Unscrupulous Master of the House Essay Example for Free

Unscrupulous Master of the House Essay â€Å"Master of the House† is one of the few songs in the musicale Les Miserables that has a happy air, although I would say there is nothing happy or good-natured in the lyrics of the song. The song is sung primarily by M. Thenardier and a chorus group, with Mme. Thenardier, also known as the Thenardiess as Hugo calls her, joining her husband near the end of the song. â€Å"Master of the House† is one of the songs sung at the inn scene of the musicale in Act I. It typifies the demeanor of an unscrupulous inn-keeper who is bent on squeezing as much as he can from his clientele by posing such marketing pitch so base that even his wife deplores him. Like all other businessmen, it is understandable that Thenardier would try to entice a prospective client with lines that would highlight the best in him and his establishment. He tries to be charming, amiable, and always ready to be of service to his clients for a fee, after all, â€Å"everything has got a little price. † But his price tends to be a bit exorbitant, bordering on plain thievery. Although nothing is said in the song as to what he charges his clients for the services he offers, the list of â€Å"extras† that he charges, however, would easily outweigh the main service charge as the list could easily ran into miles for â€Å"when it comes to fixing prices, there are a lot of tricks he knows. † More than that, he practically overcharges for the wine and food that he serves his guests: watered-down wine, minced-meat posed as beef, and sausage made from horse kidney and cat liver. What he serves as porridge or clear soup to his guests, I would not even try to make a guess for sure enough it would appall us who have been born at a time when consumer protection laws are tighter than the belts on our waists. But then again, Les Miserables is set in the early 19th century, when such laws are not yet thought of as necessary. The thinking was that if one can get away with deceit, good for him as he gets a â€Å"good† bargain for his products and services; as for the poor client on discovering the deceit, better luck next time if he can’t force a refund. Thenardier was such a despicable tradesman engaging in deceitful activities in his inn that even the Thenardiess could not hold him in any esteem. Such expletives coming from the Thenardiess could only show her great contempt in being married to such a man, â€Å"hypocrite, toady and inebriate. † In a toast where glasses are asked to the raised in honor of the master, she would rather raise the glass â€Å"up the master’s arse,† or ass in American English. â€Å"Master of the House† is a very good song. It is good in terms of instrumentation, lyrics, and when interpreted properly, it can even be viewed as hilarious. But on close reading of the lyrics and the mirth presented in its interpretation we are presented with a reality that nowadays we, as consumers, are protected from this kind of a tradesman. We are lucky, that when we discover deceit committed on us, there are agencies that can help us get our money back or at least get the value of the product that we agreed to pay for. We do not have to resort to brawny resolutions of dubious transactions involving money. But to make consumer protection laws a lot more fierce and efficient, consumers should do their part: not to engage in illegal trade, intellectual property rights piracy, tax evasion and to report to proper authorities suspicious trade activities. There can never be enough an amount of legislation to protect consumer rights as long as consumers would not learn to defend and fight for his rights. After all, it would not cost us anything to be vigilant on small matters like these. I believe, personally, that it would cost us more when we are duped by the ready handshake, open palm and saucy tale of the next Thenardier that comes along our way. It may be 21st century, but Thenardier is still out there.

Role of Requirements of a Nursing Entrepreneur

Role of Requirements of a Nursing Entrepreneur Nursing Entrepreneur There are numerous careers and opportunities available in the nursing and health care field. The health care industry is expected to have one of the fastest growth rates through the next 10 years. What better time than now to proclaim a self made product or idea, especially when registered nurses have definite advantages over the general public when it comes to starting a business. This growth rate of healthcare jobs is expected to add a projected 4 million new wage and salary jobs, indicating the optimal time for nurse entrepreneurs to seek the opportunity to create and start their own business. Nursing entrepreneurship can vary widely by the type of career one would want to uphold. This can include starting a company or clinic, independent contractor, developing medical devices, computerized systems, a home health business, developing home health products, infection control, case management, telehealth nursing and can even include known careers such as a Legal Nurse Consultant or f amily/nurse practitioner. Nursing entrepreneurship is a complex career choice but can yield beneficial results concerning compensation, settings, demand, and legal implications. Requirements and Compensation The educational requirements for a nursing entrepreneur are similar to the requirements of a registered nurse. This begins with starting education for an ASN, Associate of Science in Nursing, or a BSN, Bachelor of Science in Nursing. To be an entrepreneur, it would be wise to consider taking Business classes, or better yet to consider a double major or even a minor in Business. According to Colorado State University Pueblos requirements for a minor in Business Administration, a total of 21 credit hours are needed to understand the fundamentals of accounting, economics, finance, and to understand the basics of managing a business by marketing a product or service. (CSU-P, 2013). With this, to become any type of registered nurse, one would then need to successfully pass the NCLEX-RN exam to obtain a nursing license. To start off a nursing career, one can work as an RN and begin their profession as a nurse entrepreneur from there. Starting a business requires a few more steps after becoming a nurse. To start a business, one must establish a business entity with the Secretary of States office. This requires filing a document and creating a new record with the Secretary of States office and after, the entrepreneur can register a Trade name or reserve a name. Then, one must obtain a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN), with the Internal Revenue Service in the occurrence of a corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, limited liability partnership or even sole proprietor with employees. Then, filing your business with the State of Colorado online or a CR 0100 form is the next step. This involves applying for sales tax account, wage withholding account, and/or unemployment insurance account at the Department of Revenue, Colorado Business Registration. The final step is business licensing and registration, which is not necessary for every business, but obtaining a Nurse Licensure compact may be wise. License verification can be done through NURSYS verification to verify license and to receive detailed report. The National Nurses in Business Association offers their members a free business plan template that is customized for nurses and offers unlimited help to complete the plan. The typical salary for a nursing entrepreneur can vary greatly based on the type of entrepreneurship one plans on acquiring. Typically this