Alibaba Competing in China and Beyond

Case: Alibaba Competing in China and Beyond Electric commerce (e-commerce) is the buying and selling of products or services over an electronic medium like the internet. The advantages of e-commerce are speedy transactions, less travel, low operational costs, ability to reach a large customer base, and round the clock buying and selling. Some of the disadvantages of e-commerce are the minimum amounts of customer to company interactions which leads to trust issues, e-commerce is prone to fraud and theft, and there is no guarantee on product quality.In a market like China, it's important to understand the local culture, values, the political government, and the language. The political government in China has a major impact on the Internet companies in China. It is important for e-commerce companies in China to understand how to successfully launch a Chinese language website or design a search engine that would suit the complex language. In order to gain an edge amongst their competitor s, international companies must seek out local help to understand the local culture and values, the language, the consumers, and how to deal with the politics of the region.Alibaba, founded by Jack Ma, is a website which allows for buyers and sellers all over the globe to engage in electronic business transactions. Alibaba played a major role in bringing the Internet Revolution to China. Ma achieved this by allowing small and medium-size enterprises (SME) in China to benefit from cross border trade through his website. Alibaba made their money from the 21 million users who paid annual subscriptions. Alibaba established itself when the Chinese Internet industry was still in its infancy.This was the perfect opportunity for e-commerce companies because of the lack of competition. However, the competition that they did face were Global Sources and MeetChina, which were also launched in 1999. In order to gain a competitive advantage in the B2B market Alibaba did not charge fees for any t ransaction. That was a strategy that critics were skeptical about. However, Alibaba built a customer base that would end up to be unrivaled. What made Alibaba so successful was its ability to rapidly adapt to current market trends in China.In the dotcom bubble burst Alibaba reformulated their strategy to concentrating on improving its business in China rather than focusing on global markets, they moved the headquarters back from Shanghai to Hangzhou, and they would concentrate on the richest regions in China. Foreign companies saw opportunity in China's expanding e-commerce market. One of those companies was US-based eBay Inc. , who entered China by acquiring stake in Shanghai's EachNet. com for $30 million. Ma then launched Taobao to rival eBay in the Business to Consumer (B2C) and Consumer to Consumer (C2C) market.Again, Taobao employed the free concept strategy to attempt to build a consumer base by offering free listings on their website. Alibaba also developed a promotional str ategy for Taobao in which they advertised through online ads and billboards. Taobao also had a unique feature where users can e-mail and chat with each other onsite unlike their eBay counterparts who concealed sellers identity and only offered communications through offline messaging. Taobao also addressed the trust factor during online transactions between buyers and sellers by developing AliPay, similar to Paypal.The first mistake that eBay Inc. made was that they based their business strategy on the US business model. What works well in one region will not work in others. Ma quoted â€Å"We knew that someday, eBay would come in our direction. † indicating that Alibaba had done their research and they were prepared for the arrival of any potential rivals. After cornering 79% of the market shares in China, eBay soon found itself in fierce competition with Alibaba when Alibaba made quick marketing adjustments. Bay ‘s other mistake was that they entered China assuming th at they have a global product. What they failed to realize is that the Taobao product was designed for the local consumer while eBay's product was more product based, meaning they are more concerned with how to get more consumers to use their product rather than does this product fit the consumers wants and needs. eBay declined to drop their auction fees and failed to improve consumer interaction on their website to compete with Taobao. eBay should have focused more on the local strategies that other local business use.They could have done this if they were more consumer driven and aligned with the local environment. eBay should have went through the process of environmental scanning. They should have conducted an analysis of their current and potential competitors to find out what their goals and strategies are and what are their strengths and weaknesses. eBay's lack of knowledge and ignorance of the local market left them unprepared for rapid change that local businesses employ. F oreign competitors fail to enter the Chinese market because they lack the nderstanding of the language, the culture, and they lack the ability to adapt rapidly to change. Foreign companies can address this issue by preparing a strategy for entry such as organize ways to enable fast communication and processes for quick business decision making. They should hire within the country to adopt the workers who have a understanding of the local culture and values. They should be prepared for change and learn to adapt with the local market trends and prepare a plan of action to react faster.

First Day of College Essay

This first week of college has been very exciting. I remember on Sunday all day not knowing what and how to feel and what to expect. I woke up Monday morning nervous and excited, but also blessed because I feel lucky for what I call â€Å"one of those fortunate kids to be able to attend college†. I’ve been reading this devotional book each morning since I began Monday and I pray before I leave the house. Monday morning, I got on this campus, and I immediately started walking towards my first class, excited and anxious, but nervous because I didn’t know anyone in the class. I met my first teacher for the day, Mrs. Martinez for Math, and she is such a sweet and nice woman. Then, I had my hour-and-a-half until my next class, Student Success, so I met up with my best friend Whitney, which I haven’t seen the last time we were at Taco Bell with her mom and grandma, sometime in late June or early July. Her mom passed away last month and Thursday, August 29th would be one month. I was so happy to see her and share my college experience with her!!! Then, I had lunch and bought a ham and swiss cheese sub. Then, it was time to go to my last class, Student Success with Mrs. Butler, who is also a lovely lady. I walked in the class, with my friend Alison, and was nervous not knowing what to expect. The syllabus and presentation was very informative and I enjoyed playing and listening to the â€Å"Have You Ever?† and the â€Å"Head, Shoulders† games. The day ended. I left the campus happy and grateful to be a part of this experience. Tuesday afternoon came and I went to my English class, and met my teacher, Mr. Vrhovac, who is a really funny gu y and sarcastic. I also left this day feeling happy and grateful and I’m really starting to feel comfortable in my own skin and I’m loving passing through many of my friends from whom I went to high school with or young adults from my church. One thing I did notice is that for me personally, I felt that the atmosphere was different†¦ in a good way. It’s very unique and I’m beginning to get accustom with it and a liking to it. I also believe that I’m going to use all these resources to my benefits and I’ve met some incredible people already that will make some great study buddies. Overthese past 2 days, it’s just been an incredible feeling, I’m looking forward to the rest of this year, and I just feel incredibly blessed.

Body Image And Its Effects On Society

Media affects body image Body image is an idiosyncratic picture of one 's own physical appearance established both by self-observation and by observing the reactions of others. Whether it may be a magazine cover, commercial or the internet, the media 's false portrayal of perfection greatly impacts children and young adults. The media glorifies models and celebrities as figures of a higher standard, as icons of beauty and youth. Media features female models with tall, slender body types and male†¦ Body image has a large impact in society, and not only affects women but affects men as well. The ideal body image is often enforced by media and it affects how we view ourselves. Many individuals are unhappy with their own body and feel uncomfortable in their own skin due to misrepresentations of beautiy in the media. In the bodybuilding community, males are constantly dissatisfied with how they view themselves. They do not feel like they are strong, big, or manly enough and therefore try to change†¦ is media use and body image. Individuals spend hours using or watching media. I personally spend almost 3-4 hours on social media or watching media. With its growing influence media has the opportunity to influence individuals of all age groups. Whether it be with their political choices, or their aspirations in life. With its growing impact it is necessary to examine, does media affect body image? After reviewing articles, I can come to the conclusion that media affects body image more negatively†¦ The â€Å"Ideal† Body Type for Men and Women. Society has created expectations that seem unobtainable to people. For example, women are supposed to be curvy, but not too curvy, have a thigh gap, and a chest, but not too big of a chest. Men are supposed to have cut abs, bulging biceps, and chiseled features. As a result, culture’s body image expectations have had several effects on the modern men and women including but not limited to: body comparison, body shamming, eating disorders, depression†¦ this research, the researchers wanted to find out if body image self-discrepancy is really a mediator in the process of social comparison from the exposure to the thin-ideal body by the media, together with the bad effects of such comparison. The participants were exposed with advertisements that consist either with thin-ideal women or without thin women. The researchers found out that the exposure to thin-ideal advertisement induced women’s body dissatisfaction, dropped their self-esteem, produced†¦ eaten. Society needs to regulate advertising, images and videos that feature people with unique physiques edited to perfection in order to decrease the amount of eating disorders. The impact the media has on body image is huge. The media bombards society with images of men and women with perfect bodies, which affect people both mentally and physically. These photos of supermodels and actors are now accessible more than ever due to technology becoming a huge part of people’s everyday life. Society spends†¦ Introduction There has been a dramatic shift, within the last couple of decades, on how women perceive their body. Unfortunately this shift has been significantly negative in nature. Women in today’s society are more dissatisfied with their bodies than ever before. The main culprit, which has driven this downward trend, is mass media. Mass media is very much a double-edged sword. On one hand, it has increased global connectivity and has allowed for the perpetuation of information in a very fast†¦ hand is how does social media influence our behavior and is this positive or negative. One area of controversy is social media’s effect on body image. Our culture has set unrealistic standards of how people should look. This has left a precedent specifically for women and has adhered to the development of confidence. Body dysphoria arises from these standards set by society. Such influences have caused eating disorders because of the competition to be the skinniest. Models are sizes double zero and†¦ Media’s effect on Body Image Doesn’t everyone want to have a body like Jennifer Lopez, Mila Kunis or Emma Watson? These are attractions in today’s media, which have an impact on how we look at our body and view ourself. The topic I have chosen is about the effect of media on our body image. I have chosen this topic because it is very important to analyze the impact of media in our daily lives and whether that impact is positive or negative. With respect to research, media negatively impacts the way†¦ â€Å"The human body is the best work of art† –Jess C. Scott Nearly every person in America has something about themselves that they don’t like. Whether it’s their smile, their legs, or the way they look in a swimsuit. A person has no trouble overlooking what’s beautiful about them and solely focusing on their flaws. Body image issues have been around for centuries. Women have tried altering their bodies in order to become ‘beautiful’, and most of the time those procedures are in no way healthy. Many†¦

Deontological Ethical Theory Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Deontological Ethical Theory - Essay Example The deontological ethical theory has its own weakness. For example, t makes room for using logical reasoning in determining what is right (Hoy, 2005). Once this is done, interpretation of the rules becomes a very difficult thing to do since everyone has their own discretion within which the rules are explained. In such a situation, it becomes very difficult to have a single modality under which ethics are applied.Consequentiality is another ethical view point that can be applied in the use of technology. In the premise of this ethical theory, there is the need to strive to increase utility. The strength with this is that the greater good of most people is sought instead of the subjective needs of a few people. This way, ethics are enforced because workers are made to look for the interest of other external stakeholders.What this theory lacks however is the fact that it fails to set the parameter as to who should be responsible for evaluating the consequences that affected people suff er. As a result, even though there is quest to satisfy people’s needs and values, the willpower to do this can be missing. Within the modern technological society, deontology can be said to hold more easily than consequentiality. This is because companies seem less concerned about the consequences of their actions on the public. Rather, they only focus on their profits. It is not surprising that global warming continues to be alarming as the number of technological companies continues to increase.

