Ethical and Legal Dilemmas of Surrogacy

Many individuals have a life plan consisting of college, marriage, and then children. After numerous methods of conception, many couples are still unable to conceive a child. A woman who enters into a contract with a couple, agreeing to carry and birth a child, then hand that child over to the contracted couple, who is often unable to conceive own their own naturally is considered surrogacy (Pozgar, 2012). Surrogacy raises many ethical and legal issues for all parties involved. Is it moral or immoral to enter into an agreement with a woman to birth a child for money? What are the legal rights of the woman conceiving or of the couple? Should the child be aware of the process in which he or she was born? Does the child have rights to access the confidential records of the process? These are a just a few questions that will be addressed throughout this paper. Discussed below is the history of surrogacy, the ethical and legal dilemmas that surround surrogacy, alternative solutions to surrogacy, and the potential effects and future implications of how surrogacy may be addressed. There are two types of surrogacy arrangements to consider. These types of surrogacy are genetic and gestational. Genetic or traditional surrogacy is where the surrogate mother contributes her genetic makeup to the offspring, whereas gestational surrogacy consists of the genetic makeup of the intended parents (Greene, 2013). Of the two, gestational surrogacy accounts for 95% of the surrogate pregnancies in the United States of America (Covington & Patrizio, 2013, p. 277). One of the first accounts of surrogacy dates back to the story of Abraham and Sarah in the Bible. Sarah, who was well beyond child-bearing years and having being barren of child-bearing years sought to have a child. Abraham had intercourse with Hagar, a handmaid and gave birth to Ishmael, which she then gave to Abraham and Sarah to raise (King James Bible, Genesis 25:12). While surrogacy continued throughout history, it became more prevalent in the last half century or so. Altruistic surrogacy is when a friend or family member is the surrogate without being paid; however, the most common is commercial recruitment of women who are paid to be a surrogate (Covington & Patrizio, 2013, p. 277). Noel Keane was a broker who made the first commercial surrogacy agreement in the case of Baby M (Cassidy, 2012). The details of this first legal case began raising ethical dilemmas with surrogacy. The application of autonomy and distributive justice are at work with surrogacy. Autonomy is the acknowledgment of a persons right to make their own decisions and distributive justice is equal and fair treatment to all (Pozgar, 2012). Principle number four in The Medical Code of Ethics states requires respect for the patient’s right (American Medical Association, 2001). In surrogacy issues, whose rights should be placed first? The surrogate who is carrying the child? Should the emotional ties that she can accumulate over the course of ten months be placed first or the rights of the adopting parents? Is there a possible outcome for justice to be distributed among all the parties involved? In attempting to define ethical decisions, Jones writes that â€Å"An ethical decision is a decision that is both legally and morally acceptable to the larger community. (Jones, 1991, p. 387)†. Thus, Jones explains that decisions such as surrogacy are often resolved using the perspective of a utilitarian. Utilitarianism is considered a moral theory in which individuals and governmental action should be directed at providing the greatest good for the greatest number of people (Mosser, 2010). One question remains: Can an action be placed on the issue that provides good to all? An ethical dilemma placed with surrogacy is dehumanization and exploitation. For people who oppose surrogacy as means of conception, it is viewed that women who are living in poverty are exploiting their bodies to profit (in cases of gestational surrogacy) financially (Surrogacy, 2008). On the flipside on the issue, can it not also be viewed that allowing these women to do as they see fit with their bodies as economic empowerment? The money provided to these women can used for various financial means outside of taking care of medical heath care for themselves and the child. The amount provided to each female varies depending on what she and the couple feel is sufficient, therefore any extra monetary compensation can used to help the women relieve themselves from other debts. Autonomy does provide the right that women get to choose their reproductive rights and that includes bearing children for those who cannot do so or for monetary stability. Suggesting that surrogacy dehumanizes her is another form of paternalism. Paternalism limits one’s autonomy for their own good (Pozgar, 2012). Some view altruistic surrogacy as a form of exploiting the surrogate. There is no monetary compensation to woman placing her health and well-being on the line for another’s benefit. However, it can also be held that the woman knowingly entered into the agreement with full disclosure of the risks and benefits to her health and body. Again, autonomy and justice are extremely prevalent ethical principles to explore when discussing the topic of surrogacy. Same-sex marriage has become a hot topic in the United States in the last few years. The idea of raising a family by homosexual couples brings about other ethical issues of surrogacy. Should those of same-sex marriages be allowed to have children? How will there relationship affect the child of the couple? A recent article in the American Bar Association’s (ABA) journal tells of a same-sex couple whose case is similar to that of the Baby M case (Hansen, 2011). The United States, unlike many other countries have no policies governing surrogacy, as it is a state-by-state policy (Hansen, 2011). In places such as India, commercial surrogacy is legal and often seen as a popular place of fertility tourism because the costs are one third of that in the United States (Saxena, Mishra, & Malik, 2012). In some cases, children have been placed in orphanages until paternity has been established or in some instances disowned when a child is conceived naturally by the parents, as with Ishmael from the Bible. Women of poor and illiterate backgrounds stricken by poverty are sometimes coerced by intermediaries or spouses to become surrogates. In such cases, fidelity among the couple has been cast aside. The women may feel that they cannot trust their spouse to stand by them if they do not comply with their wishes. Unlike the United States where psychological screening and legal counseling is mandatory to be surrogates, in India women are placed in hostels for the duration of their pregnancy by recruitment commercial agencies (Saxena, Mishra, & Malik, 2012). Back to the case of Baby M and the same sex couples, who after waiting for their buddle of joy begin having legal issues. It is important to know that the surrogate has the legal right to keep the child she has bore, regardless of genetics (Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority, 2009). In other words, the birth mother is considered the legal parental unit of the child until such documentation states otherwise. She has the right at anytime to change her mind, therefore it is important to have knowledge and fidelity with your surrogate. Understanding the meaning of how the Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985 reads is important. If you are having problems comprehending or deciphering parts of the act, speak with a lawyer. It reads, â€Å" an Act to regulate certain activities in connection with arrangements made with a view to women carrying children as surrogate mothers,† (Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985). As far as legal rights of the father, if the woman did so in a licensed clinic and has no partner, the child will have no legal father; however, the surrogate’s husband or civil partner is the child’s legal father, unless it is shown that the partner did not consent to the procedure (Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority, 2009). The intended parents have a course to follow concerning rights as well. If they wish to become the legal parents of the child, they can adopt or file for a paternal order. Provided certain conditions are met, the rights and parentage are transferred with the order, this must be done within six months of the child’s birth and at least one individual of the commissioning couple needs a genetic link for a paternal order (Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority, 2009). If there is no genetic relationship with the child in question, adoption is the only legal route. In this case, an adoption agency will get involved, so it is important to know the legal aspects of surrogacy. An article in the British Medical Journal argues that the only way to resolve such issues of legality is through legislations and regulations of international laws (Ramskold & Posner, 2012). The ethical responsibilities for physicians of surrogates can been seen as: advising couples who are considering surrogacy, counseling women who may wish to become surrogates, providing obstetrics to women engaged in surrogacy, or offering assisted reproductive technologies (ART) related to surrogacy (Committee on Ethics, 2008). Physicians should not treat the intended parents of a surrogate child while also treating the surrogate mother, as conflicts may arise and not all parties may be treated fairly and the physician should. As in all other aspects of medical care, physicians should be certain that there would be a full discussion of ethical and legal issues as well as medical risks, benefits, and alternatives, many of which have been addressed in this statement (Committee on Ethics, 2008). Physicians may decline to participate in surrogacy arrangement, as with any other treatment of a patient because of personal, ethical, medical, or religious views as per the AMA Code of Medical Ethics (AMA, 2001). A physician should apply the same legal and ethical aspects to the surrogate as with the intended couple. This includes screening and counseling the surrogate and intended couple; referral for mental health testing for the surrogate to evaluate the possible outcomes and effects, as well as evaluate psychological risks, vulnerabilities and benefits, and the possible effects of existing relationships with existing children (Committee on Ethics, 2008). It is important that confidentiality be maintained between the physician and the patient. The intended parents may only access the pregnant woman’s medical records if the woman has given explicit consent. This is guaranteed in the Patient’s Bill of Rights and the Constitution (Right to privacy, n. d. ). This would also address whether or not the child would have any legal right to know his or her birth mother without her consent. Two alternatives to surrogacy are natural conception and adoption. When a couple conceives naturally, there is no need for a surrogate. This can be done through sexual intercourse or through in-vitro fertilization. In-vitro fertilization (IVF) is a medical procedure in which mature eggs are obtained from the female’s ovaries and are fertilized by the male’s sperm, then the eggs are implanted into the uterus (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2013). This option is usually applied due to infertility. Adoption, as an alternative to surrogacy can also be very beneficial to involved parties. Children without parents, due to unforeseen circumstances are provided homes with caring, loving families. A couple adopting may not have genetic links to these children, but loving relationships can emerge and often treat the child as their own. In my personal opinion, I think surrogacy will continue to increase the numbers of childless couples. In such cases where altruism is applied, I think the emotional ties are easier severed because the woman is volunteering her services to a couple she sees in need. I speak of this from somewhat of a personal viewpoint. I have two healthy children and am currently pregnant with my third with no complications during either pregnancy; however, my sister has been trying to conceive naturally for almost 4 years now and has had no luck. I would gladly consider being a surrogate for her should she ever ask. I know from her interactions with my own kids that she would be a great mother to a child. I do not know her medical history or what medical advice she has sought regarding her problem, but I know that I could help a family member in need and not want monetary compensation for doing so. However, I will acknowledge that this is not the best road for all women. The emotional involvement may make it hard to part with the child after carrying it for nine months. I would only recommend this to a woman who has decided that she no longer wants to have children or does not wish to raise any more children of her own. I also see gestational surrogacy still being the most common between the two types of surrogacy because of the emotional detachment. I think that some people feel that not having a genetic link to a child makes it easier to part with after birth. I feel that some women need to be able to look at their child and see similarities in physical features to know that they are part of a child. Gestational surrogacy requires no genetics from the surrogate, only from the intended parents. Considering both types of surrogacy and the current state of how the legal issues around the topic are addressed, I think improvements need to be made. From research, the surrogate has more legal rights than anyone. This provides a very limited window for the intended couple who has long awaited a child. Legislations need to be enacted that provide more rights to intended parents of the child, especially during a gestational surrogacy. I do not think that it should be legal and find it unethical that a surrogate still has legal rights to a child with no genetic link. I find hope in the future that additional regulations in how surrogacy is handled will be sought. While surrogacy has been around since Biblical times, it has made a splash as headline news in the last half century. The legal and ethical dilemmas surrounding the topic derive from the rights of the surrogate, the intended couple, and for the children that are involved with the procedure and process. The alternatives to surrogacy do not necessarily provide additional benefits and in some instances, do not always apply to those wishing to have a child. While no one can predict the future, surrogacy in my opinion, will continue to flourish among couples; not just infertile couples or same-sex couples, but among women who do not wish to go through the process of labor and delivery. Women who live in poverty may continue to see the benefits of surrogacy for economic gain for themselves and their families. There are so many ethical elements at play with surrogacy that the issue will remain to have legal and ethical complications, now and in the future.

