Quality Management as a Global Issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8500 words

Quality Management as a Global Issue - Essay Example Such issues require an organizational change initiative and have mostly been undertaken by the private sector, or at least research suggests so. However, not much research is available on the extent that public institutions have implemented quality management. The health-care sector in Saudi Arabia is a very vital sector where quality is a critical issue. Quality health care is a basic human right and based on this principle, Saudi hospitals to have joined the movements towards quality management. They expect that such a strategy would help to overcome organizational deficiencies amidst shrinking budgets (Al-ahmadi & Roland, 2005). Total quality management (TQM) is one such management practice that can help improve health organizational performance. There is no universally accepted definition of TQM and varies across researchers and philosophers and quality experts. Nevertheless, it has been considered as a philosophy for managing organizations (Hill and Wilkinson, 1995; Dean and Bowen, 1994) and most agree on certain core TQM concepts (Waldman, 1993). These core concepts include: 4. Involvement, support and guidance of senior management demonstrating their commitment towards TQM along with the importance of leadership necessary to achieve successful TQM (Johnson, 1990; Juran 1989; Waldman, 1993); Ho and Shih (1999) conducted a review of the works of quality proponents. This study revealed shared principles and certain assumptions of TQM commonly shared by all. The authors surmised that a customer-centric approach is essential to achieve TQM. This implies that both the products and the services should be customized to meet the customer needs and expectations. To meet the long-term objectives of organizational success, a customer-focused approach is essential. The authors also found that process improvement should be an ongoing process in the organization. This principle is based on  the two-fold argument: a) ongoing quality and process improvement lead to customer satisfaction and b) in the long run high-quality products and services have proven to be cost-effective as the resources required are less than for an inferior quality product.  

Coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Coursework - Essay Example Introduction The global financial have been experiencing a rapid growth in last two decades and considering the present scenario of the global market, it can be claimed the market is emerging with major developments. The globalization of financial market has been passing constant developments which have been led by the concept of globalization and internationalization. Globalization has influenced the entire human activities including their culture and life style. In case of the business, the globalization has led to bring significant improvement including the process of management. The thought process of managers and owners has changed as they have started to realize their responsibilities. On the other, with this internationalization of business, the entire global business is also suffering from complexities and intensified competition. However, in order to cope with these complexities and competition, the business organizations have also developed a number of effective tools and t echniques. In the same manner, the global financial markets have also emerged as an important and developed industry. Finance always has been a vital area for the every individual and institution. With the increasing the globalization of business, the necessity of financial services has also been frequently. The global the financial institutions and companies have realized the underlying opportunities in global platform and they keep expanding their market. In this course of development in the global financial markets, there are certain influencing factors. This paper will attempt to discuss important aspects of international financial markets which have led to bring such development. The overall discussion will be presented in four major sections followed by a concluding remark. The first will address the role of financial deregulation and capital control in international diversification. The next section will offer s discussion the two major drivers of financial i.e. technology an d innovation in global financial market and it will be followed by a description and mechanism of carry trade strategy. Finally, the influence of international capital market on share price and cost of capital will be explained followed by an overall conclusion. 2. Role of Financial Deregulation and Capital Control on Financial Globalization and International Diversification 2.1. Concept of Financial Deregulation and Capital Control The importance of the financial deregulation has started to rise with increasing opportunities in the global market place. Financial deregulation can be referred as abolishment of restrictive laws that often cause barriers for the financial institutions. Financial deregulations are important and similar as the free trade policies. Both, the financial deregulation and free trade policy strive to bring development in the market by increasing competition Hope and Maeleng have defined the free trade policies as â€Å"competitor-enhancing device† as it is meant to discard the unnecessary restriction and barriers by offer

Impact of Unemployment on Economic Development

