Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Is the ‘Philosophy of Swine’ Objection a Telling Criticism of Utilitarian Theory?

â€Å"Is the ‘philosophy of swine’ objection a telling criticism of Utilitarian theory? Why or why not? † Philosophy of swine. This was mentioned by Mill criticizing Bentham’s utilitarianism. Before looking at Mill’s criticism, historical background of the birth of utilitarianism should be discussed ahead. Utilitarianism arose in the Industrial Revolution period. As nations became industrialized in the eighteenth century, bourgeois: an industrial middle class, appeared demanding new political and economic theory which would support their own interests.In the economic sphere, Adam Smith introduced laissez-faire theory following new era’s request. However, political theory was still remaining at social contract theory of the seventeenth century. Especially, as Britain was enjoying its period of political and constitutional stability after the Glorious Revolution, social contract theory which explains legitimacy of a government didn’t attr act people’s attention any more. Going through the social fluctuations, Bentham came up with an idea called ‘utilitarianism’. Bentham’s theory was remarkably progressive that he was considered as philosophical radicals.In accordance with the bourgeois’ demand for theory appropriate to those days, Bentham’s utilitarianism was based on a very simple premise; every man pursues happiness. A single behavior is determined to be moral or not by whether it creates happiness. This makes utilitarianism solely focus on the consequence of the act. Bentham also insists that every choice should be made toward the maximization of utility. Regarding making political decisions, we should follow the policy that yields ‘the greatest happiness of the greatest number’.However, Bentham’s theory is denounced by Mill, because it doesn’t acknowledge the objective standard of values. When Bentham deals with the happiness, that only count is the total aggregation of the amount of happiness. The standard and quality of the pleasure is totally disregarded. For example, there is no difference in quality between satisfied satiety after eating delicious food and the feeling of academic accomplishment. However, Mill completes Utilitarianism criticizing and supplementing this quantitative utilitarianism. It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. † This famous phrase denotes that human happiness is inseparable from the question of quality, and there exists much higher level of pleasure. It is reasonable for Mill to criticize Bentham’s utilitarianism as the philosophy of swine. However, not all utilitarian theories should be regarded as the swine philosophy. Mill developed qualitative utilitarianism with this criticism and also established liberalism thoughts on this ground, which still has a significant impact on today’s poli tical theory.Thus, the answer to the given question is partly yes and partly no. This essay will endeavor to explain that utilitarianism is more than just hedonism; utilitarianism completed by Mill, liberal thoughts suggested in On Liberty, and its impact on present society will be discussed further. First of all, Mill introduced the concept of quality to existing utilitarianism. He suggested that â€Å"some kinds of pleasure are more desirable and more valuable than others. † Mental pleasure is much superior to physical and instinctive pleasure, because only human beings can experience the former.For this reason, Mill’s utilitarianism is often called humanized utilitarianism. Another factor that distinguishes Mill from Bentham is that his idea of compatibility between individual utility and social utility. This argument is also used when criticizing Bentham who saw human beings as selfish entities. Contrarily, Mill concluded that men do not always pursue an immediate profit. Of course, human beings are fundamentally self-centered, but they can give up present interests since they can see the future through long-term perspective.For example, volunteer workers who seek for positive change in the future cannot be explained by Bentham’s standpoint. Human beings have an element that enables them to sacrifice themselves and find their lives worth living for social utility. In this way, Mill completed more refined utilitarian theory emphasizing the harmony between individual and society. In his famous work On Liberty, Mill put great emphasis on social liberty as well as individual liberty. He relates human behavior with social utility and stresses again that human beings are not obsessed with immediate interests.He says that â€Å"I regard utility as the ultimate appeal on all ethical questions; but it must be utility in the largest sense, grounded on the permanent interests of man as a progressive being. † What we should take note from t his is that human beings are progressive. This is the distinctive part where Mill’s theory excels Bentham’s. Aforementioned, men can desert present interest since they are progressive entities, expecting future advantages. In a word, Mill upgraded the notion of utility to the means to men’s durable profits. The concept ‘utility’ is used in modern political philosophy in relation to welfare.In this manner, utilitarianism, from the nineteenth century to present days, has worked as a central part of political theories, and has had a great influence on democracy as a foundation of liberalism. Thus, to condemn utilitarianism as hedonistic theory cannot be justified. The last factor defending utilitarianism from such criticism is that it provides a basic ground for securing freedom of thought and speech. This is also closely connected with utilitarianism which formed the basis of Mill’s theory. Individual freedom should be guaranteed under any circ umstances, because it is directly correlated to social utility.Mill particularly gives priority to freedom of thought and speech more than any other freedom. The premise of the freedom of thought and speech is that every opinion has a possibility of being a fallacy. Mill insists that â€Å"If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth. † This can be justified from the utilitarian perspective, because every opinion, albeit it is a minority opinion, is possible enough to contribute to the progress of the society. All thoughts and expressions have utility for the development of humanity.The fact known to us as a truth can turn out to be false at any time; the Copernican theory exploded pervading heliocentric theory and Einstein’s theory of relativity reversed existing scientific system. Consequentially, a maximum guaranteed freedom produces increased happiness for mankind. This is a crucial part of liberalism that emphasizes t he minimization of the government intervention in individuals for every person’s freedom. Liberalism established by Mill became the very foundation of western political philosophy until Rawls’ theory appears.From this, the importance of utilitarianism is induced; it is more than just hedonistic theory. So far we’ve gone through some reasons why utilitarianism is not the philosophy of swine that appeals to human instinct, putting Mill’s idea at the center. It is true that early utilitarian thinker Bentham suggested somewhat hedonistic theory. However, his idea of utilitarianism that consequence counts the most has worked as a fundamental root of utilitarianism and was revised, developed, and completed by Mill. Swine philosophy objection is only valid when criticizing Bentham, but it is also ard to deny that Bentham did contribute to the establishment of modern political thoughts by setting up a radical theory of that time. Thus, swine objection seems hard to be an effective critique to utilitarianism. (1,195 words) Bibliography Bentham, Jeremy. An Introduction to the principles of morals and legislation. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907. Mill, J. S. Utilitarianism, Liberty, Representative Government. London: Dent, 1972. Mulgan, Tim. Understanding Utilitarianism. Stocksfield U. K. : Acumen, 2007. Riley, Jonathan. Liberal Utilitarianism: social choice theory and J. S. Mill’s Philosophy.Cambridge England; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988. Riley, Jonathan. â€Å"What are Millian Qualitative Superiorities? † Prolegomena: Journal of Philosophy 7, no. 1 (2008): 61-79. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Jeremy Bentham, â€Å"Of the Principle of Utility,† in An Introduction to the principles of morals and legislation (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907), 1-7. [ 2 ]. John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism, Liberty, Representative Gover nment (London; Dent, 1972), 9. [ 3 ]. Ibid. , 7. [ 4 ]. Mill, Utilitarianism, Liberty, Representative Government, 74. [ 5 ]. Ibid. , 79.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Miner Resume Essay

Objective To gain employment and work along side industry professionals, to further my experience and knowledge within the mining industry. I am a willing candidate who has the ability to adapt and respond to new challenges, in a safe and professional manner. Employment Coal Mine Worker Mastermyne April 2013 – Current Installation of underground secondary support at Moranbah North Coal Mine. Daily duties include: Installation of roof and rib support, mega bolts and high tension flexi bolts in accordance with mine managers support plans. Underground roadworks, installation of VCD’s, underground water storage dams and longwall face bolt up. Trained and authorized in the use of QDS bolting rigs, Airtrack bolting rigs, handheld bolting equipment and underground loaders (eimco ED7 ED10, Juggernaut). Daily practices in housekeeping, creating a safe and productive work environment and risk assessing each task. Coal Mine Worker Minestar Alliance January 2013 – April 2013 Installation of underground conveyor systems at Carborough Downs Coal Mine. Installing drive heads, sacrificial bases, transfer stations and all associated work Underground Civils and roadworks Coal Mine Worker Vulcan MiningNovember 2012- January 2013 Longwall take off and install at Carborough Downs Coal Mine Trained and authorized in the operation FBL 10, FBL 15, 50t Chock Chariot, RapidFace Bolters Transportation of heavy equipment for installation underground Daily tasks included, pulling of chocks from longwall face, building of cob timbers, bolt up of huesker mesh, transportation of chocks out in and into pit using wheel assisted chock trailer, roadwork’s, assisting fitters and general housekeeping duties WDSApril 2012 – November 2012 Development projects and operations at North Goonyella Coal e. g. Operating iner mounted bolters in sequence with the production of coal with an ABM20, Roadwork’s and set up for my crews development panel, working closely with other team members to maintain a safe and positive outcome Trained and authorised for operation of Driftrunner, loaders: Eimco LS130 ED7 ED10, Juggernaut, HfX miner mounted bolters, Stone dusters, Bolting rigs, Cable Reelers and other plants and attachments Follow instructions from supervisors and other team m embers in a safe and efficient manner to Complete tasks at hand Completion and understanding of CHALLENGES, JSA and Zero Harm Training commenced on other mobile plants e. . Shuttle car Coal Mine Worker Diversified Mining ServiceJuly 2011 – April 2012 Installation of underground conveyor belts at Broadmeadow Mine Underground civil work and preparation of work areas including concreting of intersections, take off roads, loop take up sites Follow instructions from supervisors and other team members in a safe and efficient manner Completion and understanding of TAKE 5, JSA and Zero Harm Operation of mobile plants and installation of heavy mechanical systems e. g. oop take up, belt maintenance stations, belt drives and transfer stations Junior Sous Chef Baguette Bar Bistro BrisbaneAugust 2009 – July 2011 Running of sections within a team of chefs Complete formation of menus, costing’s and maintain good upkeep on profit and loss Delegate other employees of the lower b rigade in daily tasks to achieve results Follow workplace health and safety guidelines to ensure a safe working environment Personal Attributes Ability to work under pressure and for long periods of time Fast learning at all tasks and objectives Professional and safety first attitude to work ethics Hard working and reliable Highly self motivated, with the ability to work as an individual or as a team member Training and Authorisations Vale Carborough Downs Inducted, NGC inducted, Broadmeadows inducted Current Cold board medical and Underground Generics Working at heights certified Underground mobile plants e. g. Driftrunner, Loaders, HFX Miner Mounted bolting rigs, Various Hydraulic QDS attachment

