We Googled You free essay sample

The wind was howling and relentless as Fred Westen opened the door and called upstairs to tell his wife that he was home. While he waited or her to come down, he poured himself a shot of whiskey, tilting the decanter with his left hand. In his right he grasped the morning’s Wall Street Journal. The CEO of the luxury apparel retailer Hathaway Jones wanted to hear his wife’s reaction to a story. Martha Westen walked almost languorously down the stairs. She went to the kitchen, poured herself a cup of tea, strolled into the living room, and nestled in her favorite chair by the ?re. Fred handed her the paper and directed her attention to the front page. There she found an article about how an insurer had rejected a woman’s claim for disability because of chronic ack pain, based on information the company had obtained from her psychologist’s notes. We will write a custom essay sample on We Googled You or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Martha shook her head. â€Å"It gets worse every day,† she shuddered as she envisioned a future in which everyone’s medical records were posted online. â€Å"Even our thoughts aren’t private anymore. † At 58, Martha didn’t pretend to be an expert on shared online content or anything else to do with the Internet. All her information was limited to what she read in the popular press. Which was just enough to keep her up at night. â€Å"It’s what I keep on telling you, Fred. There are no secrets now, and we’re just going to have o learn how to live with that. † Martha fell silent, staring moodily at the ?ickering ? re. Fred was almost relieved when the telephone rang. He jumped up to grab the receiver. At the other end of the line was John Brewster, Fred’s old roommate at Andover and now a stringer for a number of U. S. newspapers in Shanghai. Although the two had not stayed close after prep school, they still exchanged Christmas letters and called each other occasionally. The men spent a few minutes catching HBR’s cases, which are ? ctional, present common managerial dilemmas and offer concrete solutions from experts. arvard business review †¢ june 2007 page 1 W e Googled You †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ †¢H BR C A SE S T UDY up and then John eased the conversation around to his daughter, Mimi. Now in San Francisco, Mimi had heard that Fred planned to expand the Philadelphiabased Hathaway Jones into China, and she wanted to be part of the move. All business now, she grabbed her bag, her BlackBerry, and her keys and ran out to catch the ? ight to Philadelphia. Bullish on a China Shop Fred left the house at 5:30 AM every day for his of? ce at 1 Constitution Road. He had a lot of work to do, and there was not a moment to waste. Despite sales of $5 billion in 2006, Hathaway Jones had fallen on hard times. Four years ago, the privately owned U. S. retail chain had recruited Fred because of his imposing credentials and a lifetime’s experience of working with luxury brands and had charged him with waking up the company’s sleepy, onservative stores. It hadn’t been easy.

