Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Patch Adams Relection Paper Essay

The movie Patch Adams is a truly inspiring movie for all those who wish to become doctors. The reason I enjoyed the movie, as is for most people, is the character and attitude portrayed by the lead actor Robin Williams. His role in the movie is both fascinating and inspiring. He was a man who, although initially considered himself to sick and suicidal, became one of the greatest flames in the medical history. The part that truly inspires me is his passion. There are very few people in the field today who work out of passion and love. In the process of learning every disease, cure and treatment know to man kind, medical students and doctors tend to forget that they are not treating machines but human beings who deserve not just their attention but also their compassion and sympathy. While I was watching the movie I realized that to become a doctor u need to work hard and pass your exams, but more importantly what u need is the interest and desire to really learn and put the acquired knowledge to use. I realized that if one has the passion and desire, then everything will automatically fall into place. I realized that by scoring the highest in your exams or by mastering every word in the book you only become a doctor. To become a great doctor what you need is passion, dedication and, most important of all, compassion. Another thing that I realized while watching the movie is the need to be open minded and to adapt. The field of medicine is an ever growing, ever developing one. With every passing day there is some or the other new disease or treatment. We have to keep our minds open to all such developments and accept the changes. I also learnt that this open mindedness is important not only in the theoretical knowledge we acquire but that practical life we live. One, no matter how high a position they acquire in the field, should always be open to change and suggestions because the only thing constant in life is change. In fact this movie reminded me of something my dad always tell me, â€Å"look at life through the eyes of a child and live each day like it is either your first or your last. If you can do this then what you have in you is not just focus and concentration but also passion, and an open mind and the willingness to learn.†

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Philippine Literature In The Spanish Colonial Period Essay

