The Future of Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Future of Globalization - Essay Example The main person responsible for coining the term globalization is considered to be Theodore Levitt. He wrote an article for the Harvard Business Review in the year 1983 titled ‘Globalization of Markets’ in which he emphasized the whole phenomenon and as to what he actually meant by coining this term in the first place. With the passage of time, the phenomenon has grown at a steady rate whereby the setting under which it is held is one that focuses on the global patterns related with the sociological findings. Globalization, for that matter, is also remarked as Internationalization since the nature of the two terms is on a worldwide scale more than anything else. However, on the part of the two terms, the one thing common however is the fact that these have identified themselves well with the changing (and growing) trends, where most of these are credited on the shoulders of the World War II, after which there has been a resurgent rat race nonetheless. The movement of com modities, people, information, money, technological developments, organizational infrastructures, legal frameworks and so on and so forth have only proved to all and sundry that globalization is a phenomenon and it is one that is here to stay for long. The world has become a global village due to globalization and it is a good omen if seen in the proper perspectives, which we intend to delve further in this paper. Globalization entails within it the changing technological innovations, the improvement in structures and different infrastructures, the advancements in basic thinking mindset of man, his ability to break loose from the ordinary and reach out towards the unknown and in all essence do something which can bring about an ultimate change, for the better. Having said that, we need to understand that globalization is not just a phenomenon, it is the science of human evolution and since man has for long held fast to this belief, there can be no reason as to

Ayurvedic Medicine Essay Example for Free

Ayurvedic Medicine Essay Class name Date Introduction Ayurveda, the ancient Sanskrit word (Ayus/living and Veda/revealed wisdom) comes from the traditions of the ancient Indian sages, also known as Rishis. The word â€Å"denotes the enlightened knowledge of all aspects of optimal, healthy, everyday living, and longevity† and, its followers believe Ayurveda to be a â€Å"fortress of wisdom† (Ninivaggi 2008, xvi). Being that the medical practice of Ayurveda goes back as far as 6,000 years, 3,000 of those years recorded and verifiable, it is worth inquiring about why the seemingly successful methodologies and medical practices have not been adopted into the Western framework of scientific medicine. Although Ayurvedic methods and its practitioners are becoming more popular in the United States, with the increased interest by North American patients in preventative and holistic treatments, there appears to be a disconnect about these procedures as validated by providers within North America and our system of payers (i. . , the insurance agencies). As indicated by the Rocky Mountain Institute of Yoga and Ayurveda website, a Boulder, Colorado agency, it was learned that although reimbursements can be found, it often times requires a unique â€Å"system of billing and coding† to ensure payment. There are numerous reports and studies being done that show how Ayurvedic medicine is not just an ancient version of complementary and alternative medicine, but rather these studies demonstrate the validity for support of the treatments. One example of this would be in cancer treatment, there are herbal and traditional medicines that are being studied worldwide to validate their effect on cancer. Alternative and more natural approaches to curing and managing cancers are becoming more popular and common. With the existing regulatory policies and perceptions surrounding Complimentary and Alternative Medicine in the United States, it is my goal to show and provide statistics that will increase awareness and acceptance of the medical wisdom of Ancient Ayurveda. There will be an investigation and explanation showing how Eastern Indian healthcare treatments have been scientifically examined and how they can successfully be adopted into the U. S. healthcare model, via a more global perspective on illness, disease and the prevention of disease from a wellness and holistic approach. Review of Literature The following section summarizes the history of Ayurveda, describes major trends and holes found in the existing research, and explores the evidence both supporting and disproving Ayurveda as a viable and proven healthcare strategy. The History of Ayurveda The concept of Ayurveda was developed sometime around 2500 and 500 BC in India. Ayurveda is rooted in Buddhist and Hindu traditions, but it has been said to connect with Asian medicine (Warrier 2011). Essentially, Ayurveda suggests that the body’s ability to heal itself â€Å"acts through three forces called doshas. These are vata (space and air), pitta (fire and water), and kapha (water and earth)† (Yeager 1998). In order to live a healthy life, these doshas must remain balanced. Typically, Ayurveda is most often used to prevent disease, and has proven beneficial in the treatment of high blood pressure, cholesterol and stress (Yeager 1998). Ayurveda is also helpful in everyday life. Translated, Ayurveda means â€Å"science of life. † This definition is relevant because the ancient Indian system of health care focuses views of man and his illness evolving from the body and its external factors (Yeager 1998). In the present context, the Ayurvedic system of medicine is becoming more widely accepted. It is practiced in India and also in the more economically evolved countries such as Europe, the United States and Japan (Samy, Pushparaj and Gopalakrishnakone 2008). In the mid-1990’s, The World Health Organization also recognized Ayurveda as a system of sophisticated traditional medicine that involved the study of life stimulating observation, and fostering scientific research (Berra and Molho 2010). With the existing and evolving global healthcare crisis that is also currently plaguing the United States (U. S. ), one would believe that an affordable, safe and proven health system so globally recognized would have been able to pass at minimum the test of time but, this is not the case. Although the recent decade has brought about many observations that have added to the scientific credentialing of Ayurveda and other forms of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), there are still concerns about the ancient Indian treatment and its scientific validity, this is especially true in the U. S. (Rastogi 2010). â€Å"Before the recent upsurge of traditional medicine in a global perspective, Ayurveda was persistently criticized for its ambiguity and philosophical tenants incomprehensible to occidental mind† (Rastogi 2010, 1). Ayurvedic Research Methods Ayurveda is arguably an under researched topic, as scholarly research did not truly begin until the 1970s. This stunted research can be separated into three distinct categories: the examination of traditional Ayurveda in pre-colonial South Asia, the examination of Ayurveda in colonial and post-colonial times in South Asia, and an examination of Ayurvedic practices outside of South Asia (Warrier 2011). The first wave of Ayurvedic research used treatises written in Sanskrit to decipher the origins of Ayurveda. This research helped to conceptualize and understand the Ayurvedic understanding of the body, health and practice, which heavily differed from other representations during that time (Warrier 2011). The second wave of research showed that Ayurvedic practices were encouraged in India until 1835 when British policy changed. When India gained its independence in 1947, the government took immediate steps to standardize Ayurveda; however, the practice was still poorly funded. The effects of British colonialism and favoritism for biomedical has been long lasting. Current practices of Ayurveda are much of hybrid between the two medical practices (Warrier 2011). The third wave of research focused on the advent of Ayurveda in the West (the United States and the United Kingdom) beginning in the 1980s. Deepak Chopra and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi are cited as influential individuals who popularized Ayurveda in the West. Although Ayurveda became more popular, it was discounted as a â€Å"New Age† fad. The third wave of research largely avoids discussions of healthcare reform, or conversations on the â€Å"legitimacy and authenticity of their [Ayurveda] practice† (Warrier 2011). Ayurvedic research presents additional problems. Firstly, â€Å"It’s difficult to conduct double-blind placebo-controlled trials, [ ], because Ayurveda is a holistic system that treats individuals differently with multiple methods† (Hontz 2004). However, these modern scientific studies often ignore the primary objective of Ayurveda, which is to see patients as individuals in need of unique care. Secondly, the new and emerging research has not been disseminated, and the new textbooks on the practice have not been updated. Because this new wealth of information has not yet made it to professionals or students, it is of little use. Within the study of Ayurveda, numerous scholars are calling for new research methodologies (Baghel 2011). In the past, many studies have focused on the use of the plants and herbs (herbal pharmacology) in Ayurveda. Despite the screening of over 2000 medicinal plants over ten years, no conclusive data emerged. Based on the inconclusive findings, other researchers continued to suggest that Ayurvedic research should address the uses and benefits of plants. This research has led to advances in traditional medicine, such as the use of certain plants when modern medicine is unavailable (Baghel 2011). Currently, Ayurvedic research is concerned with altering the research methodologies, separating itself from traditional scientific practices. Another issue with Ayurvedic research is the translation of terminologies. â€Å"For instance, Vata is not air, Pitta is not fire and Bhasma is not oxide- they have much deeper scientific meaning† (Patwardhan 2009). Because Western scientists fail to grasp the full meaning of certain terms, the scientific research of Ayurveda falls short and its reputation has actually been damaged. These failures concerning Ayurvedic research have resulted in certain consequences. Scientists have simply viewed Ayurveda as a means to bolster modern medicine, rather than a unique practice. In addition, eastern Ayurvedic practices have reached a standstill in the midst of the research and implementation controversies. This has severely paralyzed the Ayurvedic educational system, along with its practice (Patwardhan 2009). Many scholars and practitioners conclude that Ayurveda needs to define itself and establish a universal methodology (Baghel 2011). Unless this occurs, Ayurveda will continue to loose momentum. Scholars have suggested adopting a transnational approach to Ayurveda in order to refocus the research. Evaluating Ayurveda from a transnational perspective means looking at, â€Å"[ ]where personnel, ideas, meanings, symbols, products, and practices are constantly crossing boundaries [ ]† (Warrier 2011). This viewpoint would ideally look at the influence of of local practices on global traditions. The American Healthcare System: Evolution? There is evidence in the U. S. nd throughout the world of a growing demand for alternative healthcare choices, based upon the best practices from varying healthcare models. This demand for options appears to be based on an opinion that any single system of healthcare has its inadequacies and will not be able to solve all contemporary health care needs (Shankar 2010). It is this perhaps this assessment that has brought about the dramatic growth of the Complementary and Alternative movement as well as the awareness and evolution of myriad methods of Integrative Medicine (I. M. ) in the last ten to fifteen years. Luckily for proponents and practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine and research, governments and regulatory bodies appear to have also begun to understand the need for varied approaches to health and wellness with the intent that all new models must also establish their safety, quality and efficacy (Shankar 2010). Agencies such as the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are just a few of the institutions in the United States that are starting to provide guidance and policy around C. A. M. and I. M. , which is a positive step because without these policies and approvals, there would be no evolutionary progress whatsoever in terms of Ayurveda in delivery in the U. S. Over the past two decades, U. S. mainstream medicine has become more accepting of Ayurveda and other alternative medical practices. â€Å"A widely quoted study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that a third of Americans spend $14 billion a year on alternative medical methods† (Perry 1994). Yet much of this money comes from consumers’ pockets. Although the interest in alternative medicine has increased in recent years, it is still difficult to find insurance coverage, but some companies are offering group and individual policies (Dharamsi 2011). Although the coverage is substantial, it is not full coverage. The need for insurance companies to alter their plans is becoming more pressing as the prevalence of Ayurveda increases in the U. S. Despite this acceptance, many questions and controversies remain. Doctors in India and the U. S. are concerned with the standardization of the practice of Ayurveda in the U. S.. In India, practitioners of Ayurveda are required to obtain a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) degree, which is the equivalent of five and a half years in medical school (Yeager 1998). However, no such lengthy certification exists (or is required) to practice in the United States. This is further problematic because many of the herbs and treatments used in Ayurveda are relatively untested or unregulated. This means that a person seeking Ayurvedic treatment is left with the responsibility to conduct their own research and find a reliable practitioner. In order to mediate this issue, some U. S. medical schools are beginning to offer courses in Ayurveda similar to those seen in India (Swapan 2007). Yet, these courses are seminars and are completed in a matter of days. Ultimately, standardization is also necessary to price services so that they can be covered by insurance conglomerates. Medical scholars are investigating the potential of an integrative medicine (IM) approach (Patwardhan 2009). These same scholars often look to China as a successful example of integrative medicine. China has accomplished this feat by requiring medical students to complete coursework in Western and traditional medicine (Patwardhan 2009). This dualistic approach means that doctors can provide patients with a combination of treatments. A similar situation is arising in India at the Banaras Hindu University where students integrate modern medicine with Ayurveda and Yoga (Patwardhan 2009). However, integration is sometimes difficult because implementation and methodologies have to be developed and agreed upon. Further, many risks are involved with integration, including the potential to lose identity; conversely, there is the possibility of Ayurveda being overtaken by modern medicine. To be successful in the integrative endeavor, Ayurveda must â€Å"recognize, respect and maintain the respective identities, philosophies, foundations, methodologies, and strengths of all systems† (Patwardhan 2009). Research Approach Form of Knowledge Chronic disease in the United States (U. S. ) is now more of a challenge. The number of Americans suffering from chronic disease has increased rapidly in the past two plus decades, and today 51 percent of the U.S. population is struggling from conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and stroke. Chronic disease in the U. S. is so prevalent that it is largely accepted as a part of everyday life. Unfortunately, conventional Western medicine is largely focused on treating the symptoms of chronic disease and prevention often goes ignored. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and, arthritis are among the most â€Å"common, costly and preventable of all health problems in the U. S. Yet, they account for â€Å"7 out of 10 deaths or 51% of deaths† annually, according to a 2008 report of 2005 mortality data. The Problem. With the traditional Western model of healthcare in America being as financially lucrative as it has been historically (i. e. , reactive disease processes, hospitalizations, pharmaceuticals, insurance plans) one can only imagine that there is not much of a desire by these money making industries to move toward a model of preventative medicine. It is also less likely that these industries would consider Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). The proposed research study aims to explore the ancient art of traditional Eastern Indian Ayurvedic medicine, its validity as a scientifically proven means of symptom prevention, daily healthcare regimen, disease curative and whether or not this form of CAM has a current presence in the U. S. or any potential future in our existing healthcare system. Research questions. The research will address the following questions: 1. What is the Ayurvedic philosophy of health, healing and medicine? 2. What does Ayurveda in North American U. S. culture consist of? Who are the practitioners? Who are the patients? 3. What does current research say about the outcomes of chronic diseases treated with Ayurvedic methods? 4. Are Ayurvedic treatments currently being paid for by U. S. insurance plans, if not, why not? 5. What are the trends with regard to CAM treatments in the American healthcare model? Target Audience The audience for this research and those that will benefit from its findings would be the United States population as a whole. Not only will the current and potential patients of the ancient practice benefit by a growing and increased awareness and hopeful change in insurance policy if needed but, current practitioners and those considering the study and certification of Ayurvedic medicine should be relieved and assured of their futures as proven through reports of clinical outcomes and accepted methods of Ayurvedic delivery in Western culture. Controlling Factors Since Ayurveda is a somewhat recent discovery in The United States , the expanse of its historical data originates from India. The majority of its practitioners and patients are native Eastern Indians and the information found within academic reports can mostly be traced back to organizations hailing from India. Since a determination about the effectiveness and utilization in The United States is the goal of the research, the information may be difficult to locate. The healthcare publications and journals that will report Ayurvedic outcomes will likely be written by Indian physicians based upon Indian lifestyles and dynamics of health within the country of India. I would assume without further research and investigation, that there will be some conflicting if not incomplete and/or possibly biased information being reported. Data Collection Methods A dual approach of qualitative and quantitative research review will be done. I will use the world wide web and other library resources to locate industry white papers and respected journal articles that show specific recordable and scientific data about Ayurvedic deliveries and outcomes, statistics on use and trends, specific to the United States. Since the Boulder, Colorado area is a well-known community of those who seek or practice CAM therapies some information can be obtained by agencies willing to share their experiences, knowledge and clinical data. IRB approval will be required to perform any type of survey or case study that will be implemented with these approving agencies.