ICT is a term that describes both computer Essay

Indeed, it is important that each student be equipped with the necessary technology if these students are expected to access, analyze and use data (Zardoya, 2001). Business researchers are similarly concerned with the question of whether or not the introduction of information technology leads to a better competitive advantage, better sense of judgment that leads to better decision making and a greater level of productivity (Al-Gahtani, 2003). ICT is a term that describes both computer software and hardware, access to the internet and information and communication technology resources as he World Wide Web and CD-ROMs (Clark et al. , 2005). That is, the issue should not be whether technology works as a replacement for old, rather, it should be how we can develop and choose visions that will utilize the immense power of technology for the support and creation of new forms of learning (p. 4). Overall, CACSR provides students with the requisite environment, which is interactive, intended to keep up their interest while teaching them the application of comprehension strategies as they read expository text passages (Kim et al. ,). Studies have shown that educational technology in which dictionary component is integrated has been successfully utilized in the promotion of literacy skills among elementary school students (Fry & Gosky, 2007). In analyzing the study, the researcher suggested that CD-ROM storybooks have a positive impact on reading comprehension. This is because they reduce decoding challenges while they allow students to obtain help as often as they need ed it without having to wait for the teacher (Fry & Gosky). QuickSmart is a computer-assisted program designed to improve the automaticity of the basic academic skills of students who have persistent learning difficulties in their middle years of schooling (Graham & Bellert, et al. , 2007,). Based on an information-processing view of cognitive operations QuickSmart was intended to be an strong intervention focused on basic academic skills that can equip students with the requisite skills to engage more successfully with classroom instruction (Graham & Bellert, et al. ,. Concept-mapping software, or webbing, allows students and teachers to construct concept maps using specific software programs (Marchinko, 2004,). Concept-mapping software has been used in middle school science classes to help students decipher both the similarities and differences between and animal and plant cell and in writing class to help students brainstorm and add to the concept network as ideas come from the students in the class (Marchinko,). Teachers also use concept-mapping software to provide their students with a visual roadmap of the direction which each lesson is going (Marchinko,). The KidTools computer programs are electronic performance support systems. They directly seek out behavior and academic performance support software for children with learning difficulties. (Miller & Fitzgerald, 2007, p. 13). A cognitive-behavioral modification program, KidTools is one of several programs which have become increasingly popular during the last two decades as researchers have documented their effectiveness (Miller & Fitzgerald). RockSim is a rocket design program for middle school science class, which takes students through the process of engineering their own rockets and performs flight simulations (Wilson, 2005,). Finally, BodyFun is a computer game can take the children through the rudiments of nutrition and other health information. (Geiger, et al. , 2002,). In a test of BodyFun in a middle school class the opinion of teachers is that the program is of very high quality and the materials of good quality. However, they were also of the opinion that the program is suitable for the school environment. (Geiger & Petri, et al. ,). Education is feeling pressure to respond to a mandate to improve the engagement-level of classrooms, due to surveys which repeatedly find middle school students especially characterize traditional classes as boring (Taylor & Duran, 2006, p. 11). Overall, most classrooms continue to implement instructional practices that focus on memorization of facts and the reading of textbooks and other course materials. (Taylor & Duran,). As a result, many researchers have called for the dire need to move from a didactic to a constructivist approach to teaching (Taylor & Duran, p. 11). In most classes, this entails increasing the students’ abilities of inquiry, and this can be enhanced by using appropriate technologies (Taylor & Duran, p . 11). One teacher reports that her middle school students have become experts at creating video projects and slide shows that showed what they’ve learned (Crawford, 2005, p. 2). InFocus projectors produced a difference that was unmistakably prominent and improved class presentation and involvement (Crawford, p. 1). Studies have shown that students who use computers to write reports had better grades in the same tests as those students that did not use computers for the same purpose at all (Taylor & Duran, 2006, p. 10). One study found that teachers who made regular use of PowerPoint presentations felt more confident in their ability to produce and help students develop skills in creating multimedia presentations and products that support engaged learning (Taylor & Duran, p. 13). Video streaming is another technology being used in some classrooms (Whitaker, 2003), while some K-12 classrooms are even experimenting with robotics activities to enhance student engagement in lessons (Williams & Ma, et al. , 2007, p. 201), although most reports on the usefulness of robotics is anecdotal in nature and evidence is still required to prove to educators that robotics activities have a positive impact on curricular goals (Williams et al. , p. 201). Now, many believe that the convergence of literacy instruction, for instance, the internet is remodeling the face of literacy instruction. This is because teachers now seek to prepare the children for their well deserved future (Witte, 2007, p. 93). A threaded discussion group is a is a series of postings on a single topicâ€Å" (Grisham & Wolsey, p. 651). The study found that through threaded discussion, student engagement was increased. This was because they were able to establish a community through which control of conversation is achievable. Also, there is also a degree of control over the meanings they jointly constructed and also the connections they wanted to mane to their own worlds. (Grisham & Wolsey, p. 649). Though acknowledging that one of the serious drawbacks to the Web is that students often become lost trying to navigate through a maze of hazy information (Trotter, 2004, p. 1). The MyAccess program is a web-based writing program that instantly scores essays and provides remedial instruction for students at a middle school in Georgia (Ullman, 2006, p. 76). The program was found to not only relieve teachers of much of their paper correcting burden, but also the instant feedback gave room for more quality which led to a significant increase in quality of writing (Ullman, p. 76). Another project reported on in the literature was the creation of a website which supported middle school teachers and students in making connections between literature and science in the context of the local environment (Howes & Hamilton, 2003, p. 454). WebQuest is another powerful tool for teachers to use in improving the engagement level of students in their class (Lipscomb, 2003, p. 154). Though relatively new, educators are already encouraging its impact (Lipscomb, 2003, p. 153). The important pedagogical purpose of a WebQuest is that it provides purposeful experience for students, both with the technology and in the subject matter being explored (Lipscomb, p. 154). More recently, other schools are experimenting with the use of blogs, or web logs, to enhance learning. Witte (2007) pushed for the use of a blog discussion tool on already present school computer networks in order to further engage students in learning (p. 95). Witte (2007) decided that blogs were an important go-between between class and students when he found out that, while some students showed minimal interest in our classroom activities and assignments, they were reported, by their parents, working on the computer, writing poems and essays away late into the night. (Witte, p. 92). A theory was devised as to why diffusion was so slow, with explanations centering on the way farmers gained information about the innovation and which channels were helpful in making them reach the decision to use the new idea (Rogers, p. 14). Diffusion theory can help educators understand why technology is and is not adopted in classrooms (Surry, 1997). Other researchers have adopted the diffusion model to counteract the fact that lack of utilization has been the bane of the utilization of new and innovative instructional products (Minishi-Majanja & Kiplang’at, p. 4). Indeed, Al-Gahtani’s (2003) literature review revealed 75 articles in which perceived attributes were measured, with the overall result being that compatibility and relative advantage scored high when implemented in companies while complexity was a disadvantage in its adoption process (p. 59). While determinists can be either utopian or dystopian (Marx, McCluhan and Toffler versus Ellul, Orwell or Luddites), all determinists see technology as an autonomous force. They describe it as being beyond the control of humans. They also see technology as a principal cause of social change (Surry, 1997, p. 6). In education, developer-based theory results in top-down technology-based reform initiatives such as Goals 2000, which seek to implement educational change by proposing systems that are better than previously existing one (Surry, p. 7). Overall, the instructional development process is of the basic assumption that technological superiority is enough a condition that directly leads to the adoption and diffusion of products and practices that are innovative (Surry, p. 7). Adopter-based theoreticians such as Ernest Burkman are prone to point out situations where a technologically superior innovation was rejected by users because of the strength of human, interpersonal and social factors which sometimes play a prominent role in adoption than technological superiority (Surry, p. 11). Another by-product of adopter-based theory is the study of revenge effects, which occur when this occurs when alien structures, organisms and devices interact with human beings in ways novel ways which they previously, did not forsee (Surry, p. 11). Indeed, a prominent component of the adopter-based diffusion theories is the need to predict and account for likely revenge effects (Surry, p. 11). Large scale market forces such as sector growth, volatility and concentration of markets effect the acceptance of a particular technology (Park et al. , p. 1480). Subjective norm is another strong construct developed along this line of research. Subjective norm is defined as an individual’s perception that people who are important to him are of the opinion that a certain action or behavior should not be performed by him and has been shown to strongly influence adoption of technology, especially if use is mandatory and not voluntary (Park & O’Brien, et al. , p. 1480). All of this feeds into instruction through the lens of constructivism, or the belief that learning happens especially agreeably in a situation where the learner is consciously engaged in constructing a public entity, be it a sand castle on the beach or the theory of the universe (Williams & Ma, et al. , 2007). In this context, technology is used in education to create a situation that enables ‘learning by making’ and ‘learning by design’ (Williams & Ma, et al. ,). Various programs along these lines include efforts to have children design computer games, and making learning easier with programmable bricks (Williams et al). Thus, from the constructivist point of view, the way computers are used is more important than the fact that they are present in a roomâ€Å" (Sheumaker & Slate,). Integration of computers is deemed successful only when students learn through computers and not about them (Sheumaker & Slate, et al. , p. 3). Finally, reinforcing this model is the ecological model of technology integration in education. According to this model, technologies are just like actors in social systems, embedded visibly or invisibly in the context of activities (Kupperman & Fishman, 2002,). Through the use of new tools we develop new literacies, and from use or non-use are active, inactive or even, semi-active members of class (Kupperman & Fishman,). Mention of the word â€Å"actor† enlists actor-network theory into these models as well. According to this model, the social world can be describes as materially heterogeneous. It consists of a tangled web of several human and nonhuman participants who participate and negotiate among themselves. They make rules for themselves based on shifting allegiances and interactions (Samarawickrema & Stacey, 2007). In order to have their way, these various actors may use calculation, negotiation, persuasion and even violence (Samarawickrema & Stacey,).

