The Return: Nightfall Chapter 12

It came back to him, all of it: the cramped aisles and the tiny windows and the musty smell of old books. He had been in Belgium some fifty years ago, and had been surprised to find an English-language book on such a subject still in existence. But there it was, its cover worn to a solid burnished rust, with nothing of the writing remaining, if there ever had been any. Pages were missing inside, so no one would ever know the author or the title, if either had ever been printed there. Every â€Å"receipt† – recipe, or charm, or spell – inside involved forbidden knowledge. Damon could easily remember the simplest spell of all: â€Å"Ye Bloode of ye Samphire or Vampyre i?fair goode a?a general physic for all Maladie?or mischief Done by those who Dance in the Woode?at Moonspire.† These malach had certainly been doing mischief in the woods, and it was the month of Moonspire, the month of the â€Å"summer solstice† in the Old Tongue. Damon didn't want to leave Bonnie, and he certainly didn't want Elena to see what he was going to do next. Still supporting Bonnie's head above the warm pinkish water, he opened his shirt. There was a knife of ironwood in a sheath at his hip. He removed it and, in one quick motion, cut himself at the base of his throat. Plenty of blood now. The problem was how to get her to drink. Sheathing the dagger, he lifted her out of the water and tried to put her lips to the cut. No, that wasstupid , he thought, with unaccustomed self-deprecation. She's going to get cold again, and you don't have any way to make her swallow. He let Bonnie lapse back into the water and thought. Then he pulled out the knife again and made another cut: this one on his arm, at the wrist. He followed the vein there until blood was not just dripping but streaming steadily out. Then he put that wrist to Bonnie's upturned mouth, adjusting the angle of her head with his other hand. Her lips were partly open and the dark red blood flowed beautifully. Periodically she swallowed. There was life in her yet. It was just like feeding a baby bird, he thought, tremendously pleased with his memory, his ingenuity, and – well, just himself. He smiled brilliantly at nothing in particular. Now if it would only work. Damon changed position slightly to be more comfortable and turned the hot water up again, all while holding Bonnie, feeding her, all – he knew – gracefully and without a wasted movement. This was fun. It appealed to his sense of the ridiculous. Here, right now, a vampire was not supping from a human, but was trying to save it from certain death by feeding it vampire blood. More than that. He had followed all sorts of human traditions and customs by trying to strip Bonnie without compromising her maidenly modesty. That was exciting. Of course, he'd seen her body anyway; there had been no way to avoid that. But it was really more thrilling when he wastrying to follow the rules. He'd never done that before. Maybe that was how Stefan got his kicks. No, Stefan had Elena, who had been human, vampire, and invisible spirit, and now appeared to be living angel, if such a thing existed. Elena was kicky enough on her own. Yet he hadn't thought of her inminutes . It might even be a record of Elena-overlooking. He'd better call her, maybe get her in here and explain how this was working so there was no reason to crush his skull. It would probably look better. Damon suddenly realized he couldn't feel Elena's aura in Stefan's bedroom. But before he could investigate there was a crash, then pounding footsteps, and then another crash, much closer. And then the bathroom door was kicked open by Mortal Annoying Troublesome†¦. Matt advanced menacingly, got his feet tangled, and looked down to untangle them. His tanned cheeks were swept with a sudden sunset. He was holding up Bonnie's small pink brassiere. He dropped it as if it had bitten him, picked it up again, and whirled around, only to cannon into Stefan, who was entering. Damon watched, entertained. â€Å"How do youkill them, Stefan? Do you just need a stake? Can you hold him while – blood! He's feeding her blood!† Matt interrupted himself, looking as if he might attack Damon on his own. Bad idea, thought Damon. Matt locked eyes with him. Confronting the monster, Damon thought, even more entertained. â€Å"Let†¦her†¦go.† Matt spoke slowly, probably meaning to convey menace, but sounding, Damon thought, as if he thought that Damon was mentally impaired. Mortally Unable To Talk, Damon mused. But that made†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Mutt,† he said aloud, shaking his head slightly. Maybe, though, it would remind him in the future. â€Å"Mutt?You're calling – ? God, Stefan, please help me kill him!He's killed Bonnie.† The words spilled out of Matt in a single gushing flow, a single breath. Woefully, Damon saw his latest acronym go down in flames. Stefan was surprisingly calm. He put Matt behind him and said, â€Å"Go and sit down with Elena and Meredith,† in a way that was not a suggestion, and turned back to his brother. â€Å"You didn't feed from her,† he said, andthis was not a question. â€Å"Swill poison? Not my kind of fun, little brother.† One corner of Stefan's mouth quirked up. He made no response to this, but simply looked at Damon with eyes that were†¦knowing. Damon bridled. â€Å"I told the truth!† â€Å"Going to take it up as a hobby?† Damon started to release Bonnie, figuring that dropping her into bloodstained water would be the proper precursor to walking out of this dump, but†¦ But. She was his baby bird. She'd swallowed enough of his blood now that any more would begin to Change her seriously. And if the amount of blood he had already given her wasn't enough, it simply wasn't a remedy in the first place. Besides, the miracle worker was here. He closed the cut on his arm enough to stop the bleeding and started to speak†¦. And the door crashed open again. This time it was Meredith, and she had Bonnie's bra. Both Stefan and Damon quailed. Meredith was, Damon thought, a very scary person. At least she took the time, which Mutt had not, to look over the trampled clothes on the bathroom floor. She said to Stefan, â€Å"How is she?† which Mutt had not, either. â€Å"She's going to be fine,† Stefan said and Damon was surprised at his feeling of†¦not relief, of course, but of a job well done. Plus, now he might avoid being thrashed to within an inch of his life by Stefan. Meredith took a deep breath and closed her frightening eyes briefly. When she did that, her whole face glowed. Maybe she was praying. It had been centuries since Damon had prayed; and he had never had any prayer answered. Then Meredith opened her eyes, shook herself, and started looking scary again. She nudged the pile of clothes on the floor and said, slowly and forcefully, â€Å"If the item that matchesthis is not still on Bonnie's body, there is going to be trouble.† She waved the now infamous bra like a flag. Stefan looked confused. How could he not understand the mighty missing lingerie question? Damon wondered. How could anyone be such a†¦such an unobservant fool? Didn't Elena wear any – ever? Damon sat frozen, too arrested by the images in his own inner world to move for a moment. Then he spoke up. He had the answer to Meredith's riddle. â€Å"Do you want to come and check?† he asked, turning his head virtuously away. â€Å"Yes, I do.† He remained with his back to her as she approached the tub, plunged her hand into the warm pink water, and swished the towel a little. He heard her let out her breath in relief. When he turned around she said, â€Å"There's blood on your mouth.† Her dark eyes looked darker than ever. Damon was surprised. He hadn't gone and pierced the redhead out of habit and thenforgotten it, had he? But then he realized the reason. â€Å"You tried to suck the poison out, didn't you?† Stefan said, throwing him a white face towel. Damon wiped the side Meredith had been looking at and came up with a bloody smear. No wonder his mouth had been stinging like fire. That poison was pretty nasty stuff, although it clearly didn't affect vampires the way it did humans. â€Å"And there's blood on your throat,† Meredith went on. â€Å"Unsuccessful experiment,† Damon said, and shrugged. â€Å"So you cut your wrist. Pretty seriously.† â€Å"For a human, maybe. Is the press conference over?† Meredith settled back. He could read her expression and he smiled inwardly. Extra! Extra! SCARYM EREDITH THWARTED. He knew the look of those who had to give up on cracking the Damon nut. Meredith stood up. â€Å"Is there anything I can get him to stop his mouth bleeding? Something to drink, maybe?† Stefan just looked stricken. Stefan's problem – well, a part of one of Stefan's many problems – was that he thought feeding was sinful. Even to talk about. Maybe it was actually kickier that way. People relished anything they thought was sinful. Even vampires did. Damon was put out. How did you go back in time to whenanything was sinful? Because he was sadly out of kicks. With her back turned, Meredith was less scary. Damon risked an answer to the question of what he could drink. â€Å"You,darling†¦you darling.† â€Å"One too many darlings,† Meredith said mysteriously, and before Damon could figure out that she was simply making a point about linguistics, and not commenting on his personal life, she was gone. With the traveling bra. Now Stefan and Damon were alone. Stefan came a step closer, keeping his eyes off the tub. You miss so much, you chump, Damon thought. That was the word he'd been searching for earlier. Chump. â€Å"You did a lot for her,† Stefan said, seeming to find it as hard to look at Damon as at the tub. This left him very little to stare at. He chose a wall. â€Å"You told me you'd beat me up if I didn't. I've never cared for beatings.† He flashed his dazzling smile at Stefan and kept it up until Stefan started to turn to look at him, and then turned it off immediately. â€Å"You went beyond the call of duty.† â€Å"With you, little brother, one never knows where duty ends. Tell me, what does infinity look like?† Stefan heaved a sigh. â€Å"At least you're not the kind of bully who only terrorizes when he has the upper hand.† â€Å"Are you inviting me to  ¡Ã‚ ®step outside,' as they say?† â€Å"No, I'm complimenting you on saving Bonnie's life.† â€Å"I didn't realize I had a choice. How, by the way, did you manage to cure Meredith and – and†¦how did you manage?† â€Å"Elena kissed them. Didn't you even realize she was gone? I brought them back here, and she came downstairs and breathed into their mouths and it cured them. From what I've seen, she seems to be slowly turning from spirit to full human. I'm guessing it will take another few days, just from looking at her progress since she woke up until now.