (2001) Middle English time span, it is tough to determine. The Normans invaded in 1066 and their leverage of the French Language to English, but not immediately. Middle English is said to start round 1150. When the Normans conquered England, French became the Language of power. French-speaking barons, abbots and bishops were in location in the name function in England. There was a tributary of French merchants and craftsmen who have traversed the boundary to take benefit of enterprise opportunities.

139 DB wk8 ED Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

139 DB wk8 ED - Essay Example Moreover, the duties of the financial manager include preparation of financial statements, overseeing financial services, monitoring cash flows, predicting future trends in business, monitoring the financial system and offering advisory services to the top management on the best strategies of improving financial performance to ensure the growth and success of the organization. These differ from the accountants whose role is to collect financial records, prepare tax returns along side other financial records, monitor and ensure they are up to date and in a compliance to the company policies and legal standards. Nevertheless, while discharging their duties, accountants and financial manager should comply with the codes of ethics governing the preparation of financial records. As the law demands, everything should be done in a transparent manner without defrauding the organization and its stakeholders. In my opinion, people became conscious about transparency after the mega infamous accounting scandal at Enron Inc was unmasked in 2001. It was not until the senior management, accountants and auditors were jailed for engaging in fraudulent accounting activities when accountants started becoming

Characteristics and Behaviors of Effective Counse Assignment

Characteristics and Behaviors of Effective Counse - Assignment Example The new therapist had some good guiding techniques that helped make progress during the session. It is extremely important to know the major theories in counseling, but even more important still is to know when and what circumstances to apply them on. The therapist was able to figure out that the problems he was dealing with stemmed from childhood and personal experiences. This is evident of evidence-based practice, which is where rather than incorporating one theory, they apply specific techniques for intervention on a specific problem (Corey, 2009). The therapist was then able to lead the client on a guided introspection which is good in having the client understand their problems by looking at themselves. Empathy and positive encouragement were also extremely good techniques in order to build understanding with the client. This also was a good example of listening, with the therapist asking for input from the client as well as the guide and pace method (Levitt 2001). Empathy and u nderstanding help build the trust and understanding between the two. Positive encouragement is good in instilling confidence in the patient and evoking positive feelings. As a new therapist, it is a given that mistakes will be made. There were some major flaws in the first counseling session.

Capstone experience Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Capstone experience - Coursework Example Moreover, the company had reserves of approximately 25.2 billion equivalent barrels of oil as of 2013 and, as of 2010, its production rates were expected to remain constant for at least fourteen more years (Coll, 2012). ExxonMobil operates in twenty-one countries with thirty-seven oil refineries across the world, which has seen the company achieve a combined refining capacity of 1 million m3 of oil every day making it the world’s largest oil refiner by capacity. Standard Oil, which was ExxonMobil’s precursor company, was also the world’s largest oil refiner between 1870 when it was incorporated and its change to ExxonMobil. As the largest of all super-majors in the oil industry, ExxonMobil has a daily production capacity of ~3.9 million equivalent barrels of oil, which makes up roughly 3% of the entire production of oil in the world (Coll, 2012). This means that, despite being the largest oil company in the world, it still lags behind various state-owned oil companies like ARAMCO and Rosneft. When ranking is done by gas and oil reserves combined, ExxonMobil ranks as the 14th biggest company in the world with less than 1% of all total reserves under its control (Coll, 2012). With regards to its marketing of oil and gas products, ExxonMobil uses the brands Esso, Mobil, and Exxon, while it also holds majority share in several smaller oil companies like SeaRiver Maritime that ships oil and gas and Canada’s Imperial Oil Limited. The company has more than 82,000 employees across the globe, of which 27,000 work in their upstream headquarters in Houston and a further 4,000 employees work in its downstre am headquarters in Fairfax (Coll, 2012). ExxonMobil’s global organizational structure is functional in nature. My career objective is to be a safety engineer at ExxonMobil upon my graduation later this year. One of the reasons why I am interested in this position is because it requires the engineer to work as part of a team that includes quality

Marketing Research and Segmentation - Macquarie University Hospital, Paper

Marketing and Segmentation - Macquarie University Hospital, New South Wales - Research Paper Example The marketing techniques chosen in each case depend on many factors, such as the level of the industry competition and the resources available. Current paper focuses on the potential use of marketing research and segmentation for the improvement of performance of a specific organization: the Macquarie University Hospital, one of the most important hospitals in New South Wales, Australia. An appropriately customized lifestyle analysis has been used for helping the organization to proceed to market segmentation. In this way, the relationship between the organization and its customers would be improved leading the organization to a long – term growth. 2. Macquarie University Hospital – Marketing research and segmentation 2.1 Brief description of the hospital The Macquarie University Hospital is located in ‘the North Ryde campus of Macquarie University, New South Wales’ (Macquarie University Hospital, 2012). ... The use of advanced technology in medical treatment is considered as another advantage of the Hospital towards its rivals. 2.2 Market research – psychographic & lifestyle analysis 2.2.1 Activities: work habits The percentage of people who are active in terms of employment in New South Wales has been increased in 2009/2010 reaching the 3.5 million. This is an important increase if having in mind the fact that for the period 2001/2002 the employed people in NSW were just 3.1 million (Australian Bureau of Statistics, NSW State and Regional Indicators, Dec 2010, 2011). This means that the buying power of people in the specific region is increased, compared to the past. Thus, the potentials of the local population to seek for medical assistance of high quality are high. On the other hand, a differentiation seems to exist in NSW between men and women in regard to their status of employment. Indeed, it has been proved that women in NSW are more likely to work part-time compared to me n (Australian Bureau of Statistics, NSW State and Regional Indicators, Dec 2010, 2011). As indicated in the Graph 1 (Appendix), a percentage of about 50% of employed women in NSW are part-time workers. In general, in NSW employed men are more than employed women. More specifically, the percentage of employed male in NSW for 2010 was estimated at 70.6% while for women the above percentage was just 56.4% (Australian Bureau of Statistics, NSW State and Regional Indicators, Dec 2010, 2011). 2.2.2 Psychological attributes According to a report published by the Australian Government in 2012, high cultural diversity is one of the key characteristics of Australia. It seems

Human longevity, how trans fat affects longevity Essay

Human longevity, how trans fat affects longevity - Essay Example All of the fats consumed are essentially a mixture of saturated and polyunsaturated fats. Fats have been a part of the diet of humanity from the very almost the very beginning of time in the meat that was consumed, and gradually increased when human beings found the means to extract vegetable oils from sources like coconuts, palms and olives, gradually expanding to a wide range of vegetable sources. Therefore consumption of fat in appropriate quantities was a part of human diet for a very long period of time, and consumption of appropriate quantities of suitably extracted and stored animal or vegetable fats need not have a detrimental impact on the health of an individual. It is when unsuitably extracted and stored fats are consumed that there is a greater emphasis on health hazards. To prevent fats from getting rancid or spoiled a process of hydrogenation of fats was introduced in the early nineteenth century. This process, which hardens the vegetable oils, has given us products lik e margarine and shortening. Trans fats or trans fatty acids are mainly these partially hydrogenated vegetable oils that are used in growing proportions in food products, but not necessarily the only source. Deep frying of food products is also capable of adding trans fats to the food products. The detrimental effects of trans fats on the health of an individual and the rising quantum of its consumption have become research subjects. Evidence from this interest has shown that both these factors have a negative impact on the life span of an individual. Aging is a natural and normal process in any individual. Yet there is a difference in the manner that physical abilities of an individual diminish with age. There is increased evidence from research that increase in physiological changes like increased blood sugar and cholesterol levels, elevated blood pressure and weight gain do not contribute to normal aging

