Maldives-a paradise on earth Essay

The Republic of Maldives consists of 1,190 islands (fewer than 200 are inhabited) in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka. The Maldives has a population of 270,000, of which about 70,000 reside in Male, the capital city. Beautiful atolls, inhabited by over 1,100 species of fish and other sea life, attract thousands of visitors each year. Tourism facilities are well developed on the resort islands. The Tsunami of December 26, 2004 caused some damage to several hotels and facilities on some of the islands. Most of the tourism infrastructure remains intact. Travelers planning to visit the Maldives should consult with travel agencies or the Maldivian Tourist Board to ensure their itineraries take this event into consideration. Read the Department of State Background Notes on Maldives for additional information. ENTRY/EXIT REQUIREMENTS: A valid passport, along with an onward/return ticket and sufficient funds, is required for entry. A no-cost visitor visa valid for thirty days is issued upon arrival. The Department of Immigration and Emigration routinely approves requests for extension of stays up to ninety days for travelers who present evidence of sufficient funds and who stay in a resort or hotel or present a letter from a local sponsor. Anyone staying over sixty days without proper authorization faces heavy fines and deportation. All visitors departing the Republic of the Maldives (except diplomats and certain exempted travelers) must pay an airport departure tax. Travelers need a yellow fever immunization if they are arriving from an infected area. Arrival by private boat: Travelers arriving by private yacht or boat are granted no-cost visas, usually valid until the expected date of departure. Vessels anchoring in atolls other than Male must have prior clearance through agents in Male. Maldivian customs, police and/or representatives of Maldivian immigration will meet all vessels, regardless of where they anchor. Vessels arriving with a dog on board will be permitted anchorage, but the dog will not be allowed off the vessel. Any firearms or ammunition on board will be held for bond until the vessel’s departure. Specific inquiries should be addressed to the Maldives High Commission in  Colombo, Sri Lanka at No. 24, Melbourne Avenue, Colombo 4, telephone (94) (11) 2580076/2586762/2500943, or the Maldives Mission to the U.N. in New York, telephone (212) 599-6194. See our Foreign Entry Requirements brochure for more information on the Maldives and other countries. Visit the website of the Maldives Permanent Mission to the United Nations at http://www.un.int/maldives/ for the most current visa information. Find more information about Entry and Exit Requirements pertaining to dual nationality and the prevention of international child abduction. Please refer to our Customs Information to learn more about customs regulations. SAFETY AND SECURITY: For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Internet web site at http://travel.state.gov where the current Travel Warnings and Public Announcements, including the Worldwide Caution Public Announcement, can be found. Up-to-date information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll-line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). The Department of State urges American citizens to take responsibility for their own personal security while traveling overseas. For general information about appropriate measures travelers can take to protect themselves in an overseas environment, see the Department of State’s pamphlet A Safe Trip Abroad. CRIME: The Maldives has a low crime rate, but thefts of valuables left unattended on beaches or in hotels does occur. INFORMATION FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME: The loss or theft abroad of a U.S. passport  should be reported immediately to the local police and the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If you are the victim of a crime while overseas, in addition to reporting to local police, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for assistance. The Embassy/Consulate staff can, for example, assist you to find appropriate medical care, contact family members or friends and explain how funds could be transferred. Although the investigation and prosecution of the crime is solely the responsibility of local authorities, consular officers can help you to understand the local criminal justice process and to find an attorney if needed. See our information on Victims of Crime. MEDICAL FACILITIES AND HEALTH INFORMATION: The Maldives has limited medical facilities. There are two hospitals in Male: the government-owned Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGM) and the privately-owned Abduarahman Don Kaleyfan Hospital (ADK). ADK accepts some insurance plans, but IGM does not. The hospitals perform general, orthopedic and neurosurgery, but the Maldives has no trauma units, and spinal surgery is not available. Persons needing treatments not offered in the Maldives require evacuation to the nearest adequate medical facility, such as in Singapore. Two recompression chambers are available in the Maldives. One is on Bandos Island (fifteen minutes by speedboat from Male) and the other is in Kuramathi (one hour by speed boat and about twenty minutes by air taxi from Male.) Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747); fax 1-888-CDC-FAXX (1-888-232-3299), or via the CDC’s Internet site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel. For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad consult the World Health Organization’s (WHO) website at http://www.who.int/en. Further health information for travelers is available at http://www.who.int/ith. MEDICAL INSURANCE: The Department of State strongly urges Americans to consult with their medical insurance company prior to traveling abroad to confirm whether their policy applies overseas and whether it will cover emergency expenses such as a medical evacuation. Please see our information on medical insurance overseas. TRAFFIC SAFETY AND ROAD CONDITIONS: While in a foreign country, U.S. citizens may encounter road conditions that differ significantly from those in the United States. The information below concerning the Maldives is provided for general reference only, and may not be totally accurate in a particular location or circumstance. Only a few of the islands are big enough to support automobiles. Most transportation in the Maldives is by boat or seaplane (air taxi). The Maldives has good safety standards for land, sea, and air travel. Roads in Male and on the airport island are brick and generally well maintained. Dirt roads on resort islands are well kept by the resorts. Transportation on the small island on which the capital, Male, is situated is either by foot or by readily-available taxis. Transportation between the airport and Male, as well as to nearby resort islands, is by motorized water taxi and speedboat. Several local companies provide seaplane and helicopter service to outlying islands. Air taxis stop flying one hour before sunset, and several resorts do not transport passengers by boat between the airport and the resort island later than one hour before sunset. Visitors to distant resorts arriving in the country at night can expect to stay overnight at a hotel in Male or at the airport hotel and should confirm transfer arrangements in advance. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: Religious Laws: Public observance of any religion other than Islam is prohibited. Religious gatherings such as Bible study groups are prohibited; however, a family unit may practice its religion, including Bible readings, within its residence. It is against the law to invite or encourage Maldivian  citizens to attend these gatherings. Offenders may face jail sentences, expulsion and/or fines. In the past, several non-Maldivian families resident in the Maldives, including some Americans, were expelled for allegedly engaging in religious proselytizing. Although Maldivian law prohibits importing â€Å"idols for religious worship,† tourists traveling to the resort islands are generally allowed to bring in items and texts used for personal religious observances. Currency: Credit cards are increasingly accepted outside large hotels and resorts; cash payment in dollars is accepted at most retail shops and restaurants and by taxi drivers.

The Need for Protecting the Environment

Environment, the word is a bit common, everything that surrounds us consist of our environment. We can say that environment is something which provides us everything. But can you think of a single thing we do for our environment ? The answer would most probably be NO. Today we humans hardly care what would be the effects of it on our environment. For thousands of years man has exploited the environment in the name is development and in return we humans defile it and pollute it. We are cutting trees at a large scale which is leading to higher levels of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. We kill animals for their skin and that in turn is disturbing the food web which causes unbalance in the nature. We can see that every little thing we did and we are doing is ultimately causing harm to us. Increasing levels of CO2, depletion of ozone layer, global warning, floods, droughts, earthquakes and all these things are gifted by us to our precious and priceless environment. If we go on exploiting our environment in the name of our use and needs, we are certainly inviting destruction and disasters . Be it forests, naturals resources, water, soil, rain, mountains, flora or fauna, we have destroyed it all . The point is not that how much wrong we have done and how much right we need to do now but simple actions such as planting trees can help us a lot. One does not need to be a great environmentalist or ecologist it protect our environment, it is simply human instinct.

Aldi’s Marketing Strategy

Aldis Marketing Strategy Aldi have made great strides in entering the UK grocery market. Please analyse Aldi’s current marketing strategy and provide recommendations for how Aldi can enhance their marketing strategy to gain a greater share of the UK Grocery Market. Introduction Marketing in simple terms can be described as offering a right product at a right place at the right time and with a right price. The Management Gurus emphasise on the four Ps of marketing which are often called the marketing mix. These four Ps are Product, Place, Price and Promotion. Marketing mix is an important tool to make an efficient marketing plan for a successful product offering. These four Ps of marketing mix can help achieving the business targets of sales, profit and consumer satisfaction. The essay examines marketing strategies of a German supermarket chain named Aldi, in the UK. The paper is divided in to four sections. The first section gives a brief history about Aldi. The second section talks about its positio n in the UK market. The third section analyses the marketing strategy of Aldi on the basis of the four Ps. The last section gives recommendations on marketing strategies for the future growth of the company in UK market. A brief history of Aldi Aldi, one of the world’s largest privately owned companies, is a grocery supermarket chain with a base in Germany. The name Aldi has come from the abbreviation of Albrecht (family name) Discount. The business started in 1913 with a food store in the town called Essen in Germany. By 1960s this family business was expanded to 300 stores in Germany and that is when the business was separated into two groups Aldi Nord (North) with a headquarter in Essen and Aldi SÃ ¼d (South) with a headquarter in MÃ ¼lheim an der Ruhr (Emsell, 2011). The business was separated over a disagreement on whether to sell cigarettes in the stores or not (Ruddick, 2012). These two organisations now operate independent to each other. On international levels, Ald i Nord operates in Portugal, Denmark, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Spain, and Poland. Aldi SÃ ¼d is functional in Ireland, United Kingdom, Hungary, Switzerland, Australia, Austria and Slovenia and United States of America with over 8000 stores in total (Aldi UK website, 2015). Aldi in the United Kingdom Taylor and Lee (2007) have stressed the adverse effects on the international buyer behaviour due to cultural disparities. KPMG (2014) states that the shopping culture in UK is associated with the quality and not necessarily with price. It further mentions that higher level of customer services is one of the main attributes of this culture. That is the reason why in spite of the dominance of the ‘big four’ -Tesco, Sainsbury’s, ASDA and Morrison’s – M&S and Waitrose have done huge investments in the grocery industry. However Aldi has not only managed to attract the customers in the UK by overcoming the hurdles but also has acquired a signi ficant market share. Table 1- Market share of Supermarkets in the UK in March, 2015 Supermarket Market Share (In %) Tesco 28.4 ASDA 17.1 Sainsbury’s 16.4 Morrison’s 10.9 The Co-operative 6.0 Aldi 5.3 Waitrose 5.1 Lidl 3.7 Iceland 2.1 Source: BBC, 2015

