Thursday, October 31, 2019
Compare one of the two indian captivity narratives, of either mary Essay
Compare one of the two indian captivity narratives, of either mary rowlandson or mary jemison with the film the searchers - Essay Example The story begins when the Jemison was kidnapped from outside her home in Pennsylvania. She did not speak for several days, and the first time she uttered a word, she said ââ¬Å"I want to dieâ⬠(Jemison 13). After arriving at Fort Duquesne, she again spoke only to tell her captors her name (Jemison 21). However, in the course of her silence, Jemison slowly began to accept the Seneca culture. She began speaking in Seneca language and comforted two sisters who lost their brother in a combat against the English (Jemison 25-6). The two small events started her immersion in the tribeââ¬â¢s culture, and it was even furthered by her marriage to a Delaware member, Sheninjee. She built a family with her spouse, and even before her son Thomas was born, she is almost completely immersed in the Indian-American culture (Jemison 31). She felt contented with her life there, and even when she was widowed, she pursued a second marriage within the tribe, even proclaiming to an escaped slave th at she is ââ¬Å"one of the Indians and she is a Senecaâ⬠(Jemison 44).
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Position Statement (outline) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1
Position Statement (outline) - Essay Example II. Another reason for decriminalizing marijuana may be the benefits the government will receive. This is through the amount of capital they might save in terms of the war against drugs. Billions of dollars are used in this expensive battle to catch, prosecute and house those who purchase and sell drugs (Gerber 59). When dealing with marijuana, the costs are soaring high, and it is no more harmful than other regulated drugs. III. There is also the issue of the capital lost in terms of tax collection when it comes to drugs. Revenue lost because the government cannot tax illegal drugs is proving costly in modern day. By decriminalizing marijuana, the government may earn tax revenue from legalizing marijuana than fighting it off the market, losing revenue in the process (Gerber 64). I. The implications of legalizing/decriminalizing marijuana are tremendous. Like anything else legalized in the economy, the government is likely to get involved in the stakes of marijuana production, harvest, and sale. This means that; it would be just like any other drug in the economy at the moment; controlled to profit of a few corporations (Morgan 79). The economy should not be controlled by these few corporations, and neither should the production, harvest, and sale of this drug. II. Just like any other drug, legalizing marijuana may lead to the growth of other trades. Other drugs may make their way into the market, which leads to rise in illegal and illegitimate trade. This implies that, the government might use extra capital annually to fight and combat other drugs off the market (Morgan 98). A. Through decriminalizing marijuana, it is highly likely the revenue a state may receive annually will benefit it tremendously. This is through tax collection, and reduction in costs incurred trying to fight the drug (Gerber 64). B. Decriminalizing marijuana also means the growth of employment opportunities. Many people will get employment through the
Sunday, October 27, 2019
The Labour Party and New Labour
The Labour Party and New Labour The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century, it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the left in Britain. Its formation was the result of many years of hard effort by working people, trade unionists and socialists, united by the goal of changing the British Parliament to represent the interests of everybody. The labour Party had been a promoter of social democracy. Social democracy is a form of socialism which aims to reform the capitalist system to reduce social inequality and promote social justice. The core values of the social democracy can be seen in the old Clause IV which supported; equality, redistribution of wealth, social justice, nationalisation, full employment and welfare for all. The dominance of the Conservative Thatcher government with its New Right policies in British politics created a situation which made it increasingly difficult for labour to have any credible influence in the running of the country. The Labour party was seen as a spent force, with its tired policies being viewed as irrelevant and out of touch with the modern world. Something had to change ideologically within the party in order for Labour to have any realistic chance of being re-elected in the near future. When Tony Blair was elected the leader of the Labour party on 21 July 1994, the Conservative party had been in power for 15 years. One of Tony Blair statements about the need for modernisation of the party was very upbeat .Writing in the New Statesman, he stated that the reason we have been out of power for fifteen years is simple -that society changed and we refused to change with it(Marxism Today, 1998;p11) In previous general elections the British electorate had chosen to be governed by the Conservative party. Blairs goal was to make the Labour party electable again with the help of his New Labour rebranding. One of the first tasks Blair took was to re-write Clause IV from the Labour constitution in 1995, to eleminate the commitment to common ownership and in effect to the old style social democracy. These were replaced by commitments to the free market, to the environment, to the ending of discrimination and to equality of opportunity for all. New Labour was first termed as an alternative branding for the Labour Party, dating from a conference slogan first used by the Labour Party in 1994 which was later seen in a draft manifesto published by the party in 1996, called New Labour, New Life For Britain. After becoming leader of the party in 1994, Blair made a decisive break away from Old Labours traditional political stance. In policy terms New Labour