Banduras social learning theory Essay Example for Free

Banduras social learning theory Essay Our study is based on the theory of operant conditioning and Banduras social learning theory. Operant conditioning states that learning happens through association, and we believe that car advertises are trying to make their target population associate buying their car with a desired characteristic/traits/lifestyles e.g. having a lot of female attention. Skinner described the ABC model of operant conditioning, which includes an antecedent, behaviour and a consequence. Bandura for his theory stated that learning can only occur if the four criteria (attention, retention, reproduction and motivation) were met. From looking at YouTube adverts we found that smaller cars had a tendency to have more feminine themes whereas larger cars tended to have more masculine themes.  Aim  To whether there is a difference between gender and the size of cars they drive.  Alternative Hypothesis:  Males will have a higher tendency to drive large cars while females will have a higher tendency to drive smaller cars  Null Hypothesis:  There will be no difference in gender and the size of the car they drive, and any difference will be due to chance. METHOD:  Design:  This is an independent group design and a quasi experiment as each participant can only be in either the male or the female category. We will gather our data by tallying, as our study will only include nominal data. This is useful as tallying is easy to analyse and draw up conclusions from. We are only looking at the gender of the driver and the type/size of their cars, so our data is quantitative. This is a non-participant naturalistic overt observation. Seeing as our results are nominal, this is an independent group design and the hypothesis predicts a difference. We will try our best to operationalise our variables by tallying the cars for the same period of time and by collecting data in different locations throughout Maidstone. Our IV will be the gender and how dependent variable (DV) will be the size of the cars. To make it easier to see the driver or the car, we will be collecting our data by a set of traffic lights, and tallying in the correct sections.  Participants  All of our participants will be over 17, as this is the legal minimum driving age. We will be using opportunity sampling as only those driving at the time of the study will take part in the study. Apparatus  Pen, paper and clipboard   Procedure  1. A table was draw up to collect results in (a copy can be found in appendix)  2. Researchers decided time and place of when they will be getting results  3. Researches went to location, stood by the nearest traffic light and collect results  4. Next lesson, the results were pooled  5. Adjustments were made  6. Carried out inertial test using chi-squared test  Control:  Pilot study was not to include family and sports cars as they are marketed differently and tend to be gender neutral. We increased our ecological validity by carrying out the experiment in different places in Maidstone. Ethics We followed most of the ethical guidelines by: ensuring that no participants were harmed physically or psychology and that the results were anonymous. Participants were not given fully-informed consent and were not debriefed as this would be too time consuming, but if a participant was to ask about our study they would have been told the true aim of the study and having their results omitted if they want to.We will accept our null hypothesis and reject our alternative hypothesis because our observed value (1.34) of chi-squared is lower than the critical value(3.841) and this means our results arent significant. Therefore the probability of our results being due to chance equal p0.5. Evaluation Our results are not generalisable because our participants are only form Maidstone and surroundings areas. People from different areas may have different cars and adverts in different cars might be marketed differently where males may not necessarily drive large cars and females drive small cars. To improve the study, we could look at adverts from other countries and if they are different, we could see whether they have an effect on the drivers.  By using opportunity sampling, our results were not representative because there might be different people that only drive specifically during a certain time of day. Our results are not reliable as they have inter rater reliability and also it is likely that participants may not have been driving their own car they might have been driving a family members car or a company car either way they might have not necessarily been driving their own car. This means our results would be unreliable because we are trying to find out if advertising influences a persons choice in cars we would have to ask the participants if they are driving their own cars and discard the results of those who arent. However, this is would be too time consuming and the only way of doing this efficiently is to do it in a car park but this would mean our sample size would be small.  We can also tell that our results arent replicable as other members of our class had different results and did accept their alternative hypothesis (we all carried out the same tasks with the same aim but under different conditions) and they are not similar to the key study (Bandura) as his study would suggest that advertising would have an effect on peoples choice on the size of the car. Also, there are other factors that may influence the choice on car, for example the cost of the car. Our results were made insignificant because there were more males driving small cars than large cars but overall there were more small cars than large cars observed in the experiment and this could be due to smaller cars being cheaper rather than the way they are being observed.  We could carry out the experiment at different types to have more control over extraneous variables in order to try and improve our study. Seeing as our results show that there is no difference between gender and the size of the car, it seems that our study would have applications to real life as it shows that advertisers are wasting their money marketing their cars specifically to male/females.  The study was valid in that it was a naturalistic observation of real driving behaviour that was not affected by the observer. The drivers of the cars were either male or female. Also, our study has face validity as there are different opinions on types and the sizes of cars, even though there was a general outline, most of us did get confused about some cars and to those that we could not categorise were not included in the study.  Our study would be ethical regardless of the fact that informed consent was not given as if participants were to ask us about the study; they would be informed about the true aim.

