Managing Uncertainty exam study guide Essay

Managing Uncertainty exam study guide Essay Managing Uncertainty exam study guide Essay Managing Uncertainty Exam Layout 4 questions – choose 2 1 page per answer The questions will cover: definitions, theory, concepts No trick questions Use examples in answers Relevant chapters: -Origins of Wealth 1 & 6 -Use ascent of money for definitions/examples The Cynefin Framework Definitions Basic Patterns of Complexity Emergence and Self-Organisation Macro-systems that come into existence due to actions of many (seemingly unrelated) agents Example: Traffic in India/ market price Connectivity Everything is interconnected Important because anything done by an agents could affect everything else in the system Example: changes the temperature of one ocean will eventually affect all 7. Burglary reduced due to cheap labour in china. Stuff wasn’t worth stealing anymore Non-Linearity Effect is not directly proportional to the cause Example: Feedback Effects Negative feedback effects balance the system, meaning that there is no change. Positive feedback effects amplify the change, think snowball effect. (Viral marketing) Example: Negative: snowball rolling down a snowy hill. Positive: Media’s effect on Lehman Chaos Immeasurable elements in the system at the time of its creation, which could lead to huge fluctuations in the final emerging conditions Example: butterfly effect Tipping Point The point where a system changes from one state (of being) to another. (The straw that broke the camel’s back) Example: Downfall of Lehman Brothers Path-Dependency Past actions create structures, which lead to the development of constraints in the system. History matters. There is always context. You never start from zero. Example: redoing or building a new underground line - Human Cognition Perfect Rationality: Spock Framing Bias Context the information is given in (can be used to influence resulting conclusions). Representativeness Drawing big conclusions from very small/biased samples. (Does not have full information) Availability Bias Basing conclusions on easily accessible information Difficulty judging risk Miss-assessing Threats

