A Dirty Job Chapter 24

24 AUDREY AND THE SQUIRREL PEOPLE Charlie could hear things scurrying under the porch as he walked to the front door of the Buddhist center, but the weight of the enormous pistol he'd stuck down the back of his belt reassured him, even if it was pulling his pants down a little. The front door was nearly twelve feet tall, red, with reeded glass running the length, and there were arrays of colorful Tibetan prayer wheels, like spools, on either side of the door. Charlie knew what they were because he'd once had a thief try to sell him some hot ones stolen from a temple. Charlie knew he should kick down the door, but then, it was a really big door, and although he had watched a lot of cop shows and movies where door kicking had been done, he was inexperienced himself. Another option was to pull his pistol and blast the lock off the door, but he didn't know any more about lock blasting than he did door kicking, so he decided to ring the doorbell. The scurrying noises increased and he could hear heavier footsteps inside. The door swung open and the pretty brunette he knew as Elizabeth Sarkoff – Esther Johnson's fake niece – stood in the doorway. â€Å"Why, Mr. Asher, what a pleasant surprise.† It won't be for long, sister, said his inner tough guy. â€Å"Mrs. Sarkoff, nice to see you. What are you doing here?† â€Å"I'm the receptionist. Come in, come in.† Charlie stepped into the foyer, which opened up to a staircase and had sliding double doors on either side. He could see that straight back the foyer led to a dining room with a long table, and beyond that a kitchen. The house had been restored nicely, and didn't really have the appearance of a public building. The inner tough guy said, Don't try to run your game on me, floozy. I've never hit a dame before, but if I don't get some straight talk quick, I'm willing to give it a try, see. Charlie said, â€Å"I had no idea you were a Buddhist. That's fascinating. How's your Aunt Esther, by the way?† He had her now, didn't even have to slap her around. â€Å"Still dead. Thanks for asking, though. What can I do for you, Mr. Asher?† The sliding door to the left of them opened an inch and someone, a young man's voice, said, â€Å"Master, we need you.† â€Å"I'll be right there,† said the alleged Mrs. Sarkoff. â€Å"Master?† Charlie raised an eyebrow. â€Å"We hold receptionists in very high regard in the Buddhist tradition.† She grinned, really big and goofy, like she didn't even believe it herself. Charlie was totally charmed by the laughter and open surrender in her eyes. Trust there, with no reason for it. â€Å"Good God, you're a bad liar,† he said. â€Å"Guess you could see right through my moo-poo, huh?† Big grin. â€Å"So, you are?† Charlie offered his hand to shake. â€Å"I am the Venerable Amitabha Audrey Rinpoche.† She bowed. â€Å"Or just Audrey, if you're in a hurry.† She took two of Charlie's fingers and shook them. â€Å"Charlie Asher,† Charlie said. â€Å"So you're not really Mrs. Johnson's niece.† â€Å"And you're not really a used-clothing dealer?† â€Å"Well, actually – â€Å" That's all Charlie got out. There was a crashing sound from straight ahead, glass and splintering wood. Then he saw the table go over in the next room and Minty Fresh screamed â€Å"Freeze!† as he leapt over the fallen table and headed toward them, gun in hand, oblivious, evidently, to the fact that he was seven feet tall and that the doorway, built in 1908, was only six feet eight inches high. â€Å"Stop,† Charlie shouted, about a half second too late, as Minty Fresh drove four inches of forehead into some very nicely finished oak trim above the door with a thud that shook the whole house. His feet continued on, his body swinging after, and at one point he was parallel to the floor, about six feet off the ground, when gravity decided to manifest itself. The chrome Desert Eagle clattered all the way through the foyer and hit the front door. Minty Fresh landed flat and quite unconscious on the floor between Charlie and Audrey. â€Å"And this is my friend Minty Fresh,† Charlie said. â€Å"He doesn't do this a lot.† â€Å"Boy, you don't see that every day,† said Audrey, looking down at the sleeping giant. â€Å"Yeah,† Charlie said. â€Å"I don't know where he found raw silk in moss green.† â€Å"That's not linen?† Audrey asked. â€Å"No, it's silk.† â€Å"Hmm, it's so wrinkled, I thought it must be linen, or a blend.† â€Å"Well, I think maybe all the activity – â€Å" â€Å"Yeah, I guess so.† Audrey nodded, then looked at Charlie. â€Å"So – â€Å" â€Å"Mr. Asher.† A woman's voice to his right. The doors on Charlie's right slid open, and an older woman stood there: Irena Posokovanovich. The last time he'd seen her he was sitting in the back of Rivera's cruiser, in handcuffs. â€Å"Mrs. Posokov†¦Mrs. Posokovano – Irena! How are you?† â€Å"You weren't so concerned about that yesterday.† â€Å"No, I was. I really was. Sorry about that.† Charlie smiled, thinking it was his most charming smile. â€Å"I hope you don't have that pepper spray with you.† â€Å"I don't,† Irena said. Charlie looked at Audrey. â€Å"We had a little misunderstanding – â€Å" â€Å"I have this,† Irena said, producing a stun gun from behind her back, pressing it to Charlie's chest and sending a hundred and twenty-five thousand volts surging through his body. He could see animals, or animal-like creatures, dressed in period finery, approaching him as he convulsed in pain on the floor. â€Å"Get them both tied up, guys,† Audrey said. â€Å"I'll make tea.† Tea?† Audrey said. So, for the second time in his life, Charlie Asher found himself tied to a chair and being served a hot beverage. Audrey was bent over before him, holding a teacup, and regardless of the awkwardness or danger of the situation, Charlie found himself staring down the front of her shirt. â€Å"What kind of tea?† Charlie asked, buying time, noticing the cluster of tiny silk roses that perched happily at the front clasp of her bra. â€Å"I like my tea like I like my men,† Audrey said with a grin. â€Å"Weak and green.† Now Charlie looked into her eyes, which were smiling. â€Å"Your right hand is free,† she said. â€Å"But we had to take your gun and your sword-cane, because those things are frowned upon.† â€Å"You're the nicest captor I've ever had,† Charlie said, taking the teacup from her. â€Å"What are you trying to say?† said Minty Fresh. Charlie looked to his right, where Minty Fresh was tied to a chair that made him look as if he'd been taken hostage at a child's tea party – his knees were up near his chin and one of his wrists was taped near the floor. Someone had put a large ice pack on his head, which looked vaguely like a tam-o'-shanter. â€Å"Nothing,† Charlie said. â€Å"You were a great captor, too, don't get me wrong.† â€Å"Tea, Mr. Fresh?† Audrey said. â€Å"Do you have coffee?† â€Å"Back in a second,† Audrey said. She left the room. They'd been moved to one of the rooms off the foyer, Charlie couldn't tell which. It must have been a parlor for entertaining during its day, but it had been converted into a combination office and reception room: metal desks, a computer, some filing cabinets, and an array of older oak office chairs for working and waiting. â€Å"I think she likes me,† Charlie said. â€Å"She has you taped to a chair,† Minty Fresh said, pulling at the tape around his ankles with his free hand. The ice pack fell off his head and hit the floor with a loud thump. â€Å"I didn't notice how attractive she was when I met her before.† â€Å"Would you help me get free, please?† Minty said. â€Å"Can't,† Charlie said. â€Å"Tea.† He held up his cup. Clicking noises by the door. They looked up as four little bipeds in silk and satin scampered into the room. One, who had the face of an iguana, the hands of a raccoon, and was dressed like a musketeer, big-feathered hat and all, drew a sword and poked Minty Fresh in the hand he was using to pull at the duct tape. â€Å"Ow, dammit. Thing!† â€Å"I don't think he wants you to try to get loose,† Charlie said. The iguana guy saluted Charlie with a flourish of his sword and pointed to the end of his snout with his free hand, as if to say, On the nose, buddy. â€Å"So,† Audrey said, entering the room carrying a tray with Minty's coffee, â€Å"I see you've met the squirrel people.† â€Å"Squirrel people?† Charlie asked. A little lady with a duck's face and reptilian hands wearing a purple satin evening gown curtsied to Charlie, who nodded back. â€Å"That's what we call them,† Audrey said. â€Å"Because the first few I made had squirrel faces and hands, but then I ran out of squirrel parts and they got more baroque.† â€Å"They're not creatures of the Underworld?† Charlie said. â€Å"You made them?† â€Å"Sort of,† Audrey said. â€Å"Cream and sugar, Mr. Fresh?† â€Å"Please,† Minty said. â€Å"You make these monsters?† All four of the little creatures turned to him at once and leaned back, as if to say, Hey, pal, who are you calling monsters. â€Å"They're not monsters, Mr. Fresh. The squirrel people are as human as you are.