Apple's climb back from the depths of bankruptcy Essay

Apple's climb back from the depths of bankruptcy - Essay Example To rescue the company from this mess, the marketing manager ought to have used marketing mix appropriately as follow:- Apple should have used the correct promotional mix for their product. This mix concerns how the Apple should have made their product known to the market. This involves the use of advertisements, direct selling, public relations and sales promotion. When an appropriate promotion is used to make the product to be known to the market, it creates a big impact on the sales since customers will be aware of the existence of the product and they will not only buy it but also recommend it to their friends and relatives. The kind of a product that will be produced by Apple creates a very big impact on the sales. For this case, product planning and marketing for Apple should be done appropriately to ensure the concern of the market is addressed. Apple Company should have ensured their products are distributed on time to the market so that they are available at the market when they are needed by the customers. For this case, the distribution channel to be used by the company plays a big impact on the success of the company. Apple Company must have ensured their products were distributed to a wide geographical location to increase the market share. Why do you think companies like Sony, which were already well known for Walkman and Discman technologies did not move into the MP3 player market more quickly Why was it left to Apple to aggressively move into the digital music player and distribution market Before a company can move to a new technology, they must weigh a number of options like the impact the technology would have on the industry. For this case, companies such as Sony which was well known for Walkman and Discman technologies could not move into the MP3 player market without first of all knowing the impact the technology would have on the music industry. By conducting a feasibility study on the impact the new technology would have in the market, it ensured that they were aware what the market needs and wants were and it would also have given them a chance to clear out the stock of their old products. If Sony just moved into the MP3 player market without being sure of the impact, it would have been risky for them since before a technology is accepted in the market, it might take some time and sales would have been low. Having waited for the technology to be accepted in the market, it ensured that their market share and sales would remained high. Question 3 The average cost of an iPOd nano with 8MB memory is 125. The average cost of a Creative Zen Micro with 8MB is 85. Both play digital music and both are equally rated on sound quality and battery duration. So what explains a huge price premium The prices that have been set for the two products seem to be different with a difference of 40 whereas they have the same capacity. For a company to have a high market share for their product, they must ensure that they have a number of brands each having different price with the other. There are customers who associate prices with quality. They believe that the high the price,

Analyze a business or industry that is likely to be disrupted by the Essay

Analyze a business or industry that is likely to be disrupted by the trends of the big data, this disruption may create a new business opportunities and new business threats - Essay Example The concept of big data has been arising majorly due to the explosive growth of data flow that is caused by digitization taking place in the society. The digitization and automation of firms in the society has led to huge data storage (Feenberg, 2005).These large volumes of data that is being stored by businesses are very critical in terms of business operations. The concept of big data has provided the firms with the advantage to store large data volumes that were not possible in the early years. As the size of big data is incomparable it provides a very strong knowledge base for the firms operating in different industry. In context of businesses the big data trend allows a firm to transform huge sets of data in the form of advanced products, new services, and even improved marketing techniques so as to reach out to more number of customers. The trend of big data has caused an impact on all possible and similarly it has even effected the advisory firms both business and financial. T he advisory firms acts as a consulting group that helps a firm to manage its functions and also at times it controls various managerial functions of a company. The major opportunities that are created by big data in context of managerial and financial advisory firms are creating of best practice portals and knowledge space (Davenport, 2014). These opportunities are majorly based on knowledge accumulation and professional experiences in context of portal for knowledge space for respective economic sectors, environmental changes in the businesses in relation to legal framework, competition, emerging markets, economy, new services and products, etc. The concept of knowledge space may provide opportunities to the advisory firms or may even result into major threats for these firms in respect to long term operations of these firms. The term big data is normally defined to be larger data

Professional Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Professional Work - Essay Example In this respect, attachment to the ideal of a rationally governed society is no exception. The acceptance of the basic norms of the model carry implications for the ideologies that shape the way we see our world and for the conceptions that govern our individual modes of political activity (Spragens, 1990). In ideological terms, the ideal of a rational society has distinctive but not entirely determinate implications. It clearly disqualifies some ideological conceptions. It tends to crosscut certain other conventional ideological cleavages. And it leaves some ideological space open as an area in which reasonable people may differ. Some ideologies seem clearly unable to qualify by the norms of rational practice. In these cases, it is either/or: one either must renounce the intrinsic norms of rationality or forfeit the ideological orientation. The overt antirationalism of fascist ideologies, for example, would seem to disqualify them immediately. One cannot deprecate the power or validity of rational discourse; argue for forms of political authority grounded in purely emotional appeal and manipulation rather than rational consent, and convert natural differences of race or ability into political hierarchies without decisively abandoning key standards of rational practice (Spragens, 1990). The ideal of a rational society crosscuts liberalism, conservatism, and democratic socialism -- each of these being a part of the larger tradition of Western liberalism in the broadest sense. It incorporates some of the leading values and goals of each of them. The liberal, for instance, would consider the rational society's insistence upon individual rights and civil liberties the most important part of the model. The socialist would emphasize the elements of equality and community. And the conservative would find the role of the human good and the norms of civility quite consistent with his or her dominant political concerns. The bearing of the conception of a rational society on these ideologies, then, is not so much to single one of them out as superior to the others. Instead, it would suggest that each represents a somewhat narrow and parochial conception of the good society -- one in which some aspects of the good society are given undue ascendancy while others are unnecessaril y subordinated or forgotten. In sum, acceptance of the rational process conception of liberal democracy exercises a broad influence over political practice by constraining ideological affiliations and shaping political self-images. Many possible orientations to the world of politics are precluded, obligations are mandated, rights and privileges validated -- all in ways that exert a pervasive control over what can be seen as acceptable political behavior. As we turn now to examine some more specific institutional patterns and policies suggested by the norms of rational practice, it is worth remembering that these more subliminal influences on our actions may be the most important of them all (Spragens, 1990). The heart of a rational society is democratic discourse about the common good. A society committed to the norms of rational process will therefore give continual and careful attention to measures that can sustain and strengthen this central social institution. A democratic society

Curriculum Specialist Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Curriculum Specialist Paper - Essay Example In curriculum, the crucial part is the definition of the course objectives which are often expressed in terms of learning outcomes and normally includes the assessment strategy for the programme. These learning outcomes and assessments are often grouped into modules, therefore a curriculum comprises of a collection of such units, each specializing on a specific part of the curriculum. So, a typical curriculum would include modules on mathematics, languages, information technology together with more specialized provision. In the United States, the basic curriculum is established by each state with the individual school districts adjusting it to their desires. However, each state, builds its curriculum relying heavily on the input of national groups selected by the United States Department of Education, for example the National Council of Mathematics Teachers for mathematics instruction. Education in the United States is highly decentralized, and the federal government and Department of Education are not heavily involved in determining curriculum or educational standards. The job of centralization and coordination has been left to large private educational foundations. However, the primary function of the United States Department of Education is to formulate federal funding programs involving education and to enforce federal educational laws involved with privacy and civil rights. The quality of educational institutions and their degrees is maintained through an informal private process known as accreditation which the Department of Education has no direct public jurisdictional control over. Currently, there are thirty-nine curriculum specialists serving schools in South Carolina State. Basically, curriculum specialists have the following duties and responsibilities in the following areas: a) Curriculum planning and alignment, In curriculum planning and alignment they perform the following duties; Assisting the instructional staff and teachers in making curricular recommendations that reflect best practices to ensure high achievement, Assisting the school staff in developing a school curriculum guide or in revising the school's curriculum guide to ensure alignment to state and district standards, Engaging in collaborative curricular planning with the leadership team, Focusing on building curricular continuity across grade levels and courses, and Conducting periodic curricular alignment to ensure congruence with school and district goals. b) Curriculum instructional support, In curriculum instrumental support they perform the following duties; Providing direct support for building classroom curricular efforts; Taking

THE LUXURY FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

THE LUXURY FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRY - Essay Example The world is also experiencing increasing urbanization as several people shift from rural places to urban centers. As people move from rural areas to urban centers, they tend to change their lifestyle trend especially their eating habits (Pride and Ferrell 26). As the number of people working in office increases, people tend to get less time to prepare foods at their homes. Such consumers under constraint of time usually opt to each outside in restaurants and cafes’. Other factors seen to have led to the high growth in food service industry include tourism. Some investors opt to put up luxurious food service industry for purposes of hosting tourists that visit the country (Great and Gavin 6). Britain is one such country that has witnessed an increase in growth of food service industry over the last decades. The high growth rate has mainly been seen in London the capital city. Among the restaurants based in London include Hakasan, Nobu and Zuma. His are food joints that have been able to build luxury element within the service industry. The question that may be asked is, ‘How have these restaurants been able to build such luxury, and what tools have the restaurants used to build the luxury element? The purpose of this paper is to examine the marketing tools that have been used by Hakasan, Nobu and Zuma to build the luxury element within the foodservice industry. This will also involve analysis of the 7Ps employed by the three restaurants. The paper will conclude by the most important elements derived from the study of luxury service industry in general particularly the food service industry. Finally, the paper will provide a recommendation regarding what has been learnt from the study. The Chartered Institute of Marketing (2) defines marketing as the management process which entails identification, anticipation and satisfaction of the

Airline Operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Airline Operations - Essay Example The current market-centric performance of the two airlines is determined by their internal and external environments. For instance the internal environment consists of the airline's strength/weakness and opportunity/threat framework, organizational culture, leadership style, management and organizational structures, quality, value chain and HR management, communication, operations, finances, marketing, operations and so on. On the other hand the external environment consists of political, economic, social, technological, regulatory/legal and general environmental factors along with external supply chain management, strategic competitive environment and so on. Their product and marketing strategies are essentially aligned to the strategic competitive environment while operational strategies are basically influenced by the internal value creation methods. Product placement policy in different segments of the market of the two airlines has shown some constraints too. Marketing strategies of the two companies also have suffered reverses in the recent times despite a higher level of activity in the domestic markets. Sustained efforts to maximize the difference between costs and revenues are motivated by the invariably intensifying level of competition in both the domestic and international sectors. The proposed alliance between the two airlines on the transatlantic route will have a far reaching impact on markets and competition policy of other airlines. Finally financial management at both the companies has to be examined against the backdrop of a deteriorating performance of market metrics including share price and sales. A turnaround requires not only a strategic policy shift away from the existing gap-filling practices but also offensive strategic reorientation in selected segments. 2. Analysis 2.1. Historical overview Historically BMI evolved from the Derby Aviation Limited created in 1949 and changed its name to British Midland Airways in 1964 after the acquisition of the Manchester Airport based schedule and the Mercury Airlines. A significant change took place with it joining the Star Alliance in 2000 followed by rebranding the airline with BMI. Since then its labyrinthine process of evolution was coloured by a variety of twists and turns, some positive and some negative. On the other hand United Airlines began its commercial flights way back in 1926, in the US. Its original name was Varney Airlines founded by Walter Varney in Idaho. In 1927 Boeing Airtransport bought Varney Airlines. With the decline of the Pan American World Airways, United Airlines purchased the former in 1991 along with its rights over the routes to the London Heathrow Airport. It co-founded Star Alliance in 1997 and formed a marketing partnership with Delta Airlines in 1998. Except for its