Engaging Writing Prompts for 3rd Graders

Engaging Writing Prompts for 3rd Graders Students in 3rd grade should be writing regularly in a variety of styles and for a variety of audiences. Useful writing projects for 3rd graders include  opinion, informative, and narrative essays, as well as short research projects. For many students, the most difficult part of writing is facing the blank page. The following grade level appropriate writing prompts provide plenty of inspiration to help your students get started on a number of different writing assignments. Narrative Essay Writing Prompts Narrative essays tell a story based on real or imagined events. Students should use descriptive writing and dialogue to tell their tale. Scary Stuff. Think of something that scares you and explain what makes it so frightening.Grouchy Pants. Describe a day when you were grouchy. What made you so grumpy and how did you get in a better mood?School Rules. If you could make a new school rule, what would it be? How would your rule change an average day at school?Snappy Travel. Imagine you could snap your fingers and be anywhere else in the world. Write about where you’d go.Family Tales. What is the most interesting story that a family member  has ever told you about their life?Food Forever. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would you choose?Book Bound. If you could be the main character from your favorite book, who would you be? Write about an adventure you might have.Seeing Double. Imagine that you have an identical twin who is a different class than you. What pranks would you play on your teachers and classmates?Nessys Life. Have you heard of the Loch Ness Monster? Imagine you’ re the monster. Describe your life under the sea. Lost. Have you ever been lost? Write about your experience.Perfect Party. Describe what the ultimate birthday party would look like if you could do anything you wanted.Kindness Counts. You’re given $100 to do random acts of kindness for others. What do you do? Memory Eraser. Describe  something that happened to you that you wish you could forget. Explain why. Opinion Essay Writing Prompts When writing an opinion essay, students should clearly state their opinion, then back it up with sound reasons and facts. Opinion essays should close the essay with a concluding paragraph and a summary of the argument.   Be a Friend. What does it mean to be a good friend?Growing Up or Down. Would you rather be older than you are right now or younger? Why?Hello? Some kids in 3rd grade have cell phones. Do you? Do you think that’s good or bad?Best Pets. Which animal  makes the best pet? Give at least three reasons for your opinion.Tattletale. If you saw one of your friends doing something that you knew was  wrong, should you tell on them? Why or why not?School Favorites. What do you think is the best subject in school? What makes it the best?Off Limits. Is there a TV show that you’re not allowed to watch or a video game that you’re not allowed to play? Explain why your parents should allow it.Summer School. Should your school be in session year ‘round with more breaks throughout the year or continue to give students the summer off? Why?Violent Games. Do violent video games cause people to exhibit violent behavior? Support your opinion.Junk Food Fans. Should candy and soda machines be available to students on school property? Why or why not? School Supplies. What is the most important tool in your classroom? What makes it so useful?School Pride. What is the best thing about being a student at your school?What’s in a Name? If you could change your name, what would you choose and why? Informative Essay Writing Prompts Informative essays  introduce a topic, explain a process, or describe an idea, then provide facts, definitions, and details. Students should organize related information into paragraphs in order to write the most logical essay possible. Remember that they should also include introductory and concluding paragraphs. Real Superheroes. Superheroes in movies and comics can do some pretty amazing things, but think of someone you consider to be a real-life hero. What do (or did) they do that makes them a hero?  