Children with special educational needs Essay Example for Free

Children with special educational needs Essay The home environment and lifestyle of a child can be influenced from as early as conception. In pregnancy if a mother chooses to drink alcohol they run the risk of alcohol crossing the placenta, which can lead to foetal alcohol syndrome. This condition affects foetal growth and causes delayed development, learning difficulties and congenital abnormalities. In addition there is a risk of miscarriage. Furthermore, increasing hours of work pressured upon parents from their place of work can lead to bad eating habits, for example, fast food takeaways giving children snacks, fizzy drinks, sweets and crisps, which in-turn could lead to obesity and all the health problems that are associated with obesity, such as diabetes and osteo-arthritis. Moreover they could be the subject of bullying at school. The child may become socially excluded because of their size; they may feel depressed and withdrawn hindering their learning potential. Gender influences: Children are aware of their gender identity. Read more: Explain how children and young peoples development is influenced by a range of external factors essay Research indicates: By the age of 21/2 years, children think girls prefer to play with dolls and engage in domestic activities with mum, while boys prefer to play with cars or construction toys and helping dad. (www. geocities/gender. edu. ) Gender stereotyping is damaging to childrens social development and their personality as it damages their self-image, in addition too the identity of girls because it can affect their confidence and lower their self-esteem. Boys too can be limited by gender stereotypes by being forced to behave tough or less caring, in order to conform and by accepted by others. This can be overcome by early years practitioners providing role-play opportunities including dressing-up clothes, which allow children to explore different roles. Furthermore, books and games should be avoided, which demonstrate gender stereotyping. Special Educational Needs: The range of special educational needs, (SEN) is vast and the starting point for looking if a child may have a learning difficulty can be seen through their level of academic attainment. Learning difficulties can be described as moderate, severe or profound and multiple. They can range from a mild hearing impairment, to a severe impairment, for example, Cerebral palsy. This condition affects the part of the brain that controls movement. This may cause disability of all four limbs. Children with this condition may have motor problems, visual and hearing impairments, in addition to speech and perceptual difficulties. Dyspraxia is referred to as, Clumsy child Syndrome in this condition the child has difficulty with physical movement, language development may be delayed. In addition learning difficulties can occur where fine or gross motor skills are needed. Dyslexia is a condition where the child has difficulty with words and learning to read, spell and write. This could cause the child to have low self- esteem and become frustrated, or even disruptive. These examples are just a few of the conditions that may have an impact on a childs ability to learn and develop to their full potential. It is just as important recognising the child has SEN, as to meeting their needs to help them achieve. Communication is of paramount importance, in addition to remembering to put the needs of the child first and then the disability. In conclusion it can be shown that a childs learning and development can be affected by many factors, throughout the human life-span. This is why it is imperative that these factors are highlighted to early years professionals, so they can recognise and act upon them in the childs best interests, to promote their well being and education. REFERENCES: Alcott, M. (2002) Children with special educational needs, 2nd edition, Hodder Stoughton, London. Haralambos, Rice, D. (2002) Psychology in Focus A level, Causeway, Lancs  www.geocities.com

Home Appliances To The Countryside Social Policy Essay

Home Appliances To The Countryside Social Policy Essay The home appliance industry in China has mainly focused on exporting to European and America markets. It generally achieved double-digit growth in years before 2008. However, the export market is withering in recent year. The export of household appliances and electronic products last year recorded only a 3% increase and contribute to 72.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2008 (Xinhua News, 2009). For example, Chinas export value of color TV sets had annually dropped by 18.4 in the first quarter of 2008, came to 1.67 billion U.S. dollars (Customs of China, 2009). Foreseeing such a declining trend, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce of the Peoples Republic of China had introduced a pilot project for rural residents in December 2007. Such pilot project was called home appliances to the countryside program which is a subsidy policy on electronic home appliances for rural areas. The trail was to be held in three provinces (Shandong, Henan and Sichuan) and one city (Qingdao) by o ffering rural residents a 13% subsidy on consuming the selected three categories (televisions, refrigerators and mobile phones) of home appliances items. At present, the current level of utilization of home appliances in Chinese rural areas is only equivalent to that of the urban areas at the late 1980s (China Research and Intelligence Co., 2009). Every 100 Chinese rural households possess the number of color TVs, washing machines, cell phones and refrigerators only 2/3, 1/2, 1/2 and 1/4 respectively of the of urban households. The asymmetric information between the rural resident and the electronic home appliance industry results in adverse selection. This situation imposed the market failure as promoting electronic home appliances to rural areas. Hence, the subsidy policy of electronic home appliances for rural areas can be regarded as a policy support by the government in order to promote electronic home appliances and, thus drive a long-term structural change when encouraging manufacturers to design rural use products (Credit Suisse, 2009). In the third quarter of 2008, the risk of second mortgage in the United State provoked the global financial tsunami. Due to the eruption of the global financial tsunami, the global economy is in recession and the export of China