Bite Me: A Love Story Chapter 25

25. Being the Chronicles of Abby Normal, Failed Nosferatu, Heartbroken Day Dweller, and Deposed Backup Mistress of the Greater Bay Area Darkness My heady powers of the night are gone, my manga-haired love monkey with a most fly ride is gone, even my tail is gone-worst of all, the Countess is gone. We watched her sail off just before dawn, the Rastafarian imbecile piloting the Raven out past Alcatraz as we stood there on the dock. Then Rivera and Cavuto came blazing up in their shit-brown cop-mobile and jumped out of the car, all â€Å"We have totally watched a number of cop shows and now know how to look urgent.† And Cavuto is all, â€Å"Don't even move, missy.† And he's holding a Super Soaker again. This time, a yellow one. And Rivera is all creeping up the other side of the dock, as if we don't see him, even though the dock is only like fifteen feet wide and there's no cover and it's almost dawn. And Tommy's like, â€Å"You guys, I should probably explain.† But before he can say anything else, I jump up and I'm all, â€Å"Rawr,† at them, coming down with total monster claw hands and scary face. And they fire up their sun jackets and totally open up on Tommy and me with the Super Soakers, until we are wet and laughing so hard that we're falling down on each other. And Marvin jumps out of the car window and runs over to us all doggie â€Å"whaaaa?† face, because he doesn't see a lot of laughing in the cadaver dog business. And Rivera looks at Cavuto, then turns off his sun jacket, and Cavuto turns off his, then holds his squirt gun like it's just turned into a giant yellow turd. And he's all, â€Å"Well, fuck.† And I'm all, â€Å"Oh ass bear, you make me wet,† which totally made us giggle some more, and Marvin ran over and started licking my face, which made me laugh even more, until finally Rivera pulled out his handcuffs and we stopped laughing. So we explained about the old vamps being dead and how they had gotten rid of all the kitty vamps and Chet, and how everyone else had been changed back like us, and it was all good so they just needed to chill the fuck out. And Rivera's all, â€Å"What about the black ship?† And we're like, â€Å"It was owned by this eccentric bazil-lionaire, and the vamps had taken it over, but now that they were dead he was going home.† And Rivera was all, â€Å"But the Emperor said-â€Å" And I'm all, â€Å"Bitch, please. The Emperor of San Francisco, protector of Alcatraz, Sausalito, and Treasure Island, you mean?† Snarking hard. And Rivera is all, â€Å"Okay, good point.† And then the Animals all pull up in two cars, and they jump out all loaded up with squirt guns and garden sprayers, and the Emperor and his dogs jump out, and they are all ready to kick ass, when Rivera stopped them and ‘splained and they went off to get high and the Emperor walked off down the waterfront, watching the Raven sail out to the Golden Gate. ‘Kayso, now the sun is up and Rivera and Cavuto realize that we are totally not vamps, so they take Marvin and climb in their shit-brown mobile and drive off. So Tommy and I are just standing there, at the edge of the dock, and we can just barely see the Raven out by the Golden Gate Bridge, her sails up now, all silver in the sun. And I'm like, â€Å"We should probably go get that money the Countess hid on the roof. It's like three hundred thousand dollars.† The Countess told us where it was before she left. She said she wouldn't need it. And he's like, â€Å"Yeah. It might be a little harder to get up there now that we don't have super powers.† And I'm like, â€Å"She said there's a fire escape most of the way.† And he's all, â€Å"‘Kay.† And he's just staring at the ship. So I'm like, â€Å"So I know you're not nosferatu anymore, but I could still be your minion, if you needed one.† And he's like, â€Å"I'm kind of broken-hearted over here.† And I'm like, â€Å"Me, too.† And he's all, â€Å"Besides, I think you've sort of advanced beyond the level of minion.† So I'm like, â€Å"I could be your girlfriend.† And he's all, â€Å"I thought you loved Foo.† And I'm like, â€Å"I kind of do.† So then he's like, â€Å"I thought you loved Jody.† And I'm all, â€Å"I do. I'm polyamorous.† And he's like, â€Å"Now you want to fuck parrots?!† And I was about to go off on him, but I saw he was grinning, so I just elbowed him in the ribs, like, you dick, as we watched the ship disappear into the fog outside the bridge. And he's like, â€Å"When do you think the Raven will be back?† And I go, all scary voice, â€Å"Nevermore.† Then he looks at me, with a big smile, and he takes my hand. And I totally wanted to kiss him, with plenty of despair and tongue and whatnot. But then I would have had to slap him, so he didn't think that I was a slut, since I'd only been dumped like hours before. But then I thought, he might slap me for the same reason, so instead of a kiss I decided to do a small celebratory booty dance of forbidden passion, which made him grin like a big doof. So we sort of stood there, holding hands, looking at where the ship used to be, realizing that the future was fucking ginormously huge. Like the abyss, only, you know, with better lighting. And I'm all, â€Å"So what now, cornflakes?† Then he's all, â€Å"I think I'll write a book.†

Ratio Analysis †Yum! Brands Essay

Yum! Brands’ consolidated net profit margin lies within the industry average and for 2 years have shown slow yet steady growth. While sales from US operations declined by 5%, the company continued to gain momentum in China, where operating profit increased at an average of 26% year-on-year. Meanwhile, their Return on Assets fairs better than competitors such as McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza, showing that management efficiently manages its asset base. The company’s efficiency can be seen in its Cash Conversion Cycle, with -49. 2 in 2009. This number is much lower from its competitors, which suggests a liquid working capital position. Yum generates sales from its inventory and cash from its sales at a faster rate than the time its pays its suppliers. This means that it utilizes the average 60-day period before it has to fully purchases with suppliers, giving them â€Å"free cash† in principle. However, while this suggests less need to borrow, the comp any still received cash by issuing long-term debt in 2008 and 2009. Due to the nature of the business, on average, 56% of its total assets are fixed. And as Yum ventures into Asian countries, especially China and India, it allocates part of its cash to capital spending. However, in utilizing its fixed assets to generate sales, Yum scores lower compared to Wendy’s and McDonald’s. This may be due to its focus on aggressively adding new stores, with 2008 and 2009 serving as introduction years, before sales can fully pick up. One could also note, however, that sales in the US and International Divisions (ex-China) have decreased from 2007 to 2009. The company’s solvency, however, provides another story. As mentioned, Yum reported negative equity in 2008 mainly due to repurchase of sales. The company used its cash surplus to repurchase sales at a time when its stock price decreased, making it gain economic profits. This may also show the company’s belief and commitment that the stock price will increase again, especially because of the surge in opportunities in China. In addition, it reported accumulated other comprehensive loss in 2008 and 2009. As stated in its 2008 annual report, this loss was attributable to a decline in the â€Å"unrecognized funded status† of U. S. pension plans and foreign currency translation adjustments brought by the strengthened position of the U. S. Dollar. What is alarming in this situation is that the company is riding on a debt level that is 30% higher than its competitors. Majority of its liabilities are long-term debt, with some maturing in 30 years. Moreover, its current ratio appears to be very much lower than its peers, due to its massive use of cash for buybacks, and which suggests increasing risks to the company. It is hence surprising to note that despite this, the company still continues to distribute dividends with an average payout ratio of 36% year-on-year. This then hints at a possibility that Yum is inflating its dividends to continue attracting investors, at the expense of paying their debt position. Source: YUM! Brands Annual Report 2008 & 2009

Health Care Communication Paper Essay

Our facility is going to be changing a lot in the weeks and months to come. As the administration of the nursing home, I am going to make sure that this transition happens as smoothly as possible. The patients that have decided to stay must try their hardest to adhere to the new policies that have been set. The patients that have decided to go somewhere else will very greatly missed. The patients who cannot communicate their decision for one reason or another will be placed where the staff and I see fit, whether it be in our facility or somewhere else. This facility wants to ensure all patients and residents that we want to make these changes as painless as possible. Thank all of you for the time you have given the staff and me these last ten years, and for the time you will give in the future. There are three different types of communication in the medical field: traditional communication, electronic communication, communication through social media. There are advantages and disadvantages to each different type of communication. Traditional communication includes speaking face to face and mail (letters). Electronic modes of communication are email phone (home or cell phone), texting, and chatting. Social media involves communicating with several people or just one person at a time using public forums or private messaging through such websites facebook and twitter. Each and every type of communication is equally as important as the other but they all have their own advantages and disadvantages. Traditional forms of communication as simple as can be but they can confuse anyone if every step is not done correctly. You would think that speaking to someone face to face would be the best way to communicate but this is not always the case. Anyone can miscommunicate what they are trying to say. There can be other barriers like language barriers and also emotional barriers. If someone speaks a different language it can be hard to understand them unless there is an interpreter available, which isn’t always possible. Emotional barriers are hard because when health care is involved things can go wrong and people then become angry, sad, and/or tired. When this happens they may not want to listen to or respond to their doctors. Face to face communication is good too because you can ask questions then and there, and receive advice from your physician without having to wait too long. Mail can be very annoying because it can take days or weeks to reach its destination and more days or weeks to receive a response. The only good thing about mail would be that you will have documentation of your physician’s opinions and test results. Traditional communication methods have been around for a long time but times are changing and these types of communication are becoming few and far between. Electronic communication seems to be where most people end up communication, even to our doctors and other health care officials. We call, email, and even text to tell doctors and nurses our health care problems before we even consider actually going to a doctor’s office and speaking to the doctor in person. These communication techniques are good because we can receive answers to our questions also instantly if the health care official isn’t busy. One disadvantage is that someone may not get back to you as soon as you would like; which will leave you at home, wondering what you should do. Electronic communication isn’t exactly the best form of health care because if the doctor cannot actually see the patient and test their symptoms they cannot defiantly tell a patient what is wrong with them. Social media is becoming more and more popular every day because it is a way to keep in touch with people we don’t see every day. It has also become home for all kinds of new and old information, including health care information. This can be a great way to communicate about health care because people can learn new things about health care and medicine every day. People can also communicate with organizations full of doctors and nurses who can teach patients about any news in the health care world and advise patients on how to take care of themselves. This may sound great but there are terrible disadvantages to this type of health care communication. You never know who you are actually speaking to on the internet. What could appear to be an organization of doctors and nurses who want to offer free health care advice could be someone who knows absolutely nothing about medicine. Social media websites are not the best place to look for any sort of medical advice because patients want real help.