often refer to themselves as The Third Way between Old Labour, which they believe to be too radical, and New Right which they consider to have been overly concerned by the principle of laissez-faire and individualism. The Third Way sought to find a middle ground between two rather conflicting ideologies. Traditional Socialism proposed collectivist solutions to most economic and social problems: state ownership of the means of production and major industries, an extensive welfare state, strong trade unions and high levels of personal taxation to finance the redistribution of wealth and income. The New Right, on the other hand, championed free market capitalism, the pursuit of individual self interest, a smaller, reduced role for the state, free labour markets and low levels of personal taxation. Debate and questions have been raised about the political nature of the New Labour and Third Way. The core of them is a question if the Labour party has been changed and modernised indeed, or whether New Labour is in fact Old Labour, which had to use prefix new in order to recall the votes and to return in power? The public discussion of this issue become more intense with labours landslide victory in 1997 .In the late 1980,s party went through a process of policy review. This process provoked reactions from many scholars Some critics argue that new labour is indeed new in the one or the other way (e.g. Heffernan, 2001) other state that it does not represent a break with its younger past but remarks a return to an older paradigm of social democracy (e.g. Shaw,1996) Dealing with specific ideological problem two standpoints can be observed. On the one hand ,some scholar define New labour in many ways as Neo-liberals project which is, in many aspect ,similar to Thatcherism (Hay ,1999 : Heffernan 2001,) Others argue that it does not embrace the absolute social-democracy orthodoxy but still belongs to the family of socialist ideas-even if in a more modern way. Some in this group claim that New Labour managed to find the third way indeed: trying to keep balance between economic success and social i nclusion, between market and society (e.g. Giddens 1998; p7-9). One part of the debate consists of discussion if new labour includes renewed ideology or it if it only presents a new image. Tony Blair implied that new labour ideology, instead of giving importance to state control, class struggle and equality as would be the case with Old Labour-gives much importance to a stable and competitive market, social inclusion and the attainment of economic growth. In Blairs words higher educational standard are the key to international competitive and inclusive society for the future (Blair,1998:p18) New labour strategy is not based on class-distinction .different from old labour which is biased in favour of the working instead ,new labour puts forward an all embracing category that focuses on community .The enemies of new labour are no longer portrayed as belonging to the ruling or middle classes, but are those who are portrayed as harming the community . Such findings relate to class identification. Tony Blair famously declared in 1998 that were all middle class now and has consistently maintained that the class war is over those are the old divisions that we need to get over by, for instance, restructuring education and the labour market . For example ,as Blair argued, education is the best economic policy there is(Driver and Martell,1998:p57) New labour seeks to move from a passive to an active, preventive welfare state. The welfare system should be proactive ,preventing poverty by ensuring that people have the right education, training and support. Tony Blair will commit himself to equality, rejecting Old Labour demands for equality of outcome and defining it as equal opportunities for all in education, employment and as citizens. Opportunity for all was indicated as a goal of New Labour with other similar expressions such as fairness, and social justice as well as other concept of objectives were, sometimes, added with it like equal worth in New Labours language. Then what does actually opportunity for all mean in their context? White (1998) argues that it involves a commitment to real opportunity for basic goods such as employment and education. First of all, as Driver Martell (2000) and Fairclough (2000) indicate, opportunity for all contrasted with, traditional socialists value, equality, in particular, equality of outcome. In other words, it shifted the meaning of social justice from equality of outcome to equality of opportunity. Public spending and taxation is one of the areas where the New labour under Tony Blair is most clearly different from old labour. Policies towards state pensions provide a clear example. Many scholars hold that New labour ideology, strategy and policies are adopted by the Conservative Government. Some key parts of its inheritance from the conservative are identified like attempts to control public spending .privatisation, the growth of means testing and the growth of inequality. New Labour has been very enthusiastic towards the voluntary sector just as the Thatcher government embraced the voluntary sector in the name of liberty and enterprise, New Labour has in the name of community renewal and contributory citizenship. New Labours economic policy is built around the consolidation of a close working relationship between the government and employers, where trade union power hardly features. Although economic policy would not be different from the one that Conservatives introduced, some policies like social welfare aspects would be adjusted in such a way that it would be in favour of society for example, giving extra funding for health and education without significant changes to income taxation. There is a stress on discarding the Conservative reforms that failed, but keeping those that worked .New Labour phrase what counts is what works (Powell, 1999) Tony Blair argued that some things the conservatives got right; we will not change them, where they got things wrong that we will make change (Labour Party, 1997) Blairs conservatism