Client-Server Communications Technology Research Paper

Client-Server Communications Technology - Research Paper Example In the structure of the client-server network we have two separate methods that are employed in information, data communications, and transfer valuable data. Every method of data communication has its own advantages and limitations. We categorize the structure of the client-server network communication in connection-oriented method and the connectionless communication methods: Connection-oriented  communication method:   This scheme needs an early communication session association (that is comparable phone call systems) which will be recognized previous to some data and information can be sent. This technique is frequently acknowledged as a "dependable and more reliable" network communication service. It is able to assure that information and data will reach the destination similar order. Connection-oriented communication mode and services establish (set-up) virtual connection among end systems in the course of a client-server network (Tenenbom, 1996). If you need to make certain that a particular data arrives at its destination, then this method can be used. This method gives a response to show that data was received successfully (Nash, 2000). Connectionless communication method:  Ã‚  This is similar to the posting a letter. One the letter has been posted then there is no response regarding its arrival, whether it arrived or not. This is a faster way of communication due to less overhead (Nash, 2000). This way of data and information communication does not need a startup session association among receiver and sender. The sender just initiates the course of the transmitting data packets (those are acknowledged here as datagrams) to the destination host. This way of data communication is not as consistent as compared to the connection-oriented technique, on the other hand, it is helpful for episodic or one by on burst transfers. Neither communication systems have to uphold communication state information intended for the arrangement that they drive transmission to or take delivery of transmission from. A connectionless communication network presents minimum services.

Reading Assessment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reading Assessment - Assignment Example In their past experience, they should also be able to relate to the main character's initial delight at being able to eat all the saccharine-laced food that was being presented and recognize the need to eat other kind of food for their nutritional value. The selection was written in simple language with basic idiomatic expressions that children of their age normally use. There is an introduction to the use of adverbs and usage of present-tense verbs as the selection describes what the character does in candy land. New vocabulary words are highlighted filled with context clues. The context clues will prove useful for describing sensory images that will create an effective mental picture of the dilemma the character experiences as the story progresses. The selection is written in simple language and there would be minimal confusion if the reader's first language was English. Since some of the words are in boldface, the facilitator can develop an exercise where the readers figure which of those words fit in each item of the exercise. It can focus on vocabulary mastery or grammar skills. There were some sentence patterns that might need further explanation for the readers as they are filled with modifiers, clauses and other word groups. They can be taught to identify the key words and the main components of the sentence patterns to comprehend the complex sentence structure. Most of the words tha... Students will be encouraged to read the selection by paragraphs so that they will be able to form hypotheses and predict outcomes for the next set of paragraphs. Word families will also be incorporated so that they get to recognize word patterns in the story in order to get a new word's meaning lacking context clues. Students will be encouraged to enrich the vocabulary they already know through creation of original sentences which may not be related to the read selection. Summary Gunning (1996) believes that the reading theories are interconnected and that the learner will make use of these reading theories to comprehend the selection. Huffman (1998) on the other hand, thinks that students will resort to the KWL method, an acronym that describes reading comprehension occurs accordingly: what the students know, what the students want to know and what was learned. The reading activities can be structured according to the KWL method but incorporating the skills described in the reading theories. The unit plan can be built around this text as it can be enriched through language development. However, since this is upper-level elementary, the students will crave for a variety of selection to read. There could be one prevailing theme, as in balanced nutrition in this selection, but made up of various reading texts of gradually increasing complexity. Bibliography A Sweet Adventure. (2007). Retrieved January 12, 2010, from ABC Teach website: http://www.abcteach.com/free/r/rc_sweetadventure_elemupper.pdf Gunning, T. G. (1996). Creating Reading Instruction for All Children, (6), 192-236. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Huffman, L. E. (1998). Spotlighting Specifics by Combining Focus Questions with K-W-L.

Fine Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Fine Art - Essay Example This paper explores the connection that exists between art and other disciplines/subjects (Marshall, Donahue, Ayers, & Hetland, 2014).   Since art is a multidimensional subject in the sense that it encompasses literature, visual arts, and performing arts, it interacts with other unrelated fields at different levels. For example, art has a relationship with history through fictional and creative essays and novels that give readers insight into historical events and phenomena. Students who learn historical facts through art will develop unique perspectives about the world. Although Science exists to explain the law of nature, arts fine-tunes the understanding of various persons so that they can analyses different situations and the reasons for the existence of such circumstances. It is also worth noting that mathematics and arts have some connection because both require logical reasoning and analysis of situations and problems (Cukierkorn, 2008).   Learning art through visual arts, dance, and music develops a student’s brain so that the student can handle equally or more challenging disciplines like mathematics and physics that require some mental capacity. Whether they do knowingly or inadvertently, individuals/students employ artistic skills in his/her daily life. As a major discipline, art is an all-inclusive subject that covers a broad range of subjects such as social sciences, history & political science, life sciences, and engineering. Art is related to engineering because most of the engineering concepts employ creative skills. Besides, engineering is mainly a design subject, and art plays a primary role in any design aspect (Marshall, Donahue, Ayers, & Hetland, 2014).   Most schools, particularly in the United States, have adopted disciplined-based art education (DBAE) in order to produce students who are wholesome in their curricular. Since most disciplines like mathematics and science focus on specific dimensions, they do not provide students with

Reflection & Application Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Reflection & Application - Essay Example Therefore, much to my surprise, when I was talking to another friend, it slipped that the topic which was supposed to be a secret, was known to her. This only proves that my close friend committed a breach in promising secrecy to what I shared to her. From then on, although she remained a friend, the level of closeness (especially in terms of sharing controversial topics) already changed. Similar incidents of breaches of trust were presented in the text and the same outcome was noted. What touched me most was the disclosure that people actually have different reactions and perceptions in the way trust is given. The discourse presented information which relayed that people who have had some family problems (impending divorce of parents or the way parents raise their children) affect the way children perceive other people as trustworthy. For me, it was actually very easy to give trust – until some unfortunate event, caused me to learn from the experience. Thus, the learning experience enabled me to realize that we should actually be careful in divulging private and confidential information to people, even to close friends, until such time that we have confirmed that these friends are classified as friends of the heart (or intimate friends) who last regardless of time, distance, and challenging situations. Concurrently, another important aspect learned from the chapter was in the area of accepting friends, despite their flaws. I strongly believe that friends last because each and every one learned to accept the person for who that person truly is and does not try to change the person to fit selfish interests or desires. I also affirm that, as friends, one could say to each other comments, which could sometimes be hurting; yet, which is needed to be communicated to assist the friend in changing for the better (for her or his own good). For instance, when a friend asks

Police Recruitment and Screening of Job Applicants Essay

Police Recruitment and Screening of Job Applicants - Essay Example As touching citizenship, the candidate can be considered legible by birth, naturalization, permanent residency or asylum status. The case law Foley v. Connelie (1977) shows that rational reason for requirement of citizenship may suffice. The age of the applicant is expected to range from 21 to 36. The candidate is also required to have 20/20 vision and have body weight that falls between 148 and 204 pounds. As touching education, the department or field the candidate has applied for will stipulate the educational standards expected of the candidate (Sanders, 129-30). It is obvious that the Multiple Hurdle Approach brings with it, several legal issues. At a casual glance, the Multiple Hurdle Approach appears to flout the values enshrined in the Equal Employment Opportunity Act (EEOA, also known as Executive Order 11246): the latter hinders specific federal subcontractors and contractors from exercising discrimination in employment on the basis of color, race, sex, religion or nationality, while the former premises legibility for jobs on meeting specific hurdles. However, the Multiple Hurdle Approach does not breach the EEO Act if it is used in enforcing desired standards and not discriminating against candidates. One of the ways the Multiple Hurdle Approach is carried out without the contravention of the EEO Act is to use and observe the minimum standards that are related to the job requirements. The import of this is that failing to use the minimum standards will be tantamount to subjecting candidates for tests that are more difficult or complex than the job itself (Sanders, 144-7). As the chief of a department with limited resources allowing for the use of only one recruitment test to select officers, I would use aptitude test. This is because, aptitude test factors intelligence and cognitive skills. Since aptitude test is

How oprah helped shape and is a positive influence on our cultural Essay

How oprah helped shape and is a positive influence on our cultural identity - Essay Example First, she changed how the people perceive talk shows as a form of entertainment. Usually, people see talk shows as that sort of â€Å"Jerry Springer Show† were people who have nothing much to do poke fun at one another in scandalous manner, or make fun of other people like the ‘Tonight Show’ variations. But with the â€Å"Oprah† show, it became an avenue for educated, informative, and positive discussion about almost any subject matter that makes sense, things that people should know about, or should care to know about. Oprah elevated, in a way, how people perceive talk shows in such a way that Oprah even paved the way—provided the platform even for most of the talk shows that we have today. Secondly, it was her idea to give the audience a quality television show that would give value to her audience that would educated her audience and empower them. She even went so far as to produce other talk shows to provide aspiring hosts the avenue to reach ou t to connect to wider audience. And now, she has launched her own network, which is beside her magazine and other media enterprise. Oprah as an Advocate Besides making great money with herself as the brand, she also used her celebrity status to further her causes. ... through livelihood programs and helping young African children through her school in Africa that caters to giving full scholarship to orphan and girls from poor families. And third, as part of the cultural minority, Oprah is also a political advocate. She openly supported President Barrack Obama in his presidential campaign because she believed that Obama represented change—not just political change in terms of platforms but cultural and social change because Obama would come down in history as the first African American President to be elected in office. And that I think is very symbolic because that meant the maturity of the American people in terms of how they perceive people of color. Oprah as a Philanthropist As a philanthropist, Oprah had given so much back to the community, not just to the American people through her lavish gifts—i.e. â€Å"Oprah’s favorite things†, donations, charity works, have also been a constant part of her life. Her school in Africa like I said has been a tremendous helped for the girls in that nation. In the country, during the hurricane Katrina, it was Oprah who was one of the many celebrities who used her celebrity status to raise fund and rebuild the affected communities. Other causes she champions includes raising funds and awareness to AIDS campaign, that is besides giving yearly Christmas gifts to deserving people which she surprises by inviting them as her audience to her show. Living Legend Oprah Winfrey is more than a celebrity, she is a cultural icon. She is a living legend; an American mover who has helped shaped and changed American culture in so many ways. Indirectly, she have helped elevate the entertainment industry on how people perceive talk shows and paved the way for a new class of talk shows that is more mature,

