Monday, September 16, 2019

Custom Coffee Essay

I believe Custom Coffee & Chocolate mission is to establish a small cafà © where they and their customers could indulge their love of good coffee and fine chocolates. Bonnie and Stacy, recent college roommates, wanted a location that got a lot of foot traffic from shoppers and businesses. Their desire was to target a place near the university because they knew and understood those customers well. The purpose of the cafe’ is to serve unique coffee blends and specialty chocolates, and the business plan included purchasing only fair trade coffee and chocolates made by a few local suppliers. SWOT ANALYSIS: Strengths – Having a good location where public transportation is not a issue. The owners will be selling products that are considered to be good quality, near top of the line. Customers have the options of eating in or taking out their purchases. Weakness – The shop is pretty small, and can only hold a certain amount of customers, and they will need more funding to expand. Opportunity – The opportunities are unlimited, expanding the menu to include baked chocolates, desserts, tea and other beverages. If the businesses continue to grow, Bonnie & Stacy may be able to start a small franchise. Threats – I don’t detect any threats, unless a similar business moves in the same location. Bonnie & Stacy are doing all the right things to make their cafe’ affordable, and customer friendly. It is a nice place for friends and family to meet and chat while having a cup of coffee or reading the newspaper. Comfort is always important to me, so I like the idea of them having comfortable seating. Putting up a website and blog page might be helpful to customers and potential customers, for information and feedback. I don’t believe that delivery would be a good thing right now, maybe in another six months. Great job Bonnie & Stacy, you knew what you wanted and went for it. I wish you much success.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

