The integration of supply chain activities in an organisation always Assignment

The integration of supply chain activities in an organisation always has a significant impact on the bottom-line performance of a manufacturing organization - Assignment Example In today’s business climate, adaptability and agility are primary due to the ever-changing strategies that are always aimed to attract potential customers to significantly increase the profitability of an organization. For an integrated supply chain to be termed as of quality, it must be open to functional shift ability (Delfmann, 2007). Functional shift ability in this case describes the process of assigning functional responsibility to members of the supply chain best positioned to perform those functions at the lowest overall cost or in the shortest period of time (Wisner et al, 2009). One of the renowned international Companies known to follow this strategy is the Coca Cola Company that is known for its tremendous wide array of soft drinks. The purpose of this paper is to provide insightful information about the imperativeness of effective supply chain management in terms of performance enhancement and optimal utilization of resources (Jacoby, 2010). The information is to facilitate decision-making in various institutions pertaining to the integration of supply chain management including Coca Coal Company that is adopted in this study. The concept holds the capacity to enhance the competitiveness of companies in diverse sectors through effective streamlining of production processes that enables companies to prod uce unmatched products in terms of quality. A supply chain is an integrated process where a number of various business entities such as the manufacturers, distributors, retailers and suppliers work together in an effort to acquire raw materials, convert the raw materials into specified final product and deliver the final products to retailer (Ray, 2003). An efficient supply chain management is designed specifically to meet customer’s demands as well as satisfying the customer as practiced by Coca Coal Company. Giannoccaro (2013) indicates that supply chain is characterized by the flow of products, information and

How was paper first made and how has it effected our world Essay

How was paper first made and how has it effected our world - Essay Example He made paper from textile waste i.e. rag and propagated paper. In those days the paper was also made from the bark of mulberry tree. The oldest paper making technique comes from China where pulp was poured into a primitive mould. The Chinese paper making technique spread throughout the world, be it Korea, South East Asia, Arabia or Europe. It was in Europe that paper got it shape as we know paper today. (Holick, Herbert.2006; Popular Science - Vol.124.1934) In the olden times, paper held great importance and paper making was an art and was kept as secret because of its immense advantages. It was an important mode of communication, i.e. a carrier of information. With time paper making has changed and every step in the process has been re-engineered too with the aim of producing a better quality of paper. (Holick, Herbert.2006) After modern paper invention in China further work was done on effective paper making techniques. China introduced many types of special papers. After Chinese developments in paper making, paper made its way all over the world. In every region and place it was developed and improved. European industrialization and mechanization added many aspects to paper making and wide uses of paper were discovered during 16th and 17th century. With the invention of printing and press media in the 14th century a new dimension was given to the creation of paper. The first paper machine was invented in 1799, which was further developed in England and USA. With the passage of time and growth in technology giant presses and publication houses were made which made the availability of newspaper, books, journals and magazines possible today. (Holick, Herbert.2006) The world wide consumption of paper has grown tremendously over years. The paper is consumed in different patterns depending upon their social, economical and technical needs. A large variety of paper grades and types are

A business proposal on direct marketing in social media Essay Example for Free

A business proposal on direct marketing in social media Essay This paper is a research proposal about direct marketing in the social media. With the involvement with the error of computers, ways of managing marketing have been increased. Each technique comes with its major benefits and constraints. This research proposal targets on evaluating the usefulness of social media in direct marketing. The development of social media as a direct channel is not without its challenges. According to the study, the top two constraints for marketers came down to looking for the most relevant tactics for gauging success and launching business objectives. Being able to measure success is important for any direct marketing work, and that is why it is significant not to disregard this vital step. With the correct trappings, marketers can produce viral social media operations that can be track, restrained, and improved to maximize access and return on investment (Ellsworth Ellsworth, 1994, p. 386). This research paper targets to establish how effective is managing direct marketing in social Medias. (b) Scope of the study             Social media is a treasured new instrument in a direct marketers toolbox, nevertheless it desires to be improved and utilised properly to undertake the tasks. Creating it informal for clients to share newsletter or Web site content over social grids is just the start. Direct marketers ought to improve viral programs that completely exploit the systems true capability. Finally, one needs to identify ways to measure their success, which will allow persons to fine-tune their exertions going onward. Leveraging social media as a direct system also allows fundamental tenure, which is crucial to capitalize on triumph across all sections. Eradicating many owners not only rationalizes the practice, but also accelerates having one unified approach that can house the business goals of multiple departments, such as public relations, customer service, and sales. Clumsy management by numerous sections can lead to varied communications that hinder the companys ability to attract followers, fans, or other influencers. Social media marketers comprehend the value in directing targeted messages and gauging their success, which is why it is not astonishing that many companies are leveraging their email marketing departments to board on social media creativities. 