Love and Marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Love and Marriage - Essay Example od, Zora Neale Hurston narrates how a free black grandmother marries off her sixteen-year-old granddaughter, Janie Crawford, to a landed old black man, Logan Killicks. Another arranged marriage occurs in The Book of Ruth, where Naomi arranges the marriage of her daughter-in-law, Ruth, to a wealthy landowner and relative, Boaz. Logan and Janie’s marriage did not flourish because Janie they are in complete conflict regarding their marriage expectations, whereas Ruth and Boaz’s marriage flourished because they both believe in a traditional form of marriage based on shared social norms and customs, and because Boaz loves Ruth physically and emotionally too. Logan marries with traditional expectations of controlling his wife, particularly in serving his economic needs. Coontz describes traditional marriages that are based on economic goals. Instead of marrying out of love, people married because they needed to secure their financial conditions in life, such as what happens when aristocratic families marry to preserve or improve their wealth (Coontz 69-70). One of the reasons that Logan marries Janie is because he wants someone to help him run his large farm. He asks her to chop woods and to not depend on him for these chores, but Janie retorts that if she would be chopping wood, he would not be getting dinner (Hurston 25). Despite Janie’s protests in handling masculine tasks, Logan leaves her to get a mule that she can manage and to cut up seed potatoes. He also insists that Janie should start helping him more in his farm and stop pretending that she was â€Å"born in a carriage† (Hurston 29). He marries to have a reliable , unpaid helper in his farm. Instead of hiring more people, Logan marries a servant. Besides economic interests, Logan marries for the traditional reason of controlling a woman who will fulfill his social and power needs. Coontz notes that people traditionally married to gain social advantages. Marriage has been â€Å"the most important

International business Essay Example for Free

International business Essay Global or regional integrator strategy would be the dominant market player in Asia and Latin America. The aim of this strategy is to give strength the strategic relation between regions in the social political and economic sphere. It helps in encouraging economic relations through investment which will help in innovation, technological development, and competitiveness in the industries and it also helps the industry to become efficient and earn profits (Frank 2007 p98). By Asia and Latin America adopting the regional or global integrator strategy in air line and telecommunication industries, it will lead to revival of trade in the regions or globally which will result to sustained growth, creation of jobs and elimination of poverty. Regional integrator strategy leads to increased openness and major economic reforms In industries used in regional simulations the best strategies to use is regional or global integrator because industries in such integrations will be in a position to acquire the best technology and expertise which will help the Latin America Asia to provide competitive and quality services in the airline and telecom industries. For full region integration in Asia and Latin America the appropriate strategy to use is global integration because this will help the company do sell its services globally without restriction which will help the company to have increased sales and profits. Incase of high uncertainty, the appropriate strategy to use is specialist strategy which will help Asia and Latin America to specialize their airline and telecom industries in the countries that are promising and leave those with high uncertainty level of performance. Regional risks There are a number of endemic risks in Latin America and Asia. Malaria is one of the risks which is spread by the anopheles mosquito which mostly bites at night. It is mostly found in Indonesia, India, some parts of South Korea and some parts of China. In Latin America malaria is also an endemic risk and a major public health. It kills about one million people in a year and remains a threat to Asia and Latin America The other risk to the travelers in Asia and Latin America is dengue which is a viral infection vector borne disease (Andrew Peter 2000 p 121). Transmission occurs in both urban and rural areas but the highest risk is in urban areas. Cholera is an endemic risk to both Latin America and Asia. It is caused by eating or drinking food or water which is contaminated Some risks are not common in the two regions like bird flu is a risk in Asia but not in Latin America. It is caused by influenza A virus and it is a great threat to human beings. On the other hand, yellow fever is an endemic risk in Latin America but not in Asia. It is a serious haemorrhagic disease transmitted by those mosquitoes that are infected. The disease has no cure and treatment is only used for reducing the symptoms. In Latin America still Chagas disease is endemic and thirteen million people are infected. It is usually transmitted by contamination of a person who has parasite feases of a triatomite bug. Global companies should address these risks and uncertainties in Latin America and Asia by making sure the travelers are given the right vaccines and repellants before they travel to these areas with these risks and uncertainties. They should also make sure that the right preventive measures are put in place to protect the travelers. Travelers should be trained to observe health when they go to such areas in order to avoid the water borne diseases. Consumer markets in Asia and Latin America In Asia there is high increase in population which has resulted to increase in spending power thus attracting many multinational corporations. On the other hand Latino represents the largest minority in the country but it is the fastest ethnic growing group. The purchasing power is estimated to be one consumer out of every eight residents and thus companies are also targeting this market (Robles, Simon Haar 2003 p 249). In Latin America high population of the young youths is also a driving force in this consumer market and it s taken as a business opportunity. In Asia youths have a high market value though they are influenced by the western media. In Latino market high population is concentrated in the urban area which makes it easy for geographical targeting. On the other hand population in Asia is spread in urban and rural areas making it hard to target a certain area. On cultural issues in Latin America people experience different levels of tension in culture. Those with low cultural tension expose themselves to non Latino things while those with high cultural tension emphasize their culture as a unique one. In Asia there is ethnic and language differences and thus marketers and media must put this into consideration. Asians hold to their cultural roots and so their buying behaviour is affected very much by their culture. These markets can be segmented geographically, on the basis of language segmentation and on cultural basis. Paths followed from local to regional and eventually global Companies can take different paths from localization to regionalization and finally to globalization. One of the paths is by being a diversified national champion, then a narrow regional integrator, high focused broad regional champion and finally high focused multinational company (Frank2003 p249). The other path can be highly focused national champion, to highly focused narrow regional champion to highly focused broad regional champion and finally to highly focused global multinational company. The third path is diversified national champion to narrow region integrator to broad regional integrator and finally to diversified global integrator. The other path can be national specialists to narrow regional specialists to broad regional specialist and finally global specialist. Factors that dictate which paths a firm is supposed to take are the maturity of the product, whether it is a weak or strong differentiated firm, the strength of the marketing skills and also whether the firm is highly skilled or not. The other factors that also determine the regionalization and globalization of a firm include customers, regulations, infrastructure and culture. The advantages that a firm needs to develop from one level to another include, minimization of risks, innovation, making more profits and being efficient. The Latin America airline company followed the path of first being a diversified national champion, then it went to narrow regional integrator to broad regional integrator and finally to diversified global integrator. It gained high profits, became efficient and was able to adopt new skills and technology (Robles, Simon Haar 2003 p 249). The Asian airline followed the path of being a national specialist to narrow regional specialist then it moved to broad regional specialist and finally to global specialist. The Asian airline company gained some advantages like gaining high profits and being efficient due to specialization.

Genetic Algorithm Research Proposal

Genetic Algorithm Research Proposal System Optimization The main concern is to find the optimum value for each design parameter for each prediction period for a total simulation time of 12 hours. The simulation is performed on the selected system based on the optimization timeframe with an acceptable accuracy and the optimization process is applied for a prediction period of one. The value of a single design parameter and internal loads are fixed during a prediction period and may vary from one prediction period to another. Genetic Algorithm Modeling the liquid desiccant system with the CC/DV system is complex task with multi-variables involved, several equations are coupled and indirect relations between different parameters are present. Since several non-linear equations are solved, it is advised to use a revolutionary derivative free optimization tool that follows the direct search technique. The simplest optimization tool that could be used for the proposed case is the genetic algorithm optimization tool because it is derivative free, based on numerical analysis, and is somehow efficient if compared with other derivative based optimization schemes. Moreover, it fetches the global minimum of a specific function. Our choice of using a derivative free algorithm to solve the optimization problem is implemented by the evolutionary genetic algorithm. Genetic algorithms are adaptive methods which may be used to solve search and optimization problems, and are based on the genetic process of biological organisms. Genetic algorithms are growing more and more popular and extending from simple design optimization to online process control. The power of the genetic algorithm arises from its robustness, being acceptably good in finding the near optimum solution and being relatively quick [1]. An efficient optimization technique uses two techniques to find the optimal solution, exploration and exploitation, and this is what genetic algorithm does. The Genetic Algorithm terminology The algorithm starts by seeding a set of trial combinations of the variables to be optimized and calculating the numerical value of the objective function for each combination selected. This set is called the â€Å"Initial Population†. The set of numerical values calculated for the objective function from the first trial, is then evaluated according the â€Å"Fitness Criteria†. The fitness criteria can be defined as the condition for the objective function numerical value to be better convenient than its pears. Based on their fitness, some combinations in the previously seeded set are chosen to be â€Å"Parents†. Parents then undergo either â€Å"Crossover† or â€Å"Mutation† procedure to produce â€Å"Children†. Most fitted parents simply jump to the next generated population without any change; such parents are referred as â€Å"Elite†. The current population is replaced by children from the next population. Elite children are the individuals in the current generation with the best fitness values. These individuals automatically survive to the next generation. Crossover children are created by combining the vectors of a pair of parents. Mutation children are created by introducing random changes, or mutations, to a single parent. The algorithm stops when the â€Å"Tolerance† in the objective function values between two generations is less than a certain set error value, or when the maximum number of â€Å"Generations† is exceeded, or by any other defined â€Å"Stopping Criteria†. For the optimized control strategy used for the chilled ceiling, displacement ventilation system the variables of the chilled ceiling and displacement ventilation are varied; this variation leads to a minimal optimal cost that results in the minimum cost that could be attained in the system. Referring to the system figure and considering the optimal control strategy, the variables that may be used for cost optimization are: The desiccant temperature at the inlet of membrane(). The supply air temperature(). The supply air mass flow rate(). Equation Chapter 6 Section 3Each variable in the optimization routine has a lower and an upper bound. These bounds define the interval where the genetic algorithm searches for the optimal cost and are based on physical considerations. The bounds for the different variables according to ASHRAE’s recommendations are: The supply air temperature is considered to vary between 17 and 23  °C. The supply air mass flow rate is considered to vary between 0.08 and 0.26 kg/s. Optimization Constraints There are several non-linear constraints that are applicable to the system. These constraints are related to thermal comfort issues, condensation inside the room and physical constraints. The constraints may be redefined in the following list The Percent People Dissatisfied inside the occupied zone is less than 10%. This condition is required for the human thermal comfort. The closer the PPD is to zero, it is assumed that the occupants inside the room would be more comfortable noting that the smallest percent people dissatisfaction is 5%. The temperature gradient shall not be greater than 2.5 K/m or 2.5  °C/m. This condition is required so that there would not be any large gradients in the human body. Large gradients cause thermal discomfort for living beings. The stratification height inside the room is greater than 1 m. This condition is required so that the stratified air does not mix with the breathing zone. The relative humidity inside the occupied zone is greater than 56% and less than 76%. The fitness function: To be able to enhance the speed of the genetic algorithm, the electrical cost function and constraints are combined in a single cost function by using penalty functions, thus the fitness cost function may be written as: The coefficients , , , , and in the above function are the weight factors for their related penalty costs. The weight factors values are set according to the system parameter. For the current system,‘s are set to unity. electrical cost The objective function that is to be optimized is the total operational cost of the system; this cost may be divided into: The cost of running the chiller.     Ã‚   The cost of running the pump. The cost of running the fan. Note that in this work the cost is given in units of KW. Chiller Cost The chiller is the main energy consuming component in our system .The chiller cost is expressed in terms of the part load ratio. The part load ratio is defined as the ratio of the current load on the chiller divided by the design load that the chiller could handle. Mathematically, the part load ratio is found from the equation The coefficient of performance of the chiller is correlated to the load equation by using the following correlation: The cost of the chiller is calculated by using the following equation Fan cost The fan cost is directly related to the air mass flow rate by using the following equation: Pump cost The pump cost is related to the pump head, liquid desiccant mass flow rate, and the efficiency of the pump. The power of the pump is evaluated by multiplying the pressure difference by the volumetric flow rate and dividing the result by the pump efficiency; mathematically the pump cost equation may be written as Note that the pump cost is not included in the cost function, since the desiccant mass flow rate is costant. Therefore the total energy consumed can be expressed by the following equation: The Constraints Cost Functions The cost function for the constraints may be written such that they could be incorporated into the online cost function in a simple manner. These constraints are related to their respective threshold values such that when the constraints are violated, the fitness function would have a very large value. For the predicted person dissatisfied, the cost function The relative humidity cost function may be bounded from the upper side by using the relation The stratification height cost is bounded to be larger than 1m, thus the stratification height cost is The temperature gradient is to bounded to be less than 2.5 K/m, thus the temperature gradient cost function may be written as The exponential term helps to penalize the cost function when-ever the thermal comfort level of occupants in the room TH decreases below the minimum set value THmin. This will increase the value of the cost function dramatically and the set of variables at hand is rejected. The integration of the constraint terms within the objective function expression and the use of the exponential form to control the constraints’ cost were implemented by Keblawi et al. [13] and Hammoud et al. [4].