Using the Spanish Preposition Por

Using the Spanish Preposition Por Por is one of the most useful and common prepositions in Spanish, but it can also be one of the most confusing to English speakers. That is because it is sometimes translated as for, as is the preposition para, and they are very seldom interchangeable. As a beginner, it is probably best to learn the two prepositions separately and to think of por as a preposition that usually indicates cause or motive, rather than simply as a translation for for. (It also often means by, but it isnt the only Spanish preposition translated that way.) So in the examples of por usage that are given below, a translation (sometimes awkward) using a word or phrase other than for is given, in addition to a translation using for (where appropriate). By learning how por is used rather than how it is usually translated, you will find it easier to learn in the long run. Por To Indicate Cause or Reason In these usages, por can often be translated as because of.  ¿Por quà ©? (Why? Because of what? For what?)Trabajo aquà ­ por el dinero. (I work here because of the money. I work here for the money.)No podemos salir por la lluvia. (We cannot leave because of the rain. We cannot leave due to the rain.)Conseguà ­ el empleo por mi padre. (I got the job because of my father. I got the job through my father.)La asistencia en desempleo por causa de desastre es un programa financiado por el gobierno federal. (Disaster unemployment insurance is a program financed by the federal government. Unemployment insurance for disasters is a program financed by the federal government.) Por as an Indication of Support Por is often used this in discussion of political races and issues. Voto por Julia Gonzles. (I am voting for Julia Gonzales. I am voting in support of Julia Gonzales.)Es socio de Mà ©dicos Por Justicia. (He is a member of Doctors for Justice. He is a member of Doctors Supporting Justice.)Mi padre est por no violencia. (My father is for nonviolence. My father is a supporter of nonviolence.)Es el representante por el estado de Nueva York. (Hes the representative for the state of New York. Hes the representative on behalf of the state of New York.) Por To Indicate an Exchange One common use of this type is telling how much something cost. Comprà © el coche por $10.000 dà ³lares.(I bought the car for $10,000. I bought the car in exchange for $10,000.)Gracias por la comida. (Thanks for the meal.)Quisiera cambiar la camisa por una nueva. (Id like to exchange the shirt for a new one.)Hago cualquiera cosa por una sonrisa. (I do anything for a smile.) Por To Indicate Placement In such uses, por doesnt indicate a destination, but rather proximity or location. It is often translated as by or through. Pasaremos por San Francisco. (We will pass through San Francisco.)La escuela no est por aquà ­. (The school isnt near here.)Caminar por la montaà ±a es una actividad de alto desgaste. Hiking through the mountains is a high-fatigue activity.) Por Meaning Per Por is a cognate of the English per In informal contexts, a English translation of for is common. El tres por ciento tiene dos coches. (Three percent have two cars.)Comprà © dos regalos por persona. (I bought two gifts per person. I bought two gifts for each person.)Trabajo 40 horas por semana. (I work 40 hours per week. I work 40 hours a week.) Por Meaning By Por is usually translated as by when it points to someone performing an action. Common uses are indicating the author of a book or other work, or indicating the performer of a passive verb. Fue escrito por William Shakespeare. (It was written by William Shakespeare.)Los tacos fueron comidos por los estudiantes. (The tacos were eaten by the students.)Prefiero el libro por Isaac Asimov. (I prefer the book by Isaac Asimov.)Puedo leer por mà ­ mismo. (I can read all by myself.) Por in Set Phrases Many fixed phrases using por are commonly used as adverbs. The meaning of such phrases isnt always obvious by translating the words individually. por causa de (because of)por cierto (by the way)por el contrario (on the contrary)por lo general (generally)por supuesto (of course)por otra parte (on the other hand)por fin (finally)por lo menos (at least)