In the Lake of the Woods Essay Essay

â€Å"In the Lake of the Woods† is a non-linear novel by Tim O’ Brien that consists of the themes trauma and insecurity. The protagonist of the text, John Wade is driven into insanity due to his fear of losing the love of his life, Kathy. Throughout the novel, john Wade’s secrets are exposed to the world, this being the reason that ended his career as a politician, which was the final push towards his madness. Wade was not only affected by his shattering moment in his career, but his childhood and experiences of war in Vietnam left him traumatized and feeling unworthy of love. John begins to crave love at an early stage I his life, after he meets Kathy he develops an obsession for her and becomes dependent on her love. He faces many issues with Kathy, trust being the main one; this could potentially be the reason for John’s breakdown of sanity. Although Kathy played a large role in his life and downfall, there was a whole other range of factors that took p art in his fall to insanity. John Wade started off his career with a goal in mind, to become something important in the political world. As he progressed through his career, he became aware of the fact that his past could ruin what he was currently building. Wade, as a child learnt to deal with his problems by bottling them up and pretending nothing had happened â€Å"this could not have happened. Therefore it did not† John believes that if he lies to himself, and continuously blocks out memories of his dirty past, he would be safe from the secrets. His method did not serve to his likings, as his secrets were exposed to the world despite John’s lies to himself. The secrets of his partaking in the massacre of â€Å"Thuan Yen† were exposed during his election, which proved to be a â€Å"career ender†. John used his career as a politician to gain the love and affection he so deeply desired. Growing up, he didn’t receive the love he craved, â€Å"you show me a politician and Iâ₠¬â„¢ll show you an unhappy childhood.† John losing the election was essentially the loss of his source of love and his sense of power and control. This potentially drove John into insanity. As a child, John Wade suffered. He loved his father but didn’t receive any affection in return. His father continuously teased john, referring to him as â€Å"jiggling john†. This makes John feel that if his own father could not love him, then he was unworthy of love itself. At the young age of fourteen, John’s father committed suicide. This traumatized john and led to his â€Å"desire to kill† the night of his fathers funeral. He wanted â€Å"to kill his father for dying† John was clearly angered by his father’s death, but instead of venting his anger in a healthy way, he pretended it didn’t happen, â€Å"It was pretending, but the pretending helped†. As John grew older he enrolled with the army to fight in the Vietnam War. He was registered with a group called â€Å"Charlie company† Unfortunately, John was involved in the massacre of â€Å"thuan yen†, where he witnessed murder, torture and had a first hand experience in taking two lives, one being his mate PFC weatherby. This came back to John as nightmares and flashbacks. He tried to forget and pretend it didn’t happen but it all came back to him during his slumbers, the memories and guilt wil l always be with john, in some way. The failed politician met Kathy in â€Å"the autumn of 1966† at the university of Minnesota. John’s obsession is evident from the very moment he meets Kathy. He is in love with her, and the â€Å"trick† is to â€Å"make her love him and never stop†. John treats life as a magic show, growing up, magic was his only friend, it gave him a sense of power, happiness and was the only thing going right in his life, as an adult John continues to use tricks to solve all of his problems. John, in a sense, manipulates Kathy and develops a fixation on her and doesn’t stop at anything to find out everything about her life. His urgency comes from fear; he doesn’t want to lose her. After his father committed suicide and in a way, abandoned John, he feels that at any moment Kathy can just get up and leave. Kathy had a tendency to â€Å"simply vanish†. She is â€Å"fiercely independent† which intimidated john because he felt that Kathy was too go od for him. John genuinely loves Kathy, but the way he represents their love is alarming; he compared their love to a pair of snakes he’s seen along a trail near Pinkville, â€Å"each snake eating the other’s tail, a bizarre circle of appetites that brought the heads closer and closer† â€Å"That’s how our love feels†. This image, along with his desire â€Å"crawl inside her belly indicates a love that is both obsessive and destructive. His need to control and ‘consume’ Kathy dictates how his obsession for his wife leads to the loss of his sanity. Although John’s fear of losing Kathy is a main part of his downfall, there is a whole range of factors that lead to his mental breakdown. His fear of losing his wife all trails back to his childhood, where his first traumatizing experience takes place. When the fourteen year Old’s father died, he was not hurt in a ‘normal’ way, It seems almost as if john missed the concept of having a father figure rather then his actual father. This becomes clearer when john remembers an idolized and great version of his father unlike the real one, who was â€Å"continuously teasing† John and suffered from alcoholism. John begins his life of pretence from this moment on thinking the pretending â€Å"would help†. As Wade develops into an adult, his ways never seem to change. During his time served in the Vietnam War, John is better known as â€Å"sorcerer† because of his magic tricks and deceit to the rest of his fellow soldiers. John, having started ma gic from a young age, continues to use it in his adulthood, providing him with a sense of control and power and during the time was fulfilling his craving for love. John takes part in a horrific act of massacring in â€Å"Thuan yen† where he kills two human lives, and watches his fellow soldiers in â€Å"Charlie company† murder numerous people. This comes back to traumatize and haunt John, as Post traumatic stress disorder tends to do, it came back as flashbacks and nightmares. His infatuation with Kathy was a major part in John’s demise; however, the various other components in the novel prove to have had an effect on his sanity.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Religious skepticism among a large portion of the youth

