Tender-Invitation to Treat-Contract Law

Contract Law Presented by Kerra Bazzey Contract Law Formation of a Contract Terms of a Contract Discharge of a Contract Remedies for Breach of a Contract Formation of a Valid and Enforceable Contract Offer Acceptance Consideration Intention to Create Legal Relations Privity of Contract Capacity to Contract Must not be illegal or contrary to public policy Formation of a Contract A contract is an agreement which creates legal rights and obligations between the parties to it. It is formed when the parties reach agreement on the essential features of the bargain.Offer – a statement made by a party which manifests an intention to be bound on precise terms. The person who makes an offer is known as the offeror or the promisor. The person to whom the promise is made is the offeree or the promisee. Bilateral contracts – most common form of contract – here there is an exchange of promises. Unilateral contracts – commonly known as an ‘if’ contract †“ here the promise is one-sided as the offeror alone makes a promise. Elements of an Offer (i) An offer can be made to an individual, a group of persons or to the public at large.An offer to the public at large can only be made where the contract is a unilateral one. (ii) An offer should not be vague. Where on the face of it an offer appears to be vague, but the parties have had prior dealings or are operating in a particular trade, then the courts will imply certain terms and conditions to conclude that a statement that initially appeared vague is in fact sufficiently certain. (iii) A response in request to clarification on price or a request for more information is not an offer. Elements of an Offer Consider the following exchange: – H: â€Å"Will you sell us your farm called Bumper Hall Pen? Fax me the lowest price†? F: â€Å"Lowest price for Bumper Hall Pen is $1,200,000. 00†. -H: â€Å"We agree to buy Bumper Hall Pen for $1,200,000. 00 asked by you†. – F never replied to this. H argued there was a valid contract. -The court held that F’s statement was not an offer. – It was merely a response to a request for information which showed the lowest price that F would have been prepared to charge in the event that he chose to sell the Bumper Hall Pen. – H’s last communication could therefore not be regarded as an acceptance. Elements of an Offer (iv) If a person declares that he intends to so something, that statement of intention is not an offer.If someone acts based on what was declared, and the person who made the declaration does not carry out the act he stated he would, but the person who acted based on what was said suffers a loss, the person who suffered the loss cannot bring an action against the person who made the declaration. This is because there was never any offer so there was nothing to be accepted. Consider the following case: – An auctioneer advertised in the newspaper that he would be holding a sale of office furniture. – A broker commissioned to buy office furniture travelled from far to attend the sale but all the furniture was withdrawn. The broker sued the auctioneer for his loss of time and expenses. – Can he recover for his loss of time and expenses? – No. – The court would hold that an intention to do something does not constitute an offer geared towards create a binding contract. Invitations to Treat Invitation to Treat An offer must be distinguished from an invitation to treat. An invitation to treat is an invitation to someone else to make an offer. It is not an offer because there is no intention to be legally bound. It is an invitation to negotiate. There are 4 categories of invitations to treat – advertisements in a newspaper display of goods on a shelf – auction sales – invitations to tender Invitation to Treat Advertisements As a general rule, an advertisement in a newspaper is not an of fer. It is an attempt to induce offers. This general rule is displaced where the advertiser by his word or conduct shows a clear intention to be bound, as is often the case in the unilateral contract. Display of Goods on a Shelf A store owner who displays goods on a shelf with the price attached does not make an offer. He is merely inviting the public to make an offer to buy the goods at the price stated. Auction SaleThe general rule is that in an auction sale, when the auctioneer invites bids, this is not an offer but an invitation to treat. When the bidder responds with a bid, he is in fact making an offer and the auctioneer is then free to accept or reject this. Invitation to Treat Invitation to Tender Generally a request to tender will be considered as an invitation to treat. Any tender document which is submitted in response to this request is an offer and the invitee of the tender is then free to accept whichever offer he chooses. Termination of an Offer (i) Revocation or with drawal of an offer by the offeror (ii) Counter offer (iii)Lapse of time (iv) Death (v) Non-fulfilment of a condition precedent Termination of an Offer (i) Revocation – A revocation is a withdrawal of an offer. An offer can be revoked at any time before it is accepted because there is no binding contract before acceptance. An offer cannot be revoked after it has been accepted. A revocation must be communicated to the offeree to be effective. If it is not, and the offeree accepts, there will be a contract. Termination of an Offer Consider the following: By letter dated 1st October, A offered to sell goods to B. – B received the offer on 11th October and immediately accepted by fax. Prior to that, on 8th October A wrote a letter revoking the offer. He mailed this and B received it on 20th October. – Is there a contract? – Yes. The court would hold that the revocation came too late and was not effective until it had reached B. A contract was made when B faxed his acceptance. Termination of an Offer The revocation does not have to be communicated to the offeree by the offeror himself. It is enough if the offeree learns of the revocation from a source which he believes to be reliable. A mere request for additional information does not destroy an offer. Consider the following example:A offered to sell B goods at $100,000 per ton and stated that the offer would remain open until Monday. – Early on Monday B telephoned A and asked him to indicate whether he would accept ‘$100,000 per ton for delivery over two months or if not, the longest limit he would give. In other words, he was asking whether he could buy the goods on credit. Termination of an Offer – A did not respond. – On Monday afternoon B contacted A to accept the offer and found out that A had sold the goods to a third party. – Was there is breach of contract? – Yes. – The enquiry was not a counter offer but a request for further infor mation.A’s offer had not been terminated. Termination of an Offer Counter Offer Lapse of Time Where an offer is stated to be open for a specified time only, once that time expires and the other party has not responded, then the offer automatically ends. If no time is stipulated, the offer may lapse after a reasonable time. Death Where the offeror dies before the offer is accepted by the offeree, the offer is terminated. If the offer is accepted before the offeror dies, it may be enforceable against the estate if it is not of a personal nature. Elements of a Valid Acceptance AcceptanceA contract can only exist when there is consensus ad idem, that is, a meeting of the minds. This is where the acceptance merges with the offer. An offeror can prescribe that the acceptance must occur in a particular manner, eg by post or hand delivered or by telephone. An acceptance to an offer is only effective if it is communicated to and received by the offeror. If something impacts upon the a bility of the offeror to receive word of the acceptance, for example, because of interference on the phone line or because the offeree is unable to speak clearly, then there is no contract.Elements of a Valid Acceptance Silence does not amount to acceptance. Consider the following example. B placed a house with an auctioneer to find a buyer. Subsequently A began to negotiate directly with B for the purchase of the house. The only outstanding matter was the question of the price. A stated â€Å"if I do not hear from you I shall assume that the house is mine at $X. † When B heard this he told the auctioneer not to sell the house. In error, the auctioneer sold it to another person. A sued in conversion (a tort alleging wrongful disposal of property).Although B’s actions suggested that he was in effect accepting B’s offer, the court held that there was no contract because he never communicated this acceptance to A. His silence did not amount to acceptance. There was therefore no contract. Elements of a Valid Acceptance An acceptance of an offer must be absolute and unqualified. If it does not accept all the terms of the contract as originally set out, it will be a rejection of the offer. Where the offeree introduces a new term which the offeror never mentioned he introduces a counter offer.A counter offer effectively puts an end to the original offer and it cannot be accepted later. Example – A offers to sell a house to B for $1,800,000. 00. B asks A whether he will accept $1,500,000. This request by B is a counter offer which has effectively brought the original offer to an end. There is therefore nothing open for B to accept and A is free to sell to a 3rd party. Acceptance When a counter offer is accepted then its terms and not the terms of the original offer become the terms of the contract. Example B and M agreed to enter into a formal contract after a series of negotiations.M sent the terms of the contract to B for signature. B sig ned the agreement but amended it by inserting the name of an arbitrator who would be used to settle any disputes. The contract was never formally executed but each party acted in accordance with the agreed terms. When a dispute arose under the contract, B sought to argue that there was no binding contract. The court held that the insertion of the name of the arbitrator was in fact a counter offer. Once M took delivery of goods in accordance with the terms of the contract, its conduct amounted to an acceptance of the counter offer. Acceptance Subject to Contract’ means that the parties do not intend to bind themselves until a formal document has been drafted and signed. The effect is no rights or legal obligations are imposed on either party. Acceptance The Postal Rule A distinction is drawn between an acceptance through instantaneous means and one in a contract by post. The post office rule constitutes the post office as an agent of the offeror. It states that when an accepta nce is placed under the lawful control of the post office, it is effective even without actual physical delivery to the offeror. The postal rule applies to acceptance only and not to offers.Acceptance Consider the following example: A posted an offer to B on 2nd September. That letter contained a clause which stated that A expected a response by the post. The letter was incorrectly addressed and reached B on the 5th September. B sent off a letter at once agreeing to all the terms contained in the offer. On the 8th September, A not having heard from B, sold the item to a third party. Was there a breach of contract? Yes, because a contract had been completed on the 5th September when B posted the letter of acceptance. The post office was the agent of A, the offeror and had received the acceptance on his behalf.

Summary The war on obesity is a big fat flop

Exercise is not a useful way to lose weight, but it strengthen physical activity. After two decades, the war on obesity is still stagnant. Response Joanne Luscious' (2013) article Poverty making Canadians sick, says report and Margaret Weenie's article, (2012) The war on obesity is a big fat flop, were written a few years ago. Both articles focus on healthy issues and believe that poverty cause people's healthy issues, the government should help people solve that, and it will take a long time to improve.In Johannes article, the difference with Margarita's is she more follows the issues on children and old people, and she doesn't discuss only one sickness, but Margaret article focus on one illness that is obesity. Furthermore, Joanne expresses her opinions erectly, she makes her statement which is poverty makes people sick by a report from Canadian Medical Association at the beginning of the article. Like Ottawa, people who are poorer get sick because they buy cheaper fast food instea d of expensive nutritious food. Second, there is not supermarket near by their communities.Third, they don't have a house in fine condition. On the other hand, Margaret also point directly that poverty lead to people get obesity, and both articles believe that environmental facilities in communities have to be developed and people should live in a healthy condition. For example, there should have willable groceries around the neighborhoods, and people can buy healthy food such as beans, vegetables and meat rather than they buy harmful fast food. If people do not live in safe houses, and its might cause more serious issues.They might have mental healthy issues, and it rise suicide rates. Joanne and Margaret think that the government should make policies to help poor people, make sure them access In China, poverty cause the issues more serious than Canada's, because China is developing country, and its social welfare cannot effectively save people who live in poverty. Poverty also For instance, people who live in a mountainous area in northwest China are suffering by food and disease because there don't have any food store, the condition of the medical care service is uncultured.