† â€Å"At least she's talking. Not much, but you can't ask for everything.† Damon was remembering the view from the Porsche, with the top down and Elena bobbing like a balloon. â€Å"This little redhead hasn't said a word,† Damon added querulously, and then shrugged. â€Å"Same difference.† â€Å"Why, Damon? Why not just admit that you care about her, at least enough to keep her living – and without even molesting her? You knew she couldn't afford to lose blood†¦.† â€Å"It was an experiment,† Damon explained painstakingly. And it was over now. Bonnie would wake or sleep, live or die, in Stefan's hands – not his. He was wet, he was uncomfortable, he was far enough from this night's meal to be hungry and cross. His mouth hurt. â€Å"You take her head now,† he said brusquely. â€Å"I'm leaving. You and Elena and†¦Mutt can finish – † â€Å"His name is Matt, Damon. It's not hard to remember.† â€Å"It is if you have absolutely no interest in him. There are too many lovely ladies in this vicinity to make him anything but last choice for a snack.† Stefan hit the wall hard. His fist broke through the ancient plastering. â€Å"Damn it, Damon, that's not all there is to humans.† â€Å"It's all I ask of them.† â€Å"Youdon't ask. That's the problem.† â€Å"It was a euphemism. It's all I plan totake from them, then. It's certainly all I'm interested in. Don't try to make-believe that it's anything more. There's no point in trying to find evidence for a pretty lie.† Stefan's fist flew out. It was his left fist, and Damon was supporting Bonnie's head on that side, so he couldn't lean away gracefully as he normally would. She was unconscious; she might take in a lungful of water and die immediately. Who knew about these humans, especially when they were poisoned? Instead, he concentrated on sending all his shielding to the right side of his chin. He figured he could take a punch, even from the New Improved Stefan without losing his hold on the girl – even if Stefan broke his jaw. Stefan's fist stopped a few millimeters away from Damon's face. There was a pause; the brothers looked at each other across a distance of two feet. Stefan took a deep breath and sat back. â€Å"Now will you admit it?† Damon was genuinely puzzled. â€Å"Admit what?† â€Å"That you care something for them. Enough to take a punch rather than letting Bonnie go underwater.† Damon stared, then began to laugh and found he couldn't stop. Stefan stared back. Then he shut his eyes and half-turned away in pain. Damon still had a case of the giggles. â€Å"And you th-thought that I cuh-cared about one little hu-hu-hu†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Why did you do it, then?† Stefan said tiredly. â€Å"Whu-whu-whim. I t-told y-yuh-you. Just wuh-huhhuhuha†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Damon collapsed, punch-drunk from lack of food and from too many varying emotions. Bonnie's head went underwater. Both vampires dived for her, head butting each other as they collided over the center of the tub. Both fell back briefly, dazed. Damon wasn't laughing anymore. If anything, he was fighting like a tiger to get the girl out of the water. Stefan was, too, and with his newly sharpened reflexes, he looked close to winning. But it was as Damon had thought just an hour or so earlier – neither one of them even considered cooperating to get the girl. Each was trying to do it alone, and each was impeding the other. â€Å"Get out of my way, brat,† Damon snarled, almost hissing in menace. â€Å"You don't give a damn about her.You get out of the way – â€Å" There was something like a geyser and Bonnie exploded upward from the water on her own. She spat out a mouthful and cried, â€Å"What's going on?† in tones to melt a heart of stone. Which they did. Contemplating his bedraggled little bird, who was clutching the towel to her instinctively, with her fiery hair plastered to her head and her big brown eyes blinking between strands, something swelled in Damon. Stefan had run to the door to tell the others the good news. For a moment it was just the two of them: Damon and Bonnie. â€Å"It tastes awful,† Bonnie said woefully, spitting out more water. â€Å"I know,† Damon said, staring at her. The new thing he was feeling had swollen inside his soul until the pressure was almost too much to stand. When Bonnie said, â€Å"But I'm alive!† with an abrupt 180-degree turn in mood, her heart-shaped face flushing suddenly with joy, the fierce pride Damon felt in response was intoxicating. He and he alone had brought her back from the edge of icy death. Her poison-filled body had been cured by him; it was his blood that had dissolved and dispersed the toxin,his blood – And then the swelling thing burst. There was, to Damon, a palpable if not audible crack as the stone encasing his soul burst open and a great piece fell away. With something inside him singing, he clutched Bonnie to him, feeling the wet towel through his raw silk shirt, and feeling Bonnie's slight body under the towel. Definitely a maiden, and not a child, he thought dizzily, whatever the writing on that infamous scrap of pink nylon had claimed. He clutched at her as if he needed her for blood – as if they were in hurricane-tossed seas and to let go of her would be to lose her. His neck hurt fiercely, but more cracks were spreading all over the stone; it was going to explode completely, letting theDamon it held inside out – and he was too drunk on pride and joy, yes, joy, to care. Cracks were spreading in every direction, pieces of stone flying off†¦ Bonnie pushed him away. She had surprising strength for someone with such a slight build. She pushed herself out of his arms completely. Her expression had changed radically again: now her face showed only fear and desperation – and, yes, revulsion. â€Å"Help! Somebody, please,help !† Her brown eyes were huge and now her face was white again. Stefan had whirled around. All he saw was what Meredith saw, darting under his arm from the other room, or what Matt saw, trying to peer into the tiny, over-full bathroom: Bonnie fiercely clutching her towel, trying to make it cover her, and Damon kneeling by the bath, his face without expression. â€Å"Pleasehelp. He heard me calling – I couldfeel him on the other end – but he just watched. He stood and watched us all dying. He wants all humans dead, with our blood running down white steps somewhere. Please, get himaway from me!† So. The little witch was more proficient than he had imagined. It wasn't unusual to recognize that someone was getting your transmissions – you got feedback – but to identify the individual took talent. Plus, she'd obviously heard the echoes of some of his thoughts. She was gifted, his bird†¦no, not his bird, not with her looking at him with a look as close to hatred as Bonnie could manage. There was a silence. Damon had a chance to deny the charge, but why bother? Stefan would be able to gauge the truth of it. Maybe Bonnie, too. Revulsion was flying from face to face, as if it were a swiftly-catching disease. Now Meredith was hurrying forward, grabbing another towel. She had some kind of hot drink in her other hand – cocoa, by the smell. It was hot enough to be an effective weapon – no way to dodge all of that, not for a tired vampire. â€Å"Here,† she said to Bonnie. â€Å"You're safe. Stefan's here. I'm here. Matt's here. Take this towel; let's just put it around your shoulders.† Stefan had stood silently, watching all this – no, watching his brother. Now, his face hardening in finality, he said one word. â€Å"Out.† Dismissed like a dog. Damon groped for his jacket behind him, found it, and wished that his groping for his sense of humor could be as successful. The faces around him were all the same. They could have been carved in stone. But not stone as hard as that that was coming together again around his soul. That rock was remarkably quick to mend – and an extra layer was added, like the layering of a pearl, but not covering anything nearly so pretty. Their faces were still all the same as Damon tried to get out of the small room that had too many people in it. Some of them were speaking; Meredith to Bonnie, Mutt – no, Matt – pouring out a stream of pure acidic hatred†¦but Damon didn't really hear the words. He could smell too much blood here. Everyone had little wounds. Their individual scents – different beasts inthe herd – closed in on him. His head was spinning. He had to get out of here or he'd be snatching the nearest warm vessel and draining it dry. Now he was more than dizzy; he was too hot, too†¦thirsty. Very, very thirsty. He had worked a long time without feeding and now he was surrounded by prey. They were circlinghim . How could he stop himself from grabbing just one of them? Would one really be missed? Then there was the one he hadn't seen yet, and didn't want to see. To witness Elena's lovely features twisted into the same mask of revulsion he saw on every other face here would be†¦distasteful, he thought, his old sense of dispassion finally returning to him. But it couldn't be avoided. As Damon came out of the bathroom, Elena was right in front of him, floating like an oversized butterfly. His eyes were drawn to exactly what he didn't want to see: her expression. Elena's features didn't mirror the others. She looked worried, upset. But there wasn't a trace of the disgust or hatred that showed on all the other faces. She even spoke, in that strange mind-speech that wasn't, somehow, like telepathy, but which allowed her to get in two levels of communication at once. â€Å"Da – mon.† Tell about the malach. Please. Damon just raised an eyebrow at her. Tell a bunch of humans abouthimself ? Was she being deliberately ridiculous? Besides, the malach hadn't really done anything. They had distracted him for a few minutes, that was all. No point in blaming malach when all they had done was enhance his own views briefly. He wondered if Elena had any notion of the content of his little nighttime daydream. â€Å"Da – mon.† I can see it. Everything. But, still, please†¦ Oh, well, maybe spirits got used to seeingeverybody's dirty laundry. Elena made no response to that thought, so he was left in the dark. In the dark. Which was what he was used to, where he had come from. They would all go their separate ways, the humans to their warm dry houses and he to a tree in the woods. Elena would stay with Stefan, of course. Of course. â€Å"Under the circumstances, I won't sayau revoir ,† Damon said, flashing his dazzling smile at Elena, who looked gravely back at him. â€Å"We'll just say ;;good-bye' and leave it at that.† There was no answer from the humans. â€Å"Da – mon.† Elena was crying now. Please.Please. Damon started out into the dark. Please†¦ Rubbing at his neck, he kept going.