Michael Kors vs Guccio Gucci

Michael Kors vs Guccio Gucci American vs. Foreign Designer Michael Korsvs. Guccio Gucci Showroom Headquarters: Showroom Headquarters: 11 W 42nd St. New York, NY 10018 Via Mecenate, 79, 20138 Milano, Italy Written by: Irene Vastardis Table of Contents: Their Importance 4 Michael Kors Importance . 4 Guccis Importance 4 Background of Designers .. 5 Michael Kors Early Life 5 Launching His Career 5 His Accomplishments .6 Guccio Guccis Early Life ..6 Launching His Career . 7 The Aftermath .. 8 Market Segments .8 Michael Kors Target Market .8 Guccis Target Market .8 Their Unique Designs. 10 Michael Kors Designs ..10 Guccis Designs .11 Promoting Their Products ..13 Michael Kors Licensing Products ..13 Michael Kors Advertising Methods 14 Guccis Advertising Methods ..14 Similarities and Differences 15 Michael Kors and Guccis Similarities .. 15 Michael Kors and Guccis Differences .. 16 Appendix 17 References .19 Their Importance: Michael Kors Importance: Michael Kors is one of the last American Designers that has not looked overseas for style inspiration. He often asks himself first, Where is she wearing that? before designing a garment (Michael Kors Strategic Marketing Plan, 2014). His main focus is on wearable pieces that is still considered luxury yet affordable. He maintains a huge public relation being on Project Runway for so many years and his ad campaigns are as slick as those of high-end brands such as Prada. I believe he is an important designer because of how unique he is. He makes women feel as though they can be beautiful, elegant, and sexy without spending thousands of dollars. He allows women to afford luxury items without the need of going all out. Most importantly, what he designs, can either be worn casually or professionally. I love that because it can be worn absolutely anywhere. A consumer who would buy Michael Kors products could never be too overdressed or underdressed going out somewhere, whether it be a date, a business meeting, or a night out with the girls. Michael Kors is also a huge philanthropist and truly cares about everyone. He believes in the right for every woman and man to feel high-class, important, beautiful, and sexy despite anyones personal income. Guccis Importance: Guccio Gucci is important because his brand lives on for almost a century and is more popular than ever. Gucci has always said the difference between style and fashion is quality (Global Branding Gucci, 2013). His compassion for the business allowed it to grow into a success. He started his company at the age of 40 after he was inspired with luggage bags working as an elevator attendant. He has created unique designs that have been featured in the New Yorks Museum of Modern Art. He is a legend in the eyes of so many amazing designers. His children were able to take over the business and keep it alive. His children had a huge responsibility to take over his fathers business they were able to make it grow into the empire it is today. I can understand how his children felt and how difficult it was because me and my siblings look after my fathers business. It could easily be destroyed in minutes if you dont have the proper guidance. Thats what makes Gucci so special. It was never lost, b ecause his children kept the business alive and more booming than ever. Guccis slogan is quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten (Global Branding Gucci, 2013). Guccio Guccis legacy will always be remembered and live on because he will never be forgotten as one of the greatest luxury Italian designers of all time. Background of Designers: Michael Kors Early life: Michael Kors started off early in the fashion world. Being only a toddler in Long Island, New York, he started to model appearing on Lucky Charms cereal and toilet paper ads. He was born August 9, 1959, being the same day as my grandmothers birthday, he was also a baby boomer (Michael Kors, 2016). He was lucky to be born in an era filled with more privileges after the end of World War II. He was in love with shopping and collected all of the monthly Vogue magazines to keep up with the latest trends. He went to the Fashion Institute of Technology, but dropped out after only two semesters. After he dropped out, he started designing clothes for small Manhattan boutiques at the age of 19 (Michael Kors, 2016). Something in which I can relate to because it is exactly what I am doing now as a job, only, Im still in school. Launching His Career: When his mother remarried businessman Bill Kors, she allowed Michael to design her wedding dress. In 1978, Kors worked for Lothars, a French boutique, where he discovered his first idea to design his own fashion collection (Studenetske, n.d.). Michael Kors Womans Collection was first launched in 1981 (Michael Kors, 2016). He convinced Anna Wintour, editor of New York magazine at the time, to take a look at his collection. He later picked up designers such as Barbara Walters and earned awards for his designs. Michael Kors business was not always successful though because his company ended up going bankrupt in 1990 (Know Your Fashion Designers: 10 Facts About Michael Kors, 2011). He then launched KORS Michael Kors for a lower price line for a younger audience. In 1997, he maintained a job as the creative director of Celine, a French fashion house, and remained in that position for six years (Know Your Fashion Designers: 10 Facts About Michael Kors, 2011). He continued being the creativ e director and expanding his brand, coming out with menswear, accessories and perfumes. His Accomplishments: He then became a judge on Project Runway in 2004 and retired from it in 2012. He won multiple awards including CFDA Womens Fashion Designer of the Year (1999), the CFDA Mens Fashion Designer of the Year (2003), the ACE Accessory Designer of the Year (2006), and the CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award (2010) (Studenetske, n.d.). In August of 2011, after gay marriage became legal in New York, he married his partner, Lance LaPere, at 57 years old, who is now the vice president of Michael Kors Womens Design. Guccio Guccis Early Life: Guccio Gucci founded Gucci in 1921 in Florence, Italy, when he was 40 years old (Global Branding Gucci, 2013). He had four sons that had joined the firm. He was an Italian businessman and fashion designer as well as the founder of the fashion house of Gucci. His wifes name is Aida Calvelli and had six children. As a teenager, Guccio Gucci was a lift boy at the Savoy Hotel in London (Family Fued: The Guccis, 2015). He was inspired by the elegant upper class guests and inspires luggage companies such as HJ Cave Sons, he returned to Florence making travel bags and accessories. In the 1920s, he started out selling leather bags to horsemen. He progressed to making luxury luggage. In 1921, he founded the House of Gucci in Florence as a small family-owned leather saddlery shop (Family Fued: The Guccis, 2015). The business picked up because of the immense profit and new luxuries coming out in the roaring 20s. Launching His Career: In 1938, Gucci opened his first shop on the Via Condotti in Rome, specializing in leather goods (History and Background of Gucci, n.d.). He luckily built a reputation for quality, hireling skilled craftsmen to work in his shop. This was the basis and the foundation of how the house of Gucci was founded. In the 1930s, Gucci became inspired by horseracing. This was a favorite pastime during the 30s (History and Background of Gucci, n.d.). Therefore, he started designing the hardware for his leather goods to resemble horse bits and stirrups. In 1932, he created the GUCCI Loafer Shoe with a gilded horse bit. They are only footwear on display in the New Yorks museum of modern art. In 1947, Gucci introduced The Bamboo Bag, the first iconic bag. It was a saddle bag that featured bamboo handles and the ultimate classic. During the 1950s, the trademark red striped webbing was introduced (Gucci Guide Information, n.d.). It was taken from the original form place on a saddle girth. This became a n emblem much like the leather moccasin with the leather bit (Gucci Guide Information, n.d.). This is famously known worldwide. Its unique creation made it possible for everyone to fall in love, including myself, with his new collection. His creation included products such as luggage, ties, shoes, and the famous handbags sporting the bamboo handle. In 1951, Gucci opened his store in Milan and two years, the company expanded overseas with the Manhattan store. The Aftermath: After Guccis death in 1953, his son Aldo, along with his brothers, took over and helped promote the company internationally (Family Fued: The Guccis, 2015). They were opening open boutiques in the most favored fashion markets such as London, Paris, and New York. The 1960s brought increased fame to the Gucci empire and this was when Gucci was booming. Every Hollywood star was wardrobe in Gucci. Grace Kelly, Peter Sellers, and Audrey Hepburn made the name Gucci synonymous with chic (History and Background of Gucci, n.d.) Although there was success in the business, the family took some downfalls. Brother Maritssio Gucci, took the business over from his founding brother who in turn sold it to an Arab concern in the 1980s. In the early 90s, Guccis image was tarnished when knockoffs appeared everywhere. In order to restore the companys luxury image, the company appointed American Designer Tom Ford as the artistic director in 1994 and kept the position until 2005. As of 2016, Alessandro Mic hele took over the reigns as creative director from Frida Gianninis position. He incorporates a lot of Greek mythology in his designs. Since then, it has become a popular name we all know and love today. Market Segments: Michael Korss Target Market: Michael Kors target market is for womens leather goods and accessories while it showcases fewer items in clothing. They have obtained 521 stores globally (Michael Kors Strategic Marketing Plan, 2014). They first started off selling in high-end department stores such a as Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue. However, 82% of their demographic are females and 36% of the demographic are aged between 26-35 (Michael Kors Strategic Marketing Plan, 2014). Their social status is for the middle class and a lifestyle that is already established. Those who have an adequately paying job and money to spend. Because it is more attainable prices, the result of their audience is younger because it is affordable, although older women shop his collection as well. Personally, I love the fact that its affordable and own many different pieces from his bags, to wallets, shoes, and phone cases. The lifestyle is young, fashionable, and to be in-style. Guccis Target Market: Gucci focuses on middle and high class income. Their market is more of a higher social status, whether its a marries couple sharing joint income or a bachelor/bachelorette with a well-paying occupation. Their target age group is 26-40 years old although some do manage to purchase the Gucci brand in their early 20s (Gucci Guilty Advertising Marketing Campaign, 2015). Their lifestyle is most typically for the wealthy, independent New York business woman/man. Personally owning some of Guccis products such as their bags, shoes, belts, and even luggage, gives me a sense of importance. It gives me a sense of feeling like I am with those who are fashion forward and I have what they have in the introductory stages. Their target markets personality is for those who have a personality of excitement. Competence and sophistication and embrace it through this Italian brand. Those who want to reach the status quo, are fashion conscious, and are socialites (Gucci Guilty Advertising Marketing Camp aign, 2015). Their look goes for the woman to look bold, sexy, glamourous, trendy, classy and confident. Knowing I can afford and appreciate the brand as much as I do, gives me the feeling of being that so-called fashionista and having good taste for what I buy. Their Unique Designs: Michael Kors Designs: All of the Michael Kors handbags are made in China and manufactures by Sitoy Group Holdings LTD (Michael Kors Strategic Marketing Plan, 2014). Michael Kors has discovered his niche in the industry with creating a combination of casual, street wear, athletics wear, and evening wear. He has made it so that it can appeal to almost everyone. Instead of other designers who focus solely on evening and business wear, Michael Kors took his collection in a different direction. He mostly uses leather as his best fabric to create these wonderful handbags in his Michael Kors Studio and Michael Michael Kors collections. Michael Kors is best known for his repeated logo on all of his accessories. He designs his bags with honeycomb MK logo print (See Figure 1-1). The known leather handbag with the pebbled leather satchel has been a staple in his designs (See Figure 1-2). Even Michele Obama popularized Michael Kors even more wearing his black shift dress in his Spring 2009 collected as her first portrait as first lady (See Figure 1-3). Even his other collection, Michael Micha el Kors has a similar saffiano leather design as his original collection, Michael Kors (See Figure 1-4). Figure 1-1 Figure 1-2 Figure 1-3 Figure 1-4 Guccis Designs: All the merchandise for Gucci is made in Italy. Gucci is best known of course for their leather goods. Now however, they have a line of perfumes, cosmetics, shoes, and eyeglasses, belts, luggage, jewelry, watches, and bags. They now have over 380 directly operated stores worldwide (Global Branding Gucci, 2013). Ready to wear the flora was a scarf which was called a Flouard created for Grace Kelly in 1966, was created for the Monaco princess (See Figure 2-1). The pattern was completely made out of silk and is still being used today in a variety of colors. Jackie Kennedy helped by being photographed with the Gucci shoulder strap which became known as the Jackie O Bag (Global Branding Gucci, 2013). Audrey Hepburn was the woman who helped brand Gucci to become successful (See Figure 2-2). They crafted durable woven canvas and a leather trim to make the luxurious symbol of the original GG pattern. The horse bit/icon design, which is one of my favorites, was seen on handbags, leather goods , and clothing, but was first introduced in 1953 on a pair of loafers (See Figure 2-3). I love the loafer look because I believe it is a staple for every man. The sophistication and class that shoe brings as they walk into work speaks volumes. The fashion conscious man can see that it is simply a must have in their closet. The Bamboo top handle was released in 1947 (See Figure 2-4). It was re-released in 2000, making it more modern and refined. The bag is now composed of 140 separate pieces made in Gucci Florentine workshops. Figure 2-1 Figure 2-2 Figure 2-3 Figure 2-4 Promoting Their Products: Michael Kors Licensing Products: Michael Kors has a lot of licensed products that he advertises through different companies. He has licensed watches and jewelry that has been licensed exclusively to Fossil. His watches came out in 2004 and his jewelry came out in 2010 (Michael Kors Strategic Marketing Plan, 2014). They are both sold in Michael Kors retail stores, wholesale customers, and select watch retailers. The watches sell from anywhere to $150 to $500. The jewelry includes bracelets, necklaces, rings, and earrings and sells between $45 and $375 (Michael Kors Strategic Marketing Plan, 2014). I personally love his jewelry, especially the watches. His watches are timeless and gives a sense of pure luxury as you put it on. The encrusted crystals and gold face and band truly gives it its endless look. He also has licensed eye wear that is exclusive to Marchon ever since January in 2004. The collection is focused on status eye wear (Michael Kors Strategic Marketing Plan, 2014). He sells them in Michael Kors retail s tores, wholesale customers, select sunglass retailers, and prescription eye wear providers. The retail price is from anywhere in between $85 to $285. He works with Estee Lauder with his fragrance and beauty ever since May of 2003. In 2013, his tag line was Sporty Sexy Glam, which is still continuing to be their standard of set style (Michael Kors Strategic Marketing Plan, 2014). They are sold in retail stores, wholesale customers, and select fragrance retailers. The price range is typically around $20 to $115. His handbags and small leather goods range from $500 to $6,000, while his footwear is anywhere from $500 to $1,300. His womens apparel, which is his smallest category, ranges from $400 to $4,000 (Michael Kors Strategic Marketing Plan, 2014). Michael Kors Advertising Methods: The way Kors advertises is through his ads always about boarding a private jet or hanging around on a yacht in the French Riviera. His ads are usually in magazines such as Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, and Vanity Fair(Michael Kors Strategic Marketing Plan, 2014). They promote in these magazines for the fashion-conscious women out there to create their own personal style. He advertises in these magazines because of the similar interest medium to attract the magazine and the customer target market. The luxury at an attainable price is the strength of the brand. He also sells his products at department stores such as Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Macys, Lord Taylors, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and many others. North America is the largest Michael Kors geographical market but is also expanding in Europe and Asia (Segmenting and Targeting Market, 1970). For those who may not be able to reach the store, a consumer may always purchase them on his website. Guccis Advertising Methods: The attitude towards Guccis advertisements is the sense of defiance of a young and social demographic. Women see it as a sense of elegance and beauty and men see it as a cool brand. Gucci advertises in magazines such as GQ, Vogue, Mens Health, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Glamour, and many others (Gucci Guilty Advertising Marketing Campaign, 2015). They advertise big on Facebook and Twitter as well as other social media sites. They even have their own geo-filters on Snapchat that can be activated while stepping into any Gucci boutique. Their retailer engineers are Amazon, Selfridges, and Harrods. They have public transportation billboard advertisements and digital advertisements too. There is also TV commercial advertising for the brand. I typically always see commercials based around their perfumes, especially the most popular Gucci Guilty. They always having an aesthetically pleasing actor and actress using sensory marketing to attract their customers. Consumers can buy Gucci products a cross the globe including the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and Switzerland (Gucci Guilty Advertising Marketing Campaign, 2015). Gucci products are sold at any Gucci retail stores and other department stores such as Macys, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, and many others. If consumers are unable to reach the store, they are always able to order off the Gucci website and get the merchandise delivered to their home with more convenience. Similarities and Differences: Michael Kors and Guccis Similarities: Some similarities these two designers have is their niche in luxury leather handbags. They both started off selling leather goods and expanded their realm into making apparel, cosmetics, eyewear, shows, and fragrances. Their logo is both the first and last initial of their names. They both create an elegant and chic look to their brand and are intended for the business working man/woman. Neither of them had a college degree but both started on their own because of their true love for luxury goods. Their way of marketing is through retail stores, department stores, and online. They advertise through social media and magazines as well. Michael Kors and Guccis Differences: One main difference about Gucci and Michael Kors is the price range of their products. Gucci sells handbags anywhere from $395 to $29,000, while Michael Kors sells them anywhere from $98 to $3,000. All of Guccis products are made in Italy while Michael Kors is typically made in China or Vietnam. Michael Kors gets his inspiration from American designs while Gucci was inspired through his daily pastime in Italy. Gucci then created more designs through watching the trends of fashion around the world. Guccio Gucci was inspired through fashion by being an elevator assistant. He started designing by the age of 40 with his niche being leather because he loved watching horseracing. Michael Kors knew he wanted to be a designer from a young age. He started modeling by the age of 9 and worked his way to design his own womens collection by the age of 21. Michael Kors is a younger demographic and aims more towards a comfortable lifestyle Guccis demographic is a little bit more sophisticated and h as more of a lavished lifestyle. Either way, I am in love with both of these brands. They are the majority of my wardrobe and my accessories that are very well known designers. I love how they can be so different and similar at the same time. Michael Kors is known for bringing in a younger demographic, while also bringing and older demographic as well, but for Gucci to also lure in those who are younger with his timeless designs shows just how brilliant they truly are. Appendix Alas, M. and Piggott, M. (1966). Flora Pattern [Picture]. Retrieved by http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2267265/Charlotte-Casiraghi-poses-new-Gucci-campaign-wearing-iconic-Flora-scarf-grandmother-Grace-Kelly-Sixties.html Daly, D. (2010). Jackie O [Picture]. Retrieved by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v4YNGDlRNM. Elizabeth, L. (2015). The Honeycomb Print [Picture]. Retrieved by https://workinglook.com/2015/09/23/how-to-find-the-real-markdowns-at-michael-kors-outlets/ Hill, M. (n.d.) Gucci Logo [Picture]. Retrieved by https://clipartfest.com/download/8d406f591e87e0e8b1209d2a12c990e5e8ba246f.html Gucci. (2016). Bamboo Classic Leather Top Handle [Picture]. Retrieved by https://www.gucci.com/int/en/pr/women/handbags/womens-top-handles/bamboo-classic-leather-top-handle-p-409398ARU0N1000 Gucci. (2016). Floras Scarf [Picture]. Retreived by https://www.gucci.com/us/en/pr/women/womens-accessories/womens-silks-scarves/womens-scarves/flora-silk-printed-scarf-p-0227963G0019000 Gucci. (2016). Leather Horsebit Loafers [Picture]. Retrieved by https://www.gucci.com/us/en/pr/women/womens-shoes/womens-moccasins-loafers/leather-horsebit-loafers-p-460118C9D001000 Kors, M. (2017). Jet Set Travel Saffiano Leather Small Tote [Picture]. Retrieved by https://www.michaelkors.com/product/jet-set-travel-saffiano-leather-small-tote/_/R-US_30H1GTVT1L?ecid=MKC_Google_USgclid=Cj0KEQjwk-jGBRCbxoPLld_bp-IBEiQAgJaftSIh-BKxs9noCY5-55lUAxyheRXGOyvVi9Y1tiDVVCoaArHL8P8HAQ Kors, M. (2017). Mercer Large Leather Satchel [Picture]. Retrieved by https://www.michaelkors.com/product/mercer-large-leather-satchel/_/R-US_30H6GM9S3L?ecid=MKC_Google_USgclid=Cj0KEQjwk-jGBRCbxoPLld_bp-IBEiQAgJaftdtKvzSB8yl8y5KQRn60S96H_Qei7qhgtxy0fLik6mMaAuSU8P8HAQ Kors, M. (2009). Michele Obama in MK Dress [Picture]. Retrieved by https://www.emaze.com/@AIRRCOWW/MICHAEL-KORS N. A. (2015) Michael Kors [Picture]. Retrieved by http://icecreamconvos.com/rumor-control-michael-kors-doesnt-like-black-people/ N. A. (2015) Guccio Gucci [Picture]. Retrieved by http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/06/family-feud-the-guccis/ Naziera, S. (n.d.) MK Logo In Gold [Picture]. Retrieved by https://www.pinterest.com/pin/447123069226714946/ References Family Fued: The Guccis. (2015, June 15). Retrieved March 28, 2017, from Today I Found Out: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/06/family-feud-the-guccis/ Global Branding Gucci. (2013, August 01). Retrieved March 27, 2017, from LinkedIn Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/sujasrait/global-branding-gucci Gucci Guide Information. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2017, from Gucci Guide Information: https://www.yoogiscloset.com/gucci/guide Gucci Guilty Advertising Marketing Campaign. (2015, April 29). Retrieved March 27, 2017, from LinkedIn Slideshare: https://www.slideshare.net/TomPheby/gucci-guilty-advertising-marketing-campaign History and Background of Gucci. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2016, from Discount Perfume: http://www.fragrancex.com/products/_bid_gucci-am-cid_perfume-am-lid_g__brand_history.html Know Your Fashion Designers: 10 Facts About Michael Kors. (2011, April 21). Retrieved March 27, 2017, from College Fashion: http://www.collegefashion.net/news/know-your-fashion-designers-10-facts-about-michael-kors/ Marketing Plan of Gucci. (2016, March 18). Retrieved March 27, 2017, from Marketing Dawn: http://marketingdawn.com/marketing-plan-of-gucci/ Michael Kors. (2016, February 04). Retrieved March 27, 2017, from Biography.com: http://www.biography.com/people/michael-kors-594228#early-life Michael Kors Strategic Marketing Plan. (2014, March 06). Retrieved March 27, 2017, from LinkedIn Slideshare: https://www.slideshare.net/jplopan/michael-kors-strategic-marketing-plan Segmenting and Targeting Market. (1970, January 01). Retrieved March 27, 2017, from Michael Kors: http://desireeimichaelkors.blogspot.com/2013/05/ch-8-segmenting-and-targeting-markets.html Studenetske. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://www.studentske.sk/anglictina/History%20of%20Guccio%20Gucci.htm