Coffee and Mission Essay Example for Free

Coffee and Mission Essay Analysis Of Mission And Vision Statement Of Nokia Essays and Term Papers Search Results for analysis of mission and vision statement of nokia Displaying 1 30 of 1,500 * Analysis Of Mission And Vision Statement Toyota Indus Motor Company Analysis Of Mission And Vision Statement TOYOTA INDUS MOTOR COMPANY LTD. VISION STATEMENT: To be the most respected and successful enterprise, delighting * Analysis Of Mission And Vision Statement Toyota and working toward creating a prosperous society and clean world. ANALYSIS: The vision statement of Toyota Indus Motors Company Ltd is clear and powerfully * Starbucks Coffee Mission And Vision Statement: concise, and direct for the target audience. Starbucks combine Mission and Vision statement can be broken down into six key elements which are the followings: Coffee * Mission And Vision Statement seems a bit unnecessary. KHULNA SHIPYARD LIMITED (KSY) Mission and vision statement of this organization have been written tactfully and they are praise worthy * Mission And Vision Statement exact, measurable, and time-sensitive goals to guide my development; however, the mission and the vision statement offer a solid foundation for building these goals * Analysis Of Mission And Vision Statement Of Nokia. complex and challenging environment. Nokias mission/vision statement analysis In analysing Nokias mission/vision statement Ill be using the 9 essential * * published this * no reads * no comments * Saved * Mission And Vision Analysis Of Pso And Coca Cola order to meet the needs and satisfy the customers. Vision Analysis Conclusion: Overall, Coca-Colas mission and vision statement defines its goals, policies * Analysis Of Mission And Vision Statement Of Nokia. B: SAMPLE RESUME PERSONAL DETAILS * * published this * no reads * no comments * Add to your reading list * Tcs Mission And Vision Analysis Leading change, Learning and Sharing etc are getting reflected in its mission and vision statement. The core value excellence is getting clearly reflected in the * * published this * no reads * no comments * Add to your reading list * Mission Vision Statements theyve got their mission and vision confused. One is definitely not the other and both are mixed up in this statement. Today, our mission is to connect people * * published this * no reads * no comments * Add to your reading list * Starbucks Vision And Mission Statement obtain the organizations desired end state. Within the organizations mission and vision statements Starbucks Corporation states that listening to its customer needs.

Principles of Time Management Essay Example for Free

Principles of Time Management Essay Time is one of the most difficult resources to manage. You can not take back what is already lost, you can not renew the times that you missed. Moreover, it is one of the measures that all men are created equal because everyone is just given 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours a day. In our fast paced world where everything seems to run ahead of you and you just have to chase time after time to accomplish things, you need a real good time management. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 in the Bible talks about time for everything. â€Å"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven,† states in the first verse. This chapter alone teaches or urges people to set a time for everything to better manage time. There are a lot time management principles that we can suggest to a person however, it would be up to the individual to make the principles work. Dr. Jan Yager (1999) outlined seven principles in the book â€Å"The 7 Principles of Creative Time Management.† These include: Being active not reactive, setting goals, prioritizing actions, keeping focus, creating realistic deadlines, doing it NOW and balancing life. The D-O-I-T-N-O-W Principle states the following: Divide and conquer what you have to do. Break big tasks into little tasks and give each part of that task a realistic deadline. Organize your materials, how you will do it. Ignore interruptions that are annoying distractions Take the time to learn how to do things yourself. Now, not tomorrow. Dont procrastinate. Opportunity is knocking. Take advantage of opportunities. Watch out for time gobblers. Keep track of, and in control of, how much time you spend on the Internet, reading and sending e-mails, watching TV, or talking on the phone. Before you know how to manage your time, you should first know what time is it. It is not telling the time in your watch but knowing the right thing to do at the right and proper time. However, you should also get a sense of time by tracking your watch. You can take control of your whole day if you know what time it is and what you should be doing on those times. Other than you good watch, you should still use other tool. One of which is a planner. Sometimes you can not memorize everything that you need to do in a day or in a week. Sometimes, you can not know if you have already done one job if you do have your list and you may result in doing it again; thus wasting your time. Grab a planner and make you checklist for the day. A planner use wisely will help you keep track your activities and help you evaluate regarding having balance. When you keep track on all your activities, you have a way to evaluate throughout the week and make it better if necessary. If you have the tools above and you still have the problem in managing your time, you need to identify the problem. Do you procrastinate? Do you always entertain interruption and waste your time in unproductive work?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Time management may be difficult but as the Bible says, make time for everything. Do not focus on how to manage