Monday, July 29, 2019

Spirit Bound Chapter Sixteen

I DIDN'T HAVE A PRECISE count of how many Strigoi were with Dimitri's group. So much of what I'd seen through Lissa had been blurred with confusion and terror. The guardians, knowing we were expected, had simply had to make a best guess about how many to send. Hans had hoped overwhelming force would make up for us losing the element of surprise. He'd dispatched as many guardians as he could reasonably clear from the Court. Admittedly, the Court was protected by wards, but it still couldn't be left entirely undefended. Having the new grads there had helped. Most of them had been left behind, allowing the seasoned guardians to go on our hunting party. That left us with forty or so. It was as unusual as large groups of Strigoi banding together. Guardians were usually sent out in pairs, maybe groups of three at most, with Moroi families. This large of a force had the potential to bring about a battle rivaling that of the Academy attack. Knowing that sneaking through the dark wouldn't work, Hans stopped our convoy a little ways from the warehouse the Strigoi were holed up at. The building was situated on a service road cutting off from the highway. It was an industrial area, hardly a deserted path in the woods, but all the businesses and factories were shut down this late at night. I stepped out of the SUV, letting the warm evening wrap around me. It was humid, and the moisture in the air felt especially oppressive when I was already smothered with fear. Standing beside the road, I felt no nausea. Dimitri hadn't posted Strigoi this far, which meant our arrival was still–kind of–a surprise. Hans walked over to me, and I gave him the best estimate I could on the situation, based on my limited information. â€Å"But you can find Vasilisa?† he asked. I nodded. â€Å"As soon as I'm in the building, the bond will lead me straight to her.† He turned, staring off into the night as cars sped by on the nearby highway. â€Å"If they're already waiting outside, they'll smell and hear us long before we see them.† Passing headlights briefly illuminated his face, which was lined in thought. â€Å"You said there are three layers of Strigoi?† â€Å"As far as I could tell. There are some on Lissa and Christian, then some outside.† I paused, trying to think what Dimitri would do in this situation. Surely I knew him well enough, even as a Strigoi, to calculate his strategy. â€Å"Then another layer inside the building–before you get to the storage room.† I didn't know this for certain, but I didn't tell Hans. The assumption was made on my own instincts, drawn from what I would do and what I thought Dimitri would do. I figured it would be best if Hans planned for three waves of Strigoi. And that's exactly what he did. â€Å"Then we go in with three groups. You'll lead the group going in for the extraction. Another team will accompany yours and eventually split off. They'll fight whoever's right inside, letting your group head for the captives.† It sounded so†¦ militaristic. Extraction. Captives. And me†¦ a team leader. It made sense with the bond, but always in the past, they'd simply used my knowledge and left me on the sidelines. Welcome to being a guardian, Rose. At school, we'd conducted all sorts of exercises, running as many different Strigoi scenarios as our instructors could dream up. Yet, as I stared up at the warehouse, all of those drills seemed like playacting, a game that could in no way measure up to what I was about to face. For half a second, the responsibility of it all seemed daunting, but I quickly shoved aside such concerns. This was what I had been trained to do, what I had been born to do. My own fears didn't matter. They come first. Time to prove it. â€Å"What are we going to do since we can't sneak up on them?† I asked. Hans had a point about the Strigoi detecting us in advance. An almost mischievous smile flickered on his face, and he explained his plan to the group while also dividing us into our teams. His approach tactic was bold and reckless. My kind of plan. And like that, we were off. An outsider analyzing us might have said we were on a suicide mission. Maybe we were. It honestly didn't matter. The guardians wouldn't abandon the last Dragomir. And I wouldn't have abandoned Lissa even if there were a million Dragomirs. So, with sneaking having been ruled out, Hans opted for a full-on attack. Our group loaded back into the eight SUVs and tore off down the street at illegal speeds. We took up the entire width of the road, gambling on no oncoming traffic. Two SUVs led the charge side by side, then two rows of three. We shot to the end of the road, came to a halt with screeching tires at the front of the warehouse, and spilled out of our cars. If slow stealth wasn't an option, we'd gain surprise by going fast and furious. Some of the Strigoi were indeed surprised. Clearly, they'd seen our approach, but it had happened so fast that they'd had only a little time to react. Of course, when you were as fast and deadly as Strigoi, a little time was all you needed. A group of them surged at us, and Hans's â€Å"outside team† charged back, those guardians putting themselves between my group and the other going inside. The Moroi fire users had been assigned to the outside group, for fear of setting the building on fire if they went inside. My team moved around the battle, inevitably running into a few Strigoi who hadn't fallen to the first team's distraction. With well-practiced determination, I ignored the nausea sweeping through me from being this close to Strigoi. Hans had strictly ordered me not to stop unless any Strigoi were directly in my path, and he and another guardian were beside me to cover any threats that might come at me. He wanted nothing to delay me from leading them to Lissa and Christian. We fought our way into the warehouse, entering a dingy hall blocked by Strigoi. I'd been right in my guess that Dimitri would have layers of security. A bottleneck formed in the small space, and for a few moments things were chaotic. Lissa was so close. It was like she was calling to me, and I burned with impatience as I waited for the hall to clear. My team was in the back, letting the other group do the fighting. I saw Strigoi and guardians alike fall and tried not to let it distract me. Fight now, grieve later. Lissa and Christian. I had to focus on them. â€Å"There,† said Hans, tugging my arm. A gap had formed ahead of us. There were still plenty of Strigoi, but they were distracted enough that my companions and I slipped through. We took off down the hall, which opened into a large empty space that made up the warehouse's heart. A few pieces of trash and debris were all that was left of the goods once stored here. Doors led off of the room, but now I didn't need the bond to tell me where Lissa was. Three Strigoi stood guard outside a doorway. So. Four layers of security. Dimitri had one-upped me. It didn't matter. My group had ten people. The Strigoi snarled, bracing in anticipation as we charged them. Through an unspoken signal, half of my group engaged them. The rest of us busted down the door. Despite my intense focus on reaching Lissa and Christian, one tiny thought had always been dancing in the back of my brain. Dimitri. I hadn't seen Dimitri in any of the Strigoi we'd encountered. With my full attention on our attackers, I hadn't slipped into Lissa's head to verify the situation, but I felt totally confident that he was still inside the room. He would have stayed with her, knowing I would come. He would be waiting to face me. One of them dies tonight. Lissa or Dimitri. Having reached our goal, I no longer needed extra protection. Hans pulled out his stake on the first Strigoi he encountered, pushing past me and jumping into the fray. The rest of my group did likewise. We poured into the room, and if I thought there'd been chaos earlier, it was nothing compared to what we faced. All of us–guardians and Strigoi–just barely fit inside the room, which meant we were fighting in very, very close quarters. A female Strigoi–the one Dimitri had slapped earlier–came at me. I fought on autopilot, barely aware of my stake piercing her heart. In this room, full of shouting and death and colliding, there were only three people in the world that mattered to me now: Lissa, Christian, and Dimitri. I'd found him at last. Dimitri was with my two friends against the far wall. No one was fighting him. He stood with arms crossed, a king surveying his kingdom as his soldiers battled the enemy. His eyes fell on me, his expression amused and expectant. This was where it would end. We both knew it. I shoved my way through the crowd, dodging Strigoi. My colleagues pushed into the fray beside me, dispatching whom-ever stood in my way. I left them to their fight, moving toward my objective. All of this, everything happening, had led to this moment: the final showdown between Dimitri and me. â€Å"You're beautiful in battle,† said Dimitri. His cold voice carried to me clearly, even above the roar of combat. â€Å"Like an avenging angel come to deliver the justice of heaven.† â€Å"Funny,† I said, shifting my hold on the stake. â€Å"That is kind of why I'm here.† â€Å"Angels fall, Rose.† I'd almost reached him. Through the bond, I felt a brief surge of pain from Lissa. A burning. No one was harming her yet, but when I saw her arms move out of the corner of my eye, I realized what had happened. Christian had done what she'd asked: He'd burned her ropes. I saw her move to untie him in return, and then my attention shifted back to Dimitri. If Lissa and Christian were free, then so much the better. It would make their escape easier, once we cleared out the Strigoi. If we cleared out the Strigoi. â€Å"You've gone to a lot of trouble to get me here,† I told Dimitri. â€Å"A lot of people are going to die–yours and mine.† He shrugged, unconcerned. I was almost there. In front of me, a guardian battled a bald Strigoi. That lack of hair was not attractive with his chalk white skin. I moved around them. â€Å"It doesn't matter,† said Dimitri. He tensed as I approached. â€Å"None of them matter. If they die, then they obviously aren't worthy.† â€Å"Prey and predator,† I murmured, recalling what he'd said to me while holding me prisoner. I'd reached him. No one stood between us now. This was different from our past fights, where we'd had lots of room to size each other up and plan our attacks. We were still crammed into the room, and in keeping our distance from the others, we'd closed the gap between us. That was a disadvantage for me. Strigoi outmatched guardians physically; extra room helped us compensate with more maneuverability. I didn't need to maneuver quite yet, though. Dimitri was trying to wait me out, wanting me to make the first move. He kept a good position, though, one that blocked me from getting a clear shot on his heart. I could do some damage if I cut him elsewhere with the stake, but he would likely get a hit in on me that would be packed with power in this proximity. So I tried to wait him out as well. â€Å"All this death is because of you, you know,† he said. â€Å"If you'd let me awaken you†¦ let us be together†¦ well, none of this would have happened. We'd still be in Russia, in each other's arms, and all of your friends here would be safe. None of them would have died. It's your fault.† â€Å"And what about the people I'd have to kill in Russia?