Causes of Poverty in Mauritius

Causes of Poverty in Mauritius Over the past two decades, Mauritius has continuously experienced considerable improvements in both social and economic levels. Mauritius is ranked as an upper middle income country since 2003, with a GDP per capita of $4000. Substantial improvement in life expectancy and literacy, Mauritius has shifted from medium to a high human development country during same period. This is evidenced by the latest UN Human Development Indices: Mauritius is ranked 81 (182 countries) in 2007, with an HDI value of 0.804. Challenge Despite these considerable improvements, poverty does exist in Mauritius. Rapid modernization and industrialization has lead to income inequality in the population, leading to an increase in number of pockets of poverty. This is a common phenomenon experienced by most developing countries. Governments or organizations have to reconsider their policies to decrease the level of income inequality in order to eradicate the problem of poverty. Meeting the challenge In Mauritiu s, government has implemented several social welfare programmes to bridge the gap between poor and non-poor. This include the distribution of social aid to needy people, subsidies on basic food item, ZEP programme in schools to enhance level of education, micro-financing to small and medium enterprises, female empowerment in labor market . In the 2008/09 National Budget, the Government provided Rs 395 million for the setting up of the of the Eradication of Absolute Poverty (EAP) Programme, an integrated development project which targets the households in the 229 pockets of poverty. In 2009, the Government has set up the National Empowerment Fund as an institutional framework to strengthen the role of various policy programmes such as the Empowerment Programme, EAP, Decentralised Cooperation Programme (DCP), etc. Despite the government policies, reforms and actions, poverty is still persistent in Mauritius. Poverty perceptions Poverty is a complex issue and multifaceted. This has alw ays been of concern for everybody. Many studies and policy programmes have been put forward to assess poverty situation in the country and also to target the poor. It is worth noting that the proportion of people living below $1.25 per day, international poverty line, is almost negligible in the country. In contrast, past studies have shown that there are people living in severe poverty. The Relative Development Index for administrative regions, Municipal Wards and Village Council Areas (Central Statistics Office, 2000) identified the least developed regions in the country. The Trust Fund of Social Integration for Vulnerable Groups (set up in 2001) identified 229 pockets of poverty. The qualitative study conducted by DCP pointed out that there were people struggling for basic food. As a matter concern poverty has even been linked to a particular ethnic group that is, poverty perceived as ‘malaise creole’. These perceptions of poverty are evidence that people show their concern and this concern has accentuated the need for good measurement. Objective of study The complexity and sensitivity of poverty has accentuated the interest of people in targeting the poor and assessing poverty. Debates, focus group discussions and studies regarding poverty alleviation are still going on. Researchers are looking for new measurement and approaches to assess poverty in the country. Policy makers are looking for high quality inputs to formulate targeted strategies and programmes.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS FINANCE AND TRADE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS FINANCE AND TRADE - Essay Example The Enron Corporation before its collapse was one of the largest global company which had its hands in the sales of natural gas and electricity, commodities like bandwidth internet connection and provided other financial and management services. Failure of corporate governance can be due many reasons. In financial terms if a company owes more than it earns over a significant time period and is not able to carry out trade then it faces a corporate failure. Failure can also occur due to institutional failure in which a group of managers fails to tackle major issues of the company. An important factor behind the collapse of corporate governance is the financial crisis. â€Å"The Enron failure demonstrated a failure of corporate governance, in which internal control mechanisms were short-circuited by conflicts of interest that enriched certain managers at the expense of the shareholders.† (Enron: Corporate Failure, Market Success, 2002). A complete reevaluation of corporate govern ance practice in the United States became important after the fall of Enron. The financial goals of a corporate sector are mainly maximization of share holder’s wealth and the maximization of corporate wealth. The wrong financial decisions taken by the authorities leading to a ‘dubious’ financial transaction also contributes to the failure of corporate governance. The free market situation which emerged as a result of liberalization and the process of privatization of public sector got questioned after the breakdown of the Enron. â€Å"The failure of the corporate governance system should be viewed as the failure of the corporate internal control system† (Dewan, 2006, P. 51 An effective system of corporate governance has both internal and external aspects that have to be sufficiently responsive if governance is to succeed. â€Å"Different internal and external influences address different issues within an organization† (Hafner, 2010, P. 6). Absence of an appropriate internal governance system which leads to an inefficient financial and management performance may also contribute to the breakdown of corporate governance as happened at Enron. Failure of External governance system which has the responsibility to warn the company about the future market situations to do its duty may also contribute to the failure of the corporate governance. The power in the hands of the company given by the corporate rules to influence the policy makers and hence the government has been another reason for the corporate failure. The collapse of corporate governance was not just rooted in poor managerial performance but the entire corporate department plays a major role in ruining the corporate ethical values and principles. But the primary responsibility for the failure of corporate governance lies with the executives and the managers. If the operations management were allowed to work according to the corporate norms then the tragedy of the Enron c ollapse might not have occurred. Effective regulation and oversight, restrictions on campaign financing, and an arms length approach of government in dealing with business may have prevented the breakdown of Enron. â€Å"Enron situation taught a lesson about the main reasons for such failures and not to repeat the same mistakes in the future. The Enron situation was the focus of a massive investigation that led to significant changes in corporate governa