Affirmative Action Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Affirmative Action - Essay Example The research also focuses on viability of implementing the provisions of the affirmative action law during 2012. The companies and schools must implement all the provisions of the affirmative action law. Affirmative action includes requiring the companies to reserve a certain percentage of its total employment force or total student enrollees to the minorities of society. Affirmative action entails avoiding discrimination in the hiring of employees and acceptance of students enrolling in a school. Some companies interpret affirmative action as a quota system (Lapenson, 2009). Companies must allot a certain percentage of the entire work force to minorities. In the same manner, schools should allocate a certain percentage of the total enrollment to minorities. Initially, affirmative action was crafted into law to eliminate racial discrimination against the African Americans. The companies are penalized for discriminating against the minority job applicants and minority student enrollee s. Further, statistical data shows that affirmative action has changed the landscapes. The prior data indicated that 47.5 percent of the total work force before 1909 were women. During the current period, the female workers increased to 85 percent of the total workforce in the US. ... Discrimination can be done in several aspects. The aspects include race, color, creed, and national origin. President John F. Kennedy envisioned that companies would not hire a job applicant or accept the enrollment of student based on one’s race, color, gender, religion, religion or national origin. The order firmly established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Prior to President Kennedy’s executive order, African Americans had more difficulty in finding jobs when compared to the Caucasian Americans (Spann, 2000). Next, United States President Lyndon Johnson interpreted the affirmative action to include generating more job opportunities and school enrollment rights to the African Americans. President Johnson spearheaded an updated version of the affirmation action provision during 1965. President Johnson insists that the affirmative action law gave everyone of all races, color, religion, gender, and national origin equal rights to land a vacant job or enroll in a school of their choice (Fischer, 2010). Lastly, the affirmative action fluctuated during different time periods (Platt, 1997). Women benefitted from affirmative action. During the 1970s, 53 percent of college and university students were nonwhites. Affirmative action triggered an increase in female graduates in medical school (8 percent increase) and law schools (5 percent increase). Specifically, the 1979 to 1989 research period shows that there was a 31 percent increase in African American men and 55 percent increase in African American women. Further, there is a 39 percent increase in Hispanic men and 45 percent increase in Hispanic women in terms of medical school enrollment statistics (Welch, 1998). The research shows that many white

The Breakfast Club Film Review Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Breakfast Club Film Review - Coursework Example The plot is basically about teens and growing up pains. The five main characters in the film are Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez), Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald), Brian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall), John Bender (Judd Nelson) and Allison Reynolds (Ally Sheedy) who are brought together one Saturday morning at the Shermer High School library for â€Å"detention† – a kind of penalty imposed on each one of them for having done an unacceptable deed. Each of the characters come from different cliques, and are of different types of individuals – the wrestler, the prom queen, the nerd, the outcast and the rebel – but as the story unfolds, they find out that they actually have similarities, common angsts and can actually be friends and confidantes. From strangers, the story ends with some discoveries, transformations, and finally, some kind of connection between these teens. At first glance, the film seems to be a boring one with much talk and not too much action t aking place. The issues brought up by the characters are just too petty and would just send the viewer to shake his/her head in disbelief. As the movie goes along, however, the viewer gets to know more about the characters and it would be unlikely for anyone not to identify with the issues these youngsters faced.

Help Desk Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Help Desk Paper - Essay Example Actually, help desks have already become a routine reality for the majority of large and small businesses all over the world. The question remains in whether it is worth outsourcing Help Desk Agents and what criteria efficient Help Desk Agents should meet. To begin with, a Help Desk is a place where a customer or an information technology user can obtain important information, call for support or obtain technical support and assistance (TechTarget, 2010). Many companies hold help desks to provide customers with the quality customer service and support. A help desk can be a person or a group of persons with a phone number and the skills necessary to resolve the majority of the emerging technical and organizational problems (TechTarget, 2010). Help desks may consist of a group of technical experts that will use software to track the status of the emerging problems and to solve them promptly; a help desk may also work in the form of a call center, which accepts user complaints and suggestions and helps them to track their orders, shipments, and concerns in real time (TechTarget, 2010). That businesses enjoy the benefits of call centers and help desks is difficult to deny. The question is in what Help Desk Agents can be considered as efficient and what it takes for businesses to hire efficient Help Desk Agents. An efficient Help Desk Agent must meet the specific set of criteria, to match the Help Desk Agent job requirements and to successfully cope with his (her) responsibilities. According to Hiles and Gunn (2009), these criteria include â€Å"skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback† (Hiles and Gunn, 2009). An efficient Help Desk Agent will possess a variety of skills necessary to resolve numerous technical and customer service dilemmas; in other words, an efficient Help Desk Agent will not only be

Impact of Global Financial Crisis on Fiscal Policy Essay

Impact of Global Financial Crisis on Fiscal Policy - Essay Example Battaglini and Coate (2008) presented the political economy model. The model was meant to understand the influence of the fiscal policy that it has on the Business cycle (Barseghyan, Battaglini & Coate, 2013). The model is based on the predictive premise that the fiscal policy is counter-cyclical in nature and that debt tends to decrease in periods of economic boom while increases during the period of economic recession (Barseghyan, et. al., 2013). Tax rates increase during the period of recession while lowered significantly during the boom period and vice versa holds true for public spending (Barseghyan, et. al., 2013). Under general belief the stabalising effects generated by the counter-cyclical fiscal policies is generated through automatic stabalisers and discretionary actions; but the counter cyclical policies have led to an increase in the government debt and also obligated the government to debt services in the coming future (Gordon & Leeper, 2005). Counter cyclical policies can be counterproductive as they require their financing from high tax rates, low spending and elevated financial growth in the future; and also this tends to leave no space for any other business cycle other than itself (Gordon & Leeper, 2005).Austerity means to reduce the public sector expenditure to enable reduction in the debt (Konzelmann, Wilkinson & Davies, 2003). This is only effective if the economy has economic growth to speak of (Konzelmann, et. al., 2003). The government of t

Neil v. Biggers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Neil v. Biggers - Essay Example This ruling based on the show up identification brought about the precedence of making a ruling. The other precedence brought about by this case was due to the fact that the writ for habeas corpus in such a case cannot be cannot be accepted by a federal court. This is because of the affirmance according to the U.S.C 2244 (c). This therefore means that even if the case is appealed, the judgment of made by the lower courts still stands and no further action can be taken (Ingram 2011). This was the case when Biggers appealed the ruling of the case in the Supreme Court. Even though the Neil v. Biggers was ruled in favor of the show up identification process even though it was done over seven months after the assault had taken place, conflict of ideas were raised. This has led to development of more criteria which should be considered before judging an individual based on merely identification by an eyewitness. These criteria are proved by a psychologist employed to do so by the court. They look at several things like the time that has elapsed between the time the assault takes place and the identification process. This is meant to ensure that the memory of the plaintiff is still fresh and hence no wrong identification. Another guideline involves the accuracy of the description made earlier. This is done to ensure that there is no discrepancy whatsoever that may lead to the wrong person being incriminated and the assailant to walk free. All this is done before any ruling on the case is done and it ensures that the witness is really sure of what they are reporting before the court or in front of a jury. The other guideline criteria are on opportunity to view the assailant. This will include the physical features of the assailant like height, weight, skin complexion among other physical traits that will make it easy to identify the individual whether in a line up or