The â€Å"conventional† God is what the youth today does not believe in. That is what has led them to Atheism , Agnosticism et cetera. The youth no longer wants to do what they are told to do without question. They want to stand up and question beliefs. They want to think for their own. Religion is not a methodical approach to life which one must follow in order to reach his or her desired goal.Religion is more than that. Religion is a way of life. Religion has to relate o a person on an individual level, because religion is all about belief. Every person has different beliefs. This is why different religions formed in the first place. Belief creates perception. And perception creates experience. Hence religion is directly based on belief. Hence someone else's belief cannot be adopted by a person as their own belief. This is the very reason the youth has questioned the act of following others' beliefs and following a rigid set of rules.It has also been seen that many people wh o realize that there's something missing, a link that Just isn't there. These very people, who at a period in their lives were completely involved in â€Å"worldly matters†, go in search of that link. These could be youth, or even people in As an example, youths have become a part of religious organizations in search of that missing link. Many such organizations exist all over the world. What led these youths to make the drastic change in their life was the very fact that they were not ready to accept someone else's beliefs.I will elaborate my view about the youth and the believers and beliefs that they find that anyone might find absurd. These very â€Å"rituals† and â€Å"superstitions† are thought of y the youth as the cause of the lack of belief in religion. In a majority of Hindu society, at many festivals, a coconut is offered to the deity by smashing the coconut in front of an idol. Now, I myself have known of this ritual, and have even taken part in prac ticing it many times. Whereas the very reason of this offering or the very significance of it, it was not known by many people I asked. The practice in itself is very symbolic.Before cracking it open, the whole outer layer of the coconut is shaven off, signifying getting rid of all desires except the desire to realize Ruth, which the small bit signifies. Now the outer shell is cracked open, revealing the pure white milk inside, signifying the purity inside, exposing it. Then the last bit of the outer covering is shaven off, signifying renunciation of the last desire, exposing the three holes in the coconut, symbolizing the three eyes, the third eye being the eye of wisdom. If we take another example, religious practices like â€Å"Sati†4 are widely boycotted in modern society.These might be thought of as having a religious origin, and because people are against them now, they are thought to be unreasonable. Even when people try to find the reason behind these practices, they seldom succeed. The answer in such cases is known by very few people. It is observed that people in one religion many a times do as someone with religious authority asks them to blindly, or they fool themselves by making themselves believe that whatever they are being told makes sense. Due to this, the youth thinks that all religious means is praying and following a set of rules, not freedom.But religion could be far from that. Thus what they despise is not religion, but thoughtless action, doing things blindly. That might be religion for some, but it cannot be assumed that that is religion for all. This is why some people break off from organized religion, and start their inner journey, their inner search for something. Some of these people find on their path people like them, people who do not believe in thoughtless 3 4 as defined by The Oxford Dictionary the former Hindu practice of a widow throwing herself on to her husband's funeral pyre. Of 7 action, and connect with them. The se people also have a religion. Their belief, their religion may be called by the same name as some other people's, but it is not the name thing as theirs. It also so happens that the religions or religious sects that are usually broken off from have rules that are to be adhered to. Whereas places that satisfied and happy people end up in are relatively relaxed. This happens because every person's religious Journey is his very own, not someone else's. It can play out encouraged to do what the youth is doing, encouraged to question everything.They will only find their way if they get out of their comfort zone and try to. Conformity and fear of failing or doing something wrong prevents people from seeking the truth. These practices have always been a part of their lives, but they have not been able to find out why. This is what leads the youth to think that these religious practices, and hence religion, is mindless. But a number of people cannot represent religion as a whole, as and r eligious beliefs and practices are very diverse, and are different for everyone.For some, every ritual and practice holds significance and meaning, whereas for some it doesn't. Often, we know only of the latter, causing us to form opinions of that religion based on the people we see. There are also sciences like Nasty† and â€Å"Fen Shut† that are believed by some to be precise, but regarded by others as unnecessary or fake and deceptive, as pseudo sciences. What happens is, sciences like these originally were literally sciences. They worked on the basis of reason.If, according to Vast, the windows should be placed in a certain part of the house, or the flow of water should be in a certain direction, it is to provide cross ventilation and to increase efficiency and the flow of positive energy throughout an indoor space. Another idea that doesn't appeal to many people is the idea of renunciation and raying, surrendering yourself † as in Hinduism or Buddhism for exa mple. But this is an idea; not a compulsion. This is an idea that has worked for some, not a compulsory decision or a command.This doesn't mean that religion is only for people who will completely leave everything; because not everyone will – not everyone can. When it happens that someone really gives up Worldly duties', or when someone renounces things, they do not control themselves from being a part of the ‘illusion' or ‘Mama's but they simply understand that it is temporary, thus there is no point in eating attached to temporary dualities. For the renounces, it is not a struggle to stay away from the illusion; it is the only way forward † something they would want to do, and be happy doing. Maya is defined as the illusion or appearance of the world perceptible by the senses or through immediate experience 5 of 7 Everyone has their own interpretation of everything, thus making it impossible for many people to follow exactly a set of rules; the meaning of words, especially when it comes to matters of religion or spirituality, cannot be interpreted in the exact same way † for no two people think alike. This gives rise to personalization to suit every individual, only people do not realize that they are allowed to personalizes.The very reason people decide not to be religious is because they think that religion dictates. It dictates their life and their choices. My experience of studying World Religions has made it possible for me to think more broadly. I have read and talked to different people about how many religions like they could be when put into practice by different people due to their own different interpretations. This course has vastly influenced, and helped form my view of religion as it is today. It has also encouraged me to take interest in spirituality and religion.