Dance class jounal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Dance class jounal - Essay Example Because it is not all the time dancers will have their tutors with them but ought to have heightened level of discipline while exercising as well as attending classes. Initially, dance classes may appear extremely weird to any person who has never attended one though with time the entire session turns out to be extremely interesting. This is only after mastering, starting enjoying respective classes as one mingles and learns more from other dancers who have earned their living through the same besides being international celebrities. For instance, the renowned Michael Jackson who not only was a great musician but also an international dancer known to thrill his international audience with exceptional dancing moves (Davis). Hence, prompting the world at one time calling him â€Å"Dancing Machine† as stated in Davis’ study due to the performer’s remarkable expertise in dancing. This journal seeks to explore, highlight varied dancing aspects already covered during t he ongoing dancing improvisation sessions, my nervousness before the commencement of classes and what the entire process entails. Initially, during the commencement of my dancing classes I experienced extremely state of nervousness. This is because in my life I have never attended such kind of sessions or tried to learn dancing moves in a formal setting except copying new trends after seeing my peers doing them and sometimes from the media. Therefore, dancing improvisation sessions to me during then presented a mixture of emotions though with time I managed to cope with the new them. In most cases, classes in these sessions encompass dancing freely without one claiming to do any given or known style. Hence, give participants adequate time meant for them to be innovative and come up with new moves, which they believe eventually when perfected would be extremely thrilling to the audience. In addition, much of the time availed by tutors who once in awhile join dancers in ensuring they are keeping with their respective practice, is to ensure they develop heightened level of flexibility, which is essential to any individual aspiring to be a talented dancer. Besides dancing classes scheduled by tutors together with their respective managing institutions to teach learners new moves, they avail dancers adequate time meant to discover themselves. This is especially in ascertaining which areas they prove to be innovative as well as exhibit highest level of expertise in order to specialize in them. This is because dancing career has numerous dancing styles, which vary based on culture, region, religion, music genre, generations and others. However, dancers owing to their creativity might come up with new and completely new moves never seen due to the current increasing rate of modernization, which has not only influenced varied global sectors but also how people think. This is especially among youths who are currently extremely innovative compared to those of American er a in 1920s. Consequently, this is the reason the tutor normally checks in once in awhile to ensure dancers are still practicing besides coming up with new strategies meant to arouse creativity in us. For instance, the teacher in many times encourages us to imagine being water, soldier, and animal. The core purpose of this exercise is to show dancers they ought not to develop moves limited within certain entities but to be free even in incorporating

Geophysical Modelling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Geophysical Modelling - Essay Example Firstly, we may declare the thermal conductivity of the soil layers as constant value (2nd assumption). Indeed, if heat transfer is plane and steady, and if is not large (in our case ), one can make a reasonably accurate approximation using a constant average value of (Lienhard &Lienhard 2003, p. 51). Then, we may declare the density and the specific heat of the soil layers as constants and (3rd assumption). It is necessary to note that such assumption is somewhat groundless, especially for the cases of strictly inhomogeneous soils. However, only after this we may introduce a constant diffusion coefficient () of the soil (Bird et al. 2002, p. 268). Finally, we may declare that the rate of internal energy conversion is negligibly small (4th assumption). In fact, such assumption is declaration of absence of the heat generation or consumption within the soil. Again we note that this assumption can be groundless for the inhomogeneous soils with stone inclusions, fluid- or air-filled interstices with internal convective flows. Moreover, the heat transfer in such porous and composite media is very difficult to analyze (Bird et al. 2002, p. 281-283). for the steady boundary conditions and ; is the thickness of the soil upon the rock background. Solution (5) is easy to derive analytically (Haberman 1983, p. 13-14), so we will use it for checking our numerical model by approximation at . Heat transfer model parameters The simplified problem (4) is stated by following values: m, m2s-1. Boundary conditions are: , (1st case), and (2nd case). Initial values are stated by equation . Model discretization is stated by number of soil layers , their thicknesses m, and the timestep (in seconds) which we can modify (240s, or 550s). Model geometry is shown at the figure 1. In our model zero-level () is located at the surface of the rock background because the soil thickness is rather unstable parameter. Indeed, thickness of the real soil cover is a function and for the small areas only. Therefore, we will use more "stable" rock surface to count out -values of the soil layers. Model dynamics (i.e. heat conduction process) is described by (4) which is transformed in a form of difference equation ; (6) here, denotes ; , ; , . The work equation (6) is derived from (4) by FTCS scheme, when forward differentiation was used for and centered differentiation was used for (Boyce & DiPrima 2001, p. 419f). Figure 1 - Model geometry Solutions 1. Let us transform the FTCS scheme (6) into an explicit form: . (7) For the bottom soil layer () we have (8) because of . For the layer near the soil surface () we have (9) because of . 2. To create a Matlab script for solving equation (4) in the explicit FTCS form (7), we can use both initial script and examples of (Mathews & Fink 1999, p. 526-536). Work model code is in

Discrimination and Prejudice to Control and Protect Interest Assignment

Discrimination and Prejudice to Control and Protect Interest - Assignment Example Social difference and socialization exist, these are passed from parents to children. Fear and ignorance are the two greatest concepts of prejudice. Some are concerned with a loss of power and control and therefore prejudice and discriminate the certain group of people (Whitley & Kite, 2010). Â  I encountered racial discrimination when I was the young adult. This was at a time when I went to an office to inquire about a license to hold a convention in a communal place. This was during political campaigns and I was campaigning for a local office. I wanted to hold a small rally on the local ground but I had to have a license for the same. The local police told me that I had to pay more money for the license because I was not white skin. They added that they would offer me the license at their mercy but not because I needed it. I felt so embarrassed but I did not give up with holding the rally. Â  The police officers told me that I could not hold the rally at the ground because I was not supposed to hold a public rally at the ground. They told me that that place was a reserve for the right members but not me. This was pure prejudice and discrimination. They discriminated me because I was not white and showed prejudice to me because I did not belong to their social class. They thought that I was competing with them for the support of the local people to be elected as a local office holder. This was very hurtful and offensive as well. While it is true I offered my candidature for the local office, my aim was not to offer competition but to improve the life of the local people by bringing services to them. This was discrimination and prejudice. Â  The police used their power and control to prejudice and discriminate me.

The International Coffee Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The International Coffee Industry - Essay Example In specific reference to the coffee industry, the profit motive of corporations only worsens the conditions of poor coffee farmers who are not compensated in proportion to their hard labor. According to Thomas Friedman, globalization is the â€Å"inexorable integration of markets, nation-states, and technologies†¦..the spread of free-market capitalism to virtually every country in the world.† (Friedman, 2000: 7-8). In reference to the international trade facilitated by globalization and the diffusion of geographical boundaries, Mittelman refers to globalization as a historical transformation - â€Å"a political response to the expansion of market power† resulting in a transformation â€Å"in the economy, of livelihoods and modes of existence† (Mittelman, 2000: 6). McMichael also corroborates this market-oriented view, seeing the process of global integration taking place on the basis of â€Å"market rule on a global scale†(McMichael, 2000:149). The be lief in the beneficial effects of free trade that exists today is largely a function of the theory of comparative advantage that underlies the Ricardian model of international trade (Henderson, 1993:827). Comparative advantage is the ability possessed by a particular country to produce a particular good at a lower cost relative to other goods and as compared to other countries that produce the same good. Therefore, comparative advantage possessed in one area of production indicates that the country has some favorable factors working on its behalf or has perfected specialized techniques in the production of that good, so that it is able to produce it more efficiently (Mankiw, 2007: 52). According to Porter (1996:64), â€Å"Competitive strategy is about being different.†Ã‚  

The effect of Emotional Intelligence in Nursing performance and stress Essay

The effect of Emotional Intelligence in Nursing performance and stress levels - Essay Example During the last decade, researches have flourished to define, measure, and differentiate emotional intelligence from other types of intelligence, and examined its value and its relation with other variables, such as behaviors, characteristic, processes, and outcome. Emotional intelligence was also used in the field of psychology, education, business, leadership, and recently health care and nursing. In nursing, the emotional intelligence is a topic of keen interest in these few years (Quoidbach and Hansenne, 2009). Several claims are reported noting that emotional intelligence does not only play a significant role in nursing but also in other areas, such as, managing emotions, regulating relationships, facilitating decision making and communication, empowering leadership, and as a guide to success and perfection. In contrast, there are some critiques that condemn emotional intelligence for being vague, poorly defined, immeasurable, and over magnified (Smith et al., 2009). Aim of the Paper The aim of this paper is to critically review the literature of emotional intelligence and its effect on improving nursing performance at individual and team levels in addition to reducing stress, burnout and health complains. The possibility and the degree of enhancing emotional intelligence, and its applicability in real life will be discussed in this paper. The Emotional Intelligence concept has been born in literature by Salovey and Mayer in 1990, who defined it as an ability to inspect, perceive, manage and employ emotions of self and others in order to achieve success. As a result of this concept, Salovey and Mayer (1990) created a model known as The Ability Model. Although emotional intelligence became scientifically noticed within the academic field, it had only bore limited publicity during that time. Not until the publication of an emotional intelligence book by Goleman in 1995 when it gained its popularity. Goleman's emotional intelligence model called Mixed or Perf ormance Model, is the most popular model, which merges personality traits and emotional domains, and pay attention to performance outcomes. Several emotional intelligence models and tools have emerged thereafter; however, even though these models have used different wordings, the four common domains were still shared by most of these models. These domains include self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and relationship management. The emotional intelligence tools from the aforementioned models varied according to its way of defining, understanding emotional intelligence and the model it’s derived from, but at the end, most of these tools have common purpose which is to measure emotional intelligence with different validity and reliability (Beauvais et al., 2010, Landa et al., 2007, Kooker et al., 2007, and Smith et al., 2009). Search Strategy To begin with, broad scope search was done via several databases and search engine, such as the Emerald, Wiley, Ovid, and Go ogle scholar, but most of the papers were found on Science direct. At first, the results were as many as 33,318 using emotional intelligence as the key word; nevertheless, the result starts to drop gradually from 10,678 to 79 papers after using more specific key words such as emotional intelligence and performance, emotional intelligence and team, emotional intelli