Fighting For Our Love Ones Essay -- essays research papers

In today’s world, most families have a love one struggling to live with cancer, HIV, glaucoma, or multiple sclerosis. Most of us, here in the United States, have watched a love one endure the pain of chemotherapy, uncontrollable muscle spasms, or blindness. Our love ones not only suffer physical pain, but mental anguish as well. Our dying loves ones are at war with our Federal Government. They are fighting for a chance at a better quality of life. They are fighting for the legalization of marijuana for medical use. Until marijuana is legalized for medical use, our love ones are forced to break the law. "†¦my gift to my husband, John Joseph who died last year. At the end of his life, my husband was wracked with pain from lung cancer. Marijuana was one medication that eased his intense pain, and nausea during chemotherapy. But, to get marijuana to help JJ, we had to break the law. †¦my husband’s ability to tolerate chemotherapy after a couple of puffs of marijuana extended his life and improved his quality of life (1)." That was an excerpt from a letter written by Anne Boyce to the voters of California for the passage of Proposition 215. In 1996, Proposition 215 was a proposed legislation in California that makes it legal for doctors to prescribe marijuana to terminally ill patients. Proposition 215 was passed by the voters of California, but patients who use marijuana could still and are prosecuted by our Federal Government. Anne Boyce broke the law in order to obtain marijuana for her dying husband. Anne Boyce, a sixty-seven year old Registered Nurse, is not your typical criminal, now is she? Nevertheless, if Anne Boyce was caught by the law enforcement, she would be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Federally, possession of even one joint carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison (7). Cultivation of even one plant is a felony, with a maximum sentence of five years (7). Is this fair? Anne Boyce and others like her are law-abiding citizens, but they or someone they love are suffering from a grave illness, and legal pharmaceuticals do not ease the pain. So, they are force to break the law. Wouldn’t you do the same for your love one? I know I would. There is a need for a change. "I often drove her to the ho... ...he new millenium, the United States is well equipped with technology to address and to solve these problems. How can we help our love ones deal with the pain and agony of a deadly disease? How can we improve the quality of their lives? The answer is simple. Marijuana has been proven to be therapeutic, to have countless medical benefits, and to be remarkably safe. The medical use of marijuana needs to be legalized. It would be monitored just like any other controlled substance. This solution is easy. Legalizing marijuana would go through the same procedure as the other medically prescribed substance. It is up to us. We, the people of America, need to follow in the footsteps of Anne Boyce as well as the voters of California. We need to write to our Congressmen. Let our Senators and our Representatives know of our wishes, our rights. We need to talk a stand. Follow the advice of a once great President, Thomas Jefferson, who once said "if people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be as in sorry state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny."

Acid Rain in Europe :: Papers

Acid Rain in Europe Introduction ============ The atmosphere is like a film of gases, which makes the planet habitable. If this layer was not present there would be no life on earth. It is a fact that the health of plants, animals and humans depends upon a very important factor 'pollution'. Although, all kinds of poisonous waste is continuing to be put into the atmosphere. These poisonous gases are being produced when fossil fuels are burnt, as a result of this acid rain forms which further more results in numerous problems damaging forests, lakes, rivers, land, plants and animals. The main culprits of burning fossil fuels are MEDC's, which insist on maintaining their high standards of living. What is acid rain? Rain is naturally acidic but the term 'acid rain' is usually referred to as rain, which has been made more acidic than it should be due to the atmosphere absorbing the gasses emitted from the burning of fossil fuels. The gases are oxides of nitrogen and sulphur. Nitrogen oxide is usually given Nox as there are many of them, sulphur oxide SO2 and water H2O When these mix together they form acids such as sulphurous acid (H2SO3). Acid rain can be deposited in three ways: * Wet deposition - The deposition of pollutants in rain and snow mainly affects upland areas. * Dry deposition - The deposition of gases and particles directly onto terrestrial surfaces. * Cloud deposition - The capture of cloud droplets that contain concentrated pollutants. We can measure how acidic the rain actually is by the pH scale, 7 is neutral, below that is acidic above that is alkaline. A 'log scale' can be used for example pH 6 is ten times more acidic than pH 7, so pH 5 is one hundred times more acidic than pH7. Case study: An investigation to show how acid rain is affecting Europe. What are the causes of acid rain? Acid rain was first found in Scandinavia in the late 1950's and at

The Marble Champ

As I began reading the story The Marble Champ by Gary Soto, I realized that the main character, Lupe Medrano, often compares herself to others. As a result, she feels badly about her athletic abilities. She seems to think that she's only good at something in which she can win. Right at the start of the story, Lupe's accomplishments are impressive. But all Lupe seems to notice is that she cannot run as fast as the other girls in school. Another example of Lupe comparing herself to others is when she describes her trouble with team sports. The text clearly says that Lupe was â€Å"no good at sports. † Lupe seems embarrassed that she isn't the star player of the team. Lupe also feels badly that she only recently learned to ride a bike, could only walk in a swimming pool, and rollerblade if her dad held her hand. This shows that Lupe is frustrated that she isn't the best at everything. As Lupe began to think about these things, she had the idea of learning to play marbles. She made the decision to teach herself to play and began feeling hopeful about being good at something which she can compete against others. This reminds me of myself when I am feeling out of practice in something. I compare myself to other people and feel insecure. But when I focus on my positive qualities, I find that I can do a good job. I hope Lupe keeps up her good attitude and feels proud of herself soon.

Death Penalty Essays (429 words) - Penology, Criminology, Crime

Death Penalty Essays (429 words) - Penology, Criminology, Crime Death Penalty The Death Penalty Capital punishment is the legal infliction of the death penalty on persons convicted of a crime. Today, in modern law, the death penalty is corporal punishment in its most severe form. It is irrevocable: it ends the existence of those punished, instead of temporarily imprisoning them. Although capital punishment is not intended to inflict physical pain, execution is the only corporal punishment still applied to adults. The usual alternative to the death penalty is life-long imprisonment. For the past decades capital punishment has been one of the most hotly contested political issues in America. This debate is a complicated one. Capital punishment is not merely-or even primarily-a legal question. It is a practical, philosophical, social, political, and moral question as well. I don't have any problems with the death penalty only if all avenues have been investigated and nothing is questionable. I believe in the concept of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth because there are always consequences to the things you do and murder should not an exception. The notion of deterrence has been at the very center of the practical debate over the question of capital punishment. The fear of death deters people from committing crimes. I believe that the death penalty has a deterrent value because it removes the criminals from society so they will never be able to committing anymore crimes. Also future criminals must understand the consequences of committing a crime. Abolitionists have long argued that deterrence is little more than an assumption, that most murders cannot be rationally deterred by any penalty, including death. They are crimes of passion, committed in moments of intense rage, frustration, hatred, or fear, when the killers aren't thinking clearly of the personal consequences of what they do. I respect their beliefs, but I still believe in its deterrence value. I believe the serial murderers that continuously kill should be put to death so that no more lives will be lost. I believe in capital punishment because I know of a person who was killed in a drive-by shooting. He was a good student and had plenty of potential. The juveniles who took his life are currently in juvenile hall. What saddens me the most is that these violent teenagers have a potential of freedom when they turn eighteen. I believe these criminals should have been executed because there is a chance that they will commit a murder again. If the death penalty was applied to them, it guarantees that they will never murder again.

The Unknown Rebel Essays

The Unknown Rebel Essays The Unknown Rebel Paper The Unknown Rebel Paper On the 5th Of June 1989 a single Chinese man stood up to a line of 18 tanks in Tiananmen Square. The image of him and his righteous act was broadcast all over the world as the image to forever illustrate one insignificant mans power to stand up to a virtually unstoppable force. Despite all efforts, Western Media Sources have been unable to discover his true identity so he has been dubbed The Unknown Rebel by Time Magazine and was included in their list of 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century. This man is considered a rebel because he went against the man and refused to do as told by the tanks standing in front of him. For the previous two days there had been horrendous violence occurring between student protesters and the Chinese Government with incidents of people being shot in the back by soldiers for their pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen square. His act was intrinsically rebellious because he stood in the way of the tanks and even moved left and right with the tank to further block its path in a defiant way. He was even seen to climb on top of the tank and say to the driver Why are you here? My city is in chaos because of you. He then climbed back down and bystanders pulled him back into the crowd as he receded into anonymity. The Chinese government is a force to be reckoned with and this unknown rebel must have been aware of they were capable of killing as martial law had been declared and thousands just like him had been killed in the preceding days. Only a true rebel would risk his life to defy the government and stand up to a line of 18 tanks. His image has been adopted by many people in many countries as a sign that every man can make a difference and do something major that impacts a large, diverse amount of people. It has been said that he was seen in his glorious moment by more people than ever laid eyes on Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein and James Joyce combined. This alone is indicative of the significance his one act had compared with the lifetime achievements of some men considered to be relatively more famous. The fact that after his act of rebellion he majestically disappeared into the crowd further adds to his image of the rebel. No one knows who he was, let alone what happened to him after that day. A year later, when an American reporter asked Chinese leader Jiang Zemin what had happened to the unknown rebel and he replied I think never killed. This mystery that surrounds the unknown rebel is one attribute that contributes to his image as a rebel due to the image that has been created around his anonymity. In conclusion, the unknown rebel of Tiananmen Square is a rebel because he has become a symbol for standing up against the big power at the risk of everything for something you believe in.

Free Essays on Outline The Life Ans Times Of Tutankhamun

Ancient History Essay: â€Å"Outline the life and times of Tutankhamun.† Tutankhamun lived over 3,300 years ago during a period known as the New Kingdom. The New Kingdom, which comprised the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth dynasties, was the imperial phase of Egyptian history. Egyptian Pharaohs acquired an empire which they had to maintain either by diplomacy or force. Tutankhamun or as he was first called Tutankhaten was born into a time of great change and upheaval. For two centuries Egypt had ruled as a world superpower, while it’s Royal family lived the opulent lifestyle. The powerful priesthood of Amun had controlled vast temples and estates. The eighteenth dynasty of Egypt had, until the reign of Akhenaten (Tutankhamun’s father), been a prosperous one. The pharaohs had been great warriors. They had added to their countries wealth, and added to Egypt’s territories, from which came valuable minerals and particularly gold. Akhenaten was the complete opposite of these early kings. He was not a warrior, he was a dreamer and philosopher more interested in theoretical theology and the arts, than in mastering the art of kingship. He brought great changes to a conservative land. He introduced the worship of the sun-disc, the Aten, as the official religion, removing the royal patronage from the god and priests of Amun. He moved the capital from Thebes and established a new capital two hundred and forty miles to the north, which he called Akhetaten â€Å"Horizon of the Aten†. He neglected to secure Egypt’s borders, and chaos broke out, vassal princes broke away and the economy fell into ruins. Thus at his death, he had the establishment, the priesthood and the people against him. It was against this background that Tutankhamun succeeded to the throne. Tutankhamun became a boy King at the age of about nine and secured his position by marrying his half sister Ankhesenpaaten, the third daughter of A... Free Essays on Outline The Life Ans Times Of Tutankhamun Free Essays on Outline The Life Ans Times Of Tutankhamun Ancient History Essay: â€Å"Outline the life and times of Tutankhamun.† Tutankhamun lived over 3,300 years ago during a period known as the New Kingdom. The New Kingdom, which comprised the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth dynasties, was the imperial phase of Egyptian history. Egyptian Pharaohs acquired an empire which they had to maintain either by diplomacy or force. Tutankhamun or as he was first called Tutankhaten was born into a time of great change and upheaval. For two centuries Egypt had ruled as a world superpower, while it’s Royal family lived the opulent lifestyle. The powerful priesthood of Amun had controlled vast temples and estates. The eighteenth dynasty of Egypt had, until the reign of Akhenaten (Tutankhamun’s father), been a prosperous one. The pharaohs had been great warriors. They had added to their countries wealth, and added to Egypt’s territories, from which came valuable minerals and particularly gold. Akhenaten was the complete opposite of these early kings. He was not a warrior, he was a dreamer and philosopher more interested in theoretical theology and the arts, than in mastering the art of kingship. He brought great changes to a conservative land. He introduced the worship of the sun-disc, the Aten, as the official religion, removing the royal patronage from the god and priests of Amun. He moved the capital from Thebes and established a new capital two hundred and forty miles to the north, which he called Akhetaten â€Å"Horizon of the Aten†. He neglected to secure Egypt’s borders, and chaos broke out, vassal princes broke away and the economy fell into ruins. Thus at his death, he had the establishment, the priesthood and the people against him. It was against this background that Tutankhamun succeeded to the throne. Tutankhamun became a boy King at the age of about nine and secured his position by marrying his half sister Ankhesenpaaten, the third daughter of A...