The existing literature of the Philippine ethnic groups at the time of conquest and conversion into Christianity was mainly oral, consisting of epics, legends, songs, riddles, and proverbs. The conquistador, especially its ecclesiastical arm, destroyed whatever written literature he could find, and hence rendered the system of writing inoperable. Among the only native systems of writing that have survived are the syllabaries of the Mindoro Mangyans and the Tagbanua of Palawan. The Spanish colonial strategy was to undermine the native oral tradition by substituting for it the story of the Passion of Christ. Although Christ was by no means war-like or sexually attractive as many of the heroes of the oral epic tradition, the appeal of the Jesus myth inhered in the protagonist’s superior magic: by promising eternal life for everyone, he democratized the power to rise above death. It is to be emphasized, however, that the native tradition survived and even flourished in areas inacc essible to the colonial power. Moreover, the tardiness and the lack of assiduity of the colonial administration in making a public educational system work meant the survival of oral tradition, or what was left of it, among the conquered tribes. The church authorities adopted a policy of spreading the Church doctrines by communicating to the native (pejoratively called Indio) in his own language. Doctrina Christiana (1593), the first book to be printed in the Philippines, was a prayerbook written in Spanish with an accompanying Tagalog translation. It was, however, for the exclusive use of the missionaries who invariably read them aloud to the unlettered Indio catechumens (Medina), who were to rely mainly on their memory. But the task of translating religious instructional materials obliged the Spanish missionaries to take a most practical step, that of employing native speakers as translators. Eventually, the native translator learned to read and write both in Spanish and his native language. (Forms of Literature)This development marked the beginning of Indio literacy and thus spurred the creation of the first written literary native text by the native. These writers, called ladinos because of their fluency in both  Spani sh and Tagalog, published their work, mainly devotional poetry, in the first decade of the 17th century. Among the earliest writers of note were Francisco de San Jose and Francisco Bagongbata (Medina). But by far the most gifted of these native poet-translators was Gaspar Aquino de Belen (Lumbera, p.14). Mahal Na Pasion ni Jesu Christo, a Tagalog poem based on Christ’s passion, was published in 1704. This long poem, original and folksy in its rendition of a humanized, indeed, a nativized Jesus, is a milestone in the history of Philippine letters. Ironically — and perhaps just because of its profound influence on the popular imagination — as artifact it marks the beginning of the end of the old mythological culture and a conversion to the new paradigm introduced by the colonial power. Until the 19th century, the printing presses were owned and managed by the religious orders. Thus, religious themes dominated the culture of the Christianized majority. But the native oral literature, whether secular or mythico-religious continued. Even among the Christianized ethnic groups, the oral tradition persisted in such forms as legends, sayings, wedding songs such as the b alayan and parlor theater such as the duplo. In the 18th century, secular literature from Spain in the form of medieval ballads inspired the native poetic-drama form called the komedya, later to be called moro-moro because these often dealt with the theme of Christians triumphing over Moslems. (Peronality) Jose de la Cruz (1746 – 1829) was the foremost exponent of the komedya during his time. A poet of prodigious output and urbane style, de la Cruz marks a turning point in that his elevated diction distinguishes his work from folk idiom (as for instance, that of Gaspar Aquino de Belen). Yet his appeal to the non-literate was universal. The popularity of the dramatic form, of which he was a master, was due to it being experienced as performance both by the lettered minority and the illiterate but genuinely appreciative majority. Francisco Baltazar (1788 – 1862), popularly called Balagtas, is the acknowledged master of traditional Tagalog poetry. Of peasant origins, he left his hometown in Bigaa, Bulacan for Manila, with a strong determination to improve his lot through education. To support his studies, he worked as a domestic servant in Tondo. He steeped himself in classical studies in schools of prestige in the capital. Great social and political changes in the world worked together to make Balagtas’ career as poet  possible. The industrial revolution had caused a great movement of commerce in the globe, creating wealth and the opportunity for material improvement in the life of the working classes. With these great material changes, social values were transformed, allowing greater social mobility. In short, he was a child of the global bourgeois revolution. Liberal ideas, in time, broke class — and, in the Philippines — even racial barriers (Medina). The word Filipino, which used to refer to a restricted group (i.e., Spaniards born in the Philippines) expanded to include not only the acculturated wealthy Chinese mestizo but also the acculturated Indio (Medina). Balagtas was one of the first Indios to become a Filipino. But the crucial element in Balagtas’ unique genius is that, being caught between two cultures (the native and the colonial/classical), he could switch codes (or was perceived by his compatriot audience to be switching codes), provide insight and information to his oppressed compatriots in the very style and guise of a tradition provided him by a foreign (and oppressive) culture. His narrative poem Florante at Laura written in sublime Tagalog, is about tyranny in Albanya, but it is also perceived to be about tyranny in his Filipino homeland (Lumbera). Despite the foreign influence, however, he remained true to his native traditions. His verse plays were performed to the motley crowd. His poems were sung by the literate for the benefit of the unlettered. The metrical regularity and rhyme performed their age-old mnemonic function, despite and because of the introduction of printing. Printing overtook tradition. The printed page, by itself, became the mnemonic device, the stage set for the development of prose. The first Filipino novel was Ninay, written in Spanish by Pedro Paterno, a Philippine-bornilustrado (Medina p. 93). Following the sentimental style of his first book Sampaguitas (a collection of poems in Spanish), the novel endeavored to highlight the endearingly unique qualities of Filipinos. National Hero Jose Rizal (1861 – 1896) chose the realis tic novel as his medium. Choosing Spanish over Tagalog meant challenging the oppressors on the latter’s own turf. By writing in prose, Rizal also cut his ties with the Balagtas tradition of the figurative indirection which veiled the supposed subversiveness of many writings at that time. Rizal’s two novels, the Noli Me Tangere and its sequel El Filibusterismo, chronicle the life and ultimate death of Ibarra, a Filipino educated abroad, who attempts to reform  his country through education. At the conclusion of the Noli, his efforts end in near-death and exile from his country. In the Filibusterismo, he returns after reinventing himself as Simoun, the wealthy jeweler, and hastens social decay by further corrupting the social fabric till the oppressed react violently to overthrow the system. But the insurrection is foiled and Simoun suffers a violent death. In a sense, Rizal’s novels and patriotic poems were the inevitable conclusion to the campaign for liberal reforms known as the Propaganda Movement, waged by Graciano Lopez Jaena, and M.H. del Pilar. The two novels so vividly portrayed corruption and oppression that despite the lack of any clear advocacy, they served to instill the conviction that there could be no solution to the social ills but a violent one. Following closely on the failed reformist movement, and on Rizal’s novels, was the Philippine revolution headed by Andres Bonifacio (1863 – 1897). His closest aide, the college-bred Emilio Jacinto (1875 – 1899), was the revolutionary organization’s ideologue. Both were admirers of Rizal, and like Rizal, both were writers and social critics profoundly influenced by the liberal ideas of the French enlightenment, about human dignity. Bonifacio’s most important work are his poems, the most well-known being Pag-Ibig Sa Tinubuang Lupa. Jacinto wrote political essays expressed in the language of the folk. Significantly, although either writer could have written in Spanish (Bonifacio, for instance, wrote a Tagalog translation of Rizal’s Ultimo Adios), both chose to communicate to their fellowmen in their own native language. The figure of Rizal dominates Philippine literature until the present day. Liberalism led to education of the native and the ascendancy of Spanish. But Spanish was undermined by the very ideas of liberation that it helped spread, and its decline led to nativism and a renaissance of literature in the native languages. The turn of the century witnessed not only the Philippine revolution but a quieter though no less significant outbreak. The educated women of the period produced significant poetry. Gregoria de Jesus, wife of Andres Bonifacio, wrote notable Tagalog poetry. Meanwhile, in Vigan of the Ilocano North, Leona Florentino, by her poetry, became the foremost Ilocano writer of her time. Philippine literary production during the American Period in the Philippines was spurred by two significant developments in education and culture. One is the introduction of free public instruction for all children of school age and two, the use of English as medium of instruction in all levels of education in public schools. Free public education made knowledge and information accessible to a greater number of Filipinos. Those who availed of this education through college were able to improve their social status and joined a good number of educated masses who became part of the country’s middle class. The use of English as medium of instruction introduced Filipinos to Anglo-American modes of thought, culture and life ways that would be embedded not only in the literature produced but also in the psyche of the country’s educated class. It was this educated class that would be the wellspring of a vibrant Philippine Literature in English. Philippine literature in English, as a direct result of American colonization of the country, could not escape being imitative of American models of writing especially during its period of apprenticeship. The poetry written by early poets manifested studied attempts at versification as in the following poem which is proof of the poet’s rather elementary exercise in the English language: Vacation days at last are here, And we have time for fun so dear, All boys and girls do gladly cheer, This welcomed season of the year. In early June in school we’ll meet; A harder task shall we complete And if we fail we must repeat That self same task without retreat. We simply rest to come again To school where boys and girls obtain The Creator’s gift to men Whose sanguine hopes in us remain. Vacation means a time for play For young and old in night and day My wish for all is to be gay, And evil none lead you astray – Juan F. Salazar Philippines Free Press, May 9, 1909 The poem was anthologized in the first collection of poetry in English, Filipino Poetry, edited by Rodolfo Dato (1909 – 1924). Among the poets featured in this anthology were Proceso Sebastian Maximo Kalaw, Fernando Maramag, Leopoldo Uichanco, Jose Ledesma, Vicente Callao, Santiago Sevilla, Bernardo Garcia, Francisco Africa, Pablo Anzures, Carlos P. Romulo, Francisco Tonogbanua, Juan Pastrana, Maria Agoncillo, Paz Marquez Benitez, Luis Dato and many others. Another anthology, The English German Anthology of Poets edited by Pablo Laslo was published and covered poets published from 1924-1934 among whom were Teofilo D. Agcaoili, Aurelio Alvero, Horacio de la Costa, Amador T. Daguio, Salvador P. Lopez, Angela Manalang Gloria, Trinidad Tarrosa, Abelardo Subido and Jose Garcia Villa, among others. A third pre-war collection of poetry was edited by Carlos Bulosan, Chorus for America: Six Philippine Poets. The six poets in this collection were Jose Garcia Villa, Rafael Zulueta da Cos ta, Rodrigo T. Feria, C.B. Rigor, Cecilio Baroga and Carlos Bulosan. In fiction, the period of apprenticeship in literary writing in English is marked by imitation of the style of storytelling and strict adherence to the craft of the short story as practiced by popular American fictionists. Early short story writers in English were often dubbed as the Andersons or Saroyans or the Hemingways of Philippine letters. Leopoldo Yabes in his study of the Philippine short story in English from 1925 to 1955 points to these models of American fiction exerting profound influence on the early writings of story writers like Francisco Arcellana, A.E. Litiatco, Paz Latorena. . When the University of the Philippines was founded in 1908, an elite group of writers in English began to exert influence among the culturati. The U.P. Writers Club founded in 1926, had stated that one of its aims was to enhance and propagate the â€Å"language of Shakespeare.† In 1925, Paz Marquez Benitez short story, â€Å"Dead Stars† was published and was made the landmark of the maturity of the Filipino writer in English. Soon after Benitez, short story writers began publishing stories no longer imitative of American models. Thus, story writers like Icasiano Calalang, A.E. Litiatco, Arturo Rotor, Lydia Villanueva, Paz Latorena , Manuel Arguilla began publishing stories  manifesting both skilled use of the language and a keen Filipino sensibility. This combination of writing in a borrowed tongue while dwelling on Filipino customs and traditions earmarked the literary output of major Filipino fictionists in English during the American period. Thus, the major novels of the period, such as the Filipino Rebel, by Maximo Kalaw, and His Native Soil by Juan C. Laya, are discourses on cultural identity, nationhood and being Filipino done in the English language. Stories such as â€Å"How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife† by Manuel Arguilla scanned the scenery as well as the folkways of Ilocandia while N.V. M. Gonzales’s novels and stories such as â€Å"Children of the Ash Covered Loam,† present the panorama of Mindoro, in all its customs and traditions while configuring its characters in the human dilemma of nostalgia and poverty. Apart from Arguilla and Gonzales, noted fictionists during the period included Francisco Arcellana, whom Jose Garcia Villa lauded as a â€Å"genius† storyteller, Consorcio Borje, Aida Rivera, Conrado Pedroche, Amador Daguio, Sinai Hamada, Hernando Ocampo, Fernando Maria Guerrero. Jose Garcia Villa himself wrote several short stories but devoted most of his time to poetry. In 1936, when the Philippine Writers League was organized, Filipino writers in English began discussing the value of literature in society. Initiated and led by Salvador P. Lopez, whose essays on Literature and Society provoked debates, the discussion centered on proletarian literature, i.e., engaged or committed literature versus the art for art’s sake literary orientation. But this discussion curiously left out the issue of colonialism and colonial literature and the whole place of literary writing in English under a colonial set-up that was the Philippines then. With Salvador P. Lopez, the essay in English gained the upper hand in day to day discourse on politics and governance. Polemicists who used to write in Spanish like Claro M. Recto, slowly started using English in the discussion of current events even as newspaper dailies moved away from Spanish reporting into English. Among the essayists, Federico Mangahas had an easy facility with the language and the essay as genre. Other noted essayists during the period were Fernando Maramag, Carlos P. Romulo , Conrado Ramirez. On the other hand, the flowering of a vibrant literary tradition due to historical events did not altogether hamper literary production in the native or indigenous languages. In fact, the early period of the 20th century was  remarkable for the significant literary output of all major languages in the various literary genre. (Forms Of lit) It was during the early American period that seditious plays, using the form of the zarsuwela, were mounted. Zarsuwelistas Juan Abad, Aurelio Tolentino ,Juan Matapang Cruz. Juan Crisostomo Sotto mounted the classics like Tanikalang Ginto, Kahapon, Ngay on at Bukas and Hindi Ako Patay, all directed against the American imperialists. Patricio Mariano’s Anak ng Dagat and Severino Reyes’s Walang Sugat are equally remarkable zarsuwelas staged during the period. On the eve of World War II, Wilfredo Maria Guerrero would gain dominance in theatre through his one-act plays which he toured through his â€Å"mobile theatre†. Thus, Wanted a Chaperone and The Forsaken House became very popular in campuses throughout the archipelago. The novel in Tagalog, Iloko, Hiligaynon and Sugbuanon also developed during the period aided largely by the steady publication of weekly magazines like the Liwayway, Bannawag and Bisaya which serialized the novels. Among the early Tagalog novelists of the 20th century were Ishmael Amado, Valeriano Hernandez Peà ±a, Faustino Aguilar, Lope K. Santos and Lazaro Francisco. Ishmael Amado’s Bulalakaw ng Pag-asa published in 1909 was one of the earliest novels that dealt with the theme of American imperialism in the Philippines. The novel, however, was not released from the printing press until 1916, at which time, the author, by his own admission and after having been sent as a pensionado to the U.S., had other ideas apart from those he wrote in the novel. Valeriano Hernandez Peà ±a’s Nena at Neneng narrates the story of two women who happened to be best of friends as they cope with their relationships with the men in their lives. Nena succeeds in her married life while Neneng suffers from a stormy marriage because of her jealous husband. Faustino Aguilar published Pinaglahuan, a love triangle set in the early years of the century when the worker’s movement was being formed. The novel’s hero, Luis Gatbuhay, is a worker in a printery who isimprisoned for a false accusation and loses his love, Danding, to his rival Rojalde, son of a wealthy capitalist. Lope K. Santos, Banaag at Sikat has almost the same theme and motif as the hero of the novel, Delfin, also falls in love with a rich woma n, daughter of a wealthy landlord. The love story of course is set also within the background of development of the worker’s trade union movement  and throughout the novel, Santos engages the readers in lengthy treatises and discourses on socialism and capitalism. Many other Tagalog novelists wrote on variations of the same theme, i.e., the interplay of fate, love and social justice. Among these writers are Inigo Ed Regalado, Roman Reyes, Fausto J. Galauran, Susana de Guzman, Rosario de Guzman-Lingat, Lazaro Francisco, Hilaria Labog, Rosalia Aguinaldo, Amado V. Hernandez. Many of these writers were able to produce three or more novels as Soledad Reyes would bear out in her book which is the result of her dissertation, Ang Nobelang Tagalog (1979). Among the Iloko writers, noted novelists were Leon Pichay, who was also the region’s poet laureate then, Hermogenes Belen, and Mena Pecson Crisologo whose Mining wenno Ayat ti Kararwa is considered to be the Iloko version of a Noli me Tangere. In the Visayas, Magdalena Jalandoni and Ramon Muzones would lead most writers in writing the novels that dwelt on the themes of love, courtship, life in the farmlands, and other social upheavals of the period. Marcel Navarra wrote stories and novels in Su gbuhanon. Poetry in all languages continued to flourish in all regions of the country during the American period. The Tagalogs, hailing Francisco F. Balagtas as the nation’s foremost poet invented the balagtasan in his honor. Thebalagtasan is a debate in verse, a poetical joust done almost spontaneously between protagonists who debate over the pros and cons of an issue. The first balagtasan was held in March 1924 at the Instituto de Mujeres, with Jose Corazon de Jesus and Florentino Collantes as rivals, bubuyog (bee) and paru-paro (butterfly) aiming for the love of kampupot (jasmine). It was during this balagtasan that Jose Corazon de Jesus, known as Huseng Batute, emerged triumphant to become the first king of the Balagtasan. Jose Corazon de Jesus was the finest master of the genre. He was later followed by balagtasistas, Emilio Mar Antonio and Crescenciano Marquez, who also became King of the Balagtasan in their own time. As Huseng Batute, de Jesus also produced the finest poems and lyrics during the period. His debates with Amado V. Hernandez on the political issue of independence from America and nationhood were mostly done in verse and are testament to the vitality of Tagalog poetry during the era. Lope K. Santos, epic poem, Ang Panggingera is also proof of how poets of the period have come to master the language to be able to translate it into effective poetry. The balagtasan would be  echoed as a poetical fiesta and would be duplicated in the Ilocos as thebukanegan, in honor of Pedro Bukaneg, the supposed transcriber of the epic, Biag ni Lam-ang; and theCrissottan, in Pampanga, in honor of the esteemed poet of the Pampango, Juan Crisostomo Sotto. In 1932, Alejandro G. Abadilla , armed with new criticism and an orientation on modernist poetry would taunt traditional Tagalog poetics with the publication of his poem, â€Å"Ako ang Daigdig.† Abadilla’s poetry began the era of modernism in Tagalog poetry, a departure from the traditional rhymed, measured and orally recited poems. Modernist poetry which utilized free or blank verses was intended more for silent reading than oral delivery. Noted poets in Tagalog during the American period were Julian Cruz Balmaceda, Florentino Collantes, Pedro Gatmaitan, Jose Corazon de Jesus, Benigno Ramos, Inigo Ed. Regalado, Ildefonso Santos, Lope K. Santos, Aniceto Silvestre, Emilio Mar. Antonio , Alejandro Abadilla and Teodoro Agoncillo. Like the writers in English who formed themselves into organizations, Tagalog writers also formed the Ilaw at Panitik, and held discussions and workshops on the value of literature in society. Benigno Ramos, was one of the most politicized poets of the period as he aligned himself with the peasants of the Sakdal Movement. Fiction in Tagalog as well as in the other languages of the regions developed alongside the novel. Most fictionists are also novelists. Brigido Batungbakal , Macario Pineda and other writers chose to dwell on the vicissitudes of life in a changing rural landscape. Deogracias Del Rosario on the other hand, chose the city and the emerging social elite as subjects of his stories. He is considered the father of the modern short story in Tagalog Among the more popular fictionists who emerged during the period are two women writers, Liwayway Arceo and Genoveva Edroza Matute, considered forerunners in the use of â€Å"light† fiction, a kind of story telling that uses language through poignant rendition. Genoveva Edroza Matute’s â€Å"Ako’y Isang Tinig† and Liwayway Arceo’s â€Å"Uhaw ang Tigang na Lupa† have been used as models of fine writing in Filipino by teachers of composition throughout the school system. Teodoro Agoncillo’s anthology 25 Pinakamahusay na Maiikling Kuwento (1945) included the foremost writers of fiction in the pre-war era. The separate, yet parallel developments of Philippine literature in English and those in Tagalog and other languages of the archipelago during the  American period only prove that literature and writing in whatever language and in whatever climate are able to survive mainly through the active imagination of writers. Apparently, what was lacking during the period was for the writers in the various languages to come together, share experiences and come to a conclusion on the elements that constitute good writing in the Philippines.