Week 4 DisscussionQ&A Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week 4 DisscussionQ&A - Assignment Example unity psychiatric health medics are reluctant to medicate the offenders, resulting to let them stay in jails (Draine, Solomon, & Meyerson, 1994 as cited in Lamb & Weinberger, 1998). This is also because of inefficient psychiatric personnel and available facilities (Moras, 2004). The best approach to cure them is to stipulate an effective framework of facilities, which secure staff, and criminal law and psychiatric health personnel integrate. Consistent medication is significant to alleviate the state. The discharge plan should comprise hospitalization, so the offender can reinvigorate by regular monitoring and consumptions of healthy foods, rest and exercise. Family support is the most significant notion to help these offenders recover immediately (â€Å"How is Psychosis† 2007). Question #2. Imagine you have been hired by a prison to develop and implement a sex offender treatment program. Following your development and implementation, you will be the continuing coordinator at this prison. Discuss how you would design such a program, taking into account the challenges of treating this population and approaches that have been found to be beneficial. Be detailed and specific in your answers. As a program coordinator, I should include the concept of morale into the general aspect of the treatment program. Two of the therapeutic approaches that I would adopt are cognitive-behavioral and psycho-educational approaches. Cognitive-behavioral approach may refer to revitalizing the offenders thought about their sexual behavior. This can be done by altering their sexual aspects such as letting them know how a person reacts after a relative incident happens. Psycho-educational approach may be instilled with Godly messages, and empower His words to alter and develop empathy for the victim and be accountable for the offender’s actions (Bureau of Justice Assistance, n.d.). Lastly, the pharmacological approach utilizes medication to diminish sexual reaction of the offenders

Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Power Distance between America and Brazil Essay

Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Power Distance between America and Brazil - Essay Example Since Brazil’s culture is ultimately high in power distance, bureaucracy is of high importance giving much more power to whom or which authority is found. For instance, religious and spiritual practices in Brazil contribute to the kind of order in governance and socio-politics in the country and further influence power distribution (Garmany, 2010). This means that the majority would find it important not to oppose decisions of religious leaders. On the contrary, in the US, one could expect autocracy, as there is a high sense of giving everyone freedom to express oneself. The very proof is the implementation of same-sex marriage from some states; a manifestation that the country may potentially disregard some powerful views on governance and socio-political issues and that there is a strong urge to demand more for self-expression (Sherkat et al., 2011). Therefore, demanding for self-expression in the US at some point may not be that effective within the bound of cultural orientation in Brazil based on Hofstede’s theory of power distance. Loyalty and favoritism are among the common manifestations in Brazil leading to the point that whoever is in power deserves to have these (Evans et al., 2008). Thus, Brazil remarkably would require respect prominent voices in the society. As a result, in this country and within almost every organization, it is from the higher rank which both idea and decision usually would come from, while it might not be necessarily the case in the US. In the US, everyone, provided having a good point, could freely express opinions and ideas and implement significant actions for the benefit of the country or organization. In fact, in the US, prominent public figures are not exempted from the law, showing no favoritism on their part.  Ã‚  

Risk and Mental Health Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words

Risk and Mental Health - Coursework Example Risk definition, assessment and devising strategic approaches,tactics,models and even algorithms to deal with each of these specific risks on either stand alone or grouped basis has turned a major concern for the medical care providers dealing with cases of mental health. The task becomes formidable as the incidence of such mental health cases is substantial in most jurisdictions. Take the instance of incidence of traumatic brain injuries or even mild traumatic brain injuries. Globally millions of affected persons are treated each year for severe head injury. (Jennett, 1996) Various best practices guidelines have defined head injuries. National Institute for Clinical Excellence has the following definition: 'Head injury' is defined as any trauma to the head, other than superficial injuries to the face. (National, 2003) Of the millions hit by head injuries each year; the most common incidents causing these injuries are falls, road traffic accidents and assaults (such as fights). Youth (15 years and over) and children are more susceptible to head injuries due to an active and mobile lifestyle. However most of the sustained head injuries are diagnosed mild and do not lead to admission as in-patients. About nine out of ten people seen in hospital have a mild or minor head injury and will go home without being admitted to hospital. This itself may be an indication of gross under evaluation of the risk associated with the mental health of the patient. However the illness states f these patients is technically termed as mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI).MTBI patients, even if admitted to hospital, are discharged within of after 48 hours. Only a fraction of the total number of people who have had head injuries (often placed at lesser than one in a hundred) do suffer from a severe injury to their brain. The general argument offered is that the severe brain injury is rare as the scalp and skull of human head play protective roles and absorb much of the impact of the inj ury. However symptoms including bleeding swelling or bruising can occur both inside the skull and inside the brain. Where the damage is located and what has been the extent of such damage is decided by the force and speed of the blow. Therefore, it is often said that a timely and speedy treatment of a severe injury to the brain may result in complete recovery; however, no medical care system can guarantee against serious disability or even fatality as a result of such severe head injuries -particularly if the treatment is delayed and/or misplaced as well. (National,2003).All such cases present themselves as living examples of deficient treatment of risks involved in mental health situation. To make the matters worse, and continuing with the most extreme and delicate state of mental ill health i.e. traumatic brain

Dramatic Irony in Oedipus Essay Example for Free

Dramatic Irony in Oedipus Essay In the play written by Sophocles, Oedipus the King, there are several instances of irony. Dramatic irony, or tragic irony as some critics would prefer to call it, usually means a situation in which the character of the play has limited knowledge and says or does something in which they have no idea of the significance. The audience, however, already has the knowledge of what is going to occur or what the consequences of the characters actions will be. The degree of irony and the effect it has depends upon the readers grasp and recognition of some discrepancy between two things. Our first taste of dramatic irony comes very early into the play when Oedipus vows to bring to justice the killer of Laius, which is in reality himself. When he learns that the bringing of justice of Laius killer will rid the city of a terrible plague, he sets forth with a plan to track down the killer. Oedipus begins to curse the killer and vows: Oedipus: As for the criminal, I pray to God Whether it be a lurking thief, or one of a number I pray that that mans life be consumed in evil and wretchedness. And as for me, this curse applies no less (968) This is very ironic, as Oedipus is indeed, without knowledge of the truth, talking about himself. Another example of dramatic irony is the power of fate and Oedipus powerlessness against it. Throughout the play we are aware of Oedipus fate and we realize there is nothing that he can do to change it. When Oedipus tells his city after listening to their plea for help against the terrible sickness and plague that has taken over the city: Oedipus: I know that you are deathly sick; and yet, Sick as you are, not one is as sick as I. (963) The audience understands the truth and the irony in that statement. Oedipus should not worry about himself becoming sick for he is already infested with the sickness. A third example of the irony of Oedipus is the fact that Oedipus seemed to be blind and deaf to the truth. He appears to be on a valiant search for the truth and justice of the killer of Laius, yet refuses to hear the truth when it is spoken to him. In order to hear the truth Oedipus needed to be able to hear and interpret it, yet he only heard what he wanted to hear. Therefore rendering him unable to understand the mystery of who he truly was. In this play there seems to be a constant string of ironies throughout. Oedipus is in denial of the truth. In his dramatic speeches he misconstrues the information that he has been given by Teiresias, as well as Creon and Iocaste. The horrifying realization that the prophecy of the Sphinx is in fact the truth, causes Oedipus to blind himself. The audience therefore pities him, which is a result of the use of dramatic irony. The use of irony in a play allows the writer to make their audience want to see how the events which are occurring, mentally affect the main character, even if they already know how the story will end, as in Oedipus the King. Kennedy, X.J., and Gioia Dana. Oedipus the King Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 2nd edition. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 2000. 960-1005.