is also reflected in his adoption of the language of the new right: Labours policy documents on welfare and poverty are permeated by the notions of welfare dependency, community, family, obligations,,duties and responsibilities. Rights and entitlements to benefits, and decent schools, healthcare and housing hardly feature at all in this perspective. Under slogan of making work pay, it is intended that the minimum wage, and a partial fusing of the tax and benefit system will ensure that people who move from welfare to work should be financially better. The New Deal Policy of welfare-to-work ,The Working Families Tax Credit scheme are clearly set out within New Labours 1997 Election Manifesto and are seen as a key part of New Labours Third Way policy, which is phrased by the acronym PAP (Pragmatism and Populism). In a series of publications from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1998a and 1998b), the Department for Education and Employment (1997), the Department of Social Security (1998) and the Social Exclusion Unit (1998), the institutional structure to progress New Labours urban policy objectives was set out. It was clear from these publications that New Labour saw area-based urban policies as no more than add-ons to mainline policies for housing, health, income support and education. Like Conservatives, Blairs government stressed the interactive nature of urban policy: centrally funded local programmes were set within the wider context of New Labours national programme of social policy reforms in such areas as health, education and the New Deal Welfare for work. In his speech to the 1997 Labour Party conference Blair argued that a decent society is not based on rights. It is based on duty. Our duty to each other. To all should be given opportunity; from all responsibility demanded. There is a pervasive conservatism at the heart of New Labour which forms the basis of Blairs much vaunted vision of a new society. Blair talks of creating a new settlement between the individual and society, wherein the stress on the individual will be accompanied by a new role for social institutions such as family, community and the state. At the forefront of this process is an attack on those on a range of benefits, but this is a wedge to drive a wider agenda of welfare restructuring where we all have the responsibility to provide for our pensions, our healthcare, the education of our children and so on. State provision is to be removed or, at the very least, residualised and stigmatised. This is an agenda to continue with the Tories strategy of privatising what is left of the public sector and cutting the social wage. Although there seems to be a significant continuation of policy in many areas there ate differences as well. The similarities and differences between New Labour and Thatcherism hold varying degrees of importance in these theories. Tony Blair demurred from the Thatcherites in a number of areas, although they were never keen to emphasise them too hard. Unlike her, he wanted a much more cordial relationship with the European Union: unlike her, he wanted a more socially liberal society, and many of his supporters see the introduction of civil partnerships as one of New Labours most enduring changes. Unlike her, he enacted changes to the constitution. Certainly Labours first move was pure free market. The Bank of England gained the freedom to set interest rates and pursue inflation targets. It was bold. Even the Tories had refused to do it, despite pressure from the Adam Smith Institute. The Labour also managed to introduce legislations for Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly and reform House of Lords. Conclusion Although the majority of the policies which have been adopted by New Labour seem to be pushing for a neo-liberal or free market political agenda, it is difficult to collectively identify the party under a single ideological heading, because of the varying political stance it has taken on a range of issues. Furthermore I have explained to what extent New Labours social policies can be considered similar to those pursued by previous Conservative government. In general New labour has a clearly distinctive approach from Old Labour, however some policy adoption can be noted with the Conservatives, particularly in the areas of public expenditure, privatisation, the mixed economy, and welfare-to-work. Bibliography: Atkinson, R. and Moon, G. (1994). Urban Policy in Britain. The City, the State and the Market, Basingstoke and London: Macmillan Blair, T. (1998). The Third Way: New Politics for a New Century London: Fabians Society Blair, T. (1996). New Britain: My Vision of a Young Country. London: Fourth Estate. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, 1998a: Regeneration Programmes the way forward, London: DETR. Department for Education and Employment, 1997: Welfare to Work Employment Zones. Department of Social Security, 1998: New Ambitions for Our Country: A New Contract for Welfare. London: DSS Giddens, A.(1998). The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press Giddens, A. (2000). The third way and its critics. Cambridge: Polity Press Hay, C. and Marsh, D. (2000). Demystifying Globalisation Basingstoke: Macmillan Heffernan, R. (2001). New Labour and Thatcherism: Political Change in Britain. Basingstoke: Macmillan
Friday, October 25, 2019
Detrimental Aspects of Animal Experimentation Essay -- Animal Rights
