Great Expations essays

Great Expations essays The novel, Great Expectations, presents the story of a young boy growing up and becoming a gentleman. He must learn to appreciate people for who they are, not shun them for who they arent. Nicknamed Pip, Philip Pirrip, the main character, goes through many changes in his personality, as he is influenced by various people. Pip experiences tough times as a boy and a young man, but at the end he has become a fine, morale young man. The novel starts out with Pip feeding an escapee from jail. He doesnt know this man has escaped from jail, as a matter of fact, Pip doesnt know much at all, only that he must help this man. Although the man threatens Pip, Pip still shows him kindness and brings him a file and some bread. In the beginning, Pip, an orphan, considers himself to be a common laboring boy, but he has a desire to improve his station in life. He is raised by his sister, and her husband, Joe Gargery. Then Pip meets Estella, the adopted daughter of Miss Havisham, an old lady who is bitter and eccentric. Estella taunts Pip and is very cruel to him, but he still falls in love with her. Miss Havisham is teaching Estella to hurt men, because she herself was deserted by her fianc on her wedding day. One day, Mr. Jaggers, a lawyer, reveals to Pip, that there are Great Expectations for Pip. He is given the money to become a gentleman and receive a good education; he assumes that his benefactor is Miss Havisham. In London, Pip makes many new, high-society friends. When Joe Gargery comes to visit Pip in his new way of life, Pip is ashamed of Joe, because he is a commoner. At this time, Pip is around twenty years old. Estella is still the center of his attractions. When she comes to London, he meets her, but she tries to warn Pip to stay away from her because she might hurt his feelings. She is being kind to him in the only way that she knows how. Around the same time, Pip receives a let ...

Abroad and Overseas

Abroad and Overseas Abroad and Overseas Abroad and Overseas By Maeve Maddox Lucia Waterman asks: What is the difference between abroad and overseas? When use it? As adverbs meaning out of ones own country, abroad and overseas are used interchangeably, as can be seen in these headlines and the text that follows them: Renewable energy money still going abroad, despite criticism from Congress Money from the 2009 stimulus bill to help support the renewable energy industry continues to flow overseas†¦ Lawyer Barred from Going Abroad Authorities ban a Chinese rights lawyer from traveling overseas. Overseas and abroad can also be used as adjectives, but overseas is used before a noun, while abroad always comes after the word it describes. In an increasingly global economy, overseas employment is becoming a realistic alternative for many people. Thin U.S. job market translates study abroad into work abroad Heres a headline that manages to use both overseas and abroad as adjectives to describe the same noun: Overseas Jobs Abroad, International Jobs in Caribbean Cayman Islands As adverbs, overseas and abroad are not always interchangeable. Travelers from the United States to Canada or Mexico can be said to be going abroad, but it would make little sense to say that they are going overseas. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Regarding Re:Five Spelling Rules for "Silent Final E"Phrasal Verbs and Phrasal Nouns

Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 42

Business - Essay Example The inventory at hand by this quarter is 86,400 fans that are calculated as 126% of the 2006 first quarter production levels. Due to the application of this cushion by Riordan, a viable production plan will be easily maintained without minor adjustments on the plan of 2005. Riordan requires the master production schedule (MPS) to help in the determination of the parts that will be needed weekly to meet its quarterly projected needs. The fact that this company uses a make-to-stock system makes it able to easily satisfy its customer demands without any delays in production. In case the inventory level drop to a given level, theres an automated system with a fixed order quantity method that I used to order parts. Whenever the capacity remains unremarkable, and theres a high reliability on the Riordans suppliers so that there are no significant delays in delivery, a flexible time fence is used (Soares & Vieira, 2009). At the Riordans Chinese facility, for a fan production, the material requirement plan (MRP) is usually based on the master production schedule (MPS). The MPS is used for the finished product that is the fans, and it also predicates the MRP. It is important that a well-reviewed production schedule is based on the inputs from every department so as to balance conflicting objectives, maintain inventory levels low and use resources efficiently. Soares, M., & Vieira, G. (2009). A new multi-objective optimization method for master production scheduling based on genetic algorithm. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology,

Comparative Human Resources Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Comparative Human Resources - Assignment Example After careful analysis of the associated pros and cons, based on the strength of the analysis I conducted with special emphasis on looking at it from a human resources perspective, I have decided to recommend India as suitable location. To stay competitive, keeping operating costs low makes a significant difference. Similarly when in the midst of a recessive economy, firms cut costs in order to survive the downturn. Labour costs that is a key component of the cost structure, is really low in developing nations like India, China, Philippines etc. Offshoring operations to these countries, allows these firms to reduce costs drastically for the same operations when compared to doing it at the home country. Therefore firms may contract their operations to a third party in a low cost country which is called outsourcing, or the firms may set up operations by transferring the work to their own local company that is called offshoring. Notwithstanding the differences, outsourcing and offshoring are used interchangeably often. Regardless of the benefits, the IT service industry puts the worker and the customer in direct contact so outsourcing is not devoid of some challenges. The human resources component has be to carefully assessed before embarking on this endeavour. TheIndia: A potential location Overview: Some useful facts The economy of India is the fourth largest in the world as measured by purchasing power parity (PPP), with a GDP of US $3.36 trillion. When measured in USD exchange-rate terms, it is the tenth largest in the world, with a GDP of US $691.87 billion (2004). India was the second fastest growing major economy in the world, with a GDP growth rate of 8.1% at the end of the first quarter of 2005-2006. (Source from website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_India) The Rupee is the only legal tender accepted in the India and is pegged to the US dollar and the current exchange rate hovers around INR44 to 1USD. India is the world's largest democracy and has a population of more than 1 billion. The liberalisation reforms of 1991 opened up this conservative country and its growth has been fuelled by it, making it an attractive potential to be tapped. Foreign investors were benefited by the ability to make investments in business and this has made India an appealing offshoring destination. USA is the largest foreign investor in India. A number of MNC like GE, Dell, IBM, Honeywell all have huge operations in India. Doing business in India is all not smooth sailing though, and they are risks and roadblocks to conducting business in India. India is steeped in tradition and its people are by