Abdullah Badawi’s Effect on Political Economy

Abdullah Badawi’s Effect on Political Economy 1.0 INTRODUCTION Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the fifth Malaysia’s Prime Minister (2003-2009), was born on 26th November, 1939 in Kampung Perlis, Bayan Lepas. He was greatly influenced by his family religious background and further strengthened it through the subject of Islamic Studies in Universiti Malaya, and graduated in 1964. After he was graduated from Universiti Malaya, Abdullah was working as a civil servant, including Assistant Secretary in the Public Services Department and Head Assistant Secretary in the National Operation Council (NOC) (Welsh, 2003). At that time, he also was also being a Director in the Ministry of Youth and Sports; and since 1974, Deputy Chief Secretary in the same ministry. In 1978, Abdullah resigned in the civil service and had been elected as the candidate for Kepala Batas Parliament seat For the year 1978-1987, Abdullah has won the 1978 elections for the Kepala Batas Parliament seat (Sivamurugan Rusdi Omar Mohd Azizuddin, 2010). He was then elected as Parliamentary Secretary and Deputy Minister in the Federal Territory Ministry. He was also been Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (1981-1984), Minister of Education (1984-1986), Minister of Defence (1986-1987). From the year 1987 to 1990, it was climax in Abdullah’s political leadership. The growth of Anwar Ibrahim and the presence of opposition leaders in UMNO had not feared by Abdullah (Sivamurugan Rusdi Omar Mohd Azizuddin, 2010). By this, he finally get the highest position in the party and government. He was trusted by Dr.Mahathir to offer him for involving in 1990 General Elections. He was also elected as the part of Cabinet. The support gained by Abdullah not only particularly on inner support but also because of his inner confidence and strength that had given him a trust by peoples (Sivamurugan Rusdi Omar Mohd Azizuddin, 2010).. Abdullah was served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs during 1991-1999. At that time, Abdullah also succeeded in winning back the UMNO Vice President seat in the 1996 elections after the failure to win Vice President seat in 1993 (Case, n.d). He gained the Dr. Mahathir’s trust and was finally elected as the UMNO Deputy President in 1999 and Deputy Prime Minister, the fourth under the leadership of Dr. Mahathir. In Jun 2002, Dr. Mahathir announced to retire, and announced to the public that he had given trust to Abdullah to be his successor of Prime Minister. The main objective to conduct this case study is to critically examine the political economy throughout his reign of nearly six years. The specific objectives are; firstly, to critically review Abdullah’s political performance by providing the election report between 2003-2009 and figure out the reason why the mass supported him; secondly, to interpret the international economy oil price and its problems; thirdly, to identify issues and challenges during his tenure, whether Abdullah’s political policy affects the Malaysia’s economy or vice versa or both. To complete our research, we will assess the data from books in library, journals articles, newspapers and electric sources to prove whether our argument is valid or not. The research is conducted by 3 members, everyone from each will be divided to collect sources based on their own task. Our finding will dramatically advance our understanding of political economy under the administration of Abdullah. 2.0 LEADERSHIP OF ABDULLAH BADAWI During Abdullah’s premiership, the government policies did not change much. To him, he was presiding over an individual change rather than regime change. Abdullah implemented his promise to address corruption. Abdullah is widely admired for his religious knowledge and credentials, and can confront Islamic radicals (in his own quiet way) while maintaining respect from mainstream society (McCreedy, 2003). Abdullah’s personal style—mild, incremental, consensual—will differ from the fiery tone of his predecessor (Tun Mahathir), and likely improve relations with the West (McCreedy, 2003). Not having as Mahathir aggressive personality as Mahathir had, Abdullah showed an early willingness to listen and work as a team. He attempted to bring economic liberalisation, declared war on corruption, improved governance, and opened up democratic space (Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid Muhammad Takiyuddin Ismail, 2012). To reform policy, he re-attached importance to agriculture, re-emphasized poverty eradication, highlighted human capital development, and shifted focus to regional development which was been practiced by the second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak. Abdullah was so much emphasing on religious and he attempted to establish Islam Hadhari, a progressive approach towards understanding and practising Islam as a modern rather than conservative religion. Thus, Abdullah’s leadership style was soft-personality, but under his premiership, many plans were proved to be more than just declare. 3.0 ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FACED BY TUN ABDULLAH BADAWI 3.1 The Global Financial Crisis (2008-2009) The global financial crisis (GFC), caused by the bursting of a speculative bubble in the US housing market in 2008, affected the capital flows, trade flows, and commodity prices of the world (Athukorala, 2010). Different countries have been affected differently, depending on the nature of their financial/trade linkages with the rest of the world, the quality of financial institutions and polices. As we will see below, for Malaysia, the financial and economic development had worsened in 2008 and 2009. Our GDP remained declining in the year of 2008, ultimately 0.1% growth of GDP in third quarter of 2008. The GDP felt by approximately 3% in the fourth quarter of 2008, which was also the first time in negative territory since 2001 (figure 1) (World Trade Organization, 2011). From the data interpreting above, we could imagine that during Abdullah Badawi’s premiership, the main challenge affected by global financial crisis was the declining of GDP in Malaysia in 2008 and the exportation of Malaysia declined. 3.2 International Oil Price Crisis The second issue and challenge faced by Abdullah Badawi is international oil price crisis by 2008. The oil price has skyrocketed to levels never predicted by the strategists and economic planners, estimated from USD170 per barrel in end 2008 to USD200 in 2009 (D-8 Secretariat Istanbul, 2008). The increasing of oil price at that time also caused the price of food increased beyond the normal abilities to pay by the poor. Abdullah Badawi (2008) said that the oil price crisis was required global-level solutions, and Malaysia was needed to bring up this issue to international community to resolve together. It is undeniably that the oil price crisis also caused the most urgent challenge facing by Malaysia was the food shortage in the world. As the global oil price increased, the food price also increased, and believed to reach more than 75% since 2000 (D-8 Secretariat Istanbul, 2008). These had threatened to the Malaysia’s economic growth under Abdullah Badawi’s tenure. Thus, the methods that used by Abdullah Badawi to solve the issue were to cut off the government subsidy on fuel (since the increasing of oil price has burdened the government subsidy on fuel) and also suggested to produce or creating alternative sources of energy, such as bio-fuels and agriculture. From Table 1, fuel subsidies had raised from RM2.4bil or 3.8% of total operating expenses (OE) and 0.7% of GDP in 2001 to RM7.3bil in 2006 or 6.8% of total OE and 1.3% GDP (Ministry of Finance, 2008). While in 2007, it rose further to RM8.8bil or 1.4% of GDP (Ministry of Finance, 2008). In estimated 2008, fuel subsidies would escalate to estimate RM15.5bil or 12% of total OE and 2.3% of GDP (table 1) (Ministry of Finance, 2008). From Table 2, the petroleum product subsidy had increased from RM16.0bil in 2005 to RM16.2bil in 2007, but had decreased from 43.7% of total subsidy in 2005 to 37.3% in 2007 (Ministry of Finance, 2008). It could be said that the government had begun to cut off the fuel subsidy due to the increasing of oil price in 2007 but had put more effort on gas price subsidy due to Abdullah Badawi’s recommendation policy on replacing the fuel energy. 4.0 POLITICAL POLICY AFFECTS ECONOMY OR ECONOMY AFFECTS POLITICAL POLICY? During Abdullah Badawi’s tenure, whether his political policy had affected Malaysia’s economy or the economy had affected his political policy? Based on our research, we would critic that during Abdullah Badawi’s era, the economy had affected his politcal policy. We would provide few facts at the following to support our critical analysis. The first fact is, the rising of world oil price to between US90 and US100 a barrel is expected to force Abdullah Badawi administration on reduction in fuel subsidies in 2008. According to Asia Times (2008), the fuel and gas subsidiaries approximately cost US12bil a year. The global oil price crisis had put increasing burdens on the family budgets, especially the middle-income family from developing country. Not only that, the oil price crisis also forced governments to curtail expenditures or reallocate resources for development in order to meet the more immediate needs of societies (D-8 Secretariat Istanbul, 2008). Thus, from our analysis, we could comment that the rising of oil price had affected Abdullah Badawi to reduce or cut off the fuel subsidies policy to societies. However, we could not find any other long-term solutions yet to stabilize the price of oil in the market. Perhaps, the reduction on fuel subsidies would be the best alternatives for controlling the government exp enditures. However, Abdullah Badawi’s reduction fuel subsidiary policy had been implemented until today. It could be proven by Malaysian government now (Najib Razak’s era) is following Abdullah Badawi’s step to cut fuel subsidy on ron95 fuel (Athukorala, 2010). In our opinion, there are pros and cons on abolishing fuel subsidy in Malaysia. The pros definitely would be the Malaysia takes advantages of falling global oil price and reduce the burden of government. If cut off fuel subsidy be implemented, the oil price would be followed international oil price, thus, if global oil price reduces, then Malaysia would pay lesser to import oil (McAleavey, 2014). Moreover, abolishing fuel subsidy could benefits government because government could save up the money to use it on other field of subsidiaries. The con on abolishing fuel subsidy in Malaysia would be widen the wealth gap issues. Dismissing fuel subsidy would be benefited to high-income households instead of protecting the l ow-income workers (Palatino, 2014). Nevertheless, in our point of view, if the reduction on fuel subsidy policy would be announced and get opinion from the societies first, it would be more beneficial to both societies and government to achieve a win-win situation. The second fact that we could provide to prove that the economy had affected Abdullah Badawi’s policy is the recommendation on Bio-Fuel Policy in 2006 (D-8 Secretariat Istanbul, 2008) by Abdullah Badawi as a renewable sources of energy to encounter the increasing of oil price issue. The goal to implement this policy is to promote the use of bio fuels as an alternative to petroleum in Malaysia. Examples of bio-fuel or bio-gas could be natural gas vehicles (NGV). Based on our finding, National Biofuel Policy (NBP) provided an alternative to reduce the dependency on petroleum in Malaysia. Palm oil is used as the alternative resource to replace the depleting petroleum as it is more environmental friendly and it could produce investments for it value added-finished products. Oil palm is an energy-efficient crop and the adoption of renewable energy resources started as the crisis of increasing oil price and depletion of crude oil reserve. Palm oil contribute the largest part in Malaysia’s economic. NBP was being launched to sustain the economic growth. Few objectives were formulated to mobilize the local resources for biofuel production and explore new technology to generate energy as an alternative resources (table 2). In 2009, the use of B5 blends (Envo Diesel) of 5% diesel biofuels and 95% petroleum diesel was introduced (Majid, 2015). This was to create an environmental friendly and renewable energy resources. The use of biofuel is definitely a great idea yet the usage of diesel biofuel in Malaysia is still low. Moreover, diesel engined-vehicles is more expensive than petrol engined-vehicles. Thus, less people supported the biofuel policy. It is in fact that until today, the Najib Razak’s era, this policy was not implemented yet in Malaysia. The current prime minister could only implement the reduction of fuel subsidy policy, instead of carrying up the bio-fuel policy. Based on our research, there are a few weakness of this National Biofuel Policy which launched by Datuk Sri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2006. Ccsenet.org (2011) mentioned that the weakness of this policy is that the demand from market is small. There is only few diesel users compare to petrol users. Thus, the biofuel policy only benefits some of the populations. Figure 2 shows the difference of energy consumption between petroleum products and biodiesel in Malaysia. The minuscule domestic market could not gain much profits and supports from the people and lastly would fail to reach the objectives of the policy. Besides that, the biofuel infrastructure which could fulfill the basis of nation was not sufficient. People might feel interested and wish to try something which is new and environmentally friendly yet the lack of infrastructure had made the policy unsuccessful. According to Phys.Org (2009), 16 biofuel plants were built but due to low price of biofuel was not being operated. The infrastructure that being built was wasted and made the people feel not confident with the good side of biofuel. The lack of market opportunities of biofuel had also lead to the failure of this policy. Development of biofuel always related to the rain forest deforestation which lead to biodiversity loss. Malaysia has chosen a solution of land-clearing to get plant oil-palm for biodiesel. Climate changes and global warming had become the issue in few conferences and lead to the failure of this policy. Resources and skilled workers and research were not fully utilized to conduct the policy. Thus, National Biofuel Policy is indeed a good policy if we have sufficient manpower, resources and technology intelligence to make it successful and increase the nation’s economic growth. However, the lack of skilled labour and technology and high dependency towards petroleum had caused the implementation of the mandate of B5 biodiesel sale to be delayed in February 2010. 5.0 CONCLUSION The difference in Abdullah Badawi’s leadership style with his predecessor brings about cause for some to consider it as a weakness and loss of control (Utusan Malaysia, 19 September 2006). Under his tenureship, Malaysia had experienced two big challenges, which are the global financial crisis and international oil price crisis during 2008-2009. These two challenges yet never came into a long-term solutions to solve these issues until today. Therefore, in our opinion, the international oil crisis, cut off subsidiaries on oil and increased of oil prices in Malaysia perhaps are the reasons to let him lose his mass support on general election in 2008. REFERENCES Welsh, B. (2003). Malaysias transition: Elite contestation, political dilemmas and incremental change. Washington, D.C: Asia Program Special Report. Sivamurugan, P., Rusdi Omar., Mohd Azizuddin. (2010). Work with Me, Not for Me†: Malaysia under Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (2003-2009). Asian Culture and History, Volume 2, Issue 1. Case, W. (n.d). Abdullah Badawi’s first year as Malaysia’s Prime Minister. Austrialia: Griffith Asia Institute. McCreedy, A. (2003). Passing the mantle: A new leadership for Malaysia. Washington, D.C: Asia Program Special Report. Welsh, B. (2003). Malaysias transition: Elite contestation, political dilemmas and incremental change. Washington, D.C: Asia Program Special Report. Welsh, B. (2003). Malaysias transition: Elite contestation, political dilemmas and incremental change. Washington, D.C: Asia Program Special Report. Welsh, B. (2003). Malaysias transition: Elite contestation, political dilemmas and incremental change. Washington, D.C: Asia Program Special Report. http://www.energyglobal.com/downstream/refining/30102014/Malaysia-reduces-fuel-prices-1527/ http://thediplomat.com/2014/10/why-malaysia-reduced-its-fuel-subsidy/ http://www.twn.my/title2/ge/ge26.pdf APPENDIXES Figure 1: Real GDP and trade growth of Malaysia, 2008-10 Source: World Trade Organization, 2011. https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres11_e/pr628_e.htm Figure 2: The Difference of Energy Consumption between Petroleum Products and Biodiesel in Malaysia. Source: National Energy Balance 2012 (Retrieved from Malaysia Energy Statistic Handbook, 2014) Table 1: Malaysia’s Fuel Subsidies 2001-08 Table 2: Malaysia’s Subsidies and Financial Assistance (RM bil) 2005-07 Source: Ministry of Finance, Bank Negara, Department of Information, Malaysia CIMB/GK Research, 2008.

To Make A Difference Essay example -- Philosophy Education Teaching Es

To Make A Difference We build our lives upon what we have been taught. From basic skills in reading, writing, and arithmetic to the importance of social interaction, teachers are given the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of their students. I feel that the greatest impact a teacher can have on their students is to fill them with a desire to learn. I think the nature of students can vary tremendously depending on several different factors. The first is the cognitive domain of the students. This includes how students organize and retain the knowledge that is presented to them as well as their preferred learning style. A successful teacher should be aware of these factors and their curriculum should reflect this by using different teaching methods. This is to ensure each student is given the opportunity to absorb as much knowledge as they can. The next factor affecting the nature of students are their attitudes, or affective domain. This includes the curiosity of the students, as well as their ability to tolerate and overcome frustration. Teachers can help stimulate curiosity in students by focusing on the individual needs of the child, as well as their interests and abilities. I feel that if the classroom’s curriculum takes these factors into consideration it will provoke not only curiosity in the students, but also a thirst for knowledge. The last factor I believe affects the nature of students is their physiology. If a child is hungry and tired, they will be less likely or eager to learn as a well-nourished and rested child. I feel that teachers should consider all of the factors I mentioned in order to increase the chances of each child reaching their full potential. I think the nature of ... ... them on a daily basis while encouraging them to attempt new things. I am looking forward to all of the experiences that my career as a teacher will embrace. I am looking forward to watching the children grow as individuals and deciding on what path they will choose for their life. I will also yearn for the feeling of inspiration when a child that has been struggling to grasp a concept, and then understands for the first time. I realize teaching will also have its disappointments, but in my eyes the rewards it encompasses will outweigh them. I can’t imagine another career where you could make a more important impact on someone’s life. To me, education is the most valuable possession we have. As the students I teach go throughout life, I hope they find the knowledge I have taught them valuable. Even if it is something minute, I will know I have not failed.

