Marketing Plan Project: From Bags to Riches Danette Faulkner Dr. Neil Southern Marketing

From Bags to Riches Company was founded in September 2007 in north Mississippi with the goal of creating and marketing hundreds of authentic, exclusive designer bags and jewelry. From Bags to Riches gives access to borrow hundreds of purses and jewelry as often as you like. a) Internal Environment Mission Statement: If you desire an authentic designer handbag, you will love From Bags to Riches.Imagine always having the perfect bag and necklace to match. From Bags to Riches is an internet business that makes high fashion highly affordable by borrowing designer handbags and jewelry to consumers at portion of the retail price.A key element of the internal environment is the power of fashion inspires excitement, confidence, and that â€Å"feel good† vibe every woman gets from wearing something new. We know that when a woman looks her best she feels her best. Our mission is to extend this feeling to every woman on a regular basis by offering high fashion at a highly affordable pric e. b) External Environment From Bags to Riches faces new seasonal trends in ever-changing fashion industry. We are constantly adding new designers and items to our collection so new items appear on a daily basis. We entered during a period of prosperity.A high level of demand for our merchandise is due to celebrity fashion and affordability. The fashion industry operates in a persistent stat of progression, reinvention, and renovation. New styles go out as quickly as they come in. We are regularly clearing out our closets to make room for the hottest new collections from all over the country. Since we rent designer bags through the e-commerce business, we are closely related to technological advances. We use the internet to issue low monthly memberships and no late fees. Our demographic environment would be directed towards millions of women from 16 to 60 year olds.It also includes women who shop on the internet. c) SWOT Analysis Strengths of From Bags to Riches are that they offer the most sought after designer brands at low rental prices. We are able to adapt to technological change and new fashion trends. We have global relationships with all major designers. Our main weaknesses are our financial support, knowledge in the local market and the ability to expand in our current location. The main opportunities identified are technological advancement in product ordering, diversification of products and future expansion to other markets.Our threats include current economic climate and the volume of indirect competition from other designer bags and jewelry companies. II. Marketing Objectives Marketing objectives that are attainable and realistic goals would have to be defined as increasing customer satisfaction by making every individual woman feel fashionable. We would like to use to Product Line strategy to satisfy the main desires and needs of our consumers. Our customers must maintain trust in our company. We take authenticity of our bags very seriously. We want to increase our sales by 75 percent within the next year.We can stimulate adoption by distributing free rental after the first membership purchase. The rental of designer bags and jewelry business is small but growing and I would like to minimize our competition. III. Marketing Strategies a) Target Markets Our target is in women’s fashion market. Demographics include females aging from 16 to 60. Some men maybe included because men would often join to rent nice products for their wives, daughters, and mothers. The average incomes would range from 20,000 to 100,000 per year. Psychographics would be women who spend a lot of time shopping with their family and friends.They enjoy looking nice and are tight spenders. The promotion would be directed at the end consumer or buyer as we attempt to increase customer demand. The media habit used would mainly be the internet and shopping advertisements. Women would frequently read magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar and Lucky. W omen of all ages will be able to afford expensive jewelry and purses in order to wear to weddings, banquets, proms, or to other dances. b) Positioning the Product From Rags to Riches positions its products as the number one company of designer handbags and jewelry for rent. We never carry fake, faux, or replica bags or jewelry.Our company emphasizes choice and flexibility. We strive to always be responsive to the consumer’s unique needs. Bags can be borrowed for any length of time for a week, month, or more. Our Core Product will be access to name brand purses and high-end jewelry. The Actual Product will be the rental of the purses and jewelry. The Augmented Product will be that we offer a monthly subscription fee, designer recommendation service, and unlimited supply of our products. We will communicate the marketing strategy though intermediaries such as designer agents retail stores and distributors.We will have access to customers by using our vendors. For example, someo ne that buys Gucci purses straight from the manufacturer will be able to save more money by renting a purse for our company instead of paying $400. 00 dollars on the spot for a certain purse. They will be able to exchange purses for new styles. c) Product Strategies In order to be able to meet our sales goals we must be able to give our customers what they want the must by offering different major brands. We will offer Couture bags with are runway worthy handbags and jewelry from the top designers such as Gucci and Rosiblu which cost the most within a month.The is Diva bags which are luxurious, dream bags and jewelry from Louis Vuitton and Charriol starting at ninety dollars a month. Then we offer the Princess, which is a little less costly, and it includes accessories from Burberry and Coach. Last, we offer the Trendsetter fresh, trend-forward small accessories from designers such as Dooney & Burke and Cole Haan. d) Pricing Strategies The combination of high expense and low shelf l ife makes designer apparel affordable to only a few. Our products will remain the same regardless of the amount of produced; therefore, it will be a fixed cost.We will need to estimate the demand by finding out how much of our product does our customer want and how will this change if prices go up or down? When our economy is down the consumers are more interested in lower prices. Our customers will not have to pay the high price for high quality; instead, they will be able to pay a low monthly fee for high quality. The concept of borrowing levels the playing field and allows everyone the opportunity to carry the latest styles and without the cost. The current pricing should work for fashion bags and jewelry. The price must reflect the overall company objectives.A number of factors need to be considered before prices are allocated to each of the products. For instant access to the newest styles of high-end handbags and jewelry, prices will range from $25. 95 a month for three months or $67. 95 for one year. Customers will receive the best value by purchasing the year membership by saving over 55%. e) Promotion Strategies Advertising is the most familiar and visible part of the promotion mix. Product advertising will focus on what our company has to offer. For example: high-end jewelry and purses at half the retail price.Personal selling, public relations, and direct mailing are all good strategies for From Bags to Riches, although they might not be the most effective. We can use sales promotions such as coupons, rebates, and premiums. By offering premiums will help us give something extra to our existing customers. The media must also reflect our objectives. Our position can change over time and provide a number of advantages for our product. By using the unique selling proposition, we can get our direct reason out about our product and show our consumer why it has better quality and how our product qualifies consumers’ needs.Because From Bags to Riches ’ budget is limited, we will keep the message simple, emphasizing how flexible and convenient our product is. By using advertising, we will be able to control what the message will say, when it will appear, and who is will see it. From Bags to Riches will use guerrilla marketing so that we will be able to catch them as a surprise. We can place small messages or coupons for our online store on the back of receipt for retail stores. If we were able to use public relations, it would be low in cost and give us high credibility.With the limited budget, ads in direct mail brochures will be small. Television advertising: From Bags to Riches will purchase a small amount of cable advertising. This type of advertising will be flexible and high impact. It will air on local cable shopping networks directed towards women. Television is a useful means for telling a story or for demonstration purposes. Viewers are often relaxed, which can be a negative because our message needs to be easily understood. It’s not like direct mail, newspaper, and magazine advertisements where you can look back over the information in order to clarify the message.The negative attributes of using television advertising is that it can be high in costs and quickly forgotten. Magazine advertising: From Bags to Riches will advertise in all fashion magazines with some success but this will be an expensive option. By using magazine advertising, we will have a specific target audience and have great image quality. This will show all of the new products for each season. We will also offer discount’s through the magazine subscribers. Lower television advertisements in exchange for magazine advertising can be very beneficial. This will enable us to keep the same budget, while increasing exposure.We will have to use several magazines to reach our target audience. Direct mail advertising: From Bags to Riches will use this to save on cost depending on location, how much we send, and posta ge cost. Direct mail advertising will first emphasize From Bags to Riches’ two key benefits. It will offer a lot of detail towards a certain customer so that it’s personal which is most important to effectively reaching the core target market. By using direct mail advertising, we will be able to receive feedback. Direct mail has a dependable history of generating high-quality leads for entrepreneur business. f) Distribution StrategiesChances are that we have more competitors than we even thought. Primarily From Bags to Riches products will be direct sales through the internet. Our customers will be experiential shoppers because we offer fast shopping and they will be entertained by the hunt. Sales promotion will be a positive incentive to retailers to support our product. It will be the most effective distribution channel because we will be able to sell directly to the end-user. We will be able to distribute our item by using the internet. We can place our URL address with advertisements on clothing, magazine, and shopping websites.We will also identify key promises made by our company. IV. Implementation Strategies The tasks required to implement and monitor each strategy are listed in this section for From Bags to Riches. a) Action Plan From Bags to riches will use the push strategy and have retailers offer our renting process and they can attract their customers to select our product. My company is in its introduction phase so our objective is to create awareness of and push customers to try our product. We will meet with department managers to promote our plan and mission statement. We must set up appropriate times to meet with jewelry and purse designers.Third, we must meet with managers to discuss new trends in clothing and accessories; and how to improve customer feedback. Lastly, we will schedule and promote course for organization. b) Budgets Television advertisement can run between $400. 00 to $3500. 00 depending on airtime and service station. Magazine advertisement can cost at the most $10,000. 00, which would be the most expensive based on which magazines we choose to go with. Mail orders would be relatively cheaper running between $300. 00 to $600. 00 depending on location. We will be able to generate enough money in order to use the best promotions.If these don’t work out or are too costly, we will have to change our direction and switch to something less costly. c) Timing/ Schedules We plan to exceed growth patterns with in 12 months to little over the coming year. We will typically focus on the performance of our shipment to our customers renting our jewelry and purses. We will typically focus on the mechanics of the media, mailing and promotions. Using the cost per thousand method will help to measure our cost effectiveness of our ads and compare promotions at separate publicity rates and will give us a specific cost to deliver our message to over 1,000 people.From bags to riches will continue to en vision where the company is going and where we need the company to be within the next three to five years. We are ultimately reaching for the best customer satisfaction as well generating higher sales. Our company will add three new employees every six to nine months. Office space will expand accordingly. We will have two team leaders to every manager so that manager will have the help they need. Future results for the coming year will be Gross sales: $154,000 Net profit: $12,400 V. Monitoring and Control StrategiesIn order to better serve our customers From Bags to Riches will monitor and control our product. Using the AIDA model will encourage our customers with action, desire, interest, and attention. With database marketing, we can build relationships and learn our customers’ preferences. It can also attract new customers. We need feedback and opinions from our valued customers so that we are capable of serving them to the highest quality of needs. We can evaluate our str ategy by measuring the consumer’s response to sales promotions.We will also be able to evaluate and compare sales performances by area and sales force. a) Research Using market research will help the company understand what exactly the competitors are doing that we aren’t. We can also use online research techniques that can test our customers’ reactions to product ideas, which is faster than other research. We will be able to know what special products, service or pricing offers do the customers get from my competition. By using copy testing method, we can find out if our promotional ads are working for our consumers.This will tell us whether our consumers are receiving and responding to our ads. I will be able to find out needed information to better my sales and my company. I need to ask questions such as how are other companies’ products or services similar to my product and services. The key to winning the target market is to differentiate my company by providing products, services, or solutions that my customers will find more desirable than what’s offered by my competitors. b) Trend Analysis From Bags to Riches will do a seasonal trend analysis to understand the new and upcoming styles for our customers.This will give us an insight to what exactly our customers want and enjoy. Our store image would be luxury and elegance. Our personnel should match the store’s image. At this point, we will be in our growth stage and we will need new and improved advertising to make us stick out from our competition. c) Marketing Audit A Marketing audit will be done annually. This will be helpful for our company and our customers. This can help fix problems we have internally and problems that are outside of the company’s authority. We can reinforce our mission statement and maybe enable us to offer new products.