Estimating Reservoir Porosity: Probabilistic Neural Network

Estimating Reservoir Porosity: Probabilistic Neural Network Estimation of Reservoir Porosity Using Probabilistic Neural Network Keywords: Porosity Seismic Attributes Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) Highlights: Porosity is estimated from seismicattributes using Probabilistic Neural Networks. Impedance is calculated by using Probabilistic Neural Networks inversion. Multi-regression analysis is used to select input seismic attributes. Abstract Porosity is the most fundamental property of hydrocarbon reservoir. However, the porosity data that come from well log are only available at well points. Therefore, it is necessary to use other methods to estimate reservoir porosity. Interpolation is a simple and widely used method for porosity estimation. However, the accuracy of interpolation method is not satisfactory especially in the place where the numbers of wells are small. Seismic data contain abundant lithology information. There are inherent correlations between reservoir propertyand seismic data. Therefore, it ispossible to estimate reservoir porosity by using seismic data andattributes. Probabilistic Neural Network is a neoteric neuralnetwork modelbased on statistical theory.It is a powerful tool to extract mathematic relation between two data sets. For this case, it has been used to extract the mathematic relation between porosity and seismic attributes. In this study, firstly, a seismic impedance volume is calculated b y seismic inversion. Secondly, several appropriate seismic attributes are extracted by using multi-regression analysis. Then, a Probabilistic Neural Network model is trained to obtain mathematic relation between porosity and seismic attributes. Finally, this trained Probabilistic Neural Network model is applied to calculate a porosity data volume. This methodology could be used to find advantageous areas at the early stage of exploration. And it is also helpful for the establishment of reservoir model at the stage of reservoir development. 1. Introduction In recent years, clear advances have been made in the study and application of intelligent systems. Intelligent system is a powerful tool to extract quantitative formulation between two data sets and has begun to be applied to the petroleum industry (Asoodeh and Bagheripour, 2014; Tahmasebi and Hezarkhani, 2012; Karimpouli et al., 2010; Chithra Chakra et al., 2013). There are inherent correlations between reservoir properties and seismic attributes (Iturrarà ¡n-Viveros and Parra, 2014; Yao and Journel, 2000). Therefore, it ispossible to estimate reservoir porosities by using seismic data and attributes. Previous studies have proved that it is feasible to estimate reservoir porosity by using statistical methods and intelligent systems (Na’imi et al., 2014; Iturrarà ¡n-Viveros, 2012; Leite and Vidal, 2011). Probabilistic NeuralNetwork (PNN) is a neoteric neural network model based on statistical theory. It is essentially a kind of parallel algorithm based on the minimum Bayesian risk criterion (Miguez, 2010). It is unlike traditional multilayer forward network that requires an error back propagation algorithm, but a completely forward calculation process. The training time is shorter and the accuracy is higher than traditional multilayer forward network. It is especially suitable for nonlinear multi attributes analysis. For this case, PNN has good performance on unseen data. In this study, the propounded methodology is applied to estimate the porosity of sandstone reservoir prosperously. 2. Probabilistic Neural Network PNN is a variant of Radial Basis Function networks and approximate Bayesian statistical methods, the combination of new input vectors with the existing data storage to fully classify the input data; a process that similar to human behavior (Parzen, 1962). Probabilistic Neural Network is an alternative type Neural Network (Specht, 1990). It is based on Parzen’s Probabilistic Density Function estimator. PNN is a four-layer feed-forward network, consisting of an input layer, a pattern layer, a summation layer and an output layer (Muniz et al., 2010). Probabilistic NeuralNetwork is actuallya mathematical interpolation method, but it has a structure of neural network. It has better interpolation function than multilayer feed forwardneural network. PNN’s requirement of training data sample is as same as Multilayer Feed Forward Neural Network. It includes a series of training sample sets, and each sample corresponds to the seismic sample in the analysis window of each well. Suppose that there is a data set of n samples, each sample consists of m seismic attributes and one reservoir parameter. Probabilistic Neural Network assumes that each output log value could be expressed as a linear combination of input logging data value (Hampson et al., 2001). The new sample after the attribute combination is expressed as: (1) The new predicted logging values can be expressed as: (2) whereà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã… ¡ (3) The unknown quantity D(x, xi) is the â€Å"distance† between input point and each training sample point. This distance is measured by seismic attributes in multidimensional space and it is expressed by the unknown quantity ÏÆ'j. Eq. (1)and Eq. (2) represent the application of Probabilistic Neural Network. The training process includes determining the optimal smoothing parameter set. The goal of the determination on these parameters is to make the validation error minimization. Defining the kth target point validation result as follows: (4) When the sample points are not in the training data, it is the kth target sample prediction value. Therefore, if the sample values are known, we can calculate the prediction error of sample points. Repeat this process for each training sample set, we can define the total prediction error of training data as: à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬(5) The prediction error depends on the choice of parameter ÏÆ'j. This unknown quantity realizes the minimization through nonlinear conjugate gradient algorithm. Validation error, the average error of all excluded wells, is the measure of a possible prediction error in the process of seismic attributes transformation. The trained Probabilistic Neural Network has the characteristics of validation minimum error. The PNN does not require an iterative learning process, which can manage magnitudes of training data faster than other Artificial Neural Network architectures (Muniz et al., 2010). The feature is a result of the Bayesian technique’s behavior (Mantzaris et al., 2011). 3. Methodology The data sets used in this study belong to 8 wells (consisting of W1 to W8) and post-stack 3D seismic data in Songliao Basin, Northeast China. The target stratum is the first member of the Cretaceous Nenjiang Formation that is one of the main reservoirs in this area. In this study, the main contents include seismic impedance inversion, attributes extraction, training and application of PNN model. The flow chart is shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1. The flow chart of this study 3.1 Seismic impedance inversion This section is to calculate a qualified 3D seismic impedance data volume for porosity estimation. The attributes are gathered from both seismic and inversion cube. The phase of input 3D seismic data is close to zero at the target stratum. The data have good quality in the entire time range without noticeable multiple interference. T6 and T5 are the top and bottom of reservoirs, respectively. T6-1 is an intermediate horizon between T6 and T5 (Fig. 2 (b)). This data volume covers an area of approximately 120 km2. The structure form of reservoir in this area is a slope. There are two faults in the up dip direction of slope (Fig. 2 (a)). (a) (b) Fig. 2. (a) T6 horizon display. (b) An arbitrary line from seismic data, line of this section is shown in (a). Seismic datacontain abundant information of lithology andreservoirs property. Through seismic inversion, interface type of seismic datacan beconverted intolithology type of loggingdata, which could be directlycompared withwell logging (Pendrel, 2006). Seismic inversionbased on logging data takes full advantage of large area lateral distribution ofseismic data combined with using the geologicaltheory. It is an effective method to study the distribution anddetailsof reservoirs. PNN inversion is a neoteric seismic wave impedance inversion method. There is mapping relation between synthetic impedance from well log data and seismic traces near well. In PNN inversion method, this mapping relation will be found and a mathematical model will be built up by training. The concrete steps of PNN inversion are as follow (Metzner, 2013): (1). Build up an initial reservoir geological model. The control points of model are defined by a series of different depth, velocity and density data. (2). Neural Network model establishment and training. At this step, a PNN model is built up and trained. The training and validation error of trained PNN should be minimized. The trained PNN model includes the mathematical relation between synthetic impedance by well log data and seismic traces near well. (3). Calculation of impedance by applying the PNN model to seismic data volume. PNN inversion method takes full advantage of all the frequency components of well log data, and has good anti-interference ability. PNN inversion will not reduce resolution in inversion process, and there is no error accumulation. Final results of inversion are displayed in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and Table 1. Fig. 3. Cross plot of actual impedance and predicted impedance Fig. 4. Cross Validation Result of Inversion. Correlation=0.832, Average Error=546.55[(m/s)*(g/cc)] Fig. 5. Arbitrary line from inversed impedance data volume. Base map is shown in the figure lowerleft. Table 1 Numerical analysis of inversion at well locations 3.2 Seismic attributes selection by using multi-regression analysis Multi-regression analysis is a mathematical method which is used to analysis the relationship between one dependent variable and several independent variables (Hampson et al., 2001). The basic principle is that although there is no strict, deterministic functional relation between dependent variables and independent variables can try to find the most appropriate mathematical formula to express this relation. Multi-regression analysis can be used to solve the following problems: (1). Determine if there is correlation between certain variables. If it exists, find a suitable mathematical expression between them. (2). According to one or several variable values, predict the value of another variable, and calculate the forecast accuracy. (3). Factor analysis. For example, in the common effects of many variables for a variable, find out the most important factors, the secondary important factors, and the relationship between these factors. In the multi-regression analysis method, prediction error of N attributes is always less than or equal to N-1 attributes. Adding attributes means to use higher polynomial to fit curve. We can calculate the prediction error of each polynomial. This prediction error is equal to the root mean square error between real values and predicted values. With the increase of polynomial order, the prediction error decreases. But when we use overhigh order polynomial to fit curves, the existing data may fit well, but the interpolation or extrapolation over boundary would be fitting badly. This problem is called over-trained. In this study, the data would be divided into training data set and validation data set. The training data set is used to determine the correlation coefficient, and the validation data set is used to compute the validation error. If a high order polynomial fit the training data set well, but fit the validation data set badly. It means that the order of polynomial is too high. In this section, multi-regression analysis method is used to find the most suitable seismic attributes. As illustrated in Table 2, the training error gradually reduces with the increasing number of attributes, but when the number of attributes increases to four, validation error will rise. So, the best set of seismic attributes should contain three attributes that are the first three attributes in Table 2. The first three attributes are Inverted Impedance, Average Frequency and Filter 35/40-45/50. The most significant seismic attribute is Inverted impedance. Those attributes yield useful information about the lateral changes in lithology and porosity (Chopra and Marfurt, 2005). Furthermore, the training error for them is less than 3% that shows the exactness of results. It should be noted that PNN is a kind of nonlinear method, so the aforementioned attributes can be used as input for porosity prediction by PNN. (Kadkhodaie-Ilkhchi et al., 2009) Table 2 The result of multi-regression analysis for porosity estimation 3.3 Porosity estimation using PNN The main purpose of this section is to establish an optimum PNN model. The inputs of this model are three selected attributes in the previous section. In order to highlight the advantages of Probabilistic Neural Network in porosity estimation, another four algorithms have been used. Another four algorithms are single attribute analysis, multi-regression analysis, Multi-layer Feed Forward Network (MLFN) and Radial Basis Function (RBF). The training and validation results are shown in Table 3. According to the results, PNN algorithm gives less training and validation error. As seen from Table 3, the correlation coefficient of training result could reach 0.915, which is considered as a high correlation coefficient. It is higher than multi-regression analysis method (the correlation coefficient of multi-regression analysis is 0.844) and other methods. According to the numerical validation results, PNN method for porosity estimation is more accurate than others in this case. In the final of this section, the analysis for creating an optimum PNN model was done (Table 3 and Fig.6). Table 3 The training and validation results of neural networks Fig. 6. Cross plot of predicted porosity versus actual porosity 4. Results and Discussion We have demonstrated the application of Probabilistic Neural Networkto reservoir porosity estimation from seismic attributes. Two mathematical tools have been used: multi-regression analysis and PNN method. In the section of seismic impedance inversion, a qualified inverted impedance data volume has been calculated (Fig.3). In the section of seismic attributes selection, multi-regression analysis has been used to find appropriate seismic attributes (the first three attributes of Table 2). Those seismic attributes come from 3D seismic data volume and inverted impedance data volume. The optimal model is built up by PNN with proper trend and minimization of error. We have demonstrated this methodology on a set of 8 wells log data. The correlation coefficient of training data set could reach 0.915, which is considered as a high correlation coefficient (Fig.6). The well W5 is not used in training. It is used to validate the result of porosity estimation. The correlation coefficient of validation result could reach 0.881, which means that this methodology is reliable. The estimated porosity of W5 is displayed in Fig.7. After the establishment of an optimum PNN model for porosity estimation, we apply this model to all seismic data volume. Then, a porosity data volume could be calculated (Figs.8, 9). In Fig.9, an ancient river could be seen in the rectangle with higher porosity than elsewhere in the region. This is consistent with the law of geology. which shows, from one aspect, that the Probabilistic Neural Network is a reliable tool for porosity estimation. This method is an effective way to create an acceptable porosity data volume. 5. Conclusions We have demonstrated that the estimation of reservoir porosity from seismic attributes and inversion impedance using PNN method. In this study, two mathematic tools have been used: multi-regression analysis and PNN method. At attributes selection stage of this study, three attributes have been selected. At the porosity estimation stage, a PNN model has been established and trained. The training and validation correlation coefficient between predicted porosity and actual porosity could reach 0.915 and 0.881, respectively. The profile of estimated porosity shows that porosity variation in vertical direction is approximately increasing from bottom to the top and can be verified at well locations. The results indicate that PNN is a reliable method for porosity estimation. And it has obvious advantages in estimation accuracy compared with conventional methods such as multi-regression analysis and Multi-layer Feed Forward Network. The proposed methodology can be used to estimate porosity from seismic data. This methodology could reduce drilling risks and improve the success rate of exploration at the early stage of reservoir exploration. And it also could provide an acceptable porosity data volume which could be used to build reservoir geological model at the stage of reservoir development.