Industrial Placement Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Industrial Placement - Case Study Example This clearly implies that poor performance of the human resource is hazardous to the organisation. One of the major human resource issues faced by most organisations is the high rate of employee turnover. Problems arise in many organisations as a result of unethical practices of the management towards the employees. This leads to more employee grievances and, in turn, affects the smooth functioning of the organisation. Increased rate of employee grievance is also a cause for high employee turnover. A good human resource management can help to solve the human resource issues of an organisation. Initially it was the personnel department who dealt with the employees in the organisation. But the personnel department only dealt with the technical aspects of the employees such as staffing, remunerating etc. Later on, human resource management became a separate department to look after the welfare of the employees at the work place. "Personnel management is more administrative in nature, dealing with payroll, complying with employment law, and handling related tasks. Human resources, on the other hand, are responsible for managing a workforce as one of the primary resources that contributes to the success of an organisation." (N. Madison. 2007). The terminology changed from personnel management to human resource management when the significance of the human resources in an organisation's success was identified properly. The fact that human consideration has to be given to the employees paved way to the formation of human resource departments in the organisation. The main functio ns of the human resource management include recruiting, selecting, placing, controlling, remunerating and motivating the employees of the organisation. Though human resource management's function includes all the activities beginning from recruiting the staff the main objective of human resource management is to provide a good working environment for the employees so that the employees feel good at work. The employees should be provided with sufficient benefits and allowances apart from salary, on the basis of their performance and as per the statute governing the employees' welfare. Human resource management in an organisation is mainly based on the concept that the employees in an organisation are human beings and they are unlike other resources. Employees will have their own problems and difficulties at their workplace arising as a result of the problems in their personal life. And also human resource is a factor whose behaviour cannot be predicted by any means. This study is aimed at identifying the human resource issues existing in the hotel giant Sheraton Hotels and Resorts. The study is conducted in Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers located in New York City. Sheraton is one of the oldest and the best hotels in the world. Currently it has very good market share in the hospitality industry. The final report is addressed to the top level human resource executives of the company for helping them to resolve the problem. Objectives of the report The main objective of preparing this report is to study and analyze the major human resource issues existing in the organisation. The study is routed to some of the areas which were found to be unsatisfactory

A lie is a lie, until it becomes reality Essay Example for Free

A lie is a lie, until it becomes reality Essay Have you ever created a lie and told it to so many people in so many times and on so many occasions that you started to believe it also. Truth is spoken in words before believing, lie is equally uttered in same form, but the difference is in the period of mental processing required for the approval of the mind. Irrespective of the number of times a lie is uttered, it still remains a lie until it matures into evident truth. This I believe – ‘a lie is a lie, until it becomes reality.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Whatever comes in words is powerful than even the two edged swords.† Repeated episodes of events ingrain a mental picture of such into a reality sooner or later. This is faster believed when it has earlier existed before within the same atmosphere, locality and season. It is a function of reminiscence into the past, analyzing the image of the scenario and subsequently ignoring the path to doubt. This most unlikely will lock up the believing faculty of the mind to unquestionably assimilate it like every other truth. Come to think of it, a man who lives to tell the truth, live to be hated continually by enemy on his way with no tint of resolving. Show me a man who has never lied before and I will show you a man who is perceived to live a hostile existence in the world, a man who lives strictly not to bend the rule even if it costs a life. This is paradoxically to the detriment of his integrity for failure to contribute sweetness into beings. More so, men live to believe witnessed speech faster than what they hear alone. Imaging a lie supported by unfounded crowd of witnesses far away (still in the lie context), a sense of been odd will drag the listener(s) into the fold of the virtual seas of witness. This reminds me of a friend, who fabricates a big lie from our early childhood. Many lies he told spread faster with his popularity. Popularity here is the basis for the repetition. He cooks up so many lies to meet the expected demand of a higher social class. He is talked about everywhere in school, especially among the ladies who cunningly rush to gain his attention. Of course, he is such an awesome baby boy, who was born and bread in the good city of the other world to come. In my discoveries, I had long ago resolved that repeated pressure metamorphose a pulseless attempt to give in and satisfy intrinsic desire to shed wait of pressure. Lie is one of such pressure – it is so easy to utter because it does not cost a dime, it only entails perfect matching of the imaginary expectation of your listener with the picture of what it should be even when it is yet to be.   This very friend of mine goes here and there to here the same words of his own, far away from the third party to a distant accomplice. Such accomplice will ask â€Å"I really commend your new father’s acquisition of on of the hottest companies in town, I heard he got it in your names † reply, â€Å"I really do not border much because I see him aiming higher for me even beyond Microsoft Company† Here is just one of the numerous lies told my friends. He wakes everyday in school to hear this. He is repeatedly triggered to lobby for such an achievement from his parent until it turns a reality. His father became worried one day; attempt to relieve the young man’s anxiety and work out the expectation of one of the big shot companies. The repeated lobby turns the acquisition a reality. Let us extrapolation the last story into the field of psychology, a land where perfect  Ã‚  Ã‚   prediction of future from the past is not a crime. The aspect of the mind responsible for telling lie, is not only unique to the author, it is rather developed over time when put into function. The time interval may vary but the lie is destined to become a reality one day, if and only if it is constantly reminded. Reference `This I Believe` speech, http://www.thisibelieve.org/index.php .

History of the EU Single Market

History of the EU Single Market In this paper I intend to look at the two communications presented by the European Commission, to the European Parliament, the European Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. These two communications, Single Market Act I Single Market Act II, both talk about proposals that if implemented, should make the Single Market of the European Union much better by eliminating any obstacles which were found in the systems at the time of writing. To understand better the Single Market, one should look at the history of this on-going process and then, take a look at what the Commission proposed through these two communications. This should lead to a better understanding of how these proposed set of actions would strengthen the EUs internal market. History of the EU Single Market Moving freely within the European Union (EU) today seems to be a very common activity and very often it is taken for granted. Looking back in time and seeking the beginning of this concept, one can better understand why this was necessary and important for the EU, what were the steps needed and what it took to achieve this goal. It is important to mark the landmark political decisions and historical facts that brought us to live this dream, which is also considered as one of the EUs greatest achievements. The need of a common market has been long discussed from 1957, since the Treaty of Rome which created the European Community. The main objective of this proposal was to give Europe a new push, to take integration to an upper level and to have free movement of goods, services, capital and persons, therefore a common market. Of course, this was a vital step since one cannot build a common Europe without having a common market. These four fundamental freedoms were the basis of the real European Economic Community (EEC). This common market became a reality with the removal of barriers and internal borders within the European Union. Although on 1st July 1968 the customs duties on goods going around in the EU member states were completely removed, there remained non-tariff barriers like differences in the requirements of safety and packaging of different member states or between national administrative procedures. Consequently, these barriers did not allow the manufacturers to market the same goods in different European countries.  [1]  After this step, it took until 1985 for the leaders to decide to come back to the realisation of this single market. The single market was a response for a long-standing crisis in the EEC especially created in the 1970s; the things that mostly effected the economy were the oil crisis of 1973 1979 (which caused a lot of inflation with rising prices and which therefore created unemployment), the rapid advancements in technology, t he changes occurring in the economy world and also the emergence of new strong competitors such as Japan and newly industrialising countries from South East Asia.  [2]  The European Commission led by Jacques Delors, in 1985 presented a common response to that of the leaders themselves. The Community decided to complete the construction of the great internal market in stages which was to be finalised at the start of 1993, and therefore, the ambitious date and goal were written into the Single European Act signed in February 1986. This led to the gradual removal of internal barriers and borders within the European Community, national standards were getting harmonised, and rules determining the way governments should buy services and goods were created. There was also the liberalisation of financial institutions, the Value Added Tax (VAT) rates were being set to a standard level and there was also the setting of European business laws. All these measures were taken to create the si ngle market.  [3]  Until 1992, the national regulations of the 12 member states were replaced by one rule which was common to all of them and regulated all the countries in the same manner after the EU adopted nearly 280 pieces of legislation. The monetary union was also planned and the Maastricht Treaty was the first step of the creation of the Euro, which came into use on 1st January 2002. After all these steps and hard work towards this dream, on 1 January 1993 the physical borders between EU countries vanished completely and the European Single Market was officially a reality for the member states of the EU.  [4]   12 levers of the EU Single Market After all the work done to create the Single Market of the EU, there were still some things which were not functioning as they were meant to be and according to their original purpose of creation. Although one of the main benefits of the Single Market was that of bringing economic growth in the member states of the EU as was predicted and argued in the Cecchini Report  [5]  , it has been proven by many studies and statistics that this mission was not fully accomplished and the targets were not fully reached. The faults present in this system were addressed both by the Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and the Maltese MEP Louis Grech in their reports A New Strategy for the Single Market Delivering a single market to consumers and citizens, respectively. Taken from the original Cecchini Report Therefore, the only thing that could help to get the expected results was to refine the policies and develop a proactive and cross-cutting strategy  [6]  to give the single market the opportunity to develop its full potential  [7]  . This was done through the Single Market Act I which was presented on 13th April 2011. In this communication, the Commission expressed its proposals which should help to eliminate any obstacles which are not allowing full movement of services, innovation and creativity across the member states. The Single Market Act and the actions which were proposed in this communication are aimed at giving all the citizens and businesses of the EU the ability to have full access and full beneficial that can come out of this Internal Market and strengthen their confidence in this system. All in all, the end result should be a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth  [8]  and also the creation of more jobs for the citizens. This was all presented in the so ca lled Twelve levers which the Commission has come up with. Each one of them is aimed at strengthening the Single Market in different ways. Here are some of the most important levers. Levers related to free movement of capital The first lever talks about the Access to finance for SMEs since the world has gone through financial crises, businesses in the EU have become more restricted and limited and cannot get the loans they need from the banks to advance in their industry by manufacturing innovative products and market them. Through a change in legislation, this lever proposes to make funds more accessible to SMEs so they can invest more and provide a better, smarter, innovative and more advanced technology. This should also be an incentive for SMEs to operate across borders and raise capital abroad.  [9]   Levers Related to free movement of persons The second lever which is about Mobility for citizens, talks about creating a European professional card that will make mobility for workers across the EU easier while building a better level of trust and cooperation between different countries of the EU. Another proposal was the creation of the European skills passport which is a record of the skills possessed by a person who can travel across the EU and find different jobs. This way, the citizens can always have a proof of their skills.  [10]   Another lever aimed at facilitating the free movement of persons is the seventh lever proposed which talks about The digital single market. This lever proposes that there should be a mutual electronic identification and authentication throughout the EU. This will be beneficial not only for people moving from one country to another, but also to businesses and public authorities, therefore it can also help in increasing the effectiveness of public services and procurement, service provision and electronic commerce (including the cross-border dimension). Levers Related to free movement of goods services The fifth lever talking about Services highlights the importance of standardisation as a tool used in the free movement of goods. This tools importance is growing bigger also in the services sector. This will help in improving cross-border services mainly between businesses and combat unfairness, by developing a more effective, efficient and inclusive system.  [11]  This system will work to see that standards are adopted quickly and adapted to new technologies. This will enable SMEs other similar groups to become more involved while standards remain available to everyone.  [12]   Levers Related to Law Enforcement Strengthening the EU Single Market Concluding Remarks