Friday, September 13, 2019

IT Management Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IT Management - Article Example They also provide storage for these files. Computers will also improve file and data management at the Opera House. With digital storage, access and editing of files and data is also easier. A printer is also an important piece of hardware.It is essential for printing output from the computer. The most required software for the PC’s is the operating system. This provides a platform for the user’s to interact with the systems’ hardware (Anderson, p 112). This interaction interface is essential to help the staff to manage their PC’s. An antivirus is also important because it protects the computers from malware attacks. These attacks can have devastating effects, such as data loss. Some applications that are required for the House to run effectively vary according to the functions to be performed. Microsoft Outlook is the most common mailing management software. It will help the users when corresponding through emails. A web browser will used by the staff to access web pages during their browsing sessions. QuickBooks and Sage are the common applications used in finance management, and they are considered the best in the field. These applications will help the finance department ease the burden of manual management of financial activities. Sage Human Resource Management System is the most effective human resources software available in the market. It provides solutions for payroll management and it handles other activities related to the human resources department. The use of IT is a powerful tool in the marketing strategy (Englander, p 107). It provides gateways for the Opera House to advertise its events. This can be achieved by posting the events in the most visited websites in the related field. This involves creating of e-banners, advertisements and posters with details about the events and posting them on thesites with the most traffic. The use of social media and networks is also an effective way to create awareness about the events. This can be

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Puritan ideals in colonial America reflected the cultural attitude and Essay

Puritan ideals in colonial America reflected the cultural attitude and defined the role of women in their society - Essay Example Choosing to be a single woman was considered by the Puritans to be disregarding ‘God’s will.’ These women were looked upon suspiciously and this choice heightened the chance that they would be accused of being a witch. This discussion will examine the role of women in colonial America and how the religious Puritanical system of the time defined women’s rights and duties within that society. Puritan women were prevented from owning property; they could not negotiate their own contracts or even keep any of their own wages. â€Å"Before the middle of the nineteenth century, the property rights of American married women followed the dictates of common law, under which everything a woman owned became her husband’s property upon her marriage† (â€Å"Married Women’s Property Acts†, n.d.). These restrictions on what a woman could do or own were partly due to the fact that most women were not considered intelligent enough to consider all the consequences involved in managing business or political situations. Women also played the subordinate role in defining the family’s religious beliefs. The observed religious traditions that guided the patriarchal family order allowed wives only a small authoritative role within the family unit. For instance, mothers were trusted and expected to pass along the teachings of the Puritans and Christianity to the children. Husbands could, and often did, entrust their wives to handle various legal and financial matters of the household or family farm but the extent of power the wife possessed always remained at her husband’s discretion. Wives that happily accepted their role and conformed to Puritan societal standards were openly referred to and addressed as ‘goodwife.’ However, the authoritative figure in the family and throughout all facets of Puritan society was clearly the man. The only role that wives served in the male dominated public psyche