Summary of The First Day :: Battle of Shiloh War History Essays

Summary of The First Day With the loss of Forts Henry and Donelson in February, General Johnston withdrew his Confederate forces into west Tennessee, northern Mississippi and Alabama to reorganize. In early March, General Halleck responded by ordering General Grant to move his Union Army of West Tennessee on an invasion up the Tennessee River. Occupying Pittsburg Landing, Grant had no thought of a Confederate attack. Halleck's instructions were that following the arrival of General Buell's Army of the Ohio from Nashville, Grant would move south in a joint offensive to seize the Memphis & Charleston Railroad, the Confederacy's only east-west all weather supply route that linked the lower Mississippi Valley to cities on the Confederacy's east coast. Assisted by General Beauregard, Johnston shifted his forces and placed almost 55,000 men around Corinth. Strategically located where the Memphis & Charleston crossed the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, Corinth was the western Confederacy's most important rail junction. On April 3, realizing Buell would soon reinforce Grant, Johnston launched an offensive with his Army of the Mississippi. Moving upon Pittsburg Landing with 43,938 men, Johnston planned to surprise Grant, cut his army off from retreat to the Tennessee River, and drive the Federals west into the swamps of Owl Creek. In the light of dawn, April 6, a small Federal reconnaissance discovered Johnston's army deployed for battle astride the Corinth road, just a mile beyond the forward Federal camps. Storming forward, the Confederates found the Federal position unfortified. By mid-morning, the Confederates seemed within easy reach of victory, overrunning one frontline Union division and capturing its camp. However, stiff resistance on the Federal right entangled Johnston's brigades in a savage fight around Shiloh Church. Throughout the day, Johnston's army hammered the Federal right, which gave ground but did not break. Meanwhile, Johnston's attack stalled in front of Sarah Bell's peach orchard and the dense oak thicket labeled the "hornet's nest" by the Confederates. Grant's left flank withstood Confederate assaults for seven crucial hours before being forced to yield ground in the late afternoon. Despite inflicting heavy casualties and seizing ground, the Confederates only drove Grant towards the river, instead of away from it. The Federal survivors established a solid front before Pittsburg Landing and stopped the last Confederate charge as dusk ended the first day of fighting. The Second Day April 7, 1862 Shiloh's first day of slaughter also witnessed the death of the Confederate leader, General Johnston, who fell at mid-afternoon, struck down by a stray bulle.

Getting Rid Of George :: essays research papers

Personal Response to Getting Rid of George Robert Arthur’s story, Getting Rid of George is a good gothic story because of it’s various examples of required gothic elements. These requirements include atmosphere, psychological state of mind, mystery, romance, and melodrama. All of these combined make this story a good gothic example. To begin, the setting, at one point, takes place at a dark secludes cabin in the mountains. Evidence of this is found when Harry describes: "It is absolutely deserted up there at this time of year." As well, the disappearance of George to everyone except Laura and Harry adds to the gloomy atmosphere. Again adding to the gloom and terror of the story is the physical exploitation of cruelty shown by Laura when she repeatedly beats George with a statuette until he lay dead on the floor. Mental exploitation of cruelty is also evident when George returns from the dead and blackmails and once again tries to ruin Laura new found life. We found clear examples of an atmosphere of gloom and terror throughout this story proving that Getting Rid of George is a well written gothic story. Along with a gloomy and terrifying atmosphere, Arthur uses the element of aberrant psychological states of mind to add to his gothic story. An example of irrational behavior is shown when Laura becomes outraged and spontaneously murders George. We thought, as well, that when Laura suffers a fainting spell is also an example of this psychological state of mind. Evidence of this is found when Arthur writes: "Harry held Laura until the nausea within her subsided." Lastly, hallucinations were also prevalent in the story as well. We thought a good example was when Harry and Laura were bringing George to the cabin to dispose of his body, Laura claims that George’s dead eye slowly opened and gave her a knowing wink. Elements of mystery were also used throughout this story. Many things were hidden or unknown. Some examples are when George walked into Laura’s dressing room disguised as part of the press. His real identity, to Laura, was unknown. Also the fact that Laura murdered George and Harry is planning to help her was kept hidden from anyone and everyone. We also found obvious secrecy and obscurity in the story as well. Laura’s past was kept as a deep secret as it would more than likely hurt her new career as an actress.