Air Asia Case analysis summary Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Air Asia analysis summary - Case Study Example The firm is one of the airline organizations who are more centered on the strategy of how to decrease inefficiency and incorporate the lowest fare in the world as possible. With low complexity, cost-efficiency and productivity, the company has the cornerstone elements of building a strong business (Porter, 2007). In addition, according to Rhoades & Jr. (2005), the most flourishing carriers came to control their hub markets permitting them to exert greater control over capacity and pricing. Founded on this statement, the present issues in AirAsia organization are how to accomplish being the least expensive carrier in the world and still make their profits. In relation to these issues, Rhoades & Jr. said that AirAsia the most thriving carrier in the airline industry permitting them to exercise greater control over capacity and pricing (Porter, 2007). A critical solution to AirAsia achieving its dreams is through utilizing IT and employing E-commerce in their business. These days, E-commerce is becoming a commerce instrument. Also, E-commerce has turned into a vital strategic management technique, which allows a company to advertise, sell products, purchase supplies, track inventory, bypass intermediaries, share information and eliminate paperwork. All in all, electronic commerce is reducing the cumbersomeness and expense, higher profitability and improved products. According to this report, E-commerce can transform the manner of doing business these days. E-commerce becomes a key success to a company to make efficiency and effectively in their industry. AirAsia is one of the organizations, which is employing E-commerce and utilizing their IT usage to make the effectively and efficiency in their company, which will lower the cost of operation of the carrier. AirAsia has an extremely strong management staff with strong relations with airline

Human Development and Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Development and Learning - Essay Example According to Piaget's theory, cognitive development takes place in four separate stages and each stage progresses onto being more refined and conceptual levels of thought. Sensorimotor, the first stage (birth to 24 months) is characterized by knowledge being achieved mainly through sensory impressions and motor action. At the end of this stage, the child will have a little understanding outside what can be sensed. The subsequent stage is the preoperational stage (2 to 7 years) describes how child shifts from sensory testing to the progression of language and using of symbols. The basic characteristics of the stage are reading and a quick increase in vocabulary. The third stage is concrete operational (7 to 11 years) shows significant developments in perception and in the last phase known as the formal operational (11 to adulthood) explains the child's developing the skill to think about hypothetical conditions and reflect abstractly. Lev'Vygotsky, another renowned theorist, proposed the Sociocultural Theory of Development which suggested that children learn through socially interacting with their surrounding culture and communicate with others to learn the cultural values of the society through dialogue. Children progress in the direction of more individualized thought process during these social interactions. The co-constructed development incorporates individuals interacting through shared activities. Once the child is assisted in this process, he or she may be able to use enhanced strategies in the future if a familiar situation arises. This leads to internalization, which further results in the child's independent thought process. There are essential similarities between the natures of development of intelligence in children. This is particularly obvious in their views on the stage-related development process of cognitive abilities. Vygotsky is well known on his position on the importance of social factors in development. Piaget stressed the vital role of social factors in the building of knowledge. According to Piaget, social interaction is necessary in order to develop logic. Furthermore, both Vygotsky and Piaget agreed that it is the development of the individual which ultimately takes place. They also stated that internalization is not a process of copying material from the environment but is a transformative process. Piaget investigated the fundamental mechanisms in the individual constructing its thoughts, while Vygotsky dealt with socially developed mechanisms for constructing language meaning and learning. But both of them relate mental processes to the generative constructions of systems that maintain development, that is, in culture or in the individual interacting with its environment. In Vygotsky's opinion language is makes human species humanized and makes human thought a part of culture. On the other hand, language for Paiget is one of the five behavior patterns that manifest representational intelligence in children. Paiget's theory of intelligence is based on biological factors, but it also implies social dimensions as well. The

HEALTH CARE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

HEALTH CARE - Essay Example The initial X-ray appears to be normal (pre-op). The pulmonary findings of subsequent radiograph in this patient, 3 days post-op resembles that of acute respiratory distress syndrome (increased interstitial pattern). No cardiac or pulmonary effusions were noted. This might have superimposed the findings of pneumonia and atelectasis secondary to mechanical ventilation. The third radiograph taken 4 days post operative shows decreased interstitial pattern suggestive of recovery. Post- surgery, the PO2 levels were very low, suggestive of hypoxemia. This can be expected in fat embolism (Weinhouse 2000). The PCO2 levels are also low suggestive of hyperventilation. The bicarbonate levels are slightly low, which is an attempt to compensate for the alkalosis. The overall picture of ABG is that of respiratory alkalosis. Following this, mechanical ventilation has improved the oxygenation which is evident in the subsequent ABGs. The pCO2 and bicarbonate levels have normalized and the pH is in the normal range. However the PaO2 levels have been fluctuating through out the first day post-op. The differential diagnosis mentioned is pulmonary thromboembolism, lipid embolus, myocardial infarction and pulmonary edema. The investigations reveal normal hemoglobin and platelet count, prolonged PT, normal LAP, normal urine analysis, normal liver function and renal function tests and normal cardiac profile enzymes. ABG is suggestive of severe hypoxemia and respiratory alkalosis, chest X-ray is suggestive of increased interstitial pattern and EKG showed no fresh ischemic changes. The EKG and normal cardiac enzymes rule out repeat myocardial infarction. The absence of Watermark’s sign in the chest X-ray rules out pulmonary embolism. However, the best method of ruling out this condition would be to do Doppler ECHO, rapid D- dimer tests and V/Q lung scan. PT/PTT would be normal in this condition. ABG would show fairly normal

Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Decision Making - Essay Example From this research it is clear that effective decision-making necessitates that the person making the decision understands the situation driving the decision, recognizes and defines it, identifies alternatives, chooses the best option and then puts it into practice. Problem solving is a logical, goal-oriented process that outlines the action necessary to solve a situation where the actual and expected are differentiated. The situation has no routine solution, or there is a thing that is not satisfactory and recognizes that problem as a chance forcoming up with a solution or decision that ought to be effected by a person or persons and which lastly, and importantly ought to be worthy resolving. The person solving the problem has more or less well defined objective and solution although it is not instantaneously clear how to achieve it.This paper declares that  the decision maker and problem solver ought to comprehend their achievements and desired accomplishments. The next step invo lves collecting and gathering the relevant information and data regarding the situation. It is apparent that some of the information will be out rightly available whereas some other critical data will need to be actively sought for.  For effectiveness, it is a good principle not to make decisions without critically important information regarding the situation.  Decision-making and problem solving processes are an exceptionally critical part in business.

The role of the female characters. How do they represent the feminist Essay

The role of the female characters. How do they represent the feminist issues that may have been occurring around the time work was written. please include Everyday Use, by Alice Walker - Essay Example It is the commitment by women to achieving equality in the society. There are various type of feminism namely; motherhood, medicine, legal rights, child abuse, working women, and conservative feminism (Walters 21). In this essay therefore I will look at the role of the female charactors and how they represent the feminist issues that may have been occurring around the time work was written. Women characters of the time Walker wrote this piece of work are portrayed to be had working and enthusiastic. After the demise of Mama`s husband and left her to take care of the family on her own, we find her perform different tasks like, during the day she puts on overall to signify the extent at which she works. She is described to be ‘big boned woman with rough, man working hands’. She performs various tasks such as killing and cleaning a hog, breaking ice to get water, milking animals among other duties. This brings the feminist issue of motherhood and of gender equality as the women of this time also played the roles that were perceived to be for the men (Hoffman 31) Women are portrayed as people who are had working and are of high ideals. This is seen in the character traits of Mama who does every thing possible to bring up her two little children despite being the only sole bread winner. She is also seen as a woman of high integrity and stature in the society. She wake up in the morning and puts on her overall ready to start her daily chores. These bring out the them of feminism and how constructive a woman can be in the society. It also implies that women just like men deserve equal rights and treatment. Walker also bring two contrasting lives lived by the two daughters of Mama. Dee is said to live a good lifestyle of the American culture which she acquired following her disappearance after the fire tragedy that burnt their house. On the other hand, Maggie’s life is portrayed to be miserable and is full of tribulations, at first

Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Decision Making - Essay Example From this research it is clear that effective decision-making necessitates that the person making the decision understands the situation driving the decision, recognizes and defines it, identifies alternatives, chooses the best option and then puts it into practice. Problem solving is a logical, goal-oriented process that outlines the action necessary to solve a situation where the actual and expected are differentiated. The situation has no routine solution, or there is a thing that is not satisfactory and recognizes that problem as a chance forcoming up with a solution or decision that ought to be effected by a person or persons and which lastly, and importantly ought to be worthy resolving. The person solving the problem has more or less well defined objective and solution although it is not instantaneously clear how to achieve it.This paper declares that  the decision maker and problem solver ought to comprehend their achievements and desired accomplishments. The next step invo lves collecting and gathering the relevant information and data regarding the situation. It is apparent that some of the information will be out rightly available whereas some other critical data will need to be actively sought for.  For effectiveness, it is a good principle not to make decisions without critically important information regarding the situation.  Decision-making and problem solving processes are an exceptionally critical part in business.

The impact of different regulation regimes on funds performance Essay

The impact of different regulation regimes on funds performance - Essay Example The fixed income securities have the ability to provide regular income, stability and liquidity to the investors and as a result the investors prefers in investing in this kinds of funds. With the advent of these funds investors are relying on its investment as risks are relatively reduced as they receive a fixed dividend after a specified period of time. There are numerous benefits for investing in fixed income securities, which attracts the investors to invest in it. The rules and regulations pertaining to the investments are stringent, which restricts groups of people in investing in these funds. For investing in few fixed income securities registration is required, which becomes a hindrance for common investors. However, the government of individual countries have reduced the compliance burden to a great extent. The retirement fund administrators have to obey the strict legislation the requirements related to the governance of the fund. A personal statement is provided in order g ive the view of the writer regarding the operation of fixed income securities. Fixed income securities are securities, which are defensive in nature and have the capability to provide capital stability, liquidity, income and diversification to the investors. It provides capital stability to growth-oriented asset classes, such as, property and equity. In spite of the advantages portrayed by the fund, it has limited use worldwide. As for example, the investors in Australia do not use this particular fund as fixed income investment, instead they employed other managed funds over the past 23 years. Within this time frame, a proportion of investor’s wealth is allocated to fixed income securities present in Australia. The investments in fixed income funds had, however, declined over the years. During this period of time, the investment made in equities had increased as it is made in cash. Hence, it can be portrayed that

The Gift of Magi Essay Example for Free

The Gift of Magi Essay Country Lovers Alyssa Helm English 125 Instructor: David Makhanlall November 7, 2011 Themes: The Gift of Magi It is always great to read stories where the author is able to show love between two characters. â€Å"The Gift of Magi† was a great example of this. This story showed how a couple’s love was so strong between the two, that they were able to give up their most prize possessions for one another. â€Å"The Gift of Magi† allows the reader to be able to relate to this love story with a heartwarming theme of love vs. material things. As a reader reading this story there were a lot of themes or meanings that this story has. A theme: â€Å"it is not a statement about a dominant impression or mood; it is not a moral or proposition; it is not the attitude of the writer. Theme is more complex than any of these elements of fiction; it cant be defined in a single word† (Clugston, R. W. (2010). The most important would be showing the limits a person would go for someone that they love, even if it means giving up the most important thing to them. Della, with only $1. 7, wanted to make sure that she was able to provide her husband with what she felt would be the best Christmas gift. Della considered her long, brown hair as one of her most prized possessions. But, when it came down to her hair or getting her husband Jim a Christmas gift she did not think twice about cutting it. The twenty dollars that the woman offered her at the hair shop seemed to be just enough for her to be able to purchase the perfect gift. Ther e were many literary elements that contributed to the theme of this story. The first one would be symbols. There are two main symbols that are represented in this story. This would be Della’s long brown hair and her husband Jim’s gold watch. . Had the queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majestys jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy(Clugston, R. W. (2010). These two things are focused on the most in this story. The end result in this story has a twist on it. Della and Jim both bought things to compliment each other’s prized possessions. The focus was mainly put on Della’s hair however at the end of the story it reveals how her husband Jim had sold his watch so that he was able to purchase the hair barrettes that she couldn’t use now because she cut her hair. Della didn’t know what reaction she would get from her husband, she even went home to style her now short hair so that it maybe her husband would accept her drastic cut. The couple did this only to find out at the end of the story that they both got rid of what was most important so they could buy each other a gift for the holidays. The second literary element that would contribute to this them would be the point of view. This story was told in third person. This means that the story contained a narrator. â€Å"Its important to remember that the narrator, whether a character inside the story or one looking on from outside the action, is a voice invented by the author for the purposes of the story. Clugston, R. W. (2010). I feel like with this story it helps set the mood and was able to allow the reader to sympathize with the couple. I say this because the narrator is able to describe in full detail the feelings of each character. We are able to see things that we would not if the character had been telling the story. The narrator is able to provide us with full detail about each facial expression, or feeling that is told. Although this couple was only trying to make sure they each had something for Christmas, I feel like if they had communication they would have been able to avoid losing items that meant the most to them. I totally understand how much it means to be able to buy your loved one something on a holiday, but it’s not always about materialistic things as you have each other. Reference Page 1) Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into Literature.