Body Ritual Among the Nacirema

Connor Doyle Summary of Body Ritual among the Nacirema 10/20/2012 Introduction to Sociology The Nacirema Horace Miner depicted this cultural group located in Northwest America â€Å"living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles† (Miner 503). Closely imitating the United States of America. If you take a look at the Nacirema's name spelled backwards, its American. The concept behind this is that Miner wanted to describe American's rituals in a way that people would deem crazy.But in all actuality, it's what us humans do everyday and never think twice of it. For if we forgot to do one of these things, we would feel uncomfortable all day long. â€Å"According to Nacirema mythology, their nation was originated by a culture hero, Notgnihsaw,† Hines describes that, â€Å"he was known for two great feats of strength—the throwing of a piece of wampum across the river Pa-To-Mac and the chopp ing down of a cherry tree in which the Spitit of Truth resided† (Miner 503). This is referring to, what many religions call, God. It's a universal feeling that everyone wants to encounter, that their is a higher power somewhere.He then goes on to say the â€Å"Nacirema culture is charecterized by a highly developed market economy which has evolved in a rich natural habitat† (Miner 503). This is refering to our Free Market Economy. The way we evolved in a â€Å"rich natural habitat†, is that we've always been prosepering since our birth as a country. With the exceptions of some down falls, we have been the world's leading power. It states that the Nacirema focus a lot of activity on the human body and its appearance. He states that it is a dominate concern, making every other aspect in life second best.Though many cultures have similar rituals to this, regarding the body, these aspects on society are quite unique. They even believe that their own human body is ugl y making it a natural reaction to try and improve your situation. They also acknowledge the fact that the human body deterioates and attracts disease. Since man knows these facts, the only option left is to perform rituals regarding the improvement of your body. He says that in every Nacirema's house their is at lease one shrine devoted mainly to the self-improvement of the people. This is refering to what we commonly know as a bathroom.If you really come to think about it, the bathroom is almost souly used for self-improvement. Every action from shaving, to brushing your teeth is preconcieved and is subconcsiously telling you that you need these things everyday. He goes on to say that â€Å"the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret. † Then he states that the only time you really talk about these rituals are to your children, and only telling them the basics while they are still growing up. Another big part of the Nacirema culture is the medicine man.He is the only one that knows what is in the secret potion. Every Nacirema believes that if they are to go without these magic potions, they would cease to live. It goes hand in hand with the culture of our society. If people don't have a cure for the smallest thing, they still feel vulnerable. We rely on so many perscriptions, medications, and cure-alls for a quick fix. Without these things, we as a society would feel completely weak. They say that the medicine man can only work if they recieve â€Å"substantial gifts† (Miner 504), which is the same for our doctors as well.Even when the Nacirema have been done with the charms, they still keep the expired remains in their drawer just for safety. In fear that without these charms, they would remain vulnerable. The medicine man is even able to make a women's breast larger or smaller, depending on the request. The holy man, refered to in the Nacirema culture, is what we commonly know as the Dentist. Miner says t hat in addition to brushing and maintaing their teeth, they visit a â€Å"holy-mouth-man once or twice a year. They refer to a Dentist tool's as â€Å"paraphernalia, consisting of a variety of augers, awls, probes, and prods† (Miner 504). To the untrained eye that's what it looks like. Not many other cultures around the world, that are not as prosperous, ever make visits to a Dentist. They go on to say that â€Å"these objects in the exorcism of the evils of the mouth involves almost unbelievable ritual torture of the client† (Miner 505). Their has always been a fear of pain when attending the Dentist. Young children dread going every year, but to their parents and their society it is standard to have a high maintance mouth.

County Government Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

County Government - Term Paper Example Hence, this paper seeks to explore the sphere of county government, and establishes facts on matters of a county government. Brief History of County Government Way back from the early years, a county or shire has already existed and established. A county is a political body or a division within the bounds of particular country. Tracing back to the English about a thousand years ago, counties have been serving a dual function: it acted as the administrative arm of the national government and regarded as citizen’s local government. In addition, along the eastern seaboard of North America, the structural form of the county was embraced and adopted by the colonists; they also acclimated its structure in order to better satisfy the needs of colonies geographically and economically (â€Å"Overview of County Government†). However, in the aftermath of World War I, what strengthened the role and function of each political subdivision are the factors such as suburban development, the government reform movement, and the increase in rate of population growth. In fact, these awesome developments opened the door for post World War II urbanization. Moreover, there were ‘catalysts’ that led in a new era for county government: the great changes in the structure of counties, appreciating revenues, greater freedom or autonomy from the states, and the stronger political accountability (â€Å"Overview of County Government†). Exploring County Government The term â€Å"county† has been widely used all over the world, and has given various definitions. One definition of county is that it is a political subdivision of a state, and power and importance of which varies from one state to another (â€Å"County†). It is created with a purpose and function, and role and objectives, though not all has functioning governments. In the United States, there are 3, 068 counties, and all of which differ greatly in range, population and other aspects. Counties are mechanisms for states to use in order to deliver programs within geographic limitations (DeSantis and Renner). To name some are the Arlington County, Va., North Slope Borough in Alaska, Loving County in Texas, and Los Angeles County in California. In addition, there are only forty-eight among the fifty states in the United States have operational county governments (â€Å"About Counties†). 1.1 Roles of County Government Counties are nothing without purpose and roles. What leads to the development of a country is mainly derived from counties. Where autonomy is given, counties perform several roles (Sellers 6.): county finance (which describes the procedure for the adoption of the budget legal taxes and assessment, and defines allowable debt limits and special funds like capital improvement funds), zoning and land use (which defines county’s authority to obtain, hold, and sell public land or expropriation); in roads, bridges, and transportation (analyzes the system of construction, maintenance, and improvement of road system); in recreation, leisure, and culture (county’s powers in the creation of parks and recreational facilities as well as its function to create facilities empowered by the government). Moreover, in terms of public safety, health, and sanitation (county has the authority to perform procedures about public safety like fire protection, and power to promote public health through construction of health departments, hospitals, and ambulance services). However, the role of a county does not

Applied linguistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Applied linguistics - Essay Example The input that a learner receives has been identified as a major contributor that affects the acquisition of a second language. The importance of the input given to a learner was emphasized by Stephen Krashen who advocated for comprehensible input as the solution to acquisition of a second language (Hunston & Oakey, 2010). Input is invariably determined by the amount of time granted to the learner and thus the longer the time allocated the better a learner becomes in speaking a second language. Input can be enhanced by personal reading habits of the learner (Ortega, 2009, p. 60). Learners who are committed to reading books written in the second language of choice are at a better place than their non-reading counterparts are in speaking the language fluently. Voluntary reading of books can be termed as one of the best-input tools, and the results justify the significance of input in the learning process (Hunston & Oakey, 2010). The importance of the type of input in the acquisition of a second language cannot be overemphasized as grammatically sequenced processes have been found to be ineffective. The use of sequencing should be limited and the process should be limited to individual learner’s abilities. However, input is not the only solution in the learning process and more alternatives have to be accommodated. ... might undergo significant lessons in language their communication might not be as sharp as that of those learning the language in France or a French-speaking nation. The interaction hypothesis emphasizes on the conditions that are present during the learning process. The interaction of a learner in the second language is crucial in developing fluency and deeper understanding of the actual meaning of certain words. Interaction entails using the language in day-to-day activities. The interaction phase is conducive when there is some sort of breakdown in the communication and a learner is forced to negotiate for the meaning (Ortega, 2009, p.63). This insinuates that for communication to be successful a learner should be in a surrounding where they can use the second language in their activities. The interaction phase is important in helping learners in simplifying input and pushing them to modify parts of their speech. The output hypothesis plays an important role in a person’s a ttempt of learning a second language. The output process essentially assists learners of a language by providing them with the necessary feedback (Hunston & Oakey, 2010). The output of the process should be comprehensible to the learner for maximized automation of their knowledge of the new language. Finally, the importance of the output hypothesis in the process of acquiring a second language is assisting individuals in concentrating on the form and nature of their communication. The input process can also pose a challenge in SLA for example if too much emphasis is placed on classroom teachings (Ortega, 2009, p. 60). The teaching of a second language primarily in the classroom can be part of the hindrance to the acquisition process as emphasis is placed on vocabularies instead of literally

Social Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social Psychology - Essay Example taurant and hotel management about it, because he was my friend and I didn’t want to compromise our friendship and working unity over something like this, I didn’t say anything. Another time, I also took food from the cafeteria, along with P.M. He took most of it, but I kept a couple of sodas. The third time, I stole three steaks on my own. I think I wouldn’t have finally been fired for stealing, if I had done the right thing and reported P.M. This itself could be considered counter-factual thinking, though, because it is not rationally based: the past happened, and I cannot go back and change it, to make it fictional. I also saw these events with P.M. as being progressive and related to each other, but counter-factually, this could mean I was just ascribing meaning to them which they didn’t really have. B-Some psychologists suggest you can reduce cognitive dissonance by restoring positive self-evaluations that are threatened by the dissonance. Elliot and Devine (1994) refer to this as self-affirmation. Give an example of a time in your life when you reduced an unpleasant internal state in some self-affirming way. One time, I was able to overcome a bad situation in my life in a self-affirming way, using my sense of morality. I wanted to list examples of their morality may be more prone to give an accounting of their personal beliefs than what they see to be a proscribed function of weighing behavior by a set standard. â€Å"An affirmation is more effective when stated in the present tense. For example; "I now have a wonderful job." Avoid affirming something in the future tense, e.g. "I am going to have a wonderful job" or the results will always be waiting to happen† (Self, 2010). Therefore, ethics is perhaps a better measure of district leadership practice than morality, as it is seen as being less intertwined with belief systems than it is with more generalized (good or bad) behavior in relation to oneself and others. Like morality, ethics are

Enterprise Resource Planning Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Enterprise Resource Planning - Research Paper Example When one is reactive, one probably loses an opportunity that existed and may never get the opportunity again. Being proactive means putting in place systems that will help the business to have the checks and balances of what is needed at any predetermined time (Sheilds 2001). If one has to excel, it means that one has to be ahead of the competitors because the moment your competitors are ahead of you, one simply reacts to the demands of the consumers. In order to be proactive, one has to manage all organization’s resources very effectively and efficiently. Management means being able to be in control. The aim of this paper is to outline the benefits that come with master production scheduling (MPS) and material resource planning (RPF) as a function of Enterprise resource planning (ERS). This will be done by describing the function of Enterprise resource planning and the role of master production scheduling and material resource planning (Sheilds 2001). ... Later on ERP became an integrated system that addressed all the core functions of an enterprise, with the governments and non- profit organizations employing the system (Chang, Symythe and Timbrell 2000). When ERP systems were introduced, their main focus was to automate the functions of the back office. The functions of the back office are activities that did not involve the customers directly. They are referred to as back office activities because those activities took place in the building where other people cannot see those activities going on. Such activities include manufacturing, developing products and administration. The front office functions were integrated later in the ERP system. As opposed to the back office functions, front office functions are directly related to the customer for instance customer relationship management. Master Production Schedule (MPS) A master production schedule (MPS) is a plan that a company develops so a as to plan for production, inventory and staffing. A master production schedules gives the time the product will be demanded and also gives the quantity that will be demanded. It is therefore a plan for future production. An MPS therefore contains a statement of what the firm anticipates to manufacture. For instance, it states the amount to be produced and possibly how much labor is required. It is therefore concerned with elements such as forecast demand, production cost, inventory costs, lead-time and working hours (Sheilds 2001). The MPS translates the business plan into a production plan. Its addresses the concern of demand, hence forecast demand. It helps to avoid shortages,