2.0 How to conduct the study (a) Methodology: Research Philosophy, Approach, Strategy and Methods               There are various approaches of obtaining information while conducting research. These methods of obtaining information refer to as research methods. Research methods include personal interviews, literature searches, focus groups, and email surveys, telephone surveys, talking with people and mail surveys. Literature search entails going through already sourced materials to obtain information. Materials that are readily available with information are such as newspapers, magazines, relevant trade publications, company literature, online materials and any other relevant and already published materials. This method of conducting research is one of the cheapest methods for conducting research. Online data is a quick research process that lies under this category of information research methods. It is very fast in obtaining information. Talking with people is another good method of gathering information for a project. It is most relevant at initial stages of conduct ing research for a project. It is mostly preferred when looking for the information that is not publicly available (Cohen Morrison, 2003, p. 179). To obtain adequate information on the effectiveness of directing marketing in social media chose to use various methods for sourcing the information, each strategy of obtaining the information is analysed below and its effectiveness and efficiency on information deliver. The information to be research will be too new again to be got in literature resources, therefore, preferring to look for it from real persons. For example, talking with people will be through seminars, association meetings, customers, suppliers, and all other types of business conversations. A focus group is concerned with a study to explore peoples attitudes and ideas. It will be used to obtain information about something new in the market and effectiveness of social media in promoting its awareness. Group focus method obtains the information from a selected group of the people called the sample. The information acquired could be based on the process of selecting a sample. The most preferred method for sample selection is a random selection; this is preferred because, all the characters stand an equal chance to be select. Email and internet analyses are comparatively original and few is available about the outcome of sampling bias on internet surveys. While it is noticeable that in ternet survey most regards effective and quickest way of dispensing a study, the demographic outline of the internet handler will not represent the general population, although this is changing. Before doing an email or internet study, One shall carefully consider the effect that this bias might have on the results. Social media include such as Facebook, twitter, eBay amongst many others. They are friendly in nature and this reduces the may processes of formalities needed. In social media, personal conduct with a client is ensured; a person can communicate directly to the client and hence reach him or her in a better way to explain him or her about his products. Personal interviews are a technique to get detailed and all-inclusive information. They engage one person interviewing another person for person or comprehensive information. Personal interviews are very costly because of the person-to-person nature of the interview. Normally, as an interviewer, I will ask questions from a documented questionnaire and list the answers word-perfect. Occasionally, a questionnaire is merely a list of topics that the study wants to confer with a business professional. Personal interviews because of their expense are on mostly used only when subjects are not probable to react to other survey techniques. This will allow the researcher to get information about the effectiveness of direct marketing from individuals that I would not have got through any other research method. Telephone surveys are the fastest method of collecting information from a comparatively bulky sample. As an assessor, I will track an organized writing that is fundamentally identical to a written questionnaire. However, different from a mail survey, a telephone survey would permit the chance for sure judgement searching. Telephone surveys usually last fewer than ten minutes. Typical charges are between four and six thousand dollars and they can be accomplished in two to four weeks. Mail surveys are a cost current way of collecting information. They are best for big sample amounts, or when the sample is sourced from a wide geographical area. They charge a little less than telephone interviews, but they take over double as long to complete normally, eight to twelve weeks. Since there is no interviewer, there is no likelihood of interviewer prejudice. The foremost shortcoming is the incapability to review respondents for more complete information. In conducting research on social media marketing, one needs to outline the target group well. The target group shall be outlined clearly, because the mode of advertising will be a framed in a way to suit it. By conducting good research, information that is the most basic for a set form of marketing will be acquired. It is good to note that even time and the way of marketing selected dictates the target group of managing the marketing. Social media marketing offers a wide geographical advertisement. Social Medias is the most necessary forums where a person can meet a very large number of people from different ethnic groups. It is very easy to capture the target group within a very short as opposed to all other channels of advertisement. 