Personal Narrative- Transformation of a Hurting Teen Essay -- Personal

Personal Narrative- Transformation of a Hurting Teen Before I lost my innocence I was care-free, and full of love. But I grew up and my peers began to tease me. â€Å"Am I really fat, ugly, stupid and dorky†? I thought. Every loving part of me was torn apart piece by piece by my young peers like wolves on the prowl. Every fault and every flaw I owned was brought to my attention. This teasing spawned an anger in me so strong that every aspect of my life was destroyed. I began to rebel towards any kind of authority as a way to protect myself. I felt that every breathing thing was out to hurt me. When I was fifteen years of age, this rebellion turned juvenile and I began to get into quite a bit of trouble with my parents and teachers. I was sent to House of Hope, a home for hurting teen...

El Mercado :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  EL MERCADO   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Mexican Mercado is a historical, sociable, and wonderful experience. I believe it says a lot about Mexico's culture and how they have kept some of the ways of there ancestors. The Mercado is a thing that should be highly respected. Many things are related to the Mercado like bargaining, communicating, making friends, shopping, and agriculture. That right there describes Mexico's history and present.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the US I believe that people usually don't like to socialize as much as people in Mexico than people in the US. That is half of the reason people in Mexico go to the Market. People in Mexico like to negotiate prices and people in the US seem to be in more of a hurry. The US and Mexico have supermercados which are pretty similar to each other because they sell a lot of the same things. The traditional Mercado is an open-air market, which is similar to some of the farmers markets that the US has. Except people in Mexico have bigger markets and they have a bigger variety of stuff. They aren't as popular in the U.S. because of the differences in the history of the cultures. I think a lot of people would like to bring open-air markets to the US.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some advantages of the Mercado is being able to visit and get to know more people. There are also many shops with many varieties of things to choose from. Stores for everyone, they have flower shops, craft markets and many other shops. A disadvantage I would think is that it would always be crowded. I consider this a disadvantage, but there are some people that wouldn't. I'm not sure how fresh the fruits would be either, because you don't know how long they have been sitting there. Some advantages for the U.S. markets would be having the out-of-date prints on the things you buy and knowing that your fruit is fresh. Plus you have a better chance of getting a refund. Some disadvantages are not being able to negotiate with people for lower prices. In the US the grocery shopping isn't as much about visiting and talking, but getting your shopping done quickly because people are always in a hurry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Mercado was started by the Aztecs, this cultural activity is historical and a wonderful experience.

Boss Mustang :: essays research papers

1997 329 BOSS Coupe The 1997 329 BOSS Coupe is great. It has excellent ratings from consumer magazines. The BOSS can go from 0-60 in 3.2 seconds. 0-60 in 3.2 seconds is outstanding compared to many sport ¡Ã‚ ¦s cars. This car was just released to customers like ourselves 2 weeks ago. One-thousand of these have already been sold around the United States.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Consumer Magazine rated this car so high that people were calling the publisher of the magazine and asking if it was a joke. The editor said it was no joke, and I ¡Ã‚ ¦ll tell you the same. The BOSS comes with a V-10 engine which was tested and tested at the BOSS plant to be top of the line. This great car also comes with a 6-speed manual transmission.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I would like to hear from you what you think of the 329 BOSS Coupe. Here ¡Ã‚ ¦s some statistics on the 329 BOSS. „h V-10 Engine „h 425 horsepower „h 0-60 in 3.2 seconds „h 6-speed manual transmission „h composite body „h much, much more   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The 329 BOSS is not a big car at all. In fact the BOSS is short. The reason the car is so short and arrow-dynamic is so the car can get more speed when flying down the road. The BOSS is a 4-seater with comfortable space for children. I myself have been privileged enough to drive this car. The first thing I noticed when driving the car was the smoothness it had. This car was extremely light, 2164 pounds. Motor World has examined this car from front to back and give it a perfect 10. Every magazine I ¡Ã‚ ¦ve looked at has rated this car no lower than a 8.5 which is still extremely high. This car itself has the looks, drive, and speed to out perform any major sports car on the market.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I would ask any of my readers to go to their local BOSS dealer and get a test drive on this car. I know you ¡Ã‚ ¦ll love it as much as me and more. I ¡Ã‚ ¦m encouraging you to tell your friends about this car. and how great it is.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Oops! I haven ¡Ã‚ ¦t told you the top speed for this car. It can top 270 and has even been known to get in the 280 ¡Ã‚ ¦s.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Have I given you the impression that this is the best car of the year? If not then please write me a letter telling me what you don ¡Ã‚ ¦t understand or believe.