Survivor :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Survivor Africa has been entertaining to watch and will be interesting to see how the different episodes relate to the topics discussed throughout the course. It will be interesting to see how the different group dynamics within each tribe collaborates. You have a plethora of different personality types within each tribe. There are young and old members, gender differences, workers and slackers, introverts and extroverts, and racial differences. However, the first and most appropriate example that comes to mind that is directly related to the show and the course is the Robbers Cave Study. The study was able to show that whenever you are competing for limited resources, conflict is inevitable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first days most dramatic moments in the Boran tribe revolved around Diane and Clarence. I believe Diane started off on the wrong foot by taking control of the map and then leading the rest of the tribe in the wrong direction. She assumed a leadership role without earning it. When they finally arrived at their campsite they were lacking water, so they decide to open a can of cherries. They carefully passed the can around, with each member taking one. Well, each person except Clarence, who helped himself to two cherries. This was Clarence’s first mistake, this was not a brilliant move on Clarence’s part, especially after only the second day. As we learned in chapter four, first impressions are lasting, and people are slow to change their first impressions on the basis of new information. Later on that day, both teams had their first immunity-reward challenge that involved having a race. It was quite obvious that Diane did not do very well, she pret ty much passed out. Samburu ultimately won the challenge. When Boran returned to camp, Diane was still not feeling well, so Clarence decided to stay behind to help her while the other team members went to get water. While the other team members were away, Clarence decided to open a can of beans to feed to Diane thinking it might do her some good, What a guy! Well, Diane ate some and Clarence polished off the rest of them and then discarded the can. To make a long story short, this was Clarence’s second mistake. When the team returned, they realized what had occurred and all lashed out at him. Considering what just occurred, I must admit, Clarence handled himself extremely well.

Sallie Baliunas and the Dangers of Think Tanks :: Global Warming

Sallie Baliunas and the Dangers of Think Tanks Public policy makers increasingly rely on the research of think tank scholars to guide their policy decisions. But who checks the accuracy of think tank scholar research? Unlike academic journal publishing, which follows a rigorous system of peer review and editorial oversight, think tanks publish opinion pieces without regard to the peer review process. Their policy publications are not based on pure academics, but on a complex interaction between academic, political, and economic interests. In Washington, there is no time to focus on the academic details. As Eric Altermann points out in his book What Liberal Media?, think tank scholars â€Å"are expected to spend at least as much time networking with reporters and government staffers as on research.†1 Efficient dissemination of information is as important as the information itself in the think tank business of knowledge. Sallie Baliunas of the Marshall Institute fits Altermann’s think tank scholar profile well. Regarding her involvement in the global warming debate, she has spent less time on the scholarship of global warming and more time advocating the idea that it is simply a myth. She is a senior scientist at the Marshall Institute, which supports her writing of articles against the Kyoto treaty (â€Å"Bush right to oppose [Kyoto] treaty†)2 and the promotion of the idea that global warming is a natural process caused by increased radiation from the sun (â€Å"The Sun Also Warms†).3 Though she has published relatively little in academic journals on the issue, articles such as these are numerous in conservative political forums, such as the website TechCentralStation.com, â€Å"where free markets meet technology.†4 Though she is not considered a global warming expert by professional climate scientists, she is oft quoted by the anti-Kyoto folks as the expert voice that pr oves global warming is a hoax (see any article by Charli Coon of the Heritage Foundation5 or by Chris de Freitas6). Her global warming research has been funded, in part, by corporate oil interests. Think Tanks Baliunas’s association with think tanks does not make her scholarship automatically suspect. However, think tanks dwell in the grey area between scholarship and advocacy, and one must ask in which category Baliunas belongs. Think tanks cannot claim to be completely unbiased, because the majority of their funding comes from corporations, whose interests are not usually only academic, but also economic. Baliunas is an â€Å"Enviro-Sci Host† for TechCentralStation.com, a website sponsored by AT&T, ExxonMobil, General Motors Corporation, Intel, McDonalds, Microsoft, Nasdaq, National Semiconductor, PhRMA, and Qualcomm.

Comparison of Financial and Managerial Accounting

Financial accounting refers to accounting and oversight of the companies have completed a comprehensive system of campaign funds, that the external economic stakes of investors, creditors and the government departments concerned and enterprises to provide economic information of the financial position and profitability as the main target carry out economic activities.Financial Accounting is an important foundation work of modern enterprises, through a series of accounting procedures, provided useful information for decision-making, and actively participate in management decisions, improve the economic efficiency of enterprises, service in the healthy and orderly development of the market economy. Management accounting, also known as â€Å"internal report accounting†, it means: to present and future campaign funds, to enhance economic efficiency for the purpose of internal managers provide the scientific basis for management decision-making as the goal of economic management ac tivities.Popular financial accounting is the total company accounting processes, cost accounting is the part of management accounting is a financial accounting calculation based on future projections of the company. In economic management, accounting work is an important part of one is closely linked to the effective operation of economic and accounting work. Comparison of management accounting and financial accounting for the study of accounting work in-depth research and analysis.Overview of management accounting and financial accounting Management Accounting Management Accounting refers to the conditions of market economy, to strengthen management within the organization, organize the best value for money as the ultimate goal, to organize business activities and value of performance as an object through the financial aspects information on deep-processing and re-use, in order to achieve the accounting branch of the process of economic forecasting, decision-making, planning and co ntrol functions.Financial Accounting Financial Accounting refers to the currency as the primary unit of measurement of the transactions or events that have taken place in the organization the use of specialized recognition and measurement at the same time as the main form of financial accounting reports regularly to the organization of different economic stakeholders provide external accounting information accounting.Second, the comparison of management accounting and financial accounting To a better understanding of management accounting and financial accounting, the links and differences between management accounting and financial accounting are discussed below: A. Contact management accounting and financial accounting Financial accounting and management accounting on the functional objectives and data sources are the same as the two basic content of the modern accounting.Both from the same mother, complementary, indivisible. Financial accounting, fixed accounting procedures and m ethods, production and business activities within a certain period of time and the results formed by the registration books, and other information. This information not only can be applied to the outside, can also be applied internally.Management accounting by the financial accounting information processing, making it the management accounting information, so as to improve the internal management services, at the same time provide the necessary conditions for the accounting supervision. Management accounting and financial accounting functions of the target mainly through the provision of information for enterprises and other organizations to provide a full range of consulting services, in order to effectively improve management, promote cost-effective upgrade. the difference between management accounting and financial accounting From the perspective of the service object, the organization's internal management accounting services to the enterprise management requirements is met in t he daily management of the particular circumstances, to collect the data to the managers of the organization's internal management and control information to improve the management level of enterprises and other organizations, and thus the management accounting can be called internal accounting.Financial accounting is the focus summarized by the periodic preparation of financial statements of enterprises and organizations such as asset valuation, capital structure and operating results are described, in order to provide the necessary information to the external unit or individual enterprises and other organizations, and thus can be said external accounting. From the perspective of the work focused on the object of study of management accounting and the issues to be addressed is the design of different aspects of the future organization of production and management, economic activity should occur Paper Union www. wlm. com finishing expected evaluation, management accounting informati on in accordance with the development of management programs for the management of the organization. Financial accounting is reflected in the economic activities of enterprises and other organizations, its focus is the historical description of all the economic activities of enterprises and other organizations, which means that after the occurrence of the operation and management activities, credited to the accounting records.From the perspective of the main body of work, management accounting body of work is a multi-level, enterprises and other organizations not only as a principal, you can also enterprises and other organizations within the local or individual departments as a body of work, even a work management links the main day-to-day economic activities as a body of work, control, evaluation and assessment.Financial accounting body of work is usually the case there is only one level, the level of enterprises and other organizations as a unified whole to reflect the only main asset valuation and financial status, and so concentrated reflection and outline, and does not involve specific local problems. In addition, also constraint mechanism of the management accounting and financial accounting, accounting methods, accounting procedures, the concept of orientation, the degree of precision, time span, as well as information on characteristics of distinction.Third, management accounting and financial accounting applications Analysis can be drawn from the Management Accounting and Financial Management contrast, an important part of management accounting and financial accounting are the overall accounting system. Management Accounting in the content usually by the driver of financial and accounting needs, In other words, the relationship and difference between management accounting and financial accounting to determine the management accounting and financial accounting in the application process should continue to optimize the communication and coordination be tween the two .Communication and coordination of management accounting and financial accounting to meet the enterprises and other organizations need to improve management effectiveness, to meet the information needs of different enterprises and organizations such as external users of information to avoid unnecessary waste. For example, in he daily accounting of the financial accounting, through the use of variable costing convenient convergence of management accounting and financial accounting easy to manage, establish and improve the confirmation of the financial accounting basis and measurement mode, to reduce the management accounting workload, work with coordination and communication of financial accounting. In short, management accounting and financial accounting, while under the different areas of accounting, but both have a specific relationship between them in the application process, the inevitability and necessity of coordination and communication.In short, is essentially the difference between management accounting and financial accounting. Specific applications should be concerned about the difference between the two at the same time concerned about the link between the two, constantly improve in practical work, whether it is from both theory and reality has a strong role to promote the enhancement of the organization and management efficiency. Financial Accounting:Accounting personnel in money as the basic unit of measurement, recognition, measurement, recording, reporting, mainly for enterprises to external stakeholders, past and present financial position, results of operations and changes in financial position ‘, and comprehensive intervene in the internal of the business, an economic management activities. Management Accounting: Focuses on the internal operation and management services. It uses a flexible and diverse ways and means to properly optimize management decisions, and provide useful information for the management of the enterpr ise.The difference between brief management accounting and financial accounting Focus Financial Accounting: the focus is on the preparation of the financial statements on a regular basis according to the daily business records, registration books, to businesses outside the economic interest groups, individuals report the financial position and operating results, the specific objectives for enterprise outside services financial accounting can be called â€Å"external accounting†.Management Accounting: the focus is on analysis of specific problems of business management, in order to provide the information needed to predict decision-making and control assessment information to internal managers at all levels, the specific objectives for internal management services, management accounting can be referred to as â€Å"internal accounting†. Second, the different levels of the main body of workFinancial Accounting: The body of work often have only one level, mainly across the enterprise for the body of work, which can adapt to the financial accounting, with particular emphasis on the integrity reflect the requirements to supervise the entire economic process, and not miss any accounting elements of the accounting entity. Management Accounting: the body of work can be divided into multi-level, either the main body of the entire enterprise, the enterprise within the local area or individual departments can be even a management aspects as the main body of the work. Third, the role of aging,Financial Accounting: The role of aging is to reflect the past, from an emphasis on the principle of objectivity, or adhere to the principle of historical cost, can only reflect the actual occurrence of the economic and business. Therefore, financial accounting is essentially a reimbursement-type accounting â€Å"considered as a† doubtful debts â€Å". Management accounting: the role of aging is not limited to the analysis of the past, but also in the dynamic use of financial accounting information to predict and plan for the future, while controlling the now, which spans the past three present and future tenses.Management Accounting for the future role of aging in the first place, while the analysis of the past in order to control and better guide future Therefore, management accounting is essentially belong to the count of â€Å"live account† â€Å"management accounting†. Principles, standards Financial Accounting: Working to strictly abide by the â€Å"Enterprise Accounting Standards† and the industry a unified accounting system, to guarantee the comparability of consistency in the provision of financial statements in time and space.Management Accounting: from the â€Å"Enterprise Accounting Standards† and the industry a unified accounting system complete restrictions and strict constraints, can be flexible in the work of predictive science, cybernetics, information theory, decision-making principles of modern management theory as a guide. Recently, the experts pointed out: with the Xing of the financial shared service center, the small business pro-gaze accounting matters, financial software upgrading of traditional financial accounting urgent need for transformation, there will be more than 80% of the finance staff to change jobs or facing re-employment .The rise of the financial shared service center Substantial reduction of the traditional financial accounting Financial shared service center in recent years, and popular accounting and reporting, business management. It will be different countries, regional entities and accounting business to get the SSC (Shared Service Center) to accounting and reporting. DELL various regions in China have sales outlets, these outlets just a sales team and service personnel, the order's headquarters is located in Xiamen standard unified business, finance can be shared to Xiamen.Therefore, the rise of the financial shared service center will greatly r educe the financial and accounting officers of large and medium-sized enterprises. Strategy: turn to the small and medium-sized enterprises. Small business pro-gaze firm Accounting operations will be outsourced Turned to small and medium-sized enterprises is not wise. First, small businesses, â€Å"stall, poor efficiency and financial needs, two, three accounting is sufficient. Another is that small companies do not set financial positions. Outsourcing to the management of the firm up quick and asy to view reports on a regular basis can save time, save money! Strategy: turn to accounting firms. Financial software upgrading Accounting firm is also a block alkali salt Seems to turn to the accounting firm is the last choice. As everyone knows, due to the ever-changing high-tech, high-end financial software constantly upgrading, which requires 4,5 individuals accounted for accurately, a set of software can be more accurate than artificial accounting. Cost far less than the overall cost s of the accounting staff.The accounting firm nor the last place to go! Question: traditional accounting go? Receded into the background of traditional financial accounting Management Accounting hotshot (CMA) Traditional financial accounting (CPA) focus on accounting, auditing, reporting, high-speed development of the market has not kept pace, a significant reduction it is inevitable. Contrary to the audit, accounting budget, decision-making is the scope of management accounting. Management accounting (CMA) focus on prediction, decision-making, planning, control and evaluation.CPA accounting of wealth, the CMA to create wealth, enterprises need to CMA's behind the military counselor. In 2009, the State Foreign Experts Bureau U. S. Certified Management Accountant (CMA) was introduced into China, and to authorize the excellent fiscal first training institutions. Are marked with the CMA's success in the Chinese enterprises in the use and promotion of foreign invested enterprises, the c entral level, state-owned enterprises and other large and medium-sized well-known enterprises in the recruitment of financial xecutives, â€Å"holds a CMA preferred. Excellent fiscal CMA students, Wister Finance Manager Ms. Wang said: learning CMA found that management accounting knowledge is far more than financial accounting, is more practical. Tsinghua University (microblogging), Professor Yu Zengbiao: management accounting talent gap of 3 million, management accounting will become a popular and sought-after talent! Old P3 + P1 = CMA As of June 30 registration of 220 U. S. dollarsRecently: American Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), release of information: the IMA headquarters decided to extend the final deadline of the Chinese examination system of the old Gang access to the August 31, 2012, June 30th registration will be provincial examination fee of 220 dollars in July to registration on August 31, will pay U. S. $ 125 examination fee. The first official training inst itutions excellent fiscal exclusive launch of the old P3 + P1 = the CMA, four-door variable 2, spend less, the cycle is short, easy to byAbout gifted fiscal: Excellent fiscal CMA Training Center is the first professional organization committed to the training of management accounting. 2009, excellent fiscal become the world's largest Institute of Management Accountants Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) authorized the first national strategic partner in China for three consecutive years by the IMA Headquarters granted the title of â€Å"Greater China, the best CMA training institutions, for three consecutive years of first place in the CMA exam pass rate!Excellent fiscal has the most outstanding exclusive contract faculty, provides students with a large number of local real Case Studies. Up to now, more than 90% of the CMA candidates from excellent financial, breakthrough success of the excellent fiscal CMA Training Center, (Beijing) the CMA5000 test exceeded 2000 people, cl ose to 1,000 people have already received the certificate students to complete their studies students read CMA.