Impact of Unemployment on Economic Development Unemployment has become an issue of major concern in different countries this is as because a lot of individuals are ready and available to work but are not able to secure this job opportunities. Different studies and expert analysis on Economics have discovered the various reasons as well as effects that unemployment has caused and have made effort to resolve some of the problems. the irregular recover in economy as well as downward successive review in the growth of economy and projections has made substantial impact on the situation of employment on global scale. The report of the International Labour Organization ILO(2014, P.11) observed that around the world, there are over 200 million people who are unemployed as at 2013, this an increase of nearly 5 million compared with the year before In many countries, competition in the market is a major cause since the employment opportunities are few. As a result the few opportunities have too many qualified individuals chasing it Nitzan (2011, p.4) compared unemployment and labour market with the case of demand, supply and price index Scale of the problem and Evaluation Unemployment and food price Inflation: Unemployment has been cited as being a major social evil; a cause the rise in poverty. It produces social as well as economic effect which also is a major issue of society. The problem of poverty among those who are unemployed is often very high due to the fact that these persons are not able to have a sustainable means of income. Looking at it from the social angle, there is an increase in illegitimate means of earning a living. If you consider an environment with high unemployment rate, you will notice that such place has increase in various social vice like gambling, robbery, bribery, prostitutuion etc. This accounts for the social insecurity issues created by unemployment (MCgrath 2012, p.1) Youth unemployment: loss of resources particularly human resources is another problem unemployment creates. With millions of able bodied men and women not able to put their skills and talent to use. This effect makes the persons unproductive, thus making the economy suffer in not using those productive abilities. Such economy experiences slow growth at the various sectors; the tertiary sector being the most affected as a result of the sector not getting enough funds to sustain it. A further impact is the slow rate of self-employment as savings is not easy for the large population of unemployed thus they have little or no capital for investments. The situation of unemployment in a society will greatly impoverish the citizens as employers tend to take advantage of the situation to pay very small for labour. Such economy experiences a devaluation of labour as the employers take the upper hand. Economic growth in certain industries: when theres a boom in some industries, there is sudden influx of people to that industry. It will not be easy to accommodate an increasing population of people who want to be part of that sector. For example an economic growth in the textile industry will increase the rush into that sector, which will often force individuals to focus attention in the textile industry and ignore skills available in other sectors. With such push, unemployment will gradually set in first for that industry and later on due to reduced skill available for the other sectors, unemployment spreads to other industries. Causes of the Problems The demand-side causes are: Economic Cycle: The Competition for labour is the reason unemployment seems to have stronghold in many economies. Since opportunities get fewer with increasing population. The result of this is that for every available position, there are several qualified individuals and as one person gets the position, another becomes unemployed. Indeed the present shift in labour demand has worsened the situation even more, as technology driven labour is taking over people driven labour thus more people redundant as one machine replaces the task of human effort. Employers consider the technology driven labour of greater benefit since the idea of multi tasking also encourages on man operating more than one machine Lack of Government investment and Spending: Sometimes the government fails to make investment that provide job opportunities while other times the government policies do not provide conducive environment for private sector investment. Supply Side causes include: Rising global commodity prices, high labour costs and poor workforce skills and lack of infrastructure. Apart from the demand and supply side causes of unemployment the exchange rate from one country to another can greatly affect the unemployment rate in that region. For example, due to the technology driven labour, a lot of employment opportunities are open to countries where labour is cheaper, thus causing an increase in unemployment in the countries where labour is emigrating (ILO 2014, p.18). This migration of labour from higher economies to the lower economies places competition of employment on the higher economies as employers keep looking for economies with cheaper labour. One of the theories on unemployment rate and its relationship with the growth of economy is the Okuns law.Okuns law is a statistical analysis of the relationship that exist between the unemployment rate of a country and the economy growth of that country. (Fuhrman 2015, p.1) Okun ’s law as