Scanning Electron Microscope Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Scanning Electron Microscope - Essay Example Areas that range from a width of one centimetre to as minute as five microns can be seen in scanning mode using techniques in scanning electron microscopy. The magnification ranges from 20X to 30,000X with spatial resolution of fifty to one hundred nanometres. The SEM also has the capability of analysing specific locations found on the sample, with this approach being particularly useful in semi-quantitative and qualitative determination of crystal orientations, crystalline structure, and chemical compositions. A scanning electron microscope images samples via scanning them with electron beams with the sample in a raster scan pattern (Reimer, 2008 p 97). The electrons released by the SEM interact with sample atoms and produce signals that consist of information revealing the composition and topography, as well as electrical conductivity. In its functioning, accelerated electrons carry specific amounts of kinetic energy which is dissipated in form of various signals derived from inter actions between the sample and the electrons (Reimer, 2008 p97). This occurs when the electrons incident on the sample are decelerated on contact with the sample. The received signals could be in form of secondary electrons, heat, visible light, photons, and diffracted backscattered electrons. Backscattered electrons and secondary electrons are usually utilized for sample imaging, with secondary electrons also used for showing the topography and morphology of the sample with backscattered electrons are used for contrast illustration of multiphase sample composition. X-rays are produced by through inelastic collisions of electrons incident on the sample and the electrons present in the sample atom’s discrete shells. During these electrons return to their lower energies, they give out fixed wavelength X-rays. Each element in the mineral being investigated produces X-rays which are characteristic to it when excited by the beam of electrons. This process is non-destructive as the se X-rays do not cause any change in volume of the sample when they are lost. Thus, the same material can be investigated continuously. A scanning electron microscope has the following essential components (Reimer, 2008 p90): Source of electrons Electron lenses Stage for the sample Sensors for detecting all signals required Devices for data output and display Power supply, cooling system, vacuum system, electric and magnetic field free room, and a vibration free floor SEMs will always possess one detector usually for detection of secondary electrons, with most having more detectors. The accommodated detectors critically determine the instrument’s specific capabilities. Scanning electron microscopes are normally used for the generation of high-resolution images of various samples and their chemical spatial variations (Goldstein, 2009 p63). They aid in the acquisition of elemental maps or EDS assisted spot chemical analysis and phase discrimination using the sample atomsâ€℠¢ mean atomic number. They also give the compositional maps which they base on trace element differences. The scanning electron microscope is also used for the identification of phases with basis on crystalline structure and/or qualitative chemical analysis (Goldstein, 2009 p63). Specific measurement of extra small features which could be to fifty nanometres in size can also be done using scanning electron

Pedophiles and Lack of Harsher Punishment Essay - 1

Pedophiles and Lack of Harsher Punishment - Essay Example Thus, for most people, the term pedophilia is not a legal term but a diagnostic one. Prosecutors and law enforcement in cases involving computers frequently use the word pedophilia (Borgeson and Kuehnle, 2010). Hall and Hall (2007) state that pedophilia is a clinical diagnosis generally made by a psychologist or psychiatrist. It is neither a legal nor criminal term like forcible sexual offense, and legal term id generally used in criminal statistics. There are laws that govern acts committed by pedophiles. One such law is the Megan’s law. However, it is difficult to estimate how the Megan’s law affects pedophiles. The definition of the term pedophilia does not allow the determination of whether the pedophilic individual is a sexual offender (a child molester) or not. It is important to note that not all pedophilic individuals are child molesters. An individual with any paraphilia condition can be legally involved in it through masturbation and fantasizing (Borgeson and Kuehnle, 2010). Punishments given to those who commit pedophilia usually vary. There are states where the punishment is harsher compared to other states. In regard to punishment, there is an ongoing debate on whether the punishment for those committing sexual assault crimes should be made harsher or not. However, majority of the people are of the opinion that harsher or tougher laws will reduce the occurrence of these crimes (CQ Press, 2006). Thus, punishments for those who have committed pedophilic crimes should be made harsher. Harsher punishment will reduce the rate of pedophilic crimes. The aim of this study is to evaluate the form of punishment given to sexual offenders such as pedophilic individuals and propose the punishments to be harsher or tougher. As stated before, experts are of the opinion that harsher punishment will reduce the incidences of sexual crimes. In some states, there are tests done to ascertain if the individual has really reformed before release from prison . In Texas, sixteen months before the release of an offender, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice can have the individual evaluated to know whether he is an SVP (sexually violent predator). If the individual is found to be an SVP, then he is eligible for treatment as an outpatient sex offender upon his release (Garib, 2011). The study is of great significance because the majority of the sex offenders are treated with blanket punishment, thus, they cause collateral consequences which develop more risk to the entire public (Hiller, 2011). Failure to treat pedophilic individuals and their release back to the society defeat the whole purpose of child protection. Despite the fact that experts are advocating for harsher punishments, there is a need for an individual to be treated before he is released to the society. This makes sure that the individual is fully reformed after he has served his sentence in prison and the risk of children being harmed is reduced. Literature Review A pe dophile and a child molester have been often confused by child abuse professionals, the media, and the general public. They regard pedophiles as all individuals who sexually victimize children. However, there is no uniform definition of the word pedophile. It is important to note that pedophilia is a psychiatric diagnosis done only by qualified psychiatrists or psychologists. Not all child molesters are

Supreme court cases Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Supreme court cases - Case Study Example The victims are twelve Nigerians who have appealed to use the law recognized as Alien Statue in a civil case filed against companies that produce oil and were held responsible for being involved in the atrocities that took place during 1992 and 1995. Another major case that has been highlighted and is to be reviewed by the Supreme Court on tenth of October is Fisher v. University of Texas At Austin case, the case focuses upon racial discrimination in admission conducted at the undergraduate level. The case focuses on whether it is constitutionally acceptable to use such means while providing admission. The third major case is Florida v. Jardines and Florida v. Harris which will be heard by the judge on October 31st, this case is regarding the fourth amendment rights related to illegal searches done by law enforcement officers. In this case it is to be decided whether the Fourth Amendment right of the home owner was violated when a dog trained for narcotics detection purposes sniffed drugs outside the home. Another major case related to business that is to be reviewed by the Supreme Court on November 5th is Comcast Corp v. Behrend, in this case the judges have to decided whether Comcast Corp should be decertified or not for charging more than normal prices for providing cable TV service as it is the company enjoys monopoly in the area of Philadelphia. On November 26th the Supreme Court is going to review the case of Vance v. Ball State University, in this it is to be decided whether an employer is to be held responsible for the harassing activities conducted by his/her supervisor within the organization. The situation is such that the supervisor had limited power over the employee and the task of promoting, hiring and firing the employee was handed over o the supervisor. One case that the Supreme Court has accepted to review during the period of 2012