Monday, July 29, 2019

A Game of Thrones Chapter Thirtynine

Ned had known their faces as well as he knew his own once, but the years leech at a man’s memories, even those he has vowed never to forget. In the dream they were only shadows, grey wraiths on horses made of mist. They were seven, facing three. In the dream as it had been in life. Yet these were no ordinary three. They waited before the round tower, the red mountains of Dorne at their backs, their white cloaks blowing in the wind. And these were no shadows; their faces burned clear, even now. Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, had a sad smile on his lips. The hilt of the greatsword Dawn poked up over his right shoulder. Ser Oswell Whent was on one knee, sharpening his blade with a whetstone. Across his white-enameled helm, the black bat of his House spread its wings. Between them stood fierce old Ser Gerold Hightower, the White Bull, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. â€Å"I looked for you on the Trident,† Ned said to them. â€Å"We were not there,† Ser Gerold answered. â€Å"Woe to the Usurper if we had been,† said Ser Oswell. â€Å"When King’s Landing fell, Ser Jaime slew your king with a golden sword, and I wondered where you were.† â€Å"Far away,† Ser Gerold said, â€Å"or Aerys would yet sit the Iron Throne, and our false brother would burn in seven hells.† â€Å"I came down on Storm’s End to lift the siege,† Ned told them, â€Å"and the Lords Tyrell and Redwyne dipped their banners, and all their knights bent the knee to pledge us fealty. I was certain you would be among them.† â€Å"Our knees do not bend easily,† said Ser Arthur Dayne. â€Å"Ser Willem Darry is fled to Dragonstone, with your queen and Prince Viserys. I thought you might have sailed with him.† â€Å"Ser Willem is a good man and true,† said Ser Oswell. â€Å"But not of the Kingsguard,† Ser Gerold pointed out. â€Å"The Kingsguard does not flee.† â€Å"Then or now,† said Ser Arthur. He donned his helm. â€Å"We swore a vow,† explained old Ser Gerold. Ned’s wraiths moved up beside him, with shadow swords in hand. They were seven against three. â€Å"And now it begins,† said Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. He unsheathed Dawn and held it with both hands. The blade was pale as milkglass, alive with light. â€Å"No,† Ned said with sadness in his voice. â€Å"Now it ends.† As they came together in a rush of steel and shadow, he could hear Lyanna screaming. â€Å"Eddard!† she called. A storm of rose petals blew across a blood-streaked sky, as blue as the eyes of death. â€Å"Lord Eddard,† Lyanna called again. â€Å"I promise,† he whispered. â€Å"Lya, I promise . . . â€Å" â€Å"Lord Eddard,† a man echoed from the dark. Groaning, Eddard Stark opened his eyes. Moonlight streamed through the tall windows of the Tower of the Hand. â€Å"Lord Eddard?† A shadow stood over the bed. â€Å"How . . . how long?† The sheets were tangled, his leg splinted and plastered. A dull throb of pain shot up his side. â€Å"Six days and seven nights.† The voice was Vayon Poole’s. The steward held a cup to Ned’s lips. â€Å"Drink, my lord.† â€Å"What . . . ?† â€Å"Only water. Maester Pycelle said you would be thirsty.† Ned drank. His lips were parched and cracked. The water tasted sweet as honey. â€Å"The king left orders,† Vayon Poole told him when the cup was empty. â€Å"He would speak with you, my lord.† â€Å"On the morrow,† Ned said. â€Å"When I am stronger.† He could not face Robert now. The dream had left him weak as a kitten. â€Å"My lord,† Poole said, â€Å"he commanded us to send you to him the moment you opened your eyes.† The steward busied himself lighting a bedside candle. Ned cursed softly. Robert was never known for his patience. â€Å"Tell him I’m too weak to come to him. If he wishes to speak with me, I should be pleased to receive him here. I hope you wake him from a sound sleep. And summon . . . † He was about to say Jory when he remembered. â€Å"Summon the captain of my guard.† Alyn stepped into the bedchamber a few moments after the steward had taken his leave. â€Å"My lord.† â€Å"Poole tells me it has been six days,† Ned said. â€Å"I must know how things stand.† â€Å"The Kingslayer is fled the city,† Alyn told him. â€Å"The talk is he’s ridden back to Casterly Rock to join his father. The story of how Lady Catelyn took the Imp is on every lip. I have put on extra guards, if it please you.† â€Å"It does,† Ned assured him. â€Å"My daughters?† â€Å"They have been with you every day, my lord. Sansa prays quietly, but Arya . . . † He hesitated. â€Å"She has not said a word since they brought you back. She is a fierce little thing, my lord. I have never seen such anger in a girl.† â€Å"Whatever happens,† Ned said, â€Å"I want my daughters kept safe. I fear this is only the beginning.† â€Å"No harm will come to them, Lord Eddard,† Alyn said. â€Å"I stake my life on that.† â€Å"Jory and the others . . . â€Å" â€Å"I gave them over to the silent sisters, to be sent north to Winterfell. Jory would want to lie beside his grandfather.† It would have to be his grandfather, for Jory’s father was buried far to the south. Martyn Cassel had perished with the rest. Ned had pulled the tower down afterward, and used its bloody stones to build eight cairns upon the ridge. It was said that Rhaegar had named that place the tower of joy, but for Ned it was a bitter memory. They had been seven against three, yet only two had lived to ride away; Eddard Stark himself and the little crannogman, Howland Reed. He did not think it omened well that he should dream that dream again after so many years. â€Å"You’ve done well, Alyn,† Ned was saying when Vayon Poole returned. The steward bowed low. â€Å"His Grace is without, my lord, and the queen with him.† Ned pushed himself up higher, wincing as his leg trembled with pain. He had not expected Cersei to come. It did not bode well that she had. â€Å"Send them in, and leave us. What we have to say should not go beyond these walls.† Poole withdrew quietly. Robert had taken time to dress. He wore a black velvet doublet with the crowned stag of Baratheon worked upon the breast in golden thread, and a golden mantle with a cloak of black and gold squares. A flagon of wine was in his hand, his face already flushed from drink. Cersei Lannister entered behind him, a jeweled tiara in her hair. â€Å"Your Grace,† Ned said. â€Å"Your pardons. I cannot rise.† â€Å"No matter,† the king said gruffly. â€Å"Some wine? From the Arbor. A good vintage.† â€Å"A small cup,† Ned said. â€Å"My head is still heavy from the milk of the poppy.† â€Å"A man in your place should count himself fortunate that his head is still on his shoulders,† the queen declared. â€Å"Quiet, woman,† Robert snapped. He brought Ned a cup of wine. â€Å"Does the leg still pain you?† â€Å"Some,† Ned said. His head was swimming, but it would not do to admit to weakness in front of the queen. â€Å"Pycelle swears it will heal clean.† Robert frowned. â€Å"I take it you know what Catelyn has done?† â€Å"I do.† Ned took a small swallow of wine. â€Å"My lady wife is blameless, Your Grace. All she did she did at my command.† â€Å"I am not pleased, Ned,† Robert grumbled. â€Å"By what right do you dare lay hands on my blood?† Cersei demanded. â€Å"Who do you think you are?† â€Å"The Hand of the King,† Ned told her with icy courtesy. â€Å"Charged by your own lord husband to keep the king’s peace and enforce the king’s justice.† â€Å"You were the Hand,† Cersei began, â€Å"but now—† â€Å"Silence!† the king roared. â€Å"You asked him a question and he answered it.† Cersei subsided, cold with anger, and Robert turned back to Ned. â€Å"Keep the king’s peace, you say. Is this how you keep my peace, Ned? Seven men are dead . . . â€Å" â€Å"Eight,† the queen corrected. â€Å"Tregar died this morning, of the blow Lord Stark gave him.† â€Å"Abductions on the kingsroad and drunken slaughter in my streets,† the king said. â€Å"I will not have it, Ned.† â€Å"Catelyn had good reason for taking the Imp—† â€Å"I said, I will not have it! To hell with her reasons. You will command her to release the dwarf at once, and you will make your peace with Jaime.† â€Å"Three of my men were butchered before my eyes, because Jaime Lannister wished to chasten me. Am I to forget that?† â€Å"My brother was not the cause of this quarrel,† Cersei told the king. â€Å"Lord Stark was returning drunk from a brothel. His men attacked Jaime and his guards, even as his wife attacked Tyrion on the kingsroad.† â€Å"You know me better than that, Robert,† Ned said. â€Å"Ask Lord Baelish if you doubt me. He was there.† â€Å"I’ve talked to Littlefinger,† Robert said. â€Å"He claims he rode off to bring the gold cloaks before the fighting began, but he admits you were returning from some whorehouse.† â€Å"Some whorehouse? Damn your eyes, Robert, I went there to have a look at your daughter! Her mother has named her Barra. She looks like that first girl you fathered, when we were boys together in the Vale.† He watched the queen as he spoke; her face was a mask, still and pale, betraying nothing. Robert flushed. â€Å"Barra,† he grumbled. â€Å"Is that supposed to please me? Damn the girl. I thought she had more sense.† â€Å"She cannot be more than fifteen, and a whore, and you thought she had sense?† Ned said, incredulous. His leg was beginning to pain him sorely. It was hard to keep his temper. â€Å"The fool child is in love with you, Robert.† The king glanced at Cersei. â€Å"This is no fit subject for the queen’s ears.† â€Å"Her Grace will have no liking for anything I have to say,† Ned replied. â€Å"I am told the Kingslayer has fled the city. Give me leave to bring him back to justice.† The king swirled the wine in his cup, brooding. He took a swallow. â€Å"No,† he said. â€Å"I want no more of this. Jaime slew three of your men, and you five of his. Now it ends.† â€Å"Is that your notion of justice?† Ned flared. â€Å"If so, I am pleased that I am no longer your Hand.† The queen looked to her husband. â€Å"If any man had dared speak to a Targaryen as he has spoken to you—† â€Å"Do you take me for Aerys?† Robert interrupted. â€Å"I took you for a king. Jaime and Tyrion are your own brothers, by all the laws of marriage and the bonds we share. The Starks have driven off the one and seized the other. This man dishonors you with every breath he takes, and yet you stand there meekly, asking if his leg pains him and would he like some wine.† Robert’s face was dark with anger. â€Å"How many times must I tell you to hold your tongue, woman?† Cersei’s face was a study in contempt. â€Å"What a jape the gods have made of us two,† she said. â€Å"By all rights, you ought to be in skirts and me in mail.† Purple with rage, the king lashed out, a vicious backhand blow to the side of the head. She stumbled against the table and fell hard, yet Cersei Lannister did not cry out. Her slender fingers brushed her cheek, where the pale smooth skin was already reddening. On the morrow the bruise would cover half her face. â€Å"I shall wear this as a badge of honor,† she announced. â€Å"Wear it in silence, or I’ll honor you again,† Robert vowed. He shouted for a guard. Ser Meryn Trant stepped into the room, tall and somber in his white armor. â€Å"The queen is tired. See her to her bedchamber.† The knight helped Cersei to her feet and led her out without a word. Robert reached for the flagon and refilled his cup. â€Å"You see what she does to me, Ned.† The king seated himself, cradling his wine cup. â€Å"My loving wife. The mother of my children.† The rage was gone from him now; in his eyes Ned saw something sad and scared. â€Å"I should not have hit her. That was not . . . that was not kingly.† He stared down at his hands, as if he did not quite know what they were. â€Å"I was always strong . . . no one could stand before me, no one. How do you fight someone if you can’t hit them?† Confused, the king shook his head. â€Å"Rhaegar . . . Rhaegar won, damn him. I killed him, Ned, I drove the spike right through that black armor into his black heart, and he died at my feet. They made up songs about it. Yet somehow he still won. He has Lyanna now, and I have her.† The king drained his cup. â€Å"Your Grace,† Ned Stark said, â€Å"we must talk . . . â€Å" Robert pressed his fingertips against his temples. â€Å"I am sick unto death of talk. On the morrow I’m going to the kingswood to hunt. Whatever you have to say can wait until I return.† â€Å"If the gods are good, I shall not be here on your return. You commanded me to return to Winterfell, remember?† Robert stood up, grasping one of the bedposts to steady himself. â€Å"The gods are seldom good, Ned. Here, this is yours.† He pulled the heavy silver hand clasp from a pocket in the lining of his cloak and tossed it on the bed. â€Å"Like it or not, you are my Hand, damn you. I forbid you to leave.† Ned picked up the silver clasp. He was being given no choice, it seemed. His leg throbbed, and he felt as helpless as a child. â€Å"The Targaryen girl—† The king groaned. â€Å"Seven hells, don’t start with her again. That’s done, I’ll hear no more of it.† â€Å"Why would you want me as your Hand, if you refuse to listen to my counsel?† â€Å"Why?† Robert laughed. â€Å"Why not? Someone has to rule this damnable kingdom. Put on the badge, Ned. It suits you. And if you ever throw it in my face again, I swear to you, I’ll pin the damned thing on Jaime Lannister.