Convenience and Future of ATMs in my Community Essay Example for Free

Convenience and Future of ATMs in my Community Essay Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) have made our life easy and convenient in many ways. With more and more ATMs being installed from street corners to local retails, from outside the bank to shopping malls, they are hard to miss. Gone are they days when we need to stand in line inside banks waiting to be served by tellers? Transaction now processed with just the click of a few buttons. History and Development Luther George Simjian, in 1939, had the first idea to place an ATM in banks (Bellis, n. d. ). He was to place them in holes so that bank clients can make their transaction through the window. This was first tested in New Yorks First National City Bank now Citicorp but was later rejected due to the lack of demand of customers (Bellis, n. d. ). The first truly cash-dispensing machine was created by John Shepherd-Barron from De La Rue Instruments called De La Rue Automatic Cash System, or DACS (International Merchant Services, n. d. ). They were checks bought in advance from tellers and was impregnated with Carbon 14 in order for the machines to detect them (Bellis, n. d. ). It was installed and placed in Barclays bank in London (International Merchant Services, n. d. ). In 1969, the first magnetic card was introduced. It was created by Don Wetzel who was working with Docutel. He had the patent along with Tom Barnes and George Chastain. It was installed in a New York based Chemical Bank (Bellis, n. d. ). Later, Docutel developed the first truly ATM machine that we are familiar today. It was placed in the wall and outside the bank. However, the first ATMs did not directly accessed your personal account when withdrawing money from it. Instead, they were initially offered to the banks credit card holders with good credit standings (Bellis, n. d. ). They were only cash advancements from the clients credit card rather than debiting them directly from the account. It was far from what we know of today where ATMs can do almost everything an ordinary teller can do such as deposits, transfers money from checking to savings, cash advances to your credit card and takes payments. How ATMs Work ATM works by providing users and clients with a remote access with their bank accounts. These machines are connected to the bank accounts through internet connection to the banks database where it has information on the amount of money in the account (Bowen, 2000). The magnetic part of the card stores information of the user such as account number and the pass code. Once the user has entered the correct code it will verify it to the users bank and will send out verification on the transaction that has to be made. The card then dispenses the money using an electronic eye and detector to determine the bills that are sent out. The sensor detects if there are stuck or worn out bills and places them in the discard tray and issues the user the required transactions (Bowen, 2000). Once the transactions are made, they are logged in the machines journal in case the client has disputes on the transactions. Growth of the ATM The popularity of the ATM is undisputed today. The number of ATMs installed today shows its success and effectiveness on both the banks and their clients. Banks have embraced this technology because of three reasons (Islam, Sheel, Biswas, n. d. ). First, banks improve their financial, marketing and competitive positions by attracting clients and increasing their revenue by increasing their services such as loans and financial packages (Islam, et. al. , n. d. ). ATMs provided human resources with more time to process request that ATMs cannot process, thus, it increased the efficiency of tellers providing better services to their clients increasing the income of banks. Further, customers are now looking for banks with more access to ATMs for their convenience and accessibility. Second, ATMs can perform many of the tasks than tellers do and in the long run they are easier to maintain and cost considerably less than their human counterparts (Islam, et. al. , n. d. ). Installing ATMs reduces the work load of tellers. The increase in number of clients for a bank means that they would need more resources to cater to their customers. ATM machines are more efficient for they need no training and less maintenance (Islam, et. al. , n. d. ). Banks realize this cost effective way of providing service and provided more and more machines for their clients (Ferrari, Verboven, Degryse, 2007). Last, ATM machines serve as factors for marketing decisions for financial institutions (Islam, et. al. , n. d. ). Banks would first place ATMs in potential locations for establishing bank branches. They would first see if there are enough clients for them in the area before finally establishing a bank in the area. ATMs today can also provide cash advances from credit cards depending on the allowable limit of the card. Another convenience provided for the users is the added feature of ATM cards. They can now be used as a debit card similar to that of the credit card. However, users must make sure that they have enough cash in their accounts to make similar purchases with that of the credit card. Problems Facing ATMs ATMs, though beneficial for most of its users, has their flaws and problems. They are most of the times reliable but sometimes they do break down and need some maintenance. It is sometimes out of service and needs overhaul and it needs to replenish its cash contents. These are the common problems of ATM machines. First time users of the machine may also find it difficult to use them and may be complex for them. However, this can be learned easily with a few tries at the machine. Others, on the other hand, points out those ATMs dispense only a certain denomination of money. Customers are either to transact lower or higher than what they really need but seldom exactly the cash they wanted. Finally, clients are sometimes frustrated when the machine captures their cards especially if they badly need the cash and they do not have any other ATMs available to them. Personal Application In Scottsbluff, Nebraska, ATM machines are normally situated in local shops within the community. There is also one located inside my local bank that has my account. Locations where there are many people passing by also have ATM machines installed within the area. This provides convenience and accessibility for users who need cash. Further, people who have no private cars can easily access these machines and do their transactions without the going to the bank. Further, they are easier to install than constructing new bank branches. Personally, ATMs have its own advantages and disadvantages. The most beneficial would be convenience and accessibility. People do not need to do their transaction within the bank or during banking hours. They can even do it during the night or even in another state. ATMs in the shopping mall have a business value for the mall other than having people to just withdraw cash from the machine. If users withdraw money in the mall, they are likely to spend some of it in the same mall. Citizens of Scottsbluff are also most likely to spend a portion of their money in the Newsagents, chip shop, hairdressers and the two public houses. These places have ATM machines located near them. However, there are some disadvantages. Some ATMs have surcharges if you are using a machine from a different bank other than yours. People using these machines 2-3 times per week, can have surcharges that may have a sizable amount. But this is still very minimal compared to the benefits that these machines provide us. Another disadvantage of ATMs in some areas of the community is those that are located inside shops that close early. These machines would have limited access to potential users and are only available only during store hours. Finally, news of scams connected to ATM machines are becoming more common where in criminals can have access to your personal account by using a machine attached to ATMs that records your personal information as well as your account number and pin code. Conclusion The disadvantage of ATMs outweighs the advantages that it gives to its users as well as the banks that provide them. ATMs have come a long way from its beginnings. Today, it is no longer just used for simple cash dispersing but also includes a wide variety of uses including payment of bill, ATM debiting and cash advances from credit cards. Without these machines, banks would have not been as efficient as they are today and people would have not ripped the benefits of this technology. References Bellis, M. (n.d.). The history of automatic teller machines or ATM. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://Inventors.about.com/od/astartinventions/a/atm.htm Bowen, J. (2000, April 1). Howstuffworks How ATMs work. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/banking/atm3.htm Ferrari, Stijn. Verboven, Frank. Degryse, Hans. (2007, November). Investment and usage of new technologies: Evidence from a shared ATM network. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1075042 Timeline The ATM history. (n.d.). Retrieved February 6, 2009, from http://www.atm24.com/NewsSection/Industry%20News/Timeline%20-%20The%20ATM%20History.aspx. Islam, Rafiqul. Sheel, Samir Kumar. Biswas, Pallab Kumar. (n.d.). Customer satisfaction of ATM service: A case study of HSBC ATM. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=990242