Case Management Essay Example for Free

Case Management Essay Workflow, Business Process Management and the management of Unstructured Documents Plethora of unstructured documents such as text documents, spreadsheets, images, XML components, videos, podcasts, email messages that exists around in a large enterprise and it represents the enterprise’s information assets. The problem is that in today’s competitive environment there is an ever increasing generation and use of unstructured electronic documents. It has become highly imperative that there has to be an enterprise wide lifecycle management of these documents which can enable the workers to access the documents in a relative business context. Many product companies and experts dealing in the area of content management and business process management have proposed that a semantic relation is to be derived between documents and business domain. Thus, the semantic network that eventually gets formed will result in efficient search and filtering of these unstructured documents. Types of data: Structured and unstructured data People use and create unstructured data on daily basis. Although they may not be aware, people create, store, retrieve unstructured data in the form of emails, word documents, excel spreadsheets and other forms. The unstructured content has no data type as such so it requires human intervention to tag the data with some relevant keywords and meta tags so that it can be read by machines and applications. Structured data is also being used by people and such data is easily managed by technology being allowed for querying and reporting as the data type is predetermined and relationships are explicit. There are two categories of unstructured data: 1) Bitmap Objects: Images, videos, audio and other non-language based files 2) Textual Objects: Word documents, Spreadsheets, Emails and other written or printed language documents Most of these object types can’t be tapped easily to extract relevant information by technology or methodology as technology today can only address textual objects. With the advent of technologies like Enterprise Content Management (ECM), it has become possible to address unstructured data. Data mining and other analysis tools exist to query and analyze structured data. However, the challenge remains in bringing both the worlds of structured and unstructured data together. Once when they are brought together is when the most value can be derived and gained but this is where the highest level of challenge exists. Few challenges are listed below: 1) Irrespective of having the data in a word document format it may not be consumable from a semantic level perspective 2) A compatible technology may not be able to give insight in to the context of the information unless it is read 3) The way we interpret is largely subjective Organizational Challenges Today the organizations are inherently complex in structure and the departments are loosely connected while they work in isolation. They only come together when there is a need which leads to an internally disconnected approach. These large organizations need to be responsive to the customer and market needs. In order to be responsive they need to be agile and flexible when it comes to leveraging their matrix management structure as a whole. This can pose some long term as well as short term challenges. The path to overcome these challenges is to have follow business process which entail the entire organizations. In most organizations, wherever the business processes exist they tend to be isolated to a specific department and are usually manual. This leads to manifestation of various management and operational challenges. Some of the consequences that come up due to these challenges are listed below: 1) Due to inaccurate and untimely information generated as a result of isolated units of an organization, it becomes difficult for management and employees to take correct decisions 2) As information may not be aligned to business context or a business process it may lead to inconsistent decisions 3) Broken or incomplete workflows lead to generation of inconsistent and poor information 4) IT systems may act as inhibitors even if they support business processes when they lack system integration that would hide a single view of the information 5) Strict business rules, policies and procedures can lead to delay in fetching important information Organization and business process alignment These hurdles and challenges which the organization faces are due to factors such as inflexible procedures, legacy infrastructure, orthodox management which include: 1) Manual approach even when business processes and frameworks exist 2) IT enablers found in departments and functional silos making information sharing and gathering labour intensive and tedious 3) IT and other infrastructure is maintained centrally which may not provide quick solutions and service to meet the requirement of internal users 4) As organization is dependent on vendors or contractors for maintenance, support and development of IT and other infrastructure it raises issues of managing changes by themselves. Organizations need to orient themselves around process rather than functionally. They have the necessary infrastructure and technology in place but the challenge is to align all of it together using business processes. Aligning the organization to business processes and automating the same will help in solving decision making bottlenecks and will integrate functions, departments, core systems to deliver measurable business value. As of now most of the organizations, have IT infrastructure which comprise of applications that address each department separately. These departments may have business processes that cater to the purpose of the department specific function but this may lead to creation of unstructured and structured data in isolation from other departments defeating the purpose of one goal of the organization. Due to lack of integration between department’s applications and business processes it leads to creation of islands of redundant information for each department. Knowing that there is duplicate information across various applications residing in various departments there will be multiple points of integration which makes it even more complicated. There is a requirement of point to point integration to resolve this. This increases business risk, delivery costs and it becomes even more important to retain existing talent who can handle the data and information well. IT challenge On drilling down, the problem of not being able to use unstructured data along with structured data semantically whilst the data is specific to each department’s function and not business process of the organization is a challenge for the IT support department of organizations. Integration of silo applications and automated business processes across departments with respect to the overall business context pose many intricacies which makes it is a very challenging and a costly exercise for the IT function. Few of the reasons are listed below: 1) Laborious task to integrate a variety of business processes and applications 2) Changes in particular to each function may become difficult to replicate across the organization each time 3) Data across functions can’t be normalized due to existence of data in multiple format 4) Data inconsistencies due to unavailability of an information master leads to dependency on data stored on spreadsheets These kind of challenges have typically no end so a comprehensive solution has to be worked out which is robust and serves the goal of the organization by delivering value flawlessly. Workflow Model, Business Process Management (BPM) and Enterprise Content Management (ECM) It is Workflow Automation and a Business Process Management System that will solve the business and technical problems that have been described in this paper so far. A workflow model is automation or a semi-automation of business processes. On the other hand Business Process Management is a method for managing the workflow model while continuously evaluating its performance and closing the feedback loop. Business processes form the nervous system of an organization or an enterprise. Business Process Management (BPM) is a discipline that empowers an organization to analyze, automate, re-design, streamline, monitor and improve business process while providing end to end visibility and control from technology to people. An organization has numerous business processes which take place every now and then. They may be simple or complex and may rely on unstructured data. For e. g. Banks have a business process to process the fresh loans application, local retailer has a business process to order new inventory and more. Business processes are the means which enable people, system and information to work simultaneously in order to meet organizations’ goals. However, it is not as easy as it sounds. Consider an example where in an insurance company the claim officials need digital photos to process a claim, customer representative need customer records and statements, accounts personnel need invoice approvals to disburse the required amount. To address such multi dimensional situation companies are resorting to capabilities of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) which is Business Process Management (BPM) to integrate, optimize, and automate processes and information. This solution enables organizations to make timely and accurate decisions. Together BPM and ECM businesses are able to deal with explosion of business related content which in turn helps them in becoming nimble and agile. Primarily, there are three changes that drive the need for businesses to become nimble and agile. They are: 1) Creation of islands of business relevant content internal and external to the organization 2) High maintenance cost of information created and stored by disparate sources 3) Incremental strain on IT to meet core business requirements while driving process innovation In response to these needs ECM and BPM enable organizations with the following: 1) Empower all employees to develop process centric solution 2) Quickly synchronize information from disparate internal as well external data sources 3) Couple processes and content to meet business requirements Businesses today need to use the content that is available across the business processes rather than letting it remain restricted under applications specific to a department or a function. Holistically, the content needs to be put to use for a greater benefit and a better ROI. Management of Unstructured Documents ECM has become one of the major software category post consolidation of various solutions like Document Management, Document Imaging, Web Content Management, Digital Asset Management while collaborating with BPM. It shouldn’t be treated as only a software category but can be primarily looked at as a strategy to manage all unstructured information – images, web content, media assets and records. Secondly, its job is to ensure that the content is put to use by the business users as per the business processes. The ECM solutions available today are built to support today’s dynamic requirements of the organization. They are scalable and high on performance when it comes to handling islands of new content and information with respect to complex business processes. Their design is such that they can integrate any kind of unstructured information with business processes and provide features such as process modelling, analytic capabilities, simulation and activity monitoring. They are also capable to handle process exceptions and can respond to demands for content from associates or customers. It is deduced that ECM as a technology and as a strategy enable information management professionals to manage the unstructured information in the organization to reduce risk, improve productivity in order to bring customer delight. Market Overview Organizations are increasingly adopting ECM to manage the increasing volume and growing diversity of unstructured content which now represents around 80% of the information residing in the enterprise. The opportunity identified is to devote similar rigor to unstructured data as being given to structured data. The market for ECM registered a double digit growth between the year 2004 to 2007 but it slowed down to single digit in 2008 primarily due to recessionary conditions. As per data gathered by Gartner, around $3. 3bn was collected as license and maintenance revenue for ECM. The ECM market has forecasted compounded annual growth rate of 9. 5% through till 2013. It is expected that the revenue generated from ECM markets worldwide would exceed $5. 1bn by 2013. The ECM market has seen major consolidation between the periods of 2003 to 2007. Large players such as IBM, Oracle, EMC have been acquiring companies to capitalize in this space. For example, EMC went on spree acquiring Legato, Document, Captiva and Document Sciences. Autonomy acquired Interwoven and Open Text purchased Vignette to become the largest independent vendors in this space competing directly with Microsoft’s Sharepoint. Market Drivers In spite of the recession which forced businesses to refrain from technology spending, the ECM market remained insulated from it for the following reasons: 1) Increase in volume and complexity of content is the reason for concern and investments in ECM henceforth 2) Pricing pressure from open-source vendors stimulating higher demand 3) It targets the overall ROI of the organization As there is a need to manage risks that come along with tonnes of paper and vast variety of digital content, a focus has been brought on governance and content rationalization. Vendors are addressing this by providing different stakeholders or customers with products that serve their purpose while keeping in mind the overall business processes of the organization. Recognizing this focus area many enterprises have become conscious about the lifecycle, access management, availability and cost of the content. There has been a slowdown in the ECM market due to the recessionary climate as it made the decision makers cautious about investments. In a research conducted by Gartner it was noticed that during this period companies have started looking for a thorough business case and ROI justifications for any kind of technology expenditure. However this could also turn out to be positive for the ECM market as these are the times when the organizations will realize the benefits of ECM solutions and frameworks. Conclusion Business Process Management and Workflow are not about moving documents across departments. It is about aligning businesses to their core processes and they provide the catalyst to exploit knowledge base to provide improved customer service. Thus, help in delivering measurable bottom line benefits in variety of business cases. List of References Toby Bell, Karen M. Shegda, Mark R. Gilbert, Kenneth Chin, Mick MacComascaigh. ( October, 2009), Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Content Management http://www. gartner. com/technology/media-products/reprints/microsoft/vol10/article3/article3.html, Gartner Hakan Akbas (August 2009), Consolidation in the Enterprise Content Management Industry Who Will Be Next Autonomy or Open Text? http://www. cmswire. com/cms/enterprise-cms/consolidation-in-the-enterprise-content-management-industry-who-will-be-next-autonomy-or-open-text-part-i-005174. php, Cmswire Icon Resources and technologies ( 2007), Document/Business Process Management http://www. iconresources. com/new/irt_bps. html Hinnerk Brugmann, ConSense: Management of unstructured Documents using semantic Meta-Information http://www.wi2. uni-erlangen. de/index. php? id=consense PNMSOFT, Sequence and Sharepoint, http://www. pnmsoft. com/sharepoint_workflow_integration. aspx PNMSOFT, SEQUENCE BPM workflow software platform, http://www. pnmsoft. com/sequence_bpm_workflow. aspx Rivet Logic Corporation (October 2008), Enterprise Content Management 2. 0: The Case for an Open Source Approach http://viewer. bitpipe. com/viewer/viewDocument. do? accessId=12186060, Bitpipe Research Kyle McNabb (March 2008), Enterprise Content Management http://www. forrester.com/rb/Research/topic_overview_enterprise_content_management/q/id/40327/t/2, Forrester Research Ann All (March 2010), Case Management Is Step Forward in BPM Evolution , http://www. itbusinessedge. com/cm/community/features/interviews/blog/case-management-is-step-forward-in-bpm-evolution/? cs=39882page=2 Strategy Partners (2003), Business Process Management and Workflow, http://www. aiim. org. uk/download_files/aiimuserguides/5_BPM_and_Workflow. pdf, AIIM International – ECM Association Barclay T. Blair (October 2004), An Enterprise Content Management Primer, The Information Management Journal