Air and Sea Travel Case Study

Air & Sea Travel Inc. Case study Air & Sea Travel Inc. a travel agency began operations on April 1, 20X6. During April, the business provided travel services for clients. It is now April 30, and investors wonder how well Air & Sea Travel performed during its first month. They also want to know the company’s financial position at the end of April and its cash flows during the month. The following data is listed in alphabetical order. Prepare the Air & Sea Travel financial statements at end of April 20X6. Accounts payable |$100 |Land |$18,000 | |Accounts receivable |2,000 |Office supplies |500 | |Adjustments to reconcile net | |Payments of cash: | | | income to net cash provided | | Acquisition of land |40,000 | | by operating activities |(2,400) | Dividends |2,100 | |Cash balance at the beginning of April |0 |Rent expense |1,100 | |Cash balance at the end of April |33,300 |Retained earnings at the beginning of April | | | | | |0 | |Cash receipts: | |Retained earnings at the e nd of April |? | | Issuance stock |50,000 |Salary expense | 1200 | | Sale of land |22,000 |Service revenue |8,500 | |Common stock |50,000 |Utilities xpense |400 | |Dividends |2,100 | | | 1. Prepare the income statement, the statement of retained earnings, the statement of cash flows for the month ended April 30, 20X6, and the balance sheet at April 30, 20X6. 2. Answer the following questions: a. How well did Air & Sea Travel perform during its first month of operations? b. Where does Air & Sea Travel stand financially at the end of April? ASSETSLIABILITIES Cash33,300Account payable100 Account receivable2,000Land 18,000 Insurance stock50,000Office supplies500 Sale of land 22,000Payment of cashCommon stock50,000 Acquisition of land40,000 Dividends2,100 Dividends2,100 Service revenue8,500Rent expense1,100 Salary expense1,200 Utilities expense400 Adjustment to reconcile 2,400 net income to net cash provided by operating activities 1. |Air & Sea Travel Inc. | |Income Statement | |Apr il 30, 20X6 | |Revenues |8,500 | |Expenses |2,700 | |Rent expense 1,100 | |Salary expense |1200 | |Utilities expense |400 | |Net income |5,800 | |Air & Sea Travel Inc. | |Statement of Retained Earnings | |April 30, 20X6 | | | | |Beginning of Retained Earnings |0 | |Net income |5,800 | |Cash dividends |(2,100) | |Ending Retained Earnings |3,700 | |Air & Sea Travel Inc. |Balance Sheet | |April 30, 20X6 | | | | |Assets | | |Cash |33,300 | |All other assets |20,500 | |Land |18,000 | |Office supplies |500 | |Account receivable |2,000 | |Total assets |53,800 | |Liabilities | | |Acount Payable |100 | |Total liabilities |100 | |Stockholder's equity | | |Common stock |50,000 | |Retained earnings |3,700 | |All other equity |0 | |Total liabilities and stockholder's equity |53,800 | |Air & Sea Travel Inc. |Statement of Cash Flows | |April 30, 20X6 | |Net cash provided by operating activities | |3,400 | |Net income |5,800 | | |Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by op erating activities |(2,400) | | |Net cash used for investing activities | |(18,000) | | Sale of land |22,000 | | |Acquisition of land |(40,000) | | |Net cash provided by financing activities | |47,900 | |Issuance stock |50,000 | | |Dividends |(2,100) | | |Net change in cash | | 33,300 | |Beginning cash balance | |0 | |Ending cash balance | | 33,300 | 2. a) They performed very well, since they got profit in the end of the month. They do not pay too much salary and they don’t have too many depts. To be a financially well-managed company, it must generate profit, meaning there is more money coming in than going out. This looks to be well managed company since there is a lot of profit in the end of the month. Income Statement, Statement of Retained Earnings, Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash Flows are all on the plus side. Nothing seems to be out of order. b) They have 33,300 retained earnings at the end of April, which means a good profit.

Competitive Advantage Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Competitive Advantage - Case Study Example A closer analysis of the case study of Whole Foods shows that it has adopted a differentiation strategy. According to Harasta & Hoffman (2010), differentiation is a business strategy that seeks to build competitive advantage with its product or service by having it different from the other alternative products. This entails that other competitors may find it difficult to offer the market offering. This is the strategy that has been adopted by Whole Foods explained below. The company has differentiated itself from the other competitors by focussing on quality as excellence and innovation that allows them to charge a premium price for premium products. For instance, health conscious people have begun to realise the importance of consuming organic and natural foods and these are mostly found at Whole Foods Market stores. Whole Foods is the world’s leading retailer of natural and organic foods and has 289 stores, 273 stores in 38 states in the US and 6 stores in Canada and 5 stores in UK (Harasta & Hoffman, 2010). All these stores have sustained a competitive advantage by virtue of being unique. Other retail outlets do not specifically focus on strictly organic and natural products like Whole Foods and this is the reason why it has managed to sustain its competitiveness. Essentially, differentiation strategy requires businesses to have sustainable advantages that enable them to provide the customers with something uniquely valuable to them (Harasta & Hoffman, 2010). In case of Whole Foods, this strategy is justifiable because the products it offers are perceived to be of high value by the buyers and this is the reason why they continue to buy them even though they have premium prices. In most cases, buyers purchase products that are believed to be of great value to them. It can also be seen that differentiated products in the market are unique and they can be hardly imitated by other

I do not know Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

I do not know - Research Paper Example What exactly is a financial crisis? This is an important question to ask at the outset of this paper if we are to understand our subject. Generally speaking, financial crises arise in a variety of situations in which some financial institutions or industries suddenly lose large amounts of their value. For example, in the past, many such situations were associated with banking panics, stock market crashes and financial bubbles. The result is that country loses its wealth. Jobs are lost and people and companies go bankrupt. These crisis are often unexpected and result in a great deal of wealth being wiped out. People suffer and it can take years for the economy to regain its balance (Williams, 23). All sectors of society find themselves set back and productivity and growth become very slow. In the most recent example, the subprime mortgage crisis was one of the first indicators of 2007 financial crisis. There is a clear line that can be drawn between the massive number of mortgage defaults and the consequent crisis. High default rates on subprime adjustable rate mortgages began to increase very rapidly in this period. The long term trend of rising housing prices and better loans encourage borrowers to believe they would be able repay their mortgages quicker. They thought they had a good deal and would be able to refinance if they had a problem. However, this was not the case. â€Å"The first clear sign that the US housing bubble was bursting, the mid-2007 crisis in the sub-prime mortgage market (stemming from the significant increase in defaults), transmitted losses to a whole set of securitized financial products such as mortgage-backed securities† ( Lin, 32). The truth is that the American dream of home ownership had gone into overdrive. People who were unable to afford to pay mortgage payments were given mortgages. People with bad credit or unstable employment were given

Macro & Micro economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Macro & Micro economics - Essay Example The phase which started from 1929 lasted for more than a decade and its effect was faced by most of the nations around the globe. The Great Recession of 2008 on the other hand took place due to a host of reasons including the subprime lending crisis, the burst of the US housing bubble, the drastic increase in the price of oil in the country and the devaluation of dollar. This report looks into the various aspects of the setbacks in the international trade caused by the collapse in US financial markets. The focus of this report is the main areas of the UK and EU which are in trade relations with the country of United States. Finally the changes in the trade policies in the post financial crisis period have been analysed. Causes and Mechanisms of the collapse of the world trade As during the time of the Great Depression when the phase saw increase in the rate of unemployment, lack of liquidity in the economy and various situations of bankruptcy, the great recession also witnessed the s imilar trouble. The economy faced a decline in the import and exports which in turn affected those countries which depended mostly on foreign trade during the 1930s (Bernard, Jensen, Redding and Schott, 2009, p. 491). Similar thing happened at the time of the US recession in 2008. The entire economy experienced a plunge in the global trade which accounted for about 30% decline compared to the GDP of the country. The trade figures for the country have been shown with the help of the export import trends of the country. Figure 1: Export of US Source: www.tradingeconomics.com It is clear that the exports of the country had been increasing from before 2004. However, trade faced a jolt in 2009 at the outset of the period of recession. The trade of US recovered from 2010 and it is exhibiting an upward trend at the present day. Similar situations can be noticed in the European Union. The export situation for this region also faced the similar consequences as that of the US (Velde, 2011, pp 1–28). Figure 2: Exports in European Union Source: www.tradingeconomics.com Economists have provided a host of reasons that would justify the trade collapse. First of all the supply chain linkages have caused a drop in the trade figures. The vertical linkage hypothesis believes that with a decrease in the demand for the final goods, the demands for the intermediate goods that add value to the final product are also at stake. With the advent of liberalisation, division of labour has taken place across countries and a lot of specialisation has occurred in the production process (Yi, 2003, p. 65). Thus if the aggregate demand in one country reduced it has an effect on the balance of trade of all the related countries. The compositional effect is a second reason why the international trade dropped during 2009. Trade of a country may take place in various sectors but there is a definite proportion in which it should take place. If inconsistent trade takes place in the sectors wit h the worse affected level of domestic absorption, then the trade to GDP ratio would be most adversely affected (Erceg, Guerrieri and Gust, 2008, p. 2637). The US data on industrial production would be able to support this hypothesis. It has been empirically tested that the drop in trade took place more in the sectors that reported decline in the domestic output the most. Figure 3: Trade across product categories Source: www.wto.org Finally the shortage of credit was the reason why trade could not take place at its full capacity. Any firm in order to carry on with the

Recombinant Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Recombinant Art - Essay Example 23 Mar. 2009 ). From oulipo to recombinant poetics Interaction with different forms of generative production enables one to dynamically explore emergent meaning. New forms of computer-based art can make it possible for participants to actively become engaged in aspects of the production of the work. Each "user" of a specifically authored computer-mediated system may have a quite different experience emerging through interaction. Yet, emergent systems can also be analogue in nature. There is an interesting commonality to generative literary, artistic, and musical production that is relevant to the OULIPO, Recombinant Poetics, as well as techno-audio remix culture. In the following, I will compare and contrast approaches to combinatorics from the perspective of each of these fields of research. OULIPO (Ouvroir de litrature potentielle - The Workshop for Potential Literature) "does not want to be considered a literary school, or to overtly advance specific ideologies or theories, its goals portray an understanding of literature that merits outline and critique". In his illuminating book entitled OULIPO - A Primer of Potential Literature, Warren F. Motte, Jr., outlines the history of OULIPO, which was conceived at the initiative of Raymond Queneau and Franois Le Lionnais: It was born...

Human Disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Disease - Essay Example This is because such resources are subjected to prerequisite verifications before their publication. Grace, a sixty five year old woman, noted some changes in her cognitive ability that she associated with the general assumption that body processes slow down as people age. Her condition however continued to deteriorate with symptoms that were not reported by people of her age or those who were older than she was. Diagnosis of her condition as Alzheimer’s disease identifies a number of factors as possible causes. Her old age, being 65 years old is one of the risk factors that could have caused the disease. Genetic factors that could have been indicated by the disease’s diagnosis among her close relatives such as sibling or parents, or existence of particular genes in her system are another possible set of causes of her changed condition. Having a reported case of a cardiovascular disease or extreme level of mental stress as well as her gender could also have facilitated development of Grace’s disease. The disease could have therefore independently developed in h er or she could have inherited it from her parents through genes (Jasmin, p. 1). Changes in Grace’s cognitive ability that included forgetfulness of tasks and procedures, reduced ability to perform duties, and reduced decision-making ability raised her concerns of a possible problem. Complications that were more serious and that included change in behavior, difficulty to communicate, deteriorated memory and poor cognitive ability then prompted her medical attentions (National, p. 1; Jasmin, p. 1). Even though the disease started with mild symptoms, it gradually worsened to more serious symptoms and adverse effects on the patient. She for example lost her ability to coordinate words into sentences for communication. There was also a significant level of emotional instability as she could easily get angry and overreact to conditions that never bothered

Domestic violence vs law enforcement Research Paper

Domestic violence vs law enforcement - Research Paper Example â€Å"Domestic violence includes abuse inflicted on spouses; children; older or otherwise vulnerable adults, including parents; and any other persons similarly situated to a spouse, child, or parent. The abusive conduct may be physical, sexual, emotional, or financial† (Kruger & Valltos). Historically, domestic violence has been treated differently by different people because of different religious beliefs and cultures. For example, in Islamic beliefs, the women are not getting enough freedom and the males often tortured their wives. It was/is difficult for a Muslim woman living in a fundamental society to register a complaint against her husband with respect to domestic violence. Male domination was so prominent earlier and not only in Muslim cultures, but even in other cultures also, women were afraid of registering complaints about their husbands. However, such beliefs are slowly diminishing and because of the efforts of feminists and currently women see no dangers in regis tering complaints about the abusive behaviors of their partners. â€Å"In the last twenty years public pressure to recognize domestic violence as a crime, rather than a family problem continued to grow due to educational efforts by victims and advocates†(Hunt, p.ii). ... He will try to incorporate such experiences with every domestic violence incident he may investigate. Thus he will quite often fail to find out the nature of the crime or the actual culprit responsible for the crime. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that no state shall "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." If a woman can prove that a police department has a gender-based policy of refusing to arrest men who abuse their wives, she can claim that the policy is based on gender stereotypes and therefore violates the equal protection laws (Domestic Violence—The Laws and the Courts - Landmark Legal Decisions) Different states have different laws with respect to domestic violence. Some states treat even simple domestic problems as serious cases whereas some other states may neglect simple incidents with respect to domestic violence. However, in most of the cases, arrests are common for serious domestic violence c ases. Probation, treatment programs, fines, paying restitution to the victim, jail sentence etc are some of the common means of punishing the culprits in domestic violence cases. Alcohol addiction or drug addiction can cause domestic violence. In such cases, punishments will never be an option; the law enforcing agencies opt for treatment programs in such cases. Counseling is another major option available in solving domestic violence cases. In most of the cases, the family members engage is violent activities because of the momentary loss of control or short temper. In such cases, it is unwise to punish the criminal since the punishment will generate vengeance in the mind of the criminal and he/she will never