suffered a great loss. Moreover, when the financial crisis has plunged the world into recession, protectionism in the globe market has been on the rise. According to a recent World Bank study, from October 2008 to February 2009, forty seven trade-restricting measures were implemented (E. Gamberoni and R. Newfarmer, 2009). While the authority had paid attention on the rising tide of trade protectionism and recession of export market, by the way of the primary success of the pilot project and the first extension of the program in the December 2008, the government announced thehome appliances to the countryside program would be extended into a national wide scale in February 2009 (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, 2008). According to the notice, the government aims to boost domestic demand to secure economic growth, improve living standard of the countrys rural population, boost domestic consumption and stimulate the industrial production growth through the program extension. Such national wide subsidy policy covers the entire rural areas in the nation with nine categories of home electronic appliance items. Significances and aims of this study: After the extension of the home appliances to the countryside program in February 2009, it nationally targeted to the entire rural residents. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the population of rural residents is 7.2 hundred million approximately, which is 55.06% of the population of China (National Bureau of Statistics, 2008). With this large numbers of target participants, how the program to promote and implement rests on the government and the electronic home appliances industries. The Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, has commented on the Chinas stimulus package. According to his speech, the Chinas stimulus package is designed to both sustain economic growth and improve peoples livelihood. Policies related to affecting peoples well-being are given priority to allocate public resources (Embassy of China in the US, 2009). Namely, the authority regards the subsidy policy a crucial strategy to increase domestic demand and secure the economic growth under the current economy circumstance and also a policy that also aims to improve the living standard of the rural residents. Ministry of Commerce estimates that the home appliances to the countryside program will boost domestic consumption and achieves RMB 150 billion in the first year and totally boost RMB 920 billion at the end of the program. However, compare with the approximate RMB 150 billion rural spending, the proportion is relatively small. During the first ten month of 2009, the national sales of the subsidy prog ram was 2787.8 units which accounted for RMB 5.08 billion. Within this period, the sales figure record a continued dropping in August and September while the sales in August was around RMB 7.6 billion, and it was as low as RMB 6.2 billion in September. (Peoples Daily, 2009). It was the first time of a continued two months sales decline from the RMB 8.8 billion sales in the July. These figures reveal that the outcome of the subsidy program is not able to meet the original approximation. This indicated the original estimation is too optimistic and overvalues the participations of rural residents. The subsidy policy is a comprehensive strategy involving large numbers of rural residents and large amount of money. The participants of the rural residents are the key fundamental of the subsidy policy. Rural residents will not blindly consume what the electronic home appliance industry put on the market despite there is a 13% subsidy from the government. They have their concerns and evaluations to the policy. This study mainly focuses on the home appliances to the countryside program after February 2009 and its aims to analysis the relationship among the government, the electronic home appliance industry and rural residents. For the government, the program is to boost domestic consumption in the rural area to secure economic growth. For the electronic home appliance manufacturers, they aim to gain benefits. For the rural residents, they consider to improve their living standard after purchasing the electronic home appliances through a subsided price. By studying their different purposes to participate in the program, I will try to conclude some suggestion to enhance the efficiency of the home appliances to the countryside program since the outcome is not satisfied with the assumed estimation. Literature review: Home appliances to the countryside program The English translation as home appliances to the countryside program was officially used in the government and media in China. The program first started as a pilot project on three provinces and one city in December 2007. After holding the pilot project for one year, in December 2008, phrase one of the home appliances to the countryside program which extended its area to a total of 14 provinces, directly controlled municipalities and autonomous regions was started. At last, in the February 2009, the program extends to entire rural areas in the nation and to subsidize the rural residents in nine categories of electronic home appliances (color TV sets, refrigerators, mobile phones, washing machines, air conditioners, water heaters, computers, microwave ovens and electromagnetic cookers). The program will last for four years to 2012 and rural residents were entitled to a 13% subsidy on purchasing the selected electronic home appliances (limited within two units in each category). Since this subsidy program targeted the rural residents, only those with rural residency qualify for the subsidies. According to regulations of operating the home appliances to the countryside program, a price limit was set on each category. (For example, color TV set RMB3500, refrigerators RMB2500, mobile phone RMB1000, washing machines RMB2000, etc). The original purpose to set up such limit is to ensure items are affordable to the rural residents. However, this limit was regarded as one of the factors that hinder to achieve the approximate rural expenditure. The home appliances to countryside program has been running for more than ten months since February 2009 and different kinds of statistics were announced. According to the Ministry of Commerce, there are 17 home electronic appliances companies which has accumulated sales over 100 million and they include Haier, Gree, Midea, Skyworth, Konka, TCL, Lenovo, etc. Among these