Concepts of Internet Privacy

Concepts of Internet Privacy Cyberspace and Internet Privacy According to (Choucri Clark, 2013) in the journal of â€Å"Who controls cyberspace† describe a new field of human communication which focused on the Internet and the hundreds of millions of processors the Internet attaches, and the data or information that delivers has become a fundamental and vital feature of society. It forms a new reality for just about each person in the developed world and a rising number in the developing world. In general, few governments practice direct control towards the cyberspace. They can utilize excessive influence by their ability to influence other actors by using regulation, enactment, venture and standards. The actors representing the interests of copyright holders also can’t practice direct control over internet or cyberspace and they must work indirectly through other actors, in particular the Internet service providers or ISP. As the cyberspace as get to be more easy to understand, more individuals are intersection into the computerized separation and securing their advanced personalities. The word cyberspace was coined by the science fiction author William Gibson, a consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts, a graphic representation of data extracted from the banks of every computer in the human system (Bryant, 2001). Gibsons the internet is accordingly not a space of passive information, for example, a library where its correspondence channels associate with this present reality, and permit the internet pilots to communicate with that world. The reference to computer science is imperative in a third admiration where artificial intelligence characterizes itself as a study of data and correspondence, and the internets substrate is definitely the joint system of all current correspondence stations and data s aves joining individuals and machines. Google is a capable, private segment on-screen character whose business is fundamentally focused on the Internet. Google has made an extensive variety of move, both direct and indirect, to utilize purposes of control to impact the character of the Internet. It has created another working framework for cell phones, Android, has created a program called Chrome, and gives YouTube, a standout amongst the most prevalent destinations on the Web. It has its own particular substance conveyance system with worldwide achieve and immediate association with numerous shopper confronting ISPs. In China, the state controls very nearly every choice point in the general methodology of the Internet structure and its key institutional underpinnings, and additionally any takeoffs from endorsed items or methodologies. China has developed a complex socio-technical structure to identify unsatisfactory substance and order its evacuation or change (Choucri and Clark, 2013, p. 27). On the other hand, privacy stresses human dignity and other critical values, for example, freedom of expression and flexibility of discourse. It has wind up being the most key human rights issues of the advanced age. The use of the Internet can affect the security benefits of an individual have in his or her identity or private data. Internet usage causes a huge amount of private information which offers impulses into ones character and identity. Protection as a system for arranging social relationship, especially in the middle of individuals and outside force foundations, has been described in distinctive ways. Privacy may be characterized as the case of people, groups or institutions to determine when, how and to what degree the data about them is conveyed to others (Westin, 1967). The idea of right to be left alone conveyed the conclusion of allow me to be alone to the freestanding, commonly to public and private institutions with ability and power. With the development of new technologies that increase and expand of the gatherers of individual data or information, there need to goings-on to arrange the people relationship with the external environment by providing the single person with control over information about themselves. As such, with the new characteristics of collaborating network media, the elements that are needed to ensure self- autonomy and self -governance also change. Therefore, the concept of privacy changes radically from maintaining passive liberty and freedom from external institutions intervention (Woo, 2006, p. 961). Today, privately owned companies are tracking the equivalent measure of our minutes as they can internet, offering that information or data to different companies who hence thus it to with law implementation and the organization. The equipment they use to do this tracking is developing rapidly and has been able to be particularly advanced, and individuals have unimportant shot of staying educated concerning what is happening when they surf, without taking into consideration making the complex steps imperative to stop this spying. In light of (Rodrigue, 2011) every individual has the right to freedom of expression which incorporates the right to talk, read, and interact, and which includes the right of individuals to use avoidance development and innovative apparatuses. Warren and Brandeis original paper on The Right to Privacy in 1980, drafted during a period when daily papers were printing pictures of individuals surprisingly, characterized the all right to be left alone. Their definition determined by an evolving advancement as is customarily the case with security was concerned with securing the untouched character and including such values as individual pride, specific fundamental toward oneself and opportunity. Freedom of expression, whether implemented by characters or by the media, and the ability to exercise it, is a necessary feature of any open, liberal and democratic society. It is only through practicing free expression that civilizations can sustain real democratic liability (Westin, 1967). In light of (Woo, 2006) a network client is regularly confronted with a decision between surrendering the profits and administrations of the site and giving at any rate a data, on the grounds that the utilization of numerous locales or administration is not permitted unless if different particular data is given out. System anonymity turns into a fundamental piece of keeping up the independence of system exercises. One of the main reasons for observing and monitoring internet users is to disallow violation of knowledgeable property right or to prevent cybercrime. Indeed some software holds secret connections to serves that allow them to pass along with numerous of information and data in regards to when customers utilize the product. Important to concerns of free speech and democracy, anonymity might stay the only way for regular individuals to defend themselves from governments and private sectors active use and profiling of their personal information in the networked environment. Un der the current conditions, the main path for system clients to be guaranteed a base measure of security on the web would be to hide their character or give a false data. Identity theft is one of the quickest developing unlawful acts or crimes. Consumers are getting to be progressively worried about data fraud, especially with the multiplication of e- commerce and banking online. Data fraud and misrepresentation might be a gigantic trouble on the exploited person, both fiscally and mentally. This profoundly ability character criminals use various methods in endeavors to get access to your private data. In a few cases they get data from formations or organizations by taking records, repaying workers who have entry to these records, hacking modernized records, or essentially conning data from representatives. There are other fake practices incorporate skimming and phishing

China and the WTO Essay -- Trade Agricultural Economy Economics Essays

China and the WTO Agricultural Challenges after its Accession to WTO Who is really benefiting from it? The membership of Taiwan Province of China in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the early 1980s contributed to ending China’s isolation of its economy from the world. By 1986, China had started lobbying to be readmitted to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade after it had left it in 1949 when the People’s Republic of China was founded. As the result of 15 years of laborious negotiations, on December 11 2001, China officially became the 143rd member of the World Trade Organization, and while an economy as large as China can cause commotion for developing countries in the short run, it must also be noted that it should benefit China’s trading partners in the long run. While China transitioned from a centrally planned economy to a market-oriented one, its exports grew from $10 billion in 1978 to $278 billion in 2000, making it the sixth largest trading nation in the world (from the original 30th position it enjoyed in the 1970s). The trade-to-GDP ratio, (often called the trade openness ratio, is the average share of exports and imports of goods and services in GDP) increased from a 10% to about a 40% in the late 1990s. China’s inflows of foreign direct investment, which according to the IMF may lead developing countries to regard it as the private capital inflow of choice, reached $47 billion in 2000, second in size only to the United States. Because it’s inevitable that the inclusion of China to the global economy will lead to shifts in the world production, trade, investment and employment, there have been provisions in China’s Protocol of Accession to WTO (which requires resolution of ... ...Urban-rural Income Gap Li Shi, Yue Ximing http://www.caijing.com.cn/english/2004/040220/040220coverstory.htm China’s Agriculture: New developments since the WTO Entry Tan Xingyu, A.Lei www.china-pictorial.com Chinese Academy of Social Sciences CASS www.cass.net.cn Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD http://www1.oecd.org/publications/e-book/92-2003-04-1-7294/C.2.1.htm International Monetary Fund, IMF What will WTO Membership mean for China and its trading Partners? Ramesh Adhikari and Yongzheng Yang http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2002/09/adhikari.htm Comrades or Competitors? Trade Links Between China and Other East Asian Economies. By Prakash Loungani http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2000/06/loungani.htm The American Society of International Law http://www.asil.org/insights/insigh13.htm

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place Essay example -- Literary Analysis, Ernest

â€Å" A Clean, Well-Lighted Place† by Ernest Hemingway is a simplistic short story in which he narrates a scene in a Cafe, where the main characters are two waiters and an old man. In the story, Hemingway hardly created a background for his characters, but this was part of his minimalist writing style. He wanted to create a story that was straightforward to the reader, and in which the reader could easily understand his attitude. His purpose for writing the story was to expose his feelings on society, politics, and the individual at the time. These feelings could be characterized by three main words: desperation, disillusionment, and loneliness. Through all of the characters in his story, the reader was able to obtain one of these feelings. However, when I read the story I wanted to know more about the characters to be able to establish a connection with them. I wanted to know how and why did each of them acquired those feelings? Therefore, I decided to change the point of vi ew of the story from third- person- limited to first- person. Unlike Hemingway, I included more personal details about one of the main characters, in this case the old man, whom I consider to be the most mysterious character of the three. This way, I could make the reader relate more to the emotions conveyed by the story. Consequently, by showing the reader the old man's background, I made Hemingway's attitude of his original story stronger, and also establish a connection between the reader and the character(s). However, I also had to modify some of the plot, and language to make my scene coherent and relevant to my point of view. The most drastic change I made to Hemingway’s short story was the change of point of view from third- person- limited to first -per... ... When I first read â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place† by Ernest Hemingway, I thought that I lacked a connection to the story. I did not feel like I knew the characters, which left me with no connection to them and intrigued me as well, especially the old man. Why did Hemingway leave out backgrounds to his characters? This motivated me to write my scene through the old man's point of view. I felt that with the change of point of view to first- person, the reader would feel more attracted to the story, and at the same time I could keep Hemingway’s attitude of despair and disillusionment intact, maybe even make it stronger. With my part of the puzzle, I felt more at peace with his original story, and I was able to establish a relationship between Hemingway (as a writer) and me (as a reader). I was able to experience his motivation for writing â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place†.

Case Study and Mu Sigma

Instructions for solving the case study Thank you for your interest in Mu Sigma. Congratulations on being selected for the next round of your interview process. During this round, you will be required to solve a case study. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Please read the case study thoroughly. This is an illustrative business case – an example of a business problem you will be expected to help our clients solve while at Mu Sigma. You have 2 days (48 hours) to solve the case study. Please send your final presentation to victor. [email  protected] com Please do not contact anyone in Mu Sigma (including the email ID above) about this case study. Candidates who are found guilty of doing so will be disqualified from the process. You are free to use any publicly available sources of information (Google, Financial Reports, Case Studies etc. ) Feel free to make any assumptions that are required. But please call out the assumptions clearly. Present your solution in the form of a short power poin t deck (at most 9-10 slides).The deck will be assessed on various metrics including thoroughness of research, methodology, attention to detail, quality of presentation and innovativeness. Shortlisted candidates will be called for an in person interview. You are free to make any further changes to the presentation until the day of the final presentation. Good luck!! Project Brief The company is telecommunications provider in Europe and Latin America. Operating globally, it is the third largest provider in the world. One of its subsidiaries has a subscriber base 1. M out of which 70% of the base is Prepaid. The annual churn rate for the Prepay base is around 30%. It has been losing its high value customers as part of churners leading to reduction in overall revenue. YoY there has been a 10% drop in the ARPU. Presently there are five existing segment schemes to bucket subscribers along dimensions such as tenure, usage etc. It wants to identify: 1) Factors affecting churn 2) Effect of c hurn on revenue 3) Impact of segment profile on churn mitigation