The 1893 World’s Fair Essay examples -- Arts Worlds Fair Essays

The 1893 World’s Fair A World’s Fair is an â€Å"[I]nternational exposition that features exhibits dealing with commerce, industry, and science.† (World Book Encyclopedia 412) Entertainment is also present along with cultural activities. In 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, although inaugurated a year late, commemorated the discovery of America. I feel that the Exposition displayed some of the more beautiful architecture of its time; its immense buildings and sculptures drew heavily from Greek and other classical styles, and it could possible be because of the sweeping popularity in Beaux Arts architecture. The Peristyle, one of the buildings that was constructed for the Fair, was designed by Charles B. Atwood. It was an ‘arcade of columns originally proposed by Augustus Saint Gaudens, the consultant on sculpture.† (Burg 79) The Perisytle was a beautiful building that followed in the traditional Greek pathway. It â€Å"was a series of forty-eight Corinthian columns, one for each of the American States and Territories, with an immense triumphal arch at the center. J The Peristyle itself was 500’ high, its top being a broad promenade populated by 85 allegorical figures in heroic scale.† (Burg 119) The Greeks used Peristyles in their architecture. A Peristyle was placed around the Greek Parthenon. Corinthian columns were created in the Hellenic era, but they had to wait until the Hellenistic era to reach their full development. J â€Å"They are distinguished by their ornate capitals with double rows of acanthus leaves and fernlike fonds rising from each corner and terminating in miniature volutes.† (Fleming 32) The largest structure at the fair was the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building. It housed many... ...ssive of the greatest eras of human history.† (Burg 175) It’s a shame that after all the work, and all of the visitors, and all the critics’ reviews, in the end the buildings have to be torn down! Bibliography No author cited. â€Å"World’s Fair.† World Book Encyclopedia. 1896 ed. Hunt, William Dudley Jr. â€Å"Beaux Arts, Ecole Des.† Hunt Encyclopedia of American Architecture, 1980 ed. Books Burg, David F. Chicago’s White City of 1893. Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1976. No author cited. The Columbian World’s Fair Atlas. Ohio: W.F. Towns 1891. Fleming, William. Arts and Ideas. 8th ed. Florida: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Incorporated, 1991. No author cited. The American Heritage Dictionary. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985. Newspaper No author cited. â€Å"A City of White Elephants.† New York Times 18 Sept. 1893, natl.ed.,8.

Effects of Ofw Essay

The effects of overseas filipino workers in their children Overseas Filipino Workers sacrifice a lot to provide a better life for their families in the Philippines. They spent holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, New Year and other important occasions away from their families. It has an effect of the children of Ofw’s. No money can replace the hug of a father or mother, no toy or balikbayan box can take the place of the quality time spent together with ones family. Children will feel that they are missing the love of their father and or mother but it doesn’t have to be that way. The Internet has tools to can bring families together for free. These tools can provide ways for families to see and hear each other for free. It gives them the chance to connect and spent quality time even if they are hundreds of miles away. Ofw sacrifices and reasons why they leave Here in the Philippines poverty is rampant, the hardships of life are in one package already. That’s why many Filipinos work overseas looking for greener pastures, to provide appropriate needs for there family, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) also have the prestige to be called our new heroes for they send foreign money inside the Philippines with it we are able to pay the dept of our nation where it had been already ballooned into billions because of our incapable government. These are the reasons why they leave: First reason poverty, poverty is everywhere, it is all over the world and we cannot deny that the Nation of the Philippines is not excluded to it for it is even a third world country. Secondly, Overpopulation the population of the Philippines is estimated 99,900,177million (July 2010 est.) by looking closely, the demands for workers decreases because the quantity of people needing a job is overflowing. Third! One big impact is our incapable government, yes! We know that they are trying there best to eradicate this poverty plague in our nation but it is not enough to make up all the things that the people really need, they need a right government who are not blind, mute and cannot hear to know what is happening to our dying nation. Lastly the lazy â€Å"houseband† or husband I should say, the father is the provider of the house, this is our in dogma all over the world but sadly to say here in the Philippines this is where you can find abundantly these housebands. These are the Advantage and Disadvantages of OFW Advantages 1. You could just have the root of all kinds of evil which money. That’s the main purpose of working abroad. 2. You will have more relatives and friends. Disadvantages: 1. Far from your families and friends. 2. You have to adjust to your new environment. 3. The Philippine goverment considers OFW’s as living heroes but if you are in trouble you may realize that most heroes are suffering from death. 4. For the first time being an OFW, you have to be ready for the unknown. 5. If you have chidren, Sorry you could not see them growing up. 6. Its just a waste of time. Just stay home and enjoy what’s in there.