companies, Haier is the enterprise which benefits the most from subsidy program and has the highest accumulated sales figures of RMB 8.6 billion during the past 10 months. However, there are still 14 companies out of 348 which show fragmenting sales while another 17 enterprises sold less than 10 units (Minister of Commerce 2009). Indicators of quality of live As mentioned earlier in this study, the subsidy program in also a social welfare program. This policy supports the rural residents to buy electronic home appliances in order to improve their life standard. David E. Bloom, Patricia H. Craig and Pia N. Malaney in their study concluded several indicators to evaluate quality of life. They are nutrition, health, education, income, gender equality, fertility, political, civil, and economic freedom, environmental quality, access to infrastructure, and access to information. Televisions and mobile phone convenience their life and also provide a channel for them to gain information. Manufactures are required to add special functions which are fit to use in rural environment. The models of mobile phone which selected in the program are required to enhance the signal accessing ability where signal from network operators in rural environment are instability. In the long run, the purpose of the subsidy program is guiding the manufactures to set up production line for rural markets. As a result, when the program ends in 2012, the subsidy program is expected to motivate the production of the electronic home appliances sector, meanwhile, stimulate the industrial structure development. Consumption behavior in rural areas The home appliances to the countryside program is a strategy to boost domestic consumption by encouraging the rural residents to consume more. By understanding the consumption behavior of the rural residents, the government can estimate their reflection and hence the efficiency of policies can be guaranteed. Since there are various hierarchy of need, people would use their income to buy the basic survival resources as their priority while the development products would be subsequent and following by the leisure goods (W.H. Wong, 1999). In other words, there is a sequence of consuming. W. Guo concluded the basic sequence of expanding spending of rural residents in his study (W. Guo 1998). It is: reproduction goods, housing, and education for theyounger generation, transportation, electronic home appliances, and commodities. Under this sequence of consuming, we can predict the consumption behavior of rural households. Basically, personal disposable income minus personal saving is personal consumption expenditure (N. Gregory Manki, 2004). Therefore, personal disposable income becomes one of the factors that affect personal consumption expenditure. Wong in his study indicated that, the consumption power and intention to spend are different in different level of household income. Rural households of high level income prefer to consume to increase living standard. On the contrast, rural households of low income level trend to fulfill basic need because of constraining by the limed of income. When the rural residents can fulfill their basic need, they who are mobilized by the subsidy program are able to consume the electronic home appliances. Insecurity income source due to deficient in land use According to the World Bank, 90% of poverty is still rural excluding migrant workers from the rural population (World Bank, 2009). Although per capital net income of rural households has been being steady rising these years, the income gap between the urban and rural has also grown. According to the National Bureau of Statistic, in 2007 the per capital annual net income of urban households is around RMB 14908, meanwhile, the per capital annual net income of rural households is around RMB 4140, which is only 27.7% of the urban households (National Bureau of Statistic, 2008). Moreover, the rural households does not feel a sense of security on their income source since they only have use rights to but do not own the land themselves. In addition, the long-term investment in land is demotivated because of the insecurity of use rights (Jacoby H., Li G., Rozelle, S., 2002). Because of the consumption expenditure related to the personal income, in income of rural households are not security, they prefer to savings rather than consumption. It can be regarded one of the factors that demoviated the rural residents to participate in the home appliance to countryside program. Coverage of Social Security is low in rural areas According to China Social Security Annual Bulletin, in 2007, there were nearly 476 million people in Chinas rural labor force. However, in that year, the numbers of workers contributed to the old age pension system was fewer than 52 million and only 11 percent of the rural labor force was covered by the scheme (Y. Yang, J.B. Williamson, C. Shen, 2009). Scholars conclude the old age pension system does not have reliable source of financing, and full of problems of funds embezzlement and is low benefits (I. Nielsen, C. Nyland, R. Smyth, M.Q. Zhang and C. J. Zhu, 2005). Since they do not and are not force to contribute to the old age pension. The rural residents rely on their savings as their risk protection. As a result, the attraction to the rural residents of the 13% subsidy from the program will decrease and the participation of the rural will be affected. Game Theory Game theory is a study of the ways in whichstrategic interactionsamongrational playersproduceoutcomeswith respect to theutilities of those players (Daniel Burgess, 2005). In other words, game theory analyses how agents (players) make decision which sufficient their own utilities instrategic situations (games). It is a mathematic theory which can be applied toin thesocial sciences research. It emphases that each player involved in game will estimate their benefits and acts in order to gain the best outcome individually. If in a situation where it is not possible to increase benefits only by the implementation of one single player, this strategy is called the Nash equilibrium. Players involved in game relation will only seek to benefit oneself, it sometimes leads to a situation of prisoner dilemma. In such situation, people do not cooperate although by so they can make both of them to be better off. The efficiency of a policy depends on the coherence between the Nash equilibrium and po licy makers ideal focal point (Osborne, Martin