explained by the St Louis Federal Reserve Bank is expected to identify t he extent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country could be lost as a result of the unemployment rate rising more than its usually rate. Furthermore, it explains that the idea behind Okun’s law is that the amount of labour depends on output. Which implies that there exist some positive relation between employment and output (Fuhrman 2015, p.3) that is: total employment is equal to the subtraction of the unemployed from labour; thus a reverse relationship between unemployment and output. The most significant of these problems are exchange rate and the competition from the lower wage economies. The policies that will be most effective in dealing with these problems vary according to the problem. For example for Structural unemployment Investment in education and training to give workers new skills will effective. Others include Cyclical unemployment caused by a fall in consumer spending will require reduction in income tax rates which is a Fiscal policy (ILO 2014, P.36) For Cost-push inflation caused by increasing labour costs an effective policy would be to encourage immigration and investment in technology (Nitzan 2011, P.7) For the problem slowing economic growth caused by falling exports, stimulating domestic consumer spending and finding new export markets When Fiscal Monetary policy are implemented the following are possible effects Expansionary policies are likely to: Increase economic growth, reduce unemployment, and increase inflation. It was A.W. Philips(as cited in Nitzan 2011, p.3) who first examined the relationship between inflation and unemployment Contractionary policies are likely to: Reduce economic growth, increase unemployment, and reduce inflation For long term Short term or Long term effect can produce some of the effects below as further illustrated by the diagram below Demand-side policies can move an economy closer to its’ Production Possibility Frontier assuming where all resources are used Supply-side policies are needed to expand the productive potential of the economy i.e. move the PPF outward Conclusion Unemployment affects the economy in many different ways but it can be minimized by strategic Government intervention. There are policies that help to contain the effect of unemployment considering that some of the causes can be handled with some of the economic policies. However the choice of the policy has to be analyzed carefully to produce relevant result. For example reducing income tax will only increase consumer spending if the marginal propensity to consume is high. ILO (2014, P.27) pointed that Policies to reduce inflation might have a negative effect on unemployment economic growth (and vice versa) and improving education might solve the problem in the long term but not in the short term REFERENCE LIST Fuhrman, R 2015, Okuns Law: Economic Growth and Unemployment: Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/12/okuns-law.asp ILO 2014, Global Employment Trends 2014: Risk of a jobless recovery: International Labour Office. Geneva Mcgrath Native Council 2012. Causes and Effect of Unemployment: Retrieved from http://mcgrathnativecouncil.org/interesting-academic-essay-example-on-unemployment Nitzan, J. 2011, Mcroeconomic Perspectives on Inflation and Unemployment, McGill University 855 Sherbrooke St. West Montreal

Love And Shakespeare Essay -- essays research papers

Love and Shakespeare The love theme in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is confusing but at the same time entertaining. The love triangle involving Viola, disguised as Cesario, is in love with Orsino. Orsino is in love with Olivia. Olivia, however, loves Cesario. Orsino tries to woo Olivia with the language of love; however, his many attempts fail because the heart cannot be controlled. Orsino, a man in love with love itself, is on a mission to win the heart of his current object of affection, the Lady Olivia. She, however, has somewhat different plans as she envisions herself married to the lovely Cesario. Shakespeare's beautiful sonnets 18 and 73 describe the changes in season and the passages of time that correlate with the play's main theme and mood. In both sonnets and in the Twelfth Night introduce the issue of the effect of the weather. In Twelfth Night, a stormy sea has shipwrecked a vessel leaving the passengers scattered at sea. Viola, a Sea Captain, and some sailors believe that they are the only survivors of the wreck. The Captain believes that their being saved was only as fate would have it. Viola struggles with what to do with herself in a foreign country with no male companions. She, with the Captain's help, disguises herself as a boy so that she can protect her identity, support herself, and not be taken advantage of. The Captain agrees with her plan and convinces Duke Orsino that Viola, disguised as Cesario, is one of his noblest men. When the play ends, Viola i...

The Twilight Saga 4: Breaking Dawn 14. You Know Things Are Bad When …