Purpose of a SWOT Analysis Essay

Every business to include the largest ones that control their areas of industry–has a limited supply of manpower, production capacity and capital. Evaluating the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats helps it determine how to allocate these resources in a manner that will result in the highest possible potential for revenue growth and profitability. The management team examines where the company can compete most effectively. The company more times than not discovers competitive strengths that have not been fully utilized in the past in addition to critical areas that needs to be improved in order for the business to more effectively compete. A realistic assessment also prevents strategic blunders like entering a market with products that are clearly inferior to what well-entrenched competitors are offering. Continuous improvement in all areas of a company’s operations is an important aspect of staying ahead of competitors. Weaknesses and opportunities can–and must–be turned into future strengths. PURPOSE OF A SWOT ANALYSIS 3 Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis is a necessary, straightforward standard that assists in direction and serves as a foundation for the development of business’s marketing strategy. It brings about this process through assessment of the organization’s strengths (what it can do) and weaknesses (what it cannot do) in addition to opportunities (potential favorable conditions for the company) and threats (potential unfavorable conditions for it). SWOT analysis is also an important step in the planning process but sometimes its value is often minimized in spite of how simple it is in creating it. The role of SWOT analysis is to take the information from the environmental analysis and separate it into internal issues (strengths and weaknesses) and external issues (opportunities and threats). Once this is completed, SWOT analysis determines if the information indicates something that will assist a business in meeting its objectives (a strength or opportunity), or if it identifies an obstacle that must be overcome or minimized to achieve desired results (weakness or threat). The purpose of a SWOT analysis is to get managers into the mindset and thinking about everything that could possibly be an impact to the success and failure of a new project. Failing to acknowledge an essential strength, weakness, opportunity or threat could and usually does lead to terrible management decisions. Take for example, a software company that might hold a patent for a new computer processor failed to recognize a threat from its competitors who were also developing comparable products, it might overestimate conceivable sales of its new processor and assume debt to finance the growth of its project only to notice down the line that the company’s promising product will not make enough money to make a profit or even pay off the assumed debt. A SWOT analysis could have helped this company’s management avoid expensive mistakes early on and alerted them to which products were more likely to succeed. PURPOSE OF A SWOT ANALYSIS 4 With SWOT’s origins dating back to the 1960s with Albert Humphrey, it is as useful now as it was back then. Businesses utilize the process in two different ways-as an easy icebreaker assisting individuals come together to â€Å"kick off† strategy development or as a more serious strategy tool. A great SWOT analysis case study is Starbuck’s Coffee. By 2010, the company was losing money and had a major drop in its stock price. Its stock price had dropped to around $10 in 2009 from its high of $35 a few years earlier. The economic crisis throughout 2008 and 2009 really hit Starbucks’ stock price hard (â€Å"SBUX Basic Chart | Starbucks Corporation Stock – Yahoo! Finance,† 2011). Even though Starbucks’ stock price took a huge hit, its net revenues did not. Starbucks’ profits went from $7. 8 billion in 2006, to $10. 4 billion in 2008, down to $9. 8 billion in 2009, and back up to $10. 7 billion in 2011 (Starbucks Corporation, 2010). The amazing thing here is that the company endured an economic crisis and still come out stronger than when its stock price was at its highest. Lauren Roby (2011) performed a well researched SWOT analysis of Starbucks covering this time frame and identified the following strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths: #1: Market leader in the coffee industry including almost 17,000 stores as of the end of the 2010 (Starbucks Corporation, 2010). #2. Starbucks is recognized by customers worldwide due in part to its high quality products and consumer friendly environment. #3. Starbucks is on good footing financially. Its stock price might have fallen in the late 2000’s, but its profits barely took a hit (Starbucks Corporation, 2010). Weaknesses: PURPOSE OF A SWOT ANALYSIS 5 #1: One of Starbucks’ biggest weaknesses is what its customers have to pay for the product. McDonald’s uses Starbucks’ high price directly against the company in their attempts to lure customers away from the company and into the arches. #2: 75% of the company’s profits come from its coffee products and other specialty drinks (Starbucks Corporation, 2010). This means that when global coffee bean prices fluctuate, the company will take a direct hit every time the price of coffee rises. Opportunities: #1. International Markets. With Brazil being one if not the world’s largest coffee consumer in the world, it offers a huge market for Starbucks to enthusiastically enter and develop (Murphy, 2011). #2. Starbucks has joined forces with Tata coffee in India, which is the fifth largest exporter of coffee, to begin selling their coffee worldwide (Bose, 2011). This gives Starbucks more access to coffee. Threats: #1. Competition. One of Starbuck’s biggest competitors, McDonald’s, can open their McCafe brand beverages in current franchise stores globally to include Europe. This gives McDonald’s an upper hand on Starbucks who has to invest over $300,000 to open a brand new store in Europe while McDonald’s investment would run around $100,000 (Liu, 2009). If McDonald’s continues down this path, it could greatly reduce the geographic scope advantage that Starbucks currently has over McDonald’s. These days, It is not enough to just recognize the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a business. In exercising a SWOT analysis it is essential to reduce or avert both PURPOSE OF A SWOT ANALYSIS 6 weaknesses and threats. Weaknesses should be viewed as something to be turned into strengths as threats should be turned into opportunities. Strengths and opportunities should be allied to optimize the business’s potential. Utilizing SWOT in this manner can help a company gain the leverage most so desperately need these days. (Ferrell, Hartline, Lucas, Luck, 1998).

Anita Roddick (The Body Shop) Essay

Inspiring profiles and best practices for entrepreneurs Twenty-six years ago the Brighton Evening Argus ran a story on a dispute between two funeral parlour owners who were upset about a new cosmetics boutique which had opened up next door. It wasn’t the nature of the business they were getting hot under the collar about, but its name. They thought the green shop front emblazoned with the words Body Shop in gold leaf might put off prospective customers. â€Å"They wanted me to change my shop front which I had just spent  £870 of my  £4,000 loan on,† recalls Roddick. â€Å"My smart move was to call the Argus and tell them I was being threatened by Mafia undertakers who wanted to close me down.† The press loved it. The story of the beleaguered single mum with the house in hock trying to support her two kids with a bootstrapping start-up worked a treat. The small splash made Body Shop a cause celebre, won plenty of local support and won an important battle to get the business off the ground. The anecdote is a small aside, recounted with a chuckle and a hint of outrage in a long interview. But although the battles got much bigger as Roddick grew her business into the multinational retailer it is today, anyone with even a passing familiarity with the Body Shop story will instantly recognise the defining characteristics of its fiery feisty founder in those early days of the business: Ethical Anita versus the big bad world. There has never been any compromise in Roddick’s views on how business should be done: this is why her husband Gordon was tasked with handling the City suits (â€Å"they didn’t like me talking about sexual tension at work†) and why she stepped away from the business in 1998 when the shareholders said a campaigning chief executive was not what they wanted for Body Shop. You might think after thirty years of business and the comfort of a healthy shareholding and a wedge of cash in the bank Roddick’s hunger for campaigning might have diminished. But little has changed since 1976. Her latest venture, a publishing start-up, produces books on ethical matters. It promotes her on the speaking circuit and all the profits going into campaigning. The only difference is now she occupies the position of an icon for women and female entrepreneurs: â€Å"something I don’t take lightly† And there is still plenty to shout about when it comes to what she sees as an ethical vacuum in business today. Suffocation She rails against the suffocation of UK businesses as we outsource to cheaper countries; the failure to preserve the needs of shareholders in public companies; the lack of respect for the responsibility of business to the community at large; the ongoing need for women to conform to a male template in order to succeed; the lack of recognition of the value that employees bring to a business. â€Å"Being ethical in business is not about giving stuff away† Roddick is emphatic about what this means in practice: not sandals, beards and group hugs in the boardroom but the adoption of simple moral values. â€Å"People use the excuse of business to leave their morals at the front door and I don’t know how they get away with it.† But can ethical business really fit in with the cut-throat world of today? Her business, she says, is living proof. She describes Body Shop as a â€Å"great business experiment† which is still proving a point: you can run an entrepreneurial business, provide a return to shareholders while campaigning on ethical issues and placing a high value on human capital. â€Å"Being ethical in business is not about giving stuff away. It’s about your relationship with your employees, it’s about the aesthetics of the workplace and it’s about communication,† says Roddick. â€Å"There is no reason why the workplace can’t be a genuine creative place, why there can’t be flexitime, why there can’t be transparency and even good manners.† If Roddick doesn’t sound like a business woman it’s because she has never claimed to be one. She puts her success down to a need for a livelihood and sees herself as the accidental entrepreneu r.