Our Children :: social issues

Our Children My Testimony and Message to America and the World Hello my Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, past and now . . . It was the year 1986 and the month of June when my life was forever changed. The Kentucky Court System sentenced me to 25 years and life, which means that I will have to serve 25 years in prison before I can be considered for parole on a life sentence. I was convicted on murder and robbery charges and this was my first time coming to prison. I do accept full responsibility for my crimes. One night alone in my cell, I began to search myself and ask for mercy, and I repented in the name of Jesus Christ and became wonderfully and marvelously forgiven and saved. AMEN! Today my dream, vision, and goal is to get out of prison and travel all over the United States of America and the world. I would like to preach in the churches and speak in the youth centers and school systems to address the problem we face in this wicked world. â€Å"I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.† â€Å"He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings.† â€Å"And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God and I have peace and love in my heart today in the name of Jesus Christ.† HALLELUJAH! Praise His Holy Name! As we all know, life comes with trials and tribulations and they tend to challenge our inner strength. I am obligated to put self aside and do God’s will today in America and the World. It is not about Brother Jones and his situation, it’s about our young people. They need our love and support because we have so many young people coming to prison today and the prison system in America is not the answer for our children. They should not have to travel the same road that I have traveled and it is very important that we address and arrest this problem. Let me talk briefly about the prison system and the laws that have been legislated over the past decade or at least as long as I have been in prison doing time with Jesus Christ.

Organizational Behavior in Garment Industry Essay

In contention with the economic health of a country like Bangladesh, it’s due to the garments sector of the industrial enterprise in Bangladesh that’s keeping the country’s economy stabled and in intended direction. The garment industry of Bangladesh has been the key export division and a main source of foreign exchange for the last 25 years. At present, the country generates about $5 billion worth of products each year by exporting garment. The industry provides employment to about 3 million workers of whom 90% are women. Two non-market elements have performed a vital function in confirming the garment industry’s continual success; these elements are (a) quotas under Multi- Fibred Arrangement1 (MFA) in the North American market and (b) special market entry to European markets, Bangladesh’s industrial base, which has remained stagnant over the past two decades, is very narrow, contributing to about 11. 5 percent of the GDP (BBS, 2001). Within this narrow industrial sector, however, the ready-made garments (RMG) industry has flourished as its most dynamic sector. Five basic models have been developed on which â€Å"garments industry† organizational behavior is based. Autocratic Model: This is the most common model on which most garments factories are based. Here the managers or the leaders are firmly in control, and obedience is considered to be a virtue. All decisions come from the management and the rest just follow the instructions. Custodial Model: Here the management acts as a custodian of the welfare of its employees. They are provided money and security, and the employees in turn follow the diktats of the organization. The orientation is towards providing security, and less towards providing them an opportunity to be independent and leaders Supportive Model: As is evident from the name, here the emphasis is on support being provided by the managers to the employees. Here the employees are encouraged to improve their performance, and they are awarded recognition for their achievements. This results in an overall improvement, since a good result is praised and rewarded. Collegial Model: Here the emphasis is on partnership between all parts of an organization. Self-discipline and responsibility are encouraged and employees are encouraged to achieve the goals that they set for themselves. Teamwork is emphasized. The System Model: Managers and employees don’t see the business only rather they work together for the better product for society, environment, etc. Limitation: Bangladesh garment industry still now is not that much developed. When we prepare the report in Delta Composite they don’t even have their garments profile. We found so many difficulties in searching information. Foreign buyers English is not that much clear. There are many code names in garments industry that is very important for production process, and we have memorized those codes. In garments factory most of the employees doesn’t have any educational background they do their job only with experiences. Scope: During preparing our report we have got chances to visit many buying house, supervise many production process, & completed many sample program. This report gives a narrative overview of the delta composite knitting industries Ltd. and its operation Organizational Behavior Organizational Behavior is the study and application of knowledge about how people as individual or as groups act within organizations. Goals of organizational behavior There are some goals of organizational behavior which are as follows: Describe: The first goal is to describe, systematically how people behave under a variety of conditions. Achieving this goal allows managers to communicate about human behavior at work using a common language. Understand: A second goal is to understand any people behave as they do. The managers would be frustrated if they could talk about behavior of their employees, but not understand the reasons behind those actions. Predict: The managers would have capacity to predict which employees might be dedicated and productive or which ones might have absent, cause problem. And thus the managers could take preventive actions. Control: The final goal of OB is to control and develop some human activity at work. Since managers are held responsible for performance outcome, they are vitally interested in being able to make an impact on employee behavior, skill development, team effort, and productivity. Managers need to be able to improve results through the actions they and their employees take, and organizational behavior can aid them in their pursuit of this goal.