14. You Know Things Are Bad When You Feel Guilty For Being Rude To Vampires VAMPIRES When I got back to the house, there was no one waiting outside for my report. Still on alert? Everything's cool,I thought tiredly. My eyes quickly caught a small change in the now-familiar scene. There was a stack of light-colored fabric on the bottom step of the porch. I loped over to investigate. Holding my breath, because the vampire smell stuck to the fabric like you wouldn't believe, I nudged the stack with my nose. Someone had laid out clothes. Huh. Edward must have caught my moment of irritation as I'd bolted out the door. Well. That was†¦ nice. And weird. I took the clothes gingerly between my teeth – ugh – and carried them back to the trees. Just in case this was some joke by the blond psychopath and I had a bunch of girls' stuff here. Bet she'd love to see the look on my human face as I stood there naked, holding a sundress. In the cover of the trees, I dropped the stinking pile and shifted back to human. I shook the clothes out, snapping them against a tree to beat some of the smell from them. They were definitely guy's clothes – tan pants and a white button-down shirt. Neither of them long enough, but they looked like they'd fit around me. Must be Emmett's. I rolled the cuffs up on the shirtsleeves, but there wasn't much I could do about the pants. Oh well. I had to admit, I felt better with some clothes to my name, even stinky ones that didn't quite fit. It was hard not being able to just jet back home and grab another pair of old sweatpants when I needed them. The homeless thing again – not having anyplace to go back to. No possessions, either, which wasn't bothering me too bad now, but would probably get annoying soon. Exhausted, I walked slowly up the Cullens' porch steps in my fancy new secondhand clothes but hesitated when I got to the door. Did I knock? Stupid, when they knew I was here. I wondered why no one acknowledged that – told me either to come in or get lost Whatever. I shrugged and let myself in. More changes. The room had shifted back to normal – almost – in the last twenty minutes. The big flat-screen was on, low volume, showing some chick flick that no one seemed to be watching. Carlisle and Esme stood by the back windows, which were open to the river again. Alice, Jasper, and Emmett were out of sight, but I heard them murmuring upstairs. Bella was on the couch like yesterday, with just one tube still hooked into her, and an IV hanging behind the back of the sofa. She was wrapped up like a burrito in a couple of thick quilts, so at least they'd listened to me before. Rosalie was cross-legged on the ground by her head. Edward sat at the other end of the couch with Bella's burrito'ed feet in his lap. He looked up when I came in and smiled at me – just a little twitch of his mouth – like something pleased him. Bella didn't hear me. She only glanced up when he did, and then she smiled, too. With real energy, her whole face lighting up. I couldn't remember the last time she'd looked so excited to see me. What was with her? For crying out loud, she was married] Happily married, too – there was no question that she was in love with her vampire past the boundaries of sanity. And hugely pregnant, to top it off. So why did she have to be so damn thrilled to see me? Like I'd made her whole freakin' day by walking through the door. If she would just not care†¦ Or more than that – really not want me around. It would be so much easier to stay away. Edward seemed to be in agreement with my thoughts – we were on the same wavelength so much lately it was crazy. He was frowning now, reading her face while she beamed at me. â€Å"They just wanted to talk,† I mumbled, my voice dragging with exhaustion. â€Å"No attack on the horizon.† â€Å"Yes,† Edward answered. â€Å"I heard most of it.† That woke me up a little. We'd been a good three miles out. â€Å"How?† Tm hearing you more clearly – it's a matter of familiarity and concentration. Also, your thoughts are slightly easier to pick up when you're in your human form. So I caught most of what passed out there.† â€Å"Oh.† It bugged me a little, but for no good reason, so I shrugged it off. â€Å"Good. I hate repeating myself.† â€Å"I'd tell you to go get some sleep,† Bella said, â€Å"but my guess is that you're going to pass out on the floor in about six seconds, so there's probably no point.† It was amazing how much better she sounded, how much stronger she looked. I smelled fresh blood and saw that the cup was in her hands again. How much blood would it take to keep her going? At some point, would they start trotting in the neighbors? I headed for the door, counting off the seconds for her as I walked. â€Å"One Mississippi†¦ two Mississippi†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Where's the flood, mutt?† Rosalie muttered. â€Å"You know how you drown a blonde, Rosalie?† I asked without stopping or turning to look at her. â€Å"Glue a mirror to the bottom of a pool.† I heard Edward chuckle as I pulled the door shut. His mood seemed to improve in exact correlation to Bella's health. â€Å"I've already heard that one,'7Rosalie called after me. I trudged down the steps, my only goal to drag myself far enough into the trees that the air would be pure again. I planned to ditch the clothes a convenient distance from the house for future use rather than tying them to my leg, so I wouldn't be smelling them, either. As I fumbled with the buttons on the new shirt, I thought randomly about how buttons would never be in style for werewolves. I heard the voices while I slogged across the lawn. â€Å"Where are you going?† Bella asked. â€Å"There was something I forgot to say to him.† â€Å"Let Jacob sleep – it can wait.† Yes, please, let Jacob sleep. â€Å"It will only take a moment.† I turned slowly. Edward was already out the door. He had an apology in his expression as he approached me. â€Å"Jeez, what now?