3.0 Why is there need to study this topic 3.1 Contribution to the field            While some companies perceive social Medias as mere channels for building knowledge on products, there is evidence that direct marketers are competing to possess huge demand generation potential. The assessment outlines the land grab that is going on in organizations over regulation of social media; with 29 per cent of respondents say social media is being shared by many departments. However, possession by direct marketing acquires the top with 36 per cent of respondents. As the setting of reference, solitary 9 percent of respondents suggest public relations sectors own that social media. That social media is a workable and influential direct channel is vibrant. Nevertheless, the review also exposes social medias strong linking with email promoting. In fact, 66% of salespersons plan to assimilate the two channels in 2009. This move wholly makes logic: Email is a vital part of social media, as it is relied upon to keep members knowledgeable about the up-to-date news and informs. Additionally, assimilating the two networks permits marketers to get a more opinions of the customer, which is necessary for conveying effective and relevant communications (Bird, 2000, p.126). Direct mail is a posted mail that publicizes ones business and its goods and services. There are many different categories of direct mail. For example catalogues, postcards, envelope mailers. Direct mail operations are typically, sent to all delivery customers in a zone or to entirely customers on a marketing list. Telemarketing entails contacting viable customers through the phone to sell products or services. Telemarketing is skilful of generating new customer prospects in huge bulks. Nevertheless, a fruitful campaign involves scheduling and using correct and well-researched customer data to match customer profiles to product profiles. Email marketing is a cost-effective, simple, and measurable method of reaching consumers. It can include e-newsletters and promotional emails to create new leads or deals for existing clients, or ads that can perform in other businesss emails. 3.2 The significance of the study             The study is important, as it would study social media as a forum for conducting direct marketing. Through the study also one gets to know several contributions of different methods in giving information about social media. By researching on direct marketing and social media, one gets to appreciate its effort in increasing the knowledge of different products of a business. The study will allow marketers in choosing the most appropriate method of product promotion in the future. Social media can be used successfully as a marketing tool for business as it gives someone a chance to interact directly with his/her customers and often share significant product or service information. Consider developing a profile for a business firm that permits one to promote your products and services while also cheering customers to deliver feedback by leaving comments; this is the advice from one of the social network owners. It is of very great importance to adopt direct marketing in social media (Sheehan, 2010, p. 45). Taking a lesson from directing marketing, social media marketing is best served only by focusing on activities that result in measurable results. If persons believe that business page gathers fan with greater affinity to the brand, maybe researchers can also believe that we would not be able to measure the effects of that brand loyalty it in a way that is particularly satisfying. It is for more productive to think of social media as a direct marketing system, and create campaigns and track results in a manner that is related to direct marketing. Not all customers are created equal. Some customers fall into what marketers refer to as ‘heavy user category. These customers purchase products or services with the highest profit margin or simply frequent ones business more often than the average. This important group is the most valuable asset and one probably wish you had more like them. A business grows due to trusted customers and well crediting policies. Through direct marketing, it would be very easy to create awareness of the existence of your business establishment. Social media provides an environment to conduct direct marketing that help to improve on sales (Zarrella, 2010, p. 109). In direct marketing, we know that people tend to befriend with others who are similar to themselves; they live in the same neighbourhoods, engage in similar activities, and so on. This tendency makes targeting profitable customers much easier. Most customer databases are transactional in nature. They capture sales, product numbers, and customer names. They do not, however, help to create messages or track results. To make issues tracking efficiently, one will need to attach the national field to your customer records, which makes note of their social media affiliation. As new customers are acquired, it is helpful if coupons or specials that the new customer might use are tracked back to a social media outlet, allowing you to see results over time. In addition, one may be able track results that provide some substance to the real contribution that greater brand loyalty of social media followers provides to your business. This provides a glimpse of how direct marketing in a social medi a, is helpful in tracking customers (Kotler Armstrong, 1991, p. 283). 