An intense and polarizing deliberation concerning the issue of animal experimentation and the utilization in research has been raging for years. This issue often catches newspaper headlines and strikes the heart of the American public. The opinion of advocates of animal research and the opinion of those who oppose it are quite visible in the media. Both sides tirelessly strive in advancing their unique beliefs. So far as this discussion is specifically focused on the attainment of favorable legislation by one side or the other, special interest groups have been formed by both parties in order to sway the legislators and numerous bureaucrats to their desired side. The frequently hostile dispute regarding animal testing has grown since its inception, predominantly as a result of the efforts and actions taken by numerous celebrities and influential activists. One such group that has intensified the dialogue is PETA, people for the ethical treatment of animals. In an effort to att ain the ultimate goal of their organization and fulfill the charter upon which this advocacy group was founded, a number of employees along with the assistance of millions of fellow sympathizers engage in informative and influential campaigns. These campaigns often use provocative operandi as a means of drawing attention to their cause and furthering their agenda. Estimates given by various animal rights organizations and government institutions yield figures that show upwards of fourteen million rats and mice, and nearly one and a half million species of other animals such as cats and dogs are utilized in experimental research on a yearly basis. What, then, does this experimental research encompass? There are in fact two different variations of ... ...roductsonanimals.com/info/draizetest Accessed April 18, 2012. 3. Psychological and behavioural animal experiments and research testing. International Association Against Painful Experiments on Animals Website. 2011. http://www.iaapea.com/psychological_experiments.php Accessed April 16, 2012. 4. Greek R, Greek J. Is the use of sentient animals in basic research justifiable? Phil, Eth & Human In Med. January 2010;5:14-29. DOI: 10.1186/1747-5341-5-14 5. Pycroft L, Marston H. Is animal testing necessary to advance medical research? New Internationalist. July 2011:34-36. 6. James-Enger K. Beyond animal testing. Vegetarian Times. Oct 1998:104. 7. Archibald K. Test people, not animals. New Scientist. Sept 2005: 24. 8. Microdosing: current and the future. Future-Science Website. 2010. http://www.futurescience.com/doi/abs/10.4155/bio.09.177 Accessed April 13, 2012.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Effective communication for and about individuals Essay
Promote effective communication for and about individualsExercise HSC031A) What are the legal requirements on equality, diversity, discrimination and rights, relating to: individuals language and communication preferences?Equal treatment for language and communication. When completing records?As I work within the NHS, the ICU follows the National Institute for Clinical Excellence Equal Opportunities (2000) policy it states thatÃâIt is the policy of the Institute to work towards ensuring that no recipient of its services, present or future employee or job applicant receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of:- age, colour, creed, disability, ethnic origin, marital status, nationality, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, social status, trade union membershipÃâ (NICE 2000)This affects communication as it states that we must do everything in our power to provide equal service levels to everyone. For example if a patient speaks a foreign language, there is a communication barrier, so we must provide any information to them in their native language, whether that be through an interpreter or translated leaflets. The trust recognises that promotion and regular communication of the policy is important to ensure that individuals understand their commitment to equal opportunity and are aware of their own responsibility regarding equal opportunities and know how to raise concerns or make complaints and are confident that these will be handled effectively. E) What is the code of practice and standards and guidance relevant to your role, responsibilities and accountability, and duties of others when communicating difficult, complex and sensitive issues and reporting and recording?As a health care assistant the official code of practice and standard that I should follow and understand are laid down by the General Social Care Council in the Codes of practice: for social care workers and employers (2002) this covers most of the core standards which as a care worker I must follow. But I am also under the guidelines set down by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC 2005). To ensure that I gain the trust of my patients, I should recognise them as equal partners, use language that is familiar to them and make sure that they understand the information you areà giving. As far as record keeping goes, I should make sure that any records I make must be clear, legible and accessible to the patient or client, as outlined by the NMCÃâs document Standards for Records and Record Keeping (NMC 89346) and under the terms of the Data Protection Act (1984) and the Access to Health Records Act (1990). Both these documents state that all communication about patients whether written or verbal are completely confidential. F) Where can you seek advice from regarding an individuals communication and language needs, wishes and preferences?When a patient has communication and language needs the first person I would ask would be the patient, to access for myself the communication needs. I would then look at the patients notes and finally I would ask the staff nurse looking after the patient or the district nurse if they are in the community. If I still need more advice or there are still communication difficulties, I could refer the patient to the speech and language therapy department. If the difficulty is a language barrier I could try to contact a language and interpretation service. It is vital to understand that wherever possible the patientÃâs wishes should take priority in the decision taking over communication needs. G) How can you and were can you access information and support to update your knowledge and gain further assistance to meet the individuals communication needs. There are several places that you can access information to update your knowledge both on a personal level and on an individual client basis. You can update your communication knowledge by keeping up to date with all the guidelines surrounding communication, such as the journals on new communication methods and studies or spend time with