† Tm sorry,† he said, and then he hesitated, like he didn't know how to phrase what he was thinking. What's on your mind, mind reader? â€Å"When you were speaking to Sam's delegates earlier,† he murmured, â€Å"I was giving a play-by-play for Carlisle and Esme and the rest. They were concerned – â€Å" â€Å"Look, we're not dropping our guard. You don't have to believe Sam like we do. We're keeping our eyes open regardless.† â€Å"No, no, Jacob. Not about that. We trust your judgment. Rather, Esme was troubled by the hardships this is putting your pack through. She asked me to speak to you privately about it.† That took me off guard. â€Å"Hardships?† â€Å"The homeless part, particularly. She's very upset that you are all so†¦ bereft.† I snorted. Vampire mother hen – bizarre. â€Å"We're tough. Tell her not to worry.† â€Å"She'd still like to do what she can. I got the impression that Leah prefers not to eat in her wolf form?† â€Å"And?† I demanded. â€Å"Well, we do have normal human food here, Jacob. Keeping up appearances, and, of course, for Bella. Leah is welcome to anything she'd like. All of you are.† â€Å"I'll pass that along.† â€Å"Leah hates us.† â€Å"So?† â€Å"So try to pass it along in such a way as to make her consider it, if you don't mind.† â€Å"I'll do what I can.† â€Å"And then there's the matter of clothes.† I glanced down at the ones I was wearing. â€Å"Oh yeah. Thanks.† It probably wouldn't be good manners to mention how bad they reeked. He smiled, just a little. â€Å"Well, we're easily able to help out with any needs there. Alice rarely allows us to wear the same thing twice. We've got piles of brand-new clothes that are destined for Goodwill, and I'd imagine that Leah is fairly close to Esme's size___† â€Å"Not sure how she'll feel about bloodsucker castoffs. She's not as practical as I am.† â€Å"I trust that you can present the offer in the best possible light. As well as the offer for any other physical object you might need, or transportation, or anything else at all. And showers, too, since you prefer to sleep outdoors. Please†¦ don't consider yourselves without the benefits of a home.† He said the last line softly – not trying to keep quiet this time, but with some kind of real emotion. I stared at him for a second, blinking sleepily. â€Å"That's, er, nice of you. Tell Esme we appreciate the, uh, thought. But the perimeter cuts through the river in a few places, so we stay pretty clean, thanks.† â€Å"If you would pass the offer on, regardless.† â€Å"Sure, sure.† â€Å"Thank you.† I turned away from him, only to stop cold when I heard the low, pained cry from inside the house. By the time I looked back, he was already gone. What now? I followed after him, shuffling like a zombie. Using about the same number of brain cells, too. It didn't feel like I had a choice. Something was wrong. I would go see what it was. There would be nothing I could do. And I would feel worse. It seemed inevitable. I let myself in again. Bella was panting, curled over the bulge in the center of her body. Rosalie held her while Edward, Carlisle, and Esme all hovered. A flicker of motion caught my eye; Alice was at the top of the stairs, staring down into the room with her hands pressed to her temples. It was weird – like she was barred from entering somehow. â€Å"Give me a second, Carlisle,† Bella panted. â€Å"Bella,† the doctor said anxiously, â€Å"I heard something crack. I need to take a look.† â€Å"Pretty sure† – pant – â€Å"it was a rib. Ow. Yep. Right here.† She pointed to her left side, careful not to touch. It was breaking her bones now. â€Å"I need to take an X-ray. There might be splinters. We don't want it to puncture anything.† Bella took a deep breath. â€Å"Okay.† Rosalie lifted Bella carefully. Edward seemed like he was going to argue, but Rosalie bared her teeth at him and growled, â€Å"I've already got her.† So Bella was stronger now, but the thing was, too. You couldn't starve one without starving the other, and healing worked just the same. No way to win. Blondie carried Bella swiftly up the big staircase with Carlisle and Edward right on her heels, none of them taking any notice of me standing dumbstruck in the doorway. So they had a blood bank and an X-ray machine? Guess the doc brought his work home with him. I was too tired to follow them, too tired to move. I leaned back against the wall and then slid to the ground. The door was still open, and I pointed my nose toward it, grateful for the clean breeze blowing in. I leaned my head against the jamb and listened. I could hear the sound of the X-ray machinery upstairs. Or maybe I just assumed that's what it was. And then the lightest of footsteps coming down the stairs. I didn't look to see which vampire it was. â€Å"Do you want a pillow?† Alice asked me. â€Å"No,† I mumbled. What was with the pushy hospitality? It was creeping me out. â€Å"That doesn't look comfortable,† she observed. â€Å"S'not.† â€Å"Why don't you move, then?† â€Å"Tired. Why aren't you upstairs with the rest of them?† I shot back. â€Å"Headache,† she answered. I rolled my head around to look at her. Alice was a tiny little thing. ‘Bout the size of one of my arms. She looked even smaller now, sort of hunched in on herself. Her small face was pinched. â€Å"Vampires get headaches?† â€Å"Not the normal ones.† I snorted. Normal vampires. â€Å"So how come you're never with Bella anymore?