A Game of Thrones Chapter Twenty-three

Daenerys The Dothraki sea,† Ser Jorah Mormont said as he reined to a halt beside her on the top of the ridge. beneath them, the plain stretched out immense and empty, a vast flat expanse that reached to the distant horizon and beyond. It was a sea, Dany thought. Past here, there were no hills, no mountains, no trees nor cities nor roads, only the endless grasses, the tall blades rippling like waves when the winds blew. â€Å"It's so green,† she said. â€Å"Here and now,† Ser Jorah agreed. â€Å"You ought to see it when it blooms, all dark red flowers from horizon to horizon, like a sea of blood. Come the dry season, and the world turns the color of old bronze. And this is only hranna, child. There are a hundred kinds of grass out there, grasses as yellow as lemon and as dark as indigo, blue grasses and orange grasses and grasses like rainbows. Down in the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai, they say there are oceans of ghost grass, taller than a man on horseback with stalks as pale as milkglass. It murders all other grass and glows in the dark with the spirits of the damned. The Dothraki claim that someday ghost grass will cover the entire world, and then all life will end.† That thought gave Dany the shivers. â€Å"I don't want to talk about that now,† she said. â€Å"It's so beautiful here, I don't want to think about everything dying.† â€Å"As you will, Khaleesi,† Ser Jorah said respectfully. She heard the sound of voices and turned to look behind her. She and Mormont had outdistanced the rest of their party, and now the others were climbing the ridge below them. Her handmaid Irri and the young archers of her khas were fluid as centaurs, but Viserys still struggled with the short stirrups and the flat saddle. Her brother was miserable out here. He ought never have come. Magister Illyrio had urged him to wait in Pentos, had offered him the hospitality of his manse, but Viserys would have none of it. He would stay with Drogo until the debt had been paid, until he had the crown he had been promised. â€Å"And if he tries to cheat me, he will learn to his sorrow what it means to wake the dragon,† Viserys had vowed, laying a hand on his borrowed sword. Illyrio had blinked at that and wished him good fortune. Dany realized that she did not want to listen to any of her brother's complaints right now. The day was too perfect. The sky was a deep blue, and high above them a hunting hawk circled. The grass sea swayed and sighed with each breath of wind, the air was warm on her face, and Dany felt at peace. She would not let Viserys spoil it. â€Å"Wait here,† Dany told Ser Jorah. â€Å"Tell them all to stay. Tell them I command it.† The knight smiled. Ser Jorah was not a handsome man. He had a neck and shoulders like a bull, and coarse black hair covered his arms and chest so thickly that there was none left for his head. Yet his smiles gave Dany comfort. â€Å"You are learning to talk like a queen, Daenerys.† â€Å"Not a queen,† said Dany. â€Å"A khaleesi.† She wheeled her horse about and galloped down the ridge alone. The descent was steep and rocky, but Dany rode fearlessly, and the joy and the danger of it were a song in her heart. All her life Viserys had told her she was a princess, but not until she rode her silver had Daenerys Targaryen ever felt like one. At first it had not come easy. The khalasar had broken camp the morning after her wedding, moving east toward Vaes Dothrak, and by the third day Dany thought she was going to die. Saddle sores opened on her bottom, hideous and bloody. Her thighs were chafed raw, her hands blistered from the reins, the muscles of her legs and back so wracked with pain that she could scarcely sit. By the time dusk fell, her handmaids would need to help her down from her mount. Even the nights brought no relief. Khal Drogo ignored her when they rode, even as he had ignored her during their wedding, and spent his evenings drinking with his warriors and bloodriders, racing his prize horses, watching women dance and men die. Dany had no place in these parts of his life. She was left to sup alone, or with Ser Jorah and her brother, and afterward to cry herself to sleep. Yet every night, some time before the dawn, Drogo would come to her tent and wake her in the dark, to ride her as relentlessly as he rode his stallion. He always took her from behind, Dothraki fashion, for which Dany was grateful; that way her lord husband could not see the tears that wet her face, and she could use her pillow to muffle her cries of pain. When he was done, he would close his eyes and begin to snore softly and Dany would lie beside him, her body bruised and sore, hurting too much for sleep. Day followed day, and night followed night, until Dany knew she could not endure a moment longer. She would kill herself rather than go on, she decided one night . . . Yet when she slept that night, she dreamt the dragon dream again. Viserys was not in it this time. There was only her and the dragon. Its scales were black as night, wet and slick with blood. Her blood, Dany sensed. Its eyes were pools of molten magma, and when it opened its mouth, the flame came roaring out in a hot jet. She could hear it singing to her, She opened her arms to the fire, embraced it, let it swallow her whole, let it cleanse her and temper her and scour her clean. She could feel her flesh sear and blacken and slough away, could feel her blood boil and turn to steam, and yet there was no pain. She felt strong and new and fierce. And the next day, strangely, she did not seem to hurt quite so much. It was as if the gods had heard her and taken pity. Even her handmaids noticed the change. â€Å"Khaleesi,† Jhiqui said, â€Å"what is wrong? Are you sick?† â€Å"I was,† she answered, standing over the dragon's eggs that Illyrio had given her when she wed. She touched one, the largest of the three, running her hand lightly over the shelf. Black-and-scarlet, she thought, like the dragon in my dream. The stone felt strangely warm beneath her fingers . . . or was she still dreaming? She pulled her hand back nervously. From that hour onward, each day was easier than the one before it. Her legs grew stronger; her blisters burst and her hands grew callused; her soft thighs toughened, supple as leather. The khal had commanded the handmaid Irri to teach Dany to ride in the Dothraki fashion, but it was the filly who was her real teacher. The horse seemed to know her moods, as if they shared a single mind. With every passing day, Dany felt surer in her seat. The Dothraki were a hard and unsentimental people, and it was not their custom to name their animals, so Dany thought of her only as the silver. She had never loved anything so much. As the riding became less an ordeal, Dany began to notice the beauties of the land around her. She rode at the head of the khalasar with Drogo and his bloodriders, so she came to each country fresh and unspoiled. Behind them the great horde might tear the earth and muddy the rivers and send up clouds of choking dust, but the fields ahead of them were always green and verdant. They crossed the rolling hills of Norvos, past terraced farms and small villages where the townsfolk watched anxiously from atop white stucco walls. They forded three wide placid rivers and a fourth that was swift and narrow and treacherous, camped beside a high blue waterfall, skirted the tumbled ruins of a vast dead city where ghosts were said to moan among blackened marble columns. They raced down Valyrian roads a thousand years old and straight as a Dothraki arrow. For half a moon, they rode through the