† I demanded. He'd shifted his weight a little. Was that an opening? â€Å"They wouldn't be safe if I–â€Å" A crashing sound off to my left startled me. Christian, now freed, had just slammed his chair into a Strigoi engaged with a guardian. The Strigoi shrugged Christian off like a fly. Christian flew backward, slamming into a wall and landing on the floor with a slightly stunned look. In spite of myself, I spared him a glance and saw Lissa running to his side. And so help me, she had a stake in her hand. How she'd managed that, I had no idea. Maybe she'd picked it up from a fallen guardian. Maybe none of the Strigoi had thought to search her when she came in. After all, why on earth would a Moroi be carrying a stake? â€Å"Stop it! Stay out of the way!† I yelled at them, turning back to Dimitri. Letting those two distract me had cost me. Realizing Dimitri was about to attack, I managed to dodge without even seeing what he was doing. It turned out he'd been reaching for my neck, and my imprecise evasion had spared me the full damage. Still, his hand caught me on the shoulder, knocking me back almost as far as Christian had gone. Unlike my friend, though, I had years of training that had taught me to recover from something like that. I'd honed a lot of balance and recovery skills. I staggered only a little, then quickly regained my footing. I could only pray Christian and Lissa would listen to me and not do anything stupid. My attention had to stay on Dimitri, or I'd get myself killed. And if I died, Lissa and Christian died for sure. My impression while fighting our way inside had been that the guardians outnumbered the Strigoi, though that meant little sometimes. Still, I had to hope my colleagues would finish our foes off, leaving me to do what I had to do. Dimitri laughed at my dodge. â€Å"I'd be impressed if that wasn't something a ten-year-old could do. Now your friends†¦ well, they're also fighting at a ten-year-old level. And for Moroi? That's actually pretty good.† â€Å"Yeah, well, we'll see what your assessment is when I kill you,† I told him. I made a small feint to test how much he was paying attention. He sidestepped with hardly any notice at all, as graceful as a dancer. â€Å"You can't, Rose. Haven't you figured that out by now? Haven't you seen it? You can't defeat me. You can't kill me. Even if you could, you can't bring yourself to do it. You'll hesitate. Again.† No, I wouldn't. That's what he didn't realize. He'd made a mistake bringing Lissa here. She increased the stakes–no pun intended–on everything. She was here. She was real. Her life was on the line, and for that†¦ for that, I wouldn't hesitate. Dimitri must have grown tired of waiting for me. He leapt out, hand again going for my neck. And again I evaded, letting my shoulder take the brunt of the hit. This time he held on to my shoulder. He jerked me toward him, triumph flaring in those red eyes. In the sort of space we were in, this was probably all he needed to kill me. He had what he wanted. Apparently, though, he wasn't the only one who wanted me. Another Strigoi, maybe thinking he'd help Dimitri, pushed toward us and reached for me. Dimitri bared his fangs, giving the other Strigoi a look of pure hatred and fury. â€Å"Mine!† Dimitri hissed, hitting the other Strigoi in a way that he had clearly not expected. And that was my opening. Dimitri's brief distraction had caused him to loosen his grip on me. That same close proximity which made him so lethal to me now made me just as dangerous. I was by his chest, by his heart, and I had my stake in hand. I'll never be able to say for sure just how long the next series of events took. In some ways, it felt like only one heartbeat passed. At the same moment, it was as though we were frozen in time. Like the entire world had stopped. My stake was moving toward him, and as Dimitri's eyes fell on me once more, I think he finally believed I would kill him. I was not hesitating. This was happening. My stake was there– And then it wasn't. Something hit me hard on my right side, pushing me away from Dimitri and ruining my shot. I stumbled, barely avoiding hitting anyone. While I always tried to be vigilant regarding all things around me in a fight, I'd let my guard down in that direction. The Strigoi and guardians were on my left. The wall–and Lissa and Christian–were on my right. And it was Lissa and Christian who had shoved me out of the way. I think Dimitri was as astonished as I was. He was also equally astonished when Lissa came toward him with that stake in her hand. And like lightning through the bond, I read what she had very, very carefully kept from me the last day: She had managed to charm the stake with spirit. It was the reason she'd been so keyed up during her last stake-practice session with Grant and Serena. Knowing she had the tool she needed had fueled her desire to use it. Her hiding all of that information from me was a feat on par with charming the stake. Not that it mattered right now. Charmed stake or no, she couldn't get near Dimitri. He knew it too, and his surprise immediately changed to delighted amusement–almost indulgent, like the way one watches a child do something adorable. Lissa's attack was awkward. She wasn't fast enough. She wasn't strong enough. â€Å"No!† I screamed, leaping toward them, though pretty certain I wasn't going to be fast enough either. Suddenly, a blazing wall of heat and flame appeared before me, and I barely had the presence of mind to back up. That fire had shot up from the floor, forming a ring around Dimitri that kept me from him. It was disorienting, but only for a moment. I knew Christian's handiwork. â€Å"Stop it!† I didn't know what to do, if I should attack Christian or leap into the fire. â€Å"You'll burn us all alive!† The fire was fairly controlled–Christian had that much skill–but in a room this size, even a controlled fire was deadly. Even the other Strigoi backed away. The flames were closing in on Dimitri, growing tighter and tighter. I heard him scream, could see the look of agony, even through the fire. It began to consume his coat, and smoke poured out from the blaze. Some instinct told me I needed to stop this†¦ and yet, what did it matter? I'd come to kill him. Did it matter if someone else did it for me? And that's when I noticed Lissa was still on the offensive. Dimitri was distracted, screaming as the flames wrapped around him. I was screaming too†¦ for him, for her†¦ it's hard to say. Lissa's arm shot through the flames, and again, pain surged through the bond–pain that dwarfed the earlier singe from Christian burning her ropes. Yet she kept going, ignoring the fiery agony. Her alignment was right. She had the stake aimed at the heart. The stake went in, piercing him. Well, kind of. Just like when she'd practiced with the pillow, she didn't quite have the strength to get the stake where it needed to go. I felt her steel herself, felt her summon up every ounce of strength she had. Throwing her full weight into it, she shoved again, using both hands. The stake went in further. Still not enough. This delay would have cost her her life in a normal situation. This was not a normal situation. Dimitri had no means to block her, not with the fire slowly eating him. He did manage a small struggle that loosened the stake, undoing what little progress she'd made. Grimacing, she tried again, pushing the stake back to its former position. Still, it wasn't enough. I came to my senses then, knowing I needed to stop this. Lissa was going to burn herself up if she kept trying to stake him. She lacked the skill. Either I needed to stake him or we just needed to let the fire finish him off. I moved forward. Lissa caught sight of me in her periphery and sent out a blast of compulsion at me. No! Let me do this! The command hit me hard, an invisible wall that made me come to a halt. I stood there dazed, both from the compulsion itself and the realization that she'd used it on me. It only took a moment for me to shake it off. She was too distracted to put her full power into the order, and I was pretty compulsion-resistant anyway. Yet, that slight delay had stopped me from reaching her. Lissa seized her last chance, knowing she'd get no other. One more time, fighting through the fire's searing pain, she threw everything she had into shoving the stake all the way into Dimitri's heart. Her strike was still awkward, still requiring a little more wiggling and pushing than the clean hit a trained guardian would make. Clumsy or not, the stake finally made it. It pierced his heart. And as it did, I felt magic flood our bond, the familiar magic I'd felt so many times when she performed a healing. Except†¦ this was a hundred times more powerful than anything I'd ever felt before. It froze me up as neatly as her compulsion had. I felt as though all of my nerves were exploding, like I'd just been struck by lightning. White light suddenly burst out around her, a light that dwarfed the fire's brightness. It was like someone had dropped the sun into the middle of that room. I cried out, my hand rising instinctively to shield my eyes as I stepped backward. From the sounds in the room, everyone else was having a similar reaction. For a moment, it was as if there was no bond anymore. I felt nothing from Lissa–no pain, no magic. The bond was as colorless and empty as the white light filling the room. The power she'd used had over-flooded and overwhelmed our bond, numbing it. Then the light simply disappeared. No fade-out. Just†¦ gone in an eye blink. Like a switch had been flipped. There was silence in the room, save for a few murmurings of discomfort and confusion. That light must have been toxic to sensitive Strigoi eyes. It was hard enough for me. Starbursts danced in my sight. I couldn't focus on anything as the afterimage of that brilliance burned across my vision. At last–with a little squinting–I could vaguely see again. The fire was gone, though black smudges on the wall and ceiling marked its presence, as did some lingering smoke. By my estimation, there should have been a lot more damage. I could spare no time for that miracle, though, because there was another one taking place in front of me. Not just a miracle. A fairy tale. Lissa and Dimitri were both on the floor. Their clothes were burned and singed. Angry red and pink patches marked her beautiful skin from where the fire had hit hardest. Her hands and wrists were particularly bad. I could see spots of blood where the flames had actually burned some of her skin away. Third-degree burns, if I was recalling my physiology classes correctly. Yet she seemed to feel no pain, nor did the burns affect her hands' movement. She was stroking Dimitri's hair. While she sat in some semblance of an upright position, he was in an ungainly sprawl. His head rested in her lap, and she was running her fingers through his hair in a gentle, repetitive motion–like one does to comfort a child or even an animal. Her face, even marred with the fire's terrible damage, was radiant and filled with compassion. Dimitri had called me an avenging angel, but she was an angel of mercy as she gazed down at him and crooned soothing, nonsense words. With the state of his clothes and what I'd seen in the fire, I'd expected him to be burned to a crisp–some sort of blackened, skeletal nightmare. Yet when he shifted his head, giving me my first full view of his face, I saw that he was completely unharmed. No burns marked his skin–skin that was as warm and tanned as it had been the first day I'd met him. I caught only a glimpse of his eyes before he buried his face against Lissa's knee. I saw endless depths of brown, the depths I'd fallen into so many times. No red rings. Dimitri†¦ was not a Strigoi. And he was weeping.