Exploring Asian Cinema Film Studies Essay

Exploring Asian Cinema Film Studies Essay Asian cinema basically refers to films produced in the continent of Asia. East Asian cinema, Southeast Asian cinema and South Asian cinema consists of what is called Asian cinema. Nowadays, Asian cinema continues to thrive because of the so-called globalization of Asian cinema. The globalization of Asian cinema allows people from all around the world to view and experience Asian films. Hollywood is even making remakes of films from Asia, some of which include Eight Below, The Lake House, The Grudge and Dark Water. Furthermore, Asia has been producing films that are slowly catching the attention of viewers as well as scholars from all around the globe. Everywhere in the world, Asian films are being shown on an almost regular basis in film screenings, festivals and the like. But this was not always so. Most Asian countries spent the first five decades of the 20th century producing films that are largely focused on national audiences. These were the times when there were no international film festivals, the only prominent film festival prior to World War II being the Venice International Film Festival. It was in1938 when the film Five Scouts from Japan won a special prize at the said festival, paving the way for Asian cinema representation in other festivals around the globe. In 1951, Asian cinema was brought into world focus when the film Rashoman from Japan bagged the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival and the best foreign language film at the Oscars (Nandgaonkar). And the rest was history. Asia is said to be the largest producer of films worldwide in terms of volume (Ciecko 1). Because of the enormity of the continent, Asian films vary in content and topic. Asian films contain universal themes such as love, life, revenge, death and poverty. They also contain slices of Asian culture, and the stamp of each Asian micro-culture can be found in each groups respective films. The micro-cultures of Asia are varied and diverse, so diverse that each is of different character and quality. This can be seen in the films made by each country. Korean cinema has been historically invisible to the rest of the world, and to some extent, to its own people. Today, the spotlight is on the country whose cinema is the heart and soul of its nations culture (Rist). In its early stages, Japanese cinema produced many documentary films or news reels including scenes of the city, dancing geishas, Sumo, royal or celebrity funerals and the Russia-Japan war (Tadao). Today, the Japanese film industry is one of the largest in the world. The films of Hongkong are popular for being action-packed and filled with martial arts stylings. The cinema forms survival depended on several factors. Martial arts films are artistically unique and are influenced by artifacts of kung fu culture as well as superstitious beliefs. In a sense, martial arts cinema can be considered as escapist, but it satisfies a more tangible cultural need which is the desire to link with tradition no matter how tenuous or imaginary (Garcia). This explains the phenomenon behind martial arts cinema. Taiwanese cinema examines the various problems that Taiwanese people have to cope up with in a modernized society. In order to create films with a more realistic relationship with history and memory, most new films are shot on location. Minor and non-professional actors are also cast to evoke a more true-to-life atmosphere. The filmmakers draw deeply on their life experiences to make their films. Today, almost every new film tries to reconstruct history to some extent (Taiwanese Cinema). The independent films of the Philippines, on the other hand, are socially relevant and contain touches of realism. There has been a recent blossoming of independent filmmaking in the Philippines, and these films have earned the Philippines international recognition and prestige. Asian Films are sorted according to genre. The genres of Asian cinema include action, animation, comedy, crime, gay films, historical epics, horror and romance. Action Action films in Asia are films centered on high physical activity and include martial arts for the most part. An example is Internal Affairs form Hongkong and most of the movies of both Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Animation Animation in Asia includes the anime industry in Japan and is directly influenced by manga or comics in Japan so that the characters have big eyes, small faces and long limbs. Example of Asian animation is Pokemon. Comedy Comedy in Asia can be found in any genre of film. There usually has some element of comedy in any Asian film. Examples of Asian comedy films are Ngem Ngem Ngem and Luang Phii Theng from Thailand. Crime Crime films in Asia are common and usually star high-profile actors such as Jackie Chan. Example of an Asian crime film is Gunman from Thailand. Gay films Asian gay films are usually comic in style and gay characters are often comic relief or villain in Asian films. Gay films such as Beautiful Boxer, however, are less comic and focus on issues of gender and identity. Historical Epics One of the staples of Asian films. Example is the Ramayana from India. Horror Recently, there was a boom in the horror film genre as films like The Grudge and The Ring were remade in Hollywood. This goes to show that Asians are very creative and that their films have spawned numbers of like films because of their originality and uniqueness. Romance One of the Asian audiences favorite genre. Example is White Valentine from Korea. When one talks about Asian cinema, one talks about the Asian culture, tradition and beliefs embedded in the films. As it is, there is no doubt that Asian culture is prominent in Asian cinema. This is why Asian cinema is a great source for understanding Asian culture. Asians incorporate Asian culture into their films by showing viewers the Asian culture, tradition and way of life. This way, viewers are able to know about the micro-cultures of the continent. For example, in the culturally significant film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon which is a China-Hongkong-Taiwan-US co-production, the customs, beliefs and traits of the Chinese during the Qing Dynasty in China were flawlessly depicted. The characteristics of Asian cinema vary as well. Vital, diverse and changing these characterize contemporary films from East Asia which reflect the times of the region today. Meanwhile, Southeast Asia is home to a blossoming industry of independent films. South Asia, on the other hand, is home to the largest film industry in the world which is India (iFilm Connections: Asia and Pacific). Generally, strong themes characterize the films made in the continent of Asia. One of these is nationalism, a theme that can be found in almost all Asian films. Nationalism in Asian films is shown by the use of national language in Asian films. This shows the pride Asian have concerning their mother tongue. Moreover, ethnicity is shown in each film by the language used. The films are then enjoyed by foreigners through subtitles. The incorporation of Asian values and traits into their films also characterize Asian cinema. For example, family is extremely important in Asian culture (Becquet-Rasmussen). This is why in the film Tokyo Story from Japan, audiences are made to realize that family is important and to show affection to the parents while they are still alive is of grave importance. Asians are extremely friendly and helpful, as depicted in the film Seven Samurai from Japan when the samurai himself agrees to help the mountain villagers fight their oppressors in exchange of nothing but three meals a day. Asians also have respect for authority. They also have respect for their ancestors and the elderly. They are patriarchal, and in olden times females are valued less than males. These are Asian qualities seen depicted in most Asian movies, because of which foreigners are able to know Asians even more. These depictions also prove the nationalism Asians have when it comes to making films. Spirituality would also characterize Asian cinema. This is the case in point in the film Sister Stella L from the Philippines where faith and spirituality is shown by the protagonist who is a nun. Other Asian films with implicit spirituality include The Road Home from China, Departures and Throne of Blood from Japan, Apu Trilogy from India, The Cave of the Yellow Dog from Mongolia, Phorpa from Bhutan and Ghani from Bangladesh (Film and Faith 4 Seminar Explores Spirituality in Asian Films). The martial arts film emerged as a characteristically Hong Kong medium of artistic expression in the 1950s (iFilm Connections: Asia and Pacific). Asian martial arts movies, despite the recent advances in special effects technology, have two secrets great camera work and well-planned choreography (Parish). Asian cinema has a highly developed star system. Films of superstars like Jackie Chan and Jet Li dominate the industry and, in turn, earn a lot of money. This is because people flock to the theatres to see their favorite stars whom they trust to give them quality viewing experience. In these times of environmental and political uncertainty, people are looking for assurance in their lives, something that they find in the public figures that they trust. In terms of technology, Asian cinema, particularly Japanese cinema, has created a new cinematic environment that is most apparent in film production and distribution. In place of 35mm film, high definition digital video is often used to bring down production cost and is then blown up to 35mm for theatrical release. Lightweight cameras, less equipment and smaller crews are also used (Wada-Marciano). When it comes to marketing, Asian filmmakers tend to allocate less to marketing as compared to Hollywood. In Hollywood, 40% of a films total budget is allocated to marketing whereas in Asia, only 10% of a films total budget is allocated to marketing (QA Asian Films and Product Placements). Most Asian films are also marketed by first targeting the audiences in Asias three biggest most self-contained film markets China, Japan and South Korea (Frater). This has become even more so with the blossoming of Asian cinema and the fact that Asian films are being launched in film festivals around the world. Nowadays, marketing Asian films is done by using Hollywood marketing machinery to penetrate Asian territory (Frater). Today, the list of acclaimed Asian films is growing longer as more and more Asian films are being shown in festivals around the world. Foreigners get to appreciate and understand Asian culture and tradition by watching these films. According to the 1992 Sight and Sound Critic Poll, some of the greatest Asian films Asia has ever produced are: Tokyo Story from Japan This is the story of a couple who came to the city to visit their children and grandchildren. The children, however, are too busy to for their parents. After the parents return home, the grandmother dies. It is now the turn of the children to take the journey and visit their parents (Ebert). Pather Panchali from India The first film of the Apu Trilogy, the film depicts the childhood of the protagonist in the rural countryside of Bengal in the 1920s (Pather Panchali). Seven Samurai from Japan This is the story of a samurai who was hired by poor mountain villagers to fight a gang of bandits in exchange for three meals a day. He then recruits six more samurais to complete the seven needed to defend the village. Ultimately, the battle is won for the villagers and singing and rejoicing is heard while the remaining samurais watch the villagers planting the next rice crop (Synopsis for Shichinin No Samurai). Ugetsu from Japan This is the story of two ambitious peasants who want to make their fortunes. A potter intends to sell all his wares in the city in exchange for profit while his brother-in-law wishes to become a samurai (Plot Summary for Ugetsu Monogatari). The Music Room from India This tells the story of a middle-aged aristocrat in India whose estate is suffering financially but continues to engage in indulgences (Synopsis for Jalsaghar). Charulata from India The film tells the story of a lonely housewife who falls for her husbands cousin after her busy husband asks his cousin to keep her company (Charulata). Ikiru from Japan This film is about a minor Tokyo bureaucrat and his final quest for meaning (Ikiru). Sansho the Bailiff from Japan This tells the story of two aristocrat children sold into slavery (Sansho Dayu). Yellow Earth from China The film is about a Communist soldier who is sent to the countryside to collect folk songs for the Communist Revolution (Huang Tu Di). The Life of Oharu from Japan This film is about the life of a seventeenth century samurais daughter (Saikaku Ichidai Onna). Indeed, Asian cinema is slowly capturing the worlds imagination. Consider the continent of Australia. Australia is neighbor to some Asian countries like Indonesia and East Timor. Because of the geographical location and because Asian films are slowly gaining the notice they deserve, Australian filmgoers will get a dose of Asian films through the Sydney Asia Pacific Film Festival, the Hongkong Film Festival in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney and the Chinese Film Festival in Melbourne where several Asian films are being shown. As a result, Australians can get to enjoy and appreciate Asian cinema in all its majestic glory. Cinema is where people go to in order to relax and enjoy. This may be viewed by some as being escapist, but there is more to be benefited from cinema than mere escapism. Because of cinema, a micro-culture is revealed to unsuspecting viewers and filmgoers. Watching a film from Japan, they discover the samurai and geisha cultures. Watching a film from the Philippines, they discover that there is more to the country than Manny Pacquiao. Cinema is magical and can transport viewers to places unimaginable to him or her. Asian cinema is even more magical because the culture of an entire continent is represented in these films. Asian cinema is rich in culture and tradition, the reason why Asian films are a good media in conveying to the world a particular countrys voice. After years of being in the dark, the time of Asian cinema has come. Asian films are slowly coming out of their shells to be viewed and experienced by the whole world. This is an important key to globalization as people throughout the world are able to understand and accept cultures other than their own. The era has come when the micro-cultures of Asia will be seen by the world through a magnifying lens with no less than the use of a camera.