Forward the Foundation Chapter 8

21 In two days Joranum had swept Trantor, partly by himself, mostly through his lieutenants. As Hari muttered to Dors, it was a campaign that had all the marks of military efficiency. â€Å"He was born to be a war admiral in the old days,† he said. â€Å"He's wasted on politics.† And Dors said, â€Å"Wasted? At this rate, he's going to make himself First Minister in a week and, if he wishes, Emperor in two weeks. There are reports that some of the military garrisons are cheering him.† Seldon shook his head. â€Å"It will collapse, Dors.† â€Å"What? Joranum's party or the Empire?† â€Å"Joranum's party. The story of the robot has created an instant stir, especially with the effective use of that flier, but a little thought, a little coolness, and the public will see it for the ridiculous accusation it is.† â€Å"But, Hari,† said Dors tightly, â€Å"you needn't pretend with me. It is not a ridiculous story. How could Joranum possibly have found out that Demerzel is a robot?† â€Å"Oh, that! Why, Raych told him so.† â€Å"Raych!† â€Å"That's right. He did his job perfectly and got back safely with the promise of being made Dahl's sector leader someday. Of course he was believed. I knew he would be.† â€Å"You mean you told Raych that Demerzel was a robot and had him pass on the news to Joranum?† Dors looked utterly horrified. â€Å"No, I couldn't do that. You know I couldn't tell Raych-or anyone-that Demerzel was a robot. I told Raych as firmly as I could that Demerzel was not a robot-and even that much was difficult. But I did ask him to tell Joranum that he was. He is under the firm impression that he lied to Joranum.† â€Å"But why, Hari? Why?† â€Å"It's not psychohistory, I'll tell you that. Don't you join the Emperor in thinking I'm a magician. I just wanted Joranum to believe that Demerzel was a robot. He's a Mycogenian by birth, so he was filled from youth with his culture's tales of robots. Therefore, he was predisposed to believe and he was convinced that the public would believe with him.† â€Å"Well, won't they?† â€Å"Not really. After the initial shock is over, they will realize that it's madcap fiction-or they will think so. I've persuaded Demerzel that he must give a talk on subetheric holovision to be broadcast to key portions of the Empire and to every sector on Trantor. He is to talk about everything but the robot issue. There are enough crises, we all know, to fill such a talk. People will listen and will hear nothing about robots. Then, at the end, he will be asked about the flier and he need not answer a word. He need only laugh.† â€Å"Laugh? I've never known Demerzel to laugh. He almost never smiles.† â€Å"This time, Dors, he'll laugh. It is the one thing that no one ever visualizes a robot doing. You've seen robots in holographic fantasies, haven't you? They're always pictured as literal-minded, unemotional, inhuman-That's what people are sure to expect. So Demerzel need merely laugh. And on top of that-Do you remember Sunmaster Fourteen, the religious leader of Mycogen?† â€Å"Of course I do. Literal-minded, unemotional, inhuman. He's never laughed, either.† â€Å"And he won't this time. I've done a lot of work on this Joranum matter since I had that little set-to at the Field. I know Joranum's real name. I know where he was born, who his parents were, where he had his early training, and all of it, with documentary proof, has gone to Sunmaster Fourteen. I don't think Sunmaster likes Breakaways.† â€Å"But I thought you said you don't wish to spark off bigotry.† â€Å"I don't. If I had given the information to the holovision people, I would have, but I've given it to Sunmaster, where, after all, it belongs.† â€Å"And he'll start off the bigotry.† â€Å"Of course he won't. No one on Trantor would pay any attention to Sunmaster-whatever he might say.† â€Å"Then what's the point?† â€Å"Well, that's what we'll see, Dors. I don't have a psychohistorical analysis of the situation. I don't even know if one is possible. I just hope that my judgment is right.† 22 Eto Demerzel laughed. It was not the first time. He sat there, with Hari Seldon and Dors Venabili in a tap-free room, and, every once in a while, at a signal from Hari, he would laugh. Sometimes he leaned back and laughed uproariously, but Seldon shook his head. â€Å"That would never sound convincing.† So Demerzel smiled and then laughed with dignity and Seldon made a face. â€Å"I'm stumped,† he said. â€Å"It's no use trying to tell you funny stories. You get the point only intellectually. You will simply have to memorize the sound.† Dors said, â€Å"Use a holographic laughtrack.† â€Å"No! That would never be Demerzel. That's a bunch of idiots being paid to yak. It's not what I want. Try again, Demerzel.† Demerzel tried again until Seldon said, â€Å"All right, then, memorize that sound and reproduce it when you're asked the question. You've got to look amused. You can't make the sound of laughing, however proficient, with a grave face. Smile a little, just a little. Pull back the corner of your mouth.† Slowly Demerzel's mouth widened into a grin. â€Å"Not bad. Can you make your eyes twinkle?† â€Å"What do you mean, ‘twinkle,†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ said Dors indignantly. â€Å"No one makes their eyes twinkle. That's a metaphorical expression.† â€Å"No, it's not,† said Seldon. â€Å"There's the hint of tears in the eye-sadness, joy, surprise, whatever-and the reflection of light from that hint of fluid is what does it.† â€Å"Well, do you seriously expect Demerzel to produce tears?† And Demerzel said, matter-of-factly, â€Å"My eyes do produce tears for general cleansing-never in excess. Perhaps, though, if I imagine my eyes to be slightly irritated-â€Å" â€Å"Try it,† said Seldon. â€Å"It can't hurt.† And so it was that when the talk on subetheric holovision was over and the words were streaking out to millions of worlds at thousands of times the effective speed of light words that were grave, matter-of-fact, informative, and without rhetorical embellishment-and that discussed everything but robots-Demerzel declared himself ready to answer questions. He did not have to wait long. The very first question was: â€Å"Mr. First Minister, are you a robot?† Demerzel simply stared calmly and let the tension build. Then he smiled, his body shook slightly, and he laughed. It was not a loud uproarious laugh, but it was a rich one, the laugh of someone enjoying a moment of fantasy. It was infectious. The audience tittered and then laughed along with him. Demerzel waited for the laughter to die down and then, eyes twinkling, said, â€Å"Must I really answer that? Is it necessary to do so?† He was still smiling as the screen darkened. 23 â€Å"I'm sure it worked,† said Seldon. â€Å"Naturally we won't have a complete reversal instantly. It takes time. But things are moving in the right direction now. I noticed that when I stopped Namarti's talk at the University Field. The audience was with him until I faced him and showed spunk against odds. The audience began to change sides at once.† â€Å"Do you think this is an analogous situation?† asked Dors dubiously. â€Å"Of course. If I don't have psychohistory, I can use analogy-and the brains I was born with, I suppose. There was the First Minister, beleaguered on all sides with the accusation, and he faced it down with a smile and a laugh, the most nonrobot thing he could have done, so that in itself was an answer to the question. Of course sympathy began to slide to his side. Nothing would stop that. But that's only the beginning. We have to wait for Sunmaster Fourteen and hear what he has to say.† â€Å"Are you confident there, too?† â€Å"Absolutely.† 24 Tennis was one of Hari's favorite sports, but he preferred to play rather than watch others. He watched with impatience, therefore, as the Emperor Cleon, dressed in sports fashion, loped across the court to return the ball. It was Imperial tennis, actually, so-called because it was a favorite of Emperors, a version of the game in which a computerized racket was used that could alter its angle slightly with appropriate pressures on the handle. Hari had tried to develop the technique on several occasions but found that mastering the computerized racket would take a great deal of practice-and Hari Seldon's time was far too precious for what was clearly a trivial pursuit. Cleon placed the ball in a nonreturnable position and won the game. He trotted off the court to the careful applause of the functionaries who were watching and Seldon said to him, â€Å"Congratulations, Sire. You played a marvelous game.† Cleon said indifferently, â€Å"Do you think so, Seldon? They're all so careful to let me win. I get no pleasure out of it.† Seldon said, â€Å"In that case, Sire, you might order your opponents to play harder.† â€Å"It wouldn't help. They'd be careful to lose anyway. And if they did win, I would get even less pleasure out of losing than out of winning meaninglessly. Being an Emperor has its woes, Seldon. Joranum would have found that out-if he had ever succeeded in becoming one.† He disappeared into his private shower facility and emerged in due time, scrubbed and dried and dressed rather more formally. â€Å"And now, Seldon† he said, waving all the others away, â€Å"the tennis court is as private a place as we can find and the weather is glorious, so let us not go indoors. I have read the Mycogenian message of this Sunmaster Fourteen. Will it do?† â€Å"Entirely, Sire. As you have read, Joranum was denounced as a Mycogenian Breakaway and is accused of blasphemy in the strongest terms.† â€Å"And does that finish him?† â€Å"It diminishes his importance fatally, Sire. There are few who accept the mad story of the First Minister's robothood now. Furthermore, Joranum is revealed as a liar and a poseur and, worse, one who was caught at it.† â€Å"Caught at it, yes,† said Cleon thoughtfully. â€Å"You mean that merely to be underhanded is to be sly and that may be admirable, while to be caught is to be stupid and that is never admirable.† â€Å"You put it succinctly, Sire.† â€Å"Then Joranum is no longer a danger.† â€Å"We can't be certain of that, Sire. He may recover, even now. He still has an organization and some of his followers will remain loyal. History yields examples of men and women who have come back after disasters as great as this one-or greater.† â€Å"In that case, let us execute him, Seldon.† Seldon shook his head. â€Å"That would be inadvisable, Sire. You would not want to create a martyr or to make yourself appear to be a despot.† Cleon frowned. â€Å"Now you sound like Demerzel. Whenever I wish to take forceful action, he mutters the word ‘despot.' There have been Emperors before me who have taken forceful action and who have been admired as a result and have been considered strong and decisive.† â€Å"Undoubtedly, Sire, but we live in troubled times. Nor is execution necessary. You can accomplish your purpose in a way that will make you seem enlightened and benevolent.† â€Å"Seem enlightened?† â€Å"Be enlightened, Sire. I misspoke. To execute Joranum would be to take revenge, which might be regarded as ignoble. As Emperor, however, you have a kindly-even paternal-attitude toward the beliefs of all your people. You make no distinctions, for you are the Emperor of all alike.† â€Å"What is it you're saying?† â€Å"I mean, Sire, that Joranum has offended the sensibilities of the Mycogenians and you are horrified at his sacrilege, he having been born one of them. What better can you do but hand Joranum over to the Mycogenians and allow them to take care of him? You will be applauded for your proper Imperial convern.† â€Å"And the Mycogenians will execute him, then?† â€Å"They may, Sire. Their laws against blasphemy are excessively severe. At best, they will imprison him for life at hard labor.† Cleon smiled. â€Å"Very good. I get the credit for humanity and tolerance and they do the dirty work.† â€Å"They would, Sire, if you actually handed Joranum over to them. That would, however, still create a martyr.† â€Å"Now you confuse me. What would you have me do?† â€Å"Give Joranum the choice. Say that your regard for the welfare of all the people in your Empire urges you to hand him over to the Mycogenians for trial but that your humanity fears the Mycogenians may be too severe. Therefore, as an alternative, he may choose to be banished to Nishaya, the small and secluded world from which he claimed to have come, to live the rest of his life in obscurity and peace. You'll see to it that he's kept under guard, of course.† â€Å"And that will take care of things?† â€Å"Certainly. Joranum would be committing virtual suicide if he chose to be returned to Mycogen-and he doesn't strike me as the suicidal type. He will certainly choose Nishaya, and though that is the sensible course of action, it is also an unheroic one. As a refugee in Nishaya, he can scarcely lead any movement designed to take over the Empire. His following is sure to disintegrate. They could follow a martyr with holy zeal, but it would be difficult, indeed, to follow a coward.† â€Å"Astonishing! How did you manage all this, Seldon?† There was a distinct note of admiration in Cleon's voice. Seldon said, â€Å"Well, it seemed reasonable to suppose-â€Å" â€Å"Never mind,† said Cleon abruptly. â€Å"I don't suppose you'll tell me the truth or that I would understand you if you did, but I'll tell you this much. Demerzel is leaving office. This last crisis has proved to be too much for him and I agree with him that it is time for him to retire. But I can't do without a First Minister and, from this moment onward, you are he.† â€Å"Sire!† exclaimed Seldon in mingled astonishment and horror. â€Å"First Minister Hari Seldon.† said Cleon calmly. â€Å"The Emperor wishes it.† 25 â€Å"Don't be alarmed,† said Demerzel. â€Å"It was my suggestion. I've been here too long and the succession of crises has reached the point where the consideration of the Three Laws paralyzes me. You are the logical successor.† â€Å"I am not the logical successor,† said Seldon hotly. â€Å"What do I know about running an Empire? The Emperor is foolish enough to believe that I solved this crisis by psychohistory. Of course I didn't.† â€Å"That doesn't matter, Hari. If he believes you have the psychohistorical answer, he will follow you eagerly and that will make you a Good First Minister.† â€Å"He may follow me straight into destruction.† â€Å"I feel that your good sense-or intuition-will keep you on target†¦ with or without psychohistory.† â€Å"But what will I do without you-Daneel?† â€Å"Thank you for calling me that. I am Demerzel no more, only Daneel. As to what you will do without me – Suppose you try to put into practice some of Joranum's ideas of equality and social justice? He may not have meant them-he may have used them only as ways of capturing allegiance-but they are not bad ideas in themselves. And find ways of having Raych help you in that. He clung to you against his own attraction to Joranum's ideas and he must feel torn and half a traitor. Show him he isn't. In addition, you can work all the harder on psychohistory, for the Emperor will be there with you, heart and soul.† â€Å"But what will you do, Daneel?