Defining Social Problems

A distinction is made between the definition of a social problem and sociological problem by Peter Worsley (1972). The latter refers to the problem of explaining social behaviour in terms of a sociological theory, whilst the former is some piece of social behaviour that causes public friction and or private misery and calls for collective action to solve it. The study of social problems is a complex and very controversial undertaking. Broadly speaking, this is not understandable to the average layman whose concepts of what constitutes a social problem is firmly established by the rhetoric of his/hers everyday social discourse and indeed the classification of acts or situations as social problems seem to be a relatively simple exercise. It is becoming more and more evident by present day sociologists and social scientists alike the complexities involved in defining, identifying and classifying a social situation as a social problem. This process has far-reaching implications on the focus, scope and projected recommendations of studies conducted of a particular social situation. There are two major conceptualizations of defining a social situation as a social problem. The first is centered around the self-explanatory phase â€Å"public opinion approach†. This approach contends that a â€Å"social problem cannot exist for a society unless it is recognized by that society to exist† (Blumer, 1971) the inference here is that it is the members of the society that define and construct their social reality and that via socialization these interpretations of societal phenomena and value consensus is conveyed to the offspring. Individuals and social situations that do not conform to the norms and values of society are often viewed as social problems. In Blumer's definition of social problem he uses a broad concept of society but fails to further refine his definition. Merton writing in Contemporary Social Problems also utilizes in his definition of what is a social problem the broad and in my opinion ambiguous term â€Å"people†. His definition of social problems is as follows â€Å"a social definition exists when there is a sizeable discrepancy between what is and what people think ought to be†. One discovers that each society has their own conceptualizations and interpretations of their social world and furthermore as contemporary sociologists, namely M. G. Smith and his pluralist model of society (adapted from the research of J. Furnival of Burma), have suggested different fractions of society have competing and contrasting ideologies. The use of such terms suggests social union and cohesion of meanings and oversimplifies the above mentioned complexities of societies. A branching school of thought emerging from the public-opinion approach in the defining of social problems is in my opinion the quantitative approach. Perhaps realizing the aforementioned pitfalls of the definition proposed by Blumer and Merton some sociologist have attempted to further refine their definitions by assigning a seemingly quantitative value to them. Sheppard and Voss's definition is critiqued by Manis [Contemporary Social Problems] They define a social problem as â€Å"a social condition which a large proportion of society †¦ see as undesirable or in need of attention† Here the quantitative term â€Å"large proportion of society† refines the initial term â€Å"society† and â€Å"people† utilized in the definition of Blumer and Merton respectively. Julian writing in Social Problems, 10th edition, too in his definition utilizes the term † significant proportion of people†, Kornblum includes the term â€Å"most people† and likewise Fuller and Myers in their book The Natural History of a social problem, â€Å"American Sociological Review' quantifies his definition by added the term † a considerable number of people†. Though the inclusion of some additional factor concentrates the overall definition of what is a social problem it still does not give a full representation of the other forces at work that lead to a social condition being classified as a social problem. We have moved from the ambiguity of the term â€Å"society† to saying that it's the majority who decide or define social problems. The supporters of the public opinion approach contend that this approach limits the subjectivity of the researcher. Turner and Beeghley believe that by relying on the public's conceptualization of what constitutes a social problem that the sociologist remain neutral and value-free thereby playing a passive rather than active role in the process of defining social problems, since he/she is unable to impose his values, morals and ethnics. Gross dismisses the proposed objective rational proposed by the supporters of the public-opinon approach. He believes that for the sociologist even to interpret a public response to a social situation as negative or positive, good or bad is in itself a value judgment! This method of defining social problems is not as value free and objective as Beeghley and Tuner insinuate. If one is to speak of the majority, then what of the minority. In all fairness some public-opinion supporters have attempted to address this aspect of the debate around the definition of social problems. Sheppard and Voss have included in their definition the point that not only is a social problem defined by the â€Å"large proportion of society† but by â€Å"powerful elements of it† who see a social condition as undesirable and in need of attention. Julian makes an intuitive juxtaposition of the words to further develop this point. In his definition he contends that a social problem is so defined when â€Å"a significant number of people or a number of significant people† †¦ agree that the condition violates an accepted value or standard†¦. It confuses the definition somewhat since one is unable to determine whether the values of the majority are the ones violated by the social condition and it is thus defined as a social problem or if a social problem is so defined because the accepted values of the powerful (assumption here is that individuals who share the same social status or class have the same values) have been threatened. In the book, Defining Social Problems, there is considerable evidence to suggest that power groups play a significant role in the defining of social problems. Here the writer contends, and correctly so, that a social problem can exist for a number of years and still not be classified or acknowledged as a social problem! A social problem is said to ‘exist when an influential group asserts that a certain social condition affecting a large group of people is a problem that may be remedied by collective action. ‘ This introduces the concept that social problems are ‘subjective, value-laden and culturally informed' a point contested by Manis. Furthermore it's the influence of the power groups derived from their ‘strength, status or sheer number of people' that have significantly impacted on social policy at the national level. The example given was centered around the hysteria of the milk cartoon kids. There arose in the 1950's in the USA an outcry against the seemingly stark increase in the number of kidnappings. This caused a mass hysteria and this ‘social problem' was deemed acute and severe enough to warrant an increase in police surveillance at schools. The situation was not a real social condition but it was considered as such. This is one of the primary concerns of Manis whereby subjectivity in the definition of a social problem may lead to falsehoods. He suggests rather an objective approach which he labels the ‘knowledge values of science'. He links social facts to values and devises an approach to defining social problems based on: intrinsic values, contextual values and social responsibility values. By utilizing his method, he contends, ensures objective results by the sociologist. Though not part of the Marx theory, the labeling theory in this case exists alongside and supports the theory that power groups play a significant role in defining social problems. Howard Becker was instrumental in the development of the labeling theory. Pierre Bordeaux, a Marxist, studied the education system extensively and acknowledges the ability of the powerful to impose their definition of reality on others. The controversy surrounding the definition of social problems is still going strong. Some may ask why is it important to understand how a social situation is classified as a social problem. The implementation of social policies affects everyone and some policies may not always be to our benefit. For example the Mass Marriage Movement in Jamaica looked to encourage couples to marry because some British sociologists thought that single-parent families were having adverse effects on their children and this was considered a problem. Through the research of dedicated Caribbean sociologist we know differently. In conclusion, I adapt the view points of Merton and Roberts, Contempory Social Problems, that social problems ‘vary among societies and it varies in the same society among social groups and from time to time, since both the social realities and the social norms differ and change. Fuller and Myers to develop a rather accommodating definition of a social problem. They wrote ‘Every social problem thus consists of an objective and a subjective definition. The objective condition is a verifiable condition which can be checked as to the existence and magnitude by impartial and trained observers†¦. The subjective definition is the awareness of certain individuals that the condition is a threat to cherished values. ‘

Principle of Retribution for International Crimes Essay

Principle of Retribution for International Crimes - Essay Example h. Without a coherent philosophical theory of criminal punishment to justify international criminal justice, the mere authority or "permission" to apply a set of norms to international criminals remains vacuous. If such trials cannot provide substantive justice in a philosophically meaningful sense, they are more deeply flawed than any procedural objection would reveal. (John, 2001) The idea that all criminals should be punished for their illicit deeds, regardless of their political position, is at the heart of the modern international criminal law regime. The former argues that the benefits, over either the short or long run, of punishing people such as Goring or Saddam Hussein in a legal forum justify such trials. Such thinkers point to the usual battery of utilitarian arguments for punishment: deterring future crimes, establishing a historical record of the criminal acts, reforming lawbreakers, providing a sense of closure to their victims, and so forth The other, more abstract view declares that justice itself demands that these people be punished independent of any harmful or beneficial consequences that may arise from their trial. For retributivists, other benefits of punishment, though desirable in themselves, are morally insignificant. It is the latter view that is the only valid justification for trying the unique sorts of crimes that the international courts have been designed to handle. (Larry, 2005) Arnaud does not argue for the philosophical soundness of retributivism as such, nor he defendes the philosophical legitimacy of war-crimes trials in general. Specifically, he stated that one cannot make sense out of the intuitions, values, and beliefs that stand behind the current movement toward international criminal trials and war-crimes trials (or their shared ideology, if you will (Arnaud 2004, 1) unless one understands it to be rooted in a retributivist theory of punishment. While the term "ideology" is a loaded one, it nonetheless captures the point: the ideology standing behind modern international criminal law and the laws of war displays a noted bias in favor of the retributivist principles articulated by Kant (among others). Ultimately, war-crimes trials do not provide the greatest happiness for the greatest number. (Christopher 2002, 43-61) Despite some important philosophical differences among individual thinkers, retributivists share some common central beliefs. For these thinkers, the rationale for punishment is "metaphysical" in character in the sense that it is rooted in abstract principles of justice and right. Justice is the independent, nonmaterial motivation for punishment, and it serves as the sole determining ground for punishment. Punishment by a court (poena forensis) ... can never be inflicted merely as a

Hitchens Rationality of Atheism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hitchens Rationality of Atheism - Essay Example And this puts the entire question of creation as proscribed by the religions a tall claim. Religion has been a major promoter of violence through out the world. Every one of the religions has fought their own 'crusades' for their own sacred places. How, he argues, is that there is difference between on location and the other on the surface of the earth He cites numerous examples where this has happened all over the world in the name of religions, be it Catholics, Hindus, Muslims or Jews. Similarly, the mad faiths people have on the religions have led them to take to unwanted assumptions and blind faiths. He quotes Heinrich Heine, 'In dark ages people are guided by religion, as in a pitch black night a blind man is the best guide; he knows the roads and the paths better than a man who can see. When daylight comes, however, it is foolish to use blind old men for guides'. Most of the religions, according to him, promise punishments for sexual expletives any person might involve in. If sex is abhorred why was it that God had to have it at all God who was the all powerful creator, could have easily redesigned the entire evolution if he did not want human race to indulge in something like that. According to him, the 'creators' of religions, man, have done it to their advantage and to subjugate half of the human population to their control. And most of the monotheistic religions, preach that human beings are sinners and that they need to supplicate to God every day as under a monarch. Faiths in religion, religious dogmas and in astrology are all badly placed. Aristotle pointed out that twins do not have the same future whereas as per astrology they should be having almost similar future. All these arguments are presented by the author in support of atheism. Section 2: Critique of Hitchen's God is not Great. Your perception and evaluation of Hitchen's argument seems to be on the wrong premise. Hitchen declares himself as anti-theist and not atheist to start with. Though the title talks of God, in his book he is not presenting himself as a person anti to God. Therefore, we need not look for evidence in the book for arguments anti to God. As an anti-theism person, he is opposing the practices of theism as we know it. Theism and the dogmas of theism are laid down millenniums back and to say that they fit into the current situation does not belong to the scientific thinking. I think the litmus test has been wrongly applied and the perception of the author has not been taken into consideration. Applying the rule 1, denial of what is known is irrational, we could easily see and the author establishes starting from a number of scientific principles how the religious dogmas have criticized and crucified people who stood up with new ideas. Whether it is that earth goes round the sun or that witch craft does not exist, the principles of the religious theism did not allow reconsideration of their thoughts. It denied the known facts of the case. There are number of cases where Hitchen substantiates, theism has denied known scientific facts. Theism fails in the first test itself. Theism fails in the second test too. Whether it is the crusades or the creation of Israel at the end of the Second World War, theism has only created death and destruction in the name of religion. The belief in what is preached by theism has not led the people to rational living is what is the argument of

Social Work and the Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Social Work and the Law - Case Study Example In other instances, abuse reports from hospital visits were ignored and the child was returned to her abusers. The Timeline article noted that three social workers were sacked after a public inquiry by Lord Laming found them guilty of negligence. Since Victoria's death, there has been an upheaval in reforms to protect children, young people and vulnerable adults, especially in the areas of social work and the government in the UK. Under the Children's Act of 2004 (Smith 2005), legislation in the following areas has been introduced: physical and mental health, emotional well being, protection from harm and neglect, education training and recreation, contributions by children to society, and social and economic well being. The question becomes whether these generalized areas can become focused enough to matter. Studies indicate that the basic areas affected by the Act are the rights of children through the revised Mental Health Act; needs of pupils through Qualification and Curriculum Authority (QCA)__related to the number of new international family arrivals; disability awareness training; the Education Act 2005; help for people with dementia through the International Health Study related to quality of life; the need for new legislation prohibiting discrimination because of sexual orientation, and the effort to balance work and life in the community (Background 2006). This is an ambitious enterprise, but given past history, it is not likely that the Children Act 2004 will resolve all of the issues in conflict. There is presently a two-year assessment underway funded by the Nuffield Foundation which began in October 2004 and will continue to September 2006. The assessment is based on the Human Rights Act of 1998 which brought the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into UK domestic law, and the purpose is to determine anti-discriminatory measures available under the Equality Bill which extend to children and young people (All Party Parliamentary 2005). One concern in the Climbi inquiry was allegation of racism. Victoria was African and spoke little English (Timeline 2003). At present, no police officers criticised by the inquiry have lost their jobs, and one of the social workers involved has been allowed to resume working with children (Climbi Inquiry 2005). With anti-discrimination a key concern in the UK and Blacks, ethnic minorities and the disabled the focus of many reforms underway, the social aims of the UK government are commendable, but one wonders if they can actually chan ge public perception in a way that creates a safe environment for children. The policies contained in the law have weaknesses. The Equality Bill allows for enforcement against anti-discriminatory actions, but, according to the Child Impact Statement, "its powers in relation to the Human Rights Act 1998 are primarily promotional." Clause 9(2)(a) of the Equality Bill defines human rights as ECHR rights specifically, though subsection (b) enables the new Commission on Equality and Human Rights to exercise its functions in respect of other human rights. This could include the UN Convention on the Rights of the