Evaluate how learning strategies have changed and may continue to Essay

Evaluate how learning strategies have changed and may continue to change in relation to the application of information technology in schools - Essay Example I have worked as a film editor and written film criticism, and I listen to the radio and now and then watch TV (my older son has cable). Along with many other colleagues in the Waldorf movement, I have no objection to adults immersing themselves in the world of technological wonders.   Ã‚  Ã‚   I remember well that in the early 1950s when I entered grade school, the "visual aids" approach which utilized a film strip projector was going to revolutionize our educational experience. Sometime after that, "Sunrise Semester" debuted on television, as a first step in the "video revolution" that was going to transform education in America. Several years later, I was part of one of the first Advanced Placement Physics classes in the nation, and our education was going to be revolutionized through the utilization of videotaped lectures by great physicists broadcast over closed circuit television. I have already lived through several of these "electronic revolutions" and Ive yet to see anything happening in mainstream American education except for a steady decline in quality and morale among students and teachers.   Ã‚  Ã‚   I have no idea where all of the old slide projectors went when they were replaced by closed circuit televisions, or where the televisions went when they were replaced by computers, or where the old 386 PCs will go when they are replaced by multimedia Pentium models, etc. - but a lot of corporate marketing departments are undoubtedly very happy about the brisk sales that every new "revolution" brings about. I dont think that Im alone in these concerns. In a recent article in the Atlantic Monthly, Todd Oppenheimer recounts   Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1922 Thomas Edison predicted that "the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and ... in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks." Twenty-three years later, in 1945, William Levenson, the director of the Cleveland public schools