Promoting Green Technology Innovation

Promoting Green Technology Innovation The human impact onto the global equilibrium has been proved scientifically in the last years and current catastrophes like in Japan even strengthen the worldwide awareness for the protection of the environment. In our following literature review, we stated the reasons for the present development of green technologies, defined the term GT and pointed out the importance of innovations and their promotion in this sector. To solve the global problem of climate change and resource scarcity, common and individual measures have to be conducted in order to prevent long-term consequences for the world and its people. A major part of this work is dealing with the promotion of electronic mobility (e-Mobility) and how the world community is trying to force the development of this promising technology. Moreover, strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, threats are presented according to this groundbreaking industry which is supposed to change global market conditions sustainably. Key word: Green technology, Innovation, e-Mobility, Sustainability, Electric Vehicles (EVs) The Green Movement The reason for the green movement was a developed industrial society, the crisis in relations between human society and surrounding natural environment. The rapid growth of production, especially in the 1950-1960s was dictated primarily by the interests of economy for profit or political considerations (increasing the power of the states). In basis of the universal race was production for production and consumption for the sake of consumption. The company, regardless of its form of ownership, will always seek profit increasing, paying no attention to external costs (infrastructure, services, damage, destruction and repair) .The gap between the decisions on production, consumption and public expenditure generated at all levels tend to maximize, e.g. the maximum number of individual needs which are satisfied by the maximum number of items. As a result we have endanger human life and health from water, air and soil pollution by industrial and domestic waste, the destruction of many natural resources. The emerging number of effects that threat the ecological balance (greenhouse gases, global climate change, reduction of ozone layer, catastrophic erosion of soils, etc.) The ecological crisis that we face today wrote Murray Bookchin, an American environmentalist ultimately calls into question the ability of the Earth to support the development of life forms. Modern society is literally destroying all the work done by organic evolution.(Bookchin, 1991). Modern society is literally destroying all the work done by organic evolution. The issue of the nuclear weapon and energy gave the immediate impetus to the design and dissemination of the Green movement. The economy growth in 1960s was accompanied by a rapid buildup of nuclear power plants; nuclear programs in leading countries were further strengthened after the oil crisi s in the West region in 1973-1974. These subjects were considered as the sphere of competence of state military and energy policy, and because public opposition to nuclear development is directly facing the population and altruistically minded enthusiasts with the authorities and led to a radicalization of the movement. Those days popular slogan was: Better to be active than radioactive. The impact of nuclear energy and consequences can easily be seen these days: Chernobil in 1986, Fukusima in 2011 and many other incidents. In 1971, in North America the most known environmental organization Green Peace was formed. Originally, it took up the problems of nuclear tests of the USA, but has gradually extended the activity for the whole world and to a wide range, up to protection of biological kinds, waste, etc. The basic tactics of Green Peace is to draw attention of the public and the mighty ones of this world to different questions related to ecological problems. Nowadays, the green market is growing quickly and steadily, even compared to the economic environment market. Since 2008, the world economy shows the signs of the downturn, but green market remarkably grows. Dubai Chamber of commerce and industry organizations indicates that global market for environmental products will double by 2020. That shows vast opportunities for business. Change in mind of the global population In general, every single person in this planet needs to green if they want a better future for the next generations. Eventually, we will run out of carbon based fuels and we need to change to renewable sources. But in reality its just developed countries need and care about green technology and the ones without oil resourses. For example, Afghanistan, Gaiti, Tadzhikistan and about seventeen countries in Africa are experiencing food scarcity. There are revolutions in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. So probably going green its last thing they have in mind right now. But its a huge visible progress in Europe. Big taxes on oil encouraged carmakers to manufacture fuel-efficient vehicles, most of the countries signed KYOTO protocol, agreeing to reduce greenhouse emissions to a certain point, recycling, usage of wind and solar power sources. So any country which wants to reach economical sustainability, is switching to green technologies. European Union or any other state can come up with laws and restrictions, but we have just one atmosphere. So we have to make it economic , so that all people and all nations will have a profitable outcome . Energy is the mother of all markets. These days, many customers looking for a green product and retailers can lose them if they dont care about the environment. Most of them prefer green products from electric or hybrid car to reusable bags in supermarkets.The benefits of green technologies are obvious, especially when it comes to energy: population health, saving and making money, independence of some countries , sustainable economy, less political tensions and suspension of global warming. The term Green Technology has been developed in last 5 years, which describes industries promoting a value of innovations that benefit the environment. There is a time, when panic is an appropriate response.(Eugene Kleiner, 2007). And we reached that time. We are facing catastrophic and irreversible consequences. . Global warming is a problem that is connected to difficult issues such as poverty, economic development and population growth. Hundreds of millions of people around the world are already affected by water shortages, crop failures, and tropical diseases, flooding and extreme weather events-conditions that are probably going to be worse due to the global warming. We need green technology to change the impact on environment. And demand for it grows worldwide. So there are real chances to take a place in a given niche in the case of being engaged in this business right now. It requires a big investment for the companies, but return appears to be high. By switching to GT we will build better future for our children and also its a way to save and make money. Green technology What is green technology? Green technology is aiming at the usage of reusable natural resources for energy production. Target is to develop different ways to produce energy so that natural resources does not deplete. Green technology combines different methods and technologies for continuing evolving new solutions. Main areas for interest in green technology are sustainability, re-use ability, source reduction, innovation and viability. (Green technology 2010). Nowadays almost every company has products those have influences from green technology. Product life cycle, energy consumption, materials and product extermination are in important role when product ecological quantities are evaluated. The economical crisis has decreased temporary energy consumption and travelling. Bad thing is that at the same time investments for developing energy efficiency has decreased. This has negative long term influence of carbon dioxide emissions. (Vesa Laisi Vacon 2010). Fig.1: Capital Costs of Generating Technologies in 2009 Figure 1 shows capital costs of different energy production methods. One of the most important parts of green technology is energy production but there is also another important area of interest. For example construction industry tries to decrease energy consumption of buildings. New building regulations ensures green way to build houses. Also tax policy aims to lower energy consumption. Easy way for normal people to support ecological way to live is to buy products that are manufactured with the methods that have smallest impact on the environment. (Energy information administration 2010). Why is green technology important? All the time more and more consumers, investors and companies are interested in green technology. According to many studies ozone layer has decreased and now people woke up to worry about the future. World population increase force also to search new renewable energy sources because fossil energy sources cant fill future energy need. Fig.2: Clean Technology Figure 2 shows different areas where clean technology has been used. Consumers can reduce global warming by choosing materials and energy sources those have manufactured by green ways. (Clean Edge 2011). Capital investments for green technology have increased in first quarter of this year over 65%. (Dudley 2010). U.S.A is the biggest investor to clean technology. European countries have very positive attitude about green technology but investments are not so big. China is also a big factor when we are talking in clean technology. China has lot of old industry and pollutions are huge. Reasons why interest of green technology has increased so dramatically is the knowledge that fossil energy sources are running out and climate change. Fossil energy sources are very important for industrialized countries. In Finland nuclear power, waterpower and bio fuel are common energy production methods. Future energy questions are big and it is possible that those problems cant be resolved only with renewable energy sources. One main thing is to increase energy efficiency and this is segment where the smallest clean technology companies want offer solution. Improving energy efficiency helps to decre ase expenses because natural resources will be used less. (Linnainmaa 2007). Research has developed from innovative visions to serious business. Now green technology is many directors agenda in multinational companies and small innovative companies those main target is growth. Nowadays, it is lot of easier to get risk investment support and that help small innovative companies implement their strategy efficiently. Who uses green technology? Interest groups and target groups Green technology end users are consumers and industry companies. Consumers can use green technology for example house heating systems. Solar panels have been developed to potential option for summer cottage energy source. Solar panels manufacturing costs has decreased and that is big factor that help consumers to choose that option. Also use of ground heat systems has increased. One big negative issue about this option is expensive investments costs. Some countries support consumers to choose this heating system. Consumers can pay fewer taxes if they invest in this technology. Fig.3: Green is the next wave in flat panel displays Figure 3 shows how green technology has increased in flat displays. After year 2014 all displays contains energy saving functions and components are manufactured by green technologies. In 2008 most of developing work has been done and after that use of those methods has increased dramatically. Nowadays it is easy for consumer to choose products that were manufactured with green technology. Many products give information about to manufacturing method in their label. e.g. every food has mark in the label if it has been manufactured in a natural way. Industry uses green technology for example energy sources. Also choosing raw materials those have manufactured with green technology help to decrease pollutions. The development of better filters has decreased pollution in industry. One negative issue is that filters are very expensive and make competition situation unfair between e.g European and Chinese companies those dont often use that king of filters because there is not so strict legislation. Green Technology as Part of Sustainable Development Green Technology describes any application of science, knowledge or technology towards improving the relationship between human technology involvement and the impact this has on the environment and natural resources. Green technology is a category, in that it can cover many different parts of technology and human development (energy, computer and agriculture). Environmental technology is the conservation of the environmental sciences, and to decrease the negative impacts of human acts. (Green Technology 2010) Its main goals are: Sustainability Creating products that can be re-used. Change the patterns of production and consumption for reducing the waste. Developing alternatives in order to improve health and environment. Environmental degradation is worsened by extensive use of environmentally hazardous mass production technologies and use of fossil sources of energy which emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere contributing to the greenhouse effect and pollution. Only a thorough reassessment and reorganization of global development, when a central role would be given to mass transition to green technologies and intensive rather than extensive consumption, could guarantee optimistic prospects for future generations. Enterprise needs reciprocal commitment of all countries to contribute to the solving of global environmental problems according to their capacities, which could be increased through exchange of knowledge and green technologies among the countries. Green technology is a method or practical application of knowledge from environmental science to conserve the natural environment and resources, and to alleviate the negative impacts of human activity. It is called to contribute to sustainable development. It is for sure that usage of oil, gas, and coal as main sources of energy undermines the ability of future generations to use these finite sources of energy. (IPU 2009). Among traditional types of environmentally friendly renewable sources of energy, there are other technologies which contribute to global green energy balance: Biofuel: Obtained from lifeless or living biological material. It is similar to fossil fuels, which are produced from biological material. Ethanol: Esay to manufacture and process and can be made from common agricultural feedstock such as corn, potato, sugar cane etc. Anaerobic digestion: Various processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material without oxygen and is widely used to treat wastewater. It is commonly used as a renewable energy source because the process produces a methane and carbon dioxide rich biogas suitable for energy production helping replace fossil fuels. The ability to pursue an environmentally friendly shift to green technology and intensive consumption is being procrastinated by the latest 2009 world financial crisis. It greatly undermined the perspectives of long-term sustainable development. It has put the economic issues on top of the world agenda at the expense of other unresolved urgent problems of the modern globalized era. The fact is that the worst problems are highly conspicuous in poor and developing countries whose dramatic population growth makes it harder for the government to preserve states manageability, not even mentioning their weak