Wait Till Next Year Summary

Wait Till Next Year, by Doris Kearns Goodwin, is a personal memoire of Goodwin’s life growing up in Rockville Centre, New York during the 1950s. Goodwin talks about multiple members of her family, including her father, Michael, her mother, Helen, her two sisters, Charlotte and Jeanne, and her best friend while growing up, Eileen. The memoire includes many memories of how she and her family were affected during the atomic bomb and McCarthyism. Also in her story, she highlights the good and bad things about growing up as a suburban child. Goodwin has great memories about her neighborhood. She had many memories of her school, church, and time spent with her favorite team, the Dodgers, which were all positive. She said, â€Å"Our street†¦was common land – our playground, our park, our community† (Goodwin 55). Goodwin talks about her neighborhood as similar to that of a safe heaven. Her neighborhood was a little piece of heaven that always stayed the same. She was very close with her friends. They all attended the same school, grew up and played together. School was as well a positive memory Goodwin had and was a very important part of community as well. Goodwin recalled her time spent in school and said, â€Å"I threw myself into high-school affairs with unprecedented zeal†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Goodwin 245). Goodwin enjoyed being involved being in activities and the people that were involved as well. Though, her friends from school were not the same denomination as she was. Religion was another factor in the community. Goodwin was catholic and many of her friends and other members of the community were protestant. Catholicism wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but it wasn’t the contemporary way of life for Americans in the 1950s. She very excited to start her life as a catholic, including her first mass and communion. Though school and religion were highpoints in Goodwin’s life, her true love was her favorite baseball team, the Dodgers. The Dodgers were the base of her family and kept many of her friendships alive like Johnny, a boy she meet at the beach, and Eileen when they were separated. Goodwin attended many of the games at Ebbet’s Field, listened to the games on the radio, and watched them on the television. Many of the people in the community liked the Dodgers as well, but there were some who liked teams from the Yankees to the Giants. Even though there were different team choices throughout the community, baseball was a thing everyone enjoyed. Goodwin remembers most where the events within the community with the people she was surrounded by. Goodwin’s memories of the 1950s were very positive, however the family life made growing up somewhat negative. During most of Goodwin’s life, her mother suffered from different illnesses that would cause problems in the household. Most of the time, her mother, Helen, was too sick to have company over, which was very stereotypical during that time. When television came around, the family would host gatherings. When Helen was asked if she could have more gatherings Helen would reply, â€Å"but I simply can’t do it. Even now, I am so exhausted just from having everyone here that I’ve got to lie down for a little while† (Goodwin 122). Goodwin’s sister, Jeanne, took many roles that Helen could not because Helen was so sick. Goodwin stated that, â€Å"For as long as I can remember, she was a surrogate mother, looking out for me, taking care of me when my mother was sick† (Goodwin 37). Goodwin would recall many stories of Jeanne doing tasks that their mother would do. This made her Goodwin feel embarrassed, which is where the negative memories came in. She loved her Jeanne dearly, but the fact that her mother couldn’t stand up for herself and do what a mother in the 1950s was supposed to be doing. Helen died in 1958. This only made the bad memories worse. The death of her mother led to Goodwin leaving her community and her father becoming an alcoholic. Her family’s problems made the times she spent growing up in the 1950s faint. While there were good and bad memories going on throughout Goodwin’s life. There were specific historical events that led to different views on her childhood as well. The atomic bomb ended when Russia made their own. The bomb drills and the knowledge about the bombs made growing up difficult for Goodwin, though it did turn out positive. After she realized that the stores of her community were connected below the ground, she came up with the idea for the whole community to survive. The community could set up a system where they all worked together to move everything they needed into the basements that were connected as quickly as possible. Her plan excited her and she loved challenges. She was able to turn the threat of the bomb into action. Another event that left a major impression on Goodwin was the idea of McCarthyism. Television was broadcasting a lot about the trials, so the mothers of the neighborhood were always updated. Goodwin and her friend created the McCarthyism trials, which her similar to the ones on television. Her friends would accuse each other of saying certain things, so the trails always ended in tears and pain. Eventually, the trials ended, but the damage of those memories were enough to make chapter in her life a bad one. The historical events in the 1950’s affected a lot of children growing up in that time. It led Goodwin to have positive and negative memories. Growing up in the 1950s was neither a great experience nor awful one for Goodwin. She has a sense of community that is very present in her memoire. There were many things that highlighted her young life. Even though her family life was tough, she got through and made her stronger and the good and bad memories that she had while growing up made her into what she is today.