Professional Essay -- Teaching Education Careers Essays

Professional As people go through life, they most likely come upon a person who affects their life for the better, and sends them in the right direction. For some, however, they may never have a person who gives them this push, or perhaps someone had the opportunity to be that person who does the pushing, but does not. Many people have been propelled to success because of the care of another person. Some of these positive influences may include a parent, minister, or a friend. Though all three of these persons embody the needs of everybody from time to time, it is the teacher who connects these together and gives a person more that just an education. In every human’s life, they will come in direct contact with a teacher, whether it is in preschool or a jobsite. A teacher is what I have set out to be, to educate, to challenge, to push, to guide, and to nurture. The purpose of education is to prepare young people to leave the care of their parents, and build their own lives. The days of getting by with a high school diploma or just an elementary education are over. High school is only a stepping-stone to things much higher and harder, and there are many paths that students can choose from. I want my students not only to gain knowledge, but also to search with in themselves and find what they want to do, to give the students the push in the right direction to achieve their goals. Parents put their trust in teachers to prepare their children go on to bigger things; this is a responsibility that I take very seriously. I believe it is a profound injustice to a student to give them a half-hearted education and leave them behind others when they go out to compete in college or the workforce. I know the feeling of being ... ...t his long time placement. The ally that these organizations provide makes the job much easier knowing that someone is behind you. I would not want to work in any field without having the protection of an organization such as this in case something came up such as that. Looking over the last 15 years of my life, my teachers have been a great impact on my life both mentally and socially. In a rapid growing technological society, teachers are vastly needed to prepare students for the road ahead. I decided that I wanted to become a teacher so I can have an impact on someone else’s life as my teachers have done for me. Teaches bring a world of knowledge to an empty slate and push students to want more in life. Being a teacher, I will do my best to challenge my students to take the lessons that I teach and use them to make their lives the best that they can be.

Nike Inc and Sweatshops Essay -- Nike vs Human Rights

Table of Content: †¢ Introduction †¢ Case study analysis †¢ Facts which impact the decision : †¢ Choices/Alternatives †¢ Stakeholder †¢ How do the alternatives impact society? †¢ How do the alternative impact business? †¢ How do the alternatives impact me, as a decision maker? †¢ How ethical or unethical would be each of my alternatives? †¢ What course of action should be taken? †¢ Conclusion †¢ Recommendations †¢ References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Introduction: This paper will give a brief introduction about the history of Nike Sweatshops which will shed the light on their public image and their manufacturing process. It will further move to the suggested alternatives, what facts impact them, their stakeholder and their impact on the economic as well as social basis. In the end, it will discuss if the given choices are legal and ethical or not. Nike’s sweatshop manufacturing practices which can be seen through media have shown people that this company goes under the good guys images, these images which are displayed in their commercials show people that their employees are treated well and their happy in their working environment. In addition, Nike is a worldwide known company and it is among the top empires just as Adidas and Puma. It has more than 900 factories which are located in an estimated 50 countries, they also have more than 660 000 workers which most of them are women. However, although they have a lot of factories around the world, their main manufacture factories are located in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam which are basically countries with the most minimum salaries rate given to the workers. Nike chooses these locations for their production of their merchandise because of the cheap ... ...orkers †¢ Employees must make their voice heard through speak up sessions to talk directly to the directors of Nike about their concerns †¢ Consumers must be aware of the changes that might occur in Nike through media and social awareness References Alternative to sweatshops. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/fairtradelabor/about-us-5 O'Rourke, D. (2001, Feburary 27). To fix sweatshop conditions in factories, we must listen to workers. Retrieved from http://nature.berkeley.edu/orourke/media/globe-op-ed.html Nike case study. (2012, September 09). Retrieved from http://professional-ethics-articles.blogspot.ae/2012/09/nike-case-study.html Pittman, B. (2012, September 14). Nike sweatshop history: Should action be taken?. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/americanlaborcrises/labor-crises/nike-sweatshop-action

The Rastafarian Belief System Essay -- essays research papers

The Rastafarian Belief system The belief system of the Rastafarians is that Haile Selassie is the living God for the black race. Selassie, whose previous name was Ras Tafari, was the black Emperor of Ethiopia. Rastafarians live a peaceful life, needing little material possessions and devote much time to contemplating the scriptures. They reject the white man's world, as the new age Babylon of greed and dishonesty. Proud and confident "Rastas" even though they are humble will stand up for their rights. Rastas let their hair grow naturally into dreadlocks, in the image of the lion of Judah. The total following is believed to be over a million worldwide. Also the belief system of Rastafarianism is somewhat based on six fundamental principles. These included Hatred for the white race, the complete superiority of the black race, Revenge on whites for their wickedness, the negation, persecution, and humiliation of the government and legal bodies of Jamaica, Preparation to go back to Africa and Acknowledging E mperor Haile Selassie as the Supreme Being and only ruler of black people. However there are several other key concepts to belief system of Rastafarianism. These include Babylon, I and I, Jah, Colours, Ganja, Lion, Diet and Dreadlocks. Babylon is the Rastafarian term for the white political power structure that has been holding the black race down for centuries. Through the past, Rastafarian people claim that blacks were held down physically by the shackles of slave...