4.0 Timeline of the study               When the goal is to produce a rapid reaction to a coupon or incentive, traditional direct marketing channels are the best. Coupons perform well online, but conventional media rules up better. Nevertheless, one can use social media to add importance to the customer interaction by lashing target customers to interactive and participative website or any other informational areas. This adds value to the usefulness of direct marketing in the social media, based on previous research proposal (Evans, 2008, p.19). 5.0 Effectiveness of accomplishing the task:                  The research proposal is set comprehensive enough to cater for demands for a marketer in conducting research. The different method employed would ensure every detail concerning directing in social media is realized by the research. This research methodology lacks discrimination of standards or organizations to ensure that it would source for the information from all groups and levels of people in the world. The speed and accuracy of obtaining the information are ensured in the research proposal through employing new technologies and electronic devices such as computers in the research. These electronic devices would ensure safe storage of data for reference reasons. It also provides a quick accessibility of information since the storage is convenient to retrieve quickly. This would assure researchers the confidence of accomplishing the task successfully. Whichever way one approaches it, the usage of business social networks is very likely an aspect in some side of your marketing plan (Sargeant West, 2001, p 113). 6.0 Ethical issues in marketing and social media                   The benefit of business making the product and to their customers through the use of online support forums is evident. The difficulties are solved more often than not by other customers, reducing the overall support expenses. While product inventors do a decent profession of testing and anticipating issues, given the difficulty of real life, they just cannot match a span of application environments that are likely to exist. Unexpected errors occur. Proceeding to online support, the only real solution is a call to customer service. The difficulty is, though, that not only is direct and personal customer support crew is often unable to reproduce the issue for the precise reason it occurred in the first place: they fail to have a particular set up or environment that their products have been deployed in (Hofacker, 2001, p. 831). The extent to which direct marketing is useful to an organization expansion is very vital. The major contribution of social media is that it facilitates to bring awareness of products and services to people. Social media also serve to give a wide geographical coverage in advertising (Tuten, Solomon, 2013, p 78). In the case of research on the business, social Medias also provide readily available information. Direct marketing is cost effective when done in the social media relatively to when conducted by other channels (Zimmerman, 2013, p. 311). Its was free to create an advert in a social media page and the information reaches many individuals within less time. Direct marketing in social media would also help to improve on clearing the existing bias of a product. A bias about a product may amount from false information about a product mostly generated by the competitor. The list on usefulness of direct marketing in social media marketing cannot be depleting. For a successful growth in market size, direct marketing in social Medias is the most appropriate strategy (Raab, 2010, p. 99). References Bird,  D. (2000). Commonsense direct marketing. London: Kogan Page. Cohen,  L., Manion,  L., Morrison,  K. (2003). Research methods in education. London: RoutledgeFalmer. Direct Marketing Design: The Graphics of Direct Mail and Direct Response Marketing. (1985). New York: PBC International Inc. Ellsworth,  J.  H., Ellsworth,  M.  V. (1994). The Internet business book. New York: Wiley. Evans,  D. (2008). Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day. Indianapolis, Ind: Wiley. Hofacker,  C.  F. (2001). Internet marketing. New York: Wiley. Journal of Direct Marketing. (1987). New York, N.Y.: John Wiley Sons., Inc. Kotler,  P., Armstrong,  G. (1991). Principles of marketing. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice Hall. Raab,  G. (2010). The psychology of marketing: Cross-cultural perspectives. Burlington, VT: Gower. Sargeant,  A., West,  D.  C. (2001). Direct interactive marketing. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. Shaw,  K., Emily H. Davis Art Gallery (1978). Market research. Akron, Ohio: Emily H. Davis Art Gallery. Sheehan,  B. (2010). Online marketing. Lausanne: AVA Academia. Smith,  P. (1995). Direct Marketing. Hampton, Middlesex [England: Key Note Publications. Tuten,  T., Solomon,  M. (2013). Social Media Marketing. Boston: Pearson. Zarrella,  D. (2010). The Social Media Marketing Book. Beijing: OReilly. Zimmerman,  J., Ng,  D. (2013). Social Media Marketing All-in-One for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Source document

Is Astrology A Pseudoscience?

Is Astrology A Pseudoscience? In order to ascertain whether or not something is a pseudoscience or fake science, one must first know what pseudoscience is. Here, I am going to illustrate the many different points which distinguished philosophers such as Michael Radner, Densie Radner and Paul Thagard have made on what is a pseudoscience to evaluate astrology, which is the study of how the heavenly bodies such as the planets and the constellations affect us and instead offer that Astrology is simply not science, much like religion or poetry is not like science. Already, if one were to look up Astrology in a collection of online dictionaries, there will be definitions such as a pseudoscience claiming divination by the positions of the planets and sun and moon however wether the writer of such definitions knows why or how astrology is a pseudoscience remains a mystery, perhaps they, like the 192 scientists and 19 noble prize winners who signed the statement against astrology Bart Bok, Paul Kurtz and Lawrence Jerome, support it being a pseudoscience because it goes against their instincts and rational thinking which