incentives to address such abstract long-term issues like global warming. (UN 1992). In order to give a better understanding of ecological sustainable development, examples of two Asian countries are being stated below: South Korea South Korea announced a green action plan and laid out a budget of $84 billion to support it, which will help cut car emissions and improve the energy efficiency of buildings and houses. This is expected to make the country a green nation in the recent years. The aim is to become one of the worlds 7th most competitive country in 10 years in terms of energy efficiency and ability to adapt to climate change, according to a presidential statement. The country also plans to create 1.81 million new jobs. Kwon Tae Shin, said that reducing greenhouse gas emissions initiative will serve as a growth engine to drive the country to greater times. South Korean government will develop international markets for LEDs, solar cells and hybrid cars. CO2 emissions will also from part of the new strategy and will be implemented next year, said official sources. India Major industrial private sector firms formed an Alliance for Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE ), This alliance pretend to save 2,000 MW of energy by next year by promoting energy efficiency measures in homes and businesses. Also, India will form a National Environmental Protection Authority (NEPA) as a part of the country initiatives. Aims to intensify the authority of Indian environmental agencies, improve public information and transparency, demonstrate progress in environmental compliance and enforcement. Also, India has in place an eco-labeling scheme called Ecomark for identification of environmentally-friendly products. The mark is awarded to consumer goods that meet different environmental criterias (encompasses raw material extraction, manufacturing and disposal). (Shukla 2010). IV. Promotion of green technology innovation Climate change has been on an increase and proving to be a monster since the beginning of the 20th century. In the process, it has lead to global warming a; phenomena where high levels of carbon dioxide ratio exceed normal. This has resulted in increasing temperature of the earth ´s surface air and big water masses. During this time, the Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007), reported that the earth surface temperature increased out of proportion and may go further between 1.1 to 6.4 °C in the 21st century, and the finger was pointed at increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, mainly from man-made activities such as deforestation, miss-handling of the eco-system and burning of fossil fuel. For that matter, there is need for an emergency management perspective. In this management, there should be utilities for guidance and management in response to global climate change. There are many risks and vulnerabilities related to global climate change. These utilities should address these risks and vulnerabilities and combine the greens peace and the policy makers while providing a base to accommodate this need. Although this is the idea, the techniques for drawing the policies should not be undermined, since they have a potential of big challenges and disaster. The goal is to enhance policy making at all levels to be equal in order to develop a more consistent approach to combat the challenges of climate change and global warming. ( Schneider 2011). Although tackling the problem of climate change, includes a lot of challenges, there is a way forward; the Kyoto global agreement on climate change (Kyoto protocol) where, these challenges are sought to be handled. This protocol also assesses international proposals forwarded by academics and the international community. Despite its effort, there has been little achieved, yet the main issues have to be addressed. These issues include emission reduction targets for developed countries; the nature and extent of actions to limit emissions quarters of countries and its funding with an aim to reduce it. (Howes 2009). Developed countries have quarters of emission aimed at reducing emissions by 20% by 2020. One of the most positive way is to go green, which requires agility, determination and responsive in innovation. This implies that, the average emissions growth should be 1.5% by 2020. Kyoto also knows that this is an ambitious reform by developed countries despite the support of international community funding to developing country, in order for them to mitigate. (Howes 2009). Global approach Michael Zammit, United Nations climate official agrees that there is a non-consensus agreement between Europe and the USA on archiving the goal of emission reduction as specified by the Kyoto treaty. Instead of individual contribution, USA evading with helping poor countries in emissions reduction were as Europe advocates for the countries responsible for the emissions should be forced to reduce it at home. He also points out that, in this gigantic economic and political change, they should have a limit and control of greenhouse gas emissions in order to fulfil the Kyoto commitments. There for there is need for innovation of green technology. (UNFCCC 1999). Sining C. Cuevas (2011) suggests that, there should be adaptive measures on how to carry out a system that is affected by climate change. He devised a three dimensions model consisting of climate change, eco-system vulnerabilities and risks involved. He identified that climate change occurs in four different nature; intensity, variability, frequency, and quantity. This was all driven by social-economic, bio-physical, technological, and organisation means, were as the risks oriented more on income, diversity, health, mortality rate, and infrastructure risks. Although his findings give an understanding of gears that drive climate change, they are still crude to implement. Support measurements for green technology innovation Some countries are seriously embarking and subsidising green technology. For instance, China announced plans to help the growth of green technology green technology at home. It launched its financial strategy towards the end of 2008 and parting a big portion to green technology and renewable energy. Its aggressiveness in green technology reached its climax in 2009 when it injected a lot of resources to help the 1.3 Billion people with energy. These government subsidies are targeting clean energy vehicles, steel mill, development of solar and wind power in order to help develop the green technology industry. These come in form of reduced price in production which is further transfer cheaply to the consumer. (Leonardo Academy). Marketing and value communication The European Community (EC) together with the European Union (EU) has responsibilities and have obliged with the Kyoto Protocol. They have participated and contributed to the Kyoto Protocol although they sometimes tend to be non-compliant with their obligations. This prompted for a massive investment in innovation in green technology in the European Community (EC); as a result, they reduced their emission by 8% share under their obligations of EU Member States. For this reason, they dismiss the idea of redistributed of burden-sharing agreement since innovative technology, if done right, will cater for the emission-reduction target. (Schiele 2010). An empirical investigation made by Dr. Omid Sabbaghi (2011) on behaviour of Green Exchange-Traded Funds on returns and volatility factor, showed that, market-wide green returns accumulation were more pronounced in the year 2005 up to 2008 and is still promising. The need to go to green technology was still advocated for in the green stock returns. Although this is the case, some of the green technologies still have to improve its cost and the public awareness of it availability and necessity is important. Despite these issues many organisations are embarking on undertaking the idea forward in order to rip the benefits of green technology. Moreover, companies associated in environmental projects are hitting sky high with their stocks. In United States, investment in companies undertaking environmental projects in wind farms, solar parks and bio-fuel plants was $91.9 billion on top of the original $145 billion. The message is getting louder. The presence of more green technology may guarantee more investment. (Invesco Power Shares 2010) Fig. 4: Investment in green technology Green technology comes with additional un-intentional benefits. For instance, while in the design and production process, the material and design is targeted to future recycling; products meet environmental objectives. This in turn reduces the resource cost and the future price for the same product. Not only resource benefits, but also but it stimulate innovation in order to merge the future technology and the current renewable resources consequently there is less damage to the environment. Furthermore green technology attracts economic activity in products and the technology that makes them, beneficial in the global environment. (World Green). Furthermore, Leonidas C. Leonidou (2011), studied the growth of green advertising around the world between the period of 1988-2007. He realised that, the trend was favouring the green advertisements although, his target was regarding consumer goods. This is because green advertisements are more domestic rather than international. Elham Rahbar, Nabsiah Abdul Wahid, (2011) supported his findings when they made a study on determinants of effects on green marketing tools on consumers actual purchase behaviour in Penang (Malaysia). They realised that there was more trust in eco-label and eco-brand by the customers. Furthermore, there was a hug customers perception of this brand; a very big encouragement for green technology. Promoting e-Mobility The global attitude towards the environment and the impact of human being on the global equilibrium is changing. Not only since the subjective impression of an increased amount and strength of natural catastrophes and the current happenings in northern Japan, people all over the world feel that the world population cant go on with its handling of the planet. After the scientific proof of the harmful correlation between carbon dioxide and world climate, industries with huge pollutant emissions have to find ways coping with this problem. One of the biggest sources of pollution is the global car traffic which is responsible for 17% of global CO ² emissions without pollution resulting out of production processes. Additionally, it is expected that this expulsion will increase in developing countries from 30% in 2006 up to 45% in 2030. (UNEP 2009) But not only because of this reason its important to re-think the car industry. External factors which have significant influence on the branch endanger the former success of global car manufacturers today and in the future. The problem of rising oil prices, their finite nature and global governmental interference actions force the automotive industry to find new ways of mobility. Therefore, the various global players and even some small start-ups started an incomparable innovation process creating ideas for a new era of automobile. Out of numerous concepts including gas, biofuel, hydrogen and electricity, the power train with electrical energy delivered best results regarding practicability, efficiency and sustainability. Using this technology, there evolved several new innovators next to established corporations and introduced the first electrical cars on regional markets. The US based company Tesla Motors was one of them having the idea to interconnect hundreds of laptop batteries in their Tesla Roadster in order to assure a range of over one hundred kilometers. In order to get rid of the dependency of oil, countries all over the world started national investment plans in this field with extensive subsidy policies spreading from USA over Europe up to China because no one wants to lose the lead in this strategic field. The opportunities are tremendous reshuffling the whole market with an expected total market volume of $80 to $120 billion in North America, Europe and Asia by 2030 provided that electric vehicles (EV) get a share of 5 to 10 percent. (Gao, Wang, Wu 2008: 2). This development can contribute significantly to a reversal of global emission amounts caused by passenger vehicles. Under a no-action scenario and further growth of conventional power trains, the passenger vehicle pollution will increase by over 50 percent until 2030 mainly due to the booming Asian region. Quite contrary to this, there are three possible trends according to McKinsey demonstrated in figure 1: Firstly, a rapid transition towards an electric powered world would decrease emissions by 49 percent. Secondly, the optimization of present engine technology could reduce emissions up to 42 percent. Thirdly, a more balanced mix of technologies could lower emissions by 47 percent (GreenCarCongress 2009). The last scenario is currently the most likely one. Fig.5: Global passenger vehicle CO ² emissions and abatement potential On the way towards wholly emission free engines in vehicles, there are interim solutions using different types of systems as isolated applications: (IEA 2008: 1-4) Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) combine conventional gasoline engines with a battery component which allows electric drives for a limited speed and range. Therefore, an improved fuel economy especially in stop and go traffic situations is guaranteed. The first mass producer of hybrid cars has been Toyota with its Prius model which is proving technical practicability under daily routine conditions. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are an evolutionary form of HEVs because one can plug them into the electricity grid when the vehicle is parking. The built-in battery has a higher capacity and allows a higher speed maximum using the combustion engine as a range extender. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) using only electric power are the aim of every manufacturer in their research and development. Currently, the biggest problem is hereby the battery technology which is not allowing wide ranges. The Tesla Roadster solved these problems with existent technical components at first. All three types of new concepts are leading the way towards a greener future. Both hybrid cars improve the fuel efficiency and therefore the demand for oil but the biggest problem is still the purchase price which is still so high because the battery costs contribute much. Figure 6 shows the comparison between a combustion engine and an electric power train using different categories. Although the price per mile is lower by more than 20 percent, problems occur in range and the recharging. Moreover, the power is switching away from the OPEC cartel towards utility companies providing the energy for the age of eMobility. Fig.6: Electric vs. Gasoline Taking the environmental impact into account, electric drivetrains are not equivalent to zero emissions and environmental friendliness. To measure this, the well-to-wheel consideration has been developed including also the emissions generated by producing the fuel. For EV this means considering the pollution produced when generating the electric power in plants. (Hensley, Knupfer, Pinner 2009: 93). In countries like Germany, China and the United States this will often be coal whereas Denmark and Northern California could use wind power which is oftentimes not used during low demand times like at night when EVs are normally charged. Due to a test of BMW with its Mini EV, 98 percent of the test customers using this vehicle want to have renewable energy sources produced by solar, water and wind. (Seiwert [2] 2010: 2). Another important aspect