Importance Of Oil And How It Has Changed World Politics Essay

In the modern civilization, oil has great significance.   However, many people do not consider oil to be of great significance because they only associate it with the diesel or the petrol that they use for transport purposes. According to Yergin (Yergin, p 17), the world is addicted to oil. Due to the oil’s important role in all countries all over the world especially in the industrialized nations, there is need for countries to give attention to the international oil industry. The Middle East plays a major role in world politics in relation to oil. Majority of the world oil reserves are found in the Middle East and according to the British Petroleum company data, the Gulf oil reserves in 2005 accounted for 62 per cent .Of the world total oil reserves of 1,200bn barrels, Gulf reserves accounted for 743bn barrels. In this paper, the importance of oil will be discussed and an evaluation on how oil has changed the world politics will be given. Discussion Importance of oil One of the most important roles of oil is its contribution to the global economic development.   One of the ways through which oil leads to economic development is its use in providing energy for various forms of transport such as planes, vehicles and trains. The modern civilization is built on oil.   In almost all countries all over the world, the transport system accounts for more than 50 per cent of oil consumption. The transport sector due to its high dependence on oil is estimated to contribute to the world’s 90 per cent increase in carbon emissions in EU by 2010. Development and technological advancement increases the demand for oil in the transport sector.   According to Chomat (Chomat, p 10) depends heavily in oil. Engdahl (Engdahl, p 23) asserts that in Europe and the United States, oil and oil-derived products in the transport industry account for about one third of the total amount of energy consumed in the world.   In India, China, and other developing nations in Asia, the economic prosperity and technological advancement has led to an increase in demand for oil in the transport sector as more trains, vehicles, and planes are being produced.   In America, the enormous fleet of vehicles, trains, and planes depend on oil for 97 per cent for fuel.   For countries that have oil reserves, oil that is used in the transport industry is much cheaper. Research conducted on the members of the organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) indicated that the transport sector accounts for an increase in demand for oil.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Due to the high demand for oil, world oil prices keep on increasing, making bio-fuel, solar energy and nuclear energy to become   alternative sources of energy. Apart from being used as fuel in the transport sector, oil provides energy in the operation of machines in the industries, factories, and production plants. Kenneth (Kenneth, p 36) asserts that in the industrial and domestic buildings, oil is used for heating hence making oil one of the most commonly used products at home and in industries. In the industrial sector, natural gas produced from oil has become a primary energy source.   This sector has maintained the lead in the consumption of natural gas and it is estimated that by 2030, the industrial sector will account for 43 per cent of the projected use of natural gas. The gas has become an attractive choice for the power generating plants due to its low carbon dioxide intensity as well as its relative fuel efficiency.   It is projected that by 2030, 35 per cent of world’s consumption of natural gas will be accounted for by the electricity generation plants. The developing countries consume half of the world’s production of kerosene which is used for lighting and for cooking. In the developed nations such as the United States and the European nations, kerosene is used as jet fuel. Industries and factories that produce plastics and paints use oil as a raw material.   Industries in the modern economies rely heavily on oil to produce commodities and natural gas which is produced from oil fields is a major raw material in fertilizer production.   Examples of nations that produce fertilizers from natural gas are Saudi Arabia which is currently one of the world’s largest oil producers. Yergin (Yergin, p 12) asserts that oil is very important in the production of food all over the world because it supports agricultural production activities. Oil that is derived from petroleum is used for heating, powering the combustion engines, and lighting.   When it comes to heating purposes, the high boiling point of the oil is good for cooling systems and the non-polarity quality of oil makes it very significant for lubrication for various engineering purposes. This is one reason why oil is very important in industries where machines are used for production.   The high demand for paints has been increasing over the years as modernization result to construction of buildings in urban and rural areas.   Since the 15th century, oil has been used in paint production because color pigments in paints can be suspended in oil.     Ã‚  As industries grow while others are newly established, demand for oil will continue to increase. How oil has changed world politics The use of oil in all aspects of life in the modern civilization demands that countries have easy access to the resource.   In addition, accessing oil at a cheaper price has become a critical factor for countries.   The desire by nations to attain economic prosperity and financial independence influences the diplomatic and economic relations between nations. A good example of how oil has shaped the world politics is the relationship between the West and Middle East.   Currently, Middle East region accounts for the largest world oil production. Saudi Arabia which exports oil has established diplomatic ties with the US and European nations. This influences the political relations between the nations.   Before oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia, Britain had political influence in the region.   When the kingdom of Saudi Arabia was established, King Abdul Aziz efforts to give concession to either a Britain or American companies to drill oil has changed the political relations between the West and Middle East. The American Standard Oil of California which won the concession made America have control over rich oil fields in the Kingdom at the disadvantage of the British who were competing with America for concession. Aaron (Aaron, p 21) states that since then, the political relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia have been good. The great economic benefits that oil brought to Saudi Arabia led to good diplomatic relations between the kingdom and the United States.   Although the US had earlier shown little interest in Middle East political matters due to its isolationist policies, its relations with Saudi Arabia has made the US to be greatly involved in political matters in the region. Saudi Arabia has become an ally of the United States as it pursues its political interest in Middle East. For example, due to the diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States since the 1930s, Saudi Arabia supported the Allies during the World War I.   King Abdulaziz who is the founder of the Kingdom during the war allowed the United States aircraft to fly over the Kingdom’s territory.  Ã‚  Ã‚   This was vital for the US and allied nations. In addition, the good relations between America and Saudi Arabia assisted the US to deploy its troops during the cold war.   The US through its troops in Saudi Arabia helped it to contain the Soviet Union and eventually, the United States managed to gain political influence in the Gulf region at the expense of Britain.   The Saudi oil reserves have for a long time given America security in relation to oil. This has enabled the US maintain its political influence as a superpower. Through the diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and the United States, America has managed to influence the political agenda of nations such as Russia.   Just like the United States, Saudi Arabia does not support communism that is promoted by the Soviet Union. For nations to achieve economic prosperity, oil is a very critical commodity. Matthew (Matthew, p 52) states that competition for economic and political power between nations has resulted to competition for oil.   For the nations, the security of oil supplies has become an issue of concern which has in turn made the major oil producing countries which are members to the OPEC play a critical role in the security of oil supplies. It is estimated that 40 percent of oil demand in the world is met by oil supplies from OPEC countries because the countries account for 75 percent of world oil reserves.   This has compelled oil exporting nations to develop good relations with the oil producing countries.   The need to ensure that in future a country will have security of oil supplies has made countries to compete for the available oil resources. This has led to political conflicts as nations compete for the oil reserves. Furthermore, the oil trade has become an important issue in world politics.   The efforts to take control of the oil trade have influenced the development of policies which have had influence on the political issues. As nations quest for oil, the political interests of the countries which export oil aim at obtaining adequate and cheap oil. The World War II had a great impact on political relations between nations that belonged to the Allies and the Axis alliances. The war encouraged diplomatic relations between nations while it increased hostility between others. According to Miller (Miller, p, 13), the Allied forces during the war recognized the importance of oil in the war hence it tried to drain the Axis oil reserves. The Oil Campaign of World War II had Allied forces bomb the oil facilities that supplied the Nazi Germany with oil. The Allies and the Axis got involved into a military conflict due to differences in political ideology and need to have power. One of the factors that currently guarantee a nation’s of its power over other nations is oil security. To maintain power and oil security, the Allied nations formed the United Nations which up to date allows the nations to promote the achievement of their political agenda. The relations between United States, Europe and Central Asian nations which have oil reserves have influenced politics in these nations. For instance, one of the Central Asian nations that have oil reserves that the US is interested is Kazakhastan.The oil politics in Central Asia (Oil Politics in Central Asia, 2009) indicate that for the US to access Kazakhstan’s oil through pipeline, the pipeline would need to go through Afghanistan. This is considered to be the reason why the US is determined to end the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The US â€Å"War on Terror† promotes the US war in Afghanistan which has triggered political debates and shaped political relations all over world .Another issue that Wright (Wright, p 18) points out about the US political interest in Middle East is that the US invasion in Iraq was influenced by America’s quest for oil. Various national oil companies compete for the strategic oil resources.   For example, development in Asian nations such as Japan and China has made the competition for the oil between oil companies to be stiff. The companies have been experiencing increased competition for oil in Eurasia and Middle East .In the past, the Chinese Sinopec and ENPC, India’s IOC and Russia’s Lukiol have been competing for oil resources in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.   The oil deals made between the national oil companies and oil producing countries has encouraged good diplomatic relations between nations. Consequently, this makes the nations promote political agenda that does not affect the business deals. The need to benefit from the oil industry has encouraged trade alliances and agreements between nations.   By forming investment alliances, national oil companies from different nations can end political hostility between nations. On the other hand, political hostility between nations can result from the reluctance of nations to get engaged in oil trade deals.   For example, Russian oil companies in the past have been reluctant to establish alliances with Chinese and Western nations’ oil companies. This reluctance has continued play a role in the political relation between Russia and the nations it considers to be a threat.   Roger (Roger, p 52) confirms that when nations establish trade deals that aim at ensuring that a country has access to adequate oil, good relations makes the countries offer each other political support when the need to do so arises.   Due to the benefits the country derive from each other, the countries tend to support similar political interests.   For instance, a nation offers its political support to another country to guard itself from economic loss if the country it depends on for oil has its oil reserves affected. The Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) for example has its member countries protect each others’ political agenda as long as it is for the good interest of the organization.   The mission of this intergovernmental organization is to ensure stability of oil markets, unify the member countries petroleum policies and ensuring regular supply of petroleum in the market. In addition, the organization commitment to ensure that those who invest in the petroleum industry get   financial returns and that oil producers get a steady income has made it necessary for its members to support political agenda that benefits the member states.   The member states which include United Arab Emirates, Ecuador, Algeria, Angola, Libya, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, Nigeria and Iran through oil have managed influence global oil prices.   The internal politics of these nations affect the OPEC production quotas which in turn influence political interests of other nations which export oil.