Compare and contrast two views of how social order Essay Example for Free

Compare and contrast two views of how social order Essay â€Å"Whoever controls the media controls the mind† (Jim Morrison 1943-1971).excellent quote i had forgotten that one To establish a view on how social order is produced, in this essay the main focus will be on two researcher’s arguments both on social disorder specifically in regard to the influence of the mass media. Sociologist Stanley Cohen (1973) suggests that the media depiction of antisocial behaviour helps to construct what he labels ‘folk devils’. Whilst social scientists Stuart Hall et al (1978) argued that the mediation of disorderly behaviour led to the belief that society was in a ‘crisis’. By using my own examples and illustrations I will compare and contrast these two theories and furthermore for differentiation include a more present-day theory on social disorder through Huesmann et al 2003. Thereby through an examination of mediation (media spin) on disorderly behaviour attempt to define how one part of social order is produced in public spaces. Good clear introduction Sociologist Stanley Cohen’s theory on ‘folk devils’ which he first observed during the 1960’s media portrayal of Mods and Rockers (Making Social lives ,p378) gives an interesting oblique view on how social order is maintained, as according to is theory certain members of the public are classified as outsiders and treat like scapegoats. describe the theory a little bit here The evidence for this can be found as far back as ancient Greece Aristotle’s ‘unruly youths’ (Brake, 1980, p.1) Along with â€Å"fears of skilled pickpockets progressing to become burglars in the sixteenth century† (Shore, 2000, p. 21) and as near to our times is the example of Gypsy travellers who are and have been given the dubious pleasure of being one of the â€Å"carriers† of social evil and disorder of our days. Good use of examples This Sun headline (March 2005) on the right is just one of the many stereotypical images of gy psies, blown out of all proportion by mass media mediation and an example of that which is coined by Cohen as generating moral panic that is irrational and creates a situation â€Å"where people are both terrified and outraged† (Cohen, Making Social lives,p378). This use of inflammatory rhetoric with regards to gypsies is still being currently employed today as a Sun reporter reports he â€Å"found a community  brimming with fear and anger and villagers hell-bent on getting rid of them (Sun May 2011). These headlines from the mass media (public space) with regard to gypsies whom historically have many times been the focal point of European society’s ills and represented as’ folk devils’ very good The media campaigns of hostility against these ‘folk devils’ have not only produced moral panic â€Å"a pattern of behaviour, group of people or a condition becomes defined as a threat to society, its values and its interests† (Making Social lives, p371). This on-going mass media campaign against gypsies resulted in change the nations politics and laws to re-address social order. Such, as under sections 77-80 of the 1994 Act, [local authorities may direct persons who are unlawfully residing in vehicles on land in their own area to leave.] This an attempt to renew social order with regards to gypsies and thus allaying public fear.very good The media also played a significant role in sociologists Stuart Hall’s and co-authors (Policing the Crisis (1978) theory. Hall believed that the issue of crime was instrumental in controlling society and that the media constructions â€Å"contributed to a widespread belief that there was a crisis in society† (Making (Social lives, p378). As an illustration of some of the biased press coverage of street crime is a picture portrayed by this Sun image (Dec 2010) Hall surmises that this is how the media wishes to portray these issues to the public, as a rise in crime and disorder which can and should be treat by the government with greater policing measures and laws, which Hall terms the beginning of a â€Å"Law and Order Society† (Social lives, p378). He goes on to infer that media spin is used to distort and divert public attention from the clear problems of social injustice and inequality and that this aids government on social order policies. Evidence for this Law and Order society can be found with the introduction of the SUS (Stop and Search) powers that were used at their height when 1000 youths were stopped and searched in 5 days in what the police called Operation Swamp(bbc. Home, 25th Nov. 1981).well researched This resulted in the escalation of confrontation between the community and the police due to the locals perceiving an inequality and persecution of young blacks and this sparked off the Brixton race riots (1981). The outcome culminated in the renewal of social order with the abolition of the SUS law (1981). However they returned in another form due to 9/11 and 7/7 attacks to combat terrorism in 2007. To  compare and contrast Cohen and Halls views on mass media mediation and how the social order is maintained thro ugh public spaces it will be shown by examining that they have differences and similarities. Where both Cohen and Hall agree with regard to their theories on the issue of mediation (public spaces) is that they both believe that the focus of the mass media places spin on how social and criminal deviants (muggers) are portrayed. Also they both rely on labels to support their social disorder theories i.e. folk devil and muggers and furthermore characterising them as stereotypes. Moreover they continue to agree that the media exaggerates and amplifies and create’ scapegoats’ whose behaviours good example of compare and contrast are demonised with resulting effect on social order of creating ‘moral panic’ on the one hand and a sense of ‘crisis in society’ on the other. Where they greatly disagree is on the root causes of moral panics and social crisis in that Cohen with very little supporting evidence, believed cultural anxiety was to blame (Making Social Lives, Table 1, p383,). Whilst Hall thought that the blame led elsewhere with his inference to social inequality and racism and that the media served the state in diverting attention away from these genuine social problems (ibid).good In contrast to both Cohen and Halls views on the mediation of social disorder and the foundation of their theories on moral panic and society in crisis there is a view that has an alternative reason as to why and how the media can play a significant role in shaping social order in public spaces. This alternative view comes from the analysis of a longitudinal study (Making Social Lives, p381) by Huesmann et al on media effects, and in particularly how Huesmann and his team found a correlation between 557 children and the watching of violence on TV and a subsequent increase in propensity for aggressive behaviour in 398 of these same studied people. Therefore Huesmann et al. (2003) reached the conclusion on disorderly behaviour that there is a direct effect of media portrayal of violence. From this you can argue that in Huesmann’s view, media and mediation through public space in this case TV. can have a major negative role in the shaping of social order in society, by desensitising and normalising disorderly behaviour. Although there is no real causation evidence for these claims in Huesmann’s study and that the conclusion drawn on the media impact of television violence a chimera of other social factors very good expand on this a little. Thereby through  the examination of Cohen/Halls theories on mediation (media spin) on disorderly behaviour the following can be gleaned with regard to how one part of social order is produced in public spaces. Established norms of behaviour are created and exist in society supported by mass media and this sometimes leads to an increase in social pressure which is built up with a resulting increase in policing and law legislation (SUS laws). These societal norms are reinforced by media scapegoating of social and criminal deviants, Cohen’s ‘folk devils’ and Halls ‘muggers’. Although there are others (Huesmann et al) who believe that the shaping of social order in society is more directly influenced by TV violence alone. The methodology utilised in this essay was to shed light on the making of social order in public spaces through looking at two main theories on disorderly behaviour. And it has highlighted in my view that quite possibly genuine social problems and solutions are obscured by mediation resulting in legislation that deals with only the symptoms not the causes â€Å"The medias the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and thats power, because they control the minds of the masses† (Malcolm X (1925-1965). Bibliography Cohen, S. (1973) Folk Devils and Moral Panics, London, Paladin. Hall, S., Critcher, C., Jefferson, T., Clarke, J. and Roberts, B. (1978) Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order, London and Basingstoke, Macmillan. Huesmann, R., Moise-Titus, J., Pdolski, C-L. And Eron, L. (2003) ‘Longitudinal relations between children’s exposure to TV violence and their aggressive and violent behaviour in young adulthood: 1977–1992’, Developmental Psychology, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 201–23. Google Image, News.bbc.co.uk, accessed 24th /26th May 2011 Google Image, Enemiesofreason.co.uk accessed 25th May 2011 Jim Morrison (1943 – July 3, 1971) brainyquote.com accessed 20th may 2011 Malcolm X (1925-1965) thinkexist.com accessed 20th may 2011 Shore, H. (2000) ‘The idea of juvenile crime in 19th-century England’, History Today, vol. 50, no.6,pp. 21–7;