J. Rubinstein, Ariel, 2003). Every participant involves a policy will make different choices which affect the outcome and efficiency of a policy. As a result, we can use the conclusion by analyzing game models of each participant to improve the efficiency of a policy. Arguments: The home appliances to the countryside program has dual functions. On one hand, it is an economic policy that emphases on maintaining economy growth by boosting domestic consumption. On the other hand, it is a social welfare policy that accents on improving the living standard of rural residents by subsidizing them to purchase electronic home appliances. The government, the electronic home appliances industry and the rural residents can choose their own strategies to participate to the home appliances to countryside program. This study argues the game relations among the players of the home appliances to countryside program will hinder the rural residents to participate to the program. As a result, the expected outcome of the subsidy program will be held back. Theoretical framework: As mentioned before, according to the game theory, the efficiency of a policy depends on the coherence between the Nash equilibrium and policy makers ideal focal point. The gap between the objectives and results of the policy originated from the game relations among the players. Although the government has had a good intention, the results of the program gained at present were not conforming to the original estimation. In this study, a game-theoretic model is used to study the relationships among rural residents, enterprises and governments under the policy that rural residents are encouraged to participate to the subsidy program. The government can choose to optimize the program in order to attract more rural residents to participate and consume. The rural resident can choose to or not to participate in the program by calculating their benefit and loss. As each participant seeks to satisfy its utility, this program can be analyzed as an n-person non-cooperative game. This paper trie s to relocate the roles of governments, and put forward some policy suggestion on promoting the home appliances to the countryside program. Research Methodology In research methodology, I will use data analysis as well as document analysis methods to analyze in which areas the government should improve the home appliances to the countryside program. The Ministry of Commerce and the National Bureau of Statistics have been promulgating data about the subsidy program each month. Moreover, Thought these data, the game relations among the participants in the program (including the government, the industry and rural residents) can be examined. Since the subsidy program is highly concerned by the public. Scholars have been investigated and commented on the program. Their researches can contribute to relevance the game relation among the participants. Bibliography Full text of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabaos speech at 2009 Summer Davos in Dalian. (2009), Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China in the United States of America. Avaliable online: http://www.china-embassy.org/chn/zt/t583718.htm (accessed 4 November 2009) Guanyu quanguo tuiguang jia dian xia xiang gongzuo de tongzhi (Notice from three government departments about the national implementtiona of home appliances to the countryside program) , Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China. Available online: http://www.gov.cn/gzdt/2008-12/05/content_1169347.htm (accessed 30 October 2009) Jia dian xia xiang yun niang zheng ce tiao zheng, zhong biao qi ye jiang you tao tai zhi, Ministry of Commerce, China. Caidian hangye juyu yu tiaozhan bingcun'(The Color TV industry: Opportunities and Challenges), Ceneral Administration of Customs of China. Available online: http://www.customs.gov.cn:82/gate/big5/www.customs.gov.cn/Portals/0/jcyj/-ifbase4-base76-vfHE6jG8vrbIztK5+rLKteez9r-awb-D98-Uz8K9tbLKtefQ0NK1u-rT9tPrzPTVvbKitOYuZG9j (accessd 20 November 2009) Xiaoshou yu ladong neisu yuqi you cha ju, jiadian xiiaxiang yunniang tiaozheng (Gap between the Sales and the estimated consumption, home appliances to the country program is brew to adjust). Renmin ribao (Peoples Daily). 19 November 2009 Daniel Burgess, (2005) Utilitarianism, Game Theory and the Social Contract, Macalester Journal of Philosophy, Volume 14, Issue 1. P.75 Elisa Gamberoni and Richard Newfarmer. (2009) Trade Protection: Incipient but Worrisome Trend, Trade Notes. Ingrid Nielsen, Chris Nyland, Russell Smyth, Mingqiong Zhang and Cherrie Jiuhua Zhu (2005). Which Rural Migrants Receive Social Insurance in Chinese Cites?, SAGE: Global Social polic, P.353-381 Jacoby, H., Li, G., Rozelle, S., (2002) Hazards of expropriation: tenure insecurity and investment in rural China. American Economic Review, v. 92, n. 5, p. 1.420-1.447. National Bureau of Statistics of China.(2008) Population and Composition, China Statistical Yearbook 2008. 3-1, 9-5, and 9-20. Available online: http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2008/indexce.htm (accessed 4 Nov) N. Gregory Mankiw. (2004) Principles of Economics, Thomson Learning, Chapter 26. Osborne, Martin J. Rubinstein, Ariel. (2003) Sampling equilibrium, with an application to strategic voting. Games and Economic Behavior, P.434-441. Study Group of Asia Technology Research Analyst Team. (2009), Chinas electronics subsidy programme, Credit Suisse. Study Group of China Research and Intelligence Co. (2009) Research Report on Chinese Home Appliance Manufacturing Industry, 2008-2009, China Research and Intelligence Co. Wang Guanqun. (2009) Home appliances makers catch their breath as rural sales boom (text), Xinhua News, 31 May. Available online: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/31/content_11463552.htm (accessed 4 November2009). Wei Guo. (1998) Non cun shi chang he yi qi er bu dong, Jing ji xue xin xi bao. China. Weihong Wong. (1999) Zhong guo nong cun ju min xiao fei de ji ben qu shi ji zhi yue nong min xiao fei xing wei dei ji ben yin su fen xi'(An analyze of factors that constructs to the consumption behavior in rural area of China), National Economic Research Institute, China Reform Foundation. P.13 World Bank. (2009) China, From Poor Areas to Poor People. China: World Bank. Yinan Yang, John B. Williamson, Ce Shen (2009.) Social security for Chinas rural aged: a proposal based on a universal on contributory pension, International Journal of Social Welfare.