† â€Å"Yeah, except they have better fashion sense,† Charlie said. â€Å"I'm not always going to be taped to this chair, Asher,† Minty said. â€Å"Woman, who or what the hell are you?† â€Å"Be nice,† Charlie said. â€Å"I suppose I should explain,† Audrey said. â€Å"Ya think?† Minty said. Audrey sat down on the floor, cross-legged, and the squirrel people gathered around her, to listen. â€Å"Well, it's a little embarrassing, but I guess it started when I was a kid. I sort of had this affinity for dead things.† â€Å"Like you liked to touch dead things?† asked Minty Fresh. â€Å"Get naked with them?† â€Å"Would you please let the lady talk,† Charlie said. â€Å"Bitch is a freak,† Minty said. Audrey smiled. â€Å"Why, yes; yes, I am, Mr. Fresh, and you are tied up in my dining room, at the mercy of any freaky thing that might occur to me.† She tapped a silver demitasse spoon she'd used to stir her tea on her front tooth and rolled her eyes as if imagining something delicious. â€Å"Please go on,† said Minty Fresh with a shudder. â€Å"Sorry to interrupt.† â€Å"It wasn't a freaky thing,† Audrey said, glancing at Minty, daring him to speak up. â€Å"It was just that I had an overdeveloped sense of empathy with the dying, mostly animals, but when my grandmother passed, I could feel it, from miles away. Anyway, it didn't overwhelm me or anything, but when I got to college, to see if I could get a handle on it, I decided to study Eastern philosophy – oh yeah, and fashion design.† â€Å"I think it's important to look good when you're doing the work of the dead,† Charlie said. â€Å"Well – uh – okay,† Audrey said. â€Å"And I was a good seamstress. I really liked making costumes. Anyway, I met and fell in love with a guy.† â€Å"A dead guy?† Minty asked. â€Å"Soon enough, Mr. Fresh. He was dead soon enough.† Audrey looked down at the carpet. â€Å"See, you insensitive fuck,† Charlie said. â€Å"You hurt her feelings.† â€Å"Hello, tied to a chair here,† Minty said. â€Å"Surrounded by little monsters, Asher. Not the insensitive one.† â€Å"Sorry,† Charlie said. â€Å"It's okay,† Audrey said. â€Å"His name was William – Billy, and we were together for two years before he got sick. We'd only been engaged a month when he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. They gave him a couple of months to live. I dropped out of school and stayed with him every moment. One of the nurses from hospice knew about my Eastern studies course and recommended we talk with Dorje Rinpoche, a monk from the Tibetan Buddhist Center in Berkeley. He talked to us about Bardo Thodrol, what you know as the Tibetan Book of the Dead. He helped prepare Billy to transfer his consciousness into the next world – into his next life. It took our focus off of the darkness and made death a natural, hopeful thing. I was with Billy when he died, and I could feel his consciousness move on – really feel it – Dorje Rinpoche said that I had some special talent. He thought I should study under a high lama.† â€Å"So you became a monk?† Charlie asked. â€Å"I thought a lama was just a tall sheep,† said Minty Fresh. Audrey ignored him. â€Å"I was heartbroken and I needed direction, so I went to Tibet and was accepted at a monastery where I studied Bardo Thodrol for twelve years under Lama Karmapa Rinpoche, the seventeenth reincarnation of the bodhisattva who had founded our school of Buddhism a thousand years ago. He taught me the art of p'howa – the transference of the consciousness at the moment of death.† â€Å"So you could do what the monk had done for your fianc† Charlie asked. â€Å"Yes. I performed p'howa for many of the mountain villagers. It was a sort of a specialty with me – along with making the robes for everyone in the monastery. Lama Karmapa told me that he felt I was a very old soul, the reincarnation of a superenlightened being from many generations before. I thought perhaps he was just trying to test me, to get me to succumb to ego, but when his own death was near and he called me to perform the p'howa for him, I realized that this was the test, and he was trusting the transference of his own soul to me.† â€Å"Just so we're clear,† said Minty Fresh. â€Å"I would not trust you with my car keys.† The iguana musketeer poked Minty in the calf with his little sword and the big man yelped. â€Å"See,† Charlie said. â€Å"When you're rude it comes back on you – like karma.† Audrey smiled at Charlie, put her tea on the floor, and folded her legs into the lotus position, settling in. â€Å"When the Lama passed, I saw his consciousness leave his body. Then I felt my own consciousness leave my body, and I followed the Lama into the mountains, where he showed me a small cave, buried deep beneath the snow. And in that cave was a stone box, sealed with wax and sinew. He told me that I must find the box, and then he was gone, ascended, and I found myself back in my body.† â€Å"Were you superenlightened then?† Charlie asked. â€Å"I don't even know what that is,† Audrey said. â€Å"The Lama was wrong about that, but something had changed me while performing the p'howa for him. When I came out of the room with his body, I could see a red spot glowing in people, right at their heart chakra. It was the same thing I had followed into the mountains, the undying consciousness – I could see people's souls. But what was more disturbing to me, I could see that the glow was absent in some people, or I couldn't see it in them, or in myself. I didn't know why, but I did know that I had to find that stone box. By following the exact path into the mountains that the Lama had shown me, I did. Inside was a scroll that most Buddhists thought – still think – was a myth: the lost chapter of the Tibetan Book of the Dead†¦It outlined two long-lost arts, the p'howa of forceful projection, and one I hadn't even heard of, the p'howa of undying. The first allows you to force a soul from one bein g to another, and the second allows the practitioner to prolong the transition, the bardo, between life and death indefinitely.† â€Å"Does that mean you could make people live forever?† Charlie asked. â€Å"Sort of – more like they just stop dying. I meditated on the amazing gift I'd been given for months, afraid to try to perform the rituals. But one day when I was attending the bardo of an old man who was dying of a painful stomach cancer, I could watch the suffering no longer, and I tried the p'howa of forceful projection. I guided his soul into the body of his newborn grandson, who I could see had no glow at his heart chakra. I could actually see the glow move across the room and the soul enter the baby. The man died in peace only seconds later. â€Å"A few weeks later I was called to attend the bardo of a young boy who had taken ill and was showing all the signs of imminent death. I couldn't bear to let it happen, knowing that there might be something I might be able to do, so I performed the p'howa of undying on him, and he didn't die. In fact, he got better. I succumbed to the ego of it, then, and I started to perform the ritual on other villagers, instead of helping them on to their next life. I did five in as many months, but there was a problem. The parents of the little boy summoned me. He wasn't growing – not even his hair and nails. He was stuck at age nine. But by then the villagers were all coming to me with the dying, and word spread throughout the mountains to other villages. They lined up outside of our monastery, demanding I come see them. But I had refused to perform the ritual, realizing that I was not helping these people, but in fact freezing them in their spiritual progression, plus, you know, kin d of freaking them out.† â€Å"Understandably,† Charlie said. â€Å"I couldn't explain to my fellow monks what was happening. So I ran away in the night. I presented myself to be of service to a Buddhist center in Berkeley, and I was accepted as a monk. It was during that time that I saw, for the first time, a human soul contained in an inanimate object, when I went into a music store in the Castro. It was your music store, Mr. Fresh.† â€Å"I knew that was you,† said Minty. â€Å"I told Asher about you.† â€Å"He did,† Charlie said. â€Å"He said you were very attractive.† â€Å"I did not,† Minty said. â€Å"He did. ‘Nice eyes,' he said,† Charlie said. â€Å"Go on.† â€Å"There was no mistaking it, though – the glow in the CD – it was exactly the same presence that I could sense in people who had a soul. Needless to say, I was freaked out.† â€Å"Needless to say,† Charlie said. â€Å"I had a similar experience.† Audrey nodded. â€Å"I was going to discuss all of this with my master at the center, you know, come clean about what I had learned in Tibet – turn the scrolls over to someone who perhaps understood what was going on with the souls inside of objects, but after only a few months, word came from Tibet that I had left under suspicious circumstances. I don't know what details they gave, but I was asked to leave the center.