Beggar's Opera Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Beggar's Opera - Essay Example John Gay paved the way for a new theatre genre with the creation of Beggar’s opera that still exist today. The beggar’s opera is a three act ballad opera, a new form created by John Gay, an eighteenth century poet and dramatist. He has got the idea of the beggars’ opera from Jonathan Swift. Ballad Opera is a satire genre performed by actors, not by singers, in which dialogue alternates with song. The opera contains 69 songs. The opera begins with the introduction by a beggar. Hence the name ‘Beggar’s opera’. The later eighteenth century Britain was a place of corruption and turmoil .The authorities also turned a blind eye towards the corruptions. The era was termed as a century of ‘transition’ and of many ‘contradictions and complexities’. There were rigid ‘class distinction’ and the ‘low life was considered as a fit subject for comedy’. According to M Dorothy George â€Å"the dominating impression of life in eighteenth century London is one of uncertainty and insecurity† .She points out that Beggar’s Opera was an accurate picture of the manners of the time. The period of Charles 11 brought about changes to the politics and also livens up the dead theaters. The writers who could enjoy the audience with satire and pathos made their chance with the circumstances. The depiction of the current society with the criminal characters was supported whole heartedly and the play broke all the time record of theatre performance. Thro ugh the beggar characters and suitable plots, John gay had drawn the existing society of corrupted politics and degenerated, valueless life of the people, with ease and filled with satire. The typical eighteenth century English life was depicted with supreme care, even in the theme, characterization and dialogue. The writer skillfully pictured the chance of the values that prevailed in the current society. The England at the time of Sir Robert Walpole ( the first prime minister of

Critical evaluation of two luxury brand stores Essay

Critical evaluation of two luxury brand stores - Essay Example Such kinds of people have high purchasing power and hence they go for such kinds of products. When one buys something of luxury brand one can genuinely feel the difference. Luxury brands grow and expand even when the economy goes down. People spend thousands of dollars to buy such kind of products. In this paper two luxury brands Hermes and Chanel will be considered. Hermes is a French manufacturer of luxury goods with its headquartered in Paris, France. Similarly Chanel is also a high fashion house headquartered in Paris, France. The each has their own touch points across the world where they reflect their individuality with the customers. Such brands need to take care of their marketing strategy in such a way that their brand value does not get affected. Discussion In this section of the essay, the detailed discussion about each of the two chosen brands will be conducted. The discussion of each brand includes overview and analysis of the brand; and brand message and communication a cross brand touch points. In overview and analysis of the brand the key focus will be on brand position and heritage, and brand DNA. In brand message and communication, the key focus will be on the concept stores and other communication tools. Analysis of the two brands in above mentioned perspectives has been conducted separately for each of the two brands below. Hermes International Figure 1: Logo of Hermes International It was founded by Thierry Hermes in 1837. ... Hermes International S.A. has around 304 exclusive stores including 180 branches, 21 retail outlets and 124 concessionaries (Tran, 2012, p. 3). It employees only 9081 persons, but their revenues keeps increasing rapidly in many years. Their revenue in 2011 was 2,841 million euros. The prices of their products are sky high but still their sales keeps on increasing every year. For example on an average Hermes handbag cost $ 3000 -$ 5000, but people still prefer to buy them (Hermes, 2013, p. 1). Hermes targets teenagers and young adults who love fashion. Their customer wants high quality merchandise with good features and wonderful after sale service. Their customers earn high incomes and do not bother about how expensive the prices are. They basically look for limited edition leather watches. Such customers want to own something which other common people can’t afford to buy. United States is an important market for Hermes. They target high income customers who are mostly males. Hence they focus more on male accessories than female counterparts (Ritson, 2010, p. 1). Likewise their target customers are different across different countries, depending on the demography of the economy. Like Hermes is now trying to target the Mainland China. According to a study in China, male consumer s purchase more luxury products online as compared to female counterparts. So there also they sell the male accessories. Figure 2: Hermes International Store in London Hermes basically gives two powerful messages thorough their stores. One is the craftsmanship displayed by their artisans in creating their products. Another message is the quality and commitment to service delivery which is displayed by the service received by the customers who visits

Aspectual evaluation of IS in use Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Aspectual evaluation of IS in use - Essay Example This flash will be linked to several internet website e.g. YouTube for the users to have a video watch on how basketball is played. This also will save the user some money since it does not need to be bought. Champion basketball flash evaluation There are several users in the family who are subject to use the champion basketball flash and whom must be considered in the family. Unlike me being a professional basket baller, my wife is not a basketball fan; my oldest daughter loves games but plays tennis. However if may appear erroneous since my last born is a basket baller but is not a fan, consequently my second born son does not play basketball but is a good basketball fan. Physical aspect This is the relation to feelings of the user on this champion basketball flash which can be manipulated from one screen to another. A good example is when the user will feel happy and delighted by the presence of star players like tiger woods who is the best Basketball international player. This wi ll also bring excitement to the user especially when the team of stars are playing the game. These moments will make the user happy and make the champion basketball flash to be exciting. ... The main presentation is linked to the major and attractive sites visited in the internet to give the user the best videos and pictorials for the related game. This videos and games raise the user’s level of enjoyment, this games and videos in the internet are always updated and the user will have an access of the current sports only. Eventually some of this graphics are funny picture of the players that they like most and this makes the users happy and excited to use the champion basketball flashy. Consequently, this makes the young users to gain more interest in this game and hence helps the user to understand more about the game. Quantative aspect The user will not be able to see all the presentation in the same day as this is more than what human can take. This is as a result of videos and images which keep on updating and changing on a daily basis. In this context, the users will have to keep on revisiting the presentation to find what is new in the game. The navigation b etween screens on Basketball playing and its relations to different players, fields and different countries is more complex and this will take time to cover. World records keep on being broken and this will make the presentation change on the player’s information part leading to an update of a new record with a new player. This wills make the users to revisit a certain careen when a new record is set. Also my daughter like watching something twice for a deep understanding and this will make her revisit the screens and this will consume time, my sons well likes watching videos and thus videos watching will consume a lot of time in order for one to have a good understanding. Moral aspect In any application developed, on has to consider its ethical implications and values. In this

The U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Arizona immigration law Research Paper

The U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Arizona immigration law - Research Paper Example Governors across the state and lawmakers introduced many immigration bills. The law required non-citizens to carry authorization papers which gave Arizonans to sue state and localities for non compliance. The Arizona law specifically drew the greatest national attention due to its racial profiling2. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court released an order that invalidated most sections of the Arizona immigration law. It was declared a success for Obama administration, a challenge for the constitutionality of the law. A number of issues were considered invalid and unconstitutional3. The congress specified the type of aliens to be evicted from the United States following laid down procedures. A brief by former commissioner of the United States immigration and naturalization services covers some aspects concerning alien eviction. According to him, aliens are subject to eviction if they could not be admitted at the time of entry or have had committed certain crimes. Eviction is civil and not criminal. The officials of the federal government have a voice on what credits an eviction. Aliens too have the right to seek asylum and other permit to remain in the country or leave without official eviction. Alien workers supporting their families are les likely to pose threat and are allowed to stay on humanitarian grounds. Returning an alien back to his country is also considered inappropriate regardless of whether they have committed crimes or have not met the admission requirements4. Unlike the Arizona law on field preemption, the federal law provides guidelines for alien registration and punishment for refusal. The aliens within the state borders are kept on track by a comprehensive and strong system. The Arizona law ignored the basic rules of field preemption that nations are banned from entering an area preserved by the federal government itself. Also,