SLP 5 Medicaid_Health Care Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SLP 5 Medicaid_Health Care Finance - Essay Example For a family of five, the maximum allowable family income in Florida can not exceed 23.2 percent of the FPL (Family-related Medicaid programs fact sheet, 2007). Any family with 5 members must make less than $5,112 per year to qualify for Medicaid. A single adult would have to make less than $2,160 per year to be eligible for the program (Family-related Medicaid programs fact sheet, 2007). California's state administered Medicaid program is known as Medi-Cal. To qualify for Medi-Cal, the recipient must be 65 years or older, blind, are younger than 65 and have a disability (Medicare information for Californians, 2008). The person's eligibility is based on income, and whether or not you qualify for certain federal disability programs, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI). To be eligible, a single person must make less than approximately $12,000 per year, and a married couple must make less than $18,000 per year (Medicare information for Californians, 2008). A key difference between California's and Florida's program is that California's program is designed to cover the elderly and disabled, while Florida's program is meant to cover the cost of children's health care. In fact, the eligibility requirements for children in Florida are much more liberal than for adults.

Total Information Network Essay Example for Free

Total Information Network Essay Total information is a paradox; no one library or resource can serve the need for scholarly pursuits though a network of such is gradually moving toward satisfying particular informational needs. The recent times are a witness to increased cataloging and documentation- which in time will be part of historical documents and databases. There is a particular inclination toward the use of the internet for informational necessities that, though not an all-inclusive resort, accords one the flexibility the modern world demands. Students and academicians benefit from the online resources at their disposal. Online libraries such as questia.com and bibliomania.com are gaining popularity from a scholarly clientele because of the flexibility it can accord one from using those online resources. Questia.com boasts of over a million journals and tens of thousands of books in fields from architecture to law, economics to psychology etc. Tools such as the encyclopedia and thesaurus, along with newspapers and magazines in their reading room, are extra amenities. Bibliomania.com has a voluminous collection of fiction, drama, poetry, and short stories, and non-fiction, biographies and religious texts in its domain. In addition, study tools such as study guides and references are part of the package.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On a more complex note, the online library libraryspot.com is connected to an even wider array of libraries- online, academic, government, public, state, law and medical libraries for one’s research needs. The online government libraries give one access to the National Archives, the Library of Congress, the Internet Law Library, the White House Press Room, National Library of Education, National Library of Medicine, National Agricultural Library and the Air Force Library. As an example, the National Archives (archives.gov) allows for an exploration of federal research documents (legislative, executive and judicial), research and order, America’s Historical Documents and presidential files. The Library of Congress (loc.gov for the online counterpart), being Congress’ research arm and â€Å"the oldest federal cultural institution† is the largest library in the world and has for its collection millions of books, manuscripts, maps, photographs and recordings. The online academic libraries give one access to select university libraries per state (e.g. Indiana University in Indiana and Columbia University in New York) that have their own collection of books, journals, dissertations and other documents along with regular library materials. The public libraries portal is connected to PublicLibraries.com, Libweb, UK Public Libraries and the Public Libraries of Europe- all of which are online. The state libraries section channels you to state-specific libraries with public records on population censuses, marriage indexes, family and local histories, military and pension information, and cemetery location files. The National Library of Medicine online and Medical Libraries online, and the Law Library Catalogs online, the Law Library of Congress online and the American Association of Law Libraries online, are cached under the medical and law libraries, respectively. Access to these online libraries is usually free, although some require a login ID and password.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For a model, the Walden Library is an excellent resource. It has a wide array of articles, books, dissertations, government resources and textbooks which one could get from Walden databases, local libraries, commercial sources and by document delivery. Walden University’s Document Delivery Service is a unique feature that allows researchers to borrow books and obtain materials’ photocopies owned by the IU-Bloomington Libraries. Registration is a requirement, and an email with a username/password will be forwarded to the subscriber. Materials requests can then be submitted (e.g. books, photocopies) after checking on an IU-Bloomington ownership from the online catalog. The service is free but typical delivery time is 7-10 days or longer and there is an assumption of responsibility for the book’s return amidst any circumstance. The Walden Library even has a portal connected to other local libraries, online bookstores and commercial sources, should the requested material prove to be inaccessible. A portal linking one to the librarian, should one have particular queries, is also an amenity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Building a total information network need not be an impossibility!

Health Disparities in New Zealand from a Marxist Perspective Essay Example for Free

Health Disparities in New Zealand from a Marxist Perspective Essay In New Zealand society there many are people who encounter with Health disabilities and issues that do not only impact their wellbeing but also their lives. However the majority of them cannot control their Health situation due to their lifestyle, in addition to this problem the distribution of Health services contribute to the creation of ‘Health Disparities’. In this essay I will classify Heath Disparities in New Zealand from a Marxist perspective, where it will become visible that Health inequality within our country lies in the structure of society. However our society is constructed through social stratification which is the process where people are classed in the hierarchical system; based on superiority and subordination (Llewellyn, A. , Agu, L. , Mercer, D. 2008). This technique of classing society contributes to why inequalities exist today. I will focus on how Marxist’s perspective integrates the structure of capitalism and social class in society where it influences Health in New Zealand. Inequalities within health are distinguished between different population groups, where there is variance in a group’s health or health care (Reid Robson, 2006). This is caused by gender, ethnicity, age, environment and economic status (Howden- Chowden, 2005). Health disparities in New Zealand conflict with the structure of society, however it is logical that in order to have an impact on society we must hold power (Dew Kirkman, 2007). This brings us to the Marxist perspective where Karl Marx (1818-1883) focused his research on the development of capitalists (Cree, 2010). The rise of capitalism originated from the modes of production, which relates to the way society organises production of material and also enables surplus value to become generated (McLennan, McManus Spoonly, 2010). Capitalism within New Zealand is based on the operation of production allowing the continuation of profit to increase for owners; however this means superiority constructs society in a manner where it will benefit them while alienating other classes (Dew Kirkman, 2007). Marxist’s main focus of capitalism is class structure where the process of social stratification comes into place. An individual’s status in the class structure is measured through their socio-economic status, this can also be calculated by the amount of power they have in society (Llewellyn, Agu Mercer, 2008). Through the Marxist theory we come to an understanding of the development of low income that workers earn through production. The functions of capitalism and class structure identifies that individuals whom receive low income, is impacted in every domain of their lives this includes health. Health inequalities are strongly influenced by socio-economic differences which expose’s factors such as income, housing, diet and occupational toxin as high impacts on a person’s health. Through the Marxist perspective we understand that capitalism’s main focus is based within the growth of profit, however the power that capitalist’s (known as owners of production) hold influences the health of their workers. Capitalists have control over wages; work hours and the environment of workers (Newman, 2008) they also go to the extent of exploitation and alienation in order for their profits to increase (McLennan, McManus Spoonly, 2010). Workers face the effects of class consciousness (McLennan, McManus Spoonly, 2010) they become competitive and are blinded from realizing that they are being over worked and at the same time under paid. Proletariats become vulnerable to ill health through poor working conditions and also lack of freedom (Howden- Chowden, 2005). For example lack of freedom in their work environment can lead proletariats to stress and fatigue illnesses. Health disabilities such as chronic illness, toxic appearance in an individual’s immune system and also serious accidents are caused from poor working conditions (Howden- Chowden, 2005). Capital is known to be a factor that contributes to human misery and alienation, which leads to health disabilities. Health Disparities within our society varies throughout the different levels of class. The class structure consists of two main levels which are Bourgeoisie; the highest class that contains capitalists and individuals who hold power. The Proletariat class is for workers in production, and who have no power (Joseph, 2006). Health services within New Zealand are distributed unevenly where it benefits the wealthy (Bourgeoisie) and excludes others such as the Proletariats (Dew Kirkman, 2007). Although health services in our society are available for everyone’s use, it is imbalanced within the quality. For example individuals in the upper class have access to higher quality services, such as private insurance and specialists (Dew Kirkman, 2007). However through research it has become more apparent that workers have the highest exposure to ill health (Howden- Chowden, 2005) this means they need this service more than others but it is not affordable. The gradients of avoidable and unavoidable death rates are very different; Proletariats have high rates within avoidable deaths, this means that the majority of deaths could have been avoided through medical consultation. As for the Bourgeoisie class it is at high rates of unavoidable deaths, although they’ve received quality treatment it cannot be cured (Dew Kirkman, 2007). Inequalities within social class have different influences on an individual’s health, in particularly the quality of health provided for each class level. Through the development of capitalism and social class, it’s obvious that the creation of ‘low income’ becomes one of the main attribute to health disparities. Proletariats that encounter this issue have higher risks of low life expectancy and also a high mortality rate (Howden- Chowden, 2005) they are also forced to live in high levels of Deprivation (Dew Kirkman, 2007). This situation does not only impact workers but also their families, where living in a damp cold home increases vulnerability of ill health such as cardiovascular diseases (Howden- Chowden, 2005). Low income also influences a family’s diet as they can only afford food that are high in calories and low in nutrition, this leads to morbid obesity and also Diabetes (Howden- Chowden, 2005). By understanding the impacts of low income in an individual’s life we also recognize that low income leads to poverty. Through the notion of Marxist’s perspective of health disparities within our country, it is understandable that in order to unravel this issue the system within society must change. This can transpire by establishing additional organisations that hold a responsibility to support population groups who encounter with health disabilities but cannot afford health services; this will support families in debt and also decrease health inequalities. Our system needs to improve their public services where it is affordable yet good quality, allowing workers to receive health support in order to maintain an occupation to provide for their families. Improvement of health services available for workers is extremely important not only for themselves but also for capitalist, as they will decrease in profit if workers become ill and lose jobs. If this process continues it will come to a point where capitalists increase their surplus value impacting other workers, where exploitation and alienation will intensify. By having the capability to unpack health disparities from a Marxist perspective, we are able to understand that inequalities in New Zealand health mainly impact the working class. Where the construction of society makes it visible that low income is the central foundation of health disparities, and also poverty. We need to understand that the only way out of inequality not only in health care, but in general is through improvement of the system. Kevin Dew and Allison Kirkman (2005, pp. 241) stated â€Å"People are not poor because they are sick, they are sick because they are poor. †