Forest of Qohor, where the leaves made a golden canopy high above them, and the trunks of the trees were as wide as city gates. There were great elk in that wood, and spotted tigers, and lemurs with silver fur and huge purple eyes, but all fled before the approach of the khalasar and Dany got no glimpse of them. By then her agony was a fading memory. She still ached after a long day's riding, yet somehow the pain had a sweetness to it now, and each morning she came willingly to her saddle, eager to know what wonders waited for her in the lands ahead. She began to find pleasure even in her nights, and if she still cried out when Drogo took her, it was not always in pain. At the bottom of the ridge, the grasses rose around her, tall and supple. Dany slowed to a trot and rode out onto the plain, losing herself in the green, blessedly alone. In the khalasar she was never alone. Khal Drogo came to her only after the sun went down, but her handmaids fed her and bathed her and slept by the door of her tent, Drogo's bloodriders and the men of her khas were never far, and her brother was an unwelcome shadow, day and night. Dany could hear him on the top of the ridge, his voice shrill with anger as he shouted at Ser Jorah. She rode on, submerging herself deeper in the Dothraki sea. The green swallowed her up. The air was rich with the scents of earth and grass, mixed with the smell of horseflesh and Dany's sweat and the oil in her hair. Dothraki smells. They seemed to belong here. Dany breathed it all in, laughing. She had a sudden urge to feel the ground beneath her, to curl her toes in that thick black soil. Swinging down from her saddle, she let the silver graze while she pulled off her high boots. Viserys came upon her as sudden as a summer storm, his horse rearing beneath him as he reined up too hard. â€Å"You dare!† he screamed at her. â€Å"You give commands to me? To me?† He vaulted off the horse, stumbling as he landed. His face was flushed as he struggled back to his feet. He grabbed her, shook her. â€Å"Have you forgotten who you are? Look at you. Look at you!† Dany did not need to look. She was barefoot, with oiled hair, wearing Dothraki riding leathers and a painted vest given her as a bride gift. She looked as though she belonged here. Viserys was soiled and stained in city silks and ringmail. He was still screaming. â€Å"You do not command the dragon. Do you understand? I am the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, I will not hear orders from some horselord's slut, do you hear me?† His hand went under her vest, his fingers digging painfully into her breast. â€Å"Do you hear me?† Dany shoved him away, hard. Viserys stared at her, his lilac eyes incredulous. She had never defied him. Never fought back. Rage twisted his features. He would hurt her now, and badly, she knew that. Crack. The whip made a sound like thunder. The coil took Viserys around the throat and yanked him backward. He went sprawling in the grass, stunned and choking. The Dothraki riders hooted at him as he struggled to free himself. The one with the whip, young Jhogo, rasped a question. Dany did not understand his words, but by then Irri was there, and Ser Jorah, and the rest of her khas. â€Å"Jhogo asks if you would have him dead, Khaleesi, † Irri said. â€Å"No,† Dany replied. â€Å"No.† Jhogo understood that. One of the others barked out a comment, and the Dothraki laughed. Irri told her, â€Å"Quaro thinks you should take an ear to teach him respect.† Her brother was on his knees, his fingers digging under the leather coils, crying incoherently, struggling for breath. The whip was tight around his windpipe. â€Å"Tell them I do not wish him harmed,† Dany said. Irri repeated her words in Dothraki. Jhogo gave a pull on the whip, yanking Viserys around like a puppet on a string. He went sprawling again, freed from the leather embrace, a thin line of blood under his chin where the whip had cut deep. â€Å"I warned him what would happen, my lady,† Ser Jorah Mormont said. â€Å"I told him to stay on the ridge, as you commanded.† â€Å"I know you did,† Dany replied, watching Viserys. He lay on the ground, sucking in air noisily, red-faced and sobbing. He was a pitiful thing. He had always been a pitiful thing. Why had she never seen that before? There was a hollow place inside her where her fear had been. â€Å"Take his horse,† Dany commanded Ser Jorah. Viserys gaped at her. He could not believe what he was hearing; nor could Dany quite believe what she was saying. Yet the words came. â€Å"Let my brother walk behind us back to the khalasar.† Among the Dothraki, the man who does not ride was no man at all, the lowest of the low, without honor or pride. â€Å"Let everyone see him as he is.† â€Å"No!† Viserys screamed. He turned to Ser Jorah, pleading in the Common Tongue with words the horsemen would not understand. â€Å"Hit her, Mormont. Hurt her. Your king commands it. Kill these Dothraki dogs and teach her.† The exile knight looked from Dany to her brother; she barefoot, with dirt between her toes and oil in her hair, he with his silks and steel. Dany could see the decision on his face. â€Å"He shall walk, Khaleesi,† he said. He took her brother's horse in hand while Dany remounted her silver. Viserys gaped at him, and sat down in the dirt. He kept his silence, but he would not move, and his eyes were full of poison as they rode away. Soon he was lost in the tall grass. When they could not see him anymore, Dany grew afraid. â€Å"Will he find his way back?† she asked Ser Jorah as they rode. â€Å"Even a man as blind as your brother should be able to follow our trail,† he replied. â€Å"He is proud. He may be too shamed to come back.† Jorah laughed. â€Å"Where else should he go? If he cannot find the khalasar, the khalasar will most surely find him. It is hard to drown in the Dothraki sea, child.† Dany saw the truth of that. The khalasar was like a city on the march, but it did not march blindly. Always scouts ranged far ahead of the main column, alert for any sign of game or prey or enemies, while outriders guarded their flanks. They missed nothing, not here, in this land, the place where they had come from. These plains were a part of them . . . and of her, now. â€Å"I hit him,† she said, wonder in her voice. Now that it was over, it seemed like some strange dream that she had dreamed. â€Å"Ser Jorah, do you think . . . he'll be so angry when he gets back . . . She shivered. â€Å"I woke the dragon, didn't I?† Ser Jorah snorted. â€Å"Can you wake the dead, girl? Your brother Rhaegar was the last dragon, and he died on the Trident. Viserys is less than the shadow of a snake.† His blunt words startled her. It seemed as though all the things she had always believed were suddenly called into question. â€Å"You . . . you swore him your sword . . . â€Å" â€Å"That I did, girl,† Ser Jorah said. â€Å"And if your brother is the shadow of a snake, what does that make his servants?† His voice was bitter. â€Å"He is still the true king. He is . . . â€Å" Jorah pulled up his horse and looked at her. â€Å"Truth now. Would you want to see Viserys sit a throne?† Dany thought about that. â€Å"He would not be a very good king, would he?† â€Å"There have been worse . . . but not many.† The knight gave his heels to his mount and started off again. Dany rode close beside him. â€Å"Still,† she said, â€Å"the common people are waiting for him. Magister Illyrio says they are sewing dragon banners and praying for Viserys to return from across the narrow sea to free them.† â€Å"The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never ends,† Ser Jorah told her. â€Å"It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones, so long as they are left in peace.