Clausewitz, Jomini, WWII and Operation Overlord Essay

Clausewitz, Jomini, WWII and Operation Overlord - Essay Example The paper tells that Jomini served in the Russian and French armies in the 19th century during the Napoleonic wars. He contributed largely on the terms used in modern U.S theory and doctrine. Jomini believed that war was a science and with careful study on rules one could discover its conduct. According to Jomini he depicted strategy as art of war upon the map, which comprehended the entire theater of war. â€Å"The main tactic being posting troops in accordance with the accidents of the ground, of placing them into battle, and art of fighting upon the ground, in contradiction to planning upon a map†. Jomini further stated that a defensive war had its advantages when wisely conducted. He depicted passive defense as being pernicious and the active on the other side accomplishing greater success. Jomini’s principle on political war was that the cause of defensive war is to protect the countryside that was being threatened by the enemy, and all operations to be designed to retard his enemy’s progress. This is to be achieved by increasing difficulties and obstacles in the enemy’s way, however taking care not to compromise one’s own army. The idea behind it was that for one to invade, he does so with intention of superiority. The defense on the other hand desires delay till the adversary is weakened by fatigues, marches and sending off detachments to his progress. These ideas by Jomini are important as they are the only ones that were worth considering when it comes to modern war, especially the strategy of exhaustion used to eventually strangle the Confederacy. (Archer 130). Williams in his book Lincoln and his Generals found that most of Jomini’s ideas were seen as misleading and isolated, in many cases would lead to high casualties, uncertain battles, and a war that drug on for so long (Williams 204). Clausewitz ideas on war According to Clausewitz war was a tragic and complex enterprise, always threatening to break away from human control (Archer 126). Bartholomees in his article states that much of what Clausewitz purported was either ordinary or 19th century specific with an exception of three ideas (Bartholomeees 21). First his encouragement of seeking battle. In his book he states that â€Å"†¦ pursuit makes up the second act of the victory and in most cases is more important than the first† (Clausewitz 267). According to his view, he sees war as a nonlinear phenomenon that is naturally unpredictable through analytical means (Bayerchen 86). The second idea that Clausewitz gave was attacking the enemy’s centre of gravity. This was to be achieved by attacking the enemy’s army then followed by seizing his capital and attacking his alliances. The final idea is the â€Å"how to†, which is a concept of the culminating point. Clausewitz defines culminating point as strategic attacks that lead to the point where the remaining potency is just enough to sustain a cover an d wait for peace. Past that point then tables turn and the reaction follows with force that is usually a lot stronger compared to the original attack (Clausewitz 82). Difference between the two theorists There are a lot of differences between the two theorists and their ideas but with only one that can be considered over the others. Their difference mostly came in because: Clausewitz theories mainly dealt with how to win the war unlike Jomini’s which emphasized on teaching the leaders how to fight their battles. Conclusion Jomini’

Sexual Offenders and Predators Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sexual Offenders and Predators - Term Paper Example This paper will provide statistical information in the hope to empirically determine whether reporting requirements influence the recidivating behavior of a convicted sex offender or predator. Specifically, this paper will study recidivism rates among registered sex offenders after release from incarceration or from any forms of legal punishment in two different states: 1.) State of California, which last amended registration and notification requirements in 2002; 2.) State of Alaska, which appended new reporting requirements in 2009. The rape and murder of seven year old Megan Kanka by a two-time convicted sex offender Jesse Timmendequas in 1994 spawned the Megan’s Law in 1996. Though Megan’s Law varies from state to state, it only has one general goal anyway: to notify communities when a sex offender resides within their location and to provide them necessary information about the offender (Larson, 2003). Like Megan’s Law, Wetterling Crimes against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act (named after Jacob Wetterling who was murdered when he was eleven) also requires sex offenders to register. The Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act assisted the effort of creating a national database to track down sexual offenders (â€Å"Megan’s Law, registered,† n.d.). Now, the information can be accessed among states. Though registration and notification laws do not serve as a further castigation, they were never offender-friendly. Lawmakers go to argue that the personal interests and privacy of the sex offenders are just the least of the government’s concern compared to the general safety (â€Å"Megan’s Law, registered,† n.d.). Furthermore, information withheld and disclosed is up to the good judgment of the state government (Klaas, 2008). There are only two major ends to these laws: to deter sex offenders to re-offend and to promote public safety. Offenders

Human ResourcesTraining and Development #2 Essay

Human ResourcesTraining and Development #2 - Essay Example SWOT Analysis is an effective tool in identifying the internal strengths and weaknesses and the external opportunities and threats. It helps to develop a plan of action to concentrate on weaknesses and threats and get maximum advantage from the strengths and opportunities it has. The strengths of Abbott Labs are: its great history of innovation, its wide range of products, the great respect it commands in market ratings, and finally its expanding geographical reach opening up new opportunities. These are certainly its strengths to build on. Its overdependence on the anti-bacterial Biaxin and the anti-epileptic Depakote is could be a major weakness for Abbott. Both these products contribute substantially to the company revenues and profits. The challenge for Abbott is to minimize the decline of sale of these two. Abbott has been doing it bests in exploring new opportunities and keeping its position of strength. The new agreements and acquisitions it has had with Knoll Pharmaceuticals, Vysis Inc, and Biocompatible will help expand its product range and its pipeline. The company signed a The price regulation of prescription drugs in various markets by peers and government agencies, strong competition from generic manufacturers, and the expiring patent protection are the major threats Abbott is facing. "Abbott Laboratories' 'Position of Strength'

Learning Framework Essay Example for Free

Learning Framework Essay 1. I want my family to be proud of me. 2. I want to earn my degree in Network Management. 3. I want my children to be encouraged to stay in school and not quit. The reason I choose the three I did was because I have always felt like I could never do right in my family’s book. I am an unwed mother of five children and I have been ridiculed for that. I have always failed where my family is concerned. I figure going to school and making me better would help to fix that. I choose my degree in Network Management because I love computers and I am very good with them. I have a desktop that I built from the ground up and that is what also helped me decide this degree. When it comes to my children, I do not want them to quit school at a young age like I did and the years later figure out that they cannot get a job without a High School Diploma or a GED. I want them to get their careers out of the way before they have children so that they can have a secure future and not be struggling like I have for years. College for me is not only for me, but my children also. I want them to know that if I can do it, they can do it. I always tell them you can be whatever you decide to be in life. Having an education plays a major role in that I believe.

Chapter two homework

Chapter two homework Chapter Two Homework 1. What are some typical technical goals for organizations today? Scalability, availability, Performance, Security, Usability, manageability, adaptability, affordability. 2. What does availability mean? Its can be expressed as a percent uptime per year, month, week, day, or hour compared to the total time in that period. It does also be expressed as a mean time between failure (MTBF) and mean time to repair (MTTR). 3. If a network is up for 835 hours in five weeks, what is the availability? In the week = 24 x 7 = 168 hour in one week So, 168 x 5 = 840 hour So the availability is 835 / 840 = 0.994 x 100 = 99.4 % 4. Using the five nines availability, what is the down time in second per four weeks? One weeks in second = 60 x 60 x 24 x 7 = 604800 second 4 Weeks = 604800 x 4 = 2419200 second Availability = 1 0.99999 = 0.000001 second So the downtime is 0.000001 * 2419200 = 24.192 second. 5. What does the term hot-swapping means, and what the reasons for using it? 6. A customer requires 99.999% availability, how would you carry out maintenance for such a network? Assume that hot-swapping is not possible 7. What are the typical bit error rate BER of a fiber link copper link? 8. If a load is 115kbps where a packet switch needs to transmit it over an ISDN circuit (128kbps), what is the utilization? How many packets in the queue? Utilization = 115/128 = 0.898% Average number of packets in queue = (0.898) / 1-0.898) = 8,804 Packets 9. How do bandwidth and throughput differ? Bandwidth: is a data carrying capacity of a circuit, usually specified in bits per second Throughput is the quantity of error free data transmitted per unit of time, usually specified in packets per second 10. How can one improve network efficiency? More the packet is larger more the efficiency of the network will be. 11. What are the security threats if a network device is compromised? Data flowing through the network can be intercepted, analyzed, altered, or deleted, compromising integrity and confidentiality. Additional, related network services, which rely on trust among network devices, can be compromised. For example, bad routing data or incorrect authentication information could be injected into the network. User passwords can be compromised and used for further intrusions and perhaps to reach out and attack other networks. The configuration of the device can be altered to allow connections that shouldnt be allowed or to disallow connections that should be allowed. 12. What tradeoffs may be necessary in order to improve network efficiency? Implementing good throughput for one application might cause delay problems for another application. The cause of the efficiency of the (network) throughput is the packet size, so if one application have large packet size to make it efficiency the other packet for another application may dont have capacity on the network. 13. Redundancy is not one of the network goals, what is meant by redundancy? Explain to what network goal is related and why? Redundancy means adding duplicate links or devices to a network to avoid downtime. Redundancy is linked to Availability, but redundancy is not a network goal, but redundant network topologies are becoming more and more significant for many networks design client who want to make certain business continuity after a major fault or disaster.