Uses of a Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Uses of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) A virtual private network (VPN) is a point to point connection that connects a user to a private network in a different location. Basically, VPNs are used to set up a secure connection to the internet. A VPN works by creating a point to point connection from a public wifi connection to a private wifi connection in a business or company building as if you are directly connected to the network. Since the normally accepted definition for a network is fairly common and usually accepted throughout the trade. A network consists of any variety of devices which may communicate through some arbitrary technique. Devices of this nature include computers, printers, and routers will reside in geographically numerous locations. The strategies during which they will communicate are varied, since there are infinite electronic communication specifications, data-link, transport, and application layer protocols. For the needs of simplicity, lets simply agree that a network is a assortment of devices which will communicate in some fashion, and will, with success, transmit and receive information amongst themselves. The term private is fairly easy, which is, in an elaborate way, associated with the idea of virtualization to that degree as VPNs are involved, as well discuss later. Within the simplest of definitions, private implies that communications between 2 (or more) devices is, in some fashion, secret that the devices which arent involved with the connection wont be aware of the information being communicated, and that theyre so fully unaware of the non-public relationship altogether. consequently, information privacy and security (data integrity) are vital aspects of a VPN which require to be taken into thought once considering any specific VPN implementation. Another way of expressing this definition of private through the opposite word, public. A facility that is a public one that is overtly accessible, and is managed inside the terms and constraints of a typical public resource, typically via a public administrative entity. In contrast, a private facility is one wherever access is restricted to an outlined set of entities, and third parties cannot gain access. Typically, the non-public resource is managed by the entities who have privilege of access. Samples of this kind of non-public network can often be found in any organizational network that isnt connected to the web, or to any other external structure network, for that matter. These networks are non-public as a result of the very fact that theres no external property, and therefore no external network communications. The distinct nature of VPNs enable both privacy and virtualization, whereas VPNs arent fully separate, per se, the difference is that they operate in a very discrete fashion across a shared infrastructure, providing exclusive communications environments that dont share any points of interconnection. It should also be noted that while VPNs could also be created to handle any variety of specific business desires or technical necessities, a comprehensive VPN solution provides support for dial-in access, multiple remote sites connected by hired lines (or alternative dedicated means), the ability of the VPN service supplier to host numerous services for the VPN customers (e.g., net hosting), and also the ability to support non connected VPN , however in addition inter-VPN connectivity, as well as connectivity to the worldwide internet. There are nu merous motivations for building VPNs, however a standard thread in each is that all of them share the necessity to virtualize some portion of an organizations communications in alternative words, create some portion (or perhaps all) of the communications basically invisible to external observers, whereas taking advantage of the efficiencies of a typical communications infrastructure. The base motivation for VPNs lies within the economics of communications. Communications systems nowadays usually exhibit the characteristic of a high fixed-cost part, and smaller variable value parts which vary with the transport capability, or bandwidth, of the system. Inside this economic atmosphere, its typically financially enticing to bundle variety of distinct communications services onto a standard high capability communications platform, permitting the high fixed-cost components related to the platform to be amortized over a bigger range of clients. Consequently, an assortment a set of virtual networks included on one common physical communications plant is cheaper to work than the equivalent collection of smaller physically separate communications plants, each servicing one network consumer. Historically, among the precursors to the VPN was the Public Data Network (PDN), and therefore the current acquainted instance of the PDN is that the world web. The internet creates a p resent connective paradigm, wherever the network permits any connected network entity to exchange information with another connected entity. The parallels with the world Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) are that, of course, all too obvious wherever an identical paradigm of present public access is the strong trait of the network. The public data network has no policy of information traffic segregation, and any modification to the current network policy of allowing present connectivity is that the responsibility of the connecting entity to outline and enforce. The network atmosphere is built employing a single addressing scheme and a standard routing hierarchy, that permits the changing components of the network to figure out the placement of all connected entities. All of those connected entities additionally share access to a standard infrastructure of circuits. The alternative to implement the net as a VPN nowadays is to lease circuits, or similar dedicated communications services, from the general public network operators (the local telephone company in most cases), and make a totally non-public network. its a layering convention that permits US to label this as completely non-public, as these dedicated communications services are (at the lower layers of the protocol stack) again, instances of virtual non-public communications systems created atop a typical transmission bearer system. Of course, this is often not without precedent, and it should be noted that the bulk of the early efforts in information networking, and many of the present information networking architectures, dont assume a deployment model of present public access. The alternative to using the web as a VPN nowadays is to lease circuits, or similar dedicated communications services, from public network operators (the local telephone service in most cases), and build a total ly non-public network. its a layering convention that permits United States of America to label this as completely non-public, as these dedicated communications services are (at the lower layers of the protocol stack) once more instances of virtual non-public communications systems created atop a standard transmission bearer system. Of course, this is often not while not precedent, and it should be noted that the bulk of the first efforts in information networking, and a variety of the present information networking architectures, dont assume a preparation model of present public access. However, this alternative will have an associated value, in that the consumer now must manage the network and all its associated components, invest capital in network change infrastructure, hire trained workers, and assume complete responsibility for the provisioning and on-going maintenance of the network service. Such a passionate use of transport services, equipment, and staff is commonly difficult to justify for several small-to-medium sized organizations, and whereas the practicality of a non-public network system is needed, the expressed need is to scale back the price of the service through the utilization of shared transport services, equipment, and management. There are variety of situations which may address this need, ranging from outsourcing the management of the changing components of the network (managed network services) to outsourcing the capital equipment elements (leased network services), to the outsourcing of the management, equipment, and transport components to a service supplier altogether. This is, in fact, the foremost common form of VPN within which there are geographically various subnetworks which belong to a standard administrative domain, interconnected by a shared infrastructure outside of their body management (such as the world wide web or a single service suppl ier backbone). The principle motivation for establishing a VPN of this kind is that maybe the bulk of communications between devices among the VPN community could also be sensitive in nature (again, a choice on the extent of privacy needed rests exclusively on a risk analysis performed by the directors of the VPN), nevertheless the full worth of the communications system doesnt justify the investment during a absolutely non-public communications system that uses distinct transmission components. On a related note, the extent of privacy a VPN could relish depends greatly on the technology used to construct the VPN. as an example, if the communications between every VPN subnetwork (or between every VPN host) is securely encrypted because it transits the common communications infrastructure, then it can be said that the privacy aspect of the VPN is comparatively high. In fact, the granularity of a VPN implementation will be de-escalated further to one end-to-end, one-to-one connectivity situation. samples of these kinds of one-to-one VPNs are single dial-up users establishing a VPN association to a secure application, like an internet banking service, or one user establishing a secure, encrypted session between a desktop and server application, like a purchasing transaction conducted on the internet. This is often a kind of one-to-one VPN is changing into more and more prevailing as secure electronic commerce applications become a lot more mature and further deployed on the net . So what is a Virtual Private Network? As weve mentioned, a VPN can take many forms. A VPN area unit typically between two end-systems, or it should be between two or additional networks. A VPN is also built with tunnels or encoding (at primarily any layer of the protocol stack), or both, or instead created with MPLS or one in every of the virtual router ways. A VPN can contain networks connected to a service providers network by hired lines, Frame Relays, or ATM, or a VPN can embrace dial-up subscribers connecting to centralized services, or different dial-up subscribers. The pertinent conclusion here is that whereas a VPN can take many forms, there are some basic common problems that a VPN is built to unravel, whereas at the same time exploiting the monetary probability of economics of the scale of the underlying common host communications system. In general, the technique of supporting personal communities of interest just by route filtering will at the best be delineated as a primitive technique of VPN construction, that is vulnerable to body errors, associate degreed admits an undue level of insecurity and network inflexibility. Even with comprehensive traffic an d route filtering, the ensuing atmosphere isnt completely robust. The operational overhead needed to support complementary sets of ancient routing and traffic filters could be a relevant thought, and this approach doesnt seem to possess the scaling properties to permit the quantity of VPNs to grow farther than the bounds of various connections, using todays routing technologies. Having said that, however, a far additional scaleable approach is to use BGP communities as a technique to regulate route propagation. the utilization of BGP communities scales far better than different strategies to that extent as dominant route propagation and is a smaller amount vulnerable to human misconfiguration. As you can see I have explained what a VPN is, how it works, and why we use it for a variety of things such as everyday use and for more business type situations.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde :: Free Essay Writer

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson in â€Å"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde† is telling us that we fear the knowledge of our duality so we keep silent. We are afraid of the truth, about ourselves, so we stay quiet. Everyone has a part of himself or herself that they don’t reveal to anyone. We are afraid to show it but when it comes out we’d rather not talk about it. The author shows knowledge as a very important thing. â€Å"Now I shall know you again,† said Mr. Utterson. â€Å"It may be useful.† This quote is said when Mr. Utterson meets Mr. Hyde for the first time. Another quote that proves this is â€Å"I wish to see or hear no more of Dr. Jekyll.† Lanyon said this after he had seen Mr. Hyde turn into Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Utterson was asking him questions about Dr. Jekyll. â€Å" Lanyon, you remember your vows: what follows is under the seal of our profession...† Lanyon is about to find out about Dr. Jekyll’s secret. Another pattern that the author shows as being important is fear. Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield were walking together and seen Dr. Jekyll in his house. They were talking to him when all of a sudden he started to change into Mr. Hyde. When they saw this they looked at each other, both were pale and had an answering horror in their eyes. â€Å" I am afraid, I think there has been foul play.† Poole says this when he goes and talks to Mr. Utterson about Dr. Jekyll. Also when Mr. Utterson and Poole want to talk to Dr. Jekyll and ask for him but find out that Mr. Hyde is inside they swing an axe at his door. They hear a â€Å" dismal screech, as of mere animal terror.† Another way fear is shown is when Lanyon saw Mr. Hyde turn into Dr. Jekyll. â€Å"O God and O God again and again.† Lanyon said this after what he saw. Another major pattern is duality. You can see duality through out the whole book. One example is Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield. Mr. Utterson is very popular around town. He is also involved with the town. On the other hand Mr. Enfield was always quiet and didn’t do anything around the town. But they were always together. Another example is Dr.

Napster Essays -- essays research papers

Napster: The Debate Over Copyright Infringement In early 1999, Shawn Fanning, a Northeastern University freshman, created Napster software. That summer he made it available for free through his Napster.com website. Napster is a peer-to-peer technology, which makes it possible for users to freely share their music files through the internet with other users all over the world. Specifically, this is how Napster works: 1.)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A user sends a request for a song. 2.)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Napster checks its database of music to see if the song is on the PC hard-drive of another Napster user whose computer is turned on (Note: No music is stored on Napster servers). 3.)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Napster finds the song. 4.)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Napster sends the song in MP3 format to the user who requested On December 6, 1999 the record industry sued Napster in Federal District Court for copyright infringements, and petitioned that court to shut down Napster. On July 26, 2000 the judge issued a temporary injunction to shut down Napster, and the next day Napster appealed the ruling before the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The following day the Appeals Court granted Napster temporary reprieve against injunction so they could further review the injunction request. On October 2, 2000 the opposing parties presented their supporting arguments before the Court. The case was finally resolved on February 12, 2001 when a ruling by the District Court of Appeals upheld the original ruling that Napster was aware its users were swapping copyrighted materials. Subsequently, Napster was ordered to stop allowing its millions of users to swap copyrighted material without a fee. There are several ethical issues involved in this case. First is the theft of the copyrighted music produced by artists who have not given Napster the right to transmit their music. Secondly, is the right of Napster to provide a legitimate service to consumers, and how that right has been attacked by artists in the recording industry. There are, indeed, two sides to this story. The stakeholders involved in this case are the artists, the recording industry as a whole, retailers, and consumers. All of these stakeholders are affected equally in this matter. The artists, recording industry, and music retailers face substantial loss of income if c... ...g they need to do, considering the investment in the company. Perhaps the optimal solution for Napster’s dilemma is the possibility of a cable TV type payment. Users pay a certain monthly fee for all the downloaded music they wanted. They could chat with their favorite artists, get first claim on concert tickets, and browse possible downloads by genre. The new system would pay the artists their royalties and sell millions of older titles that at present are sitting in vaults because no stores will give them shelf space. This option has the advantages of cooperation between the music industry and Napster. Napster users will have the same type of service as they do now, with extras so they won’t have to turn to no-fee options (Gnutella and Freenet). Music companies will be able to use the Internet for sales of all their merchandise. If music companies can package a better experience people will pay for it. In a recent survey of college students more than two thirds of the respondents would be willing to pay for a $20 dollar monthly fee of a similar service. The only foreseeable disadvantage of this solution is the plausibility of the record companies cooperating in such an effort.