can be in an average range of $129,000 for a registered nurse entrepreneur job in the state of Colorado. (Simply Hired, 2014). It can vary based on the industry, company, location, and experience. Independent nurse contractors set the terms of their services and negotiate their salary for themselves. Job Description and Setting The career path of a Nursing Entrepreneur has countless possibilities. This involves the capability of promoting oneself, being able to start a business while also creating and selling a product and/or providing a service. Nurses can venture off in many different directions concerning what type of business they want to establish. To illustrate how vast the career field is for nursing entrepreneurship, lets begin with a few different career choices and their descriptions. Physicians can establish their own medical office and collaborate with other specialty physicians to provide a wider base of care providing to patient needs. Nurses can open and operate a consultancy company providing a service offering clients information, instruction, advice and even opinions based on their needs and what they seek. A healthcare risk management (HCRM) reduces the risk for financial loss and property loss by identifying a clients risk and reducing and eliminating them. A legal nurse consultant, LNC, can be hired by law firms as an independent consultant as well as an in-house staff, they combine entrepreneurship work with attorney-clients and define applicable standards of care. A legal nurse consultant reviews and interprets medical records as related to a case, research medical issues, medical diagnosis along with terms and procedures of treatments, medical examinations, prepare discovery and disclosure of documents, reviewing a case for merit, and obtaining autho ritative witnesses. These are prime examples of career paths an entrepreneur can follow, although being an entrepreneur is not limited to just these options. The work setting of any entrepreneur can take place at home or where ever the entrepreneur decides to take practice as a self-employed, independent practice including; hospitals, clinics, healthcare facilities, law firms, agencies, insurance companies and establishing business made by the entrepreneur. History and Demand The role of a nurse entrepreneur dates back to 1854 in England by Florence Nightingale who established a worldwide change in health care. She introduced the first secular nursing training. The history continues with Mary Grant Seacole and Clara Barton, who were both considered entrepreneurs of their time. Mary Grant Seacole was rejected by the Nightingale School of Nursing and governing military forces. Without help in the 1850s, she fearlessly began a hotel to house wounded soldiers on both sides of the Crimean war to recover. Clara Barton founded the American National Red Cross in 1881 and also established the Bureau of Records of Missing Army Men at her own expense. The opportunities of an entrepreneur was quickly changing and expanding through time and during the 1970s nurses began to develop businesses and consulting services. (NNBA, 2013). The demand for nurse entrepreneurs is growing, like most health care careers, as more nurses step out and begin their own businesses. Entrep reneurs are self-employed and may employ others to work with and for them, creating more jobs for more individuals. Legal Implications As a nurse entrepreneur, a standard of care needs to be followed along with identifying safety measures and pursuing a standard of policies and procedures. If the career path is in pursuit of developing a product, registering a trade name for the product is well advised. The product also needs to be safe or the entrepreneur can be held liable for use of the product by consumers if the product is deemed unsafe or defective. Warnings about the product also need to be provided. Product liability insurance protects the business from claims of damage caused by a product from the client. A nurse entrepreneur should obtain an errors-and-omission professionally liability insurance. This insurance protects a company and individuals from claims made by clients for inadequate work or negligent actions. Nursing Theory Alberta Benduras self-efficacy theory (SET) best reflects entrepreneurism. Self-efficacy is defined by the belief that one has the power to produce an proficient outcome by completing a given task or an activity related to that competency. An entrepreneur is a person who is set to accomplish a goal to own their own business and self-efficacy relates a persons perception of their own ability to reach a goal. The three factors that influence self-efficacy are environment, behaviors, and personal/cognitive factors. The environment reflects where and what type of business the entrepreneur created and what they present to the client. Behaviors from both the client and entrepreneur affect each other in the terms of effective service. A mastery of this theory is by achievement through perseverance and overcoming of obstacles by observing others succeed through a sustained effort. An entrepreneur succeeds when the business has successful growth while obtaining a clients satisfaction of servi ce. Motivation, performance, and feelings of frustration associated with repeated failures determine affect and behaviour relations (Bandura, 1986). Conclusion Nursing entrepreneurship is a special career designed for those who want to take charge of the service they provide to the public. Entrepreneurship provides the opportunity to be ones own boss while maintaining the freedom of hours and work setting. Bendura provides an excellent theory for entrepreneurs to base their business on and provides the perspective of success by maintaining self-efficacy through environment, behaviors and personal/cognitive factors. Nursing entrepreneurship is the ideal career for those who are business savvy and have a passion for providing a product or service to their expanding customer/client base. A successful nurse entrepreneur demonstrates great leadership and remarkable creativity skills while also remaining fearless enough to take risks and venture their own path. References Banduras Self-efficacy Theory. Nursing Theories. AIPPG, 12 Feb. 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. Brief History of Nurse Entrepreneurs. Nurse Entrepreneurship New Rules. National Nurses in Business Association, 23 Oct. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. . Business Administration. (n.d.). > Malik Seeme Hasan School of Business > Colorado State University-Pueblo. Retrieved March 26, 2014, from http://hsb.colostate-pueblo.edu/UndergraduatePrograms/Minors Dickinson, J. (2011). The origins and evolution of legal nurse consulting. Journal Of Legal Nurse Consulting, 22(2), 3-7. Robson, B. (2009). From emergency nurse to legal nurse consultant and independent practitioner: legal nurse consulting? What is that?. NENA Outlook, 32(2), 24-26. Simply Salary. Registered Nurse Entrepreneur Salaries in CO. Simply Hired, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. . Tag Archives: Nurse entrepreneur. Nurse Entrepreneurship New Rules. National Nurses in Business Association, Inc., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. . What is an LNC? American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC). (n.d.). What is an LNC? American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants (AALNC). Retrieved February 9, 2014, from http://www.aalnc.org/?page=whatisanlnc

How to Overcome Ethnocentrism