Liar, Liar. Someone told your best friend a lie about you and your friend believed them. Explain how you’d handle the situation.Student Teacher. Think of something that you found difficult to do at first (such as multiplication or tying your shoes), but that you now understand. Explain the process so that someone else  could learn to do it.Holidays. What is your favorite holiday? Explain  how you celebrate it.Pet Sitter. Your family is going on vacation and a pet-sitter is coming to care for your pets. Write a note explaining how to care for them.PBJ. Write out the step-by-step process for making the perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich.Chores. What is a household chore for which you are responsible? Explain how to do it.Emergency Drills. Think of one emergency drill that your school practices. Write a paper describing exactly how to do it as if you were explaining it to a brand-new student. Allergies. Do you have a serious allergy to something like peanuts or milk? Write an essay explaining why it’s so important for you not to come into contact with the allergen.Color Wheel. What is your favorite color? Choose an animal or object that is that color and describe it.State Fun Facts. Describe some interesting facts about your state to someone who has never visited.Family Traditions. Describe a unique family tradition that your family has.Game On.  Whats your favorite game? Explain the rules to someone who has never played it before. Research Writing Prompts Students in 3rd grade can conduct simple research projects that build on their knowledge about a topic. They should use digital and print media to explore  the topic, take simple notes, and create a basic outline before beginning the writing process. State History. What is the history of your state? Research the history and write an essay about one key event in your states past.Marsupials. Marsupials are animals who carry their babies in pouches. With the exception of the opossum, all marsupials live in Australia. Choose one of them to learn more about.Insects. They may be small, but insects play an important role in our environment. Choose an insect to research and write an essay about its characteristics.Jaws! Are Great White sharks really man-eaters? Research this question and write an essay about your answer.  Bat Signal. How do bats use echolocation?Explorers. Choose a famous (or not-so-famous) explorer to research.Comic Book Heroes. When was the first comic book published and what was it about?Extreme Weather. Choose an extreme weather event such as a tornado, hurricane, or tsunami, and explain its cause.International Space Station. Learn more about the International Space Station: how its used, who visits it, and why its important. Write an essay about your findings. Ben Franklin, Inventor. Many people know Benjamin Franklin as a Founding Father and statesman, but he was also an inventor. Learn about some of the things he invented.Legends.  Research  a popular legend such as the Lost City of Atlantis, Big Foot, or Paul Bunyan. Write an essay describing the evidence for or against the legend.Presidential History. Research the childhood of one American president and write an essay about what you learn.

Advertising Has Got Negative Influence to the Society Assignment

Advertising Has Got Negative Influence to the Society - Assignment Example Furthermore, advertisements are for willing people, nobody is forced to seek services or products in the adverts. Â  Speaker 1: Some adverts promote prostitution or other bad habits and behaviors in the society. For instance, we have seen innocent ladies trying the lifestyle of the models and artists they see on TV. Majority enter such life not knowing the consequences that could come with such. Take instance the adverts of women and female condoms, women explicit outfits and those with drugs meant for abortion among other unethical implications in the society. Young girls end up losing their virginity in tender age as they adopt such bad lives. Â  Speaker 2: It is a fact that the society has the good and bad side. The people on the bad also have the rights to live their lives provided they don’t disturb those on the better side. Those companies making condoms, explicit dresses and drugs have the rights to market their products; because it is through that that they can increase their sales and contribute to the national and international economy (Sawyer, 347). Remember those companies have legal rights to make whatever they are making; it means that the legal entity is satisfied with such companies’ operations. And again, nobody is forced to purchase such products. Blame the purchaser, not the seller or the adverts. Remember the adverts provide warnings so that the right audience can watch or hear the contents. Explicit adverts are aired at night when young society members are asleep. The advertisement companies provide employment to the people despised in the society because of their habits. For instance, dru nkards would be used to advertise alcoholic products and from here they can earn a living. The society would be boring if it only hades the good people. Â  Speaker 1: Some adverts are misleading to the consumers and this is common with mobile phones, computers, and tablets among other electronics.