Why Drugs Should Be Legal :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  America is wasting it’s money and resources. It’s trying restrict something on which restrictions don’t have any effects: drugs. People who don’t use recreational drugs don’t do so because of the health risks; people who do use drugs would whether or not they are legal. The fact that they are illegal makes little difference. Nevertheless, $15,000,000,000 goes directly into drug prohibition every year, and has very little effect. Very much money is spent to pay police narcotics officers, fund the D.E.A., and house drug-offenders in prison. The prisons are full of drug-related criminals, and violent offenders go free earlier because of this. Which would you prefer walking the streets, a rapist, or a potsmoker?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Legalizing recreational drugs does not mean making drugs accesible to all people. The drugs that are legal today, alcohol and tobacco (nicotene) aren’t available to just everyone; they are regulated. Only certain people are allowed to buy them. Since the drug trade is unregulated, drugs are sold anywhere they can be (e.g. schools), allowing children to have access to them. If these drugs were illegal, than that trade would stagnate, and children wouldn’t have such easy access to them. It makes sense†¦ do you ever see people in schools selling beer or cigarrettes? Also, the usual cause of drug overdose is the fact that a person cannot know the potency of the drug he/she is taking. There are no standards because the trade of drugs is illegal in the first place. If they were legal, there would be a standard of quality for all drugs, regulated by the FDA.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The state of Georgia has the highest excise tax on liquor of any state. It also has the lowest tax on gasoline (which is good especially now with gas prices the highest ever). If drugs were legal, the government could place such an excise tax on them. In addition to freeing up money used for their prohibition, this extra money could fund the real problems of America, and eliminate our national debt quite quickly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Doing drugs is dangerous, yes†¦ but so is tanning, smoking, drinking, chewing tobacco†¦ the list goes on and on. People are still free to do these things, notwithstanding the fact that they may be stupid acts. The ratio of deaths from tobacco versus drugs is 425:1, and that of alcohol versus drugs is 50:1. Drugs are less dangerous than both of these legal things, and people are still free to do them and not free to do drugs?