Outsourcing in the Automotive Industry

Outsourcing in the Automotive Industry The global automotive industry continues to grow worldwide at about 2.5% annually, driven by increasing car ownership in the developing economies. In the mature economies, including the UK, growth is much lower or even absent (NGAIT, 2008). Because of market proximity and local content restrictions imposed by the Governments of many developing nations who wish to encourage the establishment of local automotive sectors, the vast majority of new manufacturing capacity in the last 6 years to support this growth has been in the BRIC countries and within the EU, in Eastern Europe. Lower labour costs in these developing automotive economies have also stimulated a shift of production eastwards, but this has to date mainly affected the automotive supply base and less so vehicle assembly sites. The UK automotive industry has transformed itself in the last decade from a sector with turbulent labour relations and a poor reputation for quality and productivity to one that is fully competitive. Independent external reliability surveys put UK built cars at the top of the rankings, and productivity and labour relations are among the best in the world. Until the impact of the global financial crisis, the industry was profitable and self-sustaining in Europe and in the UK. Technology and modern management practices have transformed the shop floor environment, and product technology embraces lightweight materials, cutting edge design analysis and visualisation tools and the extensive use of integrated electronic systems to extend digital control to most functions of the car. The climate change agenda is accelerating technological change at an unprecedented rate, and the industry in Europe and the UK has embraced the CO2 challenge and is investing heavily in people and technology to provide innovative solutions while continuing to offer exciting, safe and satisfying products that people want to buy. In 2008, 1.65 million vehicles and 3 million engines were built in the UK, by a diverse range of manufacturers in car, commercial vehicle, off-road and premium vehicle sectors. The vehicle production levels (until the present recession beg an) were relatively stable for some years, but employment has been declining as productivity improved and there has been severe hollowing out of the supply chain. This is important because about 75% of the value of material in a new vehicle is added by the supply chain (NGAIT, 2008). Literature review: Manufacturing outsourcing continuum: There is much debate in the management literature on defining outsourcing (Gilley and Rasheed, 2000; Harland et al., 2005). The definitions of outsourcing relevant to supply chain management emerge from these elements: Outsourcing implies a business relationship between two parties: the outsourcing subject (also called the principal or the client) who makes the decision of whether to outsource or not; and an external outsourcing firm (Arnold, 2000). The objects of outsourcing are general business processes or processes results which might be outsourced (Arnold, 2000; Kimura, 2002). This can include core (e.g. manufacturing, marketing, RD) as well as support (e.g. maintenance, accounting, IT, logistics) processes (Gilley et al., 2004). Outsourcing is not simply a purchasing decision. While all firms purchase elements of their operations, outsourcing is less common and represents the fundamental decision to reject the internalization of an activity (Gilley and Rasheed, 2000). Thus, outsourcing occurs in two situations. First, is when the client outsources objects that were originally sourced internally, resulting from a vertical disintegration decision (Gilley and Rasheed, 2000). Second, when the client sources objects that, although they have not been completed in-house in the past, are within the clients capabilities and hence could have been sourced internally notwithstanding the decision to go outside (Gilley and Rasheed, 2000; Van Mieghem, 1999). The outsourced objects are specific to the client. That is, the outsourced activities are performed according to a plan, specification, form, or design, of varying detail, provided by the client (Kimura, 2002; Van Mieghem, 1999; Webster et al., 1997). Hence, a firm buying an off-the-shelf, standardized component or a suppliers proprietary part is not considered outsourcing, because no customization is performed for the buyer. The client may outsource all or part of a process or process result (Gilley et al., 2004). For example, the outsourcing of manufacturing processes may take the form of a part, component, or a finished product (Harland et al., 2005). Manufacturing outsourcing: Throughout the 1990s a remarkable increase of outsourcing activities by firms has been observed. It has been hypothesized that this increase results from the decline in transaction costs in connection with the intensified use of information technology (Abraham and Taylor, 1996). Today, activities that used to be performed in-house (e.g. auditing, maintenance, repair, transportation, janitorial and legal services) are usually outsourced to firms in the business service sector. Consequently, outsourcing has contributed significantly to the growth of business-related services during the last decade (Fixler and Siegel, 1999). Moreover, manufacturing firms are outsourcing not only services but also internal production. One prominent example is the automotive industry, where some large car manufacturers only perform the final assemblage of major parts whose production is outsourced to external suppliers. Since this type of outsourcing quite often occurs at an international level, it is als o closely entwined with the globalization process (Feenstra and Hanson, 1996). Various aspects of the trend to outsource have been discussed in the academic literature. A large literature starting with the seminal paper by Coase (1937) and papers by Grossman and Hart (1986), Bolton and Whinston (1993) and Grossman and Helpman (2002) examines theoretically a firms decision of whether to produce in-house or to outsource. At the heart of this literature are issues concerned with transaction costs and, in particular, incomplete contracts leading to either vertical integration or specialisation. Lyons (1995) provides an empirical application to evaluate the importance of transaction costs theory for firms outsourcing decisions. The trade related aspects of outsourcing have also attracted increasing attention in the literature. Trade theoretic models such as Deardorff (2001), Jones and Kierzkowski (2001) and Kohler (2001) examine the effects of trade in fragmented products on countries patterns of specialisation and resulting implications for factor prices. On the empirical side recent papers by Feenstra and Hanson (1996, 1999) and Gorg et al. (2001) have analysed the effect of international outsourcing (or fragmentation) on relative wages and labour demand using industry level data for the US and UK respectively. In line with traditional HOS trade theory these papers find that international outsourcing (moving low skill intensive production to low skill abundant countries) leads to increased demand and increases in the wage premium for high skilled workers in the US and UK. Egger and Egger (2001) investigate the effect of outsourcing on the productivity of low skilled labour in the EU using industry level d ata. They find that increases in outsourcing have a negative effect on low skilled labour productivity in the short run, but a positive effect in the long run. Drivers of manufacturing outsourcing: There have been several studies that have examined the motivations for and benefits of outsourcing. Abraham and Taylor (1996) identified three reasons for outsourcing: Savings on wage and benefit payments, Transfer of demand uncertainty to the outside contractor Access to specialized skills and inputs that the organization cannot itself possess. Kakabadse and Kakabadse (2000) report that the main reasons for outsourcing are: Economic: greater specialization in the provision of services, as outsourcing allows economies of scale and the longevity of demand for the activity; Quality: access to skills, the competency and focus of potential suppliers and geographical coverage is increased; and Innovation: improvements in quality through innovation, and the development of new service products, can lead to new demands. Bendor-Samuel (1998) also asserts that outsourcing provides certain power that is not available within an organizations internal departments. This power can have many dimensions: economies of scale, process expertise, access to capital, access to expensive technology, etc. The combination of these dimensions creates the cost savings inherent in outsourcing, because the outsourcing supplier (the organization specializing in a particular business function) has the economy of scale, the expertise and the capital investments in leading technology to perform the same tasks more efficiently and effectively than the internal departments of the outsourcing buyer . Another possible benefit is that outsourcing provides companies with greater capacity for flexibility, especially in the purchase of rapidly developing new technologies, fashion goods, or the myriad components of complex systems (Carlson, 1989; Harrison, 1994). Companies can buy technology from a supplier that would be too expensive to replicate internally. A network of suppliers could provide an organization with the ability to adjust the scale and scope of their production capability upward or downward, at a lower cost, in response to changing demand conditions and at a rapid rate. As such, outsourcing claims to provide greater flexibility than the vertically integrated organization (Carlson, 1989; Harrison, 1994; Domberger, 1998). Furthermore, outsourcing can decrease the product/process design cycle time, if the client uses multiple best-in-class suppliers, who work simultaneously on individual components of the process (Quinn and Hilmer, 1994). Issues in manufacturing outsourcing: The case against outsourcing is based on arguments such as loss of management control, reduction in flexibility and increased costs. For instance, competitive outsourcing requires a high standard of supplier management to avoid the pitfalls of transferring critical functionality, or becoming too dependent on a supplier for day-today performance of vital business functions. In addition, outsourcing can generate new risks, such as the loss of critical skills, developing the wrong skills, the loss of cross-functional skills, and the loss of control over suppliers (Domberger, 1998; Quinn and Hilmer, 1994). The possible loss of flexibility is connected to the typical long-term contractual relationship that is formed as part of an outsourcing agreement, and that during the contract term, the customers business, the available technology, and the competitive and regulatory environment may change dramatically. Thus, this inflexibility is mostly linked to an unyielding and inappropriate contra ct. Although outsourcing is undertaken by many organizations to control or reduce costs, there is some evidence that it does not decrease costs as expected, and in some cases, costs increase. For instance, when an item is outsourced, the assumption is that the suppliers costs and required contribution is less and will continue to be less than the cost of internal provision. A survey based on 1000 managers worldwide by the PA Consulting Group (PACG) revealed that only 5% of organizations gained high levels of economic benefit from outsourcing (PA ConsultingGroup (PACG), 1996) and that 39% of organizations admitted mediocre economic benefit. Also, as outsourcing leads to a re-definition of organizational boundaries and, by implication, structural adjustments involving human resources, these changes incur social as well as financial costs. Although the social costs are transitory and can be mitigated by facilitating the adjustments through the re-training and redeployment of staff with in the organization, their transfer to the supplier organization and ensuing redundancy payouts can still be considerable (Domberger, 1998; Hall and Domberger, 1995). Also, outsourcing can lead to industrial disputes between employers and employees, which in turn can damage morale, trust and productivity. Experts maintain that global supply chains are more difficult to manage than domestic supply chains (Dornier et al., 1998; Wood et al., 2002; MacCarthy and Atthirawong, 2003). Substantial geographical distances in these global situations not only increase transportation costs, but complicate decisions because of inventory cost tradeoffs due to increased lead-time in the supply chain. Different local cultures, languages, and practices diminish the effectiveness of business processes such as demand forecasting and material planning. Similarly, infrastructural deficiencies in developing countries in transportation and telecommunications, as well as inadequate worker skills, supplier availability, supplier quality, equipment and technology provide challenges normally not experienced in developed countries. These difficulties inhibit the degree to which a global supply chain provides a competitive advantage. Cost benefits of manufacturing outsourcing: In the absence of transaction costs, a firm will decide to outsource when the market price for an outsourced activity is lower than internal marginal cost for that activity (Fixler and Siegel, 1999). It is an unresolved empirical issue whether outsourcing actually has a positive influence on a firms performance as is expected a priori. Some case studies have reported that firms tend to underestimate the transaction costs associated with outsourcing. For instance, it has been documented that some firm have again in-sourced activities that were previously performed by external firms, because they were dissatisfied with the quality or because they have underestimated the amount of asset specific investments (Benson, 1999; Gornig and Ring, 2000; Young and Macneil, 2000). A few studies have analysed the impact of outsourcing on firm efficiency (Heshmati, 2002). Although efficiency is certainly an important aspect of firm performance, it neglects the product market performance of firms. Fo r instance, even if efficiency of firms remains unchanged after outsourcing of internal production, higher quality of intermediate inputs might result in higher quality of final products and hence higher sales and higher margins. The lack of empirical studies on the link between outsourcing and firm performance might be also due to a limited availability of suitable micro data for analysing this subject. Theoretical considerations for manufacturing outsourcing: In theory, efficient firms will allocate their resources within the value chain to those activities that give them a comparative advantage (Shank and Govindarajan, 1992). Other activities that do not offer such advantages will be outsourced to external suppliers. When firms engage in outsourcing, they assess the productivity of their in-house service functions and decide to outsource if others can provide comparable services cheaper. Basically, when firms outsource activities and functions related to producing their products and services, they move towards a business strategy based on core competencies, a set of skills and knowledge that helps maintain their competitive advantage in serving customers (Porter, 1985; Sharpe, 1997). Thus outsourcing is expected to imply cost savings relative to internal production or internal service functions. This will be the case if outside suppliers benefit from specialized knowledge and/or economies of scale (Heshmati, 2002). However, recent work by Grossman and Helpman (2002) shows that the choice between continued internal production or an outsourcing decision means taking into consideration more than just production cost differences. According to transaction cost economics, outsourcing is desirable only when transaction costs incurring from asset specificity, incomplete contracting and search efforts are lower than the production cost advantage (Williamson, 1971). In addition, the attractiveness of outsourcing to a certain producer may well depend on how many firms can potentially provide the inputs it needs. As mentioned above, some case studies have also reported that benefits from outsourcing are quite often not derived immediately and that managers tend to overestimate the resulting benefits and underestimate the involved transaction costs (Benson, 1999; Gornig and Ring, 2000; Young and Macneil, 2000). Earlier works: Wasner (1999) presents a state-of-the-art view on the outsourcing process by combining a thorough literature review with two independent case studies of the Swedish aircraft industry (Saab AB) and the electronics industry (Ericsson Radio Systems AB and one key supplier Swedform Metall AB). The first case concentrates on outsourcing of aircraft sub-systems and subsequent in-sourcing of related software activities, whereas the second case deals with outsourcing of radio base station production. However, he argues that the process of carrying out the transfer of an activity from being internally controlled to becoming externally managed is equally difficult because of interdependencies at the operational level. The effects of outsourcing are far reaching in terms of physical, temporal and organisational reach. Physically, because there is an inherent complication of losing control as an activity is turned over to an external supplier. Temporally, because it is difficult to estimate how conditions will change over time. Organisationally, because outsourcing involves converting decisions at the strategic level into actions at the operational level and transferring functions from one organisation to another.

The Nike Co. Essay -- essays research papers

NIKE 1.)Description of Nike. 2.)Definition of Total Quality Management and how Nike implements it. 3.)Definition of the Five Elements of Task Environment and how Nike. implements it. The company: 1-A brief history of the organization 2- Nike’s goals 3- Nike’s objectives 4-Markets 5-Size Compare theory with what we found Conclusion Ø DESCRIPTION Basketball players want to be like Mike, but shoe companies want to be like NIKE. NIKE is the world's number one shoe company and controls more than 40% of the athletic shoe market. The company designs and sells shoes for just about every sport, including baseball, volleyball, cheerleading, and wrestling. Nike doesn't only sell athletic shoes, but a wide variety of sporting goods and clothing; they design, develop, and market high quality active sports apparel, equipment, and accessory products. Their huge lines of products are designed for just about every sport in existence. Their products are made for men, women, and children of all ages. In addition, it operates NIKETOWN shoe and sportswear stores and is opening JORDAN in-store outlets in urban markets. NIKE sells its products to about 19,000 US accounts, in about 140 other countries, and online. Chairman, CEO, and co-founder Phil Knight owns about 36% of the firm. Ø TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT Total quality management represents both a social revolution in the work place and a rigorously effective approach to professionalism and success. Total quality management is a management system that is an integral part of an organization's strategy and is aimed at continually improving products and service quality so as to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction and build strong customer loyalty .In other words, the true Total Quality organization will eliminate all competition other than from other Total Quality giants. Many companies have benefited from an emphasis on TQM; however, it does require a considerable amount of company wide commitment to be successful . The customer doesn't know what is technically or organizationally feasible. So the key, challenge to a competitive organization, is to raise the expectations of the market place by providing goods and services at quality levels higher than those offered by the competition. We can now see that there are two principal elements to Total Quality: a business strategic element base o... ...V ads during professional and college sports events, prime-time programs, and late-night TV programs. The advertising and innovative marketing in the industry should still leave it extremely competitive. The only problem that Nike worries about is customers becoming less brand-loyal and buying cheaper athletic shoe brands. Nike is trying to make the point that it is worth spending more money on better quality made shoe, than buying a cheap shoe that will only last a little while. One major area that brings unlimited opportunities to Nike is the international market. In the United Sates, there are 4 people for every pair of Nikes, France has 11, Japan has 50, China has 11,821, and Lebanon has 40 (reference from manager). Nike distributes to more than 40 branches in Lebanon and they have their own main branch situated in Mid-Beirut. Nike is by far the biggest organization in the shoe industry and far surpases its competetors in profits gained. Nike sells throught the world in more than 110 countries throught a span of six continents. It is known by most consumers as the dominant power in the sports industry and is usually the athelets’ top choice when it comes to sports apparel.