A Game of Thrones Chapter Twenty-one

Tyrion Are you certain that you must leave us so soon?† the Lord Commander asked him. â€Å"Past certain, Lord Mormont,† Tyrion replied. â€Å"My brother Jaime will be wondering what has become of me. He may decide that you have convinced me to take the black.† â€Å"Would that I could.† Mormont picked up a crab claw and cracked it in his fist. Old as he was, the Lord Commander still had the strength of a bear. â€Å"You're a cunning man, Tyrion. We have need of men of your sort on the Wall.† Tyrion grinned. â€Å"Then I shall scour the Seven Kingdoms for dwarfs and ship them all to you, Lord Mormont.† As they laughed, he sucked the meat from a crab leg and reached for another. The crabs had arrived from Eastwatch only this morning, packed in a barrel of snow, and they were succulent. Ser Alliser Thorne was the only man at table who did not so much as crack a smile. â€Å"Lannister mocks us.† â€Å"Only you, Ser Alliser,† Tyrion said. This time the laughter round the table had a nervous, uncertain quality to it. Thorne's black eyes fixed on Tyrion with loathing. â€Å"You have a bold tongue for someone who is less than half a man. Perhaps you and I should visit the yard together.† â€Å"Why?† asked Tyrion. â€Å"The crabs are here.† The remark brought more guffaws from the others. Ser Alliser stood up, his mouth a tight line. â€Å"Come and make your japes with steel in your hand.† Tyrion looked pointedly at his right hand. â€Å"Why, I have steel in my hand, Ser Alliser, although it appears to be a crab fork. Shall we duel?† He hopped up on his chair and began poking at Thorne's chest with the tiny fork. Roars of laughter filled the tower room. Bits of crab flew from the Lord Commander's mouth as he began to gasp and choke. Even his raven joined in, cawing loudly from above the window. â€Å"Duel! Duel! Duel!† Ser Alliser Thorne walked from the room so stiffly it looked as though he had a dagger up his butt. Mormont was still gasping for breath. Tyrion pounded him on the back. â€Å"To the victor goes the spoils,† he called out. â€Å"I claim Thorne's share of the crabs.† Finally the Lord Commander recovered himself. â€Å"You are a wicked man, to provoke our Ser Alliser so,† he scolded. Tyrion seated himself and took a sip of wine. â€Å"If a man paints a target on his chest, he should expect that sooner or later someone will loose an arrow at him. I have seen dead men with more humor than your Ser Alliser.† â€Å"Not so,† objected the Lord Steward, Bowen Marsh, a man as round and red as a pomegranate. â€Å"You ought to hear the droll names he gives the lads he trains.† Tyrion had heard a few of those droll names. â€Å"I'll wager the lads have a few names for him as well,† he said. â€Å"Chip the ice off your eyes, my good lords. Ser Alliser Thorne should be mucking out your stables, not drilling your young warriors.† â€Å"The Watch has no shortage of stableboys,† Lord Mormont grumbled. â€Å"That seems to be all they send us these days. Stableboys and sneak thieves and rapers. Ser Alliser is an anointed knight, one of the few to take the black since I have been Lord Commander. He fought bravely at King's Landing.† â€Å"On the wrong side,† Ser Jaremy Rykker commented dryly. â€Å"I ought to know, I was there on the battlements beside him. Tywin Lannister gave us a splendid choice. Take the black, or see our heads on spikes before evenfall. No offense intended, Tyrion.† â€Å"None taken, Ser Jaremy. My father is very fond of spiked heads, especially those of people who have annoyed him in some fashion. And a face as noble as yours, well, no doubt he saw you decorating the city wall above the King's Gate. I think you would have looked very striking up there.† â€Å"Thank you,† Ser Jaremy replied with a sardonic smile. Lord Commander Mormont cleared his throat. â€Å"Sometimes I fear Ser Alliser saw you true, Tyrion. You do mock us and our noble purpose here.† Tyrion shrugged. â€Å"We all need to be mocked from time to time, Lord Mormont, lest we start to take ourselves too seriously. More wine, please.† He held out his cup. As Rykker filled it for him, Bowen Marsh said, â€Å"You have a great thirst for a small man.† â€Å"Oh, I think that Lord Tyrion is quite a large man,† Maester Aemon said from the far end of the table. He spoke softly, yet the high officers of the Night's Watch all fell quiet, the better to hear what the ancient had to say. â€Å"I think he is a giant come among us, here at the end of the world.† Tyrion answered gently, â€Å"I've been called many things, my lord, but giant is seldom one of them.† â€Å"Nonetheless,† Maester Aemon said as his clouded, milk-white eyes moved to Tyrion's face, â€Å"I think it is true.† For once, Tyrion Lannister found himself at a loss for words. He could only bow his head politely and say, â€Å"You are too kind, Maester Aemon.† The blind man smiled. He was a tiny thing, wrinkled and hairless, shrunken beneath the weight of a hundred years so his maester's collar with its links of many metals hung loose about his throat. â€Å"I have been called many things, my lord,† he said, â€Å"but kind is seldom one of them.† This time Tyrion himself led the laughter. Much later, when the serious business of eating was done and the others had left, Mormont offered Tyrion a chair beside the fire and a cup of mulled spirits so strong they brought tears to his eyes. â€Å"The kingsroad can be perilous this far north,† the Lord Commander told him as they drank. â€Å"I have Jyck and Morrec,† Tyrion said, â€Å"and Yoren is riding south again.† â€Å"Yoren is only one man. The Watch shall escort you as far as Winterfell,† Mormont announced in a tone that brooked no argument. â€Å"Three men should be sufficient.† â€Å"If you insist, my lord,† Tyrion said. â€Å"You might send young Snow. He would be glad for a chance to see his brothers.† Mormont frowned through his thick grey beard. â€Å"Snow? Oh, the Stark bastard. I think not. The young ones need to forget the lives they left behind them, the brothers and mothers and all that. A visit home would only stir up feelings best left alone. I know these things. My own blood kin . . . my sister Maege rules BearIsland now, since my son's dishonor. I have nieces I have never seen.† He took a swallow. â€Å"Besides, Jon Snow is only a boy. You shall have three strong swords, to keep you safe.† â€Å"I am touched by your concern, Lord Mormont.† The strong drink was making Tyrion light-headed, but not so drunk that he did not realize that the Old Bear wanted something from him. â€Å"I hope I can repay your kindness.† â€Å"You can,† Mormont said bluntly. â€Å"Your sister sits beside the king. Your brother is a great knight, and your father the most powerful lord in the Seven Kingdoms. Speak to them for us. Tell them of our need here. You have seen for yourself, my lord. The Night's Watch is dying. Our strength is less than a thousand now. Six hundred here, two hundred in the ShadowTower, even fewer at Eastwatch, and a scant third of those fighting men. The Wall is a hundred leagues long. Think on that. Should an attack come, I have three men to defend each mile of wall.† â€Å"Three and a third,† Tyrion said with a yawn. Mormont scarcely seemed to hear him. The old man warmed his hands before the fire. â€Å"I sent Benjen Stark to search after Yohn Royce's son, lost on his first ranging. The Royce boy was green as summer grass, yet he insisted on the honor of his own command, saying it was his due as a knight. I did not wish to offend his lord father, so I yielded. I sent him out with two men I deemed as good as any in the Watch. More fool I.† â€Å"Fool,† the raven agreed. Tyrion glanced up. The bird peered down at him with those beady black eyes, ruffling its wings. â€Å"Fool,† it called again. Doubtless old Mormont would take it amiss if he throttled the creature. A pity. The Lord Commander took no notice of the irritating bird. â€Å"Gared was near as old as I am and longer on the Wall,† he went on, â€Å"yet it would seem he forswore himself and fled. I should never have believed it, not of him, but Lord Eddard sent me his head from Winterfell. Of Royce, there is no word. One deserter and two men lost, and now Ben Stark too has gone missing.† He sighed deeply. â€Å"Who am I to send searching after him? In two years I will be seventy. Too old and too weary for the burden I bear, yet if I set it down, who will pick it up? Alliser Thorne? Bowen Marsh? I would have to be as blind as Maester Aemon not to see what they are. The Night's Watch has become an army of sullen boys and tired old men. Apart from the men at my table tonight, I have perhaps twenty who can read, and even fewer who can think, or plan, or lead. Once the Watch spent its summers building, and each Lord Commander raised the Wall higher than he found it. Now it is all we c an do to stay alive.† He was in deadly earnest, Tyrion realized. He felt faintly embarrassed for the old man. Lord Mormont had spent a good part of his life on the Wall, and he needed to believe if those years were to have any meaning. â€Å"I promise, the king will hear of your need,† Tyrion said gravely, â€Å"and I will speak to my father and my brother Jaime as well.† And he would. Tyrion Lannister was as good as his word. He left the rest unsaid; that King Robert would ignore him, Lord Tywin would ask if he had taken leave of his senses, and Jaime would only laugh. â€Å"You are a young man, Tyrion,† Mormont said. â€Å"How many winters have you seen?† He shrugged. â€Å"Eight, nine. I misremember.† â€Å"And all of them short.† â€Å"As you say, my lord.† He had been born in the dead of winter, a terrible cruel one that the maesters said had lasted near three years, but Tyrion's earliest memories were of spring. â€Å"When I was a boy, it was said that a long summer always meant a long winter to come. This summer has lasted nine years, Tyrion, and a tenth will soon be upon us. Think on that.† â€Å"When I was a boy,† Tyrion replied, â€Å"my wet nurse told me that one day, if men were good, the gods would give the world a summer without ending. Perhaps we've been better than we thought, and the Great Summer is finally at hand.† He grinned. The Lord Commander did not seem amused. â€Å"You are not fool enough to believe that, my lord. Already the days grow shorter. There can be no mistake, Aemon has had letters from the Citadel, findings in accord with his own. The end of summer stares us in the face.† Mormont reached out and clutched Tyrion tightly by the hand. â€Å"You must make them understand. I tell you, my lord, the darkness is coming. There are wild things in the woods, direwolves and mammoths and snow bears the size of aurochs, and I have seen darker shapes in my dreams.† â€Å"In your dreams,† Tyrion echoed, thinking how badly he needed another strong drink. Mormont was deaf to the edge in his voice. â€Å"The fisherfolk near Eastwatch have glimpsed white walkers on the shore.† This time Tyrion could not hold his tongue. â€Å"The fisherfolk of Lannisport often glimpse merlings.† â€Å"Denys Mallister writes that the mountain people are moving south, slipping past the ShadowTower in numbers greater than ever before. They are running, my lord . . . but running from what?† Lord Mormont moved to the window and stared out into the night. â€Å"These are old bones, Lannister, but they have never felt a chill like this. Tell the king what I say, I pray you. Winter is coming, and when the Long Night falls, only the Night's Watch will stand between the realm and the darkness that sweeps from the north. The gods help us all if we are not ready.† â€Å"The gods help me if I do not get some sleep tonight. Yoren is determined to ride at first light.† Tyrion got to his feet, sleepy from wine and tired of doom. â€Å"I thank you for all the courtesies you have done me, Lord Mormont.† â€Å"Tell them, Tyrion. Tell them and make them believe. That is all the thanks I need.