† â€Å"So you formed a posse of spooky animal things and moved to the Mission,† said Minty Fresh. â€Å"That's nice. You can let me loose from this chair now and I'll be on my way.† â€Å"Fresh, will you please let Audrey finish telling her story. I'm sure there's a perfectly innocent reason that she hangs out with a posse of spooky animal things.† Audrey pressed on. â€Å"I was able to get a job as costumer for a local theater group, and being around theater people, basically a bunch of born show-offs, can put you back into the swing of a life. I tried to forget about my practice in Tibet, and I focused on my work, trying to let my creativity drive me. I couldn't afford to make full-sized costumes, so I began to create smaller versions. I bought a collection of stuffed squirrels from a secondhand store in the Mission, and used those as my first models. Later I made my models out of other taxi-dermied animal parts – mixing and matching them, but I'd already started calling them my squirrel people. A lot of them have bird feet, chicken and duck, because I could purchase them in Chinatown, along with things like turtle heads and – well, you can buy a lot of dead-animal parts in Chinatown.† â€Å"Tell me about it,† Charlie said. â€Å"I live a block from the shark parts store. Never actually tried to build a shark from spare parts, though. Bet that would be fun.† â€Å"Y'all are twisted,† Minty said. â€Å"Both of you – you know that, right? Messin' with dead things and all.† Charlie and Audrey each raised an eyebrow at him. A creature in a blue kimono with the face of a dog skull gave Minty the critical eye socket and would have raised an eyebrow at him if she'd had one. â€Å"All right, go on,† Minty said, waving Audrey on with his free hand. â€Å"You made your point.† Audrey sighed. â€Å"So I started to hit all of the secondhand stores in the City, looking for everything from buttons to hands. And at at least eight stores, I found the soul objects – all grouped together at each store. I realized that I wasn't the only one who could see them glowing red. Someone was imprisoning these souls in the objects. That's how I came to know about you gentlemen, whatever you are. I had to get these souls out of your hands. So I bought them. I wanted them to move on to their next rebirth, but I didn't know how. I thought about using the p'howa of forceful projection, forcing a soul into someone who I could see was soulless, but that process takes time. What would I do, tie them up? And I didn't even know if it would work. After all, that method was used to force a soul from one person to another, not from an inanimate object.† Charlie said, â€Å"So you tried this forceful-projection thing with one of your squirrel people?† â€Å"Yeah, and it worked. But what I didn't count on is that they became animated. She started walking around, doing things, intelligent things. Which is how they came to be these little guys you've seen today. â€Å"More tea, Mr. Asher?† Audrey smiled and held the teapot out to Charlie. â€Å"Those things have human souls?† Charlie asked. â€Å"That's heinous.† â€Å"Oh yeah, and it's better that you have the soul imprisoned in an old pair of sneakers in your shop. They're only in the squirrel people until I can figure how to put their souls into a person. I wanted them saved from you and your kind.† â€Å"We're not the bad guys. Tell her, Fresh, we're not the bad guys.† â€Å"We're not the bad guys,† Minty said. â€Å"Can I get some more coffee?† â€Å"We're Death Merchants,† Charlie said, but it came out much less cheerful-sounding than he'd hoped. He was very desperate for Audrey not to think of him as a bad guy. Like most Beta Males, he didn't realize that being a good guy was not necessarily an attraction to women. â€Å"That's what I'm saying,† Audrey said, â€Å"I couldn't just let you guys sell the souls like so much secondhand junk.† â€Å"That's how they find their next rebirth,† Minty said. â€Å"What?† Audrey looked at Charlie for confirmation. Charlie nodded. â€Å"He's right. We get the souls when someone dies, and then someone buys them and they get to their next life. I've seen it happen.† â€Å"No way,† Audrey said, overpouring Minty's coffee. â€Å"Yep,† Charlie said. â€Å"We can see the red glow, but not in people's bodies like you. Only in the objects. When someone who needs a soul comes in contact with the object, the glow goes out. The soul moves into them.† â€Å"I thought you'd trapped the souls between lives. You're not holding these souls prisoner?† â€Å"Nope.† â€Å"It wasn't us after all,† Minty Fresh said to Charlie. â€Å"She was the one that brought all of this on.† â€Å"What on? What?† Audrey said. â€Å"There are Forces of Darkness – we don't know what they are,† Charlie said. â€Å"What we've seen are giant ravens, and these demon-like women, we call them sewer harpies because they've come out of the storm sewers. They gain strength when they get hold of a soul vessel – and they're getting really strong. The prophecy says they are going to rise in San Francisco and darkness will cover the world.† â€Å"And they are in the sewers?† Audrey said. Both Death Merchants nodded. â€Å"Oh no, that's how the squirrel people get around town without being seen. I've sent them to the different stores in the City to get the souls. I must have been sending them right to these creatures. And a lot of them haven't come home. I thought they just might be lost, or wandering around. They do that. They have the potential of full human consciousness, but something is lost with time out of the body. Sometimes they can get a little goofy.† â€Å"No kidding,† said Charlie. â€Å"So is that why iguana boy over there is gnawing on the light cord?† â€Å"Ignatius, get off there! If you electrocute yourself the only place I have to put your soul is that Cornish hen I got at the Safeway. It's still frozen and I don't have any pants that will fit it.† She turned to Charlie with an embarrassed smile. â€Å"The things you never think you'll hear yourself say.† â€Å"Yeah, kids, what are you gonna do?† Charlie said, trying to sound easygoing. â€Å"You know, one of your squirrel people shot me with a crossbow.† Audrey looked distraught now. Charlie wanted to comfort her. Give her a hug. Kiss her on the top of the head and tell her that everything was all right. Maybe even get her to untie him. â€Å"They did? Crossbow, oh, that would be Mr. Shelly. He was a spy or something in a former life – had a habit of going off on his own little missions. I sent him to keep an eye on you and report back so I could figure out what you were doing. No one was supposed to get hurt. He never came home. I'm really sorry.† â€Å"Report back?† Charlie said. â€Å"They can talk?† â€Å"Well, they don't talk,† Audrey said. â€Å"But some of them can read and write. Mr. Shelly could actually type. I've been working on that. I need to get them a voice box that works. I tried one out of a talking doll, but I just ended up with a ferret in a samurai outfit that cried and kept asking if it could go play in the sandbox, it was unnerving. It's a strange process, as long as there's organic parts, stuff that was once living, they knit together, they work. Muscles and tendons make their own connections. I've been using hams for the torsos, because it gives them a lot of muscle to work with, and they smell better until the process is finished. You know, smoky. But some things are a mystery. They don't grow voice boxes.† â€Å"They don't appear to grow eyes, either,† Charlie said, gesturing with his teacup at a creature whose head was an eyeless cat skull. â€Å"How do they see?† â€Å"Got me.† Audrey shrugged. â€Å"It wasn't in the book.† â€Å"Man, I know that feeling,† said Minty Fresh. â€Å"So I've been experimenting with a voice box made out of catgut and cuttlebone. We'll see if the one who has it learns to talk.† â€Å"Why don't you put the souls back in human bodies?† asked Minty. â€Å"I mean, you can, right?† â€Å"I suppose,† Audrey said. â€Å"But to be honest, I didn't have any human corpses lying around the house. But there does have to be a piece of human being in them – I learned that from experimenting – a finger bone, blood, something. I got a great deal on a backbone in a junk store in the Haight and I've been using one vertebra for each of them.† â€Å"So you're like some monstrous reanimator,† Charlie said. Then he quickly added, â€Å"And I mean that in the nicest way.† â€Å"Thanks, Mr. Death Merchant.† Audrey smiled back and went to the nearby desk for some scissors. â€Å"But it looks like I need to cut you loose and hear how you guys got into your line of work. Mr. Greenstreet, could you bring us some more tea and coffee?† A creature with a beaver's skull for a head, wearing a fez and a red satin smoking jacket, bowed and scampered by Charlie, headed toward the kitchen. â€Å"Nice jacket,† Charlie said. The beaver guy gave him a thumbs-up as he passed. Lizard thumbs.