Facility location strategies Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Facility location strategies - Case Study Example Facility location in a central place does not mean it should be located centrally literally. It means locating it in a place, which gives access to all the customers with minimum costs. Sometimes located a facility in a single area with many customers may lock out other customers due to resulting distance that will arise. However, remember the objective of locating a facility is to serve all the customers. The process of finding the ideal place to locate a facility can be tricky. However, a number of methods have been used and they have proved successful. These methods include weighted load-distance method, centre of gravity, linear programming, weighted scores and break-even analysis (Suresh, 2009). This report will focus on using the weighted average method to locate the best place to put up a European facility for a US automobile company. The report took a number of location factors, which include location, geography, transportation, proximity to customers and the relative costs of supplying the goods to these destinations. In addition, these locations were ranked on a scale of 0 – 1 based on the said factors, depending on relative importance. After ranking, each location was then scored on a scale of 0 – 100 and this also depended on how important the location was depending on the factors listed.

Richard Riodriquezs memoir of a bilingual childhood Essay Example for Free

Richard Riodriquezs memoir of a bilingual childhood Essay Richard Riodriquez in his A Memoir Of a Bilingual Childhood is recalling his memories about how he felt as a bilingual child in the American society. While doing so and reflecting on these memories, he refutes the idea of alienating the bilingual children by educating them through their native language. He presents very interesting thoughts about the true reflections of intimacy and how that relates to language. Choosing certain words to convey his feelings, Riodriquez engages his readers to sense the change of his attitude towards his identity as an American citizen of foreigner parents. When he reflects on his early childhood, he repetitively uses the words distant, foreigners, strain, confused and hard to describe his and his familys interactions with the others, los gringos. For him, his safety and family intimacy were all symbolized just by speaking their own private language that separates them from the public. This way, he felt secure as an individual rather than a member of a mysterious huge crowd. Richard Riodriquezs tone overall is a reflective emotional one that triggers the readers emotions to feel the same as the writer and agree with what he says. He beautifully uses different tools to achieve that. One tool was his excessive descriptions for his feelings by using clear sentences with many different adjectives throughout his essay. Another tool was his repetitive using figurative language to clarify his thoughts. For example, he wrote as confused as the threads of blue and green oil in the puddle next to my shoes. as well as the clash of two worlds. Rhetorical questions like But I would have delayed postponed for how long? are another tools that Richard Riodriquez uses to convince his readers. I liked the beauty of the language Riodriquez expressed his thoughts. Some of the analogies and metaphors he drew were quite powerful and made me feel the gloominess or excitement he felt. I also liked the way he explored and defined identity and intimacy. As he grew up, he found out that interacting with the others and speaking their language does not mean losing neither his identity nor the intimacy with his different family. Individuality is not by separating oneself from the community as many others believe but it can still be achieved while mingling with the society and owning a public  identity. I liked how he clearly concluded that intimacy, which he was struggling to protect in his childhood, is not by speaking the same language for example but it is by the meanings behind the words spoken.

The Hydrogen Secret :: Alternative Fuel Power Energy

The world is developing at a faster rate than ever before. As a result natural resources continue to be exhausted worldwide. Oil, once an abundant resource in the earth, is depleting at an ever growing rate. Oil costs continue to rise as the world depends on it more and more. Governments are investing billions of dollars every year into alternate energy research with hydrogen as the front runner. This is free money companies are receiving to research and develop hydrogen-powered vehicles. It's no wonder why people are lured into the hydrogen revolution. Each type of alternate energy comes with its own pros and cons. Like any product, the marketers will only mention the pros of the product they are selling and the cons of their competitors. In the end whoever has the most money, wins. Hydrogen powered vehicles have received the most attention in the last year. Unfortunately the hydrogen revolution isn't the savior that it's hyped up to be. The world cannot continue to rely on oil for its source of energy; an alternate form is needed but any more time or money invested into hydrogen as that alternate source may prove to be a big waste. In nature hydrogen is always found combined with other elements, which means it has to be manually made by passing an electric current through water to form hydrogen and oxygen. There is a tremendous amount of energy involved in splitting the molecules to free the hydrogen from its captor. The current method of producing hydrogen from water is through the use of oil and coal. Oil and coal are the two main resources the world is trying to cut back on. The main purpose of using hydrogen is lost when considering the actual manufacturing process of hydrogen contributes a significant amount of carbon dioxide. When the big coal and oil companies start investing their profits in hydrogen, something has gone awry. Each company sees its future limited and wants to ensure their survival. Since they have the most money they will be the main producer of hydrogen. The hydrogen economy will benefit the mining and oil industry at the cost of the clean-energy dream. Hydrogen will prove to be a difficult energy to sell in the short term. Even though vehicles are still in the development stages, the current hydrogen prototype costs are in the million dollar range. Hydrogen is the smallest element in the universe; to get enough useful energy to power the vehicle, hydrogen has to be compressed to an extremely high-pressure.