Lineage of Sin and Death Essay

The Genesis account of Adam and Eve speaks about the commission of original sin as man first tried to disobey God’s command. It was when they first gave in to evil temptations that they sinned against their creator. From the very beginning, God said to Adam that He allows them to eat from any tree in the Garden of Eden but never from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (New American Bible). The Church preaches that the original sin corresponded to the loss of faith of man in their creator as well as an abuse of the freedom afforded to him or her by God. Having sinned against God opened their eyes to the existence of evil in the world. The original sin produced devastating results. It brought forth death and destroyed the loving relationship shared by God and the rest of His creation (Domning & Hellwig, 2006). Likewise, the will of man is permanently damaged as a consequence of the commission of original sin. Such sin may be characterized as the loss of original inviolability and justice affected the descendants of Adam and Eve due to the will’s weakness. Man does not uphold original justice and righteousness anymore but rather is tempted by sinful and self-seeking desires. The constant evil temptations as well as the loss of the benefits of original inviolability and justice tainted Adam’s soul, and being his progeny, the rest of humanity were similarly condemned. The mark of original sin is handed down to all of Adam’s descendants from the time of birth and with it are the effects of death, ignorance, and misery. In the end, the mercy of God still prevails (Humphreys, 2001). The salvation of humanity over sin and death was made possibly through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ on the cross. In obedience to His Father’s plan for salvation, the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ redeemed the world from the pains of hell. It was a blessing from a merciful Father for the expiation of original sin committed by His children against Him. References Domning, D. P. , & Hellwig, M. (2006). Original Selfishness: Original Sin and Evil in the Light of Evolution. Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Humphreys, W. L. (2001). The Character of God in the Book of Genesis: A Narrative Appraisal. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. The New American Bible. (1987). Nashville: Catholic Bible Press.