Zoe’s Tale PART II Chapter Fourteen

â€Å"No, you're still too low,† I said to Gretchen. â€Å"It's making you flat. You need to be a note higher or something. Like this.† I sang the part I wanted her to sing. â€Å"I am singing that,† Gretchen said. â€Å"No, you're singing lower than that,† I said. â€Å"Then you're singing the wrong note,† Gretchen said. â€Å"Because I'm singing the note you're singing. Go ahead, sing it.† I cleared my throat, and sang the note I wanted her to sing. She matched it perfectly. I stopped singing and listened to Gretchen. She was flat. â€Å"Well, nuts,† I said. â€Å"I told you,† Gretchen said. â€Å"If I could pull up the song for you, you could hear the note and sing it,† I said. â€Å"If you could pull up the song, we wouldn't be trying to sing it at all,† Gretchen said. â€Å"We'd just listen to it, like civilized human beings.† â€Å"Good point,† I said. â€Å"There's nothing good about it,† Gretchen said. â€Å"I swear to you, Zoe. I knew coming to a colony world was going to be hard. I was ready for that. But if I knew they were going to take my PDA, I might have just stayed back on Erie. Go ahead, call me shallow.† â€Å"Shallow,† I said. â€Å"Now tell me I'm wrong,† Gretchen said. â€Å"I dare you.† I didn't tell her she was wrong. I knew how she felt. Yes, it was shallow to admit that you missed your PDA. But when you'd spent your whole life able to call up everything you wanted to amuse you on a PDA – music, shows, books and friends – when you had to part with it, it made you miserable. Really miserable. Like â€Å"trapped on a desert island with nothing but coconuts to bang together† miserable. Because there was nothing to replace it with. Yes, the Colonial Mennonites had brought their own small library of printed books, but most of that consisted of Bibles and agricultural manuals and a few â€Å"classics,† of which Huckleberry Finn was one of the more recent volumes. As for popular music and entertainments, well, they didn't much truck with that. You could tell a few of the Colonial Mennonite teens thought it was funny to watch the rest of us go through entertainment withdrawal. Didn't seem very Christian of them, I have to say. On the other hand, they weren't the ones whose lives had been drastically altered by landing on Roanoke. If I were in their shoes and watching a whole bunch of other people whining and moaning about how horrible it was that their toys were taken away, I might feel a little smug, too. We did what people do in situations where they go without: We adjusted. I hadn't read a book since we landed on Roanoke, but was on the waiting list for a bound copy of The Wizard of Oz. There were no recorded shows or entertainments but Shakespeare never fails; there was a reader's theater performance of Twelfth Night planned for a week from Sunday. It promised to be fairly gruesome – I'd heard some of the read-throughs – but Enzo was reading the part of Sebastian, and he was doing well enough, and truth be told it would be the first time I would have ever experienced a Shakespeare play – or any play other than a school pageant – live. And it's not like there would be anything else to do anyway. And as for music, well, this is what happened: Within a couple days of landing a few of the colonists hauled out guitars and accordions and hand drums and other such instruments and started trying to play together. Which went horribly, because nobody knew anyone else's music. It was like what happened on the Magellan. So they started teaching each other their songs, and then people showed up to sing them, and then people showed up to listen. And thus it was, at the very tail end of space, when no one was looking, the colony of Roanoke reinvented the â€Å"hootenanny.† Which is what Dad called it. I told him it was a stupid name for it, and he said he agreed, but said that the other word for it – â€Å"wingding† – was worse. I couldn't argue with that. The Roanoke Hootenanners (as they were now calling themselves) took requests – but only if the person requesting sang the song. And if the musicians didn't know the song, you'd have to sing it at least a couple of times until they could figure out how to fake it. This led to an interesting development: singers started doing a cappella versions of their favorite songs, first by themselves and increasingly in groups, which might or might not be accompanied by the Hootenanners. It was becoming a point of pride for people to show up with their favorite songs already arranged, so everyone else in the audience didn't have to suffer through a set of dry runs before it was all listenable. It was safe to say that some of these arrangements were more arranged than others, to put it politely, and some folks sang with the same vocal control as a cat in a shower. But now, a couple of months after the hootenannies had begun, people were beginning to get the hang of it. And people had begun coming to the hoots with new songs, arranged a cappella. One of the most popular songs at the recent hoots was â€Å"Let Me Drive the Tractor† – the tale of a colonist being taught to drive a manual tractor by a Mennonite, who, because they were the only ones who knew how to operate noncomputerized farm machinery, had been put in charge of planting crops and teaching the rest of us how to use their equipment. The song ends with the tractor going into a ditch. It was based on a true story. The Mennonites thought the song was pretty funny, even though it came at the cost of a wrecked tractor. Songs about tractors were a long way from what any of us had been listening to before, but then, we were a long way from where any of us were before, in any sense, so maybe that fit. And to get all sociological about it, maybe what it meant was that twenty or fifty standard years down the line, whenever the Colonial Union decided to let us get in contact with the rest of the human race, Roanoke would have its own distinct musical form. Maybe they'll call it Roanokapella. Or Hootenoke. Or something. But at this particular moment, all I was trying to do was to get the right note for Gretchen to sing so she and I could go to the next hoot with a halfway decent version of â€Å"Delhi Morning† for the Hootenanners to pick up on. And I was failing miserably. This is what it feels like when you realize that, despite a song being your favorite of maybe all time, you don't actually know every little nook and cranny of it. And since my copy of the song was on my PDA, which I could no longer use or even had anymore, there was no way to correct this problem. Unless. â€Å"I have an idea,† I said to Gretchen. â€Å"Does it involve you learning to sing on key?† Gretchen asked. â€Å"Even better,† I said. Ten minutes later we were on the other side of Croatoan, standing in front of the village's information center – the one place on the entire planet that you'd still find a functioning piece of electronics, because the inside was designed to completely block any radio or other signals of any sort. The technology to do this, sadly, was rare enough that we only had enough of it for a converted cargo container. The good news was, they were making more. The bad news was, they were only making enough for a medical bay. Sometimes life stinks. Gretchen and I walked into the receiving area, which was pitch black because of the signal-cloaking material; you had to close the outer door to the information center before you could open the inner door. So for about a second and a half it was like being swallowed by grim, black, featureless death. Not something I'd recommend. And then we opened the inner door and found a geek inside. He looked at the both of us, a little surprised, and then got that no look. â€Å"The answer is no,† he said, confirming the look. â€Å"Aw, Mr. Bennett,† I said. â€Å"You don't even know what we're going to ask.† â€Å"Well, let's see,† said Jerry Bennett. â€Å"Two teenage girls – daughters of the colony leaders, incidentally – just happen to walk into the only place in the colony where one could play with a PDA. Hmmm. Are they here to beg to play with a PDA? Or are they here because they enjoy the company of a chunky, middle-aged man? This is not a hard question, Miss Perry.† â€Å"We just want to listen to one song,† I said. â€Å"We'll be out of your hair in just a minute.† Bennett sighed. â€Å"You know, at least a couple times a day someone just like you gets the bright idea to come in here and ask if I could just let them borrow a PDA to watch a movie, or listen to some music or read a book. And, oh, it'll just take a minute. I won't even notice they're there. And if I say yes, then other people will come in asking for the same time. Eventually I'll spend so much time helping people with their PDAs that I won't have time to do the work your parents, Miss Perry, have assigned me to do. So you tell me: What should I do?† â€Å"Get a lock?† said Gretchen. Bennett glanced over to Gretchen, sourly. â€Å"Very amusing,† he said. â€Å"What are you doing for my parents?† I asked. â€Å"Your parents are having me slowly and painstakingly locate and print every single Colonial Union administration memo and file, so they can refer to them without having to come in here and bother me,† Bennett said. â€Å"In one sense I appreciate that, but in a more immediate sense I've been doing it for the last three days and I'm likely to be doing it for another four. And since the printer I have to work with jams on a regular basis, it does actually require someone to pay attention to it. And that's me. So there you have it, Miss Perry: Four years of technical education and twenty years of professional work have allowed me to become a printer monkey at the very ass end of space. Truly, my life's goal has been achieved.† I shrugged. â€Å"So let us do it,† I said. â€Å"I beg your pardon,† Bennett said. â€Å"If all you're doing is making sure the printer doesn't jam, that's something we could do for you,† I said. â€Å"We'll work for you for a couple of hours, and in exchange you let us use a couple of PDAs while we're here. And then you can do whatever else you need to do.† â€Å"Or just go have lunch,† Gretchen said. â€Å"Surprise your wife.† Bennett was silent for a minute, considering. â€Å"Offering to actually help me,† he said. â€Å"No one's tried that tactic before. Very sneaky.† â€Å"We try,† I said. â€Å"And it is lunchtime,† Bennett said. â€Å"And it is just printing.† â€Å"It is,† I agreed. â€Å"I suppose if you mess things up horribly it won't be too bad for me,† Bennett said. â€Å"Your parents won't punish me for your incompetence.† â€Å"Nepotism working for you,† I said. â€Å"Not that there will be a problem,† Gretchen said. â€Å"No,† I agreed. â€Å"We're excellent printer monkeys.† â€Å"All right,† Bennett said, and reached across his worktable to grab his PDA. â€Å"You can use my PDA. You know how to use this?† I gave him a look. â€Å"Sorry. Okay.† He punched up a queue of files on the display. â€Å"These are files that need to go through today. The printer is there† – he motioned to the far end of the worktable – â€Å"and the paper is in that bin. Feed it into the printer, stack the finished documents next to the printer. If it jams, and it will, several times, just yank out the paper and let it autofeed a new one. It'll automatically reprint the last page it was working on. While you're doing that you can sync up to the Entertainment archive. I downloaded all those files into one place.† â€Å"You downloaded everyone's files?† I asked, and felt ever so slightly violated. â€Å"Relax,† Bennett said. â€Å"Only public files are accessible. As long as you encrypted your private files before you turned in your PDA, like you were told to, your secrets are safe. Now, once you access a music file the speakers will kick on. Don't turn them up too high or you won't be able to hear the printer jam.† â€Å"You have speakers already set up?† Gretchen asked. â€Å"Yes, Miss Trujillo,† Bennett said. â€Å"Believe it or not, even chunky middle-aged men like to listen to music.† â€Å"I know that,† Gretchen said. â€Å"My dad loves his.† â€Å"And on that ego-deflating note, I'll be off,† Bennett said. â€Å"I'll be back in a couple of hours. Please don't destroy the place. And if anyone comes in asking if they can borrow a PDA, tell them the answer is no, and no exceptions.† He set off. â€Å"I hope he was being ironic there,† I said. â€Å"Don't care,† Gretchen said, and grabbed for the PDA. â€Å"Give me that.† â€Å"Hey,† I said, holding it away from her. â€Å"First things first.† I set up the printer, queued the files, and then accessed â€Å"Delhi Morning.† The opening strains flowed out of the speakers and I soaked them in. I swear I almost cried. â€Å"It's amazing how badly you remembered this song,† Gretchen said, about halfway though. â€Å"Shhhhh,† I said. â€Å"Here's that part.† She saw the expression on my face and kept quiet until the song was done. Two hours is not enough time with a PDA if you haven't had access to one in months. And that's all I'm going to say about that. But it was enough time that both Gretchen and I came out of the information center feeling just like we'd spent hours soaking in a nice hot bath – which, come to think of it, was something that we hadn't done for months either. â€Å"We should keep this to ourselves,† Gretchen said. â€Å"Yes,† I said. â€Å"Don't want people to bug Mr. Bennett.† â€Å"No, I just like having something over everyone else,† Gretchen said. â€Å"There aren't a lot of people who can carry off petty,† I said. â€Å"Yet somehow you do.† Gretchen nodded. â€Å"Thank you, madam. And now I need to get back home. I promised Dad I'd weed the vegetable garden before it got dark.† â€Å"Have fun rooting in the dirt,† I said. â€Å"Thanks,† Gretchen said. â€Å"If you were feeling nice, you could always offer to help me.† â€Å"I'm working on my evil,† I said. â€Å"Be that way,† Gretchen said. â€Å"But let's get together after dinner tonight to practice,† I said. â€Å"Now that we know how to sing that part.† â€Å"Sounds good,† Gretchen said. â€Å"Or will, hopefully.† She waved and headed off toward home. I looked around and decided today would be a good day for a walk. And it was. The sun was up, the day was bright, particularly after a couple of hours in the light-swallowing information center, and Roanoke was deep into spring – which was really pretty, even if it turned out that all the native blooms smelled like rotten meat dipped in sewer sauce (that description courtesy of Magdy, who could string together a phrase now and then). But after a couple of months, you stop noticing the smell, or at least accept there's nothing you can do about it. When the whole planet smells, you just have to deal with it. But what really made it a good day for a walk was how much our world has changed in just a couple of months. John and Jane let us all out of Croatoan not too long after Enzo, Gretchen, Magdy and I had our midnight jog, and the colonists had begun to move into the countryside, building homes and farms, helping and learning from the Mennonites who were in charge of our first crops, which were already now growing in the fields. They were genetically engineered to be fast-growing; we'd be having our first harvest in the not too far future. It looked like we were going to survive after all. I walked past these new houses and fields, waving to folks as I went. Eventually I walked past the last homestead and over a small rise. On the other side of it, nothing but grass and scrub and the forest in a line to the side. This rise was destined to be part of another farm, and more farms and pastures would cut up this little valley even further. It's funny how even just a couple thousand humans could start to change a landscape. But at the moment there was no other person in it but me; it was my private spot, for as long as it lasted. Mine and mine alone. Well, and on a couple of occasions, mine and Enzo's. I laid back, looked up at the clouds in the sky, and smiled to myself. Maybe we were in hiding at the farthest reaches of the galaxy, but right now, at this moment, things were pretty good. You can be happy anywhere, if you have the right point of view. And the ability to ignore the smell of an entire planet. â€Å"Zoe,† said a voice behind me. I jerked up and then saw Hickory and Dickory. They had just come over the rise. â€Å"Don't do that,† I said, and got up. â€Å"We wish to speak to you,† Hickory said. â€Å"You could do that at home,† I said. â€Å"Here is better,† Hickory said. â€Å"We have concerns.† â€Å"Concerns about what?† I said, and rose to look at them. Something wasn't quite right about either of them, and it took me a minute to figure out what it was. â€Å"Why aren't you wearing your consciousness modules?† I asked. â€Å"We are concerned about the increasing risks you are taking with your safety,† Hickory said, answering the first but not the second of my questions. â€Å"And with your safety in a general sense.† â€Å"You mean, being here?† I said. â€Å"Relax, Hickory. It's broad daylight, and the Hentosz farm is just over the hill. Nothing bad is going to happen to me.† â€Å"There are predators here,† Hickory said. â€Å"There are yotes,† I said, naming the dog-sized carnivores that we'd found lurking around Croatoan. â€Å"I can handle a yote.† â€Å"They move in packs,† Hickory said. â€Å"Not during the day,† I said. â€Å"You do not only come here in the day,† Hickory said. â€Å"Nor do you always come alone.† I reddened a bit at that, and thought about getting angry with Hickory. But it wasn't wearing its consciousness. Getting angry with it wouldn't do anything. â€Å"I thought I told the two of you not to follow me when I want to have some private time,† I said, as evenly as I could. â€Å"We do not follow you,† Hickory said. â€Å"But neither are we stupid. We know where you go and with whom. Your lack of care is putting you at risk, and you do not always allow us to accompany you anymore. We cannot protect you as we would prefer to, and are expected to.