tempcolon The Theme of Colonization in The Tempest Essay example -- T

The Theme of Colonization in The Tempest      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Colony-A member or inhabitant of a colony.   A body of emigrants who settle in a remote region but remain under the control of a parent country.   --Webster's Dictionary    Can Prospero be defined as a type of colonist?   He does, after all, impose his presence onto an island already inhabited by somebody else, take over control and enslave his predecessor, while at the same time still remaining under the control of his native land.   If Prospero represents the colonist, or the white man, then Caliban serves as his counterpart in this discussion.   Critics have argued in the past that The Tempest's representation of Caliban relates Caliban to the black man, because Caliban, like African Americans of early times, is conquered and forced into slavery against his will.   Caliban thus becomes a representative of the colonized man.   Critics have pointed out that this device seems to fit the bill because of the Caribbean like location of the play; it is foreign and strange and not the native home of the white man who comes to discover it and claim it as his own.   At the same time, if the audience takes this interpretation to light, Prospero thus emerges as the white man, or the colonist.   Caliban thus serves to represent native cultures, while Prospero serves to represent colonizing cultures, like the British of Shakespeare's time.   The parallel of Prospero's domination of Caliban as compared to the Europeans colonization of the Africans, which was a topic of Shakespeare's time, becomes relevant upon closer examination.    This interpretation can be found within the consistent arguments between Prospero and Caliban.   Prospero feels the island is his; he rightfully won it fro... ... they were the original owners of the island, without the power to regain the island or their native land, they will never have the ability to be able to call the land solely their own again.    Works Cited Brown, Paul.   "This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine: The Tempest and the discourse of colonialism."   New York: Collimore and Sinfield, 1985.   pp. 48-71. Davis, Angela.   Women, Race and Class.   London: Women's Press, 1982. Fanon, Frantz.   Black Skins, White Masks.   London: Pluto Press, 1986. Griffiths, Trevor.   "This island's mine: Caliban and Colonialism."   Yearbook of English Studies 13.   New York: Harcourt Brace.   Pp. 159-80. Mannoni, O., Prospero and Caliban: The Psycholgoy of Colonization.   New York: Praeger, 1964. Nixon, Rob.   "Caribbean and African appropriations of The Tempest."   Critical Inquiry 13 Spring 1987 pp. 557-77.

Origins of the Shadow in A Wizard of Earthsea Essay -- Essays Papers

Origins of the Shadow in A Wizard of Earthsea Ged, the main character in The Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. LeGuin, through an act of pride and spite unwittingly unleashes a powerful shadow creature on the world, and the shadow hunts Ged wherever he goes. After failing to kill Ged the first time, he learns the only way to destroy the shadow is to find its name. What Ged must realize is the shadow was created by the evil in his own heart. Also, the shadow is not entirely evil, and Ged can actually draw strength from it. In doing so, Ged will realize that the only way to discover the shadow’s name is to discover that he and the shadow are one. Carl G. Jung in Man and His Symbols, describes the shadow as containing the hidden, repressed, and unfavorable â€Å"tendencies† of the conscious personality. â€Å"Such tendencies form an ever-present and potentially destructive ‘shadow’ to our conscious mind.† This shadow takes form in mythology as a dark, shadowy, and imposing figure or as â€Å"the cosmic powers of evil, personified by dragons and other monsters.† (Henderson 111) This shadow is shown to Ged in different forms: â€Å"...Like a clot of black shadow, quick and hideous...it was like a black beast, the size of a young child, though it seemed to swell and shrink; and it had no head or face, only the four taloned paws with which it gripped and tore.† (LeGuin 61) As it appeared when the shadow was first created. Later as the shadow pursued him, it held the same form. â€Å"The shadow did not have the shape of man or beast. It was shapeless, scarcely to be seen, but it whispered at him, though there were no words in its whispering, and it reached out towards him.† (LeGuin 81). Once Ged stops running, the shadow takes on a more identifiable form â€Å"...now some likeness to a man, though being shadow it cast no shadow.† The last form the shadow takes are the images people that Ged has come across in his life, â€Å"An old man it seemed, gray and grim, coming towards Ged; but even as Ged saw his father the smith in that figure, he saw that it was not an old man, but a young one. It was Jasper: Jasper’s insolent handsome young face, and silver-clasped gray cloak, and stiff stride. Hateful was the look he fixed on Ged across the dark intervening air...and it became Pechvarry. But Pechvarry’s face was all bloated and pallid like the face of a drowned man, and he rea... ... to face his fears. â€Å"In silence, man and shadow met face to face and stopped. Aloud and clearly, breaking that old silence, Ged spoke the shadow’s name and in the same moment the shadow spoke without lips or tongue, saying the same word: ‘Ged.’ And the two voices were one voice. Ged reached out his hands, dropping his staff, and took hold of the shadow, of the black self that reached out to him. Light and darkness met, and joined, and were one...’Estarriol’, he said, ‘look, it is done. It is over...the wound is healed...I am whole, I am free.’† (LeGuin 179-180) On the condition that one succeeds in assimilating and integrating the conscious mind the lost and regained contents. Since they are not neutral, their assimilation will modify the personality, just as they themselves will have to make certain changes. â€Å"If we could see our shadow, we should be immune to any moral and mental infection and insinuation.† (Jung 79) Bibliography: A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. LeGuin, published by Bantam Spectra Books. Fantasy Novel Man and His Symbols, edited by Carl G Jung and M.-L. von Franz, Joseph L. Henderson, Jolande Jacobi, Aniela Jaffe, published by Dell Books, non fiction.