Cheetahs in Zoos :: essays research papers fc

Cheetahs in Zoos   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cheetahs in captivity should be left there, not released into the wild, and on the same note cheetahs in the wild should be left there, not brought into captivity. A cheetah in a zoo that is released into the wild may not know what to do, having been cared for by people in an enclosed environment for a number of years and then suddenly thrust out into the wild and on its own may have adverse effects on the cat’s psyche, making it manic or exhibit unpredictable behaviors and endangering the wildlife already there.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cheetahs living in captivity generally live a great deal longer than those in the wild, the life span of wild cheetahs is about 8 to 10 years, as opposed to 12 to 17 years for those in captivity according to the National Zoological Park, a sure fire sign of a healthy life. Cheetahs are also relatively easy to tame, in comparison to other large cats, and very hard to assimilate into the wild once they’ve become accustom to human contact (NZP), which makes one wonder if they even want to be released in the first place.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While cheetahs do live longer in captivity, they do not breed as often; Steven Hunt states that up until recently cheetahs living in captivity would only have one and occasionally two litters in their lifetime, whereas cheetahs in the wild may have up to five. In recent years, however, breeding programs in zoos have become more successful, allowing for a more robust captive population and much hope for the future of the species. By maintaining the integrity of this population, a strong gene pool can be assured while keeping hold of the prospect of future release of younger cheetahs. Since these cubs may not have been tamed and may still adapt to life in the wild with relative ease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another problem with releasing captive cheetahs into the wild is space. According to The Cheetah Spot, the cheetah’s native habitats have been cut down to less than a quarter of what they were ten years ago. This makes release of captive cheetahs not only difficult, but possibly hazardous to cheetahs already in the wild. Do to the fact that they are mostly solitary animals, females live alone unless raising cubs and males roam with, at most, four other males (NZP). Introducing more cheetahs into an already small area may very well upset the social system of cheetahs by putting them in too much contact with each other.

Responsibility for Eva Smiths Death :: An Inspector Calls J.B. Priestly Essays

Responsibility for Eva Smith's Death An Inspector Calls by J.B Priestly, a play, which was first, performed in 1945. The play was set in 1912 before World War I. The play centres’ around the wealthy Birling family. A visit from a mysterious Inspector Goole becomes a horrifying experience for the Birlings’, as they learn that they have all played a part in the suicide of a young girl called Eva Smith. She died by swallowing some strong disinfected in an infirmary. Priestley’s main aim was to encourage people to take responsibility for their actions, not to shift the blame on to others. Although each member of the Birling family and Gerald Croft have had contact with Eva Smith, none of them were aware of the others ´ involvement in the tragedy until the day of the inspector’s visit. He makes each of them aware of the part they had played that lead to her tragic end. The characters each reacted differently to the news and the degree of responsibility contributing to the death varied between them. They all through their selfishness had shown to contribute to Eva Smiths’ decision to kill herself. We must remember it wasn’t a crime. No one should be held responsible. It’s a moral issue. It was not only people that contributed to Eva Smith’s death but her position in the world and the way in which her life worked out. Mr Birling, a wealthy capitalist man, and a ‘rather portentious man,’ was the first person to be investigated. Mr.Birling didn't care about any of his workers, and didn't know them at all, as he says proudly, 'I have a couple of hundred workers under me, who keep changing.’ This clearly showed that there was no personal or business relationship with Eva Smith. Mr. Birling told the Inspector that all the workers had just returned from holiday and had become very restless. They demanded for a pay rise or would go on strike. She was making trouble as Mr Birling said, ‘She had a lot to say, far too much so she had to go.’ Personally, I don’t believe that Mr Birling did anything wrong towards Eva Smith. He only had sacked her from his factory because she had started to cause trouble by demanding higher wages. Anyone in his position would have done the same. Though Mr Birling may sound innocent there is much to judge of his character. He seems to be a very hard man, and shows no regret for dismissing Eva Smith, despite knowing, that if he had sacked her she may still have been alive. The effect of dismissing Eva Smith from her

The Jumping Frog :: Creative Writing Short Stories War Essays

The Jumping Frog Now that brings me by a natural and easy transition to Simon Wheeler of California; a pioneer he was, and in a small way a philosopher. Simon Wheeler's creed was that pretty nearly everything that happens to a man can be turned to moral account; every incident in his life, almost, can be made to assist him, to project him forward morally, if he knows how to make use of the lesson which that episode teaches, and he used -- well, he was a good deal of a talker. He was an inordinate talker; in fact, he wore out three sets of false teeth, and I told about a friend of his one day -- a man that he had known there formerly, and who he had a great admiration for, of one Jim Smiley, and he said it was worth a man's while to know Jim Smiley. Jim Smiley was a man of gift; he was a man of parts; he was a man of learning; he was -- well, he was the curiousest man about always betting on anything that turned up that you ever see, if he could get anybody to bet on the other side, and if he couldn't he would change sides. As soon as he got a bet he was satisfied. He prepared himself with all sorts of things -- tomcats, rat terriers and all such things, and one day he ketched a frog; said he calculated to educate him. And he took him home and never done nothing but set in his back yard and learn that frog how to jump. Yes, sir, and he did learn him to -- he did learn him to. When it came to jumping on a dead level there wasn't no frog that could touch him at all. Come to jump on the dead level, why, he could lay over any frog in the profession, and Smiley broke all the camps around there betting on that frog. Bye and bye he got a misfortune. He used to keep his frog in a little lattice box. The frog's name was Daniel Webster, and he would bring that box down town and lay for a bet. And one day a fellow came along, a stranger in the camp he was, he says, "What might it be that you have got in the box?" "Well," Smiley says, "It ain't anything particular, it's only just a frog," " Well," he says, "What is he good for?