† â€Å"We have been here for months, guys.† I said. â€Å"There hasn't been a single attack on anyone by anything.† â€Å"You would have been attacked that night in the woods had Dickory and I not come to find you,† Hickory said. â€Å"Those were not yotes in the trees that night. Yotes cannot climb or move through trees.† â€Å"And you'll notice I'm nowhere near the forest,† I said, and waved in the direction of the tree line. â€Å"And whatever was in there doesn't seem to come out here, because we'd have seen them by now if they did. We've been over this before, Hickory.† â€Å"It is not only the predators here that concern us,† Hickory said. â€Å"I'm not following you,† I said. â€Å"This colony is being searched for,† Hickory said. â€Å"If you saw the video, you'll remember that this Conclave group blasted that colony from the sky,† I said. â€Å"If the Conclave finds us, I don't think even you are going to be able to do much to protect me.† â€Å"It is not the Conclave we are concerned about,† Hickory said. â€Å"You're the only ones, then,† I said. â€Å"The Conclave is not the only one who will seek this colony,† Hickory said. â€Å"Others will search for it, to win favor from the Conclave, or to thwart it, or to take the colony for its own. They will not blast this colony from the sky. They will take it in the standard fashion. Invasion and slaughter.† â€Å"What is with the two of you today?† I said. I was trying to lighten the mood. I failed. â€Å"And then there is the matter of who you are,† Hickory said. â€Å"What does that mean?† I said. â€Å"You should know well,† Hickory said. â€Å"You are not merely the daughter of the colony leaders. You are also important to us. To the Obin. That fact is not unknown, Zoe. You have been used as a bargaining chip your entire life. We Obin used you to bargain with your father to build us consciousness. You are a treaty condition between the Obin and the Colonial Union. We have no doubt that any who would attack this colony would try to take you in order to bargain with the Obin. Even the Conclave could be tempted to do this. Or they would kill you to wound us. To kill a symbol of ourselves.† â€Å"That's crazy,† I said. â€Å"It has happened before,† Hickory said. â€Å"What?† I said. â€Å"When you lived on Huckleberry, there were no fewer than six attempts to capture or kill you,† Hickory said. â€Å"The last just a few days before you left Huckleberry.† â€Å"And you never told me this?† I asked. â€Å"It was decided by both your government and ours that neither you nor your parents needed to know,† Hickory said. â€Å"You were a child, and your parents wished to give you as unremarkable a life as possible. The Obin wished to be able to provide them that. None of these attempts came close to success. We stopped each long before you would have been in danger. And in each case the Obin government expressed its displeasure with the races who made such attempts on your well-being.† I shuddered at that. The Obin were not people to make enemies of. â€Å"We would not have told you at all – and we have violated our standing orders not to do so – were we not in our current situation,† Hickory said. â€Å"We are cut off from the systems we had in place to keep you safe. And you are becoming increasingly independent in your actions and resentful of our presence in your life.† Those last words hit me like a slap. â€Å"I'm not resentful,† I said. â€Å"I just want my own time. I'm sorry if that hurts you.† â€Å"We are not hurt,† Hickory said. â€Å"We have responsibilities. How we fulfill those responsibilities must adapt to circumstance. We are making an adaptation now.† â€Å"I don't know what you mean,† I said. â€Å"It is time for you to learn how to defend yourself,† Hickory said. â€Å"You want to be more independent from us, and we do not have all the resources we once had to keep you safe. We have always intended to teach you to fight. Now, for both of those reasons, it is necessary to begin that training.† â€Å"What do you mean, teach me to fight?† I asked. â€Å"We will teach you to defend yourself physically,† Hickory said. â€Å"To disarm an opponent. To use weapons. To immobilize your enemy. To kill your enemy if necessary.† â€Å"You want to teach me how to kill other people,† I said. â€Å"It is necessary,† Hickory said. â€Å"I'm not sure John and Jane would approve of that,† I said. â€Å"Major Perry and Lieutenant Sagan both know how to kill,† Hickory said. â€Å"Both, in their military service, have killed others when it was necessary for their survival.† â€Å"But it doesn't mean that they want me to know,† I said. â€Å"And also, I don't know that I want to know. You say you need to adapt how you fulfill your responsibilities. Fine. Figure out how to adapt them. But I'm not going to learn how to kill something else so you can feel like you're doing a better job doing something I'm not even sure I want you to do anymore.† â€Å"You do not wish us to defend you,† Hickory said. â€Å"Or learn to defend yourself.† â€Å"I don't know!† I said. I yelled it in exasperation. â€Å"Okay? I hate having my face pushed into all of this. That I'm some special thing that needs to be defended. Well, you know what? Everyone here needs to be defended, Hickory. We're all in danger. Any minute hundreds of ships could show up over our heads and kill us all. I'm sick of it. I try to forget about it a little every now and then. That's what I was doing out here before the two of you showed up to crap over it all. So thank you very much for that.† Hickory and Dickory said nothing to that. If they had been wearing their consciousness, they'd probably be all twitchy and overloaded at that last outburst. But they were just standing there, impassive. I counted to five and tried to get myself back under control. â€Å"Look,† I said, in what I hoped was a more reasonable tone of voice. â€Å"Give me a couple of days to think about this, all right? You've dropped a lot on me all at once. Let me work it through in my head.† They still said nothing. â€Å"Fine,† I said. â€Å"I'm heading back.† I brushed past Hickory. And found myself on the ground. I rolled and looked up at Hickory, confused. â€Å"What the hell?† I said, and made to stand up. Dickory, who had moved behind me, roughly pushed me back into the grass and dirt. I scrambled backward from the two of them. â€Å"Stop it,† I said. They drew their combat knives, and came toward me. I grunted out a scream and bolted upright, running at full speed toward the top of the hill, toward the Hentosz farm. But Obin can run faster than humans. Dickory flanked me, got in front of me, and drew back its knife. I backpedaled, falling backward as I did. Dickory lunged. I screamed and rolled again and sprinted back down the side of the hill I came up. Hickory was waiting for me and moving to intercept me. I tried to fake going left but it was having none of it, and grabbed for me, getting a grip on my left forearm. I hit at it with my right fist. Hickory deflected it easily, and then in a quick reversal slapped me sharply on the temple, releasing me as it did so. I staggered back, stunned. Hickory looped a leg around one of mine and jerked upward, lifting me completely off the ground. I fell backward and landed on my head. A white blast of pain flooded my skull, and all I could do was lie there, dazed. There was heavy pressure on my chest. Hickory was kneeling on me, immobilizing me. I clawed desperately at it, but it held its head away from me on its long neck and ignored everything else. I shouted for help as loudly as I could, knowing no one could hear me, and yelling anyway. I looked over and saw Dickory, standing to the side. â€Å"Please,† I said. Dickory said nothing. And could feel nothing. Now I knew why the two of them came to see me without their consciousness. I grabbed at Hickory's leg, on my chest, and tried to push it off. It pushed it in harder, offered another disorienting slap with one hand, and with the other raised it and then plunged it toward my head in one terrible and fluid move. I screamed. â€Å"You are unharmed,† Hickory said, at some point. â€Å"You may get up.† I stayed on the ground, not moving, eyes turned toward Hickory's knife, buried in the ground so close to my head that I couldn't actually focus on it. Then I propped myself up on my elbows, turned away from the knife, and threw up. Hickory waited until I was done. â€Å"We offer no apology for this,† it said. â€Å"And will accept whatever consequences for it that you may choose. Know only this: You were not physically harmed. You are unlikely even to bruise. We made sure of this. For all of that you were at our mercy in seconds. Others who will come for you will not show you such consideration. They will not hold back. They will not stop. They will have no concern for you. They will not show you mercy. They will seek to kill you. And they will succeed. We knew you would not believe us if we only told you this. We had to show you.† I rose to my feet, barely able to stay upright, and staggered back from the two of them as best I could. â€Å"God damn you,† I said. â€Å"God damn you both. You stay away from me from now on.† I headed back to Croatoan. As soon as my legs could do it, I started running. â€Å"Hey,† Gretchen said, coming into the information center and sealing the inside door behind her. â€Å"Mr. Bennett said I could find you here.† â€Å"Yeah,† I said. â€Å"I asked him if I could be his printer monkey a little more today.† â€Å"Couldn't keep away from the music?† Gretchen said, trying to make a little joke. I shook my head and showed her what I was looking at. â€Å"These are classified files, Zoe,† she said. â€Å"CDF intelligence reports. You're going to get in trouble if anyone ever finds out. And Bennett definitely won't let you back in here.† â€Å"I don't care,† I said, and my voice cracked enough that Gretchen looked at me in alarm. â€Å"I have to know how bad it is. I have to know who's out there and what they want from us. From me. Look.† I took the PDA and pulled a file on General Gau, the leader of the Conclave, the one who ordered the destruction of the colony on the video file. â€Å"This general is going to kill us all if he finds us, and we know next to nothing about him. What makes someone do this? Killing innocent people? What happened in his life that gets him to a place where wiping out entire planets seems like a good idea? Don't you think we should know? And we don't. We've got statistics on his military service and that's it.† I tossed the PDA back on the table, carelessly, alarming Gretchen. â€Å"I want to know why this general wants me to die. Why he wants us all to die. Don't you?† I put my hand on my forehead and slumped a little against the worktable. â€Å"Okay,† Gretchen said, after a minute. â€Å"I think you need to tell me what happened to you today. Because this is not how you were when I left you this afternoon.† I glanced over at Gretchen, stifled a laugh, and then broke down and started crying. Gretchen came over to give me a hug, and after a good long while, I told her everything. And I do mean everything. She was quiet after I had unloaded. â€Å"Tell me what you're thinking,† I said. â€Å"If I tell you, you're going to hate me,† she said. â€Å"Don't be silly,† I said. â€Å"I'm not going to hate you.† â€Å"I think they're right,† she said. â€Å"Hickory and Dickory.† â€Å"I hate you,† I said. She pushed me lightly. â€Å"Stop that,† she said. â€Å"I don't mean they were right to attack you. That was just over the line. But, and don't take this the wrong way, you're not an ordinary girl.† â€Å"That's not true,† I said. â€Å"Do you see me acting any different than anyone else? Ever? Do I hold myself out as someone special? Have you ever once heard me talk about any of this to people?† â€Å"They know anyway,† Gretchen said. â€Å"I know that,† I said. â€Å"But it doesn't come from me. I work at being normal.† â€Å"Okay, you're a perfectly normal girl,† Gretchen said. â€Å"Thank you,† I said. â€Å"A perfectly normal girl who's had six attempted assassinations,† Gretchen said. â€Å"But that's not me,† I said, poking myself in the chest. â€Å"It's about me. About someone else's idea of who I am. And that doesn't matter to me.† â€Å"It would matter to you if you were dead,† Gretchen said, and then held her hand up before I could respond. â€Å"And it would matter to your parents. It would matter to me. I'm pretty sure it would matter to Enzo. And it seems like it would matter a whole lot to a couple billion aliens. Think about that. Someone even thinks about coming after you, they bomb a planet.† â€Å"I don't want to think about it,† I said. â€Å"I know,† Gretchen said. â€Å"But I don't think you have a choice anymore. No matter what you do, you're still who you are, whether you want to be or not. You can't change it. You've got to work with it.† â€Å"Thanks for that uplifting message,† I said. â€Å"I'm trying to help,† Gretchen said. I sighed. â€Å"I know, Gretchen. I'm sorry. I don't mean to bite your head off. I'm just getting tired of having my life be about other people's choices for me.† â€Å"This makes you different than any of the rest of us how, exactly?† Gretchen asked. â€Å"My point,† I said. â€Å"I'm a perfectly normal girl. Thank you for finally noticing.† â€Å"Perfectly normal,† Gretchen agreed. â€Å"Except for being Queen of the Obin.† â€Å"Hate you,† I said. Gretchen grinned. â€Å"Miss Trujillo said that you wanted to see us,† Hickory said. Dickory and Gretchen, who had gotten the two Obin for me, stood to its side. We were standing on the hill where my bodyguards had attacked me a few days earlier. â€Å"Before I say anything else, you should know I am still incredibly angry at you,† I said. â€Å"I don't know that I will ever forgive you for attacking me, even if I understand why you did it, and why you thought you had to. I want to make sure you know that. And I want to make sure you feel it.† I pointed to Hickory's consciousness collar, secure around its neck. â€Å"We feel it,† Hickory said, its voice quivering. â€Å"We feel it enough that we debated whether we could turn our consciousness back on. The memory is almost too painful to bear.† I nodded. I wanted to say good, but I knew it was the wrong thing to say, and that I would regret saying it. Didn't mean I couldn't think it, though, for the moment, anyway. â€Å"I'm not going to ask you to apologize,† I said. â€Å"I know you won't. But I want your word you will never do something like that again,† I said. â€Å"You have our word,† Hickory said. â€Å"Thank you,† I said. I didn't expect they would do something like that again. That sort of thing works once if it works at all. But that wasn't the point. What I wanted was to feel like I could trust the two of them again. I wasn't there yet. â€Å"Will you train?† Hickory asked. â€Å"Yes,† I said. â€Å"But I have two conditions.† Hickory waited. â€Å"The first is that Gretchen trains with me.† â€Å"We had not prepared to train anyone other than you,† Hickory said. â€Å"I don't care,† I said. â€Å"Gretchen is my best friend. I'm not going to learn how to save myself and not share that with her. And besides, I don't know if you've noticed, but the two of you aren't exactly human shaped. I think it will help to practice with another human as well as with you. But this is nonnegotiable. If you won't train Gretchen, I won't train. This is my choice. This is my condition.† Hickory turned to Gretchen. â€Å"Will you train?† â€Å"Only if Zoe does,† she said. â€Å"She's my best friend, after all.† Hickory looked over to me. â€Å"She has your sense of humor,† it said. â€Å"I hadn't noticed,† I said. Hickory turned back to Gretchen. â€Å"It will be very difficult,† it said. â€Å"I know,† Gretchen said. â€Å"Count me in anyway.† â€Å"What is the other condition?† Hickory asked me. â€Å"I'm doing this for the two of you,† I said. â€Å"This learning to fight. I don't want it for myself. I don't think I need it. But you think I need it, and you've never asked me to do something you didn't know was important. So I'll do it. But now you have to do something for me. Something I want.† â€Å"What is it that you want?† Hickory asked. â€Å"I want you to learn how to sing,† I said, and gestured to Gretchen. â€Å"You teach us to fight, we teach you to sing. For the hootenannies.† â€Å"Sing,† Hickory said. â€Å"Yes, sing,† I said. â€Å"People are still frightened of the two of you. And no offense, but you're not brimming with personality. But if we can get the four of us to do a song or two at the hootenannies, it could go a long way to making people comfortable with you.† â€Å"We have never sung,† Hickory said. â€Å"Well, you never wrote stories before either,† I said. â€Å"And you wrote one of those. It's just like that. Except with singing. And then people wouldn't wonder why Gretchen and I are off with the two of you. Come on, Hickory, it'll be fun.† Hickory looked doubtful, and a funny thought came to me: Maybe Hickory is shy. Which seemed almost ridiculous; someone about to teach another person sixteen different ways to kill getting stage fright singing. â€Å"I would like to sing,† Dickory said. We all turned to Dickory in amazement. â€Å"It speaks!† Gretchen said. Hickory clicked something to Dickory in their native tongue; Dickory clicked back. Hickory responded, and Dickory replied, it seemed a bit forcefully. And then, God help me, Hickory actually sighed. â€Å"We will sing,† Hickory said. â€Å"Excellent,† I said. â€Å"We will begin training tomorrow,† Hickory said. â€Å"Okay,† I said. â€Å"But let's start singing practice today. Now.† â€Å"Now?† Hickory said. â€Å"Sure,† I said. â€Å"We're all here. And Gretchen and I have just the song for you.†