Advantages, Disadvantages, and Roles of International Mergers and Essay

Advantages, Disadvantages, and Roles of International Mergers and Acquisitions - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that acquisitions refer to a process in which a company transfers the control operations and management to another company and of becomes unit of the acquirer. Acquisitions are run by the same name of the company, which has greater financial power in terms of stocks and shares. Mergers refer to the operational and management combination of two firms to create a new legal firm. Two merged firms lead to increased core strength and operational synergy, which position them on an international market. Mergers and acquisitions provide a potential feature to leverage superior organizational capabilities, enhance market power, reduce costs, and access complementary resources. A number of M&As theories and concepts have been developed such as empire building, disciplinary and synergistic, hubris hypothesis, and market power gain, which are not mutually exclusive because a firm can decide to gain market power and at the same time focused on building an empire. According to Ferreira, Santos, Almeida, and Reis, firms have diversified reasons for implementing the M&A including possible contributions of becoming global firms through attaining synergy value, better international market position, and broader market access. AT&T is a multinational firm that offers telecommunications services. Recently, the company acquired Direct TV to form a firm that would cater for a new telecom and television needs as well as developing the company into and global organization offering telecommunication services to China, United States, and the rest of the world. Synergistic M&A framework compromises of managerial, financial, operational, and market power market topologies. International mergers and acquisitions are associated with various advantages linked to the M&As theories, which also play as the key drivers towards a company’s breakthrough in the international market. Â  The advantages range from the financial aspect of the workforce t hat contributes towards the achievement of international goals set by the firm. Some advantages to the buyer (acquirer) may be the disadvantage to the seller and vice versa.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Assignment Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Assignment Questions - Essay Example s internet marketing, owing to the fact that it is rapidly increasing in popularity in the contemporary business environment and may attract a substantial number of clients. Planning: Identification of resources needed to market the bicycle; identification of target markets for the bicycle; identification of marketing channels i.e. e-marketing and assessing marketing condition i.e. market prices, competitors among others. Implementation: This stage would involve exposing the products to the identified marketing channels; exposing the bicycles to the identified target market and offering them at standard market price that benefits that company and affordable to clients Evaluation: This would involve assessing efficacy of the marketing procedures that have been put in place i.e. Are clients satisfied with the company’s e-marketing procedures? Are the prices offered cost-effective? The factors that would be considered when considering the product failure are: Competition from new and emerging alternative products; prices; efficacy of the product in satisfying customers’ needs and marketing strategies as well as clients’ perception on the product. Improve operational efficiency of the product, especially after reviewing customers’ complaints; in addition, the market price of the product would be adjusted accordingly. After an analysis of the marketing strategy, possible improvements would be made. Consequently, research would be performed on the market trends to determine new and emerging alternative products and identify how our product can be improved to meet market standards. Yes. To be a good innovator, one must be willing to accept failure; this ensures that one creates a chance for undertaking research to identify causes of improvements, thus making necessary

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Therapeutic approaches within multicultural cmmunities Essay

Therapeutic approaches within multicultural cmmunities - Essay Example These are knowledge of oneself i.e. self-awareness, knowledge of other, and the therapeutic practice. We are basically concerned here with Therapeutic approaches within Multicultural Communities (Swanson, 2010). Most of the mental health issues pertain to historical and social issues linked with colonialism. These concerns had have a disastrous intergenerational effect on the communities of First Nations, even though modern Western focused service delivery is the prime focus. Inappropriately, many of the people of First Nations idealize mental health care to be culturally insensitive and inaccessible. The Nations clients are not as prone to come back after first session of counseling as compared to Caucasian clients (Swanson, 2010). In this paper, we extend the historical and socio-political rationale for been the reason to basic cultural differences. This approach to comprehending and working with cultural differences is based on the three sub ideas of multicultural capability. In w hat trails, we will discuss the practice and theory of these domains of multicultural capability as they pertain to counseling the clients of First Nations (McGilloway, 2010). ... The multicultural counseling should endorse client-related other than cultural-related involvements. Giving a distinct treatment for each different group is not a sound decision. Many people of the First Nations are identified with multiple cultures, thus making the matters more intricate at hand. Human centered commonly focuses approaches might be the best approach to balance the scale of modern verses conventional involvements (Gallardo, 2012). Western approaches are still relevant when it comes to counseling of the people of First Nations. The First Nations client usually seems to reject the modern counseling practices but it is dealt with. Certain perspectives of the Western theory are agreeable to be deconstructed and being use for healing processes. For instance, the procedures involved in conventional practices f sharing and healing have certain types of main group therapy. The Western methods of counseling can easily be replaced is not the idea here. However, both contemporar y and conventional methods can be compared and utilized alike. One should keep in touch with multicultural aspect that respects and values the diversity in all arenas. No assumption should be made to predominating the validity or correctness or effectiveness of one aspect of healing over other one. Certainly, when it relates to effectiveness, the therapeutic consequence research immensely relates to rank of a collaborative balance between the model of counselor in counseling and client global view. The balance is needed to determine an optimistic counseling result (Swanson, 2010). Accumulation strategies should be attended to as well. There is a big difference between First Nations people and the main health service providers which outcomes in varying views relating

Friday, July 26, 2019

Why does the movie Blackfish address a Marketing problem Essay

Why does the movie Blackfish address a Marketing problem - Essay Example A critical look at the movie would suggest that it essentially inform its audience that SeaWorld, the organization which manages and runs this business, is not only hiding certain important aspects regarding the actual ethical impact of their business but it is also being engaged in activity which can be dangerous not only for the animals but for the humans also. It essentially outlines the need to balance the ethics with informing the target market regarding the overall impact of such activities. (CIEPLY, 2014) Considering the above situation, it is therefore clear that the movie actually highlights the important marketing problem of how the organizations actually fail to maintain effective public relations. The movie clearly outlines as to how the firms actually engage in actions which may attract the negative publicity and hurt the image of the organization. Consumers are increasingly becoming complex and more informed in nature and considering the increase in the overall emphasis on the role businesses can play in ensuring sustainability suggests that marketing requires more ethical orientation towards this. The overall impact of the organizational activities on the consumers and other stakeholders therefore necessitate that the organizations must focus on behaving and acting ethically. Considering the overall situation depicted in the movie, it is clear that the SeaWorld has failed to act ethically and highlights the important ethical issue. It highlights as to how the firm is actually marketing and selling a product which is essentially dangerous for the lives of the consumers and those who interact with them. The blackfish is based upon how the captive Tilikum Orca can actually endanger the lives of others and how the firm actually failed to reveal this and other related information to their target audience. What is critical to note however the fact is that both the firms seem not be acting in ethically and socially responsible behavior. The

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Federal National Mortgage Association(FANNIE MAE) and Federal Home Essay

Federal National Mortgage Association(FANNIE MAE) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FREDDIE MAC) and the Housing Crisis - Essay Example It allowed for banks charging low mortgage interest rates to encourage anyone interested in buying a home. It led to the creating a secondary market for mortgages. In this market, companies like Fannie Mae borrowed money from foreign markets at minimal interest rates since they were financially supported by the US Government. This enabled Fannie Mae to give fixed rate mortgage that have a very low deposit to any home buyer. Fannie Mae monopolized the secondary market for the first thirty years after its inception. In 1968, the Vietnam War created great fiscal pressure. This led to Fannie Mae’s privatization and its removal from the national budget by President Johnson. This is when it started to operate as a Government Supported Enterprise, GSE. It made profits for its shareholders and at the same time enjoyed being exempted from tax and oversight, despite being backed by the government. To prevent any further monopoly, another Government Supported Enterprise was formed in 1970. It was known as Freddie Mac. These two companies currently command a 90 per cent of the national secondary mortgage market. GSEs have experienced great growth financially over the years. Their combined asset base is currently at 45 per cent more than those of the biggest bank in the country. However, their combined debt equals 46 per cent of the present national debts. This high growth as well as over-leveraging has caused concerns in the Congress, the SEC and the Justice Department regarding their financial practices. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae happen to be the only corporations in the Fortune 500 league that do dot abide by the requirement to furnish the public about any difficulties in finances they undergo. In case they collapse, the taxpayers will have to foot the multi-billion dollar outstanding debt. A recent probe into Freddie Mac by the SEC and the Justice Department discovered accounting errors to the tune