is really not enough evidence for anything to be classified as a pseudoscience. For example the three most important issues raised by the statement which was signed by these scientists proclaimed that: Astrology originated as part of a magical world view. However so did chemistry (it arose from alchemy) and doctors use to believe that the body was made of humours and today even honour the Hippocratic origins of medicine by still making the Hippocratic Oath. The planets are too distant for there to be any physical foundation for astrology. While the planets are distant, there are certainly ways distant objects can influence our lives. For example if the sun were to explode, that would certainly make an impact upon our daily lives. People believe in astrology out of longing for comfort. While some people believe astrology out of longing for comfort, so they too, believe in religion or the existence of gravity every time they jump so that one does not fear that whenever one jumps one may drift off into space and thus this does not define astrology as a pseudoscience. If there is anything to speak for astrology as a science it would be that astrology uses the scientific method. The scientific method as developed by many scientists like Einstein as well as well known philosophers such as Kuhn, Popper, Feyerabend and Lakatos consists of observation, hypothesis, experimentation and verification. As astrology focuses on observing the location of the sun and the planets as well as their effect on people, which is the basis of astrological charts and readings it clearly satisfies the first condition. When an astrologist makes a chart of someones birth and makes reading upon that of how their life will be like, that is a hypothesis. The subject living his or her life is the experiment and at the end of their life they can verify whether or not the reading came true. Verification is strongly focused on the results not falsifying the hypothesis but even for lack of that, does an experiment falsifying the hypothesis make it unscientific? High school chemist ry experiments were still science experiments even if the results were not what we expected to them to be. Thus we can say, yes astronomy does follow the scientific method, although through experiments such as one conducted by a French psychologist Michel Gauquelin, where he sent the horoscope of a criminal to roughly 150 people as their horoscope and 94% believed it fit them1, we can see that actual verification may be something difficult to achieve when it comes to astrology, most likely because of how vague and all encompassing the readings prove to be. To some of us, the fact that astrology doesnt make sense in that there are no physical forces in play from planets millions of miles away is enough to declare astrology a pseudoscience. However, as is pointed out by various astrologists, Einsteins theory of curved space seemed absurd until it was proven true and many similarly absurd proposals are still considered science. Philosophers through the ages have also debated (although mostly just agreed) that astronomy is a pseudoscience. One of the most famous demarcations of science is Karl Poppers theory of falsifiability; however astrology cant be classified be a pseudoscience using this. Thagard brought up the points very well in his article Why is astrology a pseudoscience that Popper himself said that no observation ever guarantees falsification because the hypotheses can always be changed and thus falsification can only be a category if a better theory is invented2. Thus although no hypotheses made by astrologists can convince them that astrology doesnt work, astrology can technically be replaced by a modern day Ptolemy- maybe the composition of the planets affect us instead of the gods that rule them or something and thus is falsifiable. Speaking of the gods however, therein lays one of the greatest weak points that show astrology as something that isnt very scientific. Science is the same through all languages, hydrogen is still an atom made of a proton no matter whether its name is in English or Chinese. The planets, named after Greek gods are not the same across languages yet names of things appear to be of the utmost importance to astrologers. Venus who is named after the goddess of love deals with the emotional side of things while Mars is the god of war and thus if youre born under the house of Mars you will be evil,  warlike and contentious because of [your] choleric nature3. Even more worrisome is that the 12 zodiac constellations arose from the Babylonians around the same time the Chinese and Hindus had 28 constellations. Furthermore, the names of the constellations appear to also affect people who are born when theyre in the sky, for example people that are born when the sun is in the quadrant of the sky where Aries the Ram is are supposed be aggressive and assertive like the animal itself. This leads us to the various marks of pseudoscience that D. and M. Radner have set out of which being able to satisfy any one of these conditions is considered to be unscientific4. Anachronistic Thinking Their first demarcation refers to reverting to age old theories that once held fruition in the past. Astrology is a fairly age old theory that was the origins of astronomy whereby in the past astrologers were also astronomers and observed the movements of the planets and the stars. As the correlations of the position of the planets and stars appear to have been passed down from the beginning of astrology from observations made on how the planets affect people from thousands of years B.C., this does seem to apply. Furthermore the moon and the sun are still considered planets in astrology and one would think if Astrology was kept up to date, that someone would have removed them from the equation. In comparison, in order to see the effects of drugs on people we have textbooks which would have new editions every few years to show new findings and remove findings that have been proven false. The main textbook of