A Comparison of Contemporary American Notions of Happiness to the Epicu

People who are viewed as happy in our culture today are also seen as being rich, having a loving family, and a great occupation. Our society is attracted to material things, rather than spiritual ones. Can a person who does not have many possessions and an elevated social position still live a happy life? Epicurus believed that each one of us could achieve true happiness, and our only problem is that we stubbornly search for it in all the wrong places. Epicurus states that we only need three things to be happy besides the essentials needed for survival: friends, freedom, and an analyzed life. I will be comparing contemporary American notions of happiness to the Epicurean view. In our contemporary American life we have the desire for things that we do not really need to make us happy. Our commercial world intends to sell us substitutes for the things we truly need in order to be happy. We replace our real needs with things like clothing, furniture, cars, nice houses, and many other unessential items. Many individuals place the blame for an unhappy lifestyle on their occupation, and search out alternatives such as material items. We are happy when we receive things fast, because of our lack of patience, and because we simply enjoy the hassle free lifestyle. Our technological advances have made many things easy for us and it brings us some joy. Examples include that we rather drive than walk, and eat from unhealthy fast food restaurants than cook a meal ourselves. We see advertisements everywhere selling us products to make us happy, however the happiness from sex, food, and excitement are pleasures that are short lived. If we took away all unnecessary items for survival from our society today, could we still be happy? ... ...death, and the supernatural. Money cannot buy you analyzed thoughts about your life, or help you cope with the emotional effects of illness or death. Epicureans are looking for peace and freedom from fear and pain. Pleasure is how human beings can sense they are doing something right. I believe that a simpler life in general would help people live a happier lifestyle. We must have the essential needs for survival; however the unnecessary materialistic items are not needed and cannot bring happiness. We all can benefit from living a more Epicurean life, and we should take their advice to focus on friendship, independence, and thinking rationally. Bibliography â€Å"Letter to Menoeceus,† http://www.epicurus.net/en/menoeceus.html â€Å"Letter to Idomeneus,† http://www.epicurus.net/en/idomeneus.html â€Å"Letter to Herodotus,† http://www.epicurus.net/en/herodotus.html

Nuclear Power Plant :: essays research papers

New form of Energy for Capetown   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Capetown is considered to be the largest city in South Africa, having a population of over 2,727,000 inhabits. The energy form used in Capetown at the moment, is Gas Turbine, wich provides most of the city ´s electricity. The use of electricity in Capetown is very low compared to western countries, for example there is only one TV for almost ten people, the energy consumption per inhabit a year is about 4000 kWh, wich is 2550 kWh less than the energy consumption per inhabit a year in Paris, France.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Our plan is to built the most effective, cheap also inviromentaly friendliest way to produce energy for the 1 575 000 inhabits of Capetown, we came to the solution: BUILT A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT. ? Picture of Loviisa, Nuclear power plant We explain our solution by the following facts: ? If we built other forms of plants we would need:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Coal power plants or   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  12  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hydro power plants or   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  7  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gas turbine power plants or   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  173  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Solar power plants or   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  4792  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wind power plants. but we only need one nuclear power plant to provide enough electricity for 1 575 000 people. Inviromental facts that concerned us:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A nuclear power plant may sound nasty and dangerous, from the naturistic point of view, but that is not a fact. A very good example of this is, the amount of fuel that a 900 MW nuclear power plant needs, wich is about one van of uranium per year, but a coal   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  power plant with same capacity needs about 140 tons of coal per hour, and it also polutes the air by carbon dioxide wich is released when coal’s stored energy is been transformed into heat energy. The carbon dioxide wich is been released in the prosess causes greenhouse effect, wich is the main cause of increased temperature of world. A hydro power plant does not need fuel, but it polutes the sights of a beautiful current river, because of it size, sometimes whole villages have to be moved from the reservoir area, it also effects the biosystem of both up-and down stream for quite a long distance from the location of the dam. A wind power plant is a good solution but it needs space, ev en one turbine needs about 100x100m space to work properly, if a malfunction appears in the turbine, it can fall down or the blades might break, and fly for thousands of meters. The industry producing the turbines polutes the inviroment, The turbines also cause some problems in TV and radio links.

Thomas Hardy was an English man, who lived in England near Dorchester E

Thomas Hardy was an English man, who lived in England near Dorchester Thomas Hardy was an English man, who lived in England near Dorchester. He lived from 1840-1928 most of what he wrote is set in Dorset and the neighboring countries. He gave these the fictional name Wessex. He wrote 17 novels which one was unpublished. And around a thousand poems the melancholy hussar and the withered arm are both from the Wessex tails book. He lived on the edge of a tract of a wild heath land, which was very isolated this may have resulted in his stories being set out in the country or being isolated. Or even ending happy in the melancholy hussar or the withered arm. The social class issues, these would stop a lower class person marrying a higher-class person it was seen as a very big thing back then, there-for Dr.grove wants Humphrey to marry Phyllis, and in the withered arm Rhoda could marry farmer lodge but he does not want to as it is seen as a disgrace. Also the stigma of being an unmarried mother is tough for Rhoda and her son. Farmer lodge does not even acknowledge him wh...

2 Timothy 3-4 Worksheet

2 Timothy 3-4 WorksheetThe Dangers of the Last Days (Ch 3) You should know this, Timothy that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2  For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3  They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4  They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.   They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! 6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these te achers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. A Final Charge to Timothy 10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 4 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-bre athed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Verse Paraphrase: 1. Paul is telling Timothy that in the last day’s trials would come and it would be harder to maintain faith in Christ. . The reason to this is because of people loving themselves and therefore loving money. And since they’d only know themselves, they would be proud, boastful, scoffs at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They would not consider anything to be holy or sacred. 3. they will love what is evil and hate the good which would lead them to be unloving, unforgiving slanderous and having no self control. 4. For their sake of pleasure and self-love, they would betray their friends, be ruthless (reckless), very arrogant and prideful. . Paul says to stay away from these people who stick to the law and follow the law but which are far from the true meaning of righteousn ess. They’d deny the power of God since they’d be only relying on themselves. Who are verses 6-8 speaking about? Verse 6~8 speaks about evildoers and impostors who will eagerly seek for place to dwell in, especially woman who are gullible and full of their own sins. Just like Jannes and Jambres who opposed Moses, they will be notable in the eyes of God, and their ways would not go far.They’d appear as if they are â€Å"righteous† and knows the truth about God, but the core difference would be their action to the faith which would be absent to them. What example and charge does Paul give Timothy (10-17) He gave his own example of the trails and persecutions that he had faced, but not only that, he explains to Timothy of how God had been there through the trials to be overcome. He puts strong emphasis on the importance of the Holy scriptures and what the word of God is capable of doing to our spirits.What is the Mantle of Leadership Paul is talking about (4 :1-5 NLTSB pg 2067)? In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. Paul knew how the Holy Scripture could decide eternity in heaven or hell for those who follow or not follow God’s commands. He says to encourage or to rebuke while preaching the good gospel, and to be prepared to be persecuted for following Christ. The wor ldly people will only listen to what they want to listen and become blind to sound doctrine (which refers to the bible. )