Iron Crowned Chapter 17

We learned more about the full extent of Imanuelle's ability as Kiyo and I made our way with her on horseback to the Rowan Land. Her illusions were every bit as good as she'd demonstrated the first day, and I watched with grudging awe as she transformed Kiyo into Girard, Shaya, and – ack – Dorian. The illusions were perfect – and dangerous. I began to fully understand why she was such a good assassin. She really could be whomever she wanted, slipping into high security places without anyone knowing. I was a bit shocked when some part of my brain skipped right past employing her to detaining her. That part of my brain said getting rid of her would be safer for me in the future, and I immediately chastised myself for the idea. Imprisoning potential enemies was something Storm King would have done. â€Å"It's not all-powerful,† she said at one point. I think she was just making idle conversation now, having no clue of my concerns. We'd crossed into the Rowan Land now, and she'd dropped her tricks with Kiyo, settling on illusions of bedraggled peasants for all of us. â€Å"Doing it for three people takes more power. And even for myself, I can't hold up disguises forever.† She made a small face. â€Å"If I could, I'd be a spy instead. A lot less messy.† I said nothing but exchanged brief glances with Kiyo behind her back. He too had to have analyzed the implications of her abilities. I was also thinking that when we'd first tried to rescue Jasmine from Aeson, our plan had failed because a spy had betrayed us. There was every possibility now that Imanuelle could do the same, and I wondered if I'd been too quick to trust such an unknown quantity. I could only hope love for her brother would keep her loyal to his employer. Despite its name, the Rowan Land was dominated by cherry trees. Well, at least that was my impression whenever I crossed through it while journeying to other kingdoms. As we traveled further along roads that delved deeper into Katrice's kingdom, the cherry trees gave way to other plants and trees – including rowans. They were smaller than I'd expected and laden with berries of their own. This land was really quite nice, temperate and pleasantly warm, with beautiful green landscapes. It would be a shame if I did have to raze it to the ground. We saw signs of Katrice's castle long before the castle itself. Other travelers joined us on the road, those whose towns had been caught in the crossfire of war and now sought out food and shelter from their monarch. Most were on foot, and we passed them quickly, for which I was glad. I needed no guilt on this journey. We also began seeing soldiers, undoubtedly part of the increased security that Rurik had predicted. Some were traveling to and from the castle. Some were stationed along the way, carefully watching those of us who passed. I held my breath each time, waiting for Imanuelle's illusions to fail us. Along with acknowledging her power limits, she'd also told us some gentry were sensitive to her type of magic and could see through her spells. She'd told us this halfway through the journey. It was information that kind of would have been useful before setting out. But, although we were scrutinized, the soldiers allowed us to pass, and before long, the castle itself came into view. I paused a moment, admiring it in spite of myself. Dorian and I both had dark, blocky stone castles, like Norman strongholds left on barren English countryside. Maiwenn's home was elegant and fanciful, always reminding me of a Disney movie. Katrice's castle, however, could have been straight out of a postcard from Bavaria. It had strong, straight rectangular lines, its sides white and covered with windows. That sturdy boxiness was offset by graceful turrets rising from the center, almost delicate-looking with their pointed black roofs. The land had been rising as we traveled, so it wasn't a surprise to see the castle was situated high on one of the foothills leading off into pretty, snowcapped mountains. It had a sweeping view of the area we were approaching from, and a sturdy wall surrounded its immediate grounds. Here we came to a stop along with the others seeking admission. We formed a long, clustered line, making me nervous. â€Å"Why the backup? Are they refusing people?† I asked softly. â€Å"We don't usually have this many at our gates.† Kiyo peered ahead, his sharp eyes seeing what we couldn't. â€Å"No, they're letting them in, just doing a fair amount of questioning, which is slowing things down. And you're right – you never have this many because your lands haven't been attacked as much.† Good and bad, I thought. I'd kept my own people safe, but the war I was waging was devastating homes. It occurred to me I might not have to worry about Katrice. If these people discovered who was among them, I might very well be taken down by an angry mob. â€Å"Easy,† murmured Imanuelle. â€Å"Don't look nervous. I can't hide your expressions.† I schooled myself to neutrality, hoping I looked blank and exhausted. After almost an hour of restless waiting, our turn came. Four guards interrogated us, and we were quick with answers. For our cover story, we'd chosen a village that had been near a battle Dorian's armies had fought with Katrice's. Most of the residents had cleared out before the fighting, but a large part of the village had been destroyed. â€Å"Our house was burned to the ground,† Imanuelle said. She didn't even need the illusion of an older, rag-clad woman to be pathetic. Her demeanor and voice were filled with perfect, convincing despair. â€Å"Our crops were wiped out.† After a bit more questioning, they let us in, sending us toward what was essentially a gentry breadline. The inner grounds of Katrice's castle were packed with people – most soldiers – and we had to shoulder our way through the crowd to reach the corner where the poor and huddled masses were situated. Many appeared to have made this courtyard their temporary home. It looked like a well-used campground. Nonetheless, food was on hand, and I was relieved that these victims of war were being cared for. We hovered near the food line so as not to raise suspicion, all the while assessing the area. In particular, our attention rested on the main gates to the castle itself. It was the most heavily guarded spot of all, and I knew then that an outright assault would have indeed been long and bloody. Other soldiers moved through the door with little questioning, which was what we'd hoped for. Finding a relatively obscured corner between a tall tent and the wall, we ducked out of sight and let Imanuelle work her next spell. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A tingle ran over me, and the world blurred. When I could focus on my companions again, I saw myself looking at the guards who had admitted us. â€Å"Whoa, wait,† I said, assuming I probably looked like one of the gate soldiers as well. â€Å"Don't you think we might have a few problems if we run into our clones? Why didn't you make us look like random unknowns?† â€Å"Because if the other guards don't recognize us, we'll get questioned more,† Imanuelle explained. She studied her hands critically, a small smile showing pride in her work. â€Å"I don't think the ones at the gate are leaving their posts anytime soon. We shouldn't run into them.† She spoke confidently, but I had a feeling she was secretly thinking I hope. Everyone was too concerned with his or her own affairs to realize that three peasants had ducked away, and three soldiers had emerged. When the refugees saw us, though, they stepped quickly out of our way. No pushing this time. None of us needed lessons on how to behave. Whereas our initial entry had been weak and bedraggled, we now walked with the confidence and strength of those who ran this place. We barely hesitated as we moved to the castle's entrance, and those on guard stepped aside without comment. Being inside proved a bit more confusing. We'd received some information on the castle's layout, but we didn't know exactly where Jasmine was being held. We couldn't pause to deliberate, though. We had to keep moving like we had purpose or else attract attention. Soldiers and servants hurried around us, and we fell in step with some down a random hall. Kiyo, always fast-thinking, stopped a lone, young soldier. â€Å"Hey,† said Kiyo brusquely. â€Å"We've had reports that someone might try to rescue the Thorn Queen's sister.† The soldier's blue eyes widened. â€Å"What? We should alert – â€Å" â€Å"No, no,† Kiyo interrupted. â€Å"Keep it to yourself. We don't want to raise suspicion. The outside guard already knows and is on watch. We need to know if she's been moved or not. There were rumors that she had been.† I tried not to bite my lip. Kiyo sounded like he knew what he was talking about, but this was a dangerous moment. As I'd worried before, Jasmine might not even be held here. There was also a chance that this guard didn't know her location, and we'd have to keep playing this game with others. The more people we talked to, the riskier our mission became. â€Å"Not that I've heard,† said the soldier. â€Å"She's still in the dungeon.† I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd half-expected him to say she was in Cassius's bedroom. The dungeons weren't great either, but well †¦ it was no different than how I'd initially treated her. I waited for Kiyo to demand more details – how many guards were on her, where the dungeons were, et cetera. Instead he gave the soldier a curt nod and again warned him to be on alert but not to share his knowledge. â€Å"We needed more info,† I hissed to Kiyo as we continued walking down the hall. Whatever her faults, Katrice had good interior design sense. Floral paintings hung on the walls, and elaborate plants spilled out of vases. The beauty was lost on me, though. â€Å"Why'd you let him go?† â€Å"Because real guards would already know anything else we wanted to ask,† he replied. â€Å"Asking where the dungeons are would definitely be a tipoff that something was up.† â€Å"And I already know where they are,† said Imanuelle. Both Kiyo and I looked at her in surprise. â€Å"Downstairs,† she added. â€Å"Dungeons are always downstairs,† I pointed out. â€Å"Have you been to them?† asked Kiyo. She nodded and crooked us a grin. â€Å"Powerful leaders aren't the only ones with prices on their heads. Sometimes important prisoners need to disappear too.† I grimaced at her amusement but was grateful when she got us turned around. With a clear purpose, I grew more and more tense. This was it. What would we find? No one was giving us a second glance up here, but in the dungeons, we'd attract attention – especially when we busted out one of their prisoners. Our castle faà §ades might have been different, but Katrice and I possessed similar dungeons. Dark. Gloomy. Gray stone walls and torches. It was such a stereotype, but I supposed it helped dampen the hopes of any prisoners. Imanuelle led us confidently down flights of stairs and into a long, wide corridor. Jasmine's cell was easy to spot because six guards stood outside it – again, reminiscent of her earlier conditions at my place. â€Å"Good luck,† said Imanuelle, falling behind us. She was apparently holding true to her word that this was all on us now. The guards on duty were sharp-eyed and naturally noticed our approach, but none of them reacted with wariness or alarm. A couple displayed curiosity, wondering perhaps if orders had changed, but that was it. Kiyo and I had discussed several strategies on our journey and finally decided swift and surprising force would be the way to go. When we were still several feet away, I sent my magic out, pulling in the air like a deep breath and throwing it back at the guards in the form of a gale-worthy wind. It ruffled our hair and brushed our skin, but the blast literally threw the guards off their feet. There were cries of shock, and two went down right then and there from the impact of slamming against the corridor's end. The other four were up on their feet, three drawing copper swords. Fire appeared in the hands of the fourth. I should have expected Katrice would put magic-users on Jasmine, along with brute force. There was no other time to ponder that, though, because the guy suddenly hurled a fireball at us. I instinctually drew on the surrounding air again, along with its moisture, disintegrating the fire with little effort. Kiyo surged forward then, attacking one of the guards. I ran forward as well, my attention focused on another guard as I created a vacuum around him, pulling all air away from him. His eyes widened as he gasped and clutched his throat, trying to draw an impossible breath. I held the magic as one of his colleagues tried to attack me. I dodged the sword, largely because the iron dagger in my hand was making him keep his distance. The guy in the thralls of my magic finally passed out from the lack of oxygen, and I released him, letting him collapse unconscious to the floor. Before I could even deal with the other soldier by me, Kiyo leapt out and tackled him to the floor. I took this to mean Kiyo's first opponent was out of commission, leaving me with the magic user. Not having learned anything the first time, he hurled another fireball at me. I admired his control; too much would have incinerated everyone in the hall. But with my magic, swatting the fire away was an afterthought for me. He had no weapon out, and I stepped forward, pushing my athame to his throat. He cried out at the sting of the iron, offering no fight as I began drawing away his oxygen too. A realization glinted in his eyes. Illusion or no, he must have figured out who would wield air and water so easily – and hold onto iron. â€Å"Thorn Queen †¦Ã¢â‚¬  he gasped out, as the last of his air left him. I saw unconsciousness seizing him, but just before it did, he managed a weak flutter of his hand. No fire came, but I felt an intense wave of heat spread out. It didn't hurt me, but there was a physical power within it, one that rippled the air and made the walls tremble slightly just before he too collapsed to the floor. Kiyo and I stood there among the bodies – dead or alive, I didn't know – and glanced at each other and our surroundings carefully. Imanuelle still stood back but looked impressed. â€Å"What the hell was that?