astrology is still Ptolemys  Tetrabiblos  which was written in 200 AD. In Thagards article Why astrology is a pseudoscience Thagard also proclaims that astrology is uncritical and unprogressive because it never tries to solve unsolved problems like what happens in natural disasters where people with many difference charts, star signs, houses all die in the same way2. Looking for mysteries While astrology does not appear to be deal with mysteries of human experience such as UFOs, there are many mysteries associated with something that is supposed to be scientific. If one were to look up the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, one would find the same answer from any knowledgeable chemist. If one were to ask 10 different astrologers for their horoscope, one would find many different readings which opens the questions as to which reading is the correct reading. For example a collaboration of studies show that in a group of 559 astrologers when 5- 30 of them are asked to agree or disagree with a given reading of 762 different birth charts, most of them cant even agree that each chart means the same thing. Appeals to Myths Astrology does not actually appeal to myths, instead a quick browse of the Journal of Astrology website would show that it does appeal to old readings that have come true6, namely those made to estimate political outcomes and lives and deaths. However, absent on the site are indication of the numbers or examples of death predictions that have not come true. The grab-bag approach to evidence Astrology does appear to favour large amounts of evidence in that astrologers refer to how many readings in the past have come true (disregarding those that havent) and this method is helped along through the popularity of daily horoscopes in our newspapers whereby every horoscope can most likely correspond to every person. In fact the collaboration of 54 studies that have tested astrologers by giving them charts and telling them to match their owners showed that the average rate of success was the same as if you or I randomly matched them. Irrefutable Hypotheses While astrology is not irrefutable there are many ways and loopholes which allow it to never reach that point. For example, if a reading is wrong a) the person taking the reading could be deluding themselves and really are what the reading says b) the astrologer could have read it wrong c) The person lied about their location of birth and time d) this particular astrologer made it up but the next may make a true reading. The list of possible causes for already vague readings to be wrong that doesnt disprove astrology in any way can go on and on as there is no possible control to be tested (i.e. someone who isnt under the influence of the stars). It is because of the ease at which these wrong hypothesises can be explained and are explained that causes Popper to claim that astrology is irrational and Kuhn to claim it to be astrologys downfall when it comes to being a science as it means their results will never lead to any sort of further research or progression2,7. Argument from spurious similarity A mark of pseudoscience is that the pseudoscientific has a base of principles which are already part of legitimate science. Astrology definitely has a basis in astronomy however there was once a time where astronomy was based on astrology and the star charts and movements of planets used in astrology would coincide with those used in astronomy. Explanation by scenario Astrology uses its own laws to explain different readings and conclusions. For example Uranus is likely a cooling planet due to its modern rulership of Saturns traditional sign Aquarius . These rules and laws most likely originated from original scientific observations of the ecliptic rotations of the planets when it was believed that everything revolved around the earth (seeing as the moon and the sun were classified as planets) and then further built upon with various theories from the Gods they are named after, for example Jupiter is the chief of the gods and thus can rule over other gods. Research of Exegesis Astrologers are selective in their use of scientific research, they do not as many pseudo scientists do, which is to simply take science as statements instead of looking for the reasoning and facts beneath but they do not take into account all scientific research either. For example Michel Gauquelin in an experiment found that there is a greater than chance association of people who are born under Saturns rising or zenith to be scientists and that example may be used by astrologers as a scientific experiment that supports astrology. However, experiments looking at horoscopes of twins born in the same location and at the same time with drastically different futures lay hidden beneath the carpet. Refusal to revise in light of criticism This mark of pseudoscience is something that relates greatly to astrology. Because the Earth is not perfectly spherical, the axis of the earth tilts back and forth in a 26000 year cycles and due to this, the quadrants the constellations occupy in the sky no longer befit with that of when astrology charts were created thousands of years ago. This is called precession and is a problem that astrologers are yet to answer especially since they continue to make predictions as if the constellations still occupy the same part of the sky they use to. Furthermore with the invention of modern day hospitals and caesarean births that causes the time of birth to be different by many hours and sometimes preserves a baby that would have otherwise died, there presents lots of problems with something that is calculated from ones birth time. Apart from fore filling many of the marks of pseudoscience D. and M. Radner have listed, astrology is a topic that has been criticized by many philosophers. Diesing pointed out that astrologers do not collaborate with other scientists like many of the sciences do8, Feyerabend compared it to medieval astronomy whereby it had interesting ideas but they werent developed