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Organizational analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organizational analysis - Essay Example We were affiliated to the Saint Vincent’s Hospital until 2010 before the hospital was closed and Beth Israel took over the center. Beth Israel is part of the Continuum Health Partners Corporation, a nonprofit organization which operates a network of hospitals in New York. It provides primary care services and specialty treatments to patients. Apart from offering the aforementioned services, the company also offers services to patients in group and private practice settings and ambulatory centers. Continuum Health Partners Inc. was founded in 1997 by Beth Israel and Saint Luke’s –Roosevelt Hospital. A few years later, Long Island College Hospital and New York Eye and Ear infirmary joined the network. According to its website, it has a $2.1 billion budget and its hospital delivers inpatient care with a capacity of 3,100 certified beds distributed in seven major hospitals facilities in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Continuum Health Partners files an IRS form 990, which is the tax document that allows the IRS and the public to evaluate nonprofit organizations and how they operate. Continuum Health Partners Corporation is a nonprofit organization that can be analyzed by reviewing its mission, tax exemption status, established board of trustees, policies and compensations. A nonprofit organization’s is required to have a mission that benefits the community, society or the world. According to Renz and Associates’ The Jossey-Bass Handbook, â€Å"a nonprofit organization is an unofficial government agency and it is not a business seeking to make profit† (2010, p35). Continuum qualifies as a nonprofit organization because it has a mission to benefit society by providing medical services. According to the organization’s website, â€Å"Continuum’s goal is to ensure that each facility is equipped with the resources needed to provide the best care in a compassionate and friendly environment.† The organization states th at it is well equipped to identify and respond to the health related needs of the population that it serves, especially in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Continuum Health Partner’s main objective is to improve health and health care in the various communities that it serves. In general, it is a network of hospitals that work together to coordinate and deliver a broad spectrum of services to the community. Organizations that claim to be not-for-profit are eligible for tax exemptions. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code states that if an organization qualifies for the exemption, it is required to file form 1023 of the Internal Revenue Service. Even though, tax-exempt nonprofit organizations do not pay federal taxes, they do have to file a form with the IRS which allows them to maintain their tax-exempt status. There are over seventy categories of tax-exempt nonprofit organizations registered in the federal tax law. Continuum Health Partners is registered in line with section 501(c ) of the tax law which means that it is an American tax-exempt, nonprofit organization or association. In addition, Continuum is registered as under section 501(c) 3 of the same laws and therefore is a corporation that aims at promoting health. â€Å"Tax exemption is provided for a variety of organizations, which are described in section 501(c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code (Continuum Health Partners, 2009). Exemption is available for cooperative hospital

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

The Role of Material Life, Language, Social Interaction and Aesthetics Essay - 2

The Role of Material Life, Language, Social Interaction and Aesthetics in Chinese Marketing - Essay Example This paper illustrates that in Chinese culture, material culture is revered as it is also one of the ways through which they express themselves. Material culture can be looked at in terms of artifacts, dressing, technology, and food. Materially Chinese prefer to use their own locally produced products as opposed to importing them from other countries. Hence it is common to find huge posters and other artworks containing Chinese workmanship that is totally different from what is commonly found in western cultures. All kinds of products, including food products, can be advertised or made popular through artifacts and technology. Much Chinese own television and radio sets; therefore, it would be easy for them to get information about new products on the market. The material life of Chinese is normally showcased in several of their festivals. The most relevant of the festivities, in this case, is the Moon Festival in which mooncakes are served as a delicacy. Mooncakes, which are closely related to Goodman Fielder’s Crunchy Cookies, are among the most popular of Chinese delicacies. Such festivities can be used as platforms to introduce and market new delicacies, in this case, the Crunchy Cookies that Goodman Fielder is planning to introduce into the market. Oriental dishes are very common in many of Chinese restaurants; however, it is not uncommon to find a few foreign food products in several stores. This means that although Chinese highly value their local food products, they are also open to other products that appeal to them. There are different languages spoken in China, however, there are some that are more prominently used than others. For instance, Mandarin and Cantonese are widely spoken more than any other languages in the country. English is also slowly gaining popularity, especially in the urban places. Language in China plays a huge role in social interactions. Many of Chinese websites, especially social interaction sites are operated in either M andarin, Cantonese or English. Whatever languages the Chinese use for their communication, they normally emphasize on politeness and respect.