How to Overcome Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism is when one tends to judge other ethnic or cultural groups according to the dominant, or superior, culture in which they belong. This judgment places special concern on behavior, customs, language, and religion. To overcome ethnocentrism through communication, one must first have an open mind in order to develop cultural awareness and sensitivity to others. To even the most highly motivated individuals wanting to reduce or eliminate their ethnocentrism, this is not an easy task. Efforts must be made to increase knowledge about cultural differences and similarities in order to have a better understanding of the need for a diverse population and to help overcome any prejudices. You may need to change lifelong beliefs about yourself and your culture. Moreover, recent research suggests that people often have beliefs and biases that theyre not even consciously aware of and that may even conflict with the beliefs they think they have. (Thill and Bovà ©e, 2008, pg 75) Some ways in which to learn about other cultures would be to read foreign books, learn a foreign language, browse foreign internet sites, watch foreign movies or television, attend services from another religion, travel or study abroad, learn to appreciate cultural music, or join cultural clubs to cultivate friendships. A degree of ethnocentrism is natural when being introduced to a different culture. Fortunately these cross-cultural barriers can be overcome through exposure. In my life experiences, prejudices have simply been nothing other than fear of the unknown. Explain the eight main types of cultural differences. Provide an example of each (5 points). When communicating in a diverse world, one must recognize and accommodate cultural differences to avoid the chance of any misunderstandings. There are eight main types of cultural differences: contextual, legal and ethical, social, nonverbal signals, age, gender, religion, and ability. Any attempt at communicating, cultural context plays a role in. Cultural context is the pattern of physical cues, environmental stimuli, and implicit understanding that conveys meaning between two members of the same culture. (Thill and Bovà ©e, 2008, pg 76) There are two types of cultural context, high-context and low-context. As an example, in a high-context culture, ones position and status is valued more highly than their competence, whereas in a low-context culture, ones competence, position and status are valued equally. Cultural context also affects legal and ethical differences. In a high-context culture, verbal agreements are viewed as more important than written agreements, and in a low-context culture, a written agreement is binding, with little to no value placed on a verbal agreement. The nature of social behavior differs between cultures, and at times, quite markedly. A good example of this difference is in a high-context culture, time is often seen as more flexible, meaning late schedules or appointments are overlooked in order to maintain relationships, whereas in a low-context culture, schedules, appointments, and deadlines have rigid requirements. Being late might be seen as disrespectful, lazy, or incompetent, and normally unacceptable. Nonverbal differences could be grouped along with social differences as they are both a type of behavior, but can also differ quite markedly between cultures. Examples of these differences can include greetings such as a handshake, possible intrusion of personal space, facial expressions, eye contact or posture. The remaining four differences, I believe could be grouped together, as each one, age, gender, and ability are things that one cannot change in themselves. Even though I feel religion should be a choice, in some cultures that it not allowed. All four of these differences have the potential to bring about controversy while communicating. Some cultures give the most respect, power, and freedom to their elders, while other cultures believe that the younger generation can bring fresh ideas and creativity to the table. Some cultures allow more women to hold executive positions, while others still believe men should hold the positions of authority. While some cultures find people with impaired abilities a significant disadvantage and may not give them equal opportunities, other cultures recognize these individuals as an opportunity to help them with tasks that they find difficult or almost impossible to perform, and can possibly lead to finding new inventions in which to aid these individu als. Some cultures believe they should be allowed to express their religious beliefs in any environment, while others do not believe in openly expressing themselves so as to avoid friction between individuals. In todays economy, anyone who can make a contribution that has a positive impact on society should be allowed, but we all must learn to see past our cultural differences. List and discuss the important components of successful intercultural communications (5 points). Intercultural communication is difficult and in order to communicate successfully, there are barriers we must work through. Important components of communicating successfully are to research and study other cultures and languages, learn to respect preferences for communication styles, learn to write and speak clearly and listen carefully, and help others adapt to your culture. Learning just the basics of any culture, even common phrases, can help get you through everyday situations. There are many ways of researching and studying other cultures and their languages from reading books, to watching movies, traveling to another country, or even taking classes to learn a second language. Knowing the communication style of a culture is particularly important in effectively communicating, whether it be verbally, or nonverbal. Learning other communication style also shows that you respect their culture. Writing and speaking clearly and listening carefully are also a part of effective communication. If youre in a meeting, making a presentation, or listening to a presentation, in order to give or get appropriate and realistic feedback, you must be an effective writer, speaker, and listener. One word can have different meanings to different cultures. When helping others adapt to your culture, both can learn which forms of communicating are easier for each culture w ritten or oral. Since successful communication plays such a vital role in todays society, it is imperative that any stumbling blocks be overcome so there can be a win-win situation for everyone involved. List the seven components of writing and speaking clearly. Provide an example of each (5 points). In learning to write and speak clearly, it is recommended one follow these seven components: 1) Use simple and precise language; 2) Be brief; 3) Use transitional elements; 4) Address international correspondence properly; 5) Cite numbers and dates carefully; 6) Avoid slang, idiomatic phrases, and business jargon; and 7) Avoid humor and other references to popular culture. Listed here are samples for each component: 1) the word run, used as a verb or noun, would have over 40 distinct meanings, where the word taxi, which may differ slightly in spelling would tend to be recognized as the same meaning; 2) organize your thoughts and materials to eliminate any redundancy so your information can be conveyed in the shortest and simplest way possible, and if need be, break information into smaller sections to help readers capture your message; 3) using transitional words and phrases such as even though, furthermore, because of all this helps readers understand what they are reading; 4) be sure you correctly use all address elements for a country, e.g. (city + hyphen + postcode), and another