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Controlling Cyber Deviance in the Workplace Assignment

Controlling Cyber Deviance in the Workplace - Assignment Example Cyber deviance is on the rise in many workplaces as most employees engage in Internet abuse unrelated to work. Employees use the Internet for other purposes including sending personal emails and chatting with friends and family members. According to Kimberly (2014), several studies have confirmed that the majority of employees in many companies abuse the Internet (P. 194). Among the most common cyber deviance recorded include, surfing the Internet during work hours, accessing pornography, online chatting, gaming and shopping at work. New studies show that cyber deviance among employees during working hours, costs corporations many cash in lost revenues, reduced productivity, draining network resources, adverse publicity and possible legal liability (Kimberly, 2014). As such, it is paramount for employers and companies to develop strategies to deal with cyber deviance among employees to reduce the loss. This paper will focus on the possible reduction of workplace cyber deviance among employees in a travel agency. In such a company, employees are equipped with the Internet access for various work purposes. Travel orders and payments for such a firm are done online. Some employees are mandated with the role of ensuring travellers buy their tickets on time and are put on the right vehicles. Due to widespread Internet usage for such a company, chances of possible cyber deviance among the employees are very high. As discussed earlier, cyber deviance and consequent Internet abuse can result in enormous losses for this travel company. The company needs a comprehensive action plan to ensure that cyber deviance among its employees is minimal. This paper proposes a holistic action plan to deal with cyber deviance for the company. The action plan to reduce cyber deviance for the enterprise is the Internet Acceptable Usage Policy (IAUP).  Ã‚  

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Develop a methodology or conceptual approach to support research into Essay

Develop a methodology or conceptual approach to support research into a chosen new media user experience - Essay Example However within the twinkle of an eye, her train speedily arrives, gushing through the platform; bringing her viewing to an abrupt end. As she stepped onto the train, she could not stop thinking about the advert, wishing she could have seen the end. She manages to get a seat; pulls out her Vogue magazine, she looks up and notices the static adverts above her head. Suddenly, as if she had never been on the tube before, she actually realises that all the adverts are static. Then she asks herself â€Å"how come tube adverts are static?† Why has no one developed digital displays on the tube?† The recognition that there should be digital displays on the tube is an important consideration in the field of new media advertising. In establishing the methodological approach to this consideration one recognizes that there are first a number of overarching concerns that must be addressed. Perhaps the most pressing concern is the simple question of why such new media approaches to advertising have yet to occur. Such infrastructure considerations no doubt exist on a series of lines. From a purely infrastructure standpoint one recognizes that modern railway system emerged from earlier trains and much of the qualitative approach to infrastructure, in this instance print advertising appears to have been carried over from an earlier era and not enough consideration given to the increasing technological mediation of the modern world. In this regards the study design is aimed not only at determining the general effectiveness and best possible course of action of digital advertising disp lays, but also that it would financially benefit the rail system to implement these digital displays. With these considerations in mind the methodology advanced is firmly rooted in a logistical series of methods. This approach is akin to a mixed methods approach in that it involves both quantitative and qualitative assessment mechanisms. In terms of

Research Paper On Last 4 Stories In Book L.A. Noir

On Last 4 Stories In Book L.A. Noir - Research Paper Example He presents quality writing than his earlier writings. The book gives different explicit tales of people whose desperate or passion instances lead them to painful or violent ends. Top examples being, â€Å"What You See† and â€Å"The Method,† among others (Denise Hamilton 1) The author is an American; he specializes in crime related novels. He has been involved in editing such novels for years together with journals of the same class. The major themes in the novel are politics, history, culture, violence and diversity. She literally calls Los Angeles her home town as â€Å"The Ultimate Femme Fatale.† The first edition of the records gathered 17 short stories from contemporary authors living around her home city. She has also translated the book into Italian, French, and French. In the recent years, publications have been identified in U.K, Japan, France, and Turkey (Denise Hamilton 1). Proposal This paper examines the last four stories in the L.A Noir. It has an over view of the stories. It examines key characters and describes the themes prevailing in the stories. The paper also examines about the role of femme fatale in this art. Characteristics and origin of noir is also included. Thesis Story by Scott Phillips This is a perfect example of the collection. The story revolves around Tate, the protagonist. She is seduced by femme fatale in the purpose of incorporating him in a murder case. The lady had shot the man, who tempted to rape her, but she wanted to carry the responsibility with another individual; here comes Tate. The lady uses a long route in the aim of locking Tate in the room. She achieves this by offering herself for sex. The author uses this characteristic to make it attractive. The protagonist fights back after he realizes that he has been trapped. He pushes for the ambulance, but the lady is against it. In the long run, they come into a conclusion and gets away with the crime. The story has perfect flow of ideas. It explain s how cultural identity has been lost in the recent generation. Immorality is also a noticeable issue in the novel (Denise Hamilton 321). Story by Brian Ascalon Roley The story is a practical example of school violence. The elder cousin aims at comforting the younger one: veronica. She is stressed that her boy had been attacked by the elder boys in school. He was bullied too, and could not report fearing further consequences. The elder cousin deeply thinks to find a sustainable solution and make his cousin happy. They are tied by kinship tied and thus the courage from the elder cousin. He has the responsibility to ensure that his cousin is safe and has a smooth running, as well. It is evident that the noir revolves around different forms of violence (Denise Hamilton 327). Story by Robert Ferrigno The story is a summary of a violent action. It talks about murder; the main character, Yancy had applied his tactics in killing his colleagues in the name to protect the girl. Moral degrada tion and loss of cultural identity is the foremost subjects. Respect for human life is absent among character. The story fits in this noir because the gatherer of the stories has a passion for violent stories and other literal work (Denise Hamilton 336). Story by Diana Wagman The author gives detailed information about her history. She talks about how she grew up as well as how she lost her only parent. They lived in the city of Orange; this is the city she called home back in 1965. She inherited everything that her mother had, at