Operating Systems Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Operating Systems - Research Paper Example There are several and diverse components of an operating system that include but not limited to the file management, security, memory and process management. It is worthwhile to compare each operating system to evaluate and assess the above given components of an operating system. The following paragraphs present the comparison of basic operating systems with respect to the above given features (Solomon, Russinovich & Polze, 2006). The file management system refers to the organization, management and manipulation of computer data in documents and files that is provided by the file manager (different with respect to the operating system) through a graphical user interface. The computer documents and files can be created, edited (existing file), viewed and deleted from the computer memory as well as the files can be arranged in computer directories / folders. The process of file management differs with respect to the operating system as presented in the following paragraphs (Goel, 2010). There are several file managers used by Microsoft Windows only that include but not limited to the Altap Salamander, FAR Manager, File Manager, Windows Explorer etc. The files are placed in the folders and the index contains the file information known as File Allocation Table (FAT). One of the latest file management systems of the Windows is the New Technology File System (NTFS). The NTFS store owner name, it provides POSIX file permissions, creation timestamps, last access timestamp, and last content modification timestamp. The Mac operating system uses the file managers that include: the Disk Order, Finder, Path Finder, and Xfile. The Disk order file manager provides the graphical user interface and shows the files as list view and twin panel view only. The Finder and Path Finder file managers show the icon, list view, panel view,

Creation vs. Evolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Creation vs. Evolution - Essay Example The design of the world demonstrates that there should be the designer and the humans are the key source of information to support this idea. The first movements in favor of creationism were defined as American Fundamentalist Protestantism. They started early in the nineteenth century as an opposition to the theories of Charles Darwin. His theories were perceived as a direct threat to the Biblical writings and were thought to lead to the moral decay. The movement re-appeared in the after World War I period and creationists demanded the passage of the law to prohibit public school instruction about Darwin's evolution (Larson, 19). The manifestation of the movement in favor of creationism was the famous Monkey Trial (Scopes v State, 1927). It was the first time the evolution-creation arguments were presented in the court. The ruling was against the biology teacher who was convicted in teaching evolutionism. For the next 20 years, scientists have failed to provide enough arguments to gain the dominance in the court. As the result, publishers of the biology books have taken out all of the information about evolution, Darwin's theory was not taught at schools, and even the name of the theory was avoided. However, after the Soviet Union has launched its first satellite in 1957 the evolutionists awaked and managed to pass the National Defense Education Act (1959) under which the Biological Sciences with chapters on evolution and Darwin's theory were placed in the books again. Moreover, the teacher Susan Epperson has appealed to the court with the request to turn down the ruling in Scopes v State. In the case Epperson v. Arkansas the court has ruled in favour of evolution. The ruling was based on the idea that prohibiting teachers from teaching the theory of evolution (doctrine that man ascended from the lower order animals) and exclusion of the textbooks containing chapters on the theory was unlawful (Gilkey, 48). The fact that the theory of evolution has contradicted the belief in the lines written in the Book of Genesis does not make the Bible the exclusive source of doctrine on the origin of human kind. In addition, the First Amendment prohibits the requirement to teach subjects of any religious dogmas in public schools. However, it is important to understand that students should be aware about the evolution theory of Darwin as well as about the Biblical version of creation. The question is not whether or not evolution should be taught at school, but rather which story has valid basis. As the result, the creationists have succeeded in requiring the equal time for Biblical and scientific studies. Interestingly, until the passage of Arkansas Act 590 named "Balanced Treatment for Creation - Science and Evolution- Science Act" the definitions of creation and evolution have never been referred to. Paul Ellwanger, the head of the Citizens for Fairness in Education, has provided both definitions. Thus, the creation -science is scientific

Jack Nicklaus biography and he's impact on society Essay

Jack Nicklaus biography and he's impact on society - Essay Example The Introduction of tournaments like Jack Nicklaus International invitation has motivated golf lovers with different skill levels to participate and to enhance the popularity of the game. Nicklaus himself was the most dominant personality among the golfers of his generation who has taken efforts to bring the sport of golf to the forefront. Jack Nicklaus-The golf legend Jack Nicklaus was born in Ohio on 21st of January 1962 and he started playing gold at the age of ten and even at this stage he showed immense talent and the rise of a promising player was in progress even from his childhood. The world witnessed an irresistible growth of Nicklaus over the finest golf players like Arnold palmer, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller and Tom Watson in the next three decades. Nicklaus had eighteen professional and two armature wins in his golf career along with nineteen second and nine third place finishes. He has been ranked among the top ten players in 73 majors which constitute almost half of the successive majors he participated. Only five golf players in the world hold the record to win all the four major titles and Nicklaus became successful in obtaining this glorious achievement (Mackintosh 163). It is better to have a look in to the achievements of Jack’s golf career in order to get a clear picture of his extra ordinary talent as a golf player. He won six masters title in 1963, 1965, 1966 1972, 1975 and 1986, five PGA Championships in1963, 1971, 1973, 1975 and 1980, three British Opens in 1966, 1970 and 1978, and four U S Opens in 1962, 1967, 1972 and 1980. These tournaments are considered to be the key ones of professional golf. Nicklaus is the only one to hold the record for three time wins of all these four major tournaments. The list of his victories is pretty long and apart from the major tournament victories he won seventy one PGA Tours and achieved fifty eight second and thirty six third places. He also won five World Series of Golf titles, six numbers of Australian Opens, six Rider Cup appearances and many more victories around the world. Jack Grout discovered the abilities of Nicklaus for the first time and he took Nicklaus to the Scioto Country Club in Columbus his performance was very well appreciated by Senead, the defending champion of that period. Bobby Johns a legendary golf player of the era had made comment on the talent of the fifteen year old Nicklaus as â€Å"he plays a game with which I am totally unfamiliar,† which shows the expectations that golfers had regarding the future of Nicklaus (Mackintosh 164). The determination and a genuine desire to strive towards perfection always prompted Jack Nicklaus to look introspectively and question whether â€Å"he was making the proper adjustments to correct his swing technique during rounds when his play was inconsistent† (Shaw 86). It was this dedication, sincerity and hard work that made him an unchallenged champion in golf. Nicklaus turned professional after his victory in the 1961 U S Armature championship. In the year 1962, Nicklaus won U S Open title which was the first achievement in his professional golf career and in 1963 he won the Masters title and became the first ever golfer to achieve a