Does Herodotus believe in Cultural Relativism Essay Example for Free

Does Herodotus believe in Cultural Relativism Essay For its time and place, The Histories of Herodotus is a work of remarkably expansive scope. To set the stage for the wars between Greece and Persia ( 490-479 B. C. ), Herodotus describes the geographical and cultural background and reviews the political history of Lydia, Media, Babylon, Egypt, Persia, Scythia, Libya, Ionia, and various Greek city-states in Asia Minor, on the Aegean islands, and on the European mainland. To record the results of his research (historie, in Greek) with the greatest vigor and accuracy, Herodotus traveled to many of these places and gathered firsthand data from native informants. For this type of research, in the words of a modern commentator, Herodotus merits the title not only of the father of history; he is also the father of comparative anthropology. Among the various classes of information which Herodotus seems to have emphasized, thus suggesting a pattern for later descriptions, were marriage customs, religious rites, burial practices, and food habits. The description of these four categories of traits, or social institutions, were not necessarily executed in the round for every tribe that happened to stroll across the pages of the Histories; but they were mentioned often enough to indicate the direction taken by his curiosity, and the content of the questions he probably put to informants. Herodotus, the ancient Greek, was a cheerful, inquisitive, rationalistic extrovert who traveled over his world to discover the facts, who took delight in telling a good story but usually avoided the temptation to wander very far from sober common sense. His cultural relativism is well known and much discussed, but it is particularly noteworthy that Greeks and barbarians are placed on a equal footing at the outset. Distinctions between Greek and non-Greek break down as the work progresses: the first barbarian for whom we get any detailed information is the Hellenized Lydian king, Croesus; the divisions of lands customary among the Greeks that separate Greek and non-Greek peoples are purely arbitrary; we learn of the Phoenician descent of Spartas kings; and Herodotus states that the descendants of Perseus came to be counted as Greeks. The key dichotomy is not the Hellenic-barbarian bipolarity, but rather the opposition of the ordered society based on law and the arbitrary rule of the despot. But political and social institutions are fragile structures, and Herodotus gives no guarantee that the Greek superiority at the time of the Persian Wars, which was based upon those institutions, will last. In fact his work closes on an ominous note that appears to warn imperial Athens that it is in danger of becoming, if it has not already become, the barbarian. We are presented with the gruesome picture of the crucifixion of the Persian satrap Artayctes at the command of the Athenian commander Xanthippus, father of Pericles, and a piece of wisdom from the Persian founding father, Cyrus, on the dangers of success and affluence. And it is well to remember that Herodotus wrote long after the Persian threat had passed, when Athenian imperial power was at its apogee. Herodotos interest in reciprocity is symptomatic of contemporary philosophy, not least in Ionia. Moreover, Herodotos very project, his attempt to explain and explore the Persian Wars, can be considered as a study of reciprocity in cross-cultural interaction, not least because those wars were for Herodotos a stage in a reciprocal, cross-cultural process, as he asserts in the proem. Indeed, war itself may be seen as an exchange, a reciprocal undertaking: the tactics of the Skythian Idanthyrsos allow him to wage war while explicitly rejecting the relationship that war usually entails. Herodotos origins in western Asia Minor, a key area of interface between Greek and non-Greek culture, may have led him to give particular thought to the issue of cross-cultural reciprocity, as also to the Persian Wars, for which the Ionian Revolt had been the catalyst, if not the cause. At the same time, the justice and injustice of imperialism remained a burning issue through the fifth century into the fourth, and not only Persian imperialism, but also Athenian, Spartan, and Macedonian. The Persian Wars were the great antecedents of the Peloponnesian War, in the early years of which Herodotos seems to have completed his work. The Persians themselves continued to play a major role in the politics of the Greek world: the onset of the Peloponnesian War seems to have inspired new attempts to deal with them, and with other non-Greeks, as indicated in comic style in Aristophanes Akharnians of 425 BC. 25 This is understandable, for it was to be Persian resources that would give ultimate victory to the Spartans in that war. Thus, it is quite possible that crosscultural reciprocity was a topical concern in Athens and elsewhere when Herodotos completed his work, though the issue had been close to the centre of Greek preoccupations at least since the time of the Persian Wars, Herodotos subject. The Persian Wars had reinforced a Hellenic self-image, defined by contrast with the barbarian identity, and had thereby further problematized relationships between Greek and non-Greek. In particular, Greeks (especially Athenians, perhaps) could and did use their defeat of Persia as confirmation of a broader superiority over the barbarian. In exploring the difficulties of forming relationships with the other, Herodotos Histories present readers with failures and disasters, arising primarily from ignorance, over-confidence, and cultural chauvinism. There is a definite element of pessimism in the Histories, for the inability to penetrate beyond contingent nomoi and thereby to see other as self is taken to be an observable feature of human nature, as manifested throughout the narrative. In particular, wars are seen to be the products of injustice and attendant ignorance. But there is also hope; for the author claims for himself the ability to rise above commonplace failings and offers to provide his readers with a better understanding of themselves, of others, and of reciprocity. Like Kroisos, the reader may pass into a state of deeper understanding through advice confirmed by experience. Where Kroisos had the advice of Solon and suffered personal disaster, the reader has the advice of Herodotos the author and suffers vicarious disaster, experiencing experiences. Baldry notices that Herodotos calls into question the whole dichotomy between Greek and barbarian, when he presents the Egyptian perspective, according to which barbarians are not those who do not speak Greek, but those who do not speak Egyptian. At the same time, as Laurot has shown, Herodotos displays no interest in condemning barbarians as such, nor in subordinating them to Greeks. Rather, his presentation in the Histories of nomoi of the barbarian other offers insights into the nomoi of the Greek