† A Game of Thrones Chapter Thirtynine Ned had known their faces as well as he knew his own once, but the years leech at a man’s memories, even those he has vowed never to forget. In the dream they were only shadows, grey wraiths on horses made of mist. They were seven, facing three. In the dream as it had been in life. Yet these were no ordinary three. They waited before the round tower, the red mountains of Dorne at their backs, their white cloaks blowing in the wind. And these were no shadows; their faces burned clear, even now. Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, had a sad smile on his lips. The hilt of the greatsword Dawn poked up over his right shoulder. Ser Oswell Whent was on one knee, sharpening his blade with a whetstone. Across his white-enameled helm, the black bat of his House spread its wings. Between them stood fierce old Ser Gerold Hightower, the White Bull, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. â€Å"I looked for you on the Trident,† Ned said to them. â€Å"We were not there,† Ser Gerold answered. â€Å"Woe to the Usurper if we had been,† said Ser Oswell. â€Å"When King’s Landing fell, Ser Jaime slew your king with a golden sword, and I wondered where you were.† â€Å"Far away,† Ser Gerold said, â€Å"or Aerys would yet sit the Iron Throne, and our false brother would burn in seven hells.† â€Å"I came down on Storm’s End to lift the siege,† Ned told them, â€Å"and the Lords Tyrell and Redwyne dipped their banners, and all their knights bent the knee to pledge us fealty. I was certain you would be among them.† â€Å"Our knees do not bend easily,† said Ser Arthur Dayne. â€Å"Ser Willem Darry is fled to Dragonstone, with your queen and Prince Viserys. I thought you might have sailed with him.† â€Å"Ser Willem is a good man and true,† said Ser Oswell. â€Å"But not of the Kingsguard,† Ser Gerold pointed out. â€Å"The Kingsguard does not flee.† â€Å"Then or now,† said Ser Arthur. He donned his helm. â€Å"We swore a vow,† explained old Ser Gerold. Ned’s wraiths moved up beside him, with shadow swords in hand. They were seven against three. â€Å"And now it begins,† said Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. He unsheathed Dawn and held it with both hands. The blade was pale as milkglass, alive with light. â€Å"No,† Ned said with sadness in his voice. â€Å"Now it ends.† As they came together in a rush of steel and shadow, he could hear Lyanna screaming. â€Å"Eddard!† she called. A storm of rose petals blew across a blood-streaked sky, as blue as the eyes of death. â€Å"Lord Eddard,† Lyanna called again. â€Å"I promise,† he whispered. â€Å"Lya, I promise . . . â€Å" â€Å"Lord Eddard,† a man echoed from the dark. Groaning, Eddard Stark opened his eyes. Moonlight streamed through the tall windows of the Tower of the Hand. â€Å"Lord Eddard?† A shadow stood over the bed. â€Å"How . . . how long?† The sheets were tangled, his leg splinted and plastered. A dull throb of pain shot up his side. â€Å"Six days and seven nights.† The voice was Vayon Poole’s. The steward held a cup to Ned’s lips. â€Å"Drink, my lord.† â€Å"What . . . ?† â€Å"Only water. Maester Pycelle said you would be thirsty.† Ned drank. His lips were parched and cracked. The water tasted sweet as honey. â€Å"The king left orders,† Vayon Poole told him when the cup was empty. â€Å"He would speak with you, my lord.† â€Å"On the morrow,† Ned said. â€Å"When I am stronger.† He could not face Robert now. The dream had left him weak as a kitten. â€Å"My lord,† Poole said, â€Å"he commanded us to send you to him the moment you opened your eyes.† The steward busied himself lighting a bedside candle. Ned cursed softly. Robert was never known for his patience. â€Å"Tell him I’m too weak to come to him. If he wishes to speak with me, I should be pleased to receive him here. I hope you wake him from a sound sleep. And summon . . . † He was about to say Jory when he remembered. â€Å"Summon the captain of my guard.† Alyn stepped into the bedchamber a few moments after the steward had taken his leave. â€Å"My lord.† â€Å"Poole tells me it has been six days,† Ned said. â€Å"I must know how things stand.† â€Å"The Kingslayer is fled the city,† Alyn told him. â€Å"The talk is he’s ridden back to Casterly Rock to join his father. The story of how Lady Catelyn took the Imp is on every lip. I have put on extra guards, if it please you.† â€Å"It does,† Ned assured him. â€Å"My daughters?† â€Å"They have been with you every day, my lord. Sansa prays quietly, but Arya . . . † He hesitated. â€Å"She has not said a word since they brought you back. She is a fierce little thing, my lord. I have never seen such anger in a girl.† â€Å"Whatever happens,† Ned said, â€Å"I want my daughters kept safe. I fear this is only the beginning.† â€Å"No harm will come to them, Lord Eddard,† Alyn said. â€Å"I stake my life on that.† â€Å"Jory and the others . . . â€Å" â€Å"I gave them over to the silent sisters, to be sent north to Winterfell. Jory would want to lie beside his grandfather.† It would have to be his grandfather, for Jory’s father was buried far to the south. Martyn Cassel had perished with the rest. Ned had pulled the tower down afterward, and used its bloody stones to build eight cairns upon the ridge. It was said that Rhaegar had named that place the tower of joy, but for Ned it was a bitter memory. They had been seven against three, yet only two had lived to ride away; Eddard Stark himself and the little crannogman, Howland Reed. He did not think it omened well that he should dream that dream again after so many years. â€Å"You’ve done well, Alyn,† Ned was saying when Vayon Poole returned. The steward bowed low. â€Å"His Grace is without, my lord, and the queen with him.† Ned pushed himself up higher, wincing as his leg trembled with pain. He had not expected Cersei to come. It did not bode well that she had. â€Å"Send them in, and leave us. What we have to say should not go beyond these walls.† Poole withdrew quietly. Robert had taken time to dress. He wore a black velvet doublet with the crowned stag of Baratheon worked upon the breast in golden thread, and a golden mantle with a cloak of black and gold squares. A flagon of wine was in his hand, his face already flushed from drink. Cersei Lannister entered behind him, a jeweled tiara in her hair. â€Å"Your Grace,† Ned said. â€Å"Your pardons. I cannot rise.† â€Å"No matter,† the king said gruffly. â€Å"Some wine? From the Arbor. A good vintage.† â€Å"A small cup,† Ned said. â€Å"My head is still heavy from the milk of the poppy.† â€Å"A man in your place should count himself fortunate that his head is still on his shoulders,† the queen declared. â€Å"Quiet, woman,† Robert snapped. He brought Ned a cup of wine. â€Å"Does the leg still pain you?† â€Å"Some,† Ned said. His head was swimming, but it would not do to admit to weakness in front of the queen. â€Å"Pycelle swears it will heal clean.† Robert frowned. â€Å"I take it you know what Catelyn has done?† â€Å"I do.† Ned took a small swallow of wine. â€Å"My lady wife is blameless, Your Grace. All she did she did at my command.† â€Å"I am not pleased, Ned,† Robert grumbled. â€Å"By what right do you dare lay hands on my blood?† Cersei demanded. â€Å"Who do you think you are?† â€Å"The Hand of the King,† Ned told her with icy courtesy. â€Å"Charged by your own lord husband to keep the king’s peace and enforce the king’s justice.† â€Å"You were the Hand,† Cersei began, â€Å"but now—† â€Å"Silence!† the king roared. â€Å"You asked him a question and he answered it.† Cersei subsided, cold with anger, and Robert turned back to Ned. â€Å"Keep the king’s peace, you say. Is this how you keep my peace, Ned? Seven men are dead . . . â€Å" â€Å"Eight,† the queen corrected. â€Å"Tregar died this morning, of the blow Lord Stark gave him.† â€Å"Abductions on the kingsroad and drunken slaughter in my streets,† the king said. â€Å"I will not have it, Ned.† â€Å"Catelyn had good reason for taking the Imp—† â€Å"I said, I will not have it! To hell with her reasons. You will command her to release the dwarf at once, and you will make your peace with Jaime.† â€Å"Three of my men were butchered before my eyes, because Jaime Lannister wished to chasten me. Am I to forget that?† â€Å"My brother was not the cause of this quarrel,† Cersei told the king. â€Å"Lord Stark was returning drunk from a brothel. His men attacked Jaime and his guards, even as his wife attacked Tyrion on the kingsroad.† â€Å"You know me better than that, Robert,† Ned said. â€Å"Ask Lord Baelish if you doubt me. He was there.† â€Å"I’ve talked to Littlefinger,† Robert said. â€Å"He claims he rode off to bring the gold cloaks before the fighting began, but he admits you were returning from some whorehouse.† â€Å"Some whorehouse? Damn your eyes, Robert, I went there to have a look at your daughter! Her mother has named her Barra. She looks like that first girl you fathered, when we were boys together in the Vale.† He watched the queen as he spoke; her face was a mask, still and pale, betraying nothing. Robert flushed. â€Å"Barra,† he grumbled. â€Å"Is that supposed to please me? Damn the girl. I thought she had more sense.† â€Å"She cannot be more than fifteen, and a whore, and you thought she had sense?† Ned said, incredulous. His leg was beginning to pain him sorely. It was hard to keep his temper. â€Å"The fool child is in love with you, Robert.† The king glanced at Cersei. â€Å"This is no fit subject for the queen’s ears.† â€Å"Her Grace will have no liking for anything I have to say,† Ned replied. â€Å"I am told the Kingslayer has fled the city. Give me leave to bring him back to justice.† The king swirled the wine in his cup, brooding. He took a swallow. â€Å"No,† he said. â€Å"I want no more of this. Jaime slew three of your men, and you five of his. Now it ends.† â€Å"Is that your notion of justice?† Ned flared. â€Å"If so, I am pleased that I am no longer your Hand.† The queen looked to her husband. â€Å"If any man had dared speak to a Targaryen as he has spoken to you—† â€Å"Do you take me for Aerys?† Robert interrupted. â€Å"I took you for a king. Jaime and Tyrion are your own brothers, by all the laws of marriage and the bonds we share. The Starks have driven off the one and seized the other. This man dishonors you with every breath he takes, and yet you stand there meekly, asking if his leg pains him and would he like some wine.† Robert’s face was dark with anger. â€Å"How many times must I tell you to hold your tongue, woman?† Cersei’s face was a study in contempt. â€Å"What a jape the gods have made of us two,† she said. â€Å"By all rights, you ought to be in skirts and me in mail.† Purple with rage, the king lashed out, a vicious backhand blow to the side of the head. She stumbled against the table and fell hard, yet Cersei Lannister did not cry out. Her slender fingers brushed her cheek, where the pale smooth skin was already reddening. On the morrow the bruise would cover half her face. â€Å"I shall wear this as a badge of honor,† she announced. â€Å"Wear it in silence, or I’ll honor you again,† Robert vowed. He shouted for a guard. Ser Meryn Trant stepped into the room, tall and somber in his white armor. â€Å"The queen is tired. See her to her bedchamber.† The knight helped Cersei to her feet and led her out without a word. Robert reached for the flagon and refilled his cup. â€Å"You see what she does to me, Ned.† The king seated himself, cradling his wine cup. â€Å"My loving wife. The mother of my children.† The rage was gone from him now; in his eyes Ned saw something sad and scared. â€Å"I should not have hit her. That was not . . . that was not kingly.† He stared down at his hands, as if he did not quite know what they were. â€Å"I was always strong . . . no one could stand before me, no one. How do you fight someone if you can’t hit them?† Confused, the king shook his head. â€Å"Rhaegar . . . Rhaegar won, damn him. I killed him, Ned, I drove the spike right through that black armor into his black heart, and he died at my feet. They made up songs about it. Yet somehow he still won. He has Lyanna now, and I have her.† The king drained his cup. â€Å"Your Grace,† Ned Stark said, â€Å"we must talk . . . â€Å" Robert pressed his fingertips against his temples. â€Å"I am sick unto death of talk. On the morrow I’m going to the kingswood to hunt. Whatever you have to say can wait until I return.† â€Å"If the gods are good, I shall not be here on your return. You commanded me to return to Winterfell, remember?† Robert stood up, grasping one of the bedposts to steady himself. â€Å"The gods are seldom good, Ned. Here, this is yours.† He pulled the heavy silver hand clasp from a pocket in the lining of his cloak and tossed it on the bed. â€Å"Like it or not, you are my Hand, damn you. I forbid you to leave.† Ned picked up the silver clasp. He was being given no choice, it seemed. His leg throbbed, and he felt as helpless as a child. â€Å"The Targaryen girl—† The king groaned. â€Å"Seven hells, don’t start with her again. That’s done, I’ll hear no more of it.† â€Å"Why would you want me as your Hand, if you refuse to listen to my counsel?† â€Å"Why?† Robert laughed. â€Å"Why not? Someone has to rule this damnable kingdom. Put on the badge, Ned. It suits you. And if you ever throw it in my face again, I swear to you, I’ll pin the damned thing on Jaime Lannister.†