Assignment on Business Strategy Essay

Assignment on Business Strategy 1 . Evaluate a company of your choice’s Mission statement in the light of the 3 components of any Mission Statement. Also use the Abel framework to evaluate the business definition that this mission statement drives. Ans. ) While a business must continually adapt to its competitive environment, there are certain core ideals that remain relatively steady and provides guidance in the process of strategic decision making. These unchanging ideals from the business vision and are expresses in the company mission statement. The mission statement communicates the firm’s core deology and visionary goals, generally consisting of the following three components: a. Core values to which the firm is committed b. Core purpose of the firm c. Visionary goals the firm will pursue The firm’s core values and purpose constitutes its core ideology and remain relatively constant. They are independent of industry structure and the product life cycle. The core ideology is not created in the mission statement; rather, the mission statement is simply an expression of what already exists. The specific phrasing of the ideology may change with the times, but the underlying ideology remains constant. Here is the Coca-Cola Company’s mission statement for Stakeholders which is published in Jeffrey Abrahams’ new book, 101 Mission Statements From Top Companies . â€Å"The Coca-Cola Promise: The Coca-Cola Company exists to benefit and refresh everyone it touches. The basic proposition of our business is simple, solid, and timeless. When we bring refreshment, value, Joy and fun to our stakeholders, then we successfully nurture and protect our brands, particularly Coca-Cola. That is the key to fulfilling our ultimate obligation to provide consistently attractive returns to the owners of our business. The audience for this mission is specifically for the stakeholder. The values here are stated explicitly: refreshment, value, Joy, fun, and attractive returns. These words were obviously carefully chosen by those who crafted this mission statement. The â€Å"ultimate obligation† of â€Å"attractive returns† is a powerful way to state the company’s vision and keeps the values stated in context. A separate mission statement is published on The Coca-Cola Company’s website for access by the general public: â€Å"Everything we do is inspired by our enduring mission: * To Refresh the World†¦ in body, mind, and spirit. * To Inspire Moments of Optimism†¦ hrough our brands and our actions. * To Create Value and Make a Difference†¦ everywhere we engage. † These values are consistent with the stakeholder version of the mission: refreshment and value are echoed in addition to inspiration. 2. What does a Business model intend to achieve, and how? Evaluate any company of your choice’s Business Model in the light of the same. Ans. ) Business Models are simulations of actual business functioning. They act as ideal real life examples, and help participants actively discuss the pros and cons of the situation given. A business Model gives a Full Account of any particular Business Scenario. One has to SWOT analyze the Business Model based on different how it makes money or delivers value, and what it does and does not do. A business model can change throughout the life of business or can be applied to a specific product, or to a nonprofit. It is a more general and concise statement than the business plan, but is still often used to explain the business and its activities to investors, banks or employees. Standard business models are often referred to in shorthand, such as â€Å"subscription† or â€Å"low-cost leader. † As we know a business model is the mechanism by which a business intends to pecify a market offering. It is a summary of how a company plans to serve its customers and specifies its product offering. It mentions both the strategy and methods of implementation. As Amazon. com was being established, the delivery of information, goods, or services to end customers employed one strong business model called the Online Retailers of Physical Goods. This business model takes title to the newly manufactured products that they sell and often rely on third party providers. Like Amazon. com, it needed third party providers, such as Borders and Barnes & Noble, to maintain its product supply. When Amazon. om was first launched, Amazon. om was heralded for its feel-friendly culture that drew talented young people to apply for work there and employed smart hiring strategy by hiring the brightest, most intelligent and versatile people. Jeff Bezos wanted people who could share his vision and were willing to work to achieve it. He tried to establish a sense of community due to sharing both hard work and fun with his employees. Although pay was less than market salaries, attractive ownership options were offered. Amazon’s three operational strategies are 1 . Cost-Leadership – Amazon places itself as leader based only on the pricing. It offers the same product quality for lesser price. 2. Customer Differentiation – Amazon uses design, quality and convenience as a differentiator which set it apart from its close competitors. 3. Focus Strategies – Customer service is the major focus while realizing that each market has its own quirks. Amazon. com’s values and philosophy are at the center of the organization. These often determines the success and failure of the enterprise . The other important factors Amazon focuses on are customer satisfaction and operational frugality. These two values complement Amazon. om’s operational trategies in achieving and maintaining an effective competitive advantage. Growth Drivers There are four primary drivers for growth: 1. Product focus 2. Customer focus 3. Technology focus 4. Distribution focus Using the above stated strategies, Amazon has managed to place itself in a position of power and success. 3. Use the 5 forces model to analyze and interpret the opportunities and threats that the industry within which a company operates (of your choice), throws up. Explain how the company plans to capitalise on the opportunities and tackle the threats understanding where power lies in a business situation. It also helps to understand both the strength of a firm’s current competitive position, and the strength of a position a company is looking to move into. Despite the fact that the Five Force framework focuses on business concerns rather than public policy, it also emphasizes extended competition for value rather than Just competition among existing rivals, and the simpleness of its application inspired numerous companies as well as business schools to adopt its use (Wheelen and Hunger, 1998). * Chez Airlinbe company is not an isolated unit in the world and performs within a market full of other competitors. To be able to evaluate their position on market and to act accordingly they themed the Porter’s Five Forces Model. This model helped to define and realize their business and its surroundings and identify threats and opportunities to focthem on. They review this model periodically to obtain up-to-date data in this global and turbulent environment. The Porter Model consists of 5 elements which together comprises the environment business operate in. These elements are: suppliers, customers, new entrants, existing competition and the product itself. By assessing every one of these elements they get the whole picture of heir company within the market and the rating helps them target the key areas. They theme the scale of 0-5 to evaluate the policies of each element where O means no policies and 5 very high policies (reffering to the number in the brackets). * 1) Policies of Suppliers As they operate in the areas of services there are no critical commodities having large influence of their everyday service delivery. Therefore this area is not of critical policies in a short run. However, they should not underestimate this element as they wouldn’t be able to continue the business in long run without suppliers. f their supply (3) This is a threat in case of the aircraft machines. There are not many reputable airplanes (and airplanes parts) producers and therefore they could have strong policies to control the air travel industry. As for the catering, gift services and other indirect materials there are many fragmented choice and therefore their policies is of almost no significance as they could be replaced quickly. There are no substitutes for the particular input (5) There are no substitutes for planes (in case they want to continue providing air transportation instead of ground routes) and herefore the policies of this element is very high – business critical. They could reduce this policies by handling cargo theming the earth services but this might decrease service level they provide to their customers. * The suppliers’ customers are fragmented, so their bargaining policies is low (4) There are more than 200 airlines all over the world and despite some alliance organizations (such as IATA) they are all potential competitors. The policies of this element is relatively high as the suppliers could afford losing one customers but the customers can’t afford loosing the critical supplier (e. g. Boeing). The switching costs from one supplier to another are high (3) Switching costs in air transport industry are mainly related to the fact of limited airplanes producers and to the machine a company already owns. They theme planes form 3 producers: Airbthem, Boeing and ATR.