Japanese Society Yakuza

It is said quite often that Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, what I comparing to Germany or other countries can confirm from my own experiences. With only 19. 177 per 1,000 people got Japan #34 in a world crime ranking, while Dominica rates #1, United Kingdom #6, USA # 8 and Germany #11. (United Nations, 2000) Nevertheless japanese families, in our case homestay families, are all the time in my view exageratedly concerned about safety, wherefore you could think, that this is just useless talk. But the Yakuza , the japanese Mafia is famous all over the world with Kobe and Osaka having the highest crime rate in Japan. Especially in movies, the Yakuza are shown as the japanese equivalent to the italian Mafia, but in personal interviews with my former hostmother and other japanese colleagues Yakuza were often played down and even portrayed as nice and helpful. In the city i live – Kobe – is the headquarterof the Yamaguchi – gang (), the largest Yakuza group with over 20000 members. They acutally control a large part of Japan and other countries. (Blathwayt, 2008, p. 41) Sometimes i see them when i go shopping or to the Kobe’s Mosque, because the headquarter of a gumi is around this area and I as well as other japanese people got used to them. It is quite easy to recognize them, because they stick out as buffed, tattooed (sometimes you can see that it is protrude from the shirt), wearing sunglasses (even at night) and having expensive cars. But of course like every other Mafia, they control popular, semi-legal or illegal businesses like prostitution, drugs, protection racket and gambling. However there seems to be a big influence by the Yakuza on Japanese society. In this report, i will examine, what kind of influence the Yakuza have on the Japanese society. In doing so i will take a look at parts of the sex industry, daily and business life, as well as in other areas like random smaller criminals as for example japanese biker gangs called Bosozoku and even normal teenagers next door. First of all i will start with the history of the Yakuza, why and how they developed and try to find here possible parallels of a influences on the modern society. Furthermore in the third part of the report, i will write about my personal experiences and experiences of friends and acquaintances, because such statement often say more than just â€Å"dry facts†. I will close my essay with a conclusion and try to give a forecast about whether the Yakuza will continue to exist the way it does today or whether it will change, as every society developes dynamically and continuesly. a. Origin of the Yakuza The word â€Å"Yakuza† means eight (â€Å"ya†), nine (â€Å"ku†) and three (â€Å"za†) and allegorizes a combination of numbers, that is considered to be the worst hand at a Japanese card game called â€Å"Oicho-Kabu† and though is worthless. (Parkanian, 2010,p. 15) The origin of the Yakuza is not clearly to allocate. Some people say that they are descendents of crazy outlandish samurai called kabuki-mono in the 17th-century, who were very conspicuous because of their outlandish clothes and hair styles. They also spoke a luxuriant slang and carried long swords in their belts. Those servants of the shogun, became leaderless ronin (wave men) and eventually rather thieves and gangsters during the Tokugawa era, an long period of peace in Japan. (Hill,2003,P. 37-40) Others claim their origin to be the gambling syndicates called â€Å"Bakuto† in the Edo period. They were people of humble birth, too, like farmers, craftmen or merchants, who lost their jobs and then had no other choice than entering the gambling syndicates. As mentioned before there was an extended time of peace during the Tokugawa Period in which almost all policemen were former samurai. Therefore there was a high tension between both parties, for example the Yakuza were called â€Å"wannabe samurai† without glorifying the way of the warrior (â€Å"Bushido†) and treated very condescending. Thus a kind of â€Å"Robin-Hood-Image† came up and that was the first steps into a solid influence on Japanese Society. During the Meiji Period their importance increased when a national hero called Jichiro, the boss of a gambling organization, got high merits because of his alignment to the emperor during the conflicts of the Meiji Restoration. After the end of the occupation period and the appreciativeness of Japan as sovereign state in 1952, a rebuild of the Japanese economy and national structures began, so the Yakuza reacted with a buildup of their own economic activities tool, focusing especially in gambling and the construction industry. The consequence was gang fights between the different Yakuza gangs. The state answered with a persecution, which led into a higher concentration of power on the three main Yakuza gangs : Inagawa-kai, Sumiyoshi-kai and Yamaguchi-gumi. In the 70’s and 80’s, when Japan got into a recession because of the famous â€Å"bubble economy†, the Yakuza took advantage of the situation to get access into the financial sector. Protection money extortion of stock corporations followed. In addition to that, there was a change of generations in the big syndicates during in the 80’s, thus again bloody gang fights were the consequences, but the situations changed as well. Blathwayt,2008,p. 36-41) For example younger Yakuza tended to break the old rules and standards by using fire arms and being more violent; Being one reason, why Yakuza organizations were banned by the government. In 90’s the Yakuza were still legal and their headquarters could be easily find. It was even possible to recognize the group those headquarters offices belo nged to and their position in the structure of the group. Yakuza bosses were at news conferences and on TV, they had their own newspapers and even visited the police for congratulations at New Year. Gunther, 1999) It was easy to recognize an influence of the Yakuza on Japanese society, especially in the financial or construction sector in earlier times. But how is the situation today, about 10 years after they were banned. How are they structured today, if as mentioned before a kind of development, respectively change, were coming up? And what are Japanese people thinking about them? b. Their role in today's Japanese society First of all Yakuza look different from the average Japanese guy. One sign are the tattoos, which is a taboo in Japanese Society. For me it was not really possible to wear a tank top during the summer without catching everybody’s attention. Referring to Bruno(2007) the â€Å"Yakuza members also favor tattoos, but theirs are elaborate body murals that often cover the entire torso, front and back, as well the arms to below the elbow and the legs to mid-calf. Dragons, flowers, mountainous landscapes, turbulent seascapes, gang insignias and abstract designs are typical images used for yakuza body art. The application of these extensive tattoos is painful and can take hundreds of hours, but the process is considered a test of a man's mettle. Another sign is the famous â€Å"yubizume†, the amputation of the last joint of the little finger, if a yakuza