Succubus Shadows Chapter 9

â€Å"She couldn't have!† I exclaimed. â€Å"He was with me all night.† â€Å"Not after the concert ended,† pointed out Roman. â€Å"You know, I think that band might really be going somewhere.† Whatever trace of sentiment he'd shown earlier with me had vanished in Carter's presence. â€Å"Simone was hanging out in that twenty-four-hour coffee shop,† Carter said. â€Å"Seth went there to work after – what was it you said? You were at a concert?† â€Å"Yeah,† I said. â€Å"Blue Satin Bra.† The angel gave Roman a nod of agreement. â€Å"Those guys are great.† â€Å"Hey, can we stick to the issue here?† I gave both of them glares. â€Å"What happened with Seth and Simone?† Carter shrugged. â€Å"Same as usual. He came in and noticed her first, though. She had her head in a book – didn't even look up until he walked over.† â€Å"Well played,† I said. â€Å"Forces him into the aggressive role.† â€Å"I don't think Seth's ever really in an aggressive role,† mused Carter. â€Å"It just put him in a position to make the first move, if he wanted to be polite.† During our brief affair, Seth and I had made love so tenderly and so sweetly that poets would have wept at its beauty. Other times, things had been downright dirty, and I think Carter might have reconsidered his comment about Seth being aggressive, had the angel known. â€Å"Then what?† I demanded. â€Å"Like I said, the same. They talked about different things – a lot of topics interesting to Seth, really. I think she might have done some research on him.† â€Å"Fucking lovely.† I collapsed onto the couch, and then I promptly shot back up. â€Å"I'm going over there – â€Å" â€Å"Gone,† interrupted Carter. â€Å"They went separate ways, and then she bagged some guy, and I decided it was time for me to fly away.† â€Å"Lucky bastard,† grumbled Roman. â€Å"You have no idea what kind of shit I had to sit through.† The hint of a smile flickered on Carter's face before he turned back to me. I sighed and sat back down. â€Å"Confronting her's no good anyway. You already did it, and nothing came of it. I'm guessing this would just be a repeat.† Probably a good point. Being in a conflict with a succubus kind of sucked. I could punch Hugh or the vampires, and even with immortal healing, they'd still sport a black eye for a few hours – longer if I was really good. But with a succubus? I could smack her around, and she'd shape-shift the damage. And as for verbal fighting? Well, seeing as I had no real leverage, I'd probably just fuel her further and provide more cat fight entertainment for my friends. â€Å"Well,† I said to Roman. â€Å"I think I'm pissed off enough now that you don't have to go to bed with me.† Carter's eyebrow rose again. â€Å"I mean, he doesn't have to watch me sleep,† I explained. â€Å"I was kind of glum earlier, and we were worried my mystery†¦thing†¦might show up again.† â€Å"Why glum?† asked Carter. He attempted innocence, but I wasn't fooled. Even without being at the concert, he could easily figure out what had me down. â€Å"Long story.† Those silvery gray eyes bored into me, and I shifted and looked away. I hated when he did that. It was like he could see into my soul. That was a place I didn't even want to look at – let alone have others do it. I attempted a change in subject. â€Å"You know, I was thinking about this thing that's going on†¦this force or siren song or whatever. It's not like what happened with Nyx, but there's still a dreamlike quality to it, you know? I mean, it certainly seems like I'm sleepwalking. Do you think she could be back?† â€Å"Nope,† said Carter. â€Å"She's definitely still locked up. I checked myself.† â€Å"Really?† â€Å"Really.† I didn't follow up with the obvious question. Had Carter done it for me? I mean, checking up on Nyx probably wasn't too hard for him. He probably just asked some angel buddy who asked another angel†¦etc. It still made me wonder about Carter's endgame. Why go to such trouble for me? Why look into this? Why track Simone? His expression made me think he guessed my thoughts, something I hated. â€Å"Thanks,† I said. â€Å"But I think I'm heading to bed now.† â€Å"And I,† said Carter, â€Å"am going to get a drink.† â€Å"Done with Simone for good?† asked Roman. Carter made a dismissive gesture. â€Å"At least for tonight. I'll find her in the morning.† â€Å"You're kind of a slacker spy,† I pointed out, though I definitely understood his reasons for avoiding the other succubus' liaisons. His only response was another smile before he vanished. â€Å"Now what?† I wondered aloud. â€Å"Now,† said Roman, â€Å"you get your beauty sleep so that I can have another captivating day of listening to you give recommendations for people who enjoyed The Da Vinci Code.† â€Å"You know you love it,† I said, walking off toward my bedroom. â€Å"Sure you don't want company?† I glanced back at him and studied his face, the lovely lines of it and blue-green eyes like the Mediterranean of my youth. His expression was speculative, wry humor twisting his lips. I couldn't entirely tell if he was joking. Or what his exact meaning was. â€Å"Positive.† My words were a little bolder than I felt, but the night passed uneventfully, again furthering the idea that my blue moods were the target. Consequently, this put me in a good mood when I went to work the next day. I even wore yellow in an attempt at further cheeriness and greeted my coworkers with such enthusiasm that Doug wanted to know what drugs I was taking – and if he could have some. All of that changed when, while headed for the science fiction section, I felt something totally unwelcome: an immortal signature. A succubus immortal signature. And I knew exactly which succubus it belonged to. I did a 180, took a few steps, and tried to pinpoint its direction. Fiction. I headed straight over there, and sure enough, there was Simone – with Seth. She wore that guise I'd heard reports of, the bookish – yet sexy – brunette. They were standing by Seth's section, and she was holding up one of his paperbacks, Idiosyncraso. I knew she could feel my signature as I approached, but her eyes stayed on Seth, her conversation not missing a beat. â€Å"You really wrote this in college?† â€Å"Yup,† he said. â€Å"It wasn't the first I had published, though. I shelved it for years before digging it out and revising it.† â€Å"Cool,† she said, flipping through the pages. â€Å"I can't wait to read it. It'll give me something to do before your next one.† â€Å"Well, don't get your – oh, hey.† Seth had spotted me. I came to a stop beside them, and Simone turned toward me politely. â€Å"How's it going?† I asked, voice harsher than I intended. Seth, always sensitive to me, looked a little surprised at my tone but didn't acknowledge it. â€Å"Fine. Georgina, this is Kelly. Kelly, Georgina. Georgina's the manager here.† â€Å"Hi, Kelly.† I shook her hand with a hardness she matched, and we both continued grinning at each other like Stepford Wives. â€Å"I met Kelly at a coffee shop,† said Seth mildly, not aware he was in succubus crossfire. â€Å"Told her she should see the store sometime.† â€Å"It's great,† said Simone, all adorable innocence. â€Å"I'm a big reader. I love all things books. And meeting one of my favorite authors has given me great insight.† â€Å"Well,† said Seth, a little embarrassed at the attention. â€Å"I don't know how much insight I'm really offering.† Simone laughed. â€Å"Lots. I feel like I'm getting something from you each time I see you.† â€Å"Have you seen each other a lot?† I asked. â€Å"Kelly moved to Queen Anne,† said Seth. â€Å"So we keep running into each other.† â€Å"It's a great area,† I said. â€Å"Where do you live?† Simone faltered. â€Å"Um, on Queen Anne.† â€Å"Street, Avenue, or Drive?† Seth seemed surprised at the interrogative style of the question. Simone turned nervous. â€Å"Eh, Avenue.† Damn. Lucky guess. Queen Anne Street didn't exist. â€Å"Nice place.† Turning my back on her, I looked at Seth. â€Å"I came over because I heard someone say Maddie was looking for you.† That wasn't true at all. Maddie wasn't even in for another hour. I gave Simone a casual glance. â€Å"Maddie's his fianc? ¦e.† â€Å"I didn't think she was in yet,† said Seth. Why, of all days, would his memory be up and running today? â€Å"Maybe I misheard,† I said with a shrug. â€Å"But I figured you'd want to check.† â€Å"I will,† he said, still a little puzzled. â€Å"I need to show Kelly one more book.† She shot me a triumphant look, but I knew she'd accomplished nothing with Seth. He had that expression he got when he was so focused on something – in this case, the history of books – that he was distracted from the world. â€Å"Kelly† was a pleasant coincidence. Simone was too overconfident to notice. Seth turned back to the shelves, and me staying would have seemed awkward. With his attention elsewhere, I shot Simone a warning look. â€Å"Well, I'm sure I'll see you around.† â€Å"Oh,† she said with a serene smile, â€Å"you will.† When I got home later that day, I was ready to break some furniture. â€Å"Did you see – â€Å" â€Å"Yes, yes, I saw,† said Roman, materializing beside me. â€Å"Calm down.† I let out a small cry of frustration, something primal with no real form. â€Å"I can't believe that bitch! Can't believe she'd actually do it right in front of me! She did it on purpose. She did it on purpose to taunt me.† Roman was the picture of tranquility as he leaned against the wall, a far cry from my frazzled, pacing state. â€Å"Of course she did. It's like mobsters who threaten their victims in a crowd – there's absolutely no way you could have fought back, not with that many witnesses.† â€Å"Nice analogy,† I muttered. â€Å"Maybe there'll be a horse head in my bed next.† â€Å"I could leave one in hers, if it would help,† he offered. That almost made me smile. Almost. Except I wasn't entirely sure he was joking. â€Å"The really comical part is that Seth brought it about, you know? He was trying to stay away from me and walked right into this.† â€Å"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.† I didn't dignify that with an answer. â€Å"Look,† he said in all seriousness, taking a few steps toward me. â€Å"It sucks that she's doing this, and we can definitely rule out coincidence. But if Seth's with Maddie while she's there, you know nothing's going to happen. And Carter will report back to us. No point in getting worked up over it.† â€Å"Easier said than done. Nothing's going to distract me from this.† He moved closer still and rested his hands on my upper arms. â€Å"Oh? When was the last time you went dancing?† I blinked in surprise. The last time I'd been dancing? It had been a salsa lesson at the bookstore earlier this year, after which Seth and I had ripped each other's clothes off in my office. â€Å"A while ago,† I said evasively, thrown off by both the question and his fingertips on my skin. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Let's go out,† he said. â€Å"There are a million places we can go. Any kind of dance you want. If memory serves, you're an okay dancer.† I narrowed my eyes. â€Å"I'm an excellent dancer, and you know it.† He leaned his face closer. â€Å"Then prove it.† â€Å"Irrelevant. I don't feel like going out.