Monday, July 22, 2019

Gun Control Essay Example for Free

Gun Control Essay The debate on gun control has raised certain issues that need to be addressed in order to lower the deaths of American citizens from gun shots. This term paper discusses the issue of the gun control policy. The topic has raised many questions, because there are people who oppose any action taken by the government to abolish possession of the fire arms, while others support the gun control policy. However, thinking of the issue carefully, you will agree with me, that there is need for the government to control the possession of guns. Last year in June, the Supreme Court ruled that Americans had a right to keep guns at their homes, but only for self defense. It also ruled in favor of the possession of hand guns, saying that they are easier to handle, and that the party defending himself could point it towards the burglar, while he uses the other hand to dial up the police. Am not saying that the possession of the guns is a bad idea, but looking at the negative side of it, the crime rates will probably increase as the years move on. Why? Because if the government does not do anything to control the guns situation, dangerous criminals will have easy access to guns, which will obviously translate to an increase in the crimes committed. It is also surprising to note that even the gun control activists no longer put much effort in the campaign as they are expected to by the Americans. A good example s the school shooting incidences that occurred in 2001, on the month of March, where there were shooting incidences at two schools in Pennsylvania and California. People expected the then New York senator Charles E Schumer, who was a supporter of the gun control policy, to take serious actions on this incidence. But to the shock of many supporters of the policy, he simply suggested that the gun owners should set a code of ethics on a voluntary basis on the use of guns. This was a very cold response from a supporter of the gun control movement, which in 2000 almost had the government change the law on guns. Sarah Brandy, a member of the Hand Gun control had once addressed millions of people at a march. She told the Americans that if they had to make the future better, then they had to force the government to change the law on gun use. She also suggested to the people that if the government didnt consider changing the laws, then in the coming, election, (the 2001 November election), Americans would elect in a government that would see the gun control policy changed into a law. However, this dream never came true. The former president Bush was elected in, and he was a supporter of the anti gun control policy. The election of Mr. Bush, who had been an ally with the N. R. A, brought down all the hope and the possibilities of ever changing the gun policies that were in use then. The former president, as the Texas senator went ahead to sign laws that made it hard for the Americans to sue the manufacturers of weapons like guns, and those that made it legal for people to walk around with guns. (Dao James, 2001) It is not until the election of a new president, President Obama, that Americans have had the hope of seeing a change in the gun policies. The new president supports the gun control policy. Te issue on the gun control was a big debate, as his running mate Mc Cain supported Mr. Bush’s gun policies. He said that he did not see ant problem with the Americans keeping guns. President Obama said that he saw a number of American homes with guns, but he did not see the need for the Americans to keep the guns in their homes. There is some hope that he won’t destroy the hopes of his many fans and supporters. The gun control history has been dated from as early as the 1700s. The 1700 amendment on gun policies did not ever change the practice that was there in the past of keeping guns away from the wrong people. Moreover, it did not keep the militia from owning the guns. Americans who could buy the custom made guns for their personal uses continued to do so with much ease as the gun control regulations had been lessened and favored them. Te need to keep the fire arms for militia use was not the priority of the American men. The second amendment on the gun control saw the total number of the people that owned the guns increase rapidly. Even then, the constitutional analysts disagreed with the laws that allowed the citizens to own fire arms, especially if they were not in the military. Coming to the 1900s, guns control was still an issue, not only in America, but also in other countries like England and France. There is a need to make strict or to take serious, the two Acts; the 1934 National Forearms Act and the 1968 Gun Control Act, which were big steps towards establishing policies on gun Act. These two would provide good guidelines to making policies that can be effective. The 1934 Act made a strict law that anyone with a gun had to register with the authorities. There was also a tax charge on the ownership of short barreled guns and machine guns. On the other hand, the 1968 Act put an end to the sale of guns through the mail order services. There were also changes that the interstate selling of guns and fire arms be illegal. It was also illegal for minors to own or handle any sort of fire arms in any way. There was a limited access to the then newly manufactured weapons. The manufacturers, weapon dealers and those who carried out any activities on the sale of the weapons had to obtain a license from the responsible authorities. Other efforts that have been made on the gun control policy implementation were by the 106th congress. The congress suggested that there be a background check at the gun shows to ensure that no selling activities are done during the shows. It also enforced the use of fire arm locks, in order to prevent any gun shot accidents. There was also a proposal to increase the controls on the use and ownership of guns and other assault weapons. These were good proposals that would have changed the guns situation in America. Despite the mention of these proposals by the congress, none of them were enacted. Using the media to gain American’s support on the gun control policy The use of the media to promote the gun control campaign would be effective. All the Americans have access to the media, be it trough the news paper, the televisions, the radio, the websites or by use of the bill boards. In my efforts to support the gun control campaign, I would set advertisements in the television media, all to be aired at the same time and regularly, especially at prime time when most people are watching. It is also important to post the advertisement at the most watched television channels like CNN or BBC. This would be expensive, so funds are needed to support the campaign. Inviting donors to support the media advertisements is a good way to fund the petition. Featuring the crimes and the deaths that have occurred as a result of the gun exposure to people is also an important step towards the gun control petition. Another way to influence the media is to talk to the media owners and any other persons who might have an influence on what the media airs. Further more, advertising such a petition on the news papers would attract peoples attention on the issue. Creating websites and making cites where people can sign to show their support for the gun control petition is another way that might not only show the number of people that support the petition, but also to know the intensity at which the Americans support the petition. The main aim of using the media would be to make those who are not aware of the campaign more informed, and to convince, persuade or to change the minds of anti gun control Americans. The media will also give people the reason as to why they should support the gun control policies. Influencing the law makers. These are the government officials and politicians who have an influence on the laws that govern the country. It is true that you cant force the politicians to do what you want them to do, but you can either gain or buy their influence on the issues that are of your interest and that will make you achieve your goals. To do this, you have to earn the trust of the politicians, and this can be possible through the things that you say or do to them. Building good relationships with those that have influence in the government decisions and policies, including those that are not in support of the petition. You may also want to look for a way to favor the decision makers, so that in a way, you are also favoring them while as well reaching your goals. For example, helping them achieve their political goals may be a motivation to them to support the gun control petition. Respecting them and their decisions is also a way of acknowledging their superiority, which might lead them to listening to what you have to tell them, hence gaining their attention. Changes that I would like to see on the gun act The government should amend the current law on guns. It has made it very easy to gain accessibility to guns, just as it is easy to buy bread at the local store. That is why there should be implementations that will make it hard for criminals to get guns. The police should prioritize the cracking down of illegal gun owners so that the number of youths with guns reduces, and this will also lead to a drop in the number of crimes carried out using guns. This exercise should also make it hard for the criminals to obtain guns and other fire arms. A recent study that was conducted through administration of interviews with gang members and illegal gun dealers said that if guns were harder to obtain, then definitely the number of crimes committed using the guns would decrease. The death rates of victims from violent and brutal attacks would also decrease. Statistics have shown that out of the approximated 18000 annual homicides, only a third lacks a gun involvement. Research has also shown that gun violence costs the American society about 100 billion dollars per year. (Cook P. etal, 2000) If the government made amendments on the gun laws, then they would save America a lot of lives and money. Some States like Chicago have strict rules about gun controls. The law makers should ensure that such strict regulations are imposed and made in to law. The gun control policy should also consider allowing the hunters to keep their guns. Most hunters do not keep their guns for purposes of committing crimes, but as sport equipment. One of the reasons why hunters should be allowed to have guns is because they help keep the deer population in control. If they are denied the right to own and keep guns, then the deer population is gong to increase. Banning the hunters from keeping the guns would be dangerous for the deer as the population increase would mean that the food would decrease. The second amendment law therefore needs to be kept. Also, if hunters are not allowed to keep guns, there will be a shortage of the funds used to maintain and conserve the wildlife habitats. The licensing fee and taxes paid by the hunters for their guns is used to maintain the national parks. Statistics show that most of the funds come from the payments made on the guns. Should the hunters be restricted from hunting with guns, they will use other ways to hunt, like practicing drive hunts. This is hunting done by hitting the animals with the cars. It is a very dangerous way of hunting and could lead to huge accidents or worse, deaths. It should also be noted that hunting is also a good sport that is supported by most Americans. The law makers should regulate the gun policies, but allow the hunters to keep the guns so as not to take away what some people enjoy doing. I would also like to see the new laws on guns allow the honest people keep their guns for the sake of protecting themselves. It is said that for every 13 seconds, an American uses a gun to defend himself against a criminal. New policies should see to it that ownership of guns for the purpose of protecting and defending oneself should not be confused with the intentions of the criminals and other bandits. A good reason why the support for the guns for defense purposes should be is because Americans can not entirely be dependent on the police for their safety. It should be known that the police do not actually prevent the crime from occurring, but they only intervene after the crime has already been committed. It is in very rare occasions that the police have arrived at a crime scene before the crime is done. Another reason for the keeping of the guns for self defense is that a world where homes are not allowed to defend them selves with guns is more prone to death through shootings by criminals. Restricting the use of guns for self defense in a society that is full of crimes involving guns is not doing the society any good. Instead, regulations should be set on restricting the criminals from accessing the guns. (Kleck G, 1997) Gun registration and court sentences There should be a national wide program to ensure that any person that purchases a gun is registered in the system. For example, a person who lives in New York, which has strict gun laws, is in need of a gun; he can go to a State with less strict laws on the guns, ask a friend who lives there to buy a gun for him and then smuggles the gun back to New York. Even though that is an illegal practice, people still do it and the bottom line will be that the person will be in possession of a gun. There should be severe punishments for those who buy the guns for others incase they are caught. That would be enough to scare them. Also, if there were strict laws on gun purchases, then no person would purchase a gun for the other. I would also suggest that the waiting period during the purchase of the guns be extended instead of being one day as some people want it to. A thorough background check on the gun purchasers is also important. Individuals involved in juvenile cases, any misdemeanors and any fishy backgrounds should not be allowed town or carry guns around. The sentences imposed on criminals who use guns should be increased to scare any criminals intending to commit a crime. Emphasis on measures to control crime, (education. ) Studies have shown that there is a direct relationship between crime offenders and lack of education. This occurs when the youth and teenagers are idle because they have no jobs or do not attend school. They tend to involve themselves in illegal activities, among them the possession of illegal fire arms and using them to commit crimes. Parents have been advised to invest in educating their children because this will prevent them from becoming criminals and would also make the rate of the crimes to drop. A lot of money is spent in catering for the cost of the crimes committed with guns, including the hospital bills and buying the fire arms. Gun education should also be an important part of the gun act, where it can be a requirement for gun purchasers to undergo a special education to ensure that they are able to handle guns. Arguments against my position Although guns are an advantage, they too have serious disadvantages. The obvious problem is that they make injuring or killing people very easy. There are different types of murders; the premeditated first degree murder, in which the killer could kill, whether there is the presence of the gun or not, or given more time to think of how to kill the person. Then, theres murder during the process of committing a crime, murder among friends, lovers, or the careless murder committed by criminals just any how. There are also the injuries as a result of gun crimes, but are not sufficient enough to cause death. Deaths because of gun wounds are decreasing, not because people are not killing anymore, but because the doctors are getting more equipped on treating gun wounds. The presence of a gun when committing the crime makes the crime more lethal. If the murder is that of an acquaintance or between any close people, then the presence of the gun makes it easier to kill, because it is fast. The person does not think of what he is doing, until after he has already killed the other. This is especially common with people who get angry easily and have an easy access to guns. Although it is reasonable to keep guns for self defense, they may also be a reason to cause us harm. Guns are also an aid for people who want to commit suicide. Research shows that residents of homes that have a gun are likely to commit suicide five times more than of the homes where there is no access to guns. There are controversies on whether suicide is illegal or immoral, but that doesnt change the fact that guns make the suicide much easier, especially when the victim is depressed, or is under drug influence. Arguments against my proposal The imposition of more strict rules on the gun control act will not prevent the criminals from committing crimes. Why, because there are other available weapons which can be used to kill or injure other people. These are weapons such as knives, machetes, clubs or any other object that can kill. More recent studies have also shown that when murder is committed using a gun, the probability that it would still have occurred if a knife was used is twice that of the gun.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Abortion Issues in Midwifery