Target Corporation Essay Example for Free

Target Corporation Essay Operator Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Target Corporation’s Fourth Quarter Earnings Release Conference Call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded Wednesday, February 26, 2014. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Gregg Steinhafel, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead. Gregg Steinhafel Chairman, President and CEO Good morning, and welcome to our 2013 fourth quarter earnings conference call. On the line with me today are Kathy Tesija, Executive Vice President of Merchandising; and John Mulligan, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. This morning, I will provide a high level summary of our fourth quarter results and strategic priorities for the year ahead, and Kathy will discuss category results, guest insights, and the holiday season. And finally, John will provide more detail on our financial performance, along with our financial outlook for 2014. Following John’s remarks, we’ll open the phone lines for a question-and-answer session. As a reminder, we are joined on this conference call by investors and others who are listening to our comments via webcast. Following this conference call, John Hulbert and John Mulligan will be available throughout the day to answer any follow-up questions you may have. Also as a reminder, any forward-looking statements that we make this morning are subject to risks and uncertainties, the most important of wh ich are described in the 8-K we filed this morning. Finally, in these remarks, we refer to adjusted earnings per share, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. A reconciliation to our GAAP results is included in this morning’s press release posted on our Investor Relations website. Target’s fourth quarter financial results reflect better than expected U.S segments performance in the first three weeks of the holiday season, followed by meaningfully softer results, following our December 19th announcement that criminals had gained access to guest payment card data in our U.S stores. In total, fourth quarter comparable sales decreased 2.5% consistent with our updated guidance in January. Throughout the quarter our  team managed the business extremely well, adjusting both inventory and expenses to match the rapidly changing pace of sales. As a result, our US operations generated fourth quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.30 at the high-end of the updated guidance we provided in January. In Canada, we worked diligently to leverage holiday traffic in an effort to clear excess inventory. Markdowns resulting from this effort drove a very low gross margin rate, but allowed us to reduce average inventory per store in Canada by approximately 30% between the beginning and end of the fourth quarter. Canadian segment EPS dilution was $0.40 in the quarter, $0.05 better than the updated guidance we provided in January. We are pleased that our early cycle Canadian stores have seen the most improvement giving us confidence that we will continue to see continued improvement across all our Canadian stores in 2014. Fourth quarter GAAP EPS of $0.81 reflects U.S and Canadian segment performance along with costs related to our recent restructuring in data breach along with small accounting and tax matters. As we work to address the impact of the mid-December data breach, we have put the welfare of our guests at the center of every decision we’ve made. We have communicated in early and often providing the best information we had about new facts in ongoing on the ongoing investigation. We consistently assured our guests that they would have zero liability for any unauthorized charges on their card accounts resulting from the breach. We increased fraud detection for REDcard holders and extended free credit monitoring and identity theft protection for any guests who has ever shopped one of our U.S stores. We are truly sorry for the impact this breach has had on our guests, team members and other stakeholders and I want to reiterate that we are committed for making things right. We know these initial steps are part of a longer process. We continue to listen to our guests and we know that this incident and recent security breaches at other companies have shaken their confidence in both Target and the U.S payment system more broadly. To rebuild guest confidence, we’re committed to an end-to-end review in cooperation with third-party experts to understand how the breach occurred, the identification and acceleration of solutions to provide enhanced protection in the future and engagement with third-party experts to protect the industry and consumers from future threats. Accordingly, were taking the following steps. We are conducting an end-to-end forensic investigation  of our processes, systems and personnel to make informed decisions on potential security enhancements. We are accelerating the adoption of advanced chip enabled technology, investing more than $100 million to equip our stores and to issue Target branded smart chip credit and debit cards. We have long supported this more secured technology; a broad adoption in the U.S market has been elusive. We believe that recent events will help the industry to reach a tipping point to an accelerated option in the U.S and we are investing to ensure that Target is a clear leader in driving this change. We are working collaboratively with a broad set of stakeholders in the payment card space including banks, retailers, trade associations, payment processors and networks to share in advance best practices and foster future innovation. We helped launch and will be an active leader in retail industry, cyber security and data privacy initiative. In addition, we are investing $5 million in a new coalition with the Better Business Bureau and National Cyber Security Alliance and the National Cyber Forensics and Training Alliance to advance public education around cyber security and the dangers of consumer scams. While we cant yet assess the full impact of this crime against Target and our guests, we’re pleased that sales have started to recover from the trends we observed following breach related announcements in December and January. Importantly, because we’re in a strong financial position, we expect to absorb any near-term financial impacts while continuing to invest in projects that are key to our long-term success. Our Company has a long history of innovation, disciplined management, and a strong long-term financial performance and we are committed to upholding the principles which has have sustained this Company success for many decades. And while 2013 was a disappointing year financially, we have entered the New Year with the right plans in place to grow profitably and generate meaningfully improved financial performance in 2014 and beyond. In the U.S., we have demonstrated our ability to manage the business with discipline and generate strong financial performance even in a challenging environment. In fact, Kathy will outline in more detail we were very pleased with our holiday season results prior to the announcement of the data breach. In preparation for fourth quarter, we may change this to our holiday promotion and marketing and we were pleased that our in stocks were running at all-time highs. As a result, U.S segment fourth quarter  sales were running ahead of plan prior to December 19th. Looking ahead, we will apply the insights we gained in the holiday season to connect with our guests at delivering merchandize and promotions thoughtfully designed to appeal to them based on whats on their mind at each poi nt in the year, moving Target beyond compelling, to becoming irresistible for our guests. We made enormous progress in our multichannel efforts throughout 2013 as we meaningfully increased conversion both on our website and on our mobile apps. We acquired Chefs Catalog, Cooking.com and Dermstore, extending our online assortment by providing our guests access to additional high-end brands in key home and beauty categories. We launched Cartwheel, our unique mobile savings tool which has far exceeded expectations in both adoption and engagement and we accelerated our investments in flexible fulfillment. As a result, throughout the year, growth in our digital traffic and sales outpaced industry averages. We launched in-store pick up chain-wide at the beginning of November and with very little marketing, this new offering became a meaningful driver of digital traffic and sales. Our store teams did an outstanding job delivering great service when guests arrived to pick up these orders and this is particularly impressive since we launched the service during the busiest time of t he year. We will continue to invest in systems, data and processes to enhance our flexible fulfillment capabilities in 2014 and beyond. In our stores we are committed to enhancing the guest experience by adding dedicated service to key categories like beauty, baby and electronics and by providing training and technology that allows our stores team to go beyond providing basic service to solving problems for our guests. And were continuing to pilot innovations to our store formats. Based on the initial rollout of the CityTarget format and the high single digit comparable sales were seeing in our second year CityTarget stores, were analyzing opportunities to redeem the size and enhance the flexibility of this format opening up a wider universe of potential sites in dense urban areas. While on the work on CityTarget continues, weve also developed a separate smaller format called Target Express at about 15% of the size of one of our general merchandize stores, we believe this design provides us w ith a fantastic opportunity to expand into new trade areas providing a convenient solution to guests who can easily visit one of our other formats. While we expect to offer a carefully curated assortment in frequency  categories like food, health care, beauty and other household essentials, Target Express will also offer discretionary categories including home, electronics and seasonal. Throughout the store we will feature our own brands which offer guests an unbeatable combination of quality and price. We plan to open our first pilot location of this format here in our home market in July so we can carefully study both operational and financial results before we determine our plans to expand this format to other markets. Throughout the organization we continue to find new opportunities to optimize expenses, freeing up resources we can apply to new initiatives. In 2013 our teams saved approximately $200 million by reprioritizing their activities and finding more efficient ways to get things done. Our expense optimization efforts are not a short-term project but a complete overall of the way we work and the team continues to fi nd new opportunities. As a result, we expect the benefit of our expense optimization efforts to reach $1 billion in annualized savings by 2015. Im proud that our entire team has embraced this effort to transform how we work. In Canada the team has moved from a year focused on opening a record number of stores to optimizing the business in run state. As we enter 2014 with a much cleaner inventory position, the teams number one operational focus is on in-stocks, ensuring we have the right quantity of each item in the right place at the right time. In addition, we continue to invest in technology and training to enhance both the tools our team uses and their ability to deploy them most effectively. Were also continuing to implement innovative marketing and merchandizing programs in Canada to raise awareness for our frequency categories like grocery, household essentials, beauty and healthcare. Throughout 2014 we will focus on conveying the depth and breadth of our assortment in those categories and the unbeatable value we provide to our everyday pricing, 5% of the awards, price match and our flier. With enhanced guest awareness of our unbeatable prices combined with the benefit of improved operations, we expect guest shopping frequency to build throughout 2014, driving improvement in sales and profitability. While 2013 will clearly be remembered as the challenging year, I am proud of teams efforts to transform our business and position the company for long-term success. And I want to sincerely thank the Target team for their tireless effort to help our guests recover from the data breach. While there is much more work  to be done, Im inspired by their singular focus on our guests and making things right. As a result, Im confident we will look back on this incident and see that we emerged from it even stronger than before. Now Kathy will provide more detail on our fourth quarter results and key initiatives as we enter 2014. Kathy? Kathy Tesija EVP, Merchandising Thanks, Gregg. In our last conference call, we outlined our plans for the holiday season and mentioned that fourth quarter sales were on track through the first half of November. As we progressed through Black Friday week and the first two weeks of December, guests continued to respond to our promotions and sales ran ahead of our plan. Following the data breach announcement and the rapid change in the pace of our sales, the team reacted quickly making nimble adjustments to minimize our excess inventory. This quick response allowed us to end the year with a clean inventory position. And while our fourth quarter gross margin reflected the addition of clearance activity resulting from the sales slowdown, our team did a great job minimizing the impact. As we built our holiday plans, our goal was to cut through the clutter and reach our guests with compelling offers on exciting merchandize, specifically we aligned our weekly deals and events so guests were receiving a clear message across all channels. And because our guests are budget conscious and love to find deals, we intentionally layered promotions across our circular, cartwheel and our catalog to provide unbeatable value. We used our direct channels to drive urgency at key points of the season and we offered more broad attention-getting promotions like 40% off sweaters. Consistent with past years, we featured hot deals on key items but attracted more attention by offering deeper discounts on fewer items and we were very pleased with the guest response. For the quarter overall, our non-discretionary categories generally saw the strongest sales performance. However, on our more discretionary categories electronics saw an increase in fourth quarter comparable sales led by mobile phones, tablets and video game hardware and software. We also saw relative strength in our sporting goods and housewares categories. Digital channels had a very strong holiday season. Thanksgiving was our biggest digital sales day ever with mobile devices accounting for a full 25% of those sales. We were recently recognized as having the most browsed app by a smartphone and tablet in 2013  and Mobile Commerce Daily just named T arget Mobile Retailer and Commerce Website of the Year. This is the second time weve been named Mobile Retailer of the Year and were pleased to be the only retailer to be honored with the award twice. An important factor in our digital success was the fourth quarter rollout of the opportunity to buy online and pick up in-store. In-store pick up requests represented about 10% of fourth quarter digital orders but they peaked at a much higher rate before Christmas as guests relied on the service as a great solution for last-minute gift shopping. About 30% of store visits to pick up an online order resulted in store shopping on that same trip and the size of that store transaction was much larger than an average store trip. While weve rolled out the capabilities with an external commitment to have orders ready in four hours or less, our team quickly attained our internal goal to have most orders ready in one hour or better. Our survey showed consistently high levels of guest satisfaction with this service and this capability has accelerated our mobile conversion rates. Were also pleased with the continued growth of Cartwheel, our digital savings app, which ended 2013 with over 5 million users who have already saved more than $43 million. Younger guests are particularly engaged by Cartwheel as more than half of its users are Millennials, a much higher percentage than they represent in our overall guest base. Redemption rates on Cartwheel are more than 10 times higher than DC and other direct channels like receipt marketing and email and our analysis indicate that its driving incremental trips and sales. Our pre-Black Friday deals resulted in one of the biggest days ever for Cartwheel as they drove one-third of our active users into Target stores on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We continue to work to enhance the Cartwheel experience. We recently added the ability to scan bar codes to find out if theres a Cartwheel deal on an item and added the capability to sign up for Cartwheel directly through a Target account and email while continuing to provide access to the App through Facebook. As Gregg mentioned, we continue to listen to our guests to understand how we can help them move beyond the data breach and feel confident in shopping at Target. While sales have started to recover in recent weeks and sentiment metrics have begun to improve most notably among our best guests. We continu e to invest to ensure this recovery continues. Beyond our efforts in data  security and chip enabled technology were applying insights from the holiday season to make our merchandise stores and digital channels even more irresistible to our guests. We continue to innovate in ways that differentiate both our product assortments and the guest experience, and we’re investing in pricing and promotions to make our value proposition even stronger. We’re very pleased with the response to Peter Pilotto for Target our most recent designer partnership which launched earlier this month. This collection which features a limited edition assortment of women’s apparel, accessories and swimwear is available at most of our U.S. and Canadian stores and on target.com. We have also partnered with Net-a-Porter.com to offer a curated assortment of the collection to fans across the globe. With lots of social media buzz we a saw long lines outside many of our urban stores on the morning of the launch, and the collection quickly became Net-a-Porter’s fastest selling collaboration in history. Based on last years results Target and Sports Illustrated are once again partnering in support of the magazines annual swimsuit issue w hich is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Target is the exclusive mass retail advertiser and official marketing partner for the issue. This years partnership includes the new 20 page flip cover that celebrates swimsuit style over the past 50 years and features Target’s limited edition swimwear collection. The collection launched at Target stores and on target.com February 17, in advance of the issues on stand date and includes 10 black, gold and ivory swimsuits priced from $15 to $30. Earlier this month, Target began offering AMBAR a new apparel collection designed with the Latina guest in mind. AMBAR is set in 50 U.S. stores this month and is also available on target.com. The line of apparel and accessories features vibrant prints and flattering cuts and silhouettes. This stylish and affordable collection has items ranging from $17 to $40. This spring Target will introduce an assortment of premium skincare featuring seven notable brands, four of which will be exclusively sold at Target. 