B&Q Case Study Essay

As data and information are readily available, and information communication technology (ICT) has highly advanced, organizations such as B&Q need to understand how knowledge creation can assist to improve internal and external processes and also encourage innovation. In task one, the aim is to differentiate between possession of knowledge and practice of knowledge and examine which epistemology B&Q uses throughout their supply chain. B&Q uses possession knowledge whereby it provides all their vendors with a code of conduct guidelines which they need to follow through. Knowledge is defined as â€Å"awareness, consciousness, or familiarity gained by experience or learning† (knowledge, n. d) which are the ways people in a social situations would understand and make sense of where they are and what they are doing. When knowledge is conducted and embraced in an organization, it will result to a group of people who develop shared beliefs, behaviours and routines that shape organization capabilities. Experts such as Polanyi (1966), Nonaka (1994) and Cook and Brown (1999) divide knowledge into two categories called tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is associated with the skills or know-how that people developed through their own experience in specific contexts. Whereas explicit knowledge is something that has been codified, written down or spelled out and is communicable across context. 1. 2 Possession and practice From the word possession itself, one can understand that it is about the knowledge that people have in their mind (Cook and Brown, 1999). Blackler (1995), and Cook and Brown (1999) refer possesion of knowledge as â€Å"knowledge† and practice of knowledge as â€Å"knowing†. Knowledge is a mental or cognitive capacity which is hierarchical in nature and comprises of data, information etc. moreover, possession of knowledge is a personal property where people render meaning from subjective experiences, perceptions and previous understanding. As human minds are individually unique, hence different people may perceive and intepret the same information or data differently. Meanwhile, practice of knowledge sees knowledge as something that it developed through social interaction such as project work, group assignment or group discussion. When people practice knowledge, they convert tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge, thus transferring knowledge from one person to another. This is done through sharing stories, experiences or creating norms to a group of people hence enabling the experience of an individual to be related to a wider community. 3. 3 B&Q case B&Q plc works with many vendors such as Kingfisher Asia (KAL) who supply products to B&Q. Hence to manage their vendors and ensure processes and procedures are followed, B&Q come up with code of conduct (B&Q Operational Standards for Supply Chains) for all their vendors. The code of conduct is based on the international labour and envirnmental standards set by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions which factories and worksites of all vendors throughout the world need to comply to. In summary, vendors need to let B&Q have full visibility of the enitre supply chain and fulfill and obey the code of conduct criteria at all facilities. Any failure to meet the nine Critical Failure Points (CFPs) will result in B&Q not buying or purchasing their products. Through this code of conduct, we can deduce that B&Q adopts a possession of knowledge rather than practice of knowledge. B&Q receives knowledge about labour and environmental guidelines from ILO conventions and uses the basic context to write down or capture in an information technology (IT) system which is then made available as an organizational resource – B&Q Operational Standards for Supply Chains. This is in contrast of having a group discussion with the vendors and seeking their opinions and views on how to create a better working environment for the workers (practice of knowledge). For example, Baer (1987) and Abbott (1988) explained that in order to defend their position, occupational groups such as doctors would write down or ‘black box’ their skills and knowledge which is then used by others as guidelines or instructions to follow. B&Q is following the same concept as they wish to guard their position as a responsible organization or employer where the rights of all workers throughout the world are respected and protected. Thus, this results to an encoded knowledge (Blackler, 1995) for the vendors as information is transmited through the code of conduct.