severely disappoints his boss. The next mistake would lead into an amputation of the second joint of the little finger and later moving on to the next finger. Beyond all, a yakuza knows what to do if his boss gives him a knife. (Kaplan and Dubro,2003,p. 1 4) As a Yakuza there is also no space in Japanese Society, but the mafia is quite more accepted as in other countries like for example United States. Yakuza have an increasingly influence on politics and politicians by supporting them financially or with â€Å"services† like extort people to vote for them. For the Yakuza corporate extortion is a very profitable business and the shareholders’ meeting men called â€Å"Sokaiya† are highly involved. Bruno(2007) describes it as follows:† Sokaiya will buy a small number of shares in a company so that they can attend shareholders' meetings. In preparation for the meeting, the sokaiya gather damaging information about the company and its officers; secret mistresses, tax evasion, unsafe factory conditions, and pollution are all fodder for the sokaiya. They will then contact the company's management and threaten to disclose whatever embarrassing information they have at the shareholders' meeting unless they are â€Å"compensated. † If management does not give in to their demands, the sokaiya go to the shareholders' meeting and raise hell, shouting down anyone who dares to speak, making a boisterous display of their presence, and shouting out their damaging revelations. In Japan, where people fear embarrassment and shame much more than physical threats, executives usually give the sokaiya whatever they want. But Japan is also a society where directness is considered rude, and even the criminals make their threats known in a circuitous, outwardly polite manner. Threats come in many disguises. Some sokaiya pose as business magazine publishers who encourage their targets to take out ads or buy subscriptions in exchange for favorable reporting about the company. Since these sokaiya will follow through on their threats and print a magazine or newsletter filled with condemning articles, company executives usually pay up rather than face the bad press. Another sokaiya scam is to set up booster clubs that solicit donations for non-existent causes. They also throw gala events to which the invited businessmen are expected to bring cash gifts for their hosts. Such events have been known to net more than $100,000 in a single night. The sokaiya have also organized beauty pageants for the purpose of shaking down corporate â€Å"sponsors,† and sokaiya golf tournaments come with pricey entrance fees for their corporate players. These corporate racketeers have also been known to sell blocks of tickets to theater events at grossly inflated prices. Anything to extort money out of legitimate companies in the most polite and indirect way possible. The intention is therefore to control them after the vote and to avoid a minding in their business by the state. They are often right wing nationalistic and even the cars with big loudspeakers of right parties are often driven by Yakuza members. With prohibition of the Yakuza, the conspicuous behavior alleviated. Former offices are now placements for loans or jobs and although the Yakuza a re officially called â€Å"Boryokudan† (violent groups), violence is usually the last resort regardless of whether legal businesses like loan lending or placement services or illegal businesses like drugs, prostitution or gambling. Takahashi,2009,p. 40-43) Certainly the yakuza’s standards decreased when recruiting new members. While about 60 % of all Yakuza descend by â€Å"Burakumin†, offspring of the â€Å"impure† people of the feudal age of Japan, most new members currently come from the bosozuku (speed tribes), known for their love of motorbikes. (Takashi,2009,P. 43) Yakuza, who treasure their ancestral ties to the old samurai reject the term and consider it an insult. So the Yakuza remain the â€Å"shadow of Japanese society†, while their image are getting worse. When I asked surrounding people only two of them had contact with them and described them as very olite but arrogant as well. Their friends are Yakuza and studied Law in an university, but then started a career at a Yakuza organization after graduation. They said that Yakuza are very friendly especially to foreigners, except you are getting involved into their business. Two Mongolian guys, who I met, told me that one of them kicked a Yakuza mem ber during a quarrel in an izakaya. When the police and other Yakuza member arrived later, they said to the Mongolians that if they wouldn’t pay 50000 yen, they would find and kill them. And that in front of the police men, who didn’t want to get involved in this business. This kind of controversy mixture of gratefulness (when the Yakuza helped Japanese people after the big earthquake in 1995 earlier than the Japanese government) and fear, tolerance but no acceptance is a very interesting situation in Japan. But situations are changing. While in other Mafias, in which a member is a member for life and this short-term career can have severe repercussions, former Yakuza are becoming now salary men. There are even companies who offer jobs and rehabilitation programs for former Yakuza, who want to change their life. (Bruno,2007) Conclusion As we could see, there is an influence as well as transition of the Yakuza to Japanese Society. Complaints of Japanese citizens about Yakuza activities increased considerably, although there are still feared, the acceptance is getting lower and lower. Some people are fighting back by banishing yakuza social clubs from their neighborhoods or forbidding Yakuza to enter local â€Å"Onzens† (public hot springs or spas) or gyms. In addition to that, yakuza organizations are haveing serious problems to recruit new members, because a Japanese boy from a well-protected good family doesn’t tend to start working at an underground organization. The author Bruno (2007) described the situation with much apropos: â€Å" Today they could be more active—and more careful—than ever, broadening their bases, infiltrating new territories and working new scams. Like the fabled ninjas of ancient Japan, they can be everywhere and nowhere, but they're always lethal. †References: Blathwayt, W.,2008, Yakuza bared – The changing face of Japanese organised crime. Bruno, 2007, The Yakuza, [online] Available at: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/gang/yakuza/1.html [Accessed 21 January 2011] Gà ¼nther, H., 1999, Yakuza â€Å"die Japanische Mafia?†, [online] Available at: http://www.japonet.de/j-impressionen/yakuza.html [Accessed 21 January 2011] Hill, P., 2003, The Japanese Mafia: Yakuza, Law, and the State Kaplan, D. and Dubro, A., 2003, Yakuza Japan's Criminal Underworld Parkanian, J. 2010, Game Boy: Glossary of Japanese Gambling Games Takahashi, K. 2009, Capital punishment – Japan's yakuza vie for control of Tokyo. United Nations, 2000, Seventh United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems [online] Available at: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_tot_cri_percap-crime-total-crimes-per-capita [Accessed 21 January 2011]