Apple Inc. Management and Product Development Timeline Research Paper

Apple Inc. Management and Product Development Timeline - Research Paper Example The research paper "Apple Inc. Management and Product Development Timeline" investigates the compliance to various regulations governing the computer industry, project management within the enterprise, the productivity of the company and its market position and share in the computer technology market in a timeline of a series of events. Apple Inc. formerly known as Apple Computers Inc is a public traded company in the industry of computer software and appliances. Formed in 1976 and incorporated in 1977, the company that was founded by the trio of Jobs, Wozniak, and Wayne and has its headquarters in California, U.S.A. It stands out as the company that managed to grow from strength to strength amid all the challenges in the computer technology market. Presently a multinational company with the market and operational presence in various countries of the world, Apple is, in fact, the market leader in the provision of computers and related accessories as well as computer software. Currently, Apple has an employee base of 60,400 and 357 retail stores all over the world. This has provided them with a market influence greater than its competitors like The Microsoft Company which it has since surpassed despite having been in the market way before Apple. As a result, Apple has a large equity base of $76.615 billion with a turnover of $108.249 billion as reported in 2011. The result has been that the company is highly profitable with the profits standing at US$ 25.922 billion as at 2011. The legal environment in which Apple operates is dominated by requirements to protect the environment, labour laws as well as state requirements such as tax compliances, employee working conditions and benefits. Apple Inc. has been on the fore front in com plying with such legal requirements. It has undertaken social responsibility to protect its employees and the society at large from the dangerous emissions that result from its operations. Although Apple emits green house gases and therefore a contributor to environmental degradation, it has taken measures to recycle its products so as to relieve the environment of such heavy carbon burden. More recycling centers have been set up in most countries of operation, approximately 95% of all those countries in places of high computer usage. The company achieved and surpassed the target of recycling 50% of their total hardware input by 1997. Economically, Apple has successfully waded off competition as it captures a wider market proportion. Competition has majorly been witnessed from other computer appliances and software design firms like MYSQL, Microsoft and Oracle. The company has continued to design more efficient software and improved on its hardware over the years even though this ha s at times made their products fairly expensive due to high costs of production, research and development which have in some circumstances delinked them from consumers. The most important aspect however, is that they have learnt from previous experiences and are presently at an equilibrium in production costs and consumer attitudes in the design and marketing of their products. With the growing world population and an influx of computer users, the economic future of Apple is without doubt very bright. Over the years, the management and top decision making of Apple Inc. had always been on the CEO who was either one of the founders until Wayne sold off his shares. Steve Jobs as a result became the company’s longest serving CEO before his death in October 2011. The top management has in the past been responsible for the products in the market, research and sales which have together given the company its current market status of