† He gave a shrug. â€Å"They never are.† Dany rode along quietly for a time, working his words like a puzzle box. It went against everything that Viserys had ever told her to think that the people could care so little whether a true king or a usurper reigned over them. Yet the more she thought on Jorah's words, the more they rang of truth. â€Å"What do you pray for, Ser Jorah?† she asked him. â€Å"Home,† he said. His voice was thick with longing. â€Å"I pray for home too,† she told him, believing it. Ser Jorah laughed. â€Å"Look around you then, Khaleesi.† But it was not the plains Dany saw then. It was King's Landing and the great Red Keep that Aegon the Conqueror had built. It was Dragonstone where she had been born. In her mind's eye they burned with a thousand lights, a fire blazing in every window. In her mind's eye, all the doors were red. â€Å"My brother will never take back the Seven Kingdoms,† Dany said. She had known that for a long time, she realized. She had known it all her life. Only she had never let herself say the words, even in a whisper, but now she said them for Jorah Mormont and all the world to hear. Ser Jorah gave her a measuring look. â€Å"You think not.† â€Å"He could not lead an army even if my lord husband gave him one,† Dany said. â€Å"He has no coin and the only knight who follows him reviles him as less than a snake. The Dothraki make mock of his weakness. He will never take us home.† â€Å"Wise child.† The knight smiled. â€Å"I am no child,† she told him fiercely. Her heels pressed into the sides of her mount, rousing the silver to a gallop. Faster and faster she raced, leaving Jorah and Irri and the others far behind, the warm wind in her hair and the setting sun red on her face. By the time she reached the khalasar, it was dusk. The slaves had erected her tent by the shore of a spring-fed pool. She could hear rough voices from the woven grass palace on the hill. Soon there would be laughter, when the men of her khas told the story of what had happened in the grasses today. By the time Viserys came limping back among them, every man, woman, and child in the camp would know him for a walker. There were no secrets in the khalasar. Dany gave the silver over to the slaves for grooming and entered her tent. It was cool and dim beneath the silk. As she let the door flap close behind her, Dany saw a finger of dusty red light reach out to touch her dragon's eggs across the tent. For an instant a thousand droplets of scarlet flame swam before her eyes. She blinked, and they were gone. Stone, she told herself. They are only stone, even Illyrio said so, the dragons are all dead. She put her palm against the black egg, fingers spread gently across the curve of the shell. The stone was warm. Almost hot. â€Å"The sun,† Dany whispered. â€Å"The sun warmed them as they rode.† She commanded her handmaids to prepare her a bath. Doreah built a fire outside the tent, while Irri and Jhiqui fetched the big copper tub—another bride gift—from the packhorses and carried water from the pool. When the bath was steaming, Irri helped her into it and climbed in after her. â€Å"Have you ever seen a dragon?† she asked as Irri scrubbed her back and Jhiqui sluiced sand from her hair. She had heard that the first dragons had come from the east, from the ShadowLands beyond Asshai and the islands of the JadeSea. Perhaps some were still living there, in realms strange and wild. â€Å"Dragons are gone, Khaleesi,† Irri said. â€Å"Dead,† agreed Jhiqui. â€Å"Long and long ago.† Viserys had told her that the last Targaryen dragons had died no more than a century and a half ago, during the reign of Aegon III, who was called the Dragonbane. That did not seem so long ago to Dany. â€Å"Everywhere?† she said, disappointed. â€Å"Even in the east?† Magic had died in the west when the Doom fell on Valyria and the Lands of the Long Summer, and neither spell-forged steel nor stormsingers nor dragons could hold it back, but Dany had always heard that the east was different. It was said that manticores prowled the islands of the JadeSea, that basilisks infested the jungles of Yi Ti, that spellsingers, warlocks, and aeromancers practiced their arts openly in Asshai, while shadowbinders and bloodmages worked terrible sorceries in the black of night. Why shouldn't there be dragons too? â€Å"No dragon,† Irri said. â€Å"Brave men kill them, for dragon terrible evil beasts. It is known.† â€Å"It is known,† agreed Jhiqui. â€Å"A trader from Qarth once told me that dragons came from the moon,† blond Doreah said as she warmed a towel over the fire. Jhiqui and Irri were of an age with Dany, Dothraki girls taken as slaves when Drogo destroyed their father's khalasar. Doreah was older, almost twenty. Magister Illyrio had found her in a pleasure house in Lys. Silvery-wet hair tumbled across her eyes as Dany turned her head, curious. â€Å"The moon?† â€Å"He told me the moon was an egg, Khaleesi,† the Lysene girl said. â€Å"Once there were two moons in the sky, but one wandered too close to the sun and cracked from the heat. A thousand thousand dragons poured forth, and drank the fire of the sun. That is why dragons breathe flame. One day the other moon will kiss the sun too, and then it will crack and the dragons will return.† The two Dothraki girls giggled and laughed. â€Å"You are foolish strawhead slave,† Irri said. â€Å"Moon is no egg. Moon is god, woman wife of sun. It is known.† â€Å"It is known,† Jhiqui agreed. Dany's skin was flushed and pink when she climbed from the tub. Jhiqui laid her down to oil her body and scrape the dirt from her pores. Afterward Irri sprinkled her with spiceflower and cinnamon. While Doreah brushed her hair until it shone like spun silver, she thought about the moon, and eggs, and dragons. Her supper was a simple meal of fruit and cheese and fry bread, with a jug of honeyed wine to wash it down. â€Å"Doreah, stay and eat with me,† Dany commanded when she sent her other handmaids away. The Lysene girl had hair the color of honey, and eyes like the summer sky. She lowered those eyes when they were alone. â€Å"You honor me, Khaleesi,† she said, but it was no honor, only service. Long after the moon had risen, they sat together, talking. That night, when Khal Drogo came, Dany was waiting for him. He stood in the door of her tent and looked at her with surprise. She rose slowly and opened her sleeping silks and let them fall to the ground. â€Å"This night we must go outside, my lord,† she told him, for the Dothraki believed that all things of importance in a man's life must be done beneath the open sky. Khal Drogo followed her out into the moonlight, the bells in his hair tinkling softly. A few yards from her tent was a bed of soft grass, and it was there that Dany drew him down. When he tried to turn her over, she put a hand on his chest. â€Å"No,† she said. â€Å"This night I would look on your face.† There is no privacy in the heart of the khalasar. Dany felt the eyes on her as she undressed him, heard the soft voices as she did the things that Doreah had told her to do. It was nothing to her. Was she not khaleesi? His were the only eyes that mattered, and when she mounted him she saw something there that she had never seen before. She rode him as fiercely as ever she had ridden her silver, and when the moment of his pleasure came, Khal Drogo called out her name. They were on the far side of the Dothraki sea when Jhiqui brushed the soft swell of Dany's stomach with her fingers and said, â€Å"Khaleesi, you are with child.† â€Å"I know,† Dany told her. It was her fourteenth name day.