through any kind of proper research in order to understand how it worked9. Grey in a summarization points out that astrology has a lack of controls and has ill defined concepts that cant be refined and are hard to test10. Most of these philosophers seem to agree that while science is continuously being challenged by anomalies, new theories and results which allow it to progress; astronomy tends to reject these occurrences and thus becomes stagnant. Criticism for astrology does not only stop here even as far back as 44 BC there existed documented criticism against astrology and example of this would be the critique written by Marcus Tullius Cicero who was a Roman statesman. One of his best points was that people do not expect childrens personality or behaviours to be affected by the weather conditions in which they are born and these conditions obviously have by far more effects on a person than dim lights which shine in the sky. He continues that even if children born in the month of December were in some way to be similar how would one know it is not because they were born in cold weather as opposed to the sun rising while a constellation is in the sky11?   This was a very valid point at the time when it was written and thinking along the same lines creates a variety of problems which would be difficult for an astrologist to answer such as why doesnt the amount and gender of people in the immediate vicinity of the baby being born affect the babys personality instead of the stars. Conclusion While it is clear that astrology is a pseudoscience as described by many famous philosophers like Thagard, Kuhn and Feyerabend, I propose that astronomy ought to be classified as something that is not science as opposed to fake science. Because astrology was the origins of astronomy and thus is somewhat intimately connected with science and yet so obviously not scientific, there has been much debate as to its status. However, I would like to point out that it is the scientists who are concerned with the accuracy and effectiveness of the tests conducted on astrology and that, astrologists, while being dismissive of all negative results and findings are really more concerned with the satisfaction of those that seek their wisdom. Rather, astronomy is really more like a religion where people have faith in things that cannot be seen and is rather successful at making people feel connected to society. It provides a way for us to describe ourselves and realize qualities in ourselves and gen erally there are fairly little negative impacts in believing in something like astrology (apart from maybe an unhappy boy who you dont want to date because hes Aquarius). Even better, while it affords the same degree of actual use as a placebo, tests for the accuracy of astrology show as much or as little result as tests for the effectiveness of prayers and instead of having to pay weekly to fund the Church, all you have to do is get your chart made once and from then on, are able to blame the stars for your failings. As Leahey and Leahey said, astrology provides a means for pursuit of happiness and is in a way like a cheap method of psychology where you can discover yourself while letting the stars take the blame for any bad attributes you have and yet be comforted at the same time since there is no God to judge you at the end.

Flannery OConnor and William Faulkners Characters and Morality Essay

Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner's Characters and Morality Flannery O’Connor and William Faulkner refuse to surrender to the temptation of writing fanciful stories where the hero defeats the villain and everyone lives happily ever after. Instead, these two writers reveal realistic portrayals of death and the downfall of man. Remarkably, O’Connor and Faulkner’s most emotionally degraded characters fail to believe that an omnipotent deity controls their fate. This belief directly correlates to the characters’ inability to follow a strict set of morals or value human life. On the other hand, one might expect Faulkner and O’Connor’s â€Å"Christian† characters to starkly contrast the vile heathens who deny the existence of God. However, these characters struggle to follow their own standards of morality. The southern culture places much value on community, courtesy, and the standard of morality: the Bible. But under this facade of civility lie slanderous gossip, impure motives, and hidden iniquity. Faulkner’s character, Cora Tull, is a prime example of this. Though she openly admits that she has no right to pass judgment on Addie Bundren because, â€Å"It is the Lord’s place to judge,† Cora Tull later hypocritically states, â€Å"I realized out of the vanity of her heart she (Addie) had spoken sacrilege.† Cora’s desire for Addie’s repentance blinds her from seeing her own sin. On the other hand, Mrs. Turpin, a character in O’Connor’s â€Å"Revelation,† struggles with this same sin but in a different manner. Mrs. Turpin appears to politely encounter strangers with kindness but, alas, her kindness is corrupted. Though Mrs. Turpin’s sincere smiles and courteous small talk make her appear to truly care ab out others around h... ... refuse to believe in God. In fact, the â€Å"Christians† could probably be condemned more readily because they have a standard of morality and choose not to abide by it. On the other hand, when a person knows that there are no consequences he acts accordingly. For instance, the â€Å"Misfit† kills people and thinks nothing of it because he merely lives for the moment without thinking through his iniquity. Conversely, Whitfield recognizes his wrong doing but simply lowers his standards of morality thereby causing only more grief. Works Cited Faulkner, William. As I Lay Dying. New York: Vintage Books, 1990. O’Connor, Flannery. Collected Works: Stories and Occasional Prose: â€Å"Revelation.† New York: Penguin, 1988. 285-327. ---. Collected Works: Stories and Occasional Prose: â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find.† New York: Penguin, 1988. 328-340.