Billy Budd Essay: Comparing Christ to Billy -- Billy Budd Essays

Comparing Christ to Billy of Billy Budd      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "I stand for the heart. To the dogs with the head!" wrote Herman Melville in his June 1851 letter to Nathaniel Hawthorne (Davis and Gilman 3). Yet, by the time he began writing Billy Budd, Sailor in 1888, Melville must have tempered this view, for Billy Budd depicts the inevitable destruction of a man who is all heart but who utterly lacks insight. Melville no doubt intends for his reader to connect this tale with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Billy Budd endures a persecution similar to Christ's; he is executed for like reasons, and he eventually ascends, taking "the full rose of the dawn" (BB 376). Yet, in creating Billy Budd, Melville forms a character who is but a half-Christ, more like the Child than the Man. Indeed, a number of characteristics and circumstances sharply distinguish Billy Budd from the complete Christ. These differences ultimately work to support Melville's (now refined) philosophy that innocence, unaccompanied by wisdom, must inevitably meet wi th destruction and that only when a man balances the "spontaneous impulses of [his] 'heart'" against the experiential "wisdom of [his] 'head'" (Howard 328) can he prevail in a fallen world.    Critics often connect Billy Budd with the Christ Child. Richard Chase, for instance, writes that Billy Budd is the realization of Melville's "fresh commitment to the infantile Christ" (267), and Milton Stern claims that Billy's behavior represents an "ideal Christliness" because he accepts "everything with animal insightlessness and the childlike faith of innocence" (216). Christ taught that to enter heaven, one must become like a little child (Matt. 18:2-3). Many have inferred from this that, from a Christian perspective, ... ...W.H. Gilman, eds. The Letters of Herman Melville. New Haven: Yale UP, 1960. Online. Internet. 29 July 1998. Available HTTP: www.melville.org Howard, Leon. Herman Melville: A Biography. Berkley: U of California P, 1951. Melville, Herman. Billy Budd, Sailor and Other Stories. Ed. Frederick Busch. New York: Penguin, 1986. - - -. Moby Dick. Ed. Charles Child Walcutt. New York: Bantam, 1981. Richards, Lawrence O. The Bible Reader's Companion. Wheaton: SP Publications, Inc., 1991. Sten, Christopher W. "Vere's Use of the 'Forms': Means and Ends in 'Billy Budd.'" On Melville: The Best from American Literature. Ed. Louis J. Budd and Edwin H. Cady. Durham: Duke UP, 1988. 188-202. Stern, Milton R. The Fine Hammered Steel of Herman Melville. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1968. The Holy Bible, New King James Version. Dallas: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1979.

Things They Carried Essay: Disembodiment -- Things They Carried Essays

Disembodiment in The Things They Carried  Ã‚  Ã‚   With some knowledge of war, one can begin to appreciate Tim O' Brien's The Things They Carried.   But when the work is viewed in its strict historical context, another layer of   meaning rises to the surface.   Tim O' Brien is a veteran; as a result there are many things he takes for granted (or so we think) and does not tell us.   America's involvement in the Vietnam war resulted from internal domestic politics rather than from the national spirit.   American soldiers had to fight a war without a cause, i.e. they were disembodied from the war.   But O' Brien never tells us this explicitly.   When Viewed from a historical perspective, The Things They Carried contains several syntactic allusions to the idea of disembodiment from the war.    One of the more obvious allusions is "The Ghost Soldiers."   The very title seems to suggest disembodiment - as though something were present, yet nothing at all.   Whenever O' Brien is bleeding to death in the field, he says that he feels "hollow." (O' Brien, 238)   Is it from blood loss or from the ...

Short Talks

2/20/13 English 1102 Introduction I start off with a couple of stereotypes I recently heard or saw people discussing and give my feelings/opinions on why I feel people say things like that. Next is my feelings toward SSU, it’s a mixed feeling really a love and hate relationship. I end my short talks with my first, and definitely not my last, fight I had; that occurred in kindergarten. All I can say about that is never and I mean NEVER touch my crayons!On Stereotypes- â€Å"All black people like chicken,† is one of the most commonly known stereotypes but recently I ran into some really interesting stereotypes; like all black people have gaps, if your black your house has roaches, black people were more helpful to America as slaves, all black people are ugly when they’re babies, and black girls put weave in their hair because they don’t have any. When I hear people talk like this all I can do is laugh at the ignorance, you have to be on a whole other level o f stupid to even think like that and then to let that stupidity slip out of your mouth.People let statements like that get to them and get them all roweled up over it but, you have to sit back sometimes and think about where they get their point of view on African Americans people from. I find that a lot of it comes from the older generations in their family where the racism is still alive and brewing, and once again I laugh because it is 2013 and if you still feel African Americans should be slaves and they’re ignorant monkeys then go ahead and do you.As far as those other statements though I have a gap I know plenty of â€Å"black people† who don’t, my house doesn’t have roaches and never will, I wouldn’t be a good slave because I’m way too strong willed and I only work for pay, I was a beautiful baby, and plenty of African American girls have long beautiful hair. On Savannah State- â€Å"You are so rachet with your power outs, slow wifi, bad cable connection, rude faculty and staff, and rising tuition that’s mostly going to athletic fees for teams that aren’t even good. † -AnonymousI love my SSU but I hate it too, it has so much potential to be a great school but there has to be some major changes first. The first thing that the people over the school should take a good look into is the way a lot of their staff members act towards current and future students; some of them are rude and nasty every day to everybody. Next, they should move to the â€Å"problem professors†, which are the ones who the students complain the most about, they have the highest rate of students dropping out, and they have the highest failure rate.Lastly, would be what they use the budget for the school on I feel some of the funding for certain things could be used for more important things that the school needs, like a full time doctor for example. On Self-Respect- â€Å"How can you expect anybody to respect you i f you’re half naked on Facebook for likes? † Girls are always crying on Facebook, twitter, instagram, and other social sites about how they want a â€Å"real man† but yet they have all of these lewd, distasteful pictures up for the whole internet to see.On top of that they get mad when they get a bunch of sexual comments and messages, it’s kind of baffling because what else would they expect to get if that’s how they present themselves. On the struggle- It’s hard being in college with no form of income coming in, eating ramen noodles every night, and borrowing paper from other students in class. Being broke makes your refund check, no matter how big or small, look like a little slice of heaven.Refund check time is when all of the ballers come out, when the mall is packed with college students going on a spending spree for themselves and for the homies who don’t get a refund, and when all the parties you go to have a bunch of alcohol an d weed; but a month later it’s back to the struggle. The month after refund is when people go back to begging for things, back to one or two bottles of liquor at the party, and back to those stupid ramen noodles. On my first fight- I remember when I was a little, sweet, loving, only child living in Yonkers, NY.I got everything I wanted and I never had to share anything, unless I wanted to and I was always kind enough to do it anyway. My mother came home one day with these new glitter crayons for me, since I loved to draw and color; and I loved them. I brought them to school the next day to show my best friend and we colored with them during breakfast, before class. One of the older students saw us and came over, she took all of my friends crayons and pushed her out of her seat and proceeded to reach for mine.I grabbed my things, backed away and told her she couldn’t have my crayons. I saw a little bit of rage in her eyes as her friends laughed at her for not being able to take a kindergartener’s crayons; so she pushed me and went to take my things. I wanted to sit there and cry like my friend was doing but instead I got mad, I got real mad just thinking about the fact my mother just bought me some new â€Å"special† glitter crayons and some hood rat with no manners was going to have them for free wasn’t sitting right with me.I got up and punched her in the face and I could tell by the look in her eyes that it hurt, so I punched her again and again and again; I even started to scratch at her face. Her friends who were at first laughing saw how serious I was about those crayons and went to get the school’s officer, who eventually stopped me. I didn’t get in trouble that day but I got a newly found confidence that would lead me into trouble with anyone willing to cross the wrong path with me.