Prelude to Foundation Chapter 19 Dors

SELDON, HARI-†¦ it is customary to think of Hari Seldon only in connection with psychohistory, to see him only as mathematics and social change personified. There is no doubt that he himself encouraged this for at no time in his formal writings did he give any hint as to how he came to solve the various problems of psychohistory. His leaps of thought might have all been plucked from air, for all he tells us. Nor does he tell us of the blind alleys into which he crept or the wrong turnings he may have made†¦ As for his private life, it is a blank. Concerning his parents and siblings, we know a handful of factors, no more. His only son, Raych Seldon, is known to have been adopted, but how that came about is not known. Concerning his wife, we only know that she existed. Clearly, Seldon wanted to be a cipher except where psychohistory was concerned. It is as though he felt-or wanted it to be felt-that he did not live, he merely psychohistorified. Encyclopedia Galactica 91. Hummin sat calmly, not a muscle twitching, still looking at Hari Seldon and Seldon, for his part, waited. It was Hummin, he thought, who should speak next. Hummin did, but said merely, â€Å"A robot? Me?-By robot, I presume you mean an artificial being such as the object you saw in the Sacratorium in Mycogen.† â€Å"Not quite like that,† said Seldon. â€Å"Not metal? Not burnished? Not a lifeless simulacrum?† Hummin said it without any evidence of amusement. â€Å"No. To be of artificial life is not necessarily to be made of metal. I speak of a robot indistinguishable from a human being in appearance.'. â€Å"If indistinguishable, Hari, then how do you distinguish?† â€Å"Not by appearance.† â€Å"Explain.† â€Å"Hummin, in the course of my flight from yourself as Demerzel, I heard of two ancient worlds, as I told you-Aurora and Earth. Each seemed to be spoken of as a first world or an only world. In both cases, robots were spoken of, but with a difference.† Seldon was staring thoughtfully at the man across the table, wondering if, in any way, he would give some sign that he was less than a man-or more. He said, â€Å"Where Aurora was in question, one robot was spoken of as a renegade, a traitor, someone who deserted the cause. Where Earth was in question, one robot was spoken of as a hero, one who represented salvation. Was it too much to suppose that it was the same robot?† â€Å"Was it?† murmured Hummin. â€Å"This is what I thought, Hummin. I thought that Earth and Aurora were two separate worlds, co-existing in time. I don't know which one preceded the other. From the arrogance and the conscious sense of superiority of the Mycogenians, I might suppose that Aurora was the original world and that they despised the Earthmen who derived from them-or who degenerated from them. â€Å"On the other hand, Mother Rittah, who spoke to me of Earth, was convinced that Earth was the original home of humanity and, certainly, the tiny and isolated position of the Mycogenians in a whole galaxy of quadrillions of people who lack the strange Mycogenian ethos might mean that Earth was indeed the original home and that Aurora was the aberrant offshoot. I cannot tell, but I pass on to you my thinking, so that you will understand my final conclusions.† Hummin nodded. â€Å"I see what you are doing. Please continue.† â€Å"The worlds were enemies. Mother Rittah certainly made it sound so. When I compare the Mycogenians, who seem to embody Aurora, and the Dahlites, who seem to embody Earth, I imagine that Aurora, whether first or second, was nevertheless the one that was more advanced, the one that could produce more elaborate robots, even ones indistinguishable from human beings in appearance. Such a robot was designed and devised in Aurora, then. But he was a renegade, so he deserted Aurora. To the Earthpeople he was a hero, so he must have joined Earth. Why he did this, what his motives were, I can't say.† Hummin said, â€Å"Surely, you mean why it did this, what its motives were.† â€Å"Perhaps, but with you sitting across from me,† said Seldon, â€Å"I find it difficult to use the inanimate pronoun. Mother Rittah was convinced that the heroic robot-her heroic robot-still existed, that he would return when he was needed. It seemed to me that there was nothing impossible in the thought of an immortal robot or at least one who was immortal as long as the replacement of worn-out parts was not neglected.† â€Å"Even the brain?† asked Hummin. â€Å"Even the brain. I don't really know anything about robots, but I imagine a new brain could be re-recorded from the old.-And Mother Rittah hinted of strange mental powers.-I thought: It must be so. I may, in some ways, be a romantic, but I am not so much a romantic as to think that one robot, by switching from one side to the other, can alter the course of history. A robot could not make Earth's victory sure, nor Aurora's defeat certain-unless there was something strange, something peculiar about the robot.† Hummin said, â€Å"Does it occur to you, Hari, that you are dealing with legends, legends that may have been distorted over the centuries and the millennia, even to the extent of building a veil of the supernatural over quite ordinary events? Can you make yourself believe in a robot that not only seems human, but that also lives forever and has mental powers? Are you not beginning to believe in the superhuman?† â€Å"I know very well what legends are and I am not one to be taken in by them and made to believe in fairy tales. Still, when they are supported by certain odd events that I have seen-and even experienced myself-â€Å" â€Å"Such as?† â€Å"Hummin, I met you and trusted you from the start. Yes, you helped me against those two hoodlums when you didn't need to and that predisposed me in your favor, since I didn't realize at the time that they were your hirelings, doing what you had instructed them to do.-But never mind that.† â€Å"No,† said Hummin, a hint of amusement-finally-in his voice. â€Å"I trusted you. I was easily convinced not to go home to Helicon and to make myself a wanderer over the face of Trantor. I believed everything you told me without question. I placed myself entirely in your hands. Looking back on it now, I see myself as not myself. I am not a person to be so easily led, yet I was. More than that, I did not even think it strange that I was behaving so far out of character.† â€Å"You know yourself best, Hari.† â€Å"It wasn't only me. How is it that Dors Venabili, a beautiful woman with a career of her own, should abandon that career in order to join me in my flight? How is it that she should risk her life to save mine, seeming to take on, as a kind of holy duty, the cask of protecting me and becoming single-minded in the process? Was it simply because you asked her to?† â€Å"I did ask her to, Hari.† â€Å"Yet she does not strike me as the kind of person to make such a radical changeover in her life merely because someone asks her to. Nor could I believe it was because she had fallen madly in love with me at first sight and could not help herself. I somehow wish she had, but she seems quite the mistress of her emotional self, more-I am now speaking to you frankly-than I myself am with respect to her.† â€Å"She is a wonderful woman,† said Hummin. â€Å"I don't blame you.† Seldon went on. â€Å"How is it, moreover, that Sunmaster Fourteen, a monster of arrogance and one who leads a people who are themselves stiff-necked in their own conceit, should be willing to take in tribespeople like Dors and myself and to treat us as well as the Mycogenians could and did? When we broke every rule, committed every sacrilege, how is it that you could still talk him into letting us go? â€Å"How could you talk the Tisalvers, with their petty prejudices, into taking us in? How can you be at home everywhere in the world, be friends with everyone, influence each person, regardless of their individual peculiarities? For that matter, how do you manage to manipulate Cleon too? And if he is viewed as malleable and easily molded, then how were you able to handle his father, who by all accounts was a rough and arbitrary tyrant? How could you do all this? â€Å"Most of all, how is it that Mannix IV of Wye could spend decades building an army without peer, one trained to be proficient in every detail, and yet have it fall apart when his daughter tries to make use of it? How could you persuade them to play the Renegade, all of them, as you have done?† Hummin said, â€Å"Might this mean no more than that I am a tactful person used to dealing with people of different types, that I am in a position to have done favors for crucial people and am in a position to do additional favors in the future? Nothing I have done, it might seem, requires the supernatural.† â€Å"Nothing you have done? Not even the neutralization of the Wyan army?† â€Å"They did not wish to serve a woman.† â€Å"They must have known for years that any time Mannix laid down his powers or any time he died, Rashelle would be their Mayor, yet they showed no signs of discontent-until you felt it necessary that they show it. Dors described you at one time as a very persuasive man. And so you are. More persuasive than any man could be. But you are not more persuasive than an immortal robot with strange mental powers might be.-Well, Hummin?† Hummin said, â€Å"What is it you expect of me, Hari? Do you expect me to admit I'm a robot? That I only look like a human being? That I am immortal? That I am a mental marvel?!† Seldon leaned toward Hummin as he sat there on the opposite side of the table. â€Å"Yes, Hummin, I do. I expect you to tell me the truth and I strongly suspect that what you have just outlined is the truth. You, Hummin, are the robot that Mother Rittah referred to as Da-Nee, friend of Ba-Lee. You must admit it. You have no choice.† 92. It was as though they were sitting in a tiny Universe of their own. There, in the middle of Wye, with the Wyan army being disarmed by Imperial force, they sat quietly. There, in the midst of events that all of Trantor-and perhaps all the Galaxy-was watching, there was this small bubble of utter isolation within which Seldon and Hummin were playing their game of attack and defense-Seldon trying hard to force a new reality, Hummin making no move to accept that new reality. Seldon had no fear of interruption. He was certain that the bubble within which they sat had a boundary that could not be penetrated, that Hummin's-no, the robot's-powers would keep all at a distance till the game was over. Hummin finally said, â€Å"You are an ingenious fellow, Hari, but I fail to see why I must admit that I am a robot and why I have no choice but to do so. Everything you say may be true as facts-your own behavior, Dors's behavior, Sunmaster's, Tisalver's, the Wyan generals'-all, all may have happened as you said, but that doesn't force your interpretation of the meaning of the events to be true. Surely, everything that happened can have a natural explanation. You trusted me because you accepted what I said; Dors felt your safety to be important because she felt psychohistory to be crucial, herself being a historian; Sunmaster and Tisalver were beholden to me for favors you know nothing of, the Wyan generals resented being ruled by a woman, no more. Why must we flee to the supernatural?† Seldon said, â€Å"See here, Hummin, do you really believe the Empire to be falling and do you really consider it important that it not be allowed to do so with no move made to save it or, at the least, cushion its Fall?† â€Å"I really do.† Somehow Seldon knew this statement was sincere. â€Å"And you really want me to work out the details of psychohistory and you feel that you yourself cannot do it?† â€Å"I lack the capability.† â€Å"And you feel that only I can handle psychohistory-even if I sometimes doubt it myself?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"And you must therefore feel that if you can possibly help me in any way, you must.† â€Å"I do.† â€Å"Personal feelings-selfish considerations-could play no part?† A faint and brief smile passed over Hummin's grave face and for a moment Seldon sensed a vast and arid desert of weariness behind Hummin's quiet manner. â€Å"I have built a long career on paying no heed to personal feelings or to selfish considerations.† â€Å"Then I ask your help. I can work out psychohistory on the basis of Trantor alone, but I will run into difficulties. Those difficulties I may overcome, but how much easier it would be to do so if I knew certain key facts. For instance, was Earth or Aurora the first world of humanity or was it some other world altogether? What was the relationship between Earth and Aurora? Did either or both colonize the Galaxy? If one, why didn't the other? If both, how was the issue decided? Are there worlds descended from both or from only one? How did robots come to be abandoned? How did Trantor become the Imperial world, rather than another planet? What happened to Aurora and Earth in the meantime? There are a thousand questions I might ask right now and a hundred thousand that might arise as I go along. Would you allow me to remain ignorant, Hummin, and fail in my task when you could inform me and help me succeed?† Hummin said, â€Å"If I were the robot, would I have room in my brain for all of twenty thousand years of history for millions of different worlds?† â€Å"I don't know the capacity of robotic brains. I don't know the capacity of yours. But if you lack the capacity, then you must have that information which you cannot hold safely recorded in a place and in a way that would make it possible for you to call upon it. And if you have it and I need information, how can you deny and withhold it from me? And if you cannot withhold it from me, how can you deny that you are a robot-that robot the Renegade?† Seldon sat back and took a deep breath. â€Å"So I ask you again: Are you that robot? If you want psychohistory, then you must admit it. If you still deny you are a robot and if you convince me you are not, then my chances at psychohistory become much, much smaller. It is up to you, then. Are you a robot? Are you Da-Nee?† And Hummin said, as imperturbable as ever. â€Å"Your arguments are irrefutable. I am R. Daneel Olivaw. The ‘R' stands for ‘robot.' â€Å" 93. R. Daneel Olivaw still spoke quietly, but it seemed to Seldon that there was a subtle change in his voice, as though he spoke more easily now that he was no longer playing a part. â€Å"In twenty thousand years,† said Daneel, â€Å"no one has guessed I was a robot when it was not my intention to have him or her know. In part, that was because human beings abandoned robots so long ago that very few remember that they even existed at one time. And in part, it is because I do have the ability to detect and affect human emotion. The detection offers no trouble, but to affect emotion is difficult for me for reasons having to do with my robotic nature-although I can do it when I wish. I have the ability but must deal with my will not to use it. I try never to interfere except when I have no choice but to do so. And when I do interfere, it is rarely that I do more than strengthen, as little as I can, what is already there. If I can achieve my purposes without doing even so much, I avoid it. â€Å"It was not necessary to tamper with Sunmaster Fourteen in order to have him accept you-I call it ‘tampering,' you notice, because it is not a pleasant thing to do. I did not have to tamper with him because he did owe me for favors rendered and he is an honorable man, despite the peculiarities you found in him. I did interfere the second time, when you had committed sacrilege in his eyes, but it took very little. He was not anxious to hand you over to the Imperial authorities, whom he does not like. I merely strengthened the dislike a trifle and he handed you over to my care, accepting the arguments I offered, which otherwise he might have considered specious. â€Å"Nor did I tamper with you noticeably. You distrusted the Imperials too. Most human beings do these days, which is an important factor in the decay and deterioration of the Empire. What's more, you were proud of psychohistory as a concept, proud of having thought of it. You would not have minded having it prove to be a practical discipline. That would have further fed your pride.