country may use (city + state (abbrev.) + postcode); 5) a date written as 1/2/03, in one country may mean the first of February, 2003, but in another country mean the second of January, 2003; 6) such idiomatic phrases as its on the tip of my tongue should be avoided as your audience may not have any idea what you mean; and 7) what is funny to one person can be entirely different from what the next person thinks. Lets say making a joke about a popular entertainer like why was Lady Gaga carried on stage in an eggshell and dressed like a newborn. This would most likely be completely alien to your audience. So unless you are familiar with your audience, it is best to avoid humor altogether. When communicating in intercultural conversations, whether speaking or writing, remember to become familiar with their communication style and adapt accordingly, and to follow the seven components of writing and speaking clearly. On page 94 of your text, do exercise 3.1 (Intercultural Sensitivity: Recognizing Variations). Be sure to provide a rationale for your answer and use citations or references to the text or other materials to support your answer. You may find it helpful to visit your textbook Web site and go to the Featured Web Sites section for Chapter 3, then visit the Executive Planet Web site for some additional information about communicating in a business setting with specific countries. (10 points) A Canadian toy company representative, Ms. McGraw, is in a first negotiations business meeting with Mr. Morioka, a manufacturer of miniature truck wheels in Osaka, Japan. Ms. McGraw has just finished explaining her companys expectations for the design process, the materials procurement, and aggressively emphasizing their willingness to close the deal by laying their contract out on the table. Mr. Morioka is increasingly vague in his response to accept the contract by saying softly, perhaps that will be difficult, shows little interest in the negotiations, and Ms McGraw doesnt understand why. One possibility of a cultural difference that could be affecting their communication is the fact that women still dont play a prominent role in business, and woman executives who visit those countries may find that theyre not taken seriously as businesspeople. (Thill and Bovà ©e, 2008, pg 78) Age difference could also have an effect because in the Japanese business culture, elders are valued for their wisdom and experience they bring to the company. Another possibility could be in nonverbal communication such as how they are greeted or if there is a lot of direct and frequent eye contact. The Japanese traditionally prefer a slight bow of the head and eye contact can be considered aggressive. (Thill and Bovà ©e, 2008, pg 80) All aspects of Japanese life, especially business relations, are governed by strict rules of etiquette. A foreign business person who is either ignorant of, or insensitive to, Japanese customs and etiquette needlessly jeopardizes his companys prospects in this country. (Japanese Customs, Etiquette, and Culture, http://www.buyusa.gov/japan/en/customs.html)

Background Info - creating an IT system. :: Computer Science

Background Info - creating an IT system. BACKGROUND INFO --------------- Sir Alex Ferguson is the manager of Manchester United Football club. As in any football club transfers play a big part. Clubs usually contact each other to enquire about the availability of certain players and to request the transfer prices. Being Manchester United, one of the best football clubs in the world, several calls are received each day about players, since all the players are such high quality. The way the system currently works is that all calls regarding transfers are sent to Sir Alex, since all the players are his and he has to deal with the transfer request, which involves him having to contact the other clubs back with transfer prices and answers about the availability of certain players. PROBLEM Sir Alex is tired of other clubs hassling him all the time to find out about his players and feels he is wasting a lot of precious time dealing with transfers. He is especially getting annoyed because a lot of transfers are set up and then broken down. Sir Alex is looking for a way for the managers of other clubs to find out about his players without continually bothering him so he can concentrate more on things like training and tactics so that Manchester United can try and have a successful campaign. This is where I come into it. Sir Alex Ferguson and the Manchester United board have hired me to come up with a new more efficient system that would allow the managers of other clubs to find out information about the availability of his players and the transfer prices, which would allow them to make their own decisions and then they can contact the club when they feel they are certain they want a certain player. The end users are the managers of other clubs. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS So after discussions with the board and Sir Alex, I come up with a few possible solutions: Hiring new staff as representatives for the club, to talk to all the other clubs: The way this would work is Sir Alex would make notes about which players are available and give a transfer price for each player. New staff would then be hired to operate the telephones and would all possess a copy of these notes made by Sir Alex. When a club then rang to enquire about certain players they would then use the notes to inform the other club if the player they want is available and give their transfer price. If a club is totally serious about making a bud for the player the call will then be transferred to Sir

My Media Life :: Essays Papers

My Media Life When I was growing up I was always taught that television was a privilege – one that could be taken away if I neglected other important things in my life. Some of my earliest memories of my mother’s control on my television watching consist of a small basket in which we would â€Å"deposit† our TV slips each time we watched a program or a movie. Each week she would give my brother, my sister, and I slips of paper with a certain amount of â€Å"time† available for us to watch TV written on them. We had to be careful not to use them all up in the first couple days of the week or else we wouldn’t be able to watch anything else all week. I can’t remember exactly how much time she would give us, but I remember it varying depending on the season (she gave us more time in the summer) and our age (as we got older, the more time we were allowed). My mother’s ingenious idea to establish this system upon us not only controlled how much TV we watched, but also taught us some very early lessons on time management. My mother wasn’t all that strict though with this system. For example, if we were watching a program with the whole family, such as the newest episode of Home Improvement, Full House, or Rescue 911, she would let us watch for free. If we were watching educational programs then she would let us watch for free. If we were watching a family video on a Friday night, she let us watch for free. And of course, Saturday-morning cartoons were obviously free. As we got older, my mom kind of just let this system fall out of practice. We were outside enough, climbing in the pine trees in our backyard, riding bikes all over the neighborhood, or swimming in our 4.5-foot above-ground pool. She wasn’t worried about us not getting proper exercise outdoors. Television was simply a way to pass the rainy days and afternoons when it was too hot to be outside. When trying to recall some of the television programs that were a part of my childhood, I can think of many.