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Multinational corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Multinational corporation - Essay Example The areas of corporate social responsibility are such as management of the environment, maintaining labour standards and good working conditions, engagement of stakeholders, observance of human rights and practicing good governance. A multinational corporation will show corporate irresponsibility on failure to take the social responsibility measures (Adeyeye, 2012). According to McIntyre et al (2009) one of the corporate irresponsibility incidents of multinational corporations is the violation of human rights by these corporations, and another one is environmental mismanagement. For instance the MCNs in oil extracting countries have been observed over the years to have violated the rights of the oil bearing communities. The violation usually arises from the conflicts between the two groups concerning land rights and compensation for the ecological damages that are caused by these corporations during oil extraction. The extraction mainly causes negative effects on the environment and the MNCs show corporate irresponsibility by not finding the appropriate measures of managing the effects caused. The multinational corporations further fail to meet the expectations of these communities concerning compensation as well as environmental management. The result of this corporate irresponsibility is frustration of the communities arising from unfulfilled expectations as well as violence as form of response. The operations of these multinational corporations have been attributed to the cases of underdevelopment in the countries (Sornarajah, 2010). The efforts of free trade markets to better the global economy and making sure that multinationals are accountable for their effects on the environments and stakeholders, have failed since the multinational corporations are making more efforts to cover their abuses on the environment as well as the human rights instead of preventing them. Among the multinational

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Ethics and Social Responsibility Relevant to Facebook Essay

Ethics and Social Responsibility Relevant to Facebook - Essay Example The social networking sites operate at interpersonal levels. The communication involves the ethical and social considerations between friend to friend, parents to their children, employer to the employee, employee to the employee, doctor to patient, teacher to student, and buyer to sellers; in fact, it encompasses every human relationship which exists in the world. The ethics and the social responsibility related to the Facebook and how they are dealing with it shall be discussed in this paper. To take a deeper insight into the ethics and social responsibility of social networking sites, a brief history related to the social networking will be highlighted, regarding the information on how they have expanded. Definitions and history of social networking sites Social networking seems to be an ambiguous term used for such sites. Human beings are inherently social creatures. From the very start, they have developed different ways and modes to communicate with each other. They cannot live in complete isolation from each other. For this purpose, human beings have always facilitated and built structured social networks. These institutions and facilities included community clubs, public places, churches and communication technologies such as postal and courier system, telephone and telegraph system. However, with the passage of time and tremendous increase in technological advancement, they have started resorting to faster and quicker ways of communications in the form of information technology. Most of these are based on the software standards of Web 2.0 (Vallor 2012). Before the emergence of Web 2.0 standards, various forms of networking such as chat rooms, Bulletin Board System (BBS) and MUD’s (multi user’s dungeons) were being used for social interactions (Barnes 2001; Turkle 1995). These early social networking places worked typically as places of commercial, personal or academic exploitation. These were rather used for broad social purposes. The pur pose behind the emergence of Web 2.0 was to produce user-friendly, collaborative and communicative internet content. Though the initial aims of the developers were same as that of the previous social networking and internet but it evolved with the rapid changes in the technology. Social topography of the internet has been redefined by Web 2.0 social interfaces which built increased social networks between their users online as well as offline. This trend shifted the original function of internet from pseudonymous identities to formation of Sui Generis social networking (Ess 2011). Sites which adopted new trends The very first websites which adopted the explicit standards for social networking were Orkut, FaceBook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Friendster, Beboand Habbo. The recent change in these trends is the rise in the media sharing sites such as You Tube, icro-blogging sites such as Twitter, Location based networking sites such as Google Latitude and interest sharing sites such as Pinteres t (Vallor 2012). Rise of ethical concerns related to social networking sites One of the sub parts of the computer and information ethics is the ethical implications of Social Networking Sites (Bynum 2011). With an increase in the social networking phenomenon and owing much to the effects and usage of the computer as a medium of social communication, the

Friday, July 26, 2019

The VDOT Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The VDOT Management - Assignment Example Theory X is a concept of inspiration, which assumes that the workforce does not like certain tasks, or change, but can complete the tasks effectively under the high control of the management. The theory’s management method can be soft or tough. For example, when using the hard approach, the VDOT managers must coerce, control, and threaten the staff in order to augment the job performance. To use the soft method, the leaders should be lenient and seek unity, and this will motivate the workers to be cooperative. The hard approach is usually not very helpful since it can lead to low outputs and hostility. The soft way augments the workforce desire for higher incentive in exchange for lower work performance (Lauby, 2005). The organization can also use goal-setting theory. The VDOT should involve the staff in goal setting. This theory implies that the workers can be inspired to realize the goals that they sett together with their supervisor. This will motivate personnel to work tirelessly to meet the set goals (Pride, Hughes, & Kapoor, 2011). Previously, VDOT was famous for its innovations in the engineering field and perfectly conducted researches. However, with the progress of time, the VDOT employees lost self-esteem in work therefore, they decided to introduce the management theories to improve the organizational configuration together with management. Firstly, VDOT helps the managers in rectifying the appearance and efficiency of dissimilar departments at the workplace through the provision of their management theories. In doing this, VDOT ensures the provisions of funds, technology, equipment’s and manpower which are planned, organized, motivated and controlled to enhance good productivity within an organization (Gluck & Lorenz, 2010). Secondly, VDOT is vital to managers in solving their management problems because it has a function of fostering the business plan processes. Therefore, it identifies and resolves the most critical issue that might affect a business plan before  its implementation.  

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Cost Allocation in Small Businesses Research Paper

Cost Allocation in Small Businesses - Research Paper Example As the essay stresses one of the main benefits that companies get through proper cost allocation is awareness of expenses. Accurate assignment of costs to business processes makes it possible for the managers to know exactly the types of expenses incurred in any particular business operation. Here, it needs to be mentioned that such information is not just critical for the development of operating budgets; rather it is also imperative in the calculation of taxes payable to state, local, and federal tax agencies. The way a company assigns costs to different business units have a profound impact on the amount of taxes that the company pays. From the report it is clear that small businesses can also use cost allocation as a tool to know which items associated with any particular department had the most or least impact on the cost generation by that department. For example, if the accounting, marketing, and customer services departments make use of the same printer for producing prints, the company can easily spread the cost out of that printer on all associated departments according to their respective usage of the system. Such an accuracy of cost information results in improving the decision-making mechanisms of a company, as well as helps in enhancing the overall quality of business processes. Cost allocation also results in enhancing the resource usage. Companies allocating costs to different business departments know that the benefits that they will get will definitely supersede the associated costs. To be specific, when a company has to decide whether it should use the resources of any particular business department , it first takes into account the variable and fixed costs of the department. Though cost allocation, a company is able to know the extent the resources can be used without affecting the associated costs. Determines Expenses Accurately Using cost allocation, a company can determine the costs associated with hiring, retaining, and shifting of employees from one department to

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Operations management-report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Operations management-report - Essay Example Additionally, key focus is on managing people in an effective manner where skill sets are analysed and accordingly responsibilities are offered in a systematic and planned manner. It was also found that Just in Time concept has helped the organisation in eliminating chances of huge wastage along with responding to the changes in the business and social environment. Overall, it was concluded that Total Quality Management (TQM is also practiced by the organisation helping in maintaining high quality standards. All these initiatives have helped the company to strengthen its operational framework along with being successful. Slack, et al (2010) stated that operations management is concerned with designing, controlling, and overseeing production processes along with redesigning business processes for better production of goods and services. Hill and Hill (2011) added that operations management ensures that business operations are efficient enough to use little but impactful and robust resources exceeding customers’ expectations in a meaningful manner. Simon (2010) added that operations management is concerned with the conversion of inputs in the form of raw material and energy into the output offering value and benefits to a number of customers. Slack, et al (2010) further added that operations management has a close relationship with business operations and the success of the later can only define the success of the former. In this regard, it is important to analyse the business operations and processes in a critical manner. Heizer and Render (2010) added that the senior management needs to develop business strategies and line officers need to take tactical decisions in order to make business operations successful. Simon (2010) stated that the success of operations management is dependent on formulating robust business objectives along with aligning

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Cpk Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cpk - Term Paper Example By so doing, CPK will improve its margins since it will have streamlined the pizza menu alongside other critical issues. With the economy favoring the restaurant chains, CPK has options to weigh, which include selling itself. With such options at sight, the company’s directors have allowed the management to come up with strategic alternatives like changing the capital structure, merging, or acquiring other companies in the same industry. However, investors must be warned that such strategies are not a guarantee for good performance in future. Some few years ago, CPK suffered from low sales because most pizza consumers opted to cook at home. Having realized that, the company launched a call center where customers would call to make orders with free delivery. In addition, the company increased its wine varieties and the catering program. Since it owns most of the pizza restaurants in the US, CPK prefers to lease a huge proportion of its property in places where it is located. Su ch a strategy has assisted it avoid huge debts. As a premium pizza company in the US and around the world, CPK has to categorically select its best positions. Strategies, as discussed above, are an indicator that the company acknowledges the existing competition, changes in customer preferences, global issues, and environmental changes. Through such attributes, the company has adopted some strategies to accommodate customer preferences for instance launching a call centre, which makes it possible for customers to make orders instead of cooking at home. Some strategies are purely meant to help the company maximize profits. Managing a series of CPK restaurants can be a hectic task. For this reason, the management made a unique decision by leasing out some of the restaurants under its name to reduce costs attached to management and thus maximize on profits. Strategies are helpful to any organization. They