Ibnu Khaldun Biography

Accoring to Issawi , C. (2009) Ibn Khaldun is the greatest Arab historian, who develop one of the earliest nonreligous philosophy of history, contained in his masterpiece, the Muqaddimah (â€Å"Introduction†). He also wrote a definitive history of Muslim Norh Africa. Mahmoud Dhaouadi (1997) stated that Ibnu Khaldun’s full name is ‘Abdu-ar-Rahman Abu Zaid Wali-ad-Din Ibn Khaldun. He was born in Tunis (1332) and died in Cairo (1406). His family was of Arab Yemenite descent who had first settled in Muslim Spain and later moved to Tunisia. When Ibn Khaldun reached the age of schooling, he began to learn and recite the Qur’an as did most pupils of that time. The education he received in Tunis in his youth was concentrated in three areas : (1) Islamic studies, which cover the sciences of the Qur’an, the Hadith (the prophet’s sayings and behaviour) as well as Islamic Fikh (jurisprudence) , particularly the Malikite School ; (2) the sciences of the Arabic language which deal with grammar , conjugation and the art of eloquent written and spoken language (al-Balagha) ; and (3) logic , philosophy, natural sciences and mathematics. Muhsin Mahdi (1968) explain that the teacher he admired most during this period was the mathematician and philosopher Muhammad Ibn Ibrauhium al-Aubiliu (1282/3-1356), whom he considered the most proficient of his contemporaries in the philosophic disciplines. His studies with Aubiliu extended over five years, from 1347 to 1352. They began with mathematics and logic and then branched out to include various other philosophic disciplines. Aubiliu introduced him to the major works of Avicenna and Averroes and acquainted him with the more recent philosophic and theological writings of the heterodox Shruites in Eastern Islam. Ibn Khaldun’s early work (1351) provides direct evidence for his philosophic interest and ideas during this period. His other early philosophic works, including treatises on logic and mathematics and a number of paraphrases of Averroes’ works, have not been recovered as yet. IBN KHALDUN ACHIEVEMENT. During his previous life, he has received many achievements in his life. He is known as Father of Modern Social Science and Cultural History. He is also the founder of sosiological sciences. . At the early age, he manage to cope with different type of knowledge such as Qur’anic science, Arabic, Poetry, Traditions, Classical Education (Qur’an, Science, Arabic Language and Fiqh) which he recive certification to these subject. Then, he has involved in political career as he held a post at the court of Tunisia at the age of 20. After three years later, he has worked as a secretaryship to the Sultan of Morocco for about two years. He once given a ministerial positio n by Abu Salem. After that, at the chancellery of the Tunisian ruler, Ibn Takrakin, he hold the position of Katib al-‘alamah which is consisted of writing in fine calligraphy or introductory notes of official documents. After that, at Cairo, he became a noted professor, judge and sheikh or better known as manager of Baybars, the greatest sufi institution during that time. Then he become an ambassador of the Sultan of Granada to Pedro the Cruel, Cristian king of Castile in 1363. This showed how people trust him in everything. In addition, he used to be a teacher and magistrate at Ta’rif. Ibn khaldun has inspired many people. In studied, he is excelled in Arabic Literature, Phisiolophy, Mathematics and Astronomy. At the age of 19, he has wrote his first book, Lubabu I-Muhassal under the supervision of his teacher, al-abili in Tunis. Next, he also manage to wrote Mukaddimah or known as Prolegomena in Europe. He wrote Prolegomena At the Castle of Ibn Salama when he receive inspiration to wrote it during his retirement. He only takes five month to finish writing Mukaddimah. Mukaddimah has been evaluate and fully appreciate by Europe scholarship. Unfortunedly, his work doesn’t get more attention at Asian. His work on the book, Mukaddimah has been appreciated by the whole world and his book has been translated into various language around the world. For example, English and malay. His final work on autobiography, has been translated to English. His book also available at all nation. Ibn khaldun is a great thinker that gives inspired to many people in various way. (Faridah Hj Hassan, Universiti Teknologi Mara Malaysia) WHY HE IS A GREAT THINKER? Almost everybody agrees that Ibn Khaldun is a great thinker. There are many relevant reasons or factors that contribute to this statement. First, Ibn Khaldun starts his political career at the very young age, only at twenty years old. From this, it is obviously that this historian has a very high determination and self-confidence. Apart from this, he can also be considered as a great thinker for his well-known book, Al-Muqaddimah. This is amazingly because Al-Muqaddimah was written by Ibn Khaldun for a really short period,that is 3 years only. He wrote the prominent book when he was staying in a small village, Qalat Ibn Salamah in Algeria. This actually proved that Ibn Khaldun is really a brilliant man who is never wasting his precious time. Besides that, the great thinker Ibn Khaldun has observed and and studied carefully the situations of every community that he has lived with. According to Mahmoud Dhaouadi (1997), Ibn Khaldun has made a conclusion regarding types of people. He divided mankind into three groups. The first group belongs to the primitive good human nature (types I + II) of the Arab-Muslim Bedouins. The first group’s excessive materialism led to the weakness and disintegration of Al-Assabiya among the Arab-Muslim sedentaries. The second group belongs to the strong Assabiya among the Arab-Muslim Bedouins. Their excessive materialism led to the weakening of the religion of Islam among the sedentaries. Last but not least, Ibn Khaldun state that the third group belongs to the strong commitment to the Islamic faith by the earlier Arab-Muslim Bedouins. He also mentioned that the excessive materialism led to the spread of human nature type III among all social categories of the Arab-Muslim sedentary culture. Mohammad Abdullah Enan (1941) suggests that Ibn Khaldun is an undoubtedly great Muslim thinker. â€Å"He was the first man to study the social phenomena, to understand and explain the events of history, and to deduce from them social laws,in such a wonderful scientific manner. Tonybee and Lacost,among the few Western scholars familiar with Ibn Khaldun’s thought, claimed that Ibn Khaldun was truly a unique phenomenon in humankind’s long history of idea. Yet, Ibn Khaldun’s legacy in the science of society continues to be ignored by both professionals and students of contemporary social sciences. This paragraph will stress more on his ideas of eastern sociology. Ibn Khaldun’s social thought may be considered to be the only authentic intellectual sociohistorical knowledge about human society which the Third World possesses. Yves Lacoste’s evaluation of the Muqaddimah makes this point very clear. He affirms that Ibn Khaldun’s fluent and systematic approach to the study of history and human civilisations has no parallel in the history of social thought of other societies and civilisations pervious to his own time. This can be proof more by Arnold Toynbee’s laudatory assessment of the mature sociohistorical thought displayed in The Muqaddimah strongly concurs with that of Lacoste which mentioned Ibn Khaldun had conceived and ormulated a philosophy of history which is undoubtedly the greatest work of its kind that had ever yet been created by any mind in any time and place. In establishing his New Science of the social objective reality, principally through his positivist outlook of social phenomena, Ibn Khaldun appears to have remain strongly attached and influenced as well by his view of the internal â€Å"in there† human nature. Ibn Khaldun’s notion of human nature and its deterministic impact on his assumptions, conceptualizations and theories of societies and civilizations have been largely if not completely neglected by those who have studie Ibn Khaldun’s work. We hardly encountered a study which preoccupies itself seriously with the subject of human nature in Ibn Khaldun’s thinking. This is due to the prevailing positivist spirit of the author’s works, especially in his Muqaddimah . His concept of human nature and its implications on the individual’s behaviour and civilization’s destiny ought not to be discarded or neglected in any rigorous analysis of Ibn Khaldun’s works. No doubt that there are a number of references to human nature in the Muqaddimah. But the difficult task lies in identifying with precision specific categories referred to by the author. In reading Ibn Khaldun’s statements on Man’s nature, three types seem to emerge. a)Human nature as reflected in Al –Fitrah In Islamic thought, Al-Fitrah is either than human state devoid of bad traits and customs at birth or at worst it is that human state that predisposes human nature more toward virtues than vices. Ibn Khaldun’s use of Al-Fitrah concept is inspired by the Qur’an as well as by the Hadith. In these two basic Islamic sources, the notion of Al-Fitrah still appears to mean, also, a balanced human inclination that lives according to the laws of the natural divine order. As a conclude, the closer they remain to the primitive or innate state of human nature in terms of goodness the better they are. b)The dualistic human nature Ibn Khaldun’s second type of huma nature resembles, in its dynamics very much that of Al-Assabiyya. The latter is a conflicting set of historical moving forces which often clash with each other, thus creating a chain of conflicts and antagonisms. Viewed that way, Al-‘Assabiyya’s dynamics offer a compelling explaination to human history as an endless chain of exhaustion, rotation and evolution. Likewise, the author’s second view of human nature shows the conflicting nature of the human being’s make up. The roots of the conflicts are the result of the dualistic constituting component of human nature itself. Human nature has equal inclinations toward doing good and evil. With this even emphasis on the weight of good and evil elements ,the Qur’anic perspective appears to give human nature a fundamental dialectical characteristic. c)The aggresive human nature Ibn Khaldun had bluntly stated that the roots of human aggression as well as injustice are to be found in the animalistic side of human nature. Like some contemporary ethologists and psychologists studying Man and animal’s behaviour, the author of the Muqaddimah considers aggression as a fundamental inborn feature whose infrastructure is widely observed among all living beings including Man. Ibn Khaldun’s observations and experiences enabled him to unveil other complex forms which human aggression could take. He had noticed injustice committed by humans, not because their physical survival was at stake, but rather it appeared to be the result of a sort of human readiness to do injustice to others in the Hobbesian sense of the term. On the contrary, Ibn Khaldun considers them to be fundamentally destructive and disruptive to Man’s advancement collectively as well as individually. In looking at these three form of Man’s humannature, one can assert that there is unambiguous Qur’anic or Islamic influence on the author’s thinking concerning Man’s nature. The first type (Al-Fitrah state) and the second one the dualistic nature) are drawn from the Islamic outlook on the range of human nature as expressed especially in the Muslim Holy Book. These two categories depict Man’s nature at its very natural state either as good more and less or neutral towards good or bad doing. In both cases Man’s nature is overwhelmingly dialectical. However the third type of the Human Nature is strikingly an ugly one, Man falls nto this state when he becomes dominated by his animalistic or known as materialistic desires. I n the luxurious sedentary milieu, Man is transformed from a human being to an animal. With this taking place, the undermining of Islamic as well as natural values becomes a fait accompli. It is hardly an exaggeration to state that the studies which has dealt, both in the Arab world and outside of if ,bwith Ibn Khaldun’s remarkably distinct achievement in social thought have, in general, extended to explain the Khaldunian phenomenon by social variables and not by the personality traits of the author of the Muqaddimah. In other words, creative and innovative thought is seen here as the result of the imperative of the laws of stringent social determinism. The consequences of this kind of perspective has ultimately led to a general disinterest in the study of the role of Ibn Khaldun’s personality traits that might have contributed to the unfolding of his pioneering social thought . In light especially of modern psychology’s insights and finding about the role of human personality traits in triggering and promoting the spirit of creativity and innovation among certain individuals of the general population, it is hardly acceptable to seek an objective assessment of human creativity and innovation without seriously taking into account the entire profile of the creative person innovator’s personality in its own right.