Money Makes the World Go Round

If used as a textbook in international political economy, the book â€Å"Money Makes the World Go Round† written by Barbara Garson is an outstanding book that illustrates the reality of how interrelated the modern economy has grown to be, and does so more concretely and evidently than textbooks can. In this book, Garson emphasizes that it is the restless flow of investment capital that distributes the gains and advantages of the free market, democracy, and the mass media to our progressively more borderless world. Simultaneously, Garson bewails the poverty and suffering visited upon the less fortunate billion individuals who bob like corks on the rising and falling economic deluge.The exposure that directs Garson to these assumptions makes for a picaresque account, meandering from the canyons of Wall Street to the oil refineries and shrimp farms of Southeast Asia, to a Maine factory town, and to then to the backwoods of Tennessee. Personally, I think that Garson’s casua l, from time to time loopy writing style might annoy certain readers. Nevertheless her voice is so determinedly good-natured and her intelligence so apparent that towards the end of this probing capitalist's Baedeker the reader can't help but trust Garson’s calm judgments.Garson’s journey started when she formulated an extraordinary strategy to discover just how †one world† we actually are. Garson had obtained a total of $34,500, as part of her cash advance for this book, invested the said amount, and then went after the money. A certain investment was placed in a privately owned small-town bank, which Garson thought would demonstrate †decent† banking ethics, free from the pressure to illustrate quarterly earnings increases.For almost the first half of the book, Garson tracks this money–or, relatively, money that may well have been hers but was in principle unfeasible to recognize as such. The day Garson deposited her money, the bank tran smitted $1 million or so to Chase Manhattan Corp., now J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM), its correspondent bank, to help fulfill a federal funds reserve condition. In doing this mission, Garson intends to work out what Chase would do with the money and trace those it consequently touched.Logically, there's no way to identify which fraction of any funds in fact belonged to Garson. Nevertheless it doesn't matter. The hypotheticals Garson turns up with are just as appealing as the verifiable facts in this book. With commendable firmness, Garson bangs on plenty of doors at Chase, and ultimately several do open. During the time of her study, the bank was distributing letters of credit and loans right and left to entrepreneurs and multinationals in Southeast Asia, and some of these Garson visit them.Thus, Garson flies to Map Ta Phut, Thailand, to observe a new oil refinery that is being in part –as Garson thinks– funded by her money. While in Thailand, she discovers a jellyfish expor ter and several shrimp farmers. Garson hypothesizes that all of them may possibly have benefited themselves of †her† money by means of Chase letters of credit.Garson's journey acted as a platform for her to investigate the effect of economic growth on the common folk. All the way through Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore she chats up everybody ranging from small-business owners and plant managers to street vendors and migrant workers. Garson came to know that a lot of the people have left ancestral villages and families behind to get a grip in the growing economy.The book's second half unfolds in the United States. Garson has likewise invested $5,000 with the Mutual Series funds created and handled, during the time, by value investor Michael Price.During that time, Mutual Series have possession of approximately 20% of Sunbeam Corp. (SOC), whose revenue were failing. Price, who had earned his status by means of forcing firms to sell off properties or else release sharehol der value, aimed at Sunbeam for a restructuring. Under criticism, the Sunbeam board set up contentious turnaround artist †Chainsaw Al† Dunlap.The book is not without a political spin and a moral force. One of the most horrible villains we come across is Dunlap, the doyen of rationalizing. Throughout his stay at Sunbeam, Dunlap almost clear-felled the firm, wiping out thousands of jobs and lives, and even losing his shareholders a huge amount of money. It was the Sunbeam’s third restructuring in a period of ten years, and as Garson remarks â€Å"How many times can you squeeze a lemon?†The author’s sketch of Dunlap is remarkable. With passion, Garson demonstrates what she considers as his pretense and hypocrisy and the line of hogwash he fed analysts and investors.Nevertheless, there is a humanism and depth here that surpasses the potshots at Dunlap. During the sequence of her reporting, Garson nearly becomes a native of Portland, Tenn., the miserable place of a Sunbeam aluminum continued to close factories, fire workers, and outsource manufacturing. Garson skillfully describes the social drama of Portland natives bearing the loss of their livelihood. Then Garson’s next stop offers a sharp dissimilarity: Next, she heads up to the factory town of Biddeford, Me., where workers at Sunbeam's ill-fated electric-blanket plant evaded a shutdown through a hard-won employee takeover.Then, Garson ultimately doubles back to catch up on all her connections. In Thailand the growth has been busted. One of Garson’s interviewees, worryingly, has vanished, another one is studying English to get ready for the next growth. And in the United States, she restores communication with her Maine and Tennessee friends. Although these people are a world apart, Garson was able to obtain universal lessons regarding the unending strain of capital and the character of the global economy.According to Garson, half the world has never made or picked up a phone call, and that's the half struck hardest by tremendous fluctuations of capital. Eventually, Garson calls for deregulating capital flows—by means of taxes on currency transactions to regulate rumors — and †bail-ins† that compel banks to take in certain losses from their own bad loans. Nevertheless, Garson said that the goodies in this global village are very unequally distributed.'Garson’s conclusion is bleak; having compelled American businesses to combine and divest and break up over the last 20 years, there are hardly any bones left for the organized shareholders to pick, and as a result they're starting to concentrate on European companies. European investment and labor laws have so far avoided much use of the strip-and-dump method; however these laws are now being revoked by governments attempting to be business-friendly. And then when Europe's firms are exposed in a period of 20 years, what then? This section of the book connects pro perly to some experts’ assumption regarding growth typically being damaging to companies.Nevertheless, aside from villains, there are heroes in the book as well: smart engineers, farmers, clever engineers, aggressive young women coming from Isarn (North Eastern Thailand) who attack their own noodle shops, impassive factory workers from small town Southern USA and Mangrove Action Network protesters beating out policies in New York City.In the middle of all these entertaining and earthly stories, Garson elucidates with absolute lucidity how the international financial markets operate, the driving force of shareholder values, the growing dis-articulation between capital and workers, productivity and profit.   