Absalom Absalom and Love Essay

Many of the novels we have read this semester contain prevailing themes that provide insight into American society. One of these themes that we have closely examined throughout the semester is a person’s right to love. Love is undoubtedly a powerful force in one’s life. As we have seen through our readings, however, this force is often obstructed by the need to conform to social standards. Whether or not a couple is ALLOWED to be in love says a lot about what is socially acceptable for that particular area and time period. Although love is technically a right given to all, American Literature shows how it is often denied by social standards and therefore ceases to exist. William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! tells Rosa Coldfield’s version of how Thomas Sutpen was the demise of her and her family. As the story progresses, it becomes known that Thomas’s son, Henry, kills Charles Bon to prevent him from marrying his sister, Judith. One would infer that Henry’s reason for his desperate need to prevent their marriage was because Charles was their half-brother, and therefore their marriage would be considered incest. We come to find out, however, that this is not exactly the case. In Chapter 8, in response to whether or not Judith will marry Bon she says â€Å"Yes. I have decided. Brother or not, I have decided. I will. I will (283). † As the chapter progresses, however, Quentin and Shreve accept that â€Å"it’s the miscegenation, not the incest, which (they) can’t bear (285). †In this case, two socially unaccepted taboos prevent Judith from pursuing her relationship with Bon. The fact that it is worse in the eyes of her family that Judith may be marrying a man with black blood than a man who is her relative, however, says a lot about how strong racial prejudices were in the south during the 1800s. Judith’s right to love Bon is forcefully obstructed by social norms, and is a perfect example of Southern culture during that time period. Another instance of love being obstructed by social standards is seen in F.  Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby, a resident of West Egg and a symbol of new wealth, falls in love with Daisy, a resident of East Egg and a symbol of established wealth. Daisy and her husband, Tom, are described to have lived in â€Å"†¦a rather distinguished secret society (17)† to which members of old money had often tried and failed to become a part of. Throughout the novel, it is clear that Daisy had married Tom for his â€Å"†¦person and his position (151)† rather than for love. Yet when Daisy finally accepts that she had never loved Tom and was currently in love with Gatsby, the class divides remain too prevalent for her to pursue a relationship with Gatsby. Tom quotes â€Å" Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions, and next they’ll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white (130). † From this quote and the happenings throughout the novel, the force obstructing the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy is the social condemnation of new money marrying old money. The Great Gatsby shows how in our society, is often difficult for people of different economic backgrounds to pursue a relationship. T. S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is an examination of a typical man’s psychological struggle to express himself emotionally and conform to social standards. Throughout the poem, the narrator shows insecurity in almost everything he does, fearing that his moves will be frowned upon. He says â€Å"There will be time, there will be time to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet† and often asks â€Å"Do I dare?  Ã¢â‚¬  and thinks about what â€Å"they will say. † His insecurity prevails in an encounter with what seems to be a woman he loves. He seems afraid that the woman will deny him because of his balding hair and thin composure, and thinks about what he should say in order to impress the woman; â€Å"And how should I then presume? How should I begin? † In the end the narrator concludes that â€Å" It is impossible to say just what I mean,† and he drifts into a fairytale by the sea until â€Å"human voice wake us, and we drown. † Eliot’s poem is an example of a man’s love for a woman being obstructed by his own need to conform to what is socially acceptable of a man. He refuses to open up and share with the woman his feelings in fear that he will be mocked and denied. â€Å"The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock† shows the struggles of maintaining masculinity, and the fear a man has of loosing his composure. While the last stories had similar circumstances and outcomes, love doesn’t always have to be between a man and a woman, and social norms aren’t always successful at obstructing love’s powerful force. In Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, the love shared between Huck and Jim leads to a powerful revelation in Huck’s life and a groundbreaking relationship considering the South’s intrusive social standards. When Huck begins his journey with Jim, he is overcome by an instilled guilt for assisting in the runaway of Miss Watson’s slave. Huck says â€Å" It would get all around, Huck Finn helped a nigger get to his freedom; and if I was to ever see anybody from that town again, I’d be ready to get down and lick his boots for shame (226). †As their adventure progresses, however, Huck begins to realize how much he enjoys Jim’s company, slave or not; â€Å" But somehow I couldn’t seem to strike no places to harden me against him, just the other kind (227). † Huck struggles internally with this realization, but cannot get over the feeling in his heart telling him to keep Jim around. Finally, Huck decides that he would not turn in Jim, and that he would go to Hell if that were what it meant. In this instance, Huck valiantly goes against what is socially acceptable, and the force of love prevails. Huck and Jim remain friends even though it is extremely frowned upon. Although love is a freedom, one can see how easily and often this freedom is taken away due to what is acceptable in the eyes of others. The circumstances involved in the obstruction of love shows a lot about the society in which these characters live, and the values held by the people who lived there.

Local # portability essays

Local # portability essays On November 22, 2003 the Federal Communications Commission (F.C.C.) Mandated a law called Local Number Portability or L.N.P. On that day on which L.N.P. came into effect, wireless customers swarmed into local Verizon Wireless retail stores nationwide. The porting process can take anywhere from three hours to three days depending on the original service provider and when that service provider releases the number for use by a new carrier. One particular customer in the Verizon store where I work ported his number on the 22nd of November. However, his phone did not yet port over as late as the first week of December. This was a difficult problem because the customer had to carry two phones for two weeks and was also being billed by two carriers. At the time I realized that if I wanted this customer to continue doing business with my store. I would have to do something quick to satisfy him with our service and to his portability dilemma. First, I had to make sure the port would go through. To solve this problem, I called Verizon Wireless and spoke with a dealer support representative. I explained the problem and insisted that if the port did not go through, the customer would cancel service and return with his original service provider. Knowing that the customer would cancel, the representative made several calls and within minutes the number ported over. I also let the Verizon representative know that I believed that the customer should not have to pay for service he was not able to use . In the end, the representative gave a credit to the customer for one month service. The next thing needed to be taken care of was the bill ...