Chinese philosophy Essay Example for Free

Chinese philosophy Essay . Introduction A. Thesis There are so many different philosophies and religions, and they greatly influence people’s life. In this paper, I am going to introduce and define the representatives of the Western philosophy such as Plato’s metaphysical Dualism and Chinese philosophy like Daoism. And I am going to compare these philosophies and explain the difference between them. ?. Dualism A. Explain Plato’s metaphysical Dualism Plato’s Dualism divided the reality into two different realms of existence (World of the Senses and World of the Forms). One world (the physical world) is constantly changing, and another world (the world of the Forms) is unchanging. Plato further divided these two different realms of existence. The world of Forms can be divided into the higher world (realm of the form) and the lower world (the Empirical world). The world of senses can be divided into physical objects (ordinary objects we perceive) and images (shadows, reflections and pictures). B. Summary of Allegory of Cave Plato explained his metaphysical dualism by using the Allegory of a cave. According to Marc Cohen: In the allegory, Plato likens people untutored in the Theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners, hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real objects that pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they do not see. However, one day one of them is released from what keeps them the guy sitting, and they look back. At that time, the guy realizes that there are objects and the fire behind people and someone moves the objects. The shadow people have seen is a fake. People who are still sitting have never seen the objects behind them, so they believe that the shadow is real. The guy is free to move, so he starts to run to the exit of the cave. After getting out of the cave, the guy feels dizzy because the world out of the cave is too shiny. After a while, his eyes got used to the brightness and the beautiful world like the mountain, the sky, the river, or the sun is in the eyes of the guy. And then he realizes that the world out of the cave is real. He goes back to the cave and tells people who are still sitting in the cave what he saw out of the cave. However, they do not believe that what the guy told is the truth. C. Interpretation of the Allegory. By using this Allegory, we can think about today’s world. There are too much in formation in the world, and the world seems to be narrower than before. Especially the appearance of mass media like newspaper, television, magazine, Internet, or SNS changed how we deal with information. Too much information is created and flows every day, and we can get the information you need any time by the device like a smart phone, a PC or a tablet. However, is the information you can get really the reality? The information created by mass media might be like the shadow in a cave. Before I was born, there was already too much information. I learned much information like Japanese history in a school, and I also know the new information of the incidence that occurs every day at the same time through mass media. So I learned most of things that occurred around the world through the information created by mass media, and the information is like a shadow in Allegory of a Cave. Suppose that an internal warfare is happening in one country. We know about that through mass media. We might see suffers in a TV or in a photo. We feel like understand everything about the war through the picture on TV or words of the News, but that is not a whole thing but just part of that. We need to seek the reality by my own eyes today’s world. ?. Plato’s Legacy According to Philip, â€Å"Plato thought that the soul could and would exist apart from the body and would exist after the death of the body. He offered a proof for this position and was the first to do so in writing that we have any evidence of doing so. He offered several different proofs or arguments none of which are convincing today†. His argument was that humans were composed of bodies and souls, but soul was more important and immortal. His arguments used premises that are questionable today. For example, Plato thought he could conclude that the soul could exist separating from the body because it worked independently from the body when it engaged in pure thought. But today, it is proved that how we think depends on the physical brain works. So this is no longer accepted as true. Plato thought that they are remembering the knowledge implanted in their souls when the souls were in the realm of pure thought and eternal forms before entering into the body after which they forgot as they became confused by physical emotions and feelings and limited experiences through the senses. And that is the only way to explain how people come to know. This is no longer accepted as the best explanation of how people come to have knowledge. However, Plato is credited with being the first human to attempt to set out any sort of a proof that humans had souls and that they survived the death of the body and that they were immortal. A. Descartes-Substance Dualism According to Philip, â€Å"Descartes also believed that the soul existed prior to and separate from the body, and it was immortal. In his view, all of reality consisted of two very different substances: matter or the physical and spirit or the non-physical. † The physical was what would be extended in time and space and the non-physical would not be characterized. He thought that his famous claim that â€Å"I think therefore I am† established not just that he existed but that he existed without a body as a â€Å"thinking thing†. A thinking thing is a thing that thinks and by that would be included: imagining, conceiving, hoping, dreaming, desiring, fearing, conjecturing, reasoning, remembering and more. For him a thinking thing needed no physical parts to do what it does. Modern science has established that there is no evidence of humans that are without a physical body and its brain. There is no evidence that thought is possible without a brain. There is much evidence that what has been associated with Descartes’ â€Å"thinking thing† is now explained solely in term of the brain and how the brain is physically structured and the functioning of the brain. B. Aquinas According to the text, â€Å"Saint Thomas Aquinas is the philosopher who explained five ways to demonstrate the existence of the God within the framework of a posteriori (the knowledge comes from, or after the experience) and developed cosmological and teleological arguments. † I am going to explain one of the demonstrations. The way is from the nature of efficient cause. In the world of sensible things, there is an order of efficient causes. It never happens that the thing is the efficient cause of itself. If you look at one phenomenon, you can see many efficient causes behind it. But you cannot go back to infinity. There must be the first efficient cause. Aquinas claims that that is the God. The Aquinas’ claim is similar to Plato’s claim. He thought the God is the first efficient cause and independent one. That is close to the concept â€Å"the realm of the form† Plato claimed. And the things in the world of sensible things are the secondary things of the God. It is close to â€Å"the Empirical world† Plato claimed. ?. Chinese Natural Cosmology A. Ames `Image of Reason in Chinese Culture† Ames claims the difference between the dominant conceptions of reality in the West and in the Chinese tradition in his â€Å"image of Reason in Chinese Culture†. According to the text, Ames claims that â€Å"to explore the Chinese philosophy, he thought you needed to recognize at least that you are dealing with a fundamentally different world if you are familiar with Western culture. To bring into relief certain features of the dominant Indo-European view and Chinese alternative to it, he constructs a â€Å"logical sense of order with an â€Å"aesthetic† order. † What we call â€Å"logical† sense of order has developed Western philosophical and religious orthodoxy, and it is based on the presumption that there is something permanent, perfect, objective, and universal that disciplines the world of charge and guarantees natural and moral order-some originative and determinative arche, an eternal realm of Platonic edios or â€Å"ideas†, the One True God of the Judeo-Christian universe, a transcendental strongbox of invariable principles or laws, an annalistic method for discerning clear and distinct ideas. In a single-order world, the One God is the initial beginning of the universe. The God is primal and unchanging principle that causes and explains that origin and issues everything from itself, and that is familiar and presupposition in Western tradition. Although the world is explained by â€Å"logical† order in Western tradition, however, there is no â€Å"logical† order in Chinese philosophy. The order of Chinese tradition is immanent in and inseparable from a spontaneously changing world. The universe possesses within itself its organizational principles and its own creative energy. In the view of Chinese tradition, the world creates itself. That is scandalous from the view point of Western scholar reason. The yin and the yan come together and guide the infinite combination of these two opposite source of energy. These two sources of energy make a spontaneous intelligence possible. Yin and yan as the characterization of a particular relationship invariably entail a perception from some particular perspective that enables us to unravel patterns of relatedness and interpret our circumstances. They provide a vocabulary for sorting out the relationship among things as they come together and constitute themselves in unique compositions. Ames also mentions the Chinese word â€Å"li†. In both classical Chinese corpus and modern language, the closest term that approximates â€Å"reason† or â€Å"principle†. He claims that identifying the meaning of the word â€Å"li† correctly is essential to understand Chinese philosophy. According to the text, â€Å"Philosophically, the most familiar uses of li lie somewhere in the cluster â€Å"reasoning† or â€Å"rationale† (A. S. Cua), â€Å"principle† (W.T. Chan), â€Å"organism† (J. Needham), and â€Å"coherence† (W. Peterson). † Among these several alternative translations used for â€Å"li†, although philosophically as protean as â€Å"principle† for Western tradition, unwarrantedly restrict li to a notion of human consciousness and tend to introduce distinction such as animate and inanimate, agency and act, intelligible and sensible. Li is much different from being some independent and immutable originative principle that disciplines a recalcitrant world. It is the fabric of order immanent in the dynamic process of experience. That is why psychology is translated in to Chinese as the li of the heart-and-mind, but then physics is the study of the li of things and events. What separates li rather clearly from Western common understanding of principle is that li is both a unity and a multiplicity. Li is the coherence of any member of a set, all members of a set, or the set as a whole. Both the uniqueness of each particular and the continuities that obtain among them are reflected by this description. Li then is the defining character or ethos of a given community, or any other such composition. Ames also claims another point at which li departs from principle. In Western tradition, the discovery of originative and determinative principle gives us a schema for classifying things and subsuming one thing under another. That is why people seek principle in Western tradition. However, the investigation of li, by contrast, is to seek out patterns that relate things, and to discover resonances between things that make correlations and categorization possible. B. Hans-Gorg Moeller In Daodejing, the meaning of â€Å"the root† is described by using metaphor. From the view of the Daoist, our world is a â€Å"self-generating† process. In Daoism there is no initial beginning for â€Å"logical† order. In Daoism, order is immanent in and inseparable from a spontaneously changing world, and then â€Å"the world creates itself. † In this point of view, the role of â€Å"the root† is very important. â€Å"The root† is an origin of phenomenon, and many things are derived from â€Å"the root. † Unlike many Western philosophical perspectives, this â€Å"root† has a somewhat unique, interesting, and different meaning in it. The Western philosophy’s principle or arche is the first cause of the event. And nothing would exist if there were not any of the Western philosophy’s principle or arche. However, the concept of â€Å"the root† is different of that. From the Daoist perspective, â€Å"the root† is a part of the plant. â€Å"The root† does not exist before the plant although plant cannot exist if there is no â€Å"the root. † That is, â€Å"the root† itself is not a creator of the plant. It is the origin of the growth of the plant. â€Å"The root† is buried in the soil or ground, so it is invisible. However, â€Å"the root† greatly influences its visible part. This illustrates Daoist’s â€Å"autopoiesis,† self-generating concept well, which differs a lot from the Western philosophical concept â€Å"arche,† which is stated or recognized as â€Å"the God. † ?. Comparative Epistemology A. Hellenistic-Prescriptive theoretical knowledge In Western tradition, most of philosophers think there is one principle or one God and things happen from it. And the mind is separable part from the body. One of the examples is Plato. Plato’s dualism is that there are the realm of form and the imperial world. The body belongs to the imperial world and the world is constantly changing. And what we sense by the body is limited, and the Empirical world is not real. The true world is the realm of the form, and the mind belongs to the world. Plato argues that the â€Å"knowledge† continuously exists and must be justified conviction. However, the Empirical world that we belong to is contentiously changing, and there is no unchanging thing in the world. That is why there is no thing from which we can get â€Å"knowledge† in the Empirical world, so we cannot get â€Å"knowledge† by our own senses. The unchanging things exist in the realm of the form, and we cannot reach the world by using our senses. So we need to use our mind to get â€Å"knowledge†. Not all of Western philosophers claim like that, but most of philosophers claim that the truth does not exist in the world where we live today. This concept greatly influences Christianity or other religions that have the one God. In Christianity, there is one God named â€Å"Jesus Christ†, and he is the reason why things happen or why we live. People pray to seek â€Å"knowledge† that exists in the world where we are not living. That is, we cannot get the â€Å"knowledge† about it in the world where we are living, and we need to get it from the other world to know the essence of the things. B. Chinese philosophy-Prescriptive practical On the other hand, there is no the one God in Chinese philosophy. In China, the war occurred constantly, and Chinese dynasty changed over time, so people did not come to rely on one thing. This influenced the Chinese philosopher. Instead of one god or one principle, Chinese philosophers think that the world creates itself and that the world is constituted by the combination of determinacy and indeterminacy, and spontaneous, dynamic changing is the universal principle of the world. In Western tradition, the philosophers try to attribute many phenomenons to the one reason. However, Chinese philosophers think that each thing is â€Å"self-so† creativity, self-generating, and spontaneous. For Chinese philosophy, the Nature is very important, and in Daoism it is important not to try to force thing. That is why there is the concepts in Daoism; wu wei(without intentional action), wu si(without deliberate thought), wu si(without selfish interesting), wu ji(without self-awareness), wu zhi(without knowledge), wu xin(without heart-and-mind). Daoists claim that when you are thinking something, the world is also changing at the same time, so you are missing something. That is why it is important for Daoism to stop thinking by your head, get out of the world of your head, look around the world, and take action. The most important thing for Daoism is that we ought to take action as a part of the world. ?. Conclusion There have been so many philosophers through the history, and each of philosophy has been developed around the world. And how people think about the world is different, depending on the philosophy. Of many philosophies, the significant different philosophies are the Western and Chinese philosophy. In the Western philosophy, the philosophers try to attribute everything to the one principle or the one God. On the other hand, there is no principle, and the philosophers have recognized the world as self-generating process, and the world is the source of itself without no exact start and end point. This thought influences religion and how people think about the world. Around the world, many wars related to religion occur today. The difference between the religions is just what ancient people developed, so it is important to try to understand the difference in today’s world. Reference Pecorino, Philip, Ph. D. Chapter 6 : The Mind-Body Problem Section 3: DUALISM. Introduction To Philosophy an Online Textbook. Queensborough Community College, CUNY, n. d. Web. 4 Dec 2013. . Deutsch, Eliot. Introduction to World Philosophies. 1st ed. 509. New Jersey: A Pearson Education Company, 1997. Ex-255-256. Print. Deutsch, Eliot. Introduction to World Philosophies. 1st ed. 509. New Jersey: A Pearson Education Company, 1997. Ex-469. Print. Cohen, Marc. The Allegory of the Cave. Philosophy 320 History of Ancient Philosophy. University of Washington, 07 11 2013. Web. 4 Dec 2013. .