The Female Role in a Male Dominated Society

Women are sometimes undermined by the culture in which they live in. Only recently have they begun to be looked at as near equals to men and given a voice. Still, in some countries women may be pushed aside and left without a say in important decision-making. In the momentous novel The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende, the wife of each generation is a matriarch in her family. Individually they rise above cultural trends, and their husbands or lovers, to exercise the fact that women are important. Women can be as powerful as men, even in a male-dominated society. This is why Nivea, Clara, Blanca, and Alba make their voices and actions heard during difficult times in a developing country. American women were willing to go to extreme lengths to make their voice heard and receive the right to vote. Their efforts did not go unnoticed. News articles stated that â€Å"Their issues are legitimate and cut across socioeconomic and party lines,† (Brenner,1-2) and that the Suffragist’s would be willing to hold an all night vigile to make sure their right to vote was no longer delayed(New York Times, 1). The House of the Spirits takes place in Chile during the 1900’s. The story begins in the Del Valle household. Nivea is the current matriarch. She is a firm believer in women’s suffrage and equality. Nivea was the first woman of the novel to display her affection towards the underprivileged. She stood on crates and boxes to preach to the hard-working women wearing rags and working in factories that paid next to nothing. She brings Clara along with her after discovering that her family does everything they can to avoid Clara’s clairvoyant powers. Nivea and her suffragette friend inspire Clara at a young age to understand and grasp the absurdity of the issue. Her trends are absorbed by the following generations of women in her family. Esteban Trueba is Clara’s husband, an angry man who is violent to his many workers and doesn’t take rule from anyone. His success and authority of Tres Marias, his father’s old hacienda, turned him into a tough skinned man that not many people had control over. His mother’s death causes him to, one day, look for a wife. Esteban decides to go to the Del Valle house and inquire about a daughter able to marry him. Nivea offers him Clara, her last available daughter (88-89). Clara instantly has a power over Esteban. Her laugh and her smile are astonishing to Esteban Trueba, her beauty takes over him and he decides to marry her (90-91). Though Esteban is a dominating character he finds that he is unable to control Clara. I wanted to possess her absolutely, down to her last thought, but that diaphanous woman would float by me like a breath of fresh air, and even if I held her down with my hands and embraced her with all my strength, I could never make her mine. Her spirit wasn’t with me. (Allende, 177) Clara’s place as Esteban’s wife, and only love, capture him completely. She was the only person that could influence him and the only person that he would listen to. At one point he even changes the currency used on Tres Marias, a territory forbidden strictly to Esteban Trueba’s rule, because Clara feels that it would be nicer for the tenant’s to have a form of paper money. Esteban indeed stops handing the tenant’s pink slips and begins paying them with real money (178). Blanca and Alba are mother and daughter, both who have lovers involved in a revolution against the Conservative Government.

Certificate in Education Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Certificate in Education - Personal Statement Example I ensured that as we progressed with the lesson, I asked a number of questions and picked the students at random to answer them. Even the weaker students seemed to have grasped everything from mm lesson. The students would also continue asking me question regarding the application of depreciation in business world. Indeed learning took place because toward the end of the lesson, the students could answer me most of the question from depreciation concept. At the end of the lesson, I summarised the lesson by discussing the main points and ensure the students study more on depreciation; I gave them a handout to all students to read during their free time. I was really impressed as a teacher since I had achieved my goals of transferring knowledge to students. If repeating the same exercise, I would ensure I first know what the students know about the topic so that I can know the approach to use and the effort to apply so that the students can understand the concept. I attended another colleague's teaching session in a catering class where the topic for discussion was opening of wine. As a learner in this catering class, I found the lesson very interesting and all the other students had an interest in the topic. I really enjoyed my every moment with the catering students since in their class; there were more practical sessions unlike in other subjects. The lesson started af... (Arnot, McIntyre, Pedder and Reay, 2004) The teacher asked question as he proceeded with the lesson and we as students, we found the lesson to very interesting and we were all fully attentive throughout the lesson. We occasionally asked the teacher questions regarding the topic and this was a clear revelation that we understood the concepts as the lesson was interesting. The teacher praised us each time we answered the question and encouraged those who did not give a perfect answer so that they do not feel shy not to answer a question next time. There were more practical sessions throughout the lesson than talking. We were asked to demonstrate on the best way we are supposed to serve wine as discussed in class. At least all students were given a chance to demonstrate what they had learnt and this gave a chance to other students to learn from their colleagues. The lesson had been prepared well since the teacher had prepared PowerPoint presentation which made the lesson more interesting. The teacher demonstrated good PowerPoint presentation skills and the class was enjoyable. After we had demonstrated on how to serve and open wine, the teacher concluded the lesson by summarising the main points. (Barnett, 2003) Question Three To evaluate the teaching session taught to by on my peers, I can see the teaching was a success. There was full participation by all students as they kept on asking and answering questions throughout the lesson. I had fully prepared for the lesson and I had allocated time for introduction, discussion and finally for summarising the lesson. Throughout the session, the students had an interest of learning about depreciation as they were eager to know how it is applicable in business. The most

Module 01 and module 02 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Module 01 and module 02 - Essay Example From the exercise, I learned that success in online environments in related directly with structured approached towards time management in which one can give proper time to each course. In my typical day, school fits at the place of most important value. The fact that I have learned about my future career within school is that students need positive attention from teachers. If they do not receive it, their focus can shift away from studies forever. Teachers need to handle each student individually during early childhood education to make the students feel valued and gain confidence. I chose multimedia technology because of my interest in this field. Studying multimedia will not only help me get a deep understanding of different technologies and the way they work but also it will help me gain success in online environment because use of multimedia technologies is the backbone of online mode of study. Everyone wants to do something exceptional in life. I have planned to use my multimedia education in research and teaching areas. I have focused my attention not only towards creating new multimedia technologies to assist students and teachers communicate and study in online environments but also towards using such technologies as my professional teaching

Why Was America Taken by Surprise on 11 September 2001 Essay

Why Was America Taken by Surprise on 11 September 2001 - Essay Example The country itself is guarded by strong defenses. With a land army of total weapons of 56,269, air power of 18, 234 aircrafts and naval power of 2,834 ships1 she has become a symbol of military might. Furthermore, with a resilient intelligence network comprising of CIA, the country is apparently able to keep threats away. The story of 9/11 developed very interestingly. On the morning of September 11, 2001 four commercial planes were hijacked by terrorists affiliated with Al-Qaeda, an Islamic extremist group. The number of terrorists was expected to be around 19 that carried suicide attacks in three different places. The first two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the third destructed a part of the Pentagon while the fourth crashed in a field of Pennsylvania. This was a massive and atrocious attack on the land of America causing immense collateral damage.2 Who would have expected the day when America crippled into the depths of shock and horror with strong defens ive shields mentioned above. A major chunk of the American economy flourishing in the WTC was deflated. The Pentagon that is the central decision making body of the country was so vulnerable and the trans-border security on the airports was so weak that no one could keep a check on any unusual activities. All of these loopholes resulted in the death of more than 3000 civilians3 on 9/11. When the episode of 9/11 is dug deep, one comes across a lot of questions. For instance, why did a non-state actor attack America? How did it get the capability to penetrate inside the country? Was there an insider involved? Does it prove the failure of President George W. Bush’s administration or was it another excuse to wage war like the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941? All of these questions have affected the lives of Americans itself. Right after the country was attacked, President George W. Bush declared war on terror and put forward a proposal of â€Å"either you are with us or them (terror ists)† before the world making states choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. President Bush invested heavily to wage the war against Osama Bin Laden, the culprit responsible for planning and executing the attacks. He started off with bombarding Afghanistan in 2001 which hasn’t stopped yet even after a decade. The attacks had huge impact on the lives of each and every American. If one goes back in time, he will realize that the impact was equally large six decades ago when the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor toppling U.S Navy on the Hawaiian coast. Like 9/11, the attack on Pearl Harbor came as a surprise and both the attacks took approximately 3000 lives. On the second day of the attack President Roosevelt declared war on Japan starting World War II4. It was the first time ever in the history of mankind that a nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Similarly, President Bush announced to hunt down every terrorist in the world right after the WT C crippled. Hence, the defense budget started increasing at the cost of human lives. The most striking and ironic fact about these two attacks was that both the Presidents knew about them in advance. They knew that their country was under threat and could be attacked at any moment. It was in a newspaper on 30th November 1941 that warned of Japanese strike on the American homeland when the naval fleet came under attack on 7th December 1941. The President was questioned regarding knowledge of the attack beforehand. It was later investigated and revealed that it was the President himself and some members of his administration that delayed the conveyance of the warning messages given by the United Kingdom to Hawaii. 5 President