† Roman sighed and stepped away. I found I was a little disappointed to have him let go. â€Å"Man,† he said. â€Å"I remember when you used to be fun. I'm glad I left town when I did.† He walked over to my entertainment center and knelt down. â€Å"Well, if Muhammed won't come to the mountain†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Good grief. You're a wealth of religious proverbs tonight, aren't you?† â€Å"Hey, just trying to – Jesus Christ. CDs? You do know the Dark Ages ended a long time ago.† He pointed at my collection with disdain. â€Å"Everyone's gone digital now. You know, those little magical devices that store music? Or do you consider them some kind of witchcraft?† â€Å"Technology changes every year. Jump on a fad, and you're obsolete before you know it.† â€Å"Honestly, it's a wonder you aren't cooking over a fire in the middle of your living room.† â€Å"You forget – I don't cook.† â€Å"I live here. I haven't forgotten.† By then, he'd put one of my â€Å"archaic† CDs in the player. I laughed. â€Å"You're one to talk about ancient history. This is old school.† â€Å"Nah.† He rose and offered me his hands. â€Å"This is classic. Never goes out of style.† â€Å"Yeah,† I said, as the music began playing. â€Å"All the kids are doing foxtrot nowadays. Geez, it's even the slow style.† But I still let him take hold of my hands. â€Å"Hey, you're the one who owns that CD.† We both fell into the steps effortlessly, gliding around the living room and managing to dodge the furniture with some grace. Roman had a long list of flaws, but one of his better traits was that he was almost as good a dancer as me. â€Å"Why do you dance so well?† I asked, stepping over Aubrey. She didn't seem concerned at all about getting squashed and had shown no signs of moving when we began to dance. â€Å"What kind of a question is that? Why do you dance so well?† â€Å"Natural instinct, I guess. That's what I'm wondering. Was it something you were born with? Or is it something you can't help but perfect over the years? I mean, you've been around for a while. I suppose if you put your mind to something that long, you can't help but master it.† He laughed. â€Å"To tell you the truth, I don't know. Maybe it's in the blood.† â€Å"Oh, come on. I cannot picture Jerome out on the dance floor.† â€Å"Not him. My mother. She was a dancer. A slave girl for this king a long, long time ago†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Roman's gaze turned inward. He didn't seem angry, so much as nostalgic. â€Å"Of course, he was pretty pissed off when she got pregnant. That kind of thing tends to ruin the chorus line.† â€Å"What happened to her?† I hadn't been around that long ago, but certain things stayed the same through time. Slaves who angered their masters got beaten or sold to someone else. Or worse. â€Å"I don't know. Jerome took her away, off to some village where she could be a free woman.† I frowned. I still had trouble wrapping my mind around the idea of my boss falling – romantically and divinely – for a mortal. â€Å"Did he stay with her? He would have been a demon by then†¦.† â€Å"He never came back. First time I saw him was last year. My mother didn't hold a grudge, though. She would talk about him all the time†¦said he was beautiful. I don't know if she meant as an angel or a demon, though. Probably he looked the same, seeing as they're the same beings, really.† â€Å"I'm guessing he didn't look like John Cusack though.† â€Å"No.† This made Roman laugh again. â€Å"Probably not. My mother took on mundane jobs whenever we moved villages – washing woman, field worker. But at least she was free. And she still danced sometimes. I saw her once, when I was really young†¦just before she was killed. There was a festival, and I remember her dancing in front of the fire, wearing this red dress.† All mirth disappeared from him. â€Å"That image is burned into my mind. I can see how an angel would have fallen for her.† I didn't ask any questions about how she was killed. In those days, it could have been as simple as a raid or attack. They were commonplace. Or, more likely, she'd been killed in an attempt on Roman and his sister. He'd once mentioned that they were always on the run from angels and demons. â€Å"So maybe you learned to dance as a subconscious tribute to her,† I said, shifting to something lighter. That half-smile returned. â€Å"Or maybe I just inherited my father's attraction to graceful, sensual women.† The song ended, and we stood there, frozen in time with our hands still entwined. Foxtrot was hardly the bumping and grinding seen in modern clubs, but our bodies were close, and I felt like I could sense the heat from his. Whether it was real or imagined, I couldn't say. But I did know there was something very seductive about dancing, about mirroring another's body, and somehow, I wasn't surprised when he leaned down and kissed me. I was a little surprised that I kissed him back. But not for long. Because as our lips met, I realized how much I'd come to regard Roman as a comforting fixture in my life. We'd grown from adversaries to friends to†¦what? I didn't entirely know. I did know that I liked having him around and that I'd never really shaken the attraction that had drawn me to him long ago. I also knew that I was lonely for the touch of someone I liked and that I had an automatic instinct to respond to this sort of thing. His mouth pressed harder against mine, as hot and demanding as I recalled. His hands quickly moved from the formal orientation of foxtrot to something more intimate and eager, sliding down to my hips and somehow managing to push me against the wall while also shoving my shirt up. My own hands were around his neck, my lower body pressing against his as I felt all my nerves set on fire and lust coursing through me. He managed to break away enough to pull my shirt off, and then his hands moved to my breasts, which were wrapped in a white lace bra. He glanced down and made a face as he pulled from our kiss. â€Å"Can't you make it a front hook?† A small bit of shape-shifting made the bra disappear altogether. â€Å"Don't trouble yourself,† I said. He smiled and moved his lips to my neck while his hands cupped the curves of my breasts. It made it impossible for me to take his shirt off, but I slid my hands under it, loving the feel of his warm skin and taut muscles. I tipped my head back, letting him taste me and increase the intensity of his kissing. And through it all, there were no voices in my head. I heard none of his thoughts, sensed none of his feelings. I was alone – alone with my own reactions, simply enjoying the way my body felt with no other interruptions. It was glorious. I at last managed a break that let me pull his shirt off, and then my hands moved to his pants, putting us in a brief deadlock as he tried to move his lips to my nipples. I won and watched his pants fall to the floor. With that concession, he pulled me down as well and continued his efforts to kiss my breasts, almost kneeling before me as he did so. I ran my hands through his hair, gripping his head while his mouth sucked and teased. As he did, his eyes glanced up and met mine. I saw the desire in them and – something more. Something I hadn't expected to see. There was†¦what? Love? Adoration? Affection? I couldn't quite pin it down, but I recognized the general category. It was a slap to the face. I hadn't anticipated it. Lust, I'd expected. A primitive instinct to throw me down and fuck me, in order to relieve his body's need. For so long, I'd operated on the assumption that he kind of liked me and kind of wanted to hate me. Yet, now, I realized those nice moments we'd had recently weren't coincidence. His sharp attitude had been a facade, meant to hide his feelings. Roman still loved me. I identified it for what it was. He wasn't doing this just because he wanted my body. He wanted me. This was more than just fulfilling a physical instinct for him, and suddenly†¦suddenly, I didn't know what to do. Because I realized then, I didn't know why I was doing this. There was a fair amount of lust on my part, and I'd grown closer to him since his return to Seattle. But the rest†¦? I wasn't sure. There was so much going on right now: Maddie, Simone, Seth†¦Always Seth. Seth, who even now made my heart ache while I was wrapped in the arms of another man. My emotions were a tangle of confusion and hurt and desperation. I was with Roman as some sort of reaction, some attempt to fill the hole in my heart and seek false comfort. My feelings didn't match his. I couldn't do this with him. I didn't deserve to do this with him. I pushed him away and jumped to my feet, backing off toward the hallway. â€Å"No†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I said. â€Å"I can't†¦I can't. I'm sorry.† He stared up at me, understandably confused and a little hurt after the ardor I'd displayed seconds ago. â€Å"What are you talking about? What's wrong?† I didn't know how to explain it, didn't know how I could even begin to articulate what I felt inside of me. I just shook my head and continued backing. â€Å"I'm sorry†¦I'm so sorry†¦I'm just not ready.† Roman sprang to his feet in one graceful motion. He took a step toward me. â€Å"Georgina†¦Ã¢â‚¬  But I was already moving away, off to the safety of my bedroom. I slammed the door behind me – not from anger, but from a desperate need to stay away from him. From the hall, I heard him call my name and feared he'd come in anyway, despite my refusal to answer. I had no lock, and even if I did, it wouldn't stop him. He said my name a few more times, and then silence fell. I think he returned to the living room, backing off and giving me my space. I flung myself onto the bed, gripping the sheets tightly and trying not to cry. That horrible despair that plagued me so often filled me now. It was an old friend, one that I would never be able to leave. All my relationships – friends and lovers – were a mess. I was either hurting them, or they were hurting me. There was no peace for me. There never would be, not for this servant of Hell. And then, through that horrible, clenching pain inside me, I felt the lightest of touches. A whisper. A breath of music, of color, of light. I lifted my head up from where I'd buried it in my pillow and stared around. There was nothing tangible, not exactly, but I could sense it all around me: that warm, comforting siren song. It had no words, yet in my despair, I could hear it perfectly. It was telling me I was wrong, that I could have peace. And not just that – I could have comfort and love and so much more. It was like arms beckoning to me, a mother welcoming home a long-lost child. I slowly rose from my bed, moving toward that which had no form. Come, come. Outside my door, I heard Roman shout my name, but the tone was different from before. This wasn't confusion or pleading. It was frantic and concerned. The sound was grating to my ears as I stepped closer to that beautiful warmth. It was home. It was an invitation. All I had to do was accept. â€Å"Georgina!† The door blew apart, and Roman stood there, blazing with power. â€Å"Georgina, stop – â€Å" But it was too late. I had accepted. All that joy and protection wrapped around me, taking me into its arms. The world dissolved.