Monday, July 22, 2019

The controversy that is evolution Essay Example for Free

The controversy that is evolution Essay I will be looking at the controversy that is evolution. The one side being we have evolved from primate to Neanderthal man to homo sapien. And the other from a religious creator point of view and the view of no proof of evolution. I shall start with the argument against evolution. The issue here is that faith is something which can not be proven thats why its called faith because you have to believe, compared to that which has not been proven (theory) (1). This articles argument is that until there is specific evidence and proof in some form of fossil or gradual progression and transition from one species to the next, evolution will remain an unproven, yet appealing, theory. Creationism in the Oxford English Dictionary (6) means the belief that the universe and living creatures were created by God in accordance with the account given in the Old Testament. Creationists will try and argue the case in favour of their belief when people comment on how the Earth is far older than 6000 years and therefore how could God have made it. They infer that the natural processes back then were a lot different to how they are today, such as radioactive decay occurred far more rapid thousands of years ago than it does today, making the earth seem older than it really is. (2). Whether or not decay did occur a lot faster back then is still to be discovered this is why theorist trying to prove evolution cant be sure about anything and nor can the creationists be sure about what happened. 45% of Americans agreed with the statement: God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10 000 years or so (3, page 499). They believe and stand on what they believe so much that it creationist materials have been published not only in English but in 13 other languages (3, page 500). They believe that the universe and earth was created 10,000 years ago, and that the earth was inundated by Noahs flood and that all living things were created by God to reproduce after the kind, thus setting limits on evolution. This article goes on (3, page 502) to talk about how Darwin didnt publish in detail all facts in his origin of species (4) which he regarded as a mere abstract of his planned yet never completed Natural Selection (5). Reasons for this are not known but makes you wonder why didnt he complete it and creationists use this in their favour against the idea of evolution. The arguments here are good, until proof is given when someone makes a theory it is not fact and so therefore can not be relied upon no matter how many assumptions and theories are put together. The bible has been translated more times and into more languages (more than 2,100 languages) than any other book, and it is the best selling book of all time, this fact makes it seem more than just a nice story and makes it easier to believe that it actually possiably true. However questions may be asked from the opposing side about the religious background to the creationism argument. The point being if your not religious your not going to believe in the creation story and therefore not going to believe God created everything so they will look for answers in nature and elsewhere and create theories to try and prove where we did come from. In these evolution scientist minds we did evolve from apes, and they will try and prove the creation story wrong and their theory right. I shall now go on to look at the arguments for the theory of evolution. Evolution in the oxford English dictionary (6) means the process by which different kinds of living organism are believed to have developed, especially by natural selection ; gradual development. Humans and chimpanzees share some 99% of DNA and amino acid identity (8, page 721). These figures are good numbers to look at and to try and prove we have evolved from chimps, and are convincing. However despite this high percent our morphological, biomedical and cognitive differences are significant. This is why creationists and other people find it hard to believe we have morphed from chimps into humans. There is also the fact that if we were once chimps and we evolved into humans, there are now still humans and still chimpanzees, why is there no in-between living proof about. Darwin argues that humans are only slightly remodelled chimpanzee-like apes, he based this on the asserted importance of numerous points of resemblance (8, page 727). Darwin missed the point, its not so much the points of similarity that makes the line of descent, it is more a few points of dissimilarity that breaks the lines, and makes a species different (8, page 728). Here we seem to have a point being made and then another point being made against that point, it makes a good article, but doesnt make a good argument for evolution when you prove what you just said wrong in a later paragraph. Natural selection meaning larger males mate with larger females which then reproduce to make larger offspring (9). However in the animal world you cant force animals to mate and you cant predict or guarantee who will either. The article goes against itself and talks about how there may be other reasons for taller people not just tall reproducing tall. Reasons such as better nutrition and standard of living and health care (10, page 257). There are also links to climate and stature due to living and adapting to similar conditions (10, page 278), however oddly the tallest and shortest populations ever recorded were Nuer 184.44cm and Mbuti 144.1cm which were both recorded in central Africa (7, page 672). So although Darwin and his natural selection may be true to some extent on the whole other factors play apart in the way we have changed over the years. More a change due to environmental conditions and better living standards which wouldnt explain the change from ape to human. Monkeys can be trained to walk bipedally rather than quadrupidally (11, page 739). This meaning we could have evolved to better suit ourselves, a kind of survival of the fittest. The bipedal walking after 2-3km per day, changes there skeletal system and existence of humanlike lumbar lordosis shows (7, page 740). The benefits of this bipedal walking means they expend less energy and can walk with longer less frequent sides so therefore have adapted to benefit themselves. The arguments here for evolution theory arent as strong as those for the creationist theory purely because of the facts that they are theories and havent been proven yet. One theorist says one thing and then another theorist says another, always contradicting each other. Until facts are made clearer and proof found the theory of evolution will go on. All the articles I have read have been convincing to there point of view, some more so than others. Some even seem to debate and out different ideas across in their own argument. The best arguments were those with the facts and figures and scientific drawings. Points which are reliable and not biased which are factual and true. References (1) Lipman. R, Creationism versus evolution, The Lancet, volume 360 (September), issue 9336, (2002), page 872. (2) Langen. T, what is right with teaching the controversy?, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, volume 19 (March), issue 3, (2004), pages 114-115. (3) Scott. E and Branch. G, Evolution: Whats wrong with teaching the controversy?, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, volume 18 (October), issue 10, (2003), pages 499-502. (4) C. Darwin. On the Origin of Species, John Murray (1859). (5) A. Desmond and J. Moore. Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist, Warner Books (1991). (6) www.askoxford.com/, 19/02/06, 2015 (7) Harding. R and McVean. G, A structured ancestral population for the evolution of modern humans, Current opinion in Genetics and Development, volume 14 (December), issue 6 (2004), pages 667-674. (8) Gibbons. R, Dugaiczy. L, Girke. T, Duistermars. B, Zielinski. R and Dugaiczy. A, distinguishing humans from great apes with AluYb8 repeats, Journal of Molecular Biology, volume 339 (June), issue 4 (2004), pages 721-729. (9) Lindenfors, 2002 P. Lindenfors, Sexually antagonistic selection on primate size, J. Evol. Biol. 15 (2002), pp. 595-607 (10) Gustafsson. A and Lindenfors. P, human size evolution: no evolutionary allometric relationship between male and female statue, Journal of Human Evolution, volume 47 (October), issue 4 (2004), pages 253-266. (11) Hirasaki. E, Ogihara. N, Hamada. Y, Kumakura. H, Nakatsukaa. M, do highly trained monkeys walk like humans? A kinematic study of bipedal locomotion in bipedally trained Japanese macaques, Journal of Human Evolution, volume 46 (June), issue 6 (2004), pages 739-750.