† I asked. â€Å"I'm guessing an alarm,† she said. â€Å"Fuck.† I turned toward Jasmine's cell and saw her huddled in the farthest corner, regarding me with large, wary eyes. Water was her true specialty; she had only slight control over air. Nonetheless, she would have felt the strength of the magic I'd used. Like the guard, she knew there were few who could do what I'd done – but her vision told her it wasn't me standing there. I was still under Imanuelle's illusion. Kiyo was already searching bodies and soon found a key. We opened the cell, but Jasmine didn't move. She didn't look too worse for the wear, but I knew some of the most terrible behaviors rarely left a mark. There was a small tear in her dress and a bruise on her arm that looked like the signs of a struggle, probably during her initial capture. I also noticed they'd left the fine iron chains on her that Girard had created to stunt her magic. My own safeguard had undoubtedly been useful for her captors. I gestured to the door, uneasy about what Imanuelle had said about an alarm. â€Å"Jasmine, come on. It's us. Me and Kiyo.† â€Å"And by me,† said Kiyo, pointing in my direction, â€Å"she means Eugenie.† Jasmine hesitated, looking between our faces. â€Å"How is that possible?† Imanuelle, who'd been watching the hall's entrance, turned hastily toward the cell. â€Å"How do you think? With magic. Look at yourself.† Jasmine's features rippled, and soon, we were staring at another Rowan soldier. Jasmine studied her hands in astonishment. The illusion showed no chains, but she would still be able to feel them. â€Å"Your iPod's playlist sucks,† I said when she continued to hesitate. â€Å"Would a gentry guard say that?† â€Å"Come on,† urged Imanuelle. She'd been confident she could get herself out of any danger here, but those odds were better if she wasn't in a hall that could easily be blocked off if a regiment came tearing toward the entrance. Jasmine must have decided this new development could be no worse than her present fate. She jumped up and left the cell, following as the rest of us made for the stairs. We reached the main floor without opposition, but once there, all was chaos. Soldiers were running in the direction we'd come from, and I wondered how long it'd take them to realize we were the only ones not going toward the dungeons. Except †¦ it turned out that wasn't the case. In the confusion, no one stopped us from exiting the front door, but the inner grounds were packed with soldiers. They were cramming terrified refugees into one well-guarded section, and the gates in the outer walls had been shut. â€Å"Fuck,† I said again. It still seemed like the only adequate way to sum up this situation. â€Å"We could jump to the human world,† said Kiyo. â€Å"Imanuelle can get out on her own.† I considered this. It was true. Imanuelle could change into a peasant or whatever and escape detection until an opportunity for escape popped up. Kiyo's abilities allowed him to transition with relative ease through the worlds without a gate. I could do it – but not without difficulty. And I needed to use an anchor to draw me back. I had a couple back in my home, but Jasmine had nothing like that. She probably couldn't jump at random from the Otherworld. I wasn't even sure if she could with an anchor – and the iron chains made it worse. We could both end up doing serious damage to ourselves. â€Å"We can't,† I said. â€Å"We've just got to hide out.† I turned to Imanuelle. â€Å"How are you doing? Can you turn us all to peasants again?† She nodded. â€Å"We've got to get out of sight, though.† Her confidence was a small blessing, at least. Imanuelle was keeping up four illusions now, and her strength had been a concern in all this, that and someone who would be able to see through – â€Å"It's her! It's the Thorn Queen!† The shrieking voice that suddenly drew all eyes to us didn't come from the soldiers. It came from an old woman among the huddled refugees. She reminded me of Masthera, with white hair and wild eyes. She was pointing at us, and there was something in her gaze †¦ some piercing quality that made me believe she could see straight through the illusions to us. â€Å"Damn,† said Imanuelle. There was both fear and hurt pride in her voice. Although this had been a possibility, I knew she'd secretly felt her powers were too strong for detection. Maybe the four of us had stretched her magic thin. Honestly, I wouldn't have thought that one shout would be enough to pull attention to us, not in the chaos out there. Yet, the woman's voice brought silence to those nearby. They turned to stare at us, and soon, others who hadn't heard her noticed the reactions and fell quiet as well. â€Å"Hush,† snapped a guard, finally breaking the confused silence. He was one of the ones keeping the civilians out of the way. â€Å"We have no time for this.† The old woman shook her head adamantly. â€Å"Can't you see? Can't you see them? It's the Thorn Queen and her sister! They're right there!† The guard's face darkened. â€Å"I told you, we – â€Å" His jaw dropped because that was when the guards who'd been on gate duty earlier approached. They came to a standstill, staring at us in complete shock. If we hadn't panicked over the alarm, one of us probably would have thought to change the illusion so we looked like the unconscious soldiers, not the ones we would have to pass by again. It was a bad, bad oversight, and now everyone could see us and our mirror images. The guard yelling at the old woman might not know what was going on, but he knew something was going on. â€Å"Seize them,† he said. He glanced uneasily at his true colleagues and decided to cover his bases. â€Å"Seize them too.† Other soldiers moved toward us unquestioningly. I sized up the numbers. We were good, but I didn't think Kiyo and I could take that many in melee. Jasmine came to that same conclusion. â€Å"Blow them up,† she said. â€Å"We can blow our way out of here.† By ‘we,' she meant ‘me,' and I knew she was talking about storms, not explosions. Some part of me had already known that was the answer. Barely even realizing it, I summoned all my magic, making the beautiful, sunny day in the Rowan Land quickly fade. Black and purple clouds tumbled across the sky at impossible speeds, lightning flashing so close to us that the ground trembled. Humidity and ozone filled the air, wind rising and falling. It had come about in a matter of seconds, and the approaching soldiers halted. The old woman's crazy claim was no longer so crazy in light of that magic. They were all realizing that no matter what their eyes said, the possibility was now very good that Eugenie Markham truly stood before them. And I might be a wartime enemy, one they needed to capture, but I was also Storm King's daughter, and that was not a title taken lightly. They knew what I could do, and it was enough to freeze up years of training. â€Å"Let us pass,† I said. I began slowly moving toward the gate, my three companions following a moment later. â€Å"Let us pass, or I'll let this storm explode in here. It's already on the edge. One breath, and I can let it go.† Thunder and lightning crackled above us, driving home my point. There were small screams from some of the crowd. â€Å"Do you know what that kind of storm will do in an area this small? To all of you?† â€Å"It will kill them,† a voice suddenly said. â€Å"Horribly.† I looked over toward the castle's entrance and saw Katrice herself standing there. Guards hurried to flank her, but she held up a hand to halt them. It had been a long time since I'd seen her. All of our antagonistic contact had been through messenger and letter. She looked like she had at our last meeting, black hair laced with silver and dark eyes that scrutinized everything around her. She was in full regal mode too, in silver-gray satin and a small jeweled tiara. But no †¦ as I studied her, I saw a slight difference. She looked older than the last time we'd been together. Leith's death and this war had taken their toll. I stared her straight in the eye, my adversary, the cause of so much recent grief in my life. I needed no storm around me because one was breaking out within, winds of fury and anger swirling around and around inside me. â€Å"Drop the spell,† I said to Imanuelle, without looking at her. I wanted to be face-to-face with Katrice, and honestly, it wasn't like my identity was a secret anymore. I felt another tingle, and a few gasps told me I wore my own form now. A small, tight smile crossed Katrice's lips. â€Å"Yes,† she continued, â€Å"you could unleash a storm here. You could destroy a large part of this wall, this castle. You could most certainly destroy all these people – which is what you're good at, right? You put on this lofty pose about protecting lives, yet somehow, death always follows you. You leave it in your wake, just as Tirigan did. But at least he had no delusions about what he was doing.† The comparison to my father increased the anger in me. The weather mirrored my reaction, the sky growing darker and the air pressure intensifying. â€Å"Go ahead,† said Katrice. â€Å"Show me your storm.† â€Å"You don't have to kill them,† said Jasmine beside me, voice low. â€Å"Just her.† Was she right? Was that all it would take? I could kill Katrice, no question. One unexpected bolt of lightning, and she'd be gone. If memory served, her magic was similar to Shaya's: a connection and control with plant-life. As a queen, someone with the ability to conquer a land, Katrice possessed that power to levels that dwarfed Shaya's. It was probably why the trees and plants here were so beautiful. It was also probably why we hadn't been attacked yet. This inner courtyard around the castle was cleared land, hard-packed dirt that facilitated travel for guards, merchants, and other visitors. If we'd been outside the walls, I would have likely had a forest marching on me by now. â€Å"You can do that too,† said Katrice, still trying to bait me. I couldn't tell if she was simply attempting to prolong her life or trying to catch me off guard for some other attack. â€Å"Kill me in cold blood. Just like you did my son. It's in your nature.† â€Å"It's not cold blood in wartime,† I growled. â€Å"And your son deserved it. He was a weak, cowardly bastard who had to lie and drug women to get what he wanted.† This made her flinch slightly, but she didn't hesitate to return the arrow. â€Å"But he did get what he wanted. He got you. He couldn't have been that weak.† Those words stung, but before I could respond, a young man slipped into place beside her. His resemblance was so strong to her and Leith that there could be no question of his identity: Cassius, her nephew. The rage within me doubled. Seeing him reminded me of what he'd most likely done to Jasmine. My reason was slipping, replaced by pure fury. â€Å"You should have let this go,† I told Katrice, my voice perfectly level. â€Å"You should have accepted Leith's death as punishment for what he did. An even slate. Lives have been lost because of you. More will be now.† One bolt. One bolt, and she was dead. Hell, I could probably take out Cassius with it too. â€Å"Eugenie,† said Kiyo. â€Å"Don't. Don't do it.† â€Å"What else am I supposed to do?† I breathed, out of the others' earshot. â€Å"I warned you before there would be consequences. Please listen to me this time,† he begged. â€Å"There will be again.† â€Å"What do you expect me to do?† My voice was louder. I didn't care who heard. â€Å"This is wartime. I kill their leader. I win. Otherwise, I let hell loose in here, and these people die. Which do you want, Kiyo? Pick – or else find another way.† He didn't respond, but Katrice's tight smile grew at seeing dissent within my ranks. â€Å"No options but death. You are Tirigan's daughter. I'm glad now that Leith didn't get you with child. His plan seemed wise at first, but it's better my exalted bloodline isn't mingled with yours – though the gods know how much Leith tried. He told me about it. Often. Ah, well. I suppose we'll know soon how Cassius fared †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her gaze lingered slightly on Jasmine beside me. Imanuelle had dropped all our disguises. â€Å"Eugenie – † Jasmine tried to speak, but I didn't want to listen. â€Å"Are you trying to get yourself killed?† I demanded of Katrice. Each word was harsh, almost impossible to get out. I was changing my mind about the lightning. I was remembering how I'd killed Aeson, literally blowing him apart by ripping the water from his body. There were so many ways to kill her, so many ways to bring about humiliation. Katrice gave a small shrug, and despite that smug attitude, I saw a pang of regret in her eyes. â€Å"I have a feeling I'll die one way or another today. I just want everyone to know the truth about you before I do.† I froze. I'd told Kiyo to give me another option, and he'd had none. But there was one other. â€Å"The truth,† I said slowly, reaching toward my backpack, â€Å"is that you aren't going to die today. But you'll wish you had.† I can only assume what happened next was born out of pure emotion, out of the anger and despair her words about me and Jasmine had evoked. Situational adrenaline probably played a role too, and †¦ well, maybe there was something in my genes after all. I pulled the Iron Crown from my backpack. Katrice turned white, all cockiness gone. Those who recognized the crown displayed similar fear, audible and visible. Others just stared curiously. â€Å"No,† she gasped. â€Å"No. Please don't.† I think until that moment, she hadn't truly believed I had the crown. I also think that had I demanded it, she would've named whatever terms of surrender I wanted. But I didn't want simple surrender. I wanted suffering. I wanted her to suffer, just as I had. So many ways to bring about humiliation †¦ I placed the crown on my head, and somehow – maybe it was part of its magic – I knew exactly what to do. The iron athame was still in my hand, and I crouched down with it. Katrice dropped to her knees too, but it was in supplication. â€Å"Please,† she begged again, tears in her eyes. â€Å"Anything. I'll do anything you want.† â€Å"You're right,† I said. â€Å"You will.† I slammed the blade down – and pierced the land's heart.