Food inc Essay

Food, Inc is a film that lets people in on the food production in American. The film opens up in a grocery store, which has pictures of farmers giving you the idea that the food you are going to purchase is farm raised. However the film calls it a pastoral fantasy. Even though people would like to believe that their food is coming from a farm where that animal is raised the correct way that is not always the case. This film dug into certain aspects of food giving you the ins and outs on how all types of food is produced. This film is not trying to make someone turn in to a vegetarian. It is simply trying to inform people how food production has changed over the years. Something said in the film was that â€Å"it’s not farming anymore, it’s just mass production. Chickens today are genetically modified to have larger breasts since the consumer preference is white meat. A lot of these companies are injecting hormones in these animals to speed up the growth process. Where before a chicken life span was around 80 days, with this hormone being injected it knocks about 20 days off now. The faster the chicken grows, the more chicken can be produce at a faster rate. The chickens grow at such a fast rate that their bones and organs can’t keep up with the rapid growth of the muscles, or the meat. Mention in the film is that McDonalds is one of the largest purchasers of ground beef, potatoes, pork, lettuce and tomatoes. Fast food nearly started with McDonald’s. When they decided to make things easier their menu and hire employees that repeated one task over and over for minimum wage, the result was the fast food occurrence that cleaned the United States. Mention in the film â€Å"Eating meat produced by the system†. As long as people continue to eat meat that is not properly raised or properly killed we will continue to have the problem of how food is produced. The industry does not want you to know what you are eating. So they will sell you this dream that everything is farm raised, when in reality their feeding cows corn that produces infections, giving chickens hormone injections to speed up growth process. There’s nothing farm raised about these tactics. Joe Salatin says â€Å"Meet the need without comprising integrity†. There are ways food can be produced without all of the extra stuff. Salatin does his farming and killing outside. People have tried to get him shut down saying the way he produced chicken was not sanitary, but yet other companied that do produce meat has had infected meat even with them being in a factory. People drove over 100 miles just to purchase Salatin’s chicken. This says a lot; people do want quality produced food. The average farmer used to feed 6 to 8 people, now it is up to 126 people. If we had more farmers who practice Salatin’s techniques then we would be able to produce more. If there was not so much meat being produced then maybe people would not buy so much in abundance and meat would not have to be produce so fast and in large quantizes. People buy a lot because it is overly produce in my opinion. If food was not so readily available then maybe it would not be over consumed. As long as food is purchased in abundance companies will continue to produce food the way they do to keep up with how much food people are purchasing.

Vacant Chapter 4 Questions

We sit in silence for quite some time, and I can tell she's nervous about telling me what's going on. I don't want to force her. When she's ready, she'll let me know. As I wait, I realize it's the first quiet night I've had since she moved in. I really don't want to make assumptions because things aren't always what they appear. However, as I sit playing protector to this girl, scenarios run rampant through my mind. She has very few clothes. Irregular bathing does not bother her. She is careful, but trusting – not at all shy. She's young and alone; she has no furniture and no utilities. All evidence points to her being parentless and homeless. I can relate. Don't get involved. Keep things simple. Take care of yourself! _ Don't get involved. Keep things simple. Take care of yourself! _ Don't get involved. Keep things simple. Take care of yourself! _ No matter how many times I recite the mantra in my head, it's useless. This life isn't suited to girls who are alone, no matter how equipped they are to deal with the shit life flings at them. Women are taken advantage of in the blink of an eye when the opportunity is given. I make a mental note to be sure Emily doesn't suffer the same fate, particularly by my hand. I'm sitting on Emily's mattress, my head against our shared wall. She's leaning into my side, quiet, in what I hope is peaceful sleep. After thinking this situation over for a while I shake my head, realizing I've already talked myself into this, into helping Emily; I find it nearly impossible not to now. Eventually, I drift off with determination and the realization I've opened a big-assed can of worms†¦ for both of us. Hours later, my inner alarm clock wakes me. There is a little drool on my shoulder and it's kind of gross. I lay Homeless Girl down on her bare mattress and make note to bring over an extra set of sheets. Who knows where she even got the mattress? I'm sure it's infested with who-knows-what. I may be poor, but I like clean. There are some things that shouldn't be bought in used condition. Shoes, underwear, and mattresses quickly spring to mind. During my run, I think about the upheaval I'm getting myself into, and the reality of the situation is weighing heavily upon me. As a kid, I was lucky enough to be moved to a safe place where all my basic needs were met. I never had to fend for myself in the physical sense; emotionally, though? That was another story. I run an extra two miles trying to process everything. I decide this is my chance to pay it forward. I ignore my mantra as it only serves to confuse me further at this point. The fact remains I've already gotten involved, and I try to rationalize how much trouble one small girl can really be. Part of me feels like it's none of my business what her personal situations is, but if I'm going to help her, then I want some basic information. She doesn't have to tell me her life story, but I need to know her circumstances. After I get home from work and knock on the bedroom wall, I chuckle to myself thinking it may as well be a shower curtain for all the privacy the thin, flimsy wall provides. I yell, telling homeless neighbor girl I've ordered pizza and she should come join me for dinner. â€Å"You're the best! I can't believe you got us pizza!† She won't stop gushing about how nice I am or how â€Å"awesome† the pizza is. When she came over, she looked a bit skeptical, like she wondered what I wanted from her in return, but I didn't even want to think about what that might mean. Food, clothes, shelter. That's all†¦ As we eat, I try to think of the best way to bring up her state of affairs. I find that being direct is the best solution. I watch as she inhales her third slice of pizza, I rationalize I need to start referring to Emily by name. Calling her Homeless Girl and Neighbor Girl isn't helpful for either of us. I need to see her as a meaningful person, not a ‘problem from next door'. Emily needs to hear her name, if for nothing else, so she knows she exists. â€Å"So, I have a couple questions. I've been thinking about this since last night,† I pause making sure she is receptive to my inquiry. She nods indicating her permission. â€Å"Question number one: Where are your parents?† She eyes me quickly, and then takes a bite of pizza, chewing slowly. She's stalling. â€Å"I don't know my dad, and my mom passed away recently,† she says quietly. I take her answer at face value because I know how difficult the loss of a parent is. â€Å"Where were you living before?† This time she's a little quicker to answer. â€Å"We lived in shelters for a while. Then my mom got sick.† She takes another bite of her dinner then continues. â€Å"I know how things work. Since I'm almost eighteen, there isn't too much the state will do for me. I would live in a home for a few months then get tossed out on the street. I figured I might as well get a jump on living, you know?† I wonder how she's able to be so light-hearted about this. Emily's smiling which she tends to do on a regular basis. This girl – almost woman – has had some terrible circumstances, yet almost every time I see her, her smile brightens the room. I find her positive outlook on life is rubbing off on me. â€Å"My next question was your age, but you've already answered that. When do you turn eighteen?† â€Å"In a month,† she replies. I take several minutes to think about the information she's just told me while finishing my own slice of pizza. Living in a shelter would explain her lack of inhibition. There is no such thing as privacy when you live with fifty other people. She's used to being watched. â€Å"Hey, I went to the grocery store you work at today and filled out an application. I looked for you, but you must have been on break or something.† I just nod; I don't need this complication spilling over to my work. As soon as I think it, though, I regret the thought. I can't think of Emily as a complication. â€Å"They said they weren't hiring right now, but will let me know if something comes up. On my way home I stopped at the convenience store on Jamison. I found out they are hiring, so if the grocery doesn't work out, I could do that instead,† she finishes, and then takes a fourth slice of pizza. I know my face pales, and she doesn't have a clue why. I have no idea how to tell this girl I don't even really know, occasionally uses my shower, and who I just referred to as a complication, that I don't want her to work in a convenience store because Dad was shot in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven.