the speech and language therapy unit to improve your communication skills. On an individual client basis, the first place to look for information onà improving your communication with the client is from the client themselves. By checking for responses and reactions, both verbal and non verbal you can judge whether your communication methods are effective. Then to further gain knowledge and understanding, you can refer them to a specialised service to meet their needs depending on what the communication need is. For example there may be a language barrier, in this instance, first see if there are members of family who could translate (where appropriate with patients understanding) as patients often feel more comfortable with a relative translating for them, if this was not available or inappropriate, I would track down the translators service and refer the case to them. H) What are the theories relevant to the following:-Specific conditions in your area of practice that can affect communication skills, abilities. In Intensive care effective communication can be difficult for a number of reasons, they can be environmental problems, physical or mental problems, like the patients consciousness levels could be effected, either drug induced or pathologically based, there may be visual and hearing problems and environmental problems, such as poor lighting or a noisy situation. The patient may not be able to make sense of the communication, they may use a different language or dialect or may not understand the jargon or professional terms used. Many of the patients on Intensive care are heavily sedated, so effective two way communication with then is almost impossible, also most of the patients that are not sedated are on high levels of medication, which can cause drowsiness and confusion. Of the patients that are lucid enough to communicate coherently, the most common communication problems are the problems of those who have ventilation support, either they have a tracheotomy tube in place, which means that air does not pass through the voice box so they have no voice, or they have a BiPAP mask to assist with breathing, which restricts the ability to speak and be heard. How can communication and language differences affect the identity, self esteem and self image of those you work with?ÃâSelf-esteem meansà ââ¬Ëappreciating your own worth and importanceââ¬â¢ ââ¬â and it helps you to cope better with the challenges of lifeÃâ (Tracy Turner BBC)In ICU patients that have a Glasgow coma score (GCS) of 14 or 15 and are on little or no sedation, in other words able to understand where they are and what is happening to them. Communication problems can have a huge influence on identity, self esteem and self image. Especially in ICU as the communication difficulties are usually new problems for the patient due to illness and the treatment. For example a person has a tracheotomy, firstly they loose their voice, which many people feel is part of them, it make who they are, so this detracts from self image and identity. But the main factor is that they loose the ability to express themselves with ease, so they can loose self-esteem. One of the major thing is, as they canÃât express themselves in the way they are used to, so a person whose self-esteem is low, will tend to feel that what happens to them is beyond their control. Studies have suggests that self-esteem is likely to have a major effect on their mental and physical health. How can power be used to abuse people when communicating on difficult, sensitive and complex issues?One major thing that people with communication difficulties experience, is loss of power. The person/carer who is looking after someone with communication difficulties, whether they be sensory deficits or other difficulties, is that they ( the carer ) is acting as interpreter and has the power to interpret the patients needs and wishes in their own way, even ignoring the persons wishes and carry out tasks that they want to. This is why training is essential for effective two-way communication. An example of this would be the situation of a stroke patient with paralysis down one side, so was unable to feed themselves and has mild dysphasia. In a lot of cases the care giver thinks they know what is best for the patient, with no consideration for the patients wishes, In many cases all the carer wants to do is feed the patient so they have a full diet but the patient may not like the Ãâmashed carrotÃâ but because time is tight and the carer just wants to get the plate cleared, they pretend not to understand the patients attempts to communicate that they would prefer theà Ãâmushy peasÃâ. A lot of abuse is not actually intentional, much of this comes from lack of proper communication skills and the carer not taking the time to listen or try to understand the patient. They have a job to do and a set amount of time to do that job in and in most cases think they know what is best for the patient. Often when patients do try to communicate their unhappiness the are treated to a barrage of patronizing ÃâawwsÃâ and Ãâcome on dears you need to do thisÃâ, orÃâ arenÃât you being silly todayÃâ almost treating patients like children, they can even be labelled as trouble makers. It is much different for the patient who can communicate fully, they state their discomfort in a clear and concise way, it is much harder to make somebody do something if they say straight out Ãâno I donÃât like thatÃâ. On ICU the situation is slightly different as a lot of our patients are on medications which will affect their mental capacity and perception so their communication difficulties are harder to resolve. So to determine if someone is of sound mind we use assessment tools to determine how able a patient is to make there own decisions (GCS & Sedation score). I) What factors can affect communication skills, abilities and development of those you support?In the ward environment there are many factors that can affect communication with the patient, they can be broken down into two main categories, environmental factors and personal factors. Trying to talk to someone