With this book as a textbook in international political economy, the reader can notice that Garson is resolutely on the side of the people and she creates an image, frame by frame, of how the globalized economy have an effect on people. This is a helpful reference book be cause it puts the â€Å"real† back into the economy.The story in Garson’s book can be replicated hundreds of times in numerous nations: capital comes and goes, however labor doesn’t; currency fluctuations produce debt; permanent social changes happen without the economic stability that may possibly mitigate their damaging effects. Then the reader will start to observe one of the focal problems in this entire argument, which is the separation of the social and the economic.Another supposition in the book is that there actually is a free market in the world economy that everybody, when they have become a producer, is contending in an open and fair field. The cruel circle of currency susceptibility beforehand, certainly, distorts such a picture; yet the simple truth is that traditional protectionism is flourishing and well in the richer countries.Upon reading the book, the reader will realize that exports coming from the less economically developed nations into the European Union — let alone the U.S. — are up against the harshest limitations, in spite of agreements achieved in 1994 in the Uruguay Round of tariff discussions.   Furthermore, governmental subsidy in the developed nations combines with protectionist tariffs in maintaining an extreme inequality in access to the legendary open market of globalizing premise.In reading the book, the reader will also be able to come up with challenging thoughts regarding the present mechanism of the global economy, which is to reflect if capital mobility can indeed be a cause in establishing permanent and catastrophic social changes and whether lip service to free trade is exactly that and no more. Moreover, one could also reflect on the diverse phenomena of debt, which play a vital part in the ongoing immobilization of local economies.Meanwhile, Garson’s book also made me think about the mercurial character of mobile global capital that makes it more difficult for projects to à ¢â‚¬Å"bed down† in their wider environment; they turn out to be divided from the areas in which individuals act and select, create relationships and establish loyalties.Lastly, this book is very helpful to people who wants to study international political and for those people who are attempting to study about the world of investing. When one reads the book, one will feel that Garson takes us on her own journey to study the international economy, and during the process of Garson’s journey, we will also feel as if we have met the faces and the individuals behind the entire process. I think that Garson handles the book with a very down to earth and open-minded approach, and for the main part, doesn't draw several of her personal conclusions. Instead, Garson lets the reader come up with his/her own conclusion.This book is truly a must-read and a helpful book because finally, certain detail and information regarding investing that is more than just numbers and returns is fin ally offered to the public. Thus, this book is highly recommended for anybody who is searching where to put/invest his/her money, or is just attempting to understand and recognize how â€Å"money makes the world go around.† After reading the book, one can confidently go to the Reuters newswires and have a knowledge and comprehension of just what is behind the newest news announcements, and most importantly, what they denote in genuine terms for real individuals.Reference:Garson, Barbara. (2001).   Money Makes the World Go Round.   Viking.

‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare Essay

Shakespeare wrote ‘Macbeth’ between 1603 and 1606 for King James 1st (England) and 6th (Scotland). It’s about a tale of royalty treachery heroes and witches. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1 the public were full of tales of witches and evil. Witchcraft was a subject that the English took very seriously. They believed that a witch had a third nipple under her arm. They burned women or threw them in lakes to see if they floated, if they did, they were sentenced to death. It is estimated that in Scotland between 1564 and 1603 eight thousand suspected witches were burned to death. These executions did not cease until the end of the seventeenth century. The sight of witches in an Elizabethan theatre would have been terrifying for the audience. For my English coursework on Macbeth I have chosen to look at act one scene one, two and three. This is due to the simple fact that it is the introduction to the play and indeed it sets the feel to the whole play In Shakespeare’s play, we open during a thunderstorm; this prepares us for the evil witches. Three witches come onto the stage: ‘When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain?’ The first witch asks what the setting shall be for their next meeting, thunder, lightning and rain conditions that most people would find frightening and would stay away from. The second witch says that they will meet: ‘When the hurlyburly’s done, When the battle’s lost and won.’ We then find out that they are going to meet on ‘the heath.’ They have insight into the future. The witches tell us that they are going to meet Macbeth. We do not know who Macbeth is or why the witches are meeting him, but we think that he must be evil because he is linked with the witches. Their familiars call to them and they disappear chanting: ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair:’ This expresses the main themes in the play, the reversal of fortunes, and the fact that appearance can be deceptive. And we later see Macbeth is ‘fair’ in Duncan’s eyes but underneath he is ‘foul’, he will later betray Duncan. The opening scene is exactly thirteen lines long, thirteen is unlucky and in those times unlucky things were bad. So by this point the audience will have picked up that these are bad people. Scene two opens in a camp near the battlefield; King Duncan, Malcolm and Donalbain, his sons, and Lennox are present. They see a bleeding Captain and ask him how the battle is going. The Captain tells them how well Macbeth fights: ‘For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name-†¦ Till he unseamed him from the nave to the chops, And fixed his head upon our battlements.’ This is portraying a picture of a tall and strong man who is highly regarded by the experienced fighters in the army. Duncan then praises Macbeth by calling him ‘O valiant cousin, worthy gentleman’ This presents us with a very different view of the main character, a relative of the king’s, well brought up, a courtier, but still highly regarded. The Captain then goes on to tell us of how Macbeth and Banquo responded to a fresh attack by the Norweyan lord, Sweno: ‘†¦they Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe. Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, Or to memorise another Golgotha, I cannot tell-‘ Macbeth and Banquo had fought back twice as hard as if they meant to kill every man there or to create a new burial ground, he could not tell. This shows how good and strong Macbeth is in battle. The Captain goes and Ross and Angus arrive. They tell Duncan that ‘Bellona’s bridegroom’ had won the battle. Macbeth had won and they were painting him as a god. They also tell Duncan that the Thane of Cawdor was a traitor’, Duncan decides to reward Macbeth by giving him the Thane of Cawdor’s title. This is ironic because Macbeth will become a traitor too. We now have two opinions of Macbeth, one evil Macbeth, linked to the witches, and one good Macbeth, a noble warrior who has fought well in battle to protect his country. The third scene is set on the heath, the witches are there, and telling each other what they have been doing since they last met. The first witch wants to put a spell on a sailor whose wife refused to give her chestnuts. She is going to toss his ship about and make sure that he does not sleep. This is reflected when Macbeth can not sleep later on in the play. The third witch shouts: ‘A drum, a drum! Macbeth doth come.’ They know that it is Macbeth, this too shows the witches’ insight. A drum is significant because it is a military symbol. We now meet Macbeth and Banquo. The first words Macbeth say are: ‘So fair and foul a day I have not seen.’ This reflects the words of the witches: ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair.’ Which tells us that he is in tune with them and therefore in tune with evil. It is Macbeth who demands to hear what the witches have to say: ‘Speak, if you can: what are you?’ They acclaim him: ‘All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! All hail Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail Macbeth! That shalt be king hereafter!’ Macbeth starts and Banquo asks him why. The witches have seen his thoughts and know his ambitions, he is afraid to hear that other people know his desires. Banquo asks them what the future holds for him and the witches reply: ‘Hail! Hail! Hail! Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. Not so happy, yet much happier. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none:’ Then they disappear again into the mist. Macbeth is not happy with the information he has received and demands that they stay and tell him how he is to become Thane of Cawdor and the king. The audience will now be itching to see if the latest predictions are true: after all, the previous have all now happened. Ross and Angus arrive on the scene, they have come from the king to award Macbeth with the title of the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth doesn’t know that the Thane has been sentenced to death for betraying the king: ‘The thane of Cawdor lives. why do you dress me In borrowed robes?’ Banquo is amazed that the witches are right: ‘What, can the devil speak true?’ Macbeth thinks to himself: ‘Glamis, and thane of Cawdor: The greatest is behind.’ He thinks that they are evil and will bring about Macbeth’s downfall: ‘And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s In deepest consequence.’ Macbeth thinks about Banquo’s words and fights with his ambition and decides to let fate take its course: ‘If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me, Without my stir.’ In any screen version, ‘Macbeth on the Estate’, I expect a great warrior, respected by the king and fellow noblemen of Scotland. His best friend, Banquo is always by his side, and both dressed in armour coming from battle, with wounds. Macbeth should be about thirty-five to forty, he should be strong and masculine, as he has the strength to unseam a man: ‘†¦from the nave to the chops.’ I review now two modern interpretations of the play the first will be, ‘Macbeth on the Estate’ is set on the Ladywood Estate in Birmingham; this is the first difference between the screen version and the text. We open on a desolate estate, you can hear the wind, it is misty, dull, dark and grey. The high rise flats break the skyline. The ground is covered in mud and rubble, something used to be there but has been destroyed. A character comes on scene, he isn’t a witch, he is the Thane of Fife, Macduff. He is wearing a black tracksuit and speaks with a Jamaican accent, his words have rhythm. He tells us that what we are about to see, that Duncan is king and that he has become fat and lazy, he is no longer a good king. He tells us that there had been some problems and Duncan had told Macbeth to sort them out. The screen blacks and we see the title, when we return, we get a view from a smashed window, signifying violence. There is eerie music playing in the background, the estate is empty, abandoned. We get a clip of an alley, there are rats running around in it, this shows disease, dirt and decay. We then get a shot of a building, and a shot of another building with some children playing outside it, some men come along and they run away. The camera moves to the inside of a house, the door is kicked in and the men run into the house. The characters are introduced by freeze-frame the first man, the leader is Macbeth, he is wearing jeans and a dark jumper, this may suggest that he is evil. The other characters are introduced including Duncan, who is not at the battle. He is in a Public House; smoking and drinking, he is wearing a bright shirt, which is not buttoned, he is lazy and immoral, he is not as nice a king as Shakespeare’s Duncan. This makes Macbeth seem less evil when he kills him. The production is not about good fighting evil, it is about bad fighting worse. Shakespeare meant this as a morality play, however this is not a moral king and I feel that it makes me feel more sympathy for Macbeth when he betrays Duncan. The camera brings us back to the house, they are using pepper spray and baseball bats. The image is extremely violent. The television is switched on and Macbeth is distracted by it. The National Lottery is on, he seems drawn to it and is then disgusted by it and smashes the screen. Upstairs Malcolm and Macduff are fighting when they see the Thane of Cawdor, Malcolm jumps out the window Macduff is pushed down the stairs and they go back to tell Duncan. Macbeth comes up the stairs and gets trapped with Banquo. We go back to the Public House, where Malcolm and Macduff have just arrived Macduff keeps pushing Malcolm away. He tells Duncan of how the battle is progressing. This is the role of the Captain in the play. In the play we don’t see the battle, this shows us a more violent side to Macbeth, however it shows him as a warrior, not just a nobleman and a loving husband. We hear that Macbeth has won the battle and all the men are praising him. Duncan decides to reward Macbeth with the title the Thane of Cawdor, he sends men to kill the present Cawdor and deliver the message to Macbeth. We then have another extra scene, they drag Cawdor to a car. Three children, the witches, have just broken the window. Cawdor is shut in the car and Malcolm sets it alight. He takes his punishment and does not attempt to escape. A close up on his face shows his disclaim for the learning Malcolm I think that Macbeth would do the same, they are alike, they are both traitors. The camera then follows the black smoke upwards. The eerie music is still playing in the background. We see Macbeth and Banquo walking past a building, voices start to shout from windows and doorways. The voices get faster and come from all over the building. The camera follows the sound. Macbeth moves to go into the building, he seems drawn to it, Banquo tries to stop him but he walks in. They go up some stairs, Macbeth seems to be following something and leads Banquo under some low gaps in the wall to a room. They go in and the witches are standing there. There are candles and tarot cards in the room. They speak to him and he scorns them. The witches are not as