Capital Punishment Essay

As a society we have an established set of rules and norms that are enforced by our justice system which we as a people have deemed as the highest power to determine when these rules and norms are broken and what appropriate punishment should be given. We live in a world filled with diversity. Not only diversity in cultures but diversity with people in terms of character and morals. Society is filled with both good upstanding people but also those people who find it less than necessary to follow any norms or rules society has created but instead find a life in crime. Crimes can range from something minimal such as theft to the most serious which is murder. This introduces us to capital punishment or more commonly termed, the death penalty. Though openly controversial, capital punishment has its share of opponents and supporters. Many philosophers have discussed issues in relation to violence, laws and punishment. Malcolm X is one such philosopher. His beliefs in violence in terms of self defense can relate to the issue of capital punishment. Malcolm X believed that one should defend themselves by all means necessary when it means self defense. He believed in non violence unless one’s life was at risk and needed defending. In such cases self defense should be practiced. In his famous speech â€Å"The Ballot or the Bullet† delivered on April 13, 1964 he introduces his principle of self defense and his intentions to work â€Å"non violently as long as the enemy is nonviolent† but also be â€Å"violent when the enemy gets violent†. These are examples of his principles. There are other philosophers that approach the issue of capital punishment in more depth. Hugo Adam Bedau and Ernest van den Haag are two such philosophers who present their arguments to capital punishment. Bedau and Haag offer compelling arguments that as a reader one may find it difficult to choose a side. The fact of the matter is that capital punishment is the most extreme form of punishment and because of its severity and irreversibility; its usage must be very stringent. Both Bedau and Haag discuss capital punishment and take relatively different sides about similar issues. Both construct their arguments discussing issues such as capital punishment and its unjust application, its deterrence ability and the possible execution of innocent people. Haag takes on the position of pro capital punishment and argues his position in his article â€Å"In Defense of the Death Penalty†. Bedau on the other side takes on the position of pro abolition and discusses his arguments in his article â€Å"Capital Punishment†. We’ll begin with Haag and his arguments. Haag argues that the execution of innocent people believed to be guilty is a miscarriage of the justice system and should be stopped but it does not warrant the abolishing of capital punishment. Killing innocent people is not enough to abolish capital punishment and thus risking the innocent lives that may be saved by these â€Å"murderers†. These advantages in turn outweigh the disadvantages of killing innocent â€Å"criminals† and the punishment of capital punishment is just. In executing a murderer it is concluded by Isaac Ehrlich’s 1933-1969 study that one execution may result in 7 or 8 fewer murders because the execution acts as deterrence for future murders (pg. 351). Haag presents us with two choices in regards to deterrence. The first choice he presents is that to trade the life of a convicted murderer and save the 7 or 8 innocent victims whose murder is probable unless the murderer is executed. The second choice is to allow the murderer to live and possibly lose the 7 or 8 innocent people who the murderer can possibly kill. Most of us would choose the first choice and Haag agrees. He argues that it would be irresponsible not to execute the murderer simply because there is no guarantee that their execution would help save the lives of potential innocent victims. It seems immoral to allow murderers to live on even if there is even the slightest possibility that innocent lives are at risk. Haag supports this argument by stating that â€Å"more severe penalties are more deterrent than less severe penalties† (pg. 352). People are less likely to commit severe crimes if the punishment is just as severe. With that said it only seems logical to say that the most severe crime warrants the most severe punishment. Thus, murderers should be punished with the death penalty. Haag also uses the situation with current prisoners to elaborate his point of how capital punishment is a deterrent. Prisoners serving life sentences and who are not sentenced to execution relatively follow prison rules and norms because the possibility of a more severe punishment or sentence does exist. Haag states that without the death penalty, prisoners would find no reason to avoid committing more crimes towards fellow prisoners or guards because the abolishment of the death penalty presents them with a sort of immunity. They can freely commit more crimes knowing they will not get additional punishment. Not only within the prison context but criminals on the outside world and who anticipate that their crime will result in a life sentence may be compelled to murder as many people as necessary to facilitate their escape. No death penalty threat would stop them from committing more crimes. This is where death penalty plays the deterrent role. Whether capital punishment is at fault for sometimes executing innocent people or positively deterring other criminals from committing murder, the death penalty and its application is the third issue we will discuss. According to Haag the death penalty is separate from its moral characteristic. If the death penalty is perfectly distributed but morally unjust, it would be unjust in each case. In the same manner if the death penalty was morally just but applied discriminatorily it would remain just in each case. Guilty people do not all of a sudden become innocent because they escaped it or innocent people don’t deserve punishment because others suffer it. Justice and equality are not hand in hand and though equality should be important and practiced it should not affect the hand of justice. Bedau stands on the other side of the capital punishment issue. His arguments try to prove why the position of abolition is better. In respects to the same issues that Haag presents I will discuss Bedau’s arguments Both Haag and Bedau discuss how it is possible that with capital punishment innocent people deemed guilty are executed. However, Bedau presents this argument in a cost benefit analysis. Haag states that the execution of innocent people is a miscarriage of justice and that its advantages of possibly saving future innocent victims because of the execution of the murderer outweigh the drawbacks of executing an innocent person. Therefore Haag uses the lives of future innocent victims as the advantage of capital punishment whereas Bedau though agreeing with Haag about the possibility of executing innocent people, identifies the risks as â€Å"social costs† (pg. 367). Bedau proceeds to discuss the economic costs that the death penalty incurs. Cost of housing the prisoner while on death row, cost of the capital trial and of the appeals. Bedau discusses the risk of executing innocent people just as Haag but Bedau finds different aspects