† He whistled, and his raven flew to him and perched on his shoulder. Mormont smiled and gave the bird some corn from his pocket, and that was how Tyrion left him. It was bitter cold outside. Bundled thickly in his furs, Tyrion Lannister pulled on his gloves and nodded to the poor frozen wretches standing sentry outside the Commander's Keep. He set off across the yard for his own chambers in the King's Tower, walking as briskly as his legs could manage. Patches of snow crunched beneath his feet as his boots broke the night's crust, and his breath steamed before him like a banner. He shoved his hands into his armpits and walked faster, praying that Morrec had remembered to warm his bed with hot bricks from the fire. Behind the King's Tower, the Wall glimmered in the light of the moon, immense and mysterious. Tyrion stopped for a moment to look up at it. His legs ached of cold and haste. Suddenly a strange madness took hold of him, a yearning to look once more off the end of the world. It would be his last chance, he thought; tomorrow he would ride south, and he could not imagine why he would ever want to return to this frozen desolation. The King's Tower was before him, with its promise of warmth and a soft bed, yet Tyrion found himself walking past it, toward the vast pale palisade of the Wall. A wooden stair ascended the south face, anchored on huge rough-hewn beams sunk deep into the ice and frozen in place. Back and forth it switched, clawing its way upward as crooked as a bolt of lightning. The black brothers assured him that it was much stronger than it looked, but Tyrion's legs were cramping too badly for him to even contemplate the ascent. He went instead to the iron cage beside the well, clambered inside, and yanked hard on the bell rope, three quick pulls. He had to wait what seemed an eternity, standing there inside the bars with the Wall to his back. Long enough for Tyrion to begin to wonder why he was doing this. He had just about decided to forget his sudden whim and go to bed when the cage gave a jerk and began to ascend. He moved upward slowly, by fits and starts at first, then more smoothly. The ground fell away beneath him, the cage swung, and Tyrion wrapped his hands around the iron bars. He could feel the cold of the metal even through his gloves. Morrec had a fire burning in his room, he noted with approval, but the Lord Commander's tower was dark. The Old Bear had more sense than he did, it seemed. Then he was above the towers, still inching his way upward. Castle Black lay below him, etched in moonlight. You could see how stark and empty it was from up here; windowless keeps, crumbling walls, courtyards choked with broken stone. Farther off, he could see the lights of Mole's Town, the little village half a league south along the kingsroad, and here and there the bright glitter of moonlight on water where icy streams descended from the mountain heights to cut across the plains. The rest of the world was a bleak emptiness of windswept hills and rocky fields spotted with snow. Finally a thick voice behind him said, â€Å"Seven hells, it's the dwarf,† and the cage jerked to a sudden stop and hung there, swinging slowly back and forth, the ropes creaking. â€Å"Bring him in, damn it.† There was a grunt and a loud groaning of wood as the cage slid sideways and then the Wall was beneath him. Tyrion waited until the swinging had stopped before he pushed open the cage door and hopped down onto the ice. A heavy figure in black was leaning on the winch, while a second held the cage with a gloved hand. Their faces were muffled in woolen scarves so only their eyes showed, and they were plump with layers of wool and leather, black on black. â€Å"And what will you be wanting, this time of night?† the one by the winch asked. â€Å"A last look.† The men exchanged sour glances. â€Å"Look all you want,† the other one said. â€Å"Just have a care you don't fall off, little man. The Old Bear would have our hides.† A small wooden shack stood under the great crane, and Tyrion saw the dull glow of a brazier and felt a brief gust of warmth when the winch men opened the door and went back inside. And then he was alone. It was bitingly cold up here, and the wind pulled at his clothes like an insistent lover. The top of the Wall was wider than the kingsroad often was, so Tyrion had no fear of falling, although the footing was slicker than he would have liked. The brothers spread crushed stone across the walkways, but the weight of countless footsteps would melt the Wall beneath, so the ice would seem to grow around the gravel, swallowing it, until the path was bare again and it was time to crush more stone. Still, it was nothing that Tyrion could not manage. He looked off to the east and west, at the Wall stretching before him, a vast white road with no beginning and no end and a dark abyss on either side. West, he decided, for no special reason, and he began to walk that way, following the pathway nearest the north edge, where the gravel looked freshest. His bare cheeks were ruddy with the cold, and his legs complained more loudly with every step, but Tyrion ignored them. The wind swirled around him, gravel crunched beneath his boots, while ahead the white ribbon followed the lines of the hills, rising higher and higher, until it was lost beyond the western horizon. He passed a massive catapult, as tall as a city wall, its base sunk deep into the Wall. The throwing arm had been taken off for repairs and then forgotten; it lay there like a broken toy, half-embedded in the ice. On the far side of the catapult, a muffled voice called out a challenge. â€Å"Who goes there? Halt!† Tyrion stopped. â€Å"If I halt too long I'll freeze in place, Jon,† he said as a shaggy pale shape slid toward him silently and sniffed at his furs. â€Å"Hello, Ghost.† Jon Snow moved closer. He looked bigger and heavier in his layers of fur and leather, the hood of his cloak pulled down over his face. â€Å"Lannister,† he said, yanking loose the scarf to uncover his mouth. â€Å"This is the last place I would have expected to see you.† He carried a heavy spear tipped in iron, taller than he was, and a sword hung at his side in a leather sheath. Across his chest was a gleaming black warhorn, banded with silver. â€Å"This is the last place I would have expected to be seen,† Tyrion admitted. â€Å"I was captured by a whim. If I touch Ghost, will he chew my hand off?† â€Å"Not with me here,† Jon promised. Tyrion scratched the white wolf behind the ears. The red eyes watched him impassively. The beast came up as high as his chest now. Another year, and Tyrion had the gloomy feeling he'd be looking up at him. â€Å"What are you doing up here tonight?† he asked. â€Å"Besides freezing your manhood off . . . â€Å" â€Å"I have drawn night guard,† Jon said. â€Å"Again. Ser Alliser has kindly arranged for the watch commander to take a special interest in me. He seems to think that if they keep me awake half the night, I'll fall asleep during morning drill. So far I have disappointed him.† Tyrion grinned. â€Å"And has Ghost learned to juggle yet?† â€Å"No,† said Jon, smiling, â€Å"but Grenn held his own against Halder this morning, and Pyp is no longer dropping his sword quite so often as he did.† â€Å"Pyp?† â€Å"Pypar is his real name. The small boy with the large ears. He saw me working with Grenn and asked for help. Thorne had never even shown him the proper way to grip a sword.† He turned to look north. â€Å"I have a mile of Wall to guard. Will you walk with me?† â€Å"If you walk slowly,† Tyrion said. â€Å"The watch commander tells me I must walk, to keep my blood from freezing, but he never said how fast.† They walked, with Ghost pacing along beside Jon like a white shadow. â€Å"I leave on the morrow,† Tyrion said. â€Å"I know.† Jon sounded strangely sad. â€Å"I plan to stop at Winterfell on the way south. If there is any message that you would like me to deliver . . . â€Å" â€Å"Tell Robb that I'm going to command the Night's Watch and keep him safe, so he might as well take up needlework with the girls and have Mikken melt down his sword for horseshoes.† â€Å"Your brother is bigger than me,† Tyrion said with a laugh. â€Å"I decline to deliver any message that might get me killed.† â€Å"Rickon will ask when I'm coming home. Try to explain where I've gone, if you can. Tell him he can have all my things while I'm away, he'll like that.† People seemed to be asking a great deal of him today, Tyrion Lannister thought. â€Å"You could put all this in a letter, you know.† â€Å"Rickon can't read yet. Bran . . . † He stopped suddenly. â€Å"I don't know what message to send to Bran. Help him, Tyrion.† â€Å"What help could I give him? I am no maester, to ease his pain. I have no spells to give him back his legs.† â€Å"You gave me help when I needed it,† Jon Snow said. â€Å"I gave you nothing,† Tyrion said. â€Å"Words.† â€Å"Then give your words to Bran too.† â€Å"You're asking a lame man to teach a cripple how to dance,† Tyrion said. â€Å"However sincere the lesson, the result is likely to be grotesque. Still, I know what it is to love a brother, Lord Snow. I will give Bran whatever small help is in my power.† â€Å"Thank you, my lord of Lannister.† He pulled off his glove and offered his bare hand. â€Å"Friend.† Tyrion found himself oddly touched. â€Å"Most of my kin are bastards,† he said with a wry smile, â€Å"but you're the first I've had to friend.† He pulled a glove off with his teeth and clasped Snow by the hand, flesh against flesh. The boy's grip was firm and strong. When he had donned his glove again, Jon Snow turned abruptly and walked to the low, icy northern parapet. Beyond him the Wall fell away sharply; beyond him there was only the darkness and the wild. Tyrion followed him, and side by side they stood upon the edge of the world. The Night's Watch permitted the forest to come no closer than half a mile of the north face of the Wall. The thickets of ironwood and sentinel and oak that had once grown there had been harvested centuries ago, to create a broad swath of open ground through which no enemy could hope to pass unseen. Tyrion had heard that elsewhere along the Wall, between the three fortresses, the wildwood had come creeping back over the decades, that there were places where grey-green sentinels and pale white weirwoods had taken root in the shadow of the Wall itself, but Castle Black had a prodigious appetite for firewood, and here the forest was still kept at bay by the axes of the black brothers. It was never far, though. From up here Tyrion could see it, the dark trees looming beyond the stretch of open ground, like a second wall built parallel to the first, a wall of night. Few axes had ever swung in that black wood, where even the moonlight could not penetrate the ancient tangle of root and thorn and grasping limb. Out there the trees grew huge, and the rangers said they seemed to brood and knew not men. It was small wonder the Night's Watch named it the haunted forest. As he stood there and looked at all that darkness with no fires burning anywhere, with the wind blowing and the cold like a spear in his guts, Tyrion Lannister felt as though he could almost believe the talk of the Others, the enemy in the night. His jokes of grumkins and snarks no longer seemed quite so droll. â€Å"My uncle is out there,† Jon Snow said softly, leaning on his spear as he stared off into the darkness. â€Å"The first night they sent me up here, I thought, Uncle Benjen will ride back tonight, and I'll see him first and blow the horn. He never came, though. Not that night and not any night.† â€Å"Give him time,† Tyrion said. Far off to the north, a wolf began to howl. Another voice picked up the call, then another. Ghost cocked his head and listened. â€Å"If he doesn't come back,† Jon Snow promised, â€Å"Ghost and I will go find him.† He put his hand on the direwolf's head. â€Å"I believe you,† Tyrion said, but what he thought was, And who will go find you? He shivered.