self (or better, selves), insofar as the various Greek nomoi constitute Herodotos principal frame of reference and benchmark. However, as Rosellini and Said valuably stress, Herodotos does not present the barbarian other as a monolithic unity, any more than he presents the Greeks themselves as a unity: rather he ranges across the different nomoi that exist among barbarians and through the complexities of interaction between various barbarian peoples. The Histories are not so much a mirror, as Hartog would have it, but a hall of mirrors with multiple reflections. The key point is that in the Histories cultural differences, however profound they may be, are presented as secondary to a common human nature and a common human condition: in that sense too Greek is barbarian, self is other. The categories of Greek and barbarian are familiar to Herodotos, but on his view, as the proem indicates, they need not entail the subordination of the barbarian, whose achievements are to be celebrated also. For Herodotos, it is humanness that is the natural identity and the group identity that matters, and man-made variations are merely contingent, for all their exotic character and interest. Confirmation of such a view of Herodotos may be found in the condemnatory response of Plutarch, for whom Herodotos is far too positive about barbarians. The ferocity of Plutarchs response (indeed, his very decision to write a response at all) further indicates the strength of the challenge that Herodotos case presented to the smug asseverations of Greek specialness that seem to have developed through the fifth century and which Plutarch in his day assumed to be right and proper. Cross-cultural interaction was central to Herodotos project in the Histories. At the same time, the problematic nature of reciprocity the uncertainty that arises from its under-negotiation is particularly apparent in interaction across cultures. Indeed, Herodotos concern with the problematics of reciprocity as a phenomenon can be seen as intimately bound up with his concern with cross-cultural interaction. Of course, Herodotos starting-point is a matter of mere speculation. But we can and should observe the organic relationship between cross-cultural interaction, crosscultural reciprocity, and the problematics of reciprocity as a phenomenon. It is precisely within the problematics of cross-cultural reciprocity that the appreciation of cultural relativism is particularly necessary. Therefore, if we move from the claim, already mentioned, that there is a strong sense in which the Histories are about reciprocity to ask why Herodotos should be so interested in the phenomenon, I would suggest that an answer is to be found not in the topicality of reciprocity as a theme in the later fifth century, but in the rationale of Herodotos very undertaking. A broadlybased treatment of the Persian Wars by its very nature invites a simultaneous and inherent treatment of reciprocity as a phenomenon. To examine societies is to explore forms of reciprocities. All the more so, when societies invite comparisons through their It also seems clear that Herodotus approached the task of describing manners and customs with a fairly definite idea of what constituted a culture, and a fairly specific set of questions for evoking details from informants. The criteria which separated one group from another and gave individuality to his descriptive portraits were common descent, common language, common religion, and the observance of like manners in the smaller details of living, such as dress, diet, and dwellings. The Argippeans, who lived at the foot of the Ural Mountains, were presented vividly as being bald from birth, speaking a language of their own, using no weapons, dispensing justice in the quarrels of their neighbors, and dressing after the manner of the Scythians. They lived on the juice of a species of cherry, making the lees into a solid cake which they ate instead of meat. They dwell each man, he said, under a tree, covering it in winter with a white felt cloth, but using no felt in summer. For each group, in other words, seven categories of cultural fact are given. We are told their geographical location and something of their environment. We are told of their language, their dress, their food, their dwellings, their form of self-defense, or their lack of it, their prestige as judges among other peoples. On the other hand, concerning Egypt, one of the more important culture areas, Herodotus says at the outset that he will have to extend his remarks to some length. This countryits climate, its people and animalswas a constant surprise and challenge to the observer, very much as Japan with its customs and Australia with its fauna have challenged the modern traveller. For the Egyptians the number of cultural categories evoked far exceeds the seven used in describing the Argippeans. As for history, Bodins belief in its power to confer knowledge concerning the ways of mankind was unfaltering; and much of both the Methodus and the Republique is devoted to the assemblage of documentation to support this contention. Never before perhaps had a writer on politics or ethnography amassed so large a body of dated materials or laid so large a literature under tribute. He was well-read, not only in the law and the Bible, but in the Talmud and the Cabala; in the ancients, including Herodotus, Strabo, Cicero, Tacitus, and Caesar; in the modern historians, such as Joinville, Froissart, Monstrelet, Commines; and in the travelers, Marco Polo, Leo Africanus, and Las Casas. As they err, said he, who study the maps of regions before they have learned accurately the relation of the whole universe and the separate parts to each other and to the whole, so they are not less mistaken who think they can understand particular histories before they have judged the order and sequence of universal history and of all times, set forth as it were in a table.

Mental Retardation Essay -- Papers

Mental Retardation Mental retardation is defined as, an individual with limitations in cognitive ability and adaptive behaviors that interfere with learning. Individuals with mental retardation learn at a slower pace, have low IQs, and may reach a level where learning stops. There are no exact causes for mental retardation but some things are associated with the disability. Prenatal development problems, childbirth difficulties, and a childhood brain injury can all lead to mental retardation. An individual with mental retardation might have problems in learning and social skills. Learning problems can include: difficulty making decisions, short attention spans, and limited strategies for dealing with changes. Problems they face with social skills are being to friendly, difficulty labeling emotions, and being wary of new places. Despite the setbacks and individual with mental retardation can receive an education and lead a productive role in society. "I Am Sam" is about a mentally retarded man named Sam (Sean Penn). In...