of it to elaborate and approaches the matter in terms of costs to society. Haag makes two points in regards to deterrence for which Bedau has an argument he presents. According to Haag, capital punishment deters other criminals from committing murder and per the Ehrlich study 1 execution saves 7 or 8 innocent lives and not executing the murderer is a form of irresponsibility when the only reason is that there is no guarantee that their execution will lengthen or save future innocent victims who would be murdered had the murderer be spared. Bedau argues that capital punishment cannot deter murder but instead it can possibly only prevent it. Bedau draws a distinction between the death penalty as a crime preventive and death penalty as a crime deterrent. Haag does not make a distinction and instead only discusses the death penalty as a crime deterrent. It is only reasonable that the distinction be made. Executing a murderer can be seen as a crime preventive if the execution prevents the murderer from killing again. It can also be seen as a crime deterrent if the execution serves as an example and results in frightening off others from committing murder. Now according to Haag capital punishment serves as a deterrent for murderers but on the contrary Bedau argues that capital punishment can never deter the murderer from further crimes but rather it can at most prevent them from committing them. It is impossible to determine what deterrence the death penalty proves for the person has already been executed. There is no way of measuring the number of crimes the murderer did not commit because of the death penalty threat. Bedau presents us with an alternative. He argues that because it is impossible to know what or how many crimes a murderer will be deterred from committing with a death penalty threat, it is just as likely the same crimes be deterred by a lesser punishment such as long-term imprisonment. This fails to show that the death penalty is a better deterrent than the less severe penalty of long-term imprisonment for the crime of murder. Bedau then reinforces this by concluding that if death penalty and long-term imprisonment have an equal effectiveness or ineffectiveness as deterrents to murder, then arguing for capital punishment as deterring murder is flawed and weakened. In congruence to his stand on abolition Bedau then argues that there is no reason for choosing the death penalty when a lesser punishment can be just as effective. After discussing capital punishment as a deterrent and the risks of executing innocent people that it creates, Bedau presents a different approach and perspective to Haag in terms of the death penalty and its application. Haag states that unequal justice is still justice and that equality before the law should be enforced but never at the expense of justice. Bedau offers a different perspective. According to Bedau, the death penalty is a â€Å"poor man’s justice† (pg. 375). Both opponents and supporters of the death penalty agree that capital punishment should be practiced fairly, equally and evenly and that it is a fundamental dictate of justice. The only dispute lies with the actual use of capital punishment. Bedau further elaborates how capital punishment is unfairly distributed. People are sentenced to death not because of their release risks or poor parole but because they have poor defense at trial; they have inexperienced or overworked counsels or they are just without the funds for an appeal trial. This reinforces the street saying â€Å"those without the capital get the punishment† (pg. 375) as Bedau quotes. People are not convicted based on their nature or violent behavior but rather on how much money they both have and are willing to spend on their trial. Bedau and Haag present different arguments to similar issues and though Bedau can agree with Haag on an issue or two, he finds a different approach to it and elaborates it differently. Haag and Bedau present very compelling arguments and it is not difficult to understand each of their points. However, personally I would have to say that I take a much harsher and tougher stand in capital punishment. One that is not discussed by either philosopher. Of course in a perfect world murder would not exist and capital punishment would not be needed, but in this world murder and those who commit murder are very much real. Capital punishment should mean a life for a life; Lex talionis as Bedau briefly mentions. In the most literal terms if a person has the heart and willingness to murder another human being then they should be willing to lose their life the same exact way. I do believe in capital punishment being a deterrent to murder but the fact that not every murder results in the death penalty as punishment I believe is a reason why some criminals are sometimes reckless with their decisions. However, if there was some way of knowing how a trial was to end and know that the punishment would be the death penalty, it would have to make the criminal think twice. Some argue that the death penalty is just an easy way out for the murderer. This is why I further will elaborate my point. The death penalty should be specific to the murder. If a murderer tortures his victim then they too should be tortured. If the murderer shoots his victim they too should be shot to death and if the murderer burns his victim they too should be burned. Now I would like to clarify that this should be applied to murders that are premeditated or intended and not accidental deaths. This should apply to those criminals that had an obvious intention to cause harm to their victims and resulting in death. I can understand the moral and ethical questions this would bring up and the issue of stooping to the level of murderers but those are just issues and opinions, the fact of the matter is you take a life you give your life. This approach will of course never happen so I will offer a different one. Considering that it is argued that capital punishment is unfairly applied and that an accused murderer’s innocence or guilt is determined based on how much funds they have to afford good counsel and appeals then as a way to eliminate this risk every single person who si accused of murder should have the best counsel available to them regardless of whether they can afford it or not. This will allow every single person to get a fair trial and the possibility of executing someone who is actually innocent will no longer exist. A person will no longer be executed with the possible doubt that they may be innocent but just could not afford to be defended fairly. If someone murderers another human being then they should be punished just as severely, but also until their guilt is proven they should be defended like anyone else, regardless of how much money they have. Innocence and guilt should never have a price tag. Capital punishment is our society’s way of keeping moral boundaries and norms in place. We as a people can have different opinions about the severity of the death penalty but that is all they are, opinions. Whether we agree with the death penalty or oppose it we must learn to recognize other points of views and educate ourselves. Murder is the most severe of crimes and the death penalty is the most severe of punishments. Therefore, each one of us has a choice to decide whether they go hand in hand.