† I asked, making the question an accusation. It hadn't occurred to me before, because my head had been full of other crap, but it was weird that Alice was never around Bella, not since I'd been here. Maybe if Alice were by her side, Rosalie wouldn't be. â€Å"Thought you two were like this.† I twisted two of my fingers together. â€Å"Like I said† – she curled up on the tile a few feet from me, wrapping her skinny arms around her skinny knees – â€Å"headache.† â€Å"Bella's giving you a headache?† â€Å"Yes.† I frowned. Pretty sure I was too tired for riddles. I let my head roll back around toward the fresh air and closed my eyes. â€Å"Not Bella, really,† she amended. â€Å"The†¦ fetus.† Ah, someone else who felt like I did. It was pretty easy to recognize. She said the word grudgingly, the way Edward did. â€Å"I can't see it,† she told me, though she might have been talking to herself. For all she knew, I was already gone. â€Å"I can't see anything about it. Just like you.† I flinched, and then my teeth ground together. I didn't like being compared to the creature. â€Å"Bella gets in the way. She's all wrapped around it, so she's†¦ blurry. Like bad reception on a TV – like trying to focus your eyes on those fuzzy people jerking around on the screen. It's killing my head to watch her. And I can't see more than a few minutes ahead, anyway. The†¦ fetus is too much a part of her future. When she first decided†¦ when she knew she wanted it, she blurred right out of my sight. Scared me to death.† She was quiet for a second, and then she added, â€Å"I have to admit, it's a relief having you close by – in spite of the wet-dog smell. Everything goes away. Like having my eyes closed. It numbs the headache.† â€Å"Happy to be of service, ma'am,† I mumbled. â€Å"I wonder what it has in common with you†¦ why you're the same that way.† Sudden heat flashed in the center of my bones. I clenched my fists to hold off the tremors. â€Å"I have nothing in common with that life-sucker,† I said through my teeth. â€Å"Well, there's something there.† I didn't answer. The heat was already burning away. I was too dead tired to stay furious. â€Å"You don't mind if I sit here by you, do you?† she asked. â€Å"Guess not. Stinks anyway.† â€Å"Thanks,† she said. â€Å"This is the best thing for it, I guess, since I can't take aspirin.† â€Å"Could you keep it down? Sleeping, here.† She didn't respond, immediately lapsing into silence. I was out in seconds. I was dreaming that I was really thirsty. And there was a big glass of water in front of me – all cold, you could see the condensation running down the sides. I grabbed the cup and took a huge gulp, only to find out pretty quick that it wasn't water – it was straight bleach. I choked it back out, spewing it everywhere, and a bunch of it blew out of my nose. It burned. My nose was on fire†¦. The pain in my nose woke me up enough to remember where I'd fallen asleep. The smell was pretty fierce, considering that my nose wasn't actually inside the house. Ugh. And it was noisy. Someone was laughing too loud. A familiar laugh, but one that didn't go with the smell. Didn't belong. I groaned and opened my eyes. The skies were dull gray – it was daytime, but no clue as to when. Maybe close to sunset – it was pretty dark. â€Å"About time,† Blondie mumbled from not too far away. â€Å"The chainsaw impersonation was getting a little tired.† I rolled over and wrenched myself into a sitting position. In the process, I figured out where the smell was coming from. Someone had stuffed a wide feather pillow under my face. Probably trying to be nice, I'd guess. Unless it'd been Rosalie. Once my face was out of the stinking feathers, I caught other scents. Like bacon and cinnamon, all mixed up with the vampire smell. I blinked, taking in the room. Things hadn't changed too much, except that now Bella was sitting up in the middle of the sofa, and the IV was gone. Blondie sat at her feet, her head resting against Bella's knees. Still gave me chills to see how casually they touched her, though I guess that was pretty brain-dead, all things considered. Edward was on one side of her, holding her hand. Alice was on the floor, too, like Rosalie. Her face wasn't pinched up now. And it was easy to see why – she'd found another painkiller. â€Å"Hey, Jake's coming around!† Seth crowed. He was sitting on Bella's other side, his arm slung carelessly over her shoulders, an overflowing plate of food on his lap. What the hell? â€Å"He came to find you,† Edward said while I got to my feet. â€Å"And Esme convinced him to stay for breakfast.† Seth took in my expression, and he hurried to explain. â€Å"Yeah, Jake – I was just checking to see if you were okay 'cause you didn't ever phase back. Leah got worried. I told her you probably just crashed human, but you know how she is. Anyway, they had all this food and, dang,† – he turned to Edward – â€Å"man, you can cook† â€Å"Thank you,† Edward murmured. I inhaled slowly, trying to unclench my teeth. I couldn't take my eyes off Seth's arm. â€Å"Bella got cold,† Edward said quietly. Right. None of my business, anyway. She didn't belong to me. Seth heard Edward's comment, looked at my face, and suddenly he needed both hands to eat with. He took his arm off Bella and dug in. i walked over to stand a few feet from the couch, still trying to get my bearings. â€Å"Leah running patrol?† I asked Seth. My voice was still thick with sleep. â€Å"Yeah,† he said as he chewed. Seth had new clothes on, too. They fit him better than mine fit me. â€Å"She's on it. No worries. She'll howl if there's anything. We traded off around midnight. I ran twelve hours.