in a noisy environment where there are continual interruptions leads to frustration, lack of understanding and poor concentration. Similarly individuals are often disinclined to discuss personal information or express strong emotions if they can be overheard or seen. Other environmental factors may relate to time available to talk. Carers often feel under pressure to ââ¬Ëget the job doneââ¬â¢ and their workloads may either inhibit clients ââ¬ËI donââ¬â¢t want to bother the nurses theyââ¬â¢re so busyââ¬â¢ or result in the carer communicating poorly because of pressure of work. VanCott (1993), Identified some of the personal factors that can effect patient communicationIndividual Carers may lack the knowledge, experience and skills to promote effective communication. Also in health care medical jargon is common, but can appear as a foreign language to someone receiving care. Use of words that are not within the clientââ¬â¢s own vocabulary generally results in misunderstandings and poor communication. There is also a tendency to use vague, ambiguous or unclear questions or statements along with failing to verify their own understanding of the other personââ¬â¢s statements. A communication failure that often occurs is completing tasks with little or no explanation behind purpose behind actionsM) What conflicts and dilemmas may be created by difficulties in communication in your workplace?Moving away from patient/career conflict, one of the main sources of conflict in ICU it that of conflict between families and friends and ICU staff. As with any ward and care situation the next of kin debate comes up regularly and what is best for the patient. The law around patient consent and advocacy is a massive topic and very hazy in some areas as to whether the doctor has the right to decide treatment or whether a next of kin should be involved. Also there is visitation rights who can come in and who canÃât and who decides. N) What procedures do you follow when dealing with conflict?In most of the cases where conflict arises there are strict procedures to follow this usually means reporting the problem to a higher level of responsibility. A good example of this it the case of Luke Winston-Jones (BBC 2004) there was direct conflict between the doctors and parents over the best case of action for the child. In the end the problem was passed to the highest responsibility the courts. This would be the same in my workplace so far I have only had to report minor conflict up to my line manager. R) What is the difference between factual, opinionated and judgement? Why is this important when completing records?It is important when completing records to only fill in what actually happened or what your clinicalà judgement was, not what your opinion is. An example of this would be when documenting what dressing you applied, you would state that in your clinical judgement what the best dressing would be and a factual account of applying that dressing. It is not good practice to document opinions unless your opinion clashed with that of somebody else, then you would state in the records that that was your opinion. A Factual account is something that is known to have happened or to exist, especially something for which proof exists, or about which there is information. Opinionated means having and expressing very strong feelings and beliefs, and believing that your own ideas are the only correct ones. Whereas an opinion is a personââ¬â¢s ideas and thoughts about something. It is an assessment, judgement or evaluation of something. An opinion is not a fact, because it is not possible to prove (or disprove) an opinionJudgement is the act or process of judging; the formation of an opinion after consideration and deliberation especially a formal or authoritative decision
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Coffee and Starbucks Background
Fourthly, the threats of substitute product is very likely to be high as coffee, juices, soft drinks, tea and many more can be easily substituted. In the mean time, consumers can also choose to go to pubs and bars and spend their time or to meet up to substituted struck. Lastly, the threat of competitor rivalry of struck in high as there are many presence of strong impetigo with deep pockets like Mcdonald's, coffee beans and dunking donuts. Not forgetting hundreds of small local coffee shops and houses fighting for the same market share. 7.Recommendation Based on the SOOT, PEST and Potter five forces that is conducted, I have made several recommendations. We can use concentric diversification to further expend the firms by making or obtaining new product and services which are related to the business. This is good for the business because it will bring down the cost and the main competencies can be move the the new business. Struck can also choose to use acquisition or restructuring diversification process to purchase other firms Or even merge with other firms to gain market share or even expend into a new market.Struck might also think of using differentiation strategy which involves conveying products and services that customers recognize as unique or special and must be better than what other people are doing in the same market. 8. Conclusion This is the completion of the environment analysis on struck in Singapore that have conducted. All in all with the SOOT analysis proves that struck s a very attractive company and struck is a very experienced company.PEST analysis that is conducted also proves that Singapore is a very safe and reliable country to invest in. Although Potters five forces shows that the industry is not very adjective but it also have some big limitations in today's market environment. Market environment sometimes changes as fast as we can anticipate but Potters five forces and other analysis can only serves as a guide to management to enab le them to think as a beginning for farther analysis. And vie made three suggestions base on all the analysis conducted.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Top 10 Online Tools for Book Authors