Alternative Dispute Resolution( ADR)Clause Assignment

Alternative Dispute Resolution( ADR)Clause - Assignment Example All attempts will need to be made before approaching the professor to act as an arbiter for the case. However once the professor is involved in the case, there can be no contesting the decision and the decision will be considered to be final. Negotiation is where the parties will work together to resolve an issue or dispute which might arise from the learning team meetings or the team work efforts, among themselves. The negotiation can be set out by means of a written request to bring out the issue of the dispute, controversy or the claim and the solution suggested or requested. There is a faith of goodwill that ensures that the parties will abide by the proceedings and the settlement that is got from the negotiated proceedings. In case any of the parties is not satisfied by the result of the negotiation, then the professor will be introduced to perform arbitration. Mediation will be conducted when the issue is between two members of the team. Here the two members will choose one person as the mediator and this individual will be responsible to make the decision for the dispute (Nolan-Haley, 2008). Here the two parties and the mediator will meet to discuss the issue and the possible solutions. The mediator will be a third party with no common interest in the matter. The mediator will have to make the decision for the issue. This can be contested and again the professor will be brought in for arbitration. Arbitration will be conducted by the professor, in the case where the negotiation and mediation do not provide satisfactory results. Here the professor will meet both parties and will need each of them to provide in writing the dispute and the solution that has been got from the previous proceedings (i.e. mediation or negotiation) (Ware, 2007). Once this is got the two parties and the professor will meet and a discussion will proceed where the two parties will state their views

Explain why institutional licensure is unacceptable in today's Essay

Explain why institutional licensure is unacceptable in today's healthcare system - Essay Example Under the constant demand from nursing leaders and nursing associations for the need to remove inconsistencies in the quality of nursing care, nursing licensure came into place as the means to provide protection against poor quality in nursing care (Catalano, 2000). Thus the basis of licensure is to ensure competency and quality in nursing care and for which nurses have to qualify through an examination. The current nursing practice licensure examination is the National Council Licensure Examination Computer Adaptive Testing (NCLEX-RN, CAT) for Registered Nurses. Modifications can be shortly expected through the Mutual Recognition Model for Nursing Licensure that is targeted as a moving towards a universal nursing license, which will allow nurses qualifying from one state to practice in any other state. The activity of Licensure for nursing practice on the basis of RN examination thus goes towards meeting the objectives of protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public thro ugh the establishment of nursing professional standards (Catalano, 2000). Against this backdrop enters into the picture institutional licensure as an option for meeting the objectives of protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

COLLABORATIVE OR PRINCIPLED NEGOTIATION Assignment - 1

COLLABORATIVE OR PRINCIPLED NEGOTIATION - Assignment Example It will also be very important not to ignore the fact that principled negotiation is thorough in terms of the factors that are considered and the presentation of the various requirements of the software stakeholders. This is a technique that has proved to be effective for a person who intends to separate the problem from the stakeholders. For example, clients might not have the same computing background as the suppliers or developers. This implies that there should be a way through which the requirements can take into consideration the difference in the nature of the differences of the stakeholders if in any case the project is to become a success. This is a method that can also enable engineering of requirements to be based on the interests of the negotiators rather than their positions. Through focusing on the interests, a software developer might be able to determine the common ground for all the stakeholders. This is basically because he nature of the software that is developed will need to be in accordance to the requirements of the suppliers and the end users. This negotiation approach also allows for the invention of mutual gain. One thing about computers system is that they usually evolve with time. For instance, in this case it was discovered that the money that was availed by the government would not be sufficient for the required hardware for the necessary spreading of implementation functionality. Therefore, the negotiation process led to the division of the whole project into phases with the first phase being the most important one which was food control. The division into phases was a result of thorough study of the interests of the stakeholder and looking of the most appropriate way through which all the stakeholders would be satisfied even with the limited resources. The fact that people rarely change their positions,

Create a Brief Literature Review Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Create a Brief Literature Review - Coursework Example Past analyses have looked into the relationship between generations and motivation at work. Most of these determine the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators of Baby Boomers and Millennial. These studies do not investigate the relative effects these intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors have on the generations (Leavitt, 2014). There exits many theories about motivation and one particular of these theories is intrinsic and extrinsic motivations theory developed in 1985 (Jansen, 2010). This model suggest that an individual behavior can be intrinsically motivated or extrinsically motivated. Persons engaging in pleasurable tasks are believed to be intrinsically motivated while extrinsic motivation is a description of activities that are a means to an end and not the pleasure of task (Leavitt, 2014). Individuals motivated by intrinsic process find motivation in the work itself. These individuals find the behavior challenging, and there are no external controls regulating the behavior. Goal incorporation is the source of motivation for a behavior in the person who adopts behaviors and attitudes based on congruity with their personal value system. Persons motivated by instrumental or extrinsic rewards believe their behaviors will lead to certain results. Research describes millennial as more individualistic than any other generation, but till this day, prove on generational differences relating to work values remain scant despite the effort by consultants selling solutions of managing younger workers (Leavitt, 2014). Contrary to popular beliefs, millennial value less altruistic and social rewards than Baby Boomers. Intrinsic rewards such as growth opportunity and interesting work are more important to millennial, but less compared to any of the previous generations like the Baby Boomers (Leavitt, 2014). To Millennial, leisure is relatively important and values extrinsic rewards like status and pay

Ethics and Morality Aspects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethics and Morality Aspects - Essay Example And these laws are scattered in over 50 titles of the United States Code, encompassing roughly 27,000 pages" (Rosenzweig, 2003). The criminal laws now deal with even minor offenses like spitting on the street, swearing, behavior in public places etc. These laws also deal with sexual offenses or behavior that over the years has evolved. The issues of 'White Collar crimes' that must have been dealt by specialized civil laws are now the part of the criminal laws. Similarly the street laws that should have been enforced by the state laws are also now part of the federal criminal laws. Criticism is hurled in the way of such legislations that they are most of the times too harsh on crimes committed by citizens. Over criminalization, is considered to be more politically motivated. These laws seem to be an attempt by politicians and federal bureaucrats to deal with crime rates. Instead of emphasizing the protection of individual rights, it preserves the political interests of the state and certain majority groups. The nature of such laws is such that it could lead to the misuse of criminal laws. The plummeted growth of such federal criminal laws has given way to a debate that over criminalization has resulted in crisis situation in America. Ethics and morality aspects come under discussion when the topic of over criminalization is debated. ... According to the Right theory philosophers, what makes human beings different from mere animals or inanimate things is that people have dignity based on their ability to choose freely what they will do with their lives, and they have a fundamental moral right to have these choices respected. According to them, people are not objects to be manipulated and it is a violation of human dignity to use people in ways they do not freely choose. There are certain ethical theories that grant people deviate in certain circumstance. For example telling a lie is considered ethically and morally wrong. In certain circumstances a person can lie to save one's own or some other person's life. If there was a law to regulate lying then that person would get caught. Laws in situations that involve moral or ethical issues can make things more complicated. Ethics and morality standards also vary from one person to another. Showing public affection for one person is ok but for another it is ethically incorrect. It is therefore hard to generalize one ethical standard on every person particularly with respect to issues related to people's personal choices. Rights under Constitution American constitution provides its countrymen the right of freedom of expression under its laws. Americans are of the view that this right of freedom is not just related to speech and writing but they can express themselves in any way possible. They believe they can do what they want and these are the rights people want to exercise when they confront strict laws that they think at times restricts their privacy and freedom of expression. In this regard, it would be necessary to mention the clauses invoked to support the point of