† He was proud of that, and it showed in his tone. â€Å"Midnight? Wait a minute – what time is it now?† â€Å"‘Bout dawn.† He glanced toward the window, checking. Well, damn. I'd slept through the rest of the day and the whole night – dropped the ball. â€Å"Crap. Sorry about that, Seth. Really. You shoulda kicked me awake.† â€Å"Naw, man, you needed some serious sleep. You haven't taken a break since when? Night before your last patrol for Sam? Like forty hours? Fifty? You're not a machine, Jake. ‘Sides, you didn't miss anything at all.† Nothing at all? I glanced quickly at Bella. Her color was back to the way I remembered it. Pale, but with the rose undertone. Her lips were pink again. Even her hair looked better – shinier. She saw me appraising and gave me a qrin. â€Å"How's the rib?† I asked. â€Å"Taped up nice and tight, i don't even feel it.'7 I rolled my eyes. I heard Edward grind his teeth together, and I figured her blow-it-off attitude bugged him as much at it bugged me. â€Å"What's for breakfast?† I asked, a little sarcastic. â€Å"O negative or AB positive?† She stuck her tongue out at me. Totally herself again. â€Å"Omelets,† she said, but her eyes darted down, and I saw that her cup of blood was wedged between her leg and Edward's. â€Å"Go get some breakfast, Jake,† Seth said. â€Å"There's a bunch in the kitchen. You've got to be empty.† I examined the food in his lap. Looked like half a cheese omelet and the last fourth of a Frisbee-sized cinnamon roll. My stomach growled, but I ignored it. â€Å"What's Leah having for breakfast?† I asked Seth critically. â€Å"Hey, I took food to her before I ate anything† he defended himself. â€Å"She said she'd rather eat roadkill, but I bet she caves. These cinnamon rolls†¦ † He seemed at a loss for words. ‘Til go hunt with her, then.† Seth sighed as I turned to leave. â€Å"A moment, Jacob?† It was Carlisle asking, so when I turned around again, my face was probably less disrespectful than it would have been if anyone else had stopped me. â€Å"Yeah?† Carlisle approached me while Esme drifted off toward the other room. He stopped a few feet away, just a little bit farther away than the normal space between two humans having a conversation. I appreciated him giving me my space. â€Å"Speaking of hunting,† he began in a somber tone. â€Å"That's going to be an issue for my family. I understand that our previous truce is inoperative at the moment, so I wanted your advice. Will Sam be hunting for us outside of the perimeter you've created? We don't want to take a chance with hurting any of your family – or losing any of ours. If you were in our shoes, how would you proceed?† I leaned away, a little surprised, when he threw it back at me like that. What would I know about being in a bloodsucker's expensive shoes? But, then again, I did know Sam. â€Å"It's a risk,† I said, trying to ignore the other eyes I felt on me and to talk only to him. â€Å"Sam's calmed down some, but I'm pretty sure that in his head, the treaty is void. As long as he thinks the tribe, or any other human, is in real danger, he's not going to ask questions first, if you know what I mean. But, with all that, his priority is going to be La Push. There really aren't enough of them to keep a decent watch on the people while putting out hunting parties big enough to do much damage. I'd bet he's keeping it close to home.† Carlisle nodded thoughtfully. â€Å"So I guess I'd say, go out together, just in case. And probably you should go in the day, 'cause we'd be expecting night. Traditional vampire stuff. You're fast – go over the mountains and hunt far enough away that there's no chance he'd send anyone that far from home.† â€Å"And leave Bella behind, unprotected?† I snorted. â€Å"What are we, chopped liver?† Carlisle laughed, and then his face was serious again. â€Å"Jacob, you can't fight against your brothers.† My eyes tightened. â€Å"I'm not saying it wouldn't be hard, but if they were really coming to kill her – I would be able to stop them.† Carlisle shook his head, anxious. â€Å"No, I didn't mean that you would be†¦ incapable. But that it would be very wrong. I can't have that on my conscience.† â€Å"It wouldn't be on yours, Doc. It would be on mine. And I can take it.† â€Å"No, Jacob. We will make sure that our actions don't make that a necessity.† He frowned thoughtfully â€Å"We'll go three at a time,† he decided after a second. â€Å"That's probably the best we can do.† â€Å"I don't know, Doc. Dividing down the middle isn't the best strategy.† â€Å"We've got some extra abilities that will even it up. If Edward is one of the three, he'll be able to give us a few miles' radius of safety.† We both glanced at Edward. His expression had Carlisle backtracking quickly. â€Å"I'm sure there are other ways, too,† Carlisle said. Clearly, there was no physical need strong enough to get Edward away from Bella now. â€Å"Alice, I would imagine you could see which routes would be a mistake?† â€Å"The ones that disappear,† Alice said, nodding. â€Å"Easy.† Edward, who had gone all tense with Carlisle's first plan, loosened up. Bella was staring unhappily at Alice, that little crease between her eyes that she got when she was stressed out. â€Å"Okay, then,† I said. â€Å"That's settled. I'll just be on my way. Seth, I'll expect you back on at dusk, so get a nap in there somewhere, all right?† â€Å"Sure, Jake. I'll phase back soon as I'm done. Unless †¦Ã¢â‚¬  he hesitated, looking at Bella. â€Å"Do you need me?