How to Convert Miles to Kilometers - Example Problem

How to Convert Miles to Kilometers Problem The method to convert miles to kilometers is demonstrated in this worked example problem. A mile (mi) is a unit of distance used in the United States, particularly for travel. The rest of the world uses kilometers (km). Miles To Kilometers Problem The distance between New York City, New York, and Los Angeles, California is 2445 miles. What is this distance in kilometers? Solution Start out with the conversion factor between miles and kilometers: 1 mile 1.609 km Set up the conversion so that the desired unit will be canceled out. In this case, we want kilometers to be the remaining unit.distance in km (distance in mi) x (1.609 km/1 mi)distance in km (2445) x (1.609 km/1 mi)distance in km 3934 km Answer The distance between New York City, New York, and Los Angeles, California is 3934 kilometers. Be sure to check your answer. When you convert from miles to kilometers, your answer in kilometers will be about one and a half times larger than the original value in miles. You dont need a calculator to see whether or not your answer makes sense. Just make sure its a larger value, but not so big that its twice the original number, Kilometer to Miles Conversion When you work the conversion the other way from kilometers to miles the answer in miles is a bit more than half the original value. A runner decides to run a 10k race. How many miles is it? To solve the problem, you can use the same conversion factor or you can use the conversion: 1 km 0.62 mi This is easier because the units cancel out (basically just multiply a distance in km times 0.62). distance in miles 10 km x 0.62 mi/km distance in miles 6.2 miles

Mark Twains A Letter From Santa Claus

Mark Twain's A Letter From Santa Claus In 1875, Mark Twain wrote a letter to his daughter Susie, who was 3 years old at the time, which he signed Your loving Santa Claus. You can read it in its entirety below, but first a little bit of pretext. Twain was very close to his daughter, all the way up to her untimely death at age 24 in 1896, and that year she had written her first letter to Santa Claus. Twain, being a writer, couldnt stand for his young daughter to feel like her work went unheard, so he decided to pen the following letter to My Dear Susie Clemens from The Man in the Moon himself. The story has been widely shared since in anthologies as a cute reminder of the spirit of Christmas and the love of parents for their children, who year after year don bright red suits and leave out milk and cookies to keep the magic alive. A Letter From Santa Claus by Mark Twain My Dear Susie Clemens, I have received and read all the letters which you and your little sister have written me...I can read your and your baby sisters jagged and fantastic marks without any trouble at all. But I had trouble with those letters which you dictated through your mother and the nurses, for I am a foreigner and cannot read English writing well. You will find that I made no mistakes about the things which you and the baby ordered in your own letters- I went down your chimney at midnight when you were asleep and delivered them all myselfand kissed both of you, too...But...there were...one or two small orders which I could not fill because we ran out of stock... There was a word or two in your mamas letter which...I took to be a trunk full of dolls clothes. Is that it? I will call at your kitchen door about nine oclock this morning to inquire. But I must not see anybody and I must not speak to anybody but you. When the kitchen doorbell rings, George must be blindfolded and sent to the door. You must tell George he must walk on tiptoe and not speak- otherwise he will die someday. Then you must go up to the nursery and stand on a chair or the nurses bed and put your ear to the speaking tube that leads down to the kitchen and when I whistle through it you must speak in the tube and say, Welcome, Santa Claus! Then I will ask whether it was a trunk you ordered or not. If you say it was, I shall ask you what color you want the trunk to be...and then you must tell me every single thing in detail which you want the trunk to contain. Then when I say Good-by and a merry Christmas to my little Susy Clemens, you must say Good-by, good old Santa Claus, I thank you very much. Then you must go down into the library and make George close all the doors that open into the main hall, and everybody must keep still for a little while. I will go to the moon and get those things and in a few minutes I will come down the chimney that belongs to the fireplace that is in the hall- if it is a trunk you wantbecause I couldnt get such a thing as a trunk down the nursery chimney, you know...If I should leave any snow in the hall, you must tell George to sweep it into the fireplace, for I havent time to do such things. George must not use a broom, but a rag- else he will die someday...If my boot should leave a stain on the marble, George must not holystone it away. Leave it there always in memory of my visit; and whenever you look at it or show it to anybody you must let it remind you to be a good little girl. Whenever you are naughty and someone points to that mark which your good old Santa Clauss boot made on the marble, what will you say, little sweetheart? Good-by for a few minutes, till I come down to the world and ring the kitchen doorbell. Your loving Santa ClausWhom people sometimes callThe Man in the Moon

Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Ethics - Essay Example This paper discusses the virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics together with a personal experience that explains the relationship between virtue, value, and moral concepts. The Theories and Their Approach in Addressing Ethics and Morality Virtue theory The virtue theory is one of the applicable theories in determining morality of an act. The theory bases morality on a person’s character and not on intention or possible results of his or her actions. Admirable characteristics of an individual define morality within social systems. The theory further defines character as people’s demonstrated behavioral tendencies and classifies a person’s behavior as moral if such behavior is admirable among members of the society and promotes social cohesion. Further, the behavior must foster rationality in people’s actions that need to be free from selfishness and bias. Virtue ethics also avoids extremes. It is, however, criticized for its high-level var iability across societies (Brook & Dunn, 2009). Utilitarianism Utilitarianism, however, focuses on the intent to maximize utility, and is based on beneficence doctrine. This means a promotion of what is good and voidance of all sorts of action that can cause harm to other people. In either of its forms, whether act utilitarianism or rule utilitarianism, the theory identifies a person’s motive and considers morality when an action causes more benefits that harm. Act utilitarianism measures morality in terms of results of an act of omission or commission while rule utilitarianism relies on set rules of ethics, which regulate acts for beneficence, to determine morality. Utilitarianism can also be explored from philosophical perspectives that include â€Å"welfarism, consequentialism, aggregative and maximizing† (Kanniyakonil, 2007, p. 66). Welfarism focuses on the society’s well being, consequentialism focuses on impacts of actions, and aggregative aspect compares levels of good or bad that an action elicits. These approaches apply either singularly or dependently to determine morality in an act (Kanniyakonil, 2007). Deontology Deontology is another approach to determining morality. It is based on moral rules and obligations to do right in the society and its general scope defines an act as moral when a person fulfils an obligation. It, however, disregards consequences of such actions. Failing to honor an obligation with the aim of promoting good, and even achieving the desired objective, defines immorality. There exist two types of deontology: â€Å"act deontology and rule deontology† (Kanniyakonil, 2007, p. 60). Act deontology requires that a person evaluate all factors around a situation before making a decision based on direct or implied obligations. Rule deontology, however, pre-establishes standards upon which obligations are derived (Kanniyakonil, 2007). Similarities Among the Theories The major similarity among the three concep ts is their objective of determining and consequently ensuring morality. They all establish bases for evaluation and classification of people’s advances as moral or immoral, ethical or unethical. Further, deontology and utilitarianism are similar in their mode of approach. They both apply action and rules to determine morality. Applicability of all the theories also varies from one society to another based on cultural values. Their strict application in one setup may, therefore, not correspond to application in another setup (Brook & Dunn, 2009; Kanniyakonil,

In instruction box Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

In instruction box - Essay Example It is indeed not an uncommon phenomenon to encounter businesses marketing and selling their products online either through their own portals or by relying on sites owned and managed by third parties. In the first case, the company produces and markets the product online without necessarily relying on players in the traditional distribution channel such as distributors, wholesalers, and retailers. This paper will discuss how technological advancements and the Internet have impacted product distribution in the world today. The Case of Fujian Wanhua Electron and Technology Company Limited One company that relies on the Internet to distribute its products is the Fujian Wanhua Electron and Technology Company Limited. The company is based in China and was established in 1996 (Fujian Wanhua Electron & Technology Co. Ltd., 2013). The company produces a variety of electrical and electronic appliances for home, business, office, and corporate use. Some of the products that the company manufact ures and markets include car alarm systems, cordless telephone communication systems, network management systems, and home/office wireless burglar systems (Fujian Wanhua Electron & Technology Co. Ltd., 2013). ... Advantages of Direct Online Distribution of Products There are several advantages associated with direct distribution of products using the Internet. One main advantage with this method of distribution is its association with low overhead costs according to Time (2013). What this means is that the company is able to make a bigger profit that it would with the inclusion of intermediaries. This is the case considering that the company does not share the profits it gets with the intermediaries. Furthermore, a business that does direct online distribution is guaranteed to reach a global audience (Time, 2013). For example, although Fujian Wanhua Electron and Technology Company Limited is based in China, many people know about it or at least about its products across the globe. This may not be the case with businesses that rely on the traditional method of distribution. In many cases, they end up having a market that is limited in reach and therefore a smaller capital base. Yet another adv antage of direct distribution through the Internet is that it offers customers/consumers a lot of convenience (Time, 2013). Consumers can get to shop for the products they desire at any time of the day or night and at their convenience wherever they are as long as they have access to the Internet. What this means is that the consumers are not limited to shopping by time. Since intermediaries are not involved in the transactions, the customers benefit from the direct arrangement in that they get products at prices much cheaper than they would otherwise get with the involvement of intermediaries (Gillai & Lee, 2009). Many customers tend to like the idea of dealing directly with product producers (Time, 2013). Furthermore, the customers are more likely to receive superior customer care