Iphigenia, The Diary of a Young Lady Who Wrote Because She Was Bored Es

Expression and Repression in Parra’s Iphigenia, The Diary of a Young Lady Who Wrote Because She Was Bored Like Ruby, Iphigenia uses water imagery to dramatize her feelings and fantasies. But she also turns to the river to express her wants and desires because she cannot do so freely in her Venezuelan home. After the death of her father, Marà ­a Eugenia leaves Venezuela and her best friend Christina, to visit friends of the family in Paris. In Paris she experiences a sense of freedom that she has never known before, walking the streets alone, going to operas, and dressing as she pleases. But when she gets back to Caracas to live with her aunt and grandmother, she becomes bored, feels imprisoned, and finds out that her Uncle Eduardo stole her inheritance, leaving her penniless and completely dependent upon him. Her only recourse is to get married to a wealthy suitor. Unfortunately, Marà ­a Eugenia falls in love with Gabriel, who is not her family’s suitor of choice. Uncle Eduardo moves the family to the country and intercepts Gabriel’s letters to Marà ­a Eugenia. Soon Leal, a suitor to the family’s liking, whom Marà ­a Eugenia does not love, asks her to marry him and she accepts. A short time later, Marà ­a Eugenia’s uncle Pancho falls ill, and Gabriel, a doctor, comes to the house to tend to him. When they see each other again, Marà ­a Eugenia and Gabriel realize that they are both still in love, and he entreats her to run away with him, but Marà ­a Eugenia cannot summon the courage to accept his offer. Instead, she accepts the life that her family condones, sacrificing herself as Leal’s wife. In this story water is closely associated with Marà ­a Eugenia’s ability to express herself. She struggles throughout the novel to communicat... ...eal because of their influence. Splitting off from her family by going to Paris, confiding in and symbolically becoming the water, the green-world token, falling in love with Gabriel, the green-world lover, rebelling from her family, and engaging her unconscious bring her to the tip of self realization. But as a result of the influence of her family, Marà ­a Eugenia accepts her family’s expectations as her own, that which is contrary to the desires she expresses in the process of her transformational journey. In Pratt’s words, instead of growing up, Marà ­a Eugenia experiences a â€Å"growing down† in which the protagonist accepts â€Å"auxiliary or secondary personhood† instead of self realization (36, 168). Instead of accepting herself during the process of individuation she rejects her love for Gabriel and her desire for freedom to conform to the wishes of her family.

Home Based Childcare Risk Assessment

Course Code|Course Title|Assignment No. and Name | DS31|Diploma in Home-Based Childcare Unit 1|2a Keeping children safe and healthy| This is a Risk Assessment of a domestic setting to be used for childminding, the children will have access to the following rooms/areas: Hallway/Stairs Downstairs Toilet Dining Room Kitchen Lounge Bedroom Garden Possible hazards and risks for each room/area are detailed below: 1. Hallway/Stairs – Access to the stairs, risk of falling. 2. Downstairs Toilet – Risk of chemical poisoning (bleach and cleaning chemicals); access to contaminated water from the toilet bowl. 3.Dining Room – Risk of shock from electrical sockets; radiators that may get very hot to the touch; cupboards with breakable items inside. 4. Kitchen – Fire and burn hazards from the cooker; cupboards containing cleaning chemicals; flexes from appliances and appliances themselves are a hazard. 5. Lounge – Electrical sockets; radiators; wires and cables fro m the TV are visible, young children could play with them/trip on them/get an electrical shock or worse; clear glass patio doors; a rug that could pose a trip or slip hazard. 6. Bedroom – Electrical sockets; radiator; windows with openings children could reach. . Garden – Sheds with gardening equipment (such as a lawnmower and shears) and chemicals. It is necessary to carry out the following measures to minimise/overcome these hazards: 1. Hallway/Stairs – Install safety gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. 2. Downstairs Toilet – Remove and lock away all chemicals; install a toilet lock to prevent toddlers being able to access the toilet bowl. 3. Dining Room – Fit socket covers to all accessible electrical sockets; install childproof locks on all accessible cupboards; fit radiator covers to prevent burns. 4.Kitchen – Install a safety gate; install childproof locks to all accessible cupboards that may contain chemicals or breakable items ; keep plastic bags out of sight and reach; fix safety film to the glass door; keep all appliances and flexes pushed to the back of surfaces (toaster, microwave, kettle); keep a fire blanket in a sensible place in easy reach in emergencies. 5. Lounge – Fit socket covers to all accessible electrical sockets; fit radiator covers; apply an anti-slip underlay to the rug; tidy the TV cables out of reach and sight; apply stickers at child eye level on the glass patio doors to prevent children running into them. . Bedroom – Fit socket covers; radiator covers; ensure window locks are always used to prevent children falling out. 7. Garden – Separate outdoor play items from gardening equipment/chemicals in the shed, keeping dangerous items out of reach; ensure children are always supervised when accessing the outdoor play equipment in the shed. Other Measures to include: anti-slam device to internal doors, fitting locks to all rooms children are not allowed access to and testing fire alarms on a regular basis.