frightening as Shakespeare’s witches are; they do not have the same effect. A car horn beeps and Banquo leaves, Macbeth lingers, again drawn to the evil, and keeps looking at them, walking backwards through the door. They walk out onto the balcony, Macduff and Ross are waiting in a car below, and they tell Macbeth that he is the new Thane of Cawdor and that the old Thane is dead. They get into the car to go to Duncan. We get a close-up of Macbeth in the car, he looks out of the window and thinks about all that has happened ‘if chance shall have me King, why chance may crown me Without my stir Ross is saying the porter’s speech; this scene is used after the murder of Duncan in the play. They reach the public house and again Macbeth is the first person to come through the door, he gives Duncan money and then starts a pretend fight with him. Duncan gives him his ring as a reward, he has a tattoo saying ‘love’ on his hand. I think that this shows that he is close to Macbeth. The scenes in the screen version are not in the same order as in the play. The actors are using Shakespearean language in a modern setting. I do not think that this works well. I think that the Macbeth on the screen reacts well with the witches, he is drawn to them. The screen version of Macbeth is not what I imagined him to be like; he is not a well-built man. Banquo is closer to my image of Macbeth. He does not seem to be in an army, whereas in the play there was a military tie with the drum. The fight seems to be a turf-war over drugs. Duncan is not as moral as Shakespeare made him, he smokes and drinks alcohol, he is not a good king. The setting is different, the scenes are not the same, and the morality aspect has changed. The screen version does not portray Macbeth as the tragic hero. He is not the Macbeth I expected to see. The second screen version I am going to look at is ‘Granada’, again I expected to see a great warrior, but now I am more curious after seeing the Macbeth on ‘Macbeth on the estate’. The ‘Granada’ version shows us an even more futuristic view of Macbeth but this time it uses actual warriors instead of vicious gangs of thugs, and they are actually fighting another country. We open on the wasteland with the witches. There are lots of bodies and old rubbish skips it looks as though there has been a battle fought here recently. We get a camera shot of the witches robbing the bodies anybody watching the scene can tell that these people are bad, evil almost as robbing the dead is frowned upon by anyone. The witches are dressed in rags and torn cloths they are grubby, they have rotten teeth and are wearing tacky plastic jewellery, They look like tramps. As they each say their lines we get a close up of each witch. ‘When shall we three meet again’ I can see a middle aged woman rushing to strip the riches of a dead body, when the witches are all finished talking to each other we see them running away from the bodies and disappearing into thin air. ‘there to meet with Macbeth’ Clutching watches in their hands. The camera then cuts a close up of Macbeth. This time Macbeth looks like I expected he looks strong, he looks like a warrior and he looks braver than the Macbeth we have seen from ‘Macbeth on the estate’. The camera cuts to scene two upon a hill in the country side with Duncan, Malcolm an Donalbain, Malcolms sons and Lennox standing talking, we are not told that is who they are but any one who has seen Macbeth before will know that this is who they are. With an explosion the Captain arrives war torn and bleeding, he staggers up the hill towards the group of man with his rifle slung over his back. His rifle is the currant issue weapon to the British Army so again it shows the modern aspect of the play. The Captain falls to the ground I front of the men, Duncan grabs hold of the Captain and shakes him. I can see that this Duncan is also more healthier than the king from ‘Macbeth on the estate’, he demands to know what is happening with the war and what about Macbeth. The Captain tells him that they have won the battle and that Macbeth has unseamed a mans body from his nave to his chops. The group all cheer at this they are all proud of their warrior Macbeth. Duncan then realises the Captain and orders someone to take a look at his wounds. Then with another explosion Angus and Ross appear they give the king the news of the Thane of Cawdor’s betrayal, king Duncan gives the order of the Thane to be killed and Macbeth to be given his title. They turn and leave down the hillside with their guns slung over their backs. The next scene begins in an original sort of way as Macbeth and Banquo riding down towards the wasteland on scramblers. This indeed is futuristic portrayal of the events, maybe the scramblers are there to represent the horses. They are now walking through the wasteland and spot the witches the viewers can now see that the witches’ predictions are true. Banquo spots them huddled around a fire and asks Macbeth what they are, Macbeth draws his gun and asks them to speak to him. They tell Macbeth his fortune and make paper crowns to symbolise the king, Macbeth is shocked by this and bites his nails, Banquo is questioning why Macbeth is worried and shocked by what the witches have to say. He then goes on to ask the witches what will become of him he seems happy. The witches then burn the crown in a nearby fire, they disappear in a star-trek like way again. Macbeth breaks out of his trance and calls for the witches to come back. I can see the power on his face he is almost annoyed that they are leaving it shows that he likes what they are saying. It’s like saying goodbye to all the things he has ever wished for. Almost as soon as the witches leave there is another gunshot as Ross and Angus arrive, Macbeth is told that he has become the thane, he still seems shaken by the witches and now he seems disturbed. He turns his back on Ross, Banquo and Angus, this is what he will go on to do later on in the play to betray all the ones he knows on his quest to be King. He has his gun pressed against his cheek, he likes the power of the gun it makes him feel power, something that he longs to have, and we can hear his thoughts ‘if chance will have me king, why chance may crown me, without my stir’ We can see instead of fighting everyone to become king he is waiting for chance to crown him, or make him king. He turns to his comrades and says ‘Till then enough – come now friends’ He calls them friends now but would he be calling them friends if he knew he was going to kill his best friend Banquo Out of the two screen versions I prefer this one it presents the Macbeth I think of when I read Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It shows good camera work to add to the effects. In this version the scenes are in the same order as the book unlike ‘Macbeth on the estate’ which muddles them around. I also think the witches are better portrayed as adults they seem more evil robbing the bodies. This Duncan is a good king I think this makes Macbeth seem even worse when he goes to kill him it shows that he is willing to kill good people to get where he wants to be. The war seems to be a proper war over land the way it would have been in Shakespeare’s time, not over drugs. This Screen version does portray Macbeth as the tragic hero I expected to see after first reading the book. Macbeth in both versions seems in a trance like state while the witches are around I think this is significant because the witches could be setting a spell on him.