Transportation Essay Example for Free

Transportation Essay Transportation and environmental issues are opposite in nature since transportation deliver socio-economic benefits are great, but at the same time impactingenvironmental transportation system. On one side, supporting transport activities growing demand for passenger and cargo movement, while on the other, transportation activities associated with increasing levels of external environment. This has reached the point where transport is the dominant source of the pollution emission and multiple effects on the environment Complexity of the problem that has led to much controversy in the policy environment and the role of transport. see more:essay about transport The transport sector is often subsidized by the public sector, particularly through the construction and maintenance of road infrastructure which tend to be independent of the access. Sometimes, the public interest in the mode of transport, terminal and infrastructure can be odd with environmental issues. If the owner and the same regulator (different branches of government), then there is a risk that the rules will not be effectively observed. It can also lead to another extreme where compliance would lead to an inefficient transportation system with the cost of subsidies. The environmental impact of vehicle pollution burning fossil fuels such as natural gas and gasoline used for transportation the way we produce harmful chemicals, among them carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, which is a major pollutant and contributor to global warming. Over 150 years ago, cars, airplanes and power plants have been producing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere enough to raise a higher level than ever before. Single car emissions are generally low, but added to the emissions from the millions of vehicles per day used to create a huge impact on the environment and air quality. Car pollution reaching water pollution, noise pollution, air pollution to global warming, to give effect to human health. On-road motor vehicles not only release carbon dioxide but also nitrogen oxides, which contribute to the formation of acid rain. They are also a precursor to the formation of ozone (smog), which damage the respiratory system and damage the plants. In the West, about 6% of the population will die due to air pollution, it is not surprising that the car industry is responsible for up to 80% of urban air pollution. With globalization and modern technology invading every corner of the world, it is a known fact that air pollution and congestion are increasing at an alarming rate. Some of the recommendations about how to address this problem encouraging the use of public transport. This essay will analyze the strategy to encourage people to use trains and buses to commute to work. For a start, it felt that one way to stimulate the use of public transport to make use of private cars expensive. For example, tolls have been introduced successfully in a number of places in cities around the world. This example clearly shows that the use of private cars on the highway is expensive compared to public transport. Therefore, introducing tolls and other taxes using private cars is a good strategy to prevent people from using personal vehicles. In addition, limiting the number of parking permits in urban areas help to prevent people from using their private vehicles. Take for example the Metro Sydney. Last year, a study showed that the city experienced a sharp drop in traffic caused 30% increase in the price for parking permits. This clearly demonstrates the fact that, the price increases made it difficult for people to use their personal car to go to the cities. Thus, the increase in the price of parking permits is a good way to curb congestion and encourage use of public transport. Following the appearance, it is clear that by increasing the cost of using a private vehicle is an effective strategy to encourage people to use public transport. Thus, this will help to reduce congestion and air pollution to some degree.

Pathology of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Pathology of Rheumatoid Arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by painful inflammatory autoimmune disorder by di-arthrodial joints, the wide of production of cytokines, and destruction of joints (see the fig.1). Thickness of cells up to 5 to 8 multiples of synovium and as well as the turnout of subintima to be loose tissue of granulomatous inflammation. Pannus which tissue recognized, then destroyed by invading the bone and cartilage. Pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory imbalance are expressed on induction RA a synovitis (Feldmann, 2002). Fig1. Show a healthy and Rheumatoid Arthritis bones joint. The pathology of RA by promoting the maintain the inflammatory (erosive) synovitis, and joint tissue of adjacent are destruction, William McCann, 2008, contribution towards the blood bone cells are (Feldmann,2002) rheumatoid arthritics synovial fibroblasts, dendritic cells, macrophages, plasma cells, T cells, B cells and fibroblast-like synoviocytes. RA play an essential role of resident cells which gradually (Feldmann,2002) that contributed the bones degradation, cartilage and soft tissues while they secretion of matrix metalllo- proteases are developed and molecules are adhesion, then towards contributed in loss of range of joint motion and malformation, also premature mortality are contributed in many other similar cases. cytokines have been implicated in each phase of the pathogens disease are involved by cytokinesis. Often target as a TNFÃŽÂ ± is a standard treatment for RA. Role of rheumatoid arthritics Cytokines TH1 is linked with early studies of RA. Essential arbitrator are consider as a cytokine which they produced lower quantities of inflammatory response, even though they are the biological impact while they producing the less quantities, event of initiating downstream successive, drug discovery which target to identification of fundamental role of cytokines on RA are disorder driven by T cells populations that manufacture the cytokines inflammatory. Several techniques are carry out by many research group were observed the primary analysis of cytokines, which detect TNFa (Tumor necrosis factor alpha) on RA and TNFb in nit. After finding TNF and cytokines IL-1 are came up with many questions, was not detected without any satisfaction answer, local synovial joints are produced by arbitrators, in that case which cell are responsible to RA? consequently, all used alienate rheumatoid arthritis synovial membrane Brennan et, mono-nuclear cells to distinguish between the presence on o ne of a kind cytokines in the RA of pathology Table 1. Shows the presence of cytokines in RA synovial cells are listed below. Spontaneously produced cytokines by RA Profile of Arthritis Cytokine IL-1ÃŽÂ ² IL-1RA LT IL-2 IL-3 IL-12 MIP-3ÃŽÂ ± IL-17 IL-23 TNFÃŽÂ ± TGFÃŽÂ ² IFNT PDGF-A PDGF-B RANTES G-CSF GM-CSF TGFB Abbreviations of protein has been proved: TNF, Tumor necrosis factor; IL-1ÃŽÂ ², Interleukin-1 beta; IL-1RA, IL-1 Receptor Antagonist; LT, lymphotoxin; MIP-3ÃŽÂ ±, Macrophage Inflammatory Protein 3 alpha; TGFÃŽÂ ², Transforming Growth Factor beta-1; TNFÃŽÂ ±, Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha; IFNT, interferon gamma; PDGF-A, platelet derived growth factor alpha, PDGF-B; RANTES, regulated on activation normal T expressed and secretion; G-CSF, granulocytes colony stimulating factor; GM-CSF, granulocytes macrophages colony stimulating factor; TGFB, transforming factor beta. TNF alpha and IL-1 are vital in mediating irritation in RA. Randomized section II and III clinical trials of anti-TNF reagents (infliximab and etanercept) have validated a suitable safety profile and marked medical efficacy in instances of RA that have no longer replied thoroughly to conventional therapy. One anti-TNF reagent has already been approved within the U.S. for the remedy of RA, and other cytokine antagonists or agonists are under improvement. Experimental findings in TNF-deficient mouse fashions advocate that TNF inhibitors may also trade the sickness process of RA and bring about the ability of immunological remission, elevating the possibility of a treatment excursion of TNF inhibitors after in depth treatment. References    Feldmann M, Brennan FM, Maini RN. 2002. Role of cytokines in rheumatoid arthritis. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8717520. [Accessed 8 December 2016]. McCann, William. 2008. The role of physical activity in rheumatoid arthritis. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18234247. [Accessed 15 December 2016]. Genetics Home Reference. 2017. rheumatoid arthritis Genetics Home Reference. [ONLINE] Available at: https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/rheumatoid-arthritis. [Accessed 22 January 2017]. Next stage of RA treatment: is TNF inhibitor-free remission a possible treatment goal? Tanaka Annals of the Rheumatic Disease. 2017. Next stage of RA treatment: is TNF inhibitor-free remission a possible treatment goal? Tanaka Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. [ONLINE] Available at: http://ard.bmj.com/content/early/2012/12/18/annrheumdis-2012-202350.abstract. [Accessed 22 January 2017]. Cytokines Rheumatoid Arthritis. 2017. Cytokines Rheumatoid Arthritis. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ebioscience.com/knowledge-center/antigen/cytokines/rheumatoid-arthritis.htm. [Accessed 22 January 2017].