29 by Lydia Mondavi, Borghese, Laneige and MD Complete by Dr. Zelickson along side industry favorite Vichy, La Roche Posay and Own Skin Health. These brands will be merchandised in two distinct sections, dermatological skincare and specialty skincare, and they have already launched on target.com. We’ll begin rolling out the assortment to 749 U.S. Target stores beginning in March. So whats likely to be the biggest Blu-ray  and DVD release of the year Target will offer an exclusive addition of Catching Fire the second film in The Hunger Games trilogy in stores and on target.com next month. The Target exclusive Blu-ray addition includes 45 minutes of exclusive content from never before seen footage and cast interviews to a behind the scenes looks at the making of the film. This spring award winning singer Shakira is teaming up with Target for her 10th studio album and our exclusive deluxe edition featuring three bonus tracks hit stores on March 25. We announced the partnership and kicked off album preordering with a special spot during the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in January. Last month we became the exclusive retailer to feature Beats music playlists. Beats music is curated digital music streaming services that allows its users to peep into the personal music librarie s of their favorite artists and brands and have them create playlists just for them. By subscribing to Target’s playlist guest can expect a very mix of songs inspired by Target’s rich heritage of music and the taste of the millions who shop for albums at Target each year. In December we launched The Awesome Shop, a beta site that features the top target products recently pinned on Pinterest. The site lets guests explore, get inspired and see what other guests love just like they do in stores. Awesome Shop highlighted the best of the best by only featuring items at the target.com review of four stars or better. We’re also leveraging Pinterest in another unique way to collaborate with three of the sites most influential pinners on a series of party planning collections that will make it easy to throw a Pinterest worthy event. Joy Cho of Oh Joy, Jan Halvarson of Poppytalk and Kate Arends of Wit Delight will each create limited time only collections launched over the course of 2014 including party decor, paper products and serving pieces designed in their signature esthetic. Beyond differentiated merchandise, we continue to provide enhanced service in key areas of the store. Based on guest response to last years launch we have expanded the Target Beauty Concierge’s program to more than 300 stores across the country with new markets including New York, New Jersey, San Francisco and Dallas-Fort Worth. These beauty consultants are brand agnostic and provide guests with detailed, unbiased information and a friendly face in what can often be an intermediating category. We also continue to see great results from the pilot of our new baby layout, a completely redesigned shopping  experience that offers guests inspiring insightful solutions combined with the great value they’ve come to expect from Target. This new layout features a dedicated service desk with a knowledgeable baby advisor to help guests navigate the area and provide unbiased product information. Digital screens and iPads feature inspiration and interactive comparison tools and Bab yCenter content such as buying guides and product reviews We have also incorporated an in department registry kiosk for expecting mom’s or guests looking to give a gift. Merchandised displays have been lowered so guests can more easily interact with large products by travel systems in stores. We have removed barriers to enhance navigation between apparel, gear and baby essentials and we have highlighted the availability of additional online only items in key categories. This summer we plan to grow from 30 stores to more than 200 locations featuring this enhanced baby experience. And based on encouraging initial results in 2014 we’ll expand our test of using mannequins in apparel in our largest format U.S. stores to elevate the store experience, create an enhanced sense of discovery and bring our unique deigns to life. We also continued to augment our digital capabilities driving traffic and sales to all of our channels. Online our top priority in 2014 is continuing to improve the guest experience. All of our efforts will be designed to make things simple, seamless and enjoyable for our guests. To support this priority we continue to hire external talent with deep functional expertise in online merchandising, site merchandising, mobile and analytics. We have recently made enhancements focused on search, product information and checkout making it easier for guests to browse and purchase. In addition now nearly all store products are viable online making this the only place that guests can use Target’s full assortment. Importantly we’re making enhancements while continuing to focus on stability and speed, as a result target.com consistently ranks in the top 10 for retailer site availability and performance. Given the profile of our guests, mobile is more important at Target than for many of our peers. For example, Target’s guest traffic from tablets and mobile phones is greater than our traffic from traditional computers and the shift towards mobile shows no signs of slowing down. In fact usage of the Target App doubled in the short period between last su mmer and the end of the year. To maintain our strong momentum in mobile we’re testing and learning from new features including List  Building, Mapping and Cartwheel capabilities launched during the holiday season. We’re improving conversion by streamlining checkouts and enhancing product information and dynamic content and we are investing to amplify the in-store mobile experience by rolling out guided maps, in-store search and expanded assortment chain wide later this year. We also continue to invest in our flexible fulfillment capabilities which combine the strengths of our digital, store and distribution aspects to provide speed and convenience for our guests. These capabilities allow our stores to add value in new ways, serve our guests as both showroom and fulfillment centers. Following the holiday seasons success of in-store pick up we are moving quickly to roll out the capabilities to shift online orders from our stores this fall. This new capability will create multiple benefits for both T arget as our guests, including shorter shipping times, reduced expenses, lower markdown rates and improved in-stocks. And because our investments in flexible fulfillment drive greater utilization of our existing stores and distribution center assets, we expect to earn an outstanding return on these investments over time. Finally, were pleased with initial performance of Target Ticket, our streaming video service and we continue to invest in features to better serve guest changing needs and behaviors both inside and outside their home. In 2014 we will coordinate our promotions across channels to provide irresistible video offers across our stores, Target.com and Target Ticket. While our fourth quarter results softened following the December 19 announcement of the data breach, we are pleased with the guest response to our holiday season merchandizing and marketing efforts and were confident in our plans for 2014. As always our focus remains on our guests helping them regain their confidence in their Target while delivering irresistible content and experiences in every channel. We believe that our efforts will drive a continued recovery in the pace of our sales and position Target for profitable growth in 2014 and beyond. Now, John will share his insights on our fourth quarter financial performance and our plans for the coming year. John? John Mulligan EVP and CFO Thanks, Kathy. Our fourth quarter financial results reflect strong efforts by our team to handle separate challenges in both our U.S. and Canadian segments. In the U.S. comparable sales declined 2.5% consistent with the  updated guidance we provided in our January press release. This sales performance reflects a 5.5% decline in transactions partially offset by an increase in average ticket. Prior to the announcement of the data breach, fourth quarter comparable sales were running positive reflecting the success of our holiday merchandizing marketing plan. Immediately following news of the breach, sales turned meaningfully negative but began to recover in January. And while its impossible to measure precisely, we believe we would have seen even more improvement had there not been extreme weather across much of the country. Fourth quarter sales penetration on our REDcards was 20.9%, up 5.4 percentage points from a year ago. While the rate of increase slowed down following the breach, year-over-year penetration continued to grow hundreds of basis points through the end of the quarter. Fourth quarter U.S. EBITDA and EBIT margin rates were down more than a percentage point from last years rates, which we were advised to reflect combined results from our former U.S. retail and credit card segments. These profit margins were below our expectations going into the quarter, driven almost entirely by gross margin rate which declined about 20 basis points from the year ago. This performance reflects about 20 basis points of benefit from this years change in vendor payments offset by higher than expected markdowns related to the 10% off we offered prior to Christmas as well as the impact of clearance markdowns at the end of the holiday season. Margin mix was somewhat less favorable than the recent quarters, driven by strong sales in electronics. While below our expectations, fourth quarter U.S. segment gross margin rate was remarkably strong considering the team had to rapidly manage excess inventory in the middle of the quarter when we experienced a sudden change in the pa ce of sales following the data breach announcement. Our fourth quarter U.S. segment SGA rate was 18.4%, about 110 basis points above last years revised rate. About 50 basis points of this headwind was related to the credit card portfolio reflecting a smaller asset base, last years reserve release and this years profit sharing arrangement with TD Bank. Another 20 basis points of headwind was driven by this years change in member payments. The remaining unfavorability reflects the deleveraging effort of negative comp sales. The fact that we experienced only 40 basis points of deleverage reflects strong control of variable expenses, given the magnitude of our comparable sales decline. In the Canadian segment, sales  came in just below expectations. Importantly, as Gregg mentioned, we took advantage of holiday traffic to clear through a significant amount of excess inventory in the quarter. And while we expect some small lingering issues with long lean receipts this year, the Canadian segment ended 2013 in a much cleaner inventory position, paving the way for smoother operations in 2014. In all, the segment drove $0.40 of EPS dilution in th e fourth quarter better than the expectations we provided in our January press release. Turning now to our consolidated metrics, fourth quarter interest expense was 21% lower than last year reflecting the continued benefit of debt retirement funded by the proceeds from the sale of the credit card portfolio. We paid dividends of $0.43 per share in the quarter, an increase of more than 19% from fourth quarter 2012. This was our 185th consecutive quarter in which our company has paid a dividend and 2013 marked the 42nd year of annual dividend increases, a track record of few companies to match. Consistent with last quarter, we didnt purchase any shares in the fourth quarter reflecting current performance and our desire to maintain our debt rating in the middle A range. This approach aligns with our longstanding point of view on capital deployment. First, we invest what we believe is appropriate in our core business. Second, we support the dividend which weve grown annually for more than four decades. And third, we use share repurchase to return cash within the limits of our middle A debt rating. We believe a middle A rating is strategically important as it supports our ability to reliably deliver on our unbeatable pricing strategy over time. In addition, our balance sheet provides the flexibility to maintain our long-term focus in the face of unexpected events like the data breach enabling inves tment and strategic initiatives like flexible fulfillment while we deal with a temporary setback in traffic to sales along with other costs related to the breach. In addition to operating results in the U.S. and Canada, our fourth quarter GAAP earnings reflects several items that reduced EPS by approximately $0.09. These items include charges related to our January restructuring, data breach related costs net of an insurance receivable and continued reduction in a beneficial interest asset partially offset by a small benefit from a resolution of income tax matters. Combining fourth quarter results with performance in the first nine months of 2013 yields full year results that reflect the impact of clear successes and certain challenges. In our  U.S. segment, full year comparable sales declined 0.4% well below our expectations going into the year. This reflects the tougher than expected consumer environment including the impact on the payroll tax increase which just annualized last month, the fourth quarter impact of the data breach and recent headwinds from unfavorable weather, as youve heard from many other retailers. On our U.S. sales, we earned a gross margin rate of 29.8% in 2013, up about 10 basis points from 2012. This rate reflects about 20 basis points of benefit from this years change in vendor payments combined with very strong underlying margin performance in the face of softer than expected sales. Throughout the year, Kathys team did a great job managing inventory resulting in outstanding in-stock levels while avoiding unnecessary clearance markdowns. Our full year SGA expense rate in the U.S. was 20%, up about 90 basis points from last years revised rate. Contrary to what you might initially think, this reflects outstanding performance in light of softer than expected sales and some notable challenges representing more than $600 million of incremental pressure. Including credit card portfolio income, which as you know reduces our SGA rate, about $400 million lower than 2012 reflecting profit sharing with TD, prior year reserve reductions and a smaller asset base this year. And more than $200 million of expense pressure from incremental investments in technology and supply chain to support our multichannel efforts. Without these impacts, our SGA expense rate would have been slightly higher than 2012 but would have been neutral without this years change in vendor payments. This is better expense performance than wed expect on a decline in comparable sales and was driven primarily by two factors; outstanding performance by our stores organization which continued to provide outstanding guest service while delivering productivity increases and our company-wide expense optimization efforts through which our teams are finding better ways to work while deprioritizing less productive activities. As Gregg mentioned, the team continues to find new opportunities to optimize expenses and we expect to reach $1 billion in annualized savings by 2015 helping to fund our efforts to drive profitable growth over the next several years. For full year 2013, U.S. REDcard penetration grew nearly 6 percentage points to 19.3% of sales as more and more guests increased their level of engagement and their spending with Target. Penetration in Kansas City where we began offering  REDcard awards a year ahead of the rest of the country continued to run well ahead of the U.S. overall. Importantly, as part of our broader effort to rebuild traffic and sales in 2014 we will work to reaccelerate REDcard growth in light of the recent slowdown in growth weve seen following the data breach. In Canada in 2013 we generated just over $1.3 billion in sales on 124 stores which were opened on average for a little more than half the year. These sales were well below our plan going into the year leading to grea ter than expected markdowns on a meaningful amount of excess inventory Expense rate were unusually high as well as a result of opening early cycle stores with too many payroll hours, incurring incremental expense relating to clearing inventory and experiencing less leverage on fixed expenses. In the face of these challenges, the team worked tirelessly to improve operations and work through excess inventory throughout the year, clearing the way for an acceleration of sales and profitability beginning this year. Our early cycle store continued to outperform later cycle stores giving is confidence that our operations will continue to become more efficient as our business matures. And having dramatically reduced the congestion in our Canadian supply chain, we will increase the intensity of our marketing message in 2014 regarding value and assortment in our frequency categories. Over time we expect this will lead our Canadian guests to choose Target more often in these categories, driving meaningful increases in traffic and sales. Turning to capital deployment, our total capital investment was about $3.5 billion in 2013, somewhat lower than expected as U.S CapEx of about $1.9 billion was approximately $300 million lower than anticipated. This outcome doesnt reflect a change in strategy, but is simply the result of a lower than expected cost for certain projects and retiming of suspending into 2014. Having sold our credit card portfolio, for about $5.7 billion in March, we significantly reduced our net debt position in 2013, including the early retirement of Haikupon debt. And importantly even in a year of peak CapEx and dilution relating to the Canadian segment combined with the impact of softer than expected U.S sales, we still have the capacity to return about $2.5 billion to our shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchase. With that as context, lets turn now to our outlook for 2014. But before we get to the numbers, I want to discuss a change in our reporting and guidance practices in 2014. Given that our Canadian segment is  now fully operating, beginning with the first quarter of 2014 we will no longer exclude Canadian segment performance from adjusted EPS. To allow for appropriate comparison, l ast years adjusted EPS will also reflect Canadian segment performance as well. With that, lets turn to our full-year outlook beginning with sales. While trends have improved in recent weeks, severe winter weather has been a headwind and we continue to see the impact of the data breach on guest sentiment and traffic. We believe that we will continue to see muted trends in the next few months, but the breach impact will diminish throughout the year as we engage in a vigorous effort to address our guests’ concerns and provide irresistible content offers driving business to our stores and digital channels. In addition, while economic trends are improving, we continue to expect our lower and middle income guests to shop very cautiously in 2014. With that backdrop, our current view is that U.S comparable sales will grow in the range of 0% to 2% in 2014. On those sales we expect a U.S segment EBITDA rate of 10.1% to 10.3%, meaning EBITDA dollar should grow between 5% and 8% this year. Among the drivers of EBITDA margin, we expect gross margin will improve 30 or 40 basis points from our 2013 rate of 29.8%, reflecting improved cl earance markdown rates and more significantly the gross margin benefit of our expense optimization efforts. These benefits will be partially offset by the impact of additional promotional activities and continued investment in 5% REDcard rewards. We expect the U.S segment SGA expense rate slightly better than last year’s 20% rate, reflecting continued discipline expense control and the benefit of our expense optimization efforts offset by our continued investments in distribution and technology in support of our multi-channel efforts. We expect these (indiscernible) investments to be worth $0.05 to $0.10 of incremental EPS pressure in 2014. In Canada, we expect total sales will be approximately double our 2013 experience. As we annualize last year’s124 openings and begin generating comparable sales growth in mature stores. On those sales we expect to earn a much higher gross margin rate in a range approaching 30%. But clearly we continue to see some near-term volatility until the Until the Canadian business matures. While we expect to see better fixed expense leverage in 2014 , the SGA rate will likely remain well above our long-term outlook in a range approaching 40%. Altogether, this will lead to a Canadian segment EBITDA margin rate of minus 8% to minus 10%,  representing more than $400 million of expected EBITDA improvement from 2013. We expect U.S capital expenditures of $2.1 billion $2.3 billion, up slightly from actual 2013 spending. The mix of U.S CapEx will continue to tilt from investments in new stores towards supply chain and technology as we accelerate our multi-channel efforts and continue to find a limited number of new store sites that meet our strategic and financial criteria. I should also note that U.S CapEx reflects incremental investments related to our recent decision to accelerate deployment of chip enabled card readers to all of our U.S stores before the end of the year. In Canada we expect 2014 capital expenditures in the $300 million to $400 million range, down more than $1 billion from peak spending in 2013. We expect once again to raise our annual dividend in the neighborhood of 20% this year, which will mark our 43rd consecutive annual increase. And even with a temperate outlook for near-term traffic and sales and understanding there will be further costs relating to the data breach, our current outlook envision share repurchase capacity of $1 billion to $2 billion in 2014, beginning later in the year as our business stabilizes and we have more clarity on potential breach related costs. Altogether, these expectations would lead to full-year adjusted EPS representing results from operations in the U.S and Canada of $3.85 to $4.15. This estimate excludes approximately $0.07 of dilution related to the continued reduction in the beneficial interest asset. These 2014 expectations represent an improvement of more than 20% from combined U.S and Canadian segment results in 2013. Please note that our full-year outlook does not include potential additional costs relating to the data breach beyond what we already recorded in the fourth quarter, as they’re not estimable at this time. While I realize this may result in a wide range of speculation on the magnitude of these costs, given that our investigation of breach is ongoing it would not be appropriate to say anything more about it than we already have this morning. Regardless of the ultimate dollar amounts, as Greg mentioned, we have the financial strength to move beyond these near-term impacts while we continue to in vest in the future. And as always, we are focused on whats most important, addressing the concerns of our guests and helping them to feel confident shopping with us. Now lets briefly turn to our first quarter outlook. In the U.S we expect first quarter comparable sales in the range of flat to down 2%. So far in February  comparable sales have been running within that range, ahead of our forecast and nearly flat to last year. And I should note while growth isn’t running where it had been earlier in 2013, REDcard penetration so far in February has been running 100s of basis points ahead of last year. On our first quarter U.S sales, we expect an EBITDA margin rate of 9.7% to 9.9%. In Canada, we expect to generate first quarter sales in a range of $400 million to $450 million with EBITDA of minus $150 million to minus $170 million. In light of this near-term operating outlook, we dont expect to have the capacity to repurchase shares in the first quarter, but we expect to resume this activity later in the year. Altogether, our expectations would lead to first quarter adjusted EPS reflecting operating results in the U.S and Canada in the range of $0.60 to $0.75, excluding $0.02 relating to the reduction in the beneficial interest asset and any potential costs related to the data breach. While this has been a challenging year, we are proud of the work of our team and we believe we have the right plans in place to generate meaningfully improved performance in 2014. As we focus on making Target irresistible for our guests, both today and over time, we believe we will go profitably for many years to come. With that, well conclude todays prepared remarks. Now Greg, Kathy and I will be happy to respond to your questions. uestion-and-Answer Session