Top 10 Online Tools for Book Authors Top 10 Online Tools for Book Authors Top 10 Online Tools for Book Authors By Ali Hale Writing and publishing a book is a huge (and wonderful) undertaking ââ¬â and youââ¬â¢ll want all the help you can get. There are loads of great downloadable tools out there for book authors, like Scrivener (for writing), Calibre (for producing ebooks) and KDP Rocket (for finding good keywords to use on Amazon). But in this post, I want to focus on online tools ââ¬â ones that you can use through your web browser. Here are ten of the best, for different stages of your author journey: Tools for Writing and Editing Your Manuscript Iââ¬â¢ve already taken a look at some useful tools to help you focus and get your writing done in Top 10 Online Tools for Writers ââ¬â so here, I want to focus on a couple of tools that will help you edit your book manuscript: #1: Visuwords (free) Do you ever struggle to find the right word? If a traditional thesaurus isnââ¬â¢t helping, try using Visuwords, which shows you the links between different words (including opposites, related topics, and words that derive from your original word). It might just help you find the perfect word or phrase when youââ¬â¢re struggling. The map above shows the word ââ¬Å"anarchyâ⬠and related terms. Tip: By running your cursor over a word, you can view a definition ââ¬â and you can double-click a word to see its related words on your map, too. #2: WordCounter (free), Steven Morgan Friedman It can be tricky to spot which words come up just a little too often in your own writing ââ¬â but if you keep using the same ones again and again, readers will start to notice. Thatââ¬â¢s fine if you want to repeat a particular word for effect, but problematic if itââ¬â¢s unintentional. Once youââ¬â¢ve got your list of potentially over-used words, you can do a ââ¬Å"Findâ⬠in your document to check each instance and see whether you want to vary it. Hereââ¬â¢s a list from my novella-in-progress: (Iââ¬â¢m happy with many of those ââ¬â Flint, Jonathan, Corwin and Ruth are all character names, so itââ¬â¢s perfectly normal that they appear a lot. I suspect Iââ¬â¢m using ââ¬Å"goâ⬠and ââ¬Å"justâ⬠a bit too often, though!) Wordcounter is quite bare-bones, and I found that while it ignores punctuation like commas and periods, it includes quotation marks and apostrophe, meaning that some words will get listed twice, and also occasionally lists some odd words (I apparently have 60 instances of the word ââ¬Å"eyâ⬠in my novella, which I havenââ¬â¢t ever used!) Tip: Thereââ¬â¢s also a WordPress plugin version of the tool, which you might want to use if youââ¬â¢re writing blog posts ââ¬â either to check for words that you overuse, or to check if youââ¬â¢ve included keywords as much as you wanted to. Tools for Publishing Your Book Iââ¬â¢m going to assume here that you want to self-publish your book ââ¬â so if youââ¬â¢re planning to seek an agent and publisher, youââ¬â¢ll want to skip this section. (However your book is published, though, youââ¬â¢ll find the ââ¬Å"Tools for Marketing Your Bookâ⬠list useful.) #3: Smashwords (free), Smashwords, Inc Smashwords is a tool for self-publishers to format and distribute their ebook(s) to readers through a variety of different platforms (such as through Appleââ¬â¢s iBooks stores and through the Kobo store.) They offer loads of advice on self-publishing, too, particularly through the Smart Author Podcast. You can also sell books through ââ¬â and indeed buy books from ââ¬â Smashwords itself. Most authors, though, use it primarily as an easy way to get their ebook into lots of different online stores. The one big exception is Amazon: you canââ¬â¢t easily get your book onto Amazon through Smashwords. Thatââ¬â¢s not too much of a problem, though, because Amazonââ¬â¢s own system (KDP ââ¬â Kindle Direct Publishing) is straightforward and easy to work with. Weââ¬â¢re going to cover that in a moment. Itââ¬â¢s completely free to create an ebook through Smashwords, but Smashwords will take a small commission on each ebook you sell ââ¬â and the stores you sell through will also take a cut. Tip: You need to format your manuscript carefully according to theSmashwords Style Guide. If you donââ¬â¢t, itââ¬â¢ll either be rejected, or youââ¬â¢ll find that it comes out looking a bit weird! #4: Amazon KDP (free), Amazon Amazon is the biggest ebook retailer there is and they make it pretty straightforward to add your own ebook to their vast catalogue. You can sign up for KDP using your existing Amazon account (or you can create a new Amazon account). The KDP dashboard allows you to publish (or update) your ebooks and to see reports on your ebook sales. While itââ¬â¢s free to use Amazonââ¬â¢s KDP to publish your work, Amazon will take a fairly hefty cut of everything you sell ââ¬â paying you ââ¬Å"royaltiesâ⬠out of your bookââ¬â¢s cover price. If you price your ebook between $0.99 and $2.98, or above $9.99, youââ¬â¢ll get 35% royalties; if you price between $2.99 and $9.99, youââ¬â¢ll get 70% royalties. (You canââ¬â¢t price an ebook lower than $0.99.) Tip: Before Amazon can pay you, youââ¬â¢ll need to enter your tax information. You donââ¬â¢t need to have this to hand to start selling your ebook(s), though. #5: CreateSpace (free), Amazon While itââ¬â¢s possible to publish a paperback version of your ebook through KDP, CreateSpace is a more established option. (KDPââ¬â¢s paperback publishing is becoming better all the time, though, and you might want to check out this article by Dave Chesson for a side-by-side comparison of KDP Paperback and Createspace.) As with KDP, you can use your existing Amazon details for CreateSpace. You donââ¬â¢t need to pay anything upfront to publish a book through CreateSpace ââ¬â but youââ¬â¢ll find that the printing costs eat up a fair percentage of the cover price. The paperback version of my novel Lycopolis, for instance, is priced at $12.99 in the US; I get a royalty of $3.32 on each copy sold. Tip: Although CreateSpace offers a ââ¬Å"cover creatorâ⬠so you can design your own ebook cover, itââ¬â¢s not the greatest tool to work with. If you just want to publish a print version for your personal