Answers to Questions About Punctuation

Answers to Questions About Punctuation Answers to Questions About Punctuation Answers to Questions About Punctuation By Mark Nichol Here are a few questions from readers about the use of various forms of punctuation, followed by my responses. 1. In the following sentence, how do you separate the statement from the description, â€Å"A system of aligned chambers supports anaerobic digestion, a biological process that happens naturally when bacteria breaks down organic matter,† or â€Å"A system of aligned chambers supports anaerobic digestion; a biological process that happens naturally when bacteria breaks down organic matter†? The first sentence is correct: A term’s definition is set off from the term by a comma. (The definition is a form of appositive, an alternative way of naming something, just as in â€Å"The boy, a fifth grader at the school, was not injured.†) A semicolon is appropriate only if what follows it could stand on its own as a complete sentence, as in â€Å"A system of aligned chambers supports anaerobic digestion; this is a biological process that happens naturally when bacteria breaks down organic matter.† 2. I avoid the serial comma whenever possible i.e., in cases where there is no ambiguity because I prefer not to have comma-heavy sentences.   However, when it is necessary, I bend my rule and use it to remove any ambiguity. Would this be considered inconsistent style (for writing and editing)? It’s correct, if you generally avoid using serial commas, to omit a serial comma for â€Å"a, b and c† constructions but make an exception to insert one for clarity in â€Å"a, b, and c and d† constructions. That’s consistent usage and it’s approved of by The Associated Press Stylebook and other guides that recommend omitting the serial comma in simple in-line lists as long as you always omit it in the first case and always insert it in the second case. (It would be inconsistent only if you varied between â€Å"a, b and c† and â€Å"a, b, and c.†) But I think it’s better to simply always, always, use a serial comma, as The Chicago Manual of Style and many other guides recommend. 3. In the sentence â€Å"Do you employ a serial comma the final comma in a sentence such as ‘I bought one apple, two bananas, and three oranges’?† you have your punctuation (question mark) outside the quotes. That’s not intentional, right? Question marks and exclamation points are located either within quotation marks or outside them based on whether the quoted material is a question or an exclamation or the framing sentence is a question or an exclamation. In the sentence, â€Å"I bought one apple, two bananas, and three oranges† is not a question; it is positioned within a sentence that is a question: â€Å"Do you employ a serial comma . . . ?† Therefore, the question mark should follow the close quotation mark. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Slang Terms for MoneyCannot or Can Not?Threw and Through

Human communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human communication - Essay Example Alternatively, from a retailing perspective the need for businesses to be creative in order to adapt to the multi-channel marketplace has become well-recognized (Levy & Weitz, 2008). Indeed, leading industry body for global e-retailing IMRG estimates that currently a quarter of all UK shopping is undertaken online via the internet or other mobile devices within a market estimated at approximately  £80 billion according (www.imrg.org). Signals of this prolific growth have been evident since 2003, which has resulted in a constant drive by retailers to introduce new delivery mechanisms to broaden customer reach (Diamond & Pinter, 2004). As such, this has seen a shifting approach in multi-channel retail strategy from bricks and mortar to multi-level formats including home shopping and mobile commerce (Levy & Weitz, 2008). It is submitted in this paper that the change in consumer behaviour, growth of media outlets and de-regulation of the media industry has created a seismic shift in co rporate strategy, which is underpinned by the media ecology theory. Leading sociologist George Caspar Homans is usually hailed as the central consolidator of social exchange theory works in his piece â€Å"Social Behaviour as Exchange† (1958). In general terms, the social exchange theory posits that social change and stability is a process of negotiated exchanges between parties (Homans, 1958). Moreover, the social exchange theory posits that all human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefit analysis and the comparison of alternatives (Gouldner, 1960). Homan gives the example of when a person perceives the cost of a relationship as outweighing the perceived benefits, the theory predicts that the person will depart from the relationship (Homans, 1958). Katherine Miller (2005) is a key opponent of the social exchange theory and argues that it reduces human interaction to purely rational process that arises from

Potasium Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Potasium - Essay Example Potassium is a chemical element represented by the symbol K and atomic number 19. Elemental potassium is a silvery-white metal, oxidizes quickly in the air, and reacts with water (Shaposhnik, 2007). During reaction with water, hydrogen is emitted and the heat generated is sufficient to ignite the hydrogen and burns with a lilac flame (Woodford, 2002). Potassium and Lithium are the least dense known metals. Interestingly the composition of the element makes up about 1.5% the earth crust’s weight. It is one of the most common mineral elements though it is rarely found naturally. It is found in crystalline form as feldspars or micas (Woodford, 2002). Roza (2007) ascribed that people used plant ash to make soap. Later on scientists discovered that plant ash is composed of potassium (Roza, 2007). The main applications of potash were the production of glass, soap, bleach, and gunpowder as potassium nitrate. The discovery of potassium chloride mineral deposits in Germany led to the mass production of potassium-containing fertilizers. The humans require this element for proper functioning of the system. There are events that leads to abnormal functioning that relates to deficiency of the element for instance consumption of coffee, alcohol, severe stressing of the body, excess strenuous physical and using potassium-wasting diuretics deprives the system of this element leading to hypokalemia (Roza, 2007; Woodford, 2002). Potassium deficiency leads to muscle weakness, severe fatigue, cardiac arrest, nervous disorders and poor reflexes can occur. Other conditions that influence the risk of hypokalemia include severe vomiting or diarrhea, abuse of laxatives, anorexia or bulimia, Magnesium deficiency and congestive heart failure. Excess potassium in the body could lead to dehydration. The kidneys regulate the concentration of potassium in the body (Roza, 2007; Woodford,