† â€Å"I have other things in the Galaxy to which I must attend. There is still the Zeroth Law and I must labor for the good of humanity, insofar as I can determine what that might be. And, Hari-â€Å" â€Å"Yes, Daneel.† â€Å"You still, have Dors.† Seldon nodded. â€Å"Yes, I still have Dors.† He paused for a moment before grasping Daneel's firm hand with his own. â€Å"Good-bye, Daneel.† â€Å"Good-bye, Hari,† Daneel replied. And with that, the robot turned, his heavy First Minister's robe rustling as he walked away, head up, back ramrod straight, along the Palace hallway. Seldon stood there for a few minutes after Daneel had gone, lost in thought. Suddenly he began moving in the direction of the First Minister's apartment. Seldon had one more thing to tell Daneel-the most important thing of all. Seldon hesitated in the softly lit hallway before entering. But the room was empty. The dark robe was draped over a chair. The First Minister's chambers echoed Hari's last words to the robot: â€Å"Good-bye, my friend.† Eto Demerzel was gone; R. Daneel Olivaw had vanished. Part II Cleon I CLEON I-†¦ Though often receiving panegyrics for being the last Emperor under whom the First Galactic Empire was reasonably united and reasonably prosperous, the quarter-century reign of Cleon I was one of continuous decline. This cannot be viewed as his direct responsibility, for the Decline of the Empire was based on political and economic factors too strong for anyone to deal with at the time. He was fortunate in his selection of First Ministers-Eto Demerzel and then Hari Seldon, in whose development of psychohistory the Emperor never lost faith. Cleon and Seldon, as the objects of the final Joranumite Conspiracy, with its bizarre climax- Encyclopedia Galactica 1 Mandell Gruber was a happy man. He seemed so to Hari Seldon, certainly. Seldon stopped his morning constitutional to watch him. Gruber, perhaps in his late forties, a few years younger than Seldon, was a bit gnarled from his continuing work in the Imperial Palace grounds, but he had a cheerful, smoothly shaven face, topped by a pink skull, not much of which was hidden by his thin sandy hair. He whistled softly to himself as he inspected the leaves of the bushes for any signs of insect infestation. He was not the Chief Gardener, of course. The Chief Gardener of the Imperial Palace grounds was a high functionary who had a palatial office in one of the buildings of the enormous Imperial complex, with an army of men and women under him. The chances are he did not inspect the Palace grounds more often than once or twice a year. Gruber was but one of that army. His title, Seldon knew, was Gardener First-Class and it had been well earned, with thirty years of faithful service. Seldon called to him as he paused on the perfectly level crushed gravel walk, â€Å"Another marvelous day, Gruber.† Gruber looked up and his eyes twinkled. â€Å"Yes, indeed, First Minister, and it's sorry I am for those who be cooped up indoors.† â€Å"You mean as I am about to be.† â€Å"There's not much about you, First Minister, for people to sorrow over, but if you're disappearing into those buildings on a day like this, it's a bit of sorrow that we fortunate few can feel for you.† â€Å"I thank you for your sympathy, Gruber, but you know we have forty billion Trantorians under the dome. Are you sorry for all of them?† â€Å"Indeed, I am. I am grateful I am not of Trantorian extraction myself so that I could qualify as a gardener. There be few of us on this world that work in the open, but here I be, one of the fortunate few.†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ â€Å"The weather isn't always this ideal.† â€Å"That is true. And I have been out here in the sluicing rains and the whistling winds. Still, as long as you dress fittingly†¦ Look-† And Gruber spread his arms open, wide as his smile, as if to embrace the vast expanse of the Palace grounds. â€Å"I have my friends-the trees and the lawns and all the animal life forms to keep me company-and growth to encourage in geometric form, even in the winter. Have you ever seen the geometry of the grounds, First Minister?† â€Å"I am looking at it right now, am I not?† â€Å"I mean the plans spread out so you can really appreciate it all-and marvelous it is, too. It was planned by Tapper Savand, over a hundred years ago, and it has been little changed since. Tapper was a great horticulturist, the greatest-and he came from my planet.† â€Å"That was Anacreon, wasn't it?† â€Å"Indeed. A far-off world near the edge of the Galaxy, where there is still wilderness and life can be sweet. I came here when I was still an earwet** lad, when the present Chief Gardener took power under the old Emperor. Of course, now they're talking of redesigning the grounds.† Gruber sighed deeply and shook his head. â€Å"That would be a mistake. They are just right as they are now properly proportioned, well balanced, pleasing to the eye and spirit. But it is true that in history, the grounds have occasionally been redesigned. Emperors grow tired of the old and are always seeking the new, as if new is somehow always better. Our present Emperor, may he live long, has been planning the redesign with the Chief Gardener. At least, that is the word that runs from gardener to gardener.† This last he added quickly, as if abashed at spreading Palace gossip. â€Å"It might not happen soon.† â€Å"I hope not, First Minister. Please, if you have the chance to take some time from all the heart-stopping work you must be after doing, study the design of the grounds. It is a rare beauty and, if I have my way, there should not be a leaf moved out of place, nor a flower, nor a rabbit, anywhere in all these hundreds of square kilometers.† Seldon smiled. â€Å"You are a dedicated man, Gruber. I would not be surprised if someday you were Chief Gardener.† â€Å"May Fate protect me from that. The Chief Gardener breathes no fresh air, sees no natural sights, and forgets all he has learned of nature. He lives there†-Gruber pointed scornfully-â€Å"and I think he no longer knows a bush from a stream unless one of his underlings leads him out and places his hand on one or dips it into the other.† For a moment it seemed as though Gruber would expectorate his scorn, but he could not find any place on which he could bear to spit. Seldon laughed quietly. â€Å"Gruber, it's good to talk to you. When I am overcome with the duties of the day, it is pleasant to take a few moments to listen to your philosophy of life.† â€Å"Ah, First Minister, it is no philosopher I am. My schooling was very sketchy.† â€Å"You don't need schooling to be a philosopher. Just an active mind and experience with life. Take care, Gruber. I just might have you promoted.† â€Å"If you but leave me as I am, First Minister, you will have my total gratitude.† Seldon was smiling as he moved on, but the smile faded as his mind turned once more to his current problems. Ten years as First Minister-and if Gruber knew how heartily sick Seldon was of his position, his sympathy would rise to enormous heights. Could Gruber grasp the fact that Seldon's progress in the techniques of psychohistory showed the promise of facing him with an unbearable dilemma? 2 Seldon's thoughtful stroll across the grounds was the epitome of peace. It was hard to believe here, in the midst of the Emperor's immediate domain, that he was on a world that, except for this area, was totally enclosed by a dome. Here, in this spot, he might be on his home world of Helicon or on Gruber's home world of Anacreon. Of course, the sense of peace was an illusion. The grounds were guarded-thick with security. Once, a thousand years ago, the Imperial Palace grounds-much less palatial, much less differentiated from a world only beginning to construct domes over individual regions-had been open to all citizens and the Emperor himself could walk along the paths, unguarded, nodding his head in greeting to his subjects. No more. Now security was in place and no one from Trantor itself could possibly invade the grounds. That did not remove the danger, however, for that, when it came, came from discontented Imperial functionaries and from corrupt and suborned soldiers. It was within the grounds that the Emperor and his staff were most in danger. What would have happened if, on that occasion, nearly ten years before, Seldon had not been accompanied by Dors Venabili? It had been in his first year as First Minister and it was only natural, he supposed (after the fact), that there would be jealous heart-burning over his unexpected choice for the post. Many others, far better qualified in training-in years of service and, most of all, in their own eyes-could view the appointment with anger. They did not know of psychohistory or of the importance the Emperor attached to it and the easiest way to correct the situation was to corrupt one of the sworn protectors of the First Minister. Dors must have been more suspicious than Seldon himself was. Or else, with Demerzel's disappearance from the scene, her instructions to guard Seldon had been strengthened. The truth was that, for the first few years of his First Ministership, she was at his side more often than not. And on the late afternoon of a warm sunny day, Dors noted the glint of the westering sun-a sun never seen under Trantor's dome-on the metal of a blaster. â€Å"Down, Hari!† she cried suddenly and her legs crushed the grass as she raced toward the sergeant. â€Å"Give me that blaster, Sergeant,† she said tightly. The would-be assassin, momentarily immobilized by the unexpected sight of a woman running toward him, now reacted quickly, raising the drawn blaster. But she was already at him, her hand enclosing his right wrist in a steely grip and lifting his arm high. â€Å"Drop it,† she said through clenched teeth. The sergeant's face twisted as he attempted to yank his arm loose. â€Å"Don't try, Sergeant,† said Dors. â€Å"My knee is three inches from your groin and, if you so much as blink, your genitals will be history. So just freeze. That's right. Okay, now open your hand. If you don't drop the blaster right now, I will shatter your arm.† A gardener came running up with a rake. Dors motioned him away. The sergeant dropped the blaster to the ground. Seldon had arrived. â€Å"I'll take over, Dors.† â€Å"You will not. Get in among those trees and take the blaster with you. Others may be involved-and ready to act.† Dors had not loosened her grip on the sergeant. She said, â€Å"Now, Sergeant, I want the name of whoever it was who persuaded you to make an attempt on the First Minister's life-and the name of everyone else who is in this with you.† The sergeant was silent. â€Å"Don't be foolish,† said Dors. â€Å"Speak!† She twisted his arm and he sank down to his knees. She put her shoe on his neck. â€Å"If you think silence becomes you, I can crush your larynx and you will be silent forever. And even before that, I am going to damage you badly-I won't leave one bone unbroken. You had better talk.† The sergeant talked. Later Seldon had said to her, â€Å"How could you do that, Dors? I never believed you capable of such†¦ violence. â€Å" Dors said coolly, â€Å"I did not actually hurt him much, Hari. The threat was sufficient. In any case, your safety was paramount.† â€Å"You should have let me take care of him.† â€Å"Why? To salvage your masculine pride? You wouldn't have been fast enough, for one thing. Secondly, no matter what you would have succeeded in doing, you are a man and it would have been expected. I am a woman and women, in popular thought, are not considered as ferocious its men and most, in general, do not have the strength to do what I did. The story will improve in the telling and everyone will be terrified of me. No one will dare to try to harm you for fear of me.† â€Å"For fear of you and for fear of execution. The sergeant and his cohorts are to be killed, you know.† At this, an anguished look clouded Dors's usually composed visage, as if she could not stand the thought of the traitorous sergeant being put to death, even though he would have cut down her beloved Hari without a second thought. â€Å"But,† she exclaimed, â€Å"there is no need to execute the conspirators. Exile will do the job.† â€Å"No, it won't,† said Seldon. â€Å"It's too late. Cleon will hear of nothing but executions. I can quote him-if you wish.† â€Å"You mean he's already made up his mind?† â€Å"At once. I told him that exile or imprisonment would be all that was necessary, but he said no. He said, `Every time I try to solve a problem by direct and forceful action, first Demerzel and then you talk of â€Å"despotism† and â€Å"tyranny.† But this is my Palace. These are my grounds. These are my guardsmen. My safety depends on the security of this place and the loyalty of my people. Do you think that any deviation from absolute loyalty can be met with anything but instant death? How else would you be safe? How else would I be safe?' â€Å"I said there would have to be a trial. ‘Of course,' he said, ‘a short military trial and I don't expect a single vote for anything but execution. I shall make that quite clear.' â€Å" Dors looked appalled. â€Å"You're taking this very quietly. Do you agree with the Emperor?† Reluctantly Seldon nodded. â€Å"I do.† â€Å"Because there was an attempt on your life. Have you abandoned your principles for mere revenge?† â€Å"Now, Dors, I'm not a vengeful person. However, it was not myself alone at risk or even the Emperor. If there is anything that the recent history of the Empire shows us, it is that Emperors come and go. It is psychohistory that must be protected. Undoubtedly, even if something happens to me, psychohistory will someday be developed, but the Empire is falling fast and we cannot wait-and only I have advanced far enough to obtain the necessary techniques in time.† â€Å"Then you should teach what you know to others,† said Dors gravely. â€Å"I'm doing so. Yugo Amaryl is a reasonable successor and I have gathered a group of technicians who will someday be useful, but they won't be as-† He paused. â€Å"They won't be as good as you-as wise, as capable? Really?† â€Å"I happen to think so,† said Seldon. â€Å"And I happen to be human. Psychohistory is mine and, if I can possibly manage it, I want the credit.† â€Å"Human,† sighed Dors, shaking her head almost sadly. The executions went through. No such purge had been seen in over a century. Two Ministers, five officials of lower ranks, and four soldiers, including the hapless sergeant, met their deaths. Every guardsman who could not withstand the most rigorous investigation was relieved of duty and exiled to the remote Outer Worlds. Since then, there had been no whisper of disloyalty and so notorious had become the care with which the First Minister was guarded, to say nothing of the terrifying woman-called â€Å"The Tiger Woman† by many-who watched over him, that it was no longer necessary for Dors to accompany him everywhere. Her invisible presence was an adequate shield and the Emperor Cleon enjoyed nearly ten years of quiet and absolute security. Now, however, psychohistory was finally reaching the point where predictions, of a sort, could be made and, as Seldon crossed the grounds in his passage from his office (First Minister) to his laboratory (psychohistorian), he was uneasily aware of the likelihood that this era of peace might be coming to an end.