use, or perhaps to give to a few friends, itââ¬â¢ll do ââ¬â but Iââ¬â¢d avoid using it for a professional-looking book. Tools for Marketing Your Book Once your book is up for sale, the hard work really begins! Marketing a book, whether fiction or non-fiction, is a huge task but these online tools can give you a helping hand. #6: A-FWD (ââ¬Å"Link Globalizer for Amazon Affiliates And Authorsâ⬠), Woboq If you havenââ¬â¢t already signed up to Amazonââ¬â¢s Affiliate scheme, I highly recommend doing so. You can earn a little extra on books you sell via your affiliate links (and youââ¬â¢ll be able to track how many sales youââ¬â¢re making through your own website, tweets, etc ââ¬â as opposed to sales youââ¬â¢re getting through other channels). Unless your book is very specific to a particular country, youââ¬â¢ll probably be selling it worldwide, on different versions of Amazonââ¬â¢s site. Ideally, you want potential new readers to land on their version of Amazon. That means using a special link that can direct readers based on their location. And thatââ¬â¢s where A-FWD comes in. Just paste in your affiliate link ââ¬â the full version, not the short one ââ¬â from your local Amazon, and youââ¬â¢ll get a single link that should direct readers to their Amazon (regardless of whether you have an affiliate account there or not). Tip: If you have affiliate accounts for more than one version of Amazon, make sure you paste those in under ââ¬Å"Tracking IDsâ⬠(or you may find that your affiliate sales donââ¬â¢t get counted). #7: WordPress (free), WordPress Foundation At some stage in your author journey, youââ¬â¢re going to want to have a website or a blog. WordPress is a great way to build either. You can opt for WordPress.com aka ââ¬Å"hosted WordPressâ⬠(which is easier and cheaper to get started with, but more limited) or WordPress.org aka ââ¬Å"self-hosted WordPressâ⬠(which offers lots of flexibility and full control, but has a slightly steeper learning curve and means paying for a domain and hosting up-front). Thereââ¬â¢s a handy summary of the differences on the WPBeginner.com blog. Keep in mind that you donââ¬â¢t have to blog as an author ââ¬â you might simply want to use WordPress to create a straightforward websites that showcases your books. Tip: You can set up a completely free blog using WordPress.com, so if youââ¬â¢re feeling a bit daunted by the idea of blogging (or having a website), why not create a ââ¬Å"practiceâ⬠one so you can try it out? #8: MailChimp, The Rocket Science Group If you read any blogs aimed at book authors, one key piece of advice youââ¬â¢ll come across is to ââ¬Å"create a mailing listâ⬠. This allows you to email interested readers whoââ¬â¢ve signed up to receive updates from you. You might think you could simply email readers through your regular email account ââ¬â but this is a really bad idea. First, it means collating email addresses manually, which is an administrative headache. Second, and most importantly, it could easily see you falling foul of laws like CAN-SPAM (in the US) and GDPR (in the UK). There are plenty of online tools, though, that you can use to create an email list: readers can sign up and get added to the list at any time of the day or night, and you can create nicely formatted emails to send them. Iââ¬â¢ve chosen MailChimp here as itââ¬â¢s free up to the 2,000 subscriber point but there are plenty of other good options, like Aweber and Constant Contact. Tip: Email marketing, like blogging, can seem very daunting at first. Do give it a try: you can always set up a small mailing list with just yourself (and maybe a couple of willing family members or friends) on it, so you can test out your emails before sending them to readers. #9: Canva (free), Canva You can use Canva to create almost anything that involves images and graphics ââ¬â from book covers to posters, leaflets, and designs for Facebook, Instagram and other social networks. If youââ¬â¢re not yet at the stage of your author career where you can afford a professional designer, Canva could be a great option for you. There are lots of premade templates that you can use and thousands upon thousands of images ââ¬â creating the perfect Facebook cover or business card could be just a few clicks away. Note that not but all images are free: youââ¬â¢ll need to pay $1 in order to use some of them. Plus, some of Canvaââ¬â¢s features (like being able to use your previous designs as a template) are only available at the premium, paid-for level. Tip: While Canva is a great way to create promotional materials, itââ¬â¢s still a very good idea to go with a professional designer for your book cover itself (unless youââ¬â¢re an artist/designer and know what youââ¬â¢re doing). #10: NovelRank (free), NovelRank LLC NovelRank lets you track your sales across different Amazon sites (.com, co.uk, .fr, etc). It tells you where your book ranks in the charts, estimates sales made, and more. Itââ¬â¢s free to use at the basic level ââ¬â in fact, you donââ¬â¢t even need to create an account if you only want to track one book. Note that NovelRank can only show your sales from the point at which you set it up, as Amazon doesnââ¬â¢t provide historical data. Tip: As well as NovelRank, there are plenty of other tools that offer similar services, like BookCore (which is more basic, but works across multiple platforms). #11: DesignWizard (free with paid features) DesignWizard is another tool you can use to create the graphical assets of your book, including its cover and related marketing material. You will find that it offers virtually all the features of competing solutions while charging a lower price for the premium plans, so it is worth to check it out. I hope youââ¬â¢ll find the above tools helpful in your own journey to publication. Donââ¬â¢t feel that you have to use or even try all of them: pick and choose based on what you need right now, and take things step by step. Best of luck with your book! Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Whimsical Words"Certified" and "Certificated"How often is "bimonthly"?
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