Abortion Issues in Midwifery This topic has been chosen to examine in detail the impact of law and ethics upon nursing practice and midwifery, including the ethical dilemmas that face nurses and midwives on a day-to-day basis. It is thereby demonstrated that despite the governance of health professional practice by bodies such as the Royal College of Nursing and the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting, ethics and law play a very important role, and health professionals must always act within the law to avoid legal actions being brought against them. The various schools of thought in relation to ethics are also examined and utilisation of the same via decision-making models. In relation to the general ethical dilemmas which face nurses and other healthcare workers in practice, Fletcher et al 1 discuss the ethical principles, explaining that although all health professionals face such dilemmas during practice, a multi-disciplinary approach has to be adopted in solving ethical problems. Fletcher et al outline the main ethical principles applicable to nursing ethics as the principle of respect for persons, respect for autonomy, justice, beneficence and non-maleficence. Fletcher et al explain that the origins of moral philosophy date from 600 BC, and that the two most influential schools of thought are consequentialism and deontology. Consequentialism is explained as the justification of an action by examining the consequences of undertaking that action. Branching out from this school of thought are the various approaches, the first explained is teleological theories or unilitarianism, associated with the philosophical writings of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. Fletcher et al state that Mill stipulated that the utility or ‘happiness’ principle stated that actions can only be regarded as moral if they promote the greater amount of happiness and the absence of pain. Thompson et al 2 explains this ideology as a means to try to justify moral principles with regard to an overall goal or sense of purpose in society, the purpose being the pursuit of happiness, which is ‘built in’ in man. They discuss that that this stemmed from Aristotle in 320 BC, and that this form of ethics is known as teleological eudaemonism, the former word referring to his belief in the ‘built in’ purpose in nature, and the latter word describing the quest for happiness. They further explain the significance to health care, as they are under a duty to try to prevent or reduce pain wherever possible and promote the health and well-being of patients. ______________________________________________________________________________ 1 ‘Ethics, Law and Nursing’ (1995) pp 7-17 2 ‘Nursing Ethics’, pp233-238 Thompson et al justify the means by which health professionals can evaluate what likely consequences of treatment may be including side-effects. As act unilitarianism, although they note that where health professionals have to take into account the wider responsibilities to the patient, the hospital, research or otherwise, then rule utilitarianism is more applicable. They conclude that this ideology emphasises the achievement of goals that are important to the context of human life, and the practical application of principles or rules and that consideration of the consequences of application are important to consider to determine whether a particular course is right or wrong. Fletcher et al set out the separate branches from this notion, ‘act’ and ‘rule’ utilitarianism. Firstly dealing with ‘act’ utilitarianism, this is explained as each action is to be considered according to the consequences that ensue from it, morality determined by examining whether the greatest good came from that act. In relation to ‘rule’ utilitarianism, this is described as following of the general basic rules being in existence, forbidding murder, theft etc, rather than looking at the consequences that may ensue from that action, as by following these rules the greatest good must ensue as a natural result. Fletcher et al also discuss ‘preference’ utilitarianism, as being the allowance of discretion of individuals in undertaking a certain action and to judge the morality of each with regard to their own judgement rather than following a rule or principle. This is plainly applicable to health practice. The second school of thought explained by Fletcher et al is deontology, explained as the promotion of the importance of compliance with a duty when undertaking an action, the consequences thereof being irrelevant when considering to take such an action. This is explained as stemming from religious justification, that the explanation of such duties are the ‘laws’ sent from God, as God can be relied upon to distinguish what is right and wrong. Fletcher et al discuss the contribution to the school of thought by Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher (‘Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals’) who stipulated that the basis of morality lay in the ‘categorical imperative’, a moral command, set by established moral laws. Following such moral rules is regarded as imperative, regardless of the consequences of an action taken in compliance. Fletcher et al emphasise that the deontological perspective reinforces the need to follow obligations, what ought to be done, and how, in a certain situation. The obligations that befall nurses are described as contractual, as part of the terms and conditions of employment; obligations similar to family ones are seen via the role of carer, though artificially created, and moral obligations, such as the obligation to respect patient confidentiality, patient’s autonomy, to do good (beneficence) and to do no harm (non-maleficence). Fletcher et al explain that these obligations can conflict in practice situations. The obligations of nursing staff must be balanced against the rights of the individual as patients, as enshrined in The Patient’s Charter, effective from April 1992. Thompson et al further explain that deontological theories can also be distinguished into act deontology and rule deontology, the former being based upon the ability of an individual to impose their own moral duty into a situation when considering whether to take a form of action, and the latter being the emphasis upon moral duties and laws taking a universal form. They discuss the linkage of this school of thought to religious beliefs, as such rules can be argued as coming directly from God, as in the Ten Commandments. They do not discuss how this school applies to health practice, though it can be seen that this could be applied in paternalism (see below) when considering a patient’s autonomy. Religious writers such as J.F. Keenan, from the Catholic perspective 3 explain that there has been a turn to virtue ethics which has rejected the modern practice of establishing that morality is governed by human rights language, which is considered the extent to which the principle of autonomy can be exercised. Keenan states that virtue ethicists ask whether there is a character building nature to the proposed course of action and that all moral evaluations are subject to a three sided question, who are we, who ought we to become, and how can we get there? He further explains that virtue ethics considers that actions should be considered in the context of whether they will affect the type of person they will become by undertaking that action, rather than asking whether there is a right in a certain way. Fletcher et al discuss the issue of autonomy 4 as a basic principle that health professionals should always fully inform a patient about the diagnosis, forms of treatment available, and obtain his consent thereto, that is to treat him an an ‘autonomous being’. It is discussed that this may cause problems if the patient is mentally impaired or a minor, therefore it is recognised that there cannot be strict adherence to this principle, as patients would often not have the specialist knowledge to enable them to make a well-informed decision. The dilemma described in this instance is that the principle of autonomy can conflict with the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. Fletcher et al explain that paternalism may be used quite often by health professionals, namely the belief that they can make a decision in terms of treatment on a patient’s behalf without considering their wishes or overriding the same. This is exercised in accordance with the principle of beneficence, though it is explained that usually patients are told and their wishes are taken into consideration. Fletcher et al 5 distinguish between legal rights and natural rights, the former enforceable via courts, and the latter deriving from natural law, originally thought of as coming from God, but in modern terms, has become enshrined in the concept of human rights, which have also become legal rights via the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, itemising rights including the right to liberty and to life. ______________________________________________________________________________ 3 Catholic Medical Quarterly May 1992: Assisted Suicide and the Distinction Between Killing and Letting Die: J. F. Keenan 4 Ethics, Law and Nursing’ (1995) pp 35-56 5 (ibid) pp139-143 Fletcher et al 6 discuss the law governing abortion, stating that it is a criminal offence under section 58 of the Offences against the Persons Act (OPA) 1861 to unlawfully do any act with intent to procure a miscarriage, which made abortion illegal prior to the enactment of the Abortion Act (AA) 1967. Fletcher et al explain that the Abortion Act 1967 did not repeal this earlier Act, but set out grounds which specified when abortion was legal, as a defence to a charge of criminal abortion. They state that this has been amended by section 37 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (HFEA) 1990, which specify five grounds, including that a pregnancy has to be less than 24 weeks advanced; the risk or threat to the mother’s life, mental or physical health is too great to allow continuance of pregnancy; if there is a substantial risk that the child would be born with abnormalities rendering it severely handicapped; and, a unilateral act by a doctor to avert an immediate risk to the life or health of the mother. Fletcher et al explain the right of nurses to exercise a conscientious objection, for example to carrying out an abortion, the rights of which are enshrined under section 4 of the AA 1967 and the HFEA 1990, the former being the refusal to participate in an abortion, the latter a right to refuse to participate in any treatment defined by the Act. This can be utilised where the individual health worker’s personal moral code conflicts with such a practice. However, as stated by McHale and Tingle, 7 this must be actual participation in treatment, not a mere refusal to type a letter of referral 8. It is explained that such an individual can leave him/herself open to a legal action against him for an omission if there is a duty to act, though in practice this is rarely undertaken as another member of staff could perform the same treatment. Nursing staff may also record their objections to a specific course of treatment prescribed by another health professional on personal moral grounds, which might be affected by their contract of employment when the employers make decisions with regard to this. Additionally, Ann Young 9 states that the refusal of the health professional can be made unless the treatment is necessary to save life or prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the mother. However, she criticises the ambiguity of the word ‘grave’ as this could constitute depression as well as a serious heart defect. In Selective Reduction and Feticide: The Parameters of Abortion 10, David Price emphasized that there is ambiguity in the use of the term of abortion by medical practitioners and lawyers alike. He noted that Glanville Williams’ definition of abortion 11 states that For legal purposes, abortion means feticide: the intentional destruction of the foetus in the womb