† â€Å"She's got blankets,† I snapped at him. â€Å"I'm fine, Seth, thanks,† Bella said quickly. And then Esme flitted back in the room, a big covered dish in her hands. She stopped hesitantly just behind Carlisle's elbow, her wide, dark gold eyes on my face. She held the dish out and took a shy step closer. â€Å"Jacob,† she said quietly. Her voice wasn't quite so piercing as the others'. â€Å"I know it's†¦ unappetizing to you, the idea of eating here, where it smells so unpleasant. But I would feel much better if you would take some food with you when you go. I know you can't go home, and that's because of us. Please – ease some of my remorse. Take something to eat.† She held the food out to me, her face all soft and pleading. I don't know how she did it, because she didn't look older than her mid-twenties, and she was bone pale, too, but something about her expression suddenly reminded me of my mom. Jeez. â€Å"Uh, sure, sure,† I mumbled. â€Å"I guess. Maybe Leah's still hungry or something.† I reached out and took the food with one hand, holding it away, at arm's length. I'd go dump it under a tree or something. I didn't want her to feel bad. Then I remembered Edward. Don't you say anything to her! Let her think I ate it. I didn't look at him to see if he was in agreement. He'd better be in agreement. Bloodsucker owed me. â€Å"Thank you, Jacob,† Esme said, smiling at me. How did a stone face have dimples, for crying out loud? â€Å"Urn, thank you,† I said. My face felt hot – hotter than usual. This was the problem with hanging out with vampires – you got used to them. They started messing up the way you saw the world. They started feeling like friends. â€Å"Will you come back later, Jake?† Bella asked as I tried to make a run for it. â€Å"Uh, I don't know.† She pressed her lips together, like she was trying not to smile. â€Å"Please? I might get cold.† I inhaled deeply through my nose, and then realized, too late, that that was not a good idea. I winced. â€Å"Maybe.† â€Å"Jacob?† Esme asked. I backed toward the door as she continued; she took a few steps after me. â€Å"I left a basket of clothes on the porch. They're for Leah. They're freshly washed – I tried to touch them as little as possible.† She frowned. â€Å"Do you mind taking them to her?† â€Å"On it,† I muttered, and then I ducked out the door before anyone could guilt me into anything else.

Gun Ban in America Essay

In 2012, the most serious topics that people always talking about is Gun ban. Most of people voted for ban guns after the Connecticut’s shooting incident. There are lots of children died in the elementary school, and Americans realized the bad effects about selling guns legally in many states. There are at least four shooting incidents each year. People may think it is the time to ban America’s guns now, but in fact it is not the gun’s fault. For my part, guns should not be banned, and people have the right to have gun’s ownership. Most people know that guns are one of America’s culture, just like the marijuana. People know what are illegal things, but they will still find a way to obtain them. So, banned guns can’t prevent criminals. If the guns banned, criminal can still use other weapons to kill people. For example, in 1976, Washington DC is illegal to own any handguns or to keep any type of guns in home unlocked. However, Washington DC has the most criminal rates in united states. Whenever the guns is illegally, criminals can make any weapons, such as bombs, criminals can make bombs by themselves. Most of time, it’s the personal’s problems, criminals who caught by police always have mental ill or they dissatisfying about this country. Therefore, Government need strength the gun education and some safety classes about using guns. Ban guns is not a good solution, because the problem is not about guns. In addition, ban guns means remove the right to someone. In America, people are highly regard human rights. Giving up rights to bear arms would open up a world of control and unnecessary chaos. Some people have guns just for hunting, and they think guns are useful. Some of gun owner using guns in shooting range, they think it is their entertainment. Although, some cities made the announcement of gun ban, people were still reluctant to hand over their guns to Government. If the states that they live have banned guns, they can still go to another states to obtain another one. As part of American’s culture and freedom, it is impossible to ban guns exhaustive because of the different constitutions between states. Finally, the last reason that guns should not be banned, because guns can protect people. Except this criminals, most of people know how to use handguns, and they are using guns to protect their families. What if someone invade their house and pointing a gun at them, they can not wait until the police come. If that happens, no one will be safe. If a person wants to kill people, he will think all the way to hurt people even he did not have guns. However, what if the normal people does not have the guns to protect them when they meet some incidents. Guns always give people a sense of security, even they just locked them at their house. In conclusion, ban guns is not a big deal in America. According to Washington DC’s criminal rates, it did not decrease the criminal rates at all. In some cities of America, restricted legislation could not restraint people to crime. Gun ban is only for temporary and it is not a permanent solution to this problem.