Despite Risk and Uncertainty Essay

Risk is any factor that may potentially interfere with successful completion of the project. A risk is not a problem-a problem has already occurred; a risk is the recognition that a problem might occur. By recognizing potential problems, the project manager can attempt to avoid a problem through proper actions. Project Management is the skills, tools and management processes required to undertake a project successfully. Stakeholders are persons or organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be positively or negatively affected by the project. Organizations take risks to benefit from potential opportunities however; these opportunities involve an element of risk. Projects entail a level of uncertainty and therefore carry business risk. Every project has risks. Organizations that succeed are the ones that plan for those risks – anticipating, mitigating, and providing response and contingency plans for negative events that may or may not occur. Risk Analysis solutions provide the tools for doing just this, enabling companies to identify, assess and model risks – and, in the process, taking much of the uncertainty out of project and portfolio management. A project risk can be defined as an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, will have a positive or a negative effect on a project’s objectives. Identifying risk in the planning stage enables better project selection decisions and more accurate budgeting and scheduling, (Oracle white paper,2010). Risk assessment is critical to understanding the impact of risk and uncertainty on project schedule and cost. Once risks are identified and assessed, the next step is to develop a response plan. Typical mitigation actions include adding time to the schedule, deploying more resources on the project, bringing in outside expertise, increasing the budget, just to mention a few. Uncertainty is an inevitable aspect of most projects, but even the most proficient managers have difficulty handling it. They use decision milestones to anticipate outcomes, risk management to prevent disasters and sequential iteration to make sure everyone is making the desired product, yet the project still ends up with an overrun schedule, overflowing budget and compromised specifications. Or it just dies. Unforeseen uncertainty makes contingency  planning more difficult because the project team cannot anticipate everything. Because it is impossible to create a complete contingency plan, the plan must evolve as the project progresses. With unforeseeable uncertainty, a lot of time and effort must go into managing relationships with stakeholders and getting them to accept unplanned changes. Stakeholders often dig in, causing resistance and conflicts. Failing to address risk and uncertainty can lead to consequences that span the spectrum from mere inconvenience to grave danger, (www.ey.com). The article went on to explain some of the effects that risk has on the mining and metals companies projects. Failure to deliver against agreed plans — Realized delivery risks will typically impact one or more of a project’s cost, schedule, scope and quality parameters. Where impacts represent a material variation from approved plans, a critical review of the project’s alignment to Business Case assumptions and rationale may be required. Late-stage Business Case modifications have the potential to undermine the project’s investment case and severely impair stakeholder buy-in and confidence. Loss of competitive advantage — For many mining and metals companies, the ability to efficiently and predictably operationalize assets and infrastructure forms a key source of competitive advantage. As commodity prices, commercial terms and the competitive landscape constantly change, the window for timely project delivery is finite. When risks result in project delays, cost overruns or quality defects, many companies will feel a direct impact on corporate performance and competitive advantage. Damage to reputation — Leading mining and metals companies recognize the essential disjointed role of corporate reputation in securing and maintaining a social licence to operate. The risk of health, safety, environment and community incidents is ever present, demanding high levels of delivery discipline and management vigilance. Where policy, process or control break-downs do occur, and an incident results, mining and metals companies must respond immediately to prevent long-lasting reputational damage. The Impact of a risk may be to the project and its success criteria (eg budget and timeframes or the quality of the project output) or it could be to the business as a result of the way the project is carried out. At the same time,risk assessment increases profitability. Contracts can be selected  and priced at the right level of risk, and the business can be managed with risk fully understood, (Oracle white paper,2009). Specific risks can be negotiated, it can be made clear who bears them, and they can be built in to contracts. After evaluating risks, one can choose a path of risk avoidance or risk mitigation and management. If one understands the risks in a project, one can decide which risks are acceptable and take action to mitigate or forestall those risks. If one’s project risk assessment determines that risks are excessive, one may want to consider restructuring the project to within acceptable levels of risk. Every project has risks and the way that these risks are i dentified, assessed and mitigated plays a critical role in the project outcome. Most firms would rather have projects without risk and uncertainty, to realize more profit and growth and also improve or maintain their good reputation. However, risk and uncertainty are not the only factors that may negatively affect a project thus hindering profitability, growth and good reputation for the organization. There are several other factors that aid a project to contribute to the well-being or downfall of the organization. A project fails when the plan is not met. (Oracle white paper, 2009) Failure means that a project exceeds the timeline, the project has to be founded upon realistic timescales, taking account of statutory lead times, and showing critical dependencies such that any delays can be handled. A schedule should include a satisfactory measurement system as a way of judging actual performance against budget and time allowances, Slevin D.P, Pinto J.K (1987) Failure also means that a project overspends the budget, or underperforms expectation, they need to have a clear project plan that covers the full period of the planned delivery and all business change required, and indicate the means of benefits realization. Lack of clear link between the project and the organization’s key strategic priorities, including agreed measures of success also affect projects. The organization needs to know how the priority of this project compares and aligns with other delivery and operational activities. There is need to have defined the critical success factors (CSFs) for the project. Project success or contribution on profitability, growth and reputation for the organization also dwells on clear senior management and Ministerial ownership and leadership. As noted by Schultz and Slevin (1975), management support for projects, or indeed for  any implementation, has long been considered of great importance in distinguishing between their ultimate success or failure. Without an experienced project manager, projects can quickly spiral out of control. The project management team must have a clear view of the interdependencies between projects, the benefits, and the criteria against which success will be judged. Decisions need to be taken early, decisively, and adhered to, in order to facilitate successful delivery. Another great effect to projects contribution on the organization is effective engagement with stakeholders. It is crucial for the firm to identify the right stakeholders an d secure a common understanding and agreement of stakeholder requirements. The project needs to take sufficient account of the subsisting organizational culture whilst ensuring that there is clear accountability and how to resolve and conflicting priorities. The need for client consultation has been found to be increasingly important in attempting to successfully implement a project. Indeed, Manley(1975) found that the degree to which clients are personally involved in the implementation process will cause great variation in their support for that project. If you are managing an internal project, it might not be wise to upset stakeholders that you might need to deal with at a later date. The need for diplomacy is important, and the political landscape can have a large impact on how easy or difficult it will be to deliver the project,(Bauer M). The extent of stakeholder involvement also affects the reputation of the organization and consequently the profits and growth potential. Lack of skills and proven approach to project management and risk management can affect the project and consequently the organization. . Lack of experience breeds excessive conservatism (K. Humphreys). Not having the right people for a particular project may compromise the job. â€Å"The key to a successful project is to include the right people with the right skill-sets,† says Joel Koppelman. He also quotes, â€Å"All the planning in the world will not compensate a lack of talent.† CONCLUSION Risk and uncertainty actually help the project team and management to stay alert and prepare in advance for possible attacks to the project. Decision-making under conditions of risk where there are assigned estimated probabilities and predicted impacts for each identified risk, enables  management strategies to be developed as a response including monitoring and controlling the risk mitigation to reduce these risks to the desired level. Despite risk and uncertainty, there exist other factors that can greatly affect the outcome of the project on profit, growth and reputation. It can then be concluded that risk and uncertainty are not the only factors that hinder projects from contributing to the profitability, growth and the reputation of the organization. Lack of skills and proven approach to project management and risk management, lack of effective engagement with stakeholders, and clear senior management and Ministerial ownership and leaders affect the outcome of a project. Altho ugh risk and uncertainty have dire consequences for the firm, eliminating them will not guarantee projects contributing to profitability, growth and reputation of the organization. The other factors mentioned above are equally liable to project success. REFERENCES Oracle white paper, A Standardized Approach to Risk Management Improves Project Outcomes and Profitability, April 2010 Oracle Corporation World Headquarters 500 Oracle Parkway Redwood Shores, CA 94065 U.S.A. Dennis P. Slevin and Jeffrey K. Pinto, Balancing Strategy and Tactics in Project Implementation’, Sloan Management Review, Fall, 1987, pp. 33-41, Kenneth K. Humphreys, Project Risk Management – Advantages and Pitfalls Pe Cce Dif, n/d. Schultz, R. L. and Slevin, D. P. â€Å"Implementation and Management Innovation,† in Implementing Operations Research and Management Science, ed. Schultz, R. L. and Slevin, D. P. (Elsevier. New York, 1975), pp. 3-22. Manley. J. H. â€Å"Implementation Attitudes: A Model and a Measurement Methodology.† in Implementing Operating Research and Management Science, ed. Schultz. R. L. and Slevin, D. P. (Elsevier. New York, 1973), pp. 183-202. Oracle White Paper, The Benefits of Risk Assessment for Projects, Portfolios, and Businesses,June 2009. Oracle Corporation World Headquarters 500 Oracle Parkway Redwood Shores, CA 94065 U.S.A. Bauer M. Project Success Factors. Retrieved from www.martinbauer.com/Articles/How-to†¦Project/Project-Success-Factors on 21March 2014.‎ Project Management Planning,January 1997. Retrieved from www.cioarchives.ca.gov/†¦/PM3.10_Planning_Risk_Managem†¦ On 22March 2014. Ernst & Young Global Limited, Effective mining and metals capital project execution,The consequences of risk. U.K Retrieved from www.ey.com on 19 March 2014.