or any untimely delivery brought about with the intent to cause the death of the foetus. ______________________________________________________________________________ 6 (ibid) 7 ‘Law and Nursing’ p 208 8 Jannaway v Salford AHA [1988] 3 All ER 1079 9 ‘Legal Problems in Nursing Practice’p 209 10 (1988) Sweet Maxwell Limited and Contributors: David P.T. Price 11 Textbook of Criminal Law, (2nd ed., 1983), p.292 In the context of non-consensual abortion, Price explains that this can occur where the death of a foetus was caused by an act of non-consensual violence upon a pregnant woman. He argues that this act may not necessarily fall within the definition of a criminal abortion under section 58 OPA 1861, and would rather be treated as an assault. He states that in the United States, courts are prepared to extend the crime of abortion, which is similar to section 58, to non-consensual assaults upon women resulting in foetal death 12 though in this case the man causing foetal death was charged with assault rather than foetal murder. Looking at an American viewpoint, in Bioethics and Medical Ethics 13, Thomas Platt considers that the emphasis on autonomy ignores the deeper metaphysical issue of the degree to which any human act can be regarded as freely chosen. He states that the scientific perspective purely states that human behavior is the result of genetic and environmental factors. He stipulates that it has to be the environment in which a person has been raised which will determine how a person will respond to a suggestion, for example abortion, and that in less technologically developed cultures, they would respond in a different way to the West. Verena Tschudin 14 explains ethical decision making models in many forms including Jameton’s model, which requires identification of the problem, gathering of data to identify options and make a decision to act and then assess the consequences thereof; Crisham’s model; initially ‘massaging’ the dilemma, outlining the options, reviewing the criteria, before the act and evaluation thereof and the Nursing process model, which requires assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation. The latter involves a series of questions at assessment level, planning identifies whether the ethical problem is a question of teleology or deontology, with a series of questions to follow, implementation requires consideration of whether one would like to receive the same treatment, and finally evaluation considers whether the act has solved the problem and what was gained, with a series of questions. In relation to the exercise of patient consent, this is described as an exercise of a patient’s autonomy. The UKCC’s guidelines re that the health professional must ‘explain the intended test or procedure to the patient without bias and in as much detail as the patient requires’, and that if no questions have been asked then the health professional should assess the amount of information the patient requires 15. It is explained that a nurse, as per Clause 1 of the UKCC Code of Professional Conduct must ‘act in such a way as to promote and safeguard the interests and well-being of patients and clients’. This is explained to go so far as stating his/her opinion that there has been insufficient information provided to the patient to render the same fully understandable to him and enable him to make a fully informed decision 16, which can affect the judgment given by a doctor. ______________________________________________________________________________ 12 Hollis v. Commonwealth 652 S.W. 2d 61 (Ky. 1983) 13 Medicine, Metaphysics and Morals: Thomas Platt: West Chester University 14 ‘Ethics in Nursing’ p 85-95 15 ‘Exercising Accountability’ 16 (ibid) It is explained further 17 that the principle of autonomy is enshrined in law as the right to self-determination. Written consent is usually provided before surgery, in a standard form from the Department of Health, which has been amended in 1991.The case law relating to consent stems from the general principle that every adult person of sound mind and body has a right to determine what happens to his body, and that a surgeon who performs an operation without his consent has committed an assault 18. However, this principle is heavily qualified is discussed. In the case of informed consent, where the patient is given insufficient information about the risks of a certain procedure, the patient must sue in negligence rather than in battery 19. Even the standard set in negligence is weighted heavily in favour of the health professional, as it has been ruled that a doctor is not guilty of negligence as he has acted in accordance with the accepted practice in that field by other doctors 20. This case was affirmed in Sidaway v Bethlem Royal Hospital 21, and in further subsequent cases such as Blyth v Bloomsbury AHA 22 and Gold v Haringey AHA 23, where the restrictive disclosure policy was supported by general medical opinion. It was highlighted that despite this, Lord Bridge has emphasised in Sidaway 24, that even if a health professional acts in accordance with general practice, the court may still take a decision that there has been non-disclosure of material facts. Specific problems are highlighted in the context of where a patient is incapable of providing consent, which is governed by law. The case law has established that a health professional must only do what is absolutely necessary to save the patient’s life, which does not include removal of a womb if it has been considered a further pregnancy would jeopardise the patient’s life 25. Therefore, it is argued that this principle of doing what is necessary to save a life overrides the right to autonomy 26. However, this does not extend to the life of a foetus in risk 27. Regarding accountability, Fletcher et al 28 states that the Code of Professional Conduct stipulates a registered nurse, midwife or health visitor is personally accountable for her practice, even off-duty. This ties in with the professional’s legal duty of care, as explained by Tingle Cribb 29, deriving from Donoghue v Stevenson 30, as the need to take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions that can be reasonably foreseen to injury a person affected by the acts or omissions, which can result in an action for negligence. Tingle Cribb state that the nurse has to weigh up the potential harm and benefit of the patient at that time, and reach the decision involving the least harm. ______________________________________________________________________________ 17 (Fletcher et al: ibid) 18 Schloendorff v Society of New York [1914] 19 Chatterson v Gerson [1981] 20 Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee [1957] 21 [1985] 22 [1985] 23 [1988] 24 (ibid) 25 Devi v West Midlands AHA 26 Re T 27 Re F (in utero) [1988] 28 (ibid) pp104-129 29 ‘Nursing Law and Ethics’ p 13-19 30 [1932] The professional standards are maintained by the UKCC in the Code of Professional Conduct, and each nurse or midwife is under that duty, though they argue that this standard is set by the profession itself. In the case of an allegation of a breach of such a duty, the health professional can be subject to disciplinary action for misconduct. They explain that accountability merely requires a health professional to be able to justify their actions. Fletcher et al consider that it is important for the professional to have regard to the interests of patients and clients rather than purely the rules of the UKCC. Verena Tschudin 31 states that nurses have both a legal and moral accountability, which arises from patient autonomy. Fletcher et al discuss the dilemmas that may occur in healthcare practice, and where the health professional’s moral code is at odds with her duty, The Code of Professional Conduct stipulates that the professional must ensure that no action or omission by that person will be detrimental to the condition of the patient, which can be seen as the principle of non-maleficence. An example is provided that if the incorrect dose of medicine has been administered to a patient, then that health professional’s self-interest should not override her duty to disclose the error as this could not be argued to be in the patient’s best interests. In relation to professional competence, Fletcher et al state that The Code of Professional Conduct stipulates that a health professional must maintain and improve their professional knowledge and competence. As regards midwives, Fletcher et al state that they requirement is to attend a five-day refresher course, five approved study days every five years or another approved course. There has been an impact in the context of European Community (EC) legislation, as explained by Bridgit Dimond 32, the activities of a midwife are defined in EC Directive 80/155/EEC Article 4, including providing family planning advice to recognise warning signs of abnormalities necessitating doctor referral. Fletcher et al criticise the limitations of the Post-registration Education and Practice Project in 1990 for newly qualified nurses, and those returning to health care practice after five years, requiring five days study leave every three years and demonstration of professional knowledge and competence. However, since then, Ms Dimond has argued that Project 2000 has sought to integrate nurse clinical teaching and practice 33. Fletcher et al explain that ethical dilemmas can arise from the instructions provided by a senior member of staff, which does not accord with the health professional’s personal or moral beliefs. When making a decision on how to act, that professional will have to consider whether she is acting within the law, according to the Code of Professional Conduct, and also in the best interests of the patient as well as her own beliefs. They discuss the remedies available to patients or clients, which are a complaint to the UKCC which would result in a hearing before the Professional Conduct Committee; use of the formal Hospital Complaints Procedure; or a complaint to the nurse’s employer. ______________________________________________________________________________ 31 (ibid) p 116 32 ‘Legal Aspects of Nursing’ pp 444-457 33 (ibid) p 270 In conclusion, in the context of conscientious objections, it has been suggested that there should be ward-based abortions carried out only 34 in special units by professionals who have taken up such jobs as they do not have moral or ethical objections to abortion. Verena Tscudin 35 states that here is however, always a conflict between a nurse or midwife’s duty to preserve life rather than destroy it. The culmination of ethical perspectives in decision-making models assist the professional, though she must also always be mindful of her duty to the patient, the Code of Professional Conduct and the law. ______________________________________________________________________________ 34 Ann Young, p 209 35 (ibid) p 137 BIBLIOGRAPHY Bioethics and Medical Ethics :Medicine, Metaphysics and Morals: Thomas Platt: West Chester University Catholic Medical Quarterly May 1992: Assisted Suicide and the Distinction Between Killing and Letting Die: J. F. Keenan ‘Ethics in Nursing’ (2nd edition) 1992 (Butterworth/Heinemann) pp 85-95: Verena Tschudin ‘Ethics, Law and Nursing’ (1995) Manchester University Press pp 7-17; pp 35-56; pp 139-143: Fletcher et al ‘Legal Aspects of Nursing’ (2nd edition) 1995 (Prenctice Hall) pp 444-457: Bridgit Dimond ‘Legal Problems in Nursing Practice’(2nd edition) 1993 (Chapman Hall) p 209: Ann P.Young ‘Law and Nursing’ (2nd edition) 2001 (Butterworth/Heinemann) p 208: McHale and Tingle ‘Nursing Law and Ethics’1995 (Blackwell) pp 13-19: Tingle Cribb Selective Reduction and Feticide: The Parameters of Abortion ((1988) Sweet Maxwell Limited and Contributors: David P.T. Price ‘Nursing Ethics’(2nd edition) 1993(Churchill Livingstone), pp233-238: Thompson et al 104134 Legally Binding Undertaking 1. I Rebecca Asghar undertake that in line with my contractual obligations this work is completely and wholly original. 2. 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