† Seldon frowned and said, â€Å"Pardon me, Master Robot, but I am not aware that I am quite such a monster of pride.† Daneel said mildly, â€Å"You are not a monster of pride at all. You are perfectly aware that [it] is neither admirable nor useful to be driven by pride, so you try to subdue that drive, but you might as well disapprove of having yourself powered by your heartbeat. You cannot help either fact. Though you hide your pride from yourself for the sake of your own peace of mind, you cannot hide it from me. It is there, however carefully you mask it over. And I had but to strengthen it a touch and you were at once willing to take measures to hide from Demerzel, measures that a moment before you would have resisted. And you were eager to work at psychohistory with an intensity that a moment before you would have scorned. â€Å"I saw no necessity to touch anything else and so you have reasoned out your robothood. Had I foreseen the possibility of that, I might have stopped it, but my foresight and my abilities are not infinite. Nor am I sorry now that I failed, for your arguments are good ones and it is important that you know who I am and that I use what I am to help you. â€Å"Emotions, my dear Seldon are a powerful engine of human action, far more powerful than human beings themselves realize, and you cannot know how much can be done with the merest touch and how reluctant I am to do it.† Seldon was breathing heavily, trying to see himself as a man driven by pride and not liking it. â€Å"Why reluctant?† â€Å"Because it would be so easy to overdo. I had to stop Rashelle from converting the Empire into a feudal anarchy. I might have bent minds quickly and the result might well have been a bloody uprising. Men are men-and the Wyan generals are almost all men. It does not actually take much to rouse resentment and latent fear of women in any man. It may be a biological matter that I, as a robot, cannot fully understand. â€Å"I had but to strengthen the feeling to produce a breakdown in her plans. If I had done it the merest millimeter too much, I would have lost what I wanted-a bloodless takeover. I wanted nothing more than to have them not resist when my soldiers arrived.† Daneel paused, as though trying to pick his words, then said, â€Å"I do not wish to go into the mathematics of my positronic brain. It is more than I can understand, though perhaps not more than you can if you give it enough thought. However, I am governed by the Three Laws of Robotics that are traditionally put into words-or once were, long ago. They are these: † ‘One. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. † ‘Two. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. † ‘Three. A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.' â€Å"But I had a†¦ a friend twenty thousand years ago. Another robot. Not like myself. He could not be mistaken for a human being, but it was he who had the mental powers and it was through him that I gained mine. â€Å"It seemed to him that there should be a still more general rule than any of the Three Laws. He called it the Zeroth Law, since zero comes before one. It is: † ‘Zero. A robot may not injure humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.' â€Å"Then the First Law must read: † ‘One. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, except where that would conflict with the Zeroth Law.' â€Å"And the other laws must be similarly modified. Do you understand?† Daneel paused earnestly and Seldon said, â€Å"I understand.† Daneel went on. â€Å"The trouble is, Hari, that a human being is easy to identify. I can point to one. It is easy to see what will harm a human being and what won't-relatively easy, at least. But what is humanity? To what can we point when we speak of humanity? And how can we define harm to humanity? When will a course of action do more good than harm to humanity as a whole and how can one tell? The robot who first advanced the Zeroth law died-became permanently inactive-because he was forced into an action that he felt would save humanity, yet which he could not be sure would save humanity. And as he became inactivated, he left the care of the Galaxy to me. â€Å"Since then, I have tried. I have interfered as little as possible, relying on human beings themselves to judge what was for the good. They could gamble; I could not. They could miss their goals; I did not dare. They could do harm unwittingly; I would grow inactive if I did. The Zeroth Law makes no allowance for unwitting harm. â€Å"But at times I am forced to take action. That I am still functioning shows that my actions have been moderate and discreet. However, as the Empire began to fail and to decline, I have had to interfere more frequently and for decades now I have had to play the role of Demerzel, trying to run the government in such a way as to stave off ruin-and yet I will function, you see. â€Å"When you made your speech to the Decennial Convention, I realized at once that in psychohistory there was a tool that might make it possible to identify what was good and bad for humanity. With it, the decisions we would make would be less blind. I would even trust to human beings to make those decisions and again reserve myself only for the greatest emergencies. So I arranged quickly to have Cleon learn of your speech and call you in. Then, when I heard your denial of the worth of psychohistory, I was forced to think of some way to make you try anyway. Do you understand, Hari?† More than a little daunted, Seldon said, â€Å"I understand, Hummin.† â€Å"To you, I must remain Hummin on those rare occasions when I will be able to see you. I will give you what information I have if it is something you need and in my persona as Demerzel I will protect you as much as I can. As Daneel, you must never speak of me.† â€Å"I wouldn't want to,† said Seldon hurriedly. â€Å"Since I need your help, it would ruin matters to have your plans impeded.† â€Å"Yes, I know you wouldn't want to.† Daneel smiled wearily. â€Å"After all, you are vain enough to want full credit for psychohistory. You would not want anyone to know-ever-that you needed the help of a robot.† Seldon flushed. â€Å"I am not-â€Å" â€Å"But you are, even if you carefully hide it from yourself. And it is important, for I am strengthening that emotion within you minimally so that you will never be able to speak of me to others. It will not even occur to you that you might do so.† Seldon said, â€Å"I suspect Dors knows-â€Å" â€Å"She knows of me. And she too cannot speak of me to others. Now that you both know of my nature, you can speak of me to each other freely, but not to anyone else.† Daneel rose.-Hari, I have my work to do now. Before long, you and Dors will be taken back to the Imperial Sector-â€Å" â€Å"The boy Raych must come with me. I cannot abandon him. And there is a young Dahlite named Yugo Amaryl-â€Å" â€Å"I understand. Raych will be taken too and you can do with any friend as you will. You will all be taken care of appropriately. And you will work on psychohistory. You will have a staff. You will have the necessary computers and reference material. I will interfere as little as possible and if there is resistance to your views that does not actually reach the point of endangering the mission, then you will have to deal with it yourself.† â€Å"Wait, Hummin,† said Seldon urgently. â€Å"What if, despite all your help and all my endeavors, it turns out that psychohistory cannot be made into a practical device after all? What if I fail?† Daneel rose. â€Å"In that case, I have a second plan in hand. One I have been working on a long time on a separate world in a separate way. It too is very difficult and to some ways even more radical than psychohistory. It may fail too, but there is a greater chance of success if two roads are open than if either one alone was. â€Å"Take my advice, Hari! If the time comes when you are able to set up some device that may act to prevent the worst from happening see if you can think of two devices, so that if one fails, the other will carry on. The Empire must be steadied or rebuilt on a new foundation. Let there be two such, rather than one, if that is possible.† He rose, â€Å"Now I must return to my ordinary work and you must turn to yours. You will be taken care of.† With one final nod, he rose and left. Seldon looked after him and said softly, â€Å"First I must speak to Dors.† 94. Dors said, â€Å"The palace is cleared. Rashelle will not be physically harmed. And you'll return to the Imperial Sector, Hari.† â€Å"And you, Dors?† said Seldon in a low tight voice. â€Å"I presume I will go back to the University,† she said. â€Å"My work is being neglected, my classes abandoned.† â€Å"No, Dors, you have a greater task.† â€Å"What is that?† â€Å"Psychohistory. I cannot tackle the project without you.† â€Å"Of course you can. I am a total illiterate in mathematics.† â€Å"And I in history-and we need both.† Dors laughed. â€Å"I suspect that, as a mathematician, you are one of a kind. I, as a historian, am merely adequate, certainly not outstanding. You will find any number of historians who will suit the needs of psychohistory better than I do.† â€Å"In that case, Dors, let me explain that psychohistory needs more than a mathematician and a historian. It also needs the will to tackle what will probably be a lifetime problem. Without you, Dors, I will not have that will.† â€Å"Of course you'll have it.† â€Å"Dors, if you're not with me, I don't intend to have it.† Dors looked at Seldon thoughtfully. â€Å"This is a fruitless discussion, Hari. Undoubtedly, Hummin will make the decision. If he sends me back to the University.† â€Å"He won't.† â€Å"How can you be sure?† â€Å"Because I'll put it to him plainly. If he sends you back to the University, I'll go back to Helicon and the Empire can go ahead and destroy itself.† â€Å"You can't mean it.† â€Å"But I certainly do.† â€Å"Don't you realize that Hummin can arrange to have your feelings change so that you will work on psychohistory-even without me?† Seldon shook his head. â€Å"Hummin will not make such an arbitrary decision. I've spoken to him. He dares not do much to the human mind because he is bound by what he calls the Laws of Robotics. To change my mind to the point where I will not want you with me, Dors, would mean a change of the kind he can not risk. On the other hand, if he leaves me alone and if you join me in the project, he will have what he wants-a true chance at psychohistory. Why should he not settle for that?† Dors shook her head. â€Å"He may not agree for reasons of his own.† â€Å"Why should he disagree? You were asked to protect me, Dors. Has Hummin canceled that request?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Then he wants you to continue your protection. And I want your protection.† â€Å"Against what? You now have Hummin's protection, both as Demerzel and as Daneel, and surely that is all you need.† â€Å"If I had the protection of every person and every force in the Galaxy, it would still be yours I would want.† â€Å"Then you don't want me for psychohistory. You want me for protection.† Seldon scowled. â€Å"No! Why are you twisting my words? Why are you forcing me to say what you must know? It is neither psychohistory nor protection I want you for. Those are excuses and I'll use any other I need. I want you-just you. And if you want the real reason, it is because you are you.† â€Å"You don't even know me.† â€Å"That doesn't matter. I don't care.-And yet I do know you in a way. Better than you think.† â€Å"Do you indeed?† â€Å"Of course. You follow orders and you risk your life without hesitation and with no apparent care for the consequences. You learned how to play tennis so quickly. You learned how to use knives even more quickly and you handled yourself perfectly in the fight with Marron. Inhumanly-if I may say so. Your muscles are amazingly strong and your reaction time is amazingly fast. You can somehow tell when a room is being eavesdropped and you can be in touch with Hummin in some way that does not involve instrumentation.† Dors said, â€Å"And what do you think of all that?† â€Å"It has occurred to me that Hummin, in his persona as R. Daneel Olivaw, has an impossible task. How can one robot try to guide the Empire? He must have helpers.† â€Å"That is obvious. Millions, I should imagine. I am a helper. You are a helper. Little Raych is a helper.† â€Å"You are a different kind of helper.† â€Å"In what way? Hari, say it. If you hear yourself say it, you will realize how crazy it is.† Seldon looked long at her and then said in a low voice, â€Å"I will not say it because†¦ I don't care.† â€Å"You really don't? You wish to take me as I am?† â€Å"I will take you as I must. You are Dors and, whatever else you are, in all the world I want nothing else.† Dors said softly, â€Å"Hari, I want what is good for you because of what I am, but I feel that if I wasn't what I am, I would still want what is good for you. And I don't think I am good for you.† â€Å"Good for me or bad, I don't care.† Here Hari looked down as he paced a few steps, weighing what he would say next. â€Å"Dors, have you ever been kissed?† â€Å"Of course, Hari. It's a social part of life and I live socially.† â€Å"No, no! I mean, have you ever really kissed a man? You know, passionately?† â€Å"Well yes, Hari, I have.† â€Å"Did you enjoy it?† Dors hesitated. She said, â€Å"When I've kissed in that way, I enjoyed it more than I would have enjoyed disappointing a young man I liked, someone whose friendship meant something to me.† At this point, Dors blushed and she turned her face away. â€Å"Please, Hari, this is difficult for me to explain.† But Hari, more determined now than ever, pressed further. â€Å"So you kissed for the wrong reasons, then, to avoid hurt feelings.† â€Å"Perhaps everyone does, in a sense.† Seldon mulled this over, then said suddenly, â€Å"Did you ever ask to be kissed?† Dors paused, as though looking back on her life. â€Å"No.† â€Å"Or wish to be kissed again, once you had?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Have you ever slept with a man?† he asked softly, desperately. â€Å"Of course. I told you. These things are a part of life.† Hari gripped her shoulders as if he was going to shake her. â€Å"But have you ever felt the desire, a need for that kind of closeness with just one special person? Dors, have you ever felt love.† Dors looked up slowly, almost sadly, and locked eyes with Seldon. â€Å"I'm sorry, Hari, but no.† Seldon released her, letting his arms fall dejectedly to his sides. Then Dors placed her hand gently on his arm and said, â€Å"So you see, Hari. I'm not really what you want.† Seldon's head drooped and he stared at the floor. He weighed the matter and tried to think rationally. Then he gave up. He wanted what he wanted and he wanted it beyond thought and beyond rationality. He looked up. â€Å"Dors, dear, even so, I don't care.† Seldon put his arms around her and brought his head close to hers slowly, as though waiting for her to pull away, all the while drawing her nearer. Dors made no move and he kissed her-slowly, lingeringly, and then passionately-and her arms suddenly tightened around him. When he stopped at last, she looked at him with eyes that mirrored her smile and she said: â€Å"Kiss me again, Hari. Please.† [1] All quotations from the Encyclopedia Galactica here reproduced are taken from the 116th Edition, published 1,020 FE by the Encyclopedia Galactica Publishing Co., Terminus, with permission of the publishers.)