Advantages and barriers of harmonizing International Financial Reporting Standards throughout the world Essay

The development in international trade and capital flows that has occurred over the previous two decades has increased the desire to harmonise accounting standards across the globe. The appeal of international accounting harmonization has been extensively discussed. Numerous academics Ali, J M (2005), Adhikari and Tondkar (1992), Saudagaran (1997) argue that adopting International Financial Reporing Standards (IFRS) would bring great benefits to society, such as comparability of statements between countries, progression and development of capital markets and communication and relationships between multinational companies. It has also been debated by some Blake (199O), Nair and Frank (1981), Nobes and Parker (2004 ), Arpan and Radebaugh (1985), Deegan (2005) that with the rewards gained from harmonization come some barriers; economic consequences, nationalism and the lack of professional bodies. One of the most valuable features that would come from harmonization would be the comparability of international financial information. Currently there is great misunderstandings about the foreign financial statements, improving comparability would remove this issue and it would also eliminate one of the most significant barriers to the flow of international investment. Global harmonization would save time and money that is presently being spent on uniting differing financial information when more than one set of reports is required to comply with the different national laws or practice Blake (1990). It will also improve the tendency for accounting standards throughout the world to be raised to the highest possible level and to be consistent with local economic, legal and social conditions. Having one international accounting language is beneficial for the worldwide comparison of statements and understandability. Unifying accounting standards would also help the development and expansion of capital markets. Ali, J M (2005). In the last two decades the growth in capital markets has been very dramatic. This increase has brought about a number of issues. One concern is the variance in accounting disclosure standards and practices worldwide, which is concerning for a variety of different groups Adhikari and Tondkar (1992). IFRS would allow foreign investors, financial analysts and foreign lenders to have a greater  understanding of the financial statements of different international companies and they would be able to compare the investment opportunities which will help them to make the right investment decision. The group that would benefit the most out of the harmonisation of accounting standards would be the Multi-national companies (MNC’s) as the communication of financial information within the groups would become easier. With the harmonization of reporting standards it would be eas ier for MNC’s to fulfil the disclosure requirement for stock exchanges around the world. Many of the new foreign investment by MNCs is taking place in developing countries and at the same time that there has been a sharp decline in new investments in industrialized nations Saudagaran (1997). This means that due to the remarkable differences between financial reporting MNCs have to create numerous consolidated financial statements in regards to the regulations for each separate country. To do this it takes a great deal of time and resources, this problem would be eliminated by the adoption of IFRS. A subject of debate is whether the accounting regulators take the issue of economic consequences into account when deciding on whether to adopt the IFRS. Many companies do not take on the change as bringing change into their accounting standards will raise costs. This resistance may occur with the harmonization of accounting standards Blake (1990). Nair and Frank (1981) stated â€Å"national accounting group would lobby in this fashion in order to minimize the costs associated with changing to a new standard, or to avoid stigma of noncompliance if it chooses instead to ignore the new international standard†. It is also discussed that accountants may lose their credibilit y if they are to answer to the economic consequences pressures whilst it is also discussed that it is a vital matter if accounting regulations are to command general support. Blake (1990) provides evidence of how accounting standard setters were influenced by economic consequence issues in different countries. Economic consequence issues may cause diversity of accounting practices because they are a result of the national cultural and regulatory framework. One of the barriers for harmonization may be nationalism. Nobes and Parker (2004) advocate that nationalism will cause a refusal to accept accounting standards that is to be developed by other countries. Each country follows the belief that they have in place the better system and that other countries accounting  standards are of an inferior nature Arpan and Radebaugh (1985). Some countries that have faults and inadequacies within their standards will chose not to adopt the IFRSs as they can benefit from these ineffiecies. An example is given by Carlson (1997) who acknowledges that governments may view attempts by the IASC to alter national accounting rules as infringements upon national sovereignty. Developing nations and those which have been colonies of imperial powers are particularly sensitive to intrusions. Wallace (1990) identifies three reasons in favour of survival of the IASC/IASB, including the increasing internationalization of business and finance, the composite nature of its standards, and the absence of rival in the development of global accounting standards. Another political obstacle that may arise, which is discussed by Nobes and Parker (2004) is that there are several countries that are not in the presence of strong practiced accounting bodies. The IASB wanted to work through national accountancy bodies but this is an issue as they are not all countries have effective bodies. The IOSCO came forth with the suggestion of the adoption of IASB standards as an acceptable basis for the preparation of financial statements to member exchanges throughout the world. This means that a company looking for listing in another country does not have to adjust its reports to fulfil the specific national requirements if the reports are already in agreement with IASB standards Deegan (2005). The need for the harmonization of IFRS is definitely evident. As discussed earlier there are a great number of benefits that would arise from this progression. To provide a professional, developing and strong accounting environment it would be necessary. Despite the benefits there are a number of barriers and hurdles that need to be overcome in order to bring about the harmonization of international accounting standards. In order to ensure the uniform app lication of accounting standards across cultural and political boundaries IASB needs to ensure that there are strong audit practices and fair values applied in order to bring about the integrity of the standards.

The Cider House Rules

TITLE (supplied by the customer): â€Å"The Cider House Rules† DESCRIPTION (supplied by the customer): The Doctor offers 2 incongruous services †¦ how can these services coexist? Answer the following questions: What is the moral dilemma posed in the story? A Birth occurs in the story †¦ how does this affect the main character's view? What happens to change the main characters view? What are the Cider House Rules and what are they a metaphor for? Who broke the Cider House Rules? What is the moral of the story? What does it mean to be the hero of your own life?What other issues arise in this story that are relevant to the reproductive and overall health? PROJECT DEVELOPED: The Cider House, an orphanage hospital at St. Cloud's, is one of the two poles or hemispheres the entire plot builds upon. The story poses quite a bit of a challenge to the unsophisticated onlooker's mindset trained primarily to distinguish between, and judge, the clear black and the clear white. Dr. Larch, one of the central protagonists, is a far more complex profile. It's not so much about his personality or character as it is about his moral stance. As a licensed physician, he assists at childbirth.The outside world formally knows him as helping a new life happen. The other side of the man is his second practice amounting to exactly the opposite: abortions, or life taking. He takes life away from infant and totally helpless human beings having little say in their parents decision not to grant them life. It might just be uncomfortable and awkward for these young mothers, pressed by their ambitious husbands, to grant life at this particular point. They are not prepared nor willing to pay that price for their right to have a fulfilling sexual life outside the bonds of marriage.However, the story is less moralizing than that. The author does not seem disposed to judge the heroes very strictly, because another part of the story is that these are for the most part inexperienced y oung men and women. They cannot possibly know as yet what's best for them over the long haul; no wonder their vague yet potent inner drives lead them to mistakes. They have not learned to assume the full responsibility for these mistakes, and they cannot accept the lot these blunders may inflict, early in their lives. Dr. Larch is deeply convinced about his duty to offer services of both kinds.Moreover, he chooses to hand over his skills to a young and promising disciple, Homer [17-20, 50-54, 78]. The latter has lived in the orphanage his entire life, and one would guess his moral values have largely if not solely been influenced and inspired by Dr. Larch's example. One wonders just how those polar practices could possibly be compatible, and for that matter conducive to the younger generation's upbringing. The young person shown early on that abortion is a possibility might likely stick with that option as a quick fix, never minding the longer-term good.So far, however, we have seen a somewhat superficial picture, and it's about time we dwelled on the multifaceted truth. Dr. Larch would never actually even consider abortion a way out-if this were a perfect world [56-58, 124]. The wicked world he finds himself surrounded by rules in wicked ways, supplies ugly criteria and makes one resort to interim compromises to secure a greater boon. This world is good at sermonizing when it comes to condemning the young women making mistakes; yet it is also incredibly cynical in calling on them to pay a price they cannot afford.Of course, we are not talking about the world that Dr. Larch had built-the Cider House. It is governed by ultimate rules that are observed strictly, not because of their tyranny, but because they are a natural moral code of integrity. All the little children living in there are orphans rejected by the wicked world, yet zealously loved by their father [80-110]. No, he is not their biological father-one other criterion of the formalist world, which per mits the distorted and destroyed relationships between the native parents and children.However, his own world's parameters identify him as their ultimate father. This cozy Cider House world is a tiny spot on earth where children love and respect each other, if only by virtue of the sense of alienation that the other world has cursed them with. Any encounter with the outside world is happy only for one of them: the rest of the kids will not be adopted that soon [84-89]. In fact, the big spotlight in the story is about the two poles or two alternatives facing the protagonists: their Cider home sweet home and the bitter world.The same applies to the central figure, Homer who is an extremely likable person and a fast learner, soon to become as skilled as his teacher. Yet without a diploma-another anchor of the outside world stressing the form, the superficiality, the illusion over the intrinsic value. Thus far, he has lived in this paradise which has a lot of bliss to offer. Yet, this w arm Eden could not possibly offer him the knowledge of good and evil, the knowledge he will have to receive in the outside world. Of course, for now Homer has nothing to compare it with-but soon an episode occurs that changes his life for good.A young lady, Candy, arrives for abortion accompanied by her boyfriend Wally, which occasion affords Homer a unique chance for exploring the ‘outer space. ‘ [172-215] He might never have unlocked his potential had he stayed ‘home. ‘ It was to be the outside world with its challenges and whims that could offer a learning environment. Homer turned out to be just as fast learner when it came to learning about himself. He proved to be good at human skills, and a fulfilling relationship soon began to evolve between him and Candy while Wally was gone delivering on his duty. 267-270, 320] Wally would come back some day, and Candy would have to choose, which was far from her forte. Indeed, she embodies the image of innocent pro neness to mistakes, whereby she had to make a lot of tasting, sampling and trying before she could decide what was right for her. And yet, like the many other young ladies Larch felt sympathy for (and would rather do the abortions than let them die in the butchers hands), she was deserving of the better lot. That experience was a major turning point in Homer's life. The main development was not that he actually liked the world he saw: far from it.Yet, when the doctor asked him to come back home where he was needed, loved and waited for (while the outside world had little to offer), it was already a different Homer to heed to those reasons [365]. He knew it was the only chance for him to learn to decide for himself and to take the responsibility. In fact, perhaps he had already long had that critical stance: he would swallow all the skills that Larch had to offer, but he was reluctant to justify abortion [131]. He therefore only had to learn or realize that he had that.Being the hero of one's own life might thus amount to standing ready to use the benefit of doubt, reserve the right to mistakes and face up to liabilities. That is by far the only way to really learn doing the right things, which is superior to just doing right things as under a benevolent and wise dictatorship. These mistakes should properly be viewed as a cost attached, which one would eagerly incur if the expected reward were abundant. This, of course, is not to justify the try-it-all approach, though wisdom is earned by learning too.The moral could thus pertain to the idea that this world is too complex and controversial, for a superficial judgment to suffice. The lesser evil may at times be viewed as a short-term cost or means securing the longer-term ends, provided the course is just. A cost is always attached to major decisions, though one is free to choose between the safe haven and the rough ocean. These are very different testing environments, in which people judge and are judged very d ifferently. Our superficial and hypocritical perception of the doctor might be rather negative at first, yet we come to see another picture on closer examination †¦