Several differences between private and public schools

Several differences between private and public schools Introduction Extant literature proposes that there are several differences between private and public schools in term of governance, facilities and even the curriculum. These studies do however record both the similarities and differences of these institutions as well as the controversial aspects of these institutions structures. Like other countries of the world, Kuwait has also various factors that affect the running of public and private schools. In this context, it is true that many several students feel and experience the difference that exists between private and public schools. The general consensus however is that private schools are better as compared to the public schools as postulated by Hannaway (1991) when he argued thatprivate schools perform better due to greater school level autonomy and their responsiveness to the needs of students and parents. Public schools have always paid for higher education programs out of general public taxation. This has prompted several students to pay little or no tuition fees at all and has also enabled number of admissions in the public schools as compared to the little or rather fewer admission in the more expensive private institutions. Most students have been able to gain access to public institutions for higher education through selective exams programs; this is mainly in an effort to have of quality education and better performance in these schools which usually enjoy adequate government funding. Due to the difference in students abilities and competition in public schools, students with low ability have a choice of increasing their education level or being uneducated depending on their financial capabilities. This simply means that a student with a low ability can equally be enrolled in a private school but after paying full tuition money which is always very expensive. On the other hand, a student with low ability and lacks enough finances remains uneducated. But studies have shown that there is an increasing demand for public schools due to high demand of higher quality education coupled with high level of students competition for the government funded learning opportunities. Overview of the Kuwaiti Education system The Kuwaiti education system in the early 20th century comprised of very basic education that was delivered through very few Koranic schools with funding from the various wealthy Kuwaiti citizens. The Koranic schools main taught the students how to read write and solve. The initial step towards the modern education system began in 1921.Thse schools mainly concentrated on the teaching of commerce and mathematics. It was later on that that writing skills were introduced. In 1967, it became necessary to compulsory to enroll students or rather school going children to primary schools (Kjeilen,2009). The Kuwaiti government dedicated a very large sum of money in funding of its educational system. The government also has made efforts to device programs that aid in improving the entry of the Kuwaiti women from education institutions to their professional work life.A considerable percentage of the Kuwaiti education is made up of private schools with about 40% being in the kindergartens and secondary category. The private schools are mainly financed by foreigners while the tuition fees and other subsidies are derived from government support. In a nutshell, the Kuwaiti education system ranks very high and attendance is open to both sexes. The Kuwaiti education is also compulsory and free for all the Kuwaiti citizens. Social changes in Kuwait have rapidly sped up since the oil boom that started in 1950s. Right before the super affluence which was caused by oil, Kuwait as a country was one of the poorest states both technologically and economically; the people from Kuwait majorly lived and survived on activities such as trading, herding, pearling and fishing. The decades following the development in Kuwait after 1950s attracted many immigrants especially those from poorer states that include Arabs from the Middle East who wanted to be part of Kuwait by Citizenship. As time accelerated to a different Kuwaiti era, more and more developments were established as the native Kuwaitis led much comfortable lives in urbanization, thus leaving most of the labor work to the foreigners who were more of laborers. Early education foundation was based on only a few Quranic schools that provided majorly religious teachings and basic literacy in Arabic tutelage at the beginning of the 20th century. In the Middle East, Kuwait was one of the nations that flagged the most sophisticated, generous, and comprehensive educational infrastructures that enabled a much extensive education boosting in the country. Al Mubarakiyya school was founded in the year 1912 as one of the most profound and modern educational institutions in Kuwait through funding by merchants to supply clerks who at least had the basic knowledge in fields of commerce, letter writing and arithmetic. This was later followed by introduction of other subjects in the curriculum like geography, history and art. English courses were first stated in the year 1921 by Al Ahmadia School and shortly followed by the first girls school which was founded and established to offer instructions in home economics, Islamic studies and Arabic. In the 1930s, the modern period of establishment of educational facilities was initiated and on going; this was after the pearling based devastation of the Kuwaitis economy. In the year 1935, public education was established after the education system was partly adopted for control by the Kuwaiti state. This chapter initiated the starting of new schools, sending of Kuwaiti students abroad for higher learning and also founding of an education mission by Palestine teachers. Among the schools which were founded, three of those schools merged a total of 600 boys, while the other primary schools were established for girls and were able to accommodate a total of 140 girls. A year later in 1936, a department of education was instituted in order to monitor the running of the public schools, oversee foreign teachers from Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon who were the pioneers of the secondary education program in Kuwait. By the year 1945, a total of 17 schools in the country were est ablished. In the academic year of 1954-1955, the first technical school and the first kindergarten were established. This clearly shows the rapid acceleration of education facilities in Kuwait since the year 1950s. In the technical college, the first year saw accommodation of 80 students who were enrolled and an increase in number courses which were gradually introduced as demand for more fields of study heightened. The educational developments continued pacing up as a new institution for the blind was inaugurated in the year 1956 with a total of 36 pupils in enrollment records. This was not enough since by the year 1973, there were approximately 1,644 students who were identified to be in need of special facilities for education. Some of these students include the blind, the deaf, and other handicapped ones. All these special students were enrolled in 11 institutions which were specially designed for them in acquiring education as other normal students. Adult education for women officially ca me underway in the year 1963; this was a result of the existing similar programs for women though dormant(Meleis et al ,1979). This system saw continuous enrollment of approximately 45,000 students of which 18,000 were girls. The education department of Kuwait was then officially inaugurated as the Education Ministry in the year 1962. This establishment gave the education ministry full mandate to oversee and manage all directions in education maintenance and development over the decades. Kuwaits state education has since progressed since the Kuwaiti nationals got involved in their education process twenty years back from the beginning of the millennium. This progress made has been quite remarkable especially in terms of expatriate to national ratio of teachers who were employed. In the year 1982, there were 24,367 teachers in total; 6,478 teachers were Kuwaiti nationals. The academic year of 1997-1998 saw total of 27,359 teachers employed in public schools and an estimate of 10,000 teachers in private schools. Of the 27,359 teachers in public school, 17,357 teachers were Kuwaiti. The ratio of Kuwaiti teachers to expatriate ones changed from approximately 1.7:1 from 1:3.76. The state of Kuwaiti managed to promote their education process by extensively increasing the number of Kuwaiti teachers between the early eighties to the late nineties. The doubling of the Kuwaiti teachers between the eighties and the nineties has relieved the reliance of foreign professional teac hers in Kuwaiti schools. This was a great change but not good enough since most of the Kuwaiti professional teachers were particularly in practice at the lower levels, mostly the primary schools. The entry of male teachers in the profession also saw many of them teaching in primary schools. Kuwaits transformation into a modern nation with remarkable education institutions has been so, thanks to the governments early decision to distribute the oil revenues to citizens through investment of education, social welfare, housing and healthcare. The Kuwaiti education system is tailored to cater for the nations needs. In their endeavor to ensure that most of its citizens are educated, the Kuwaiti government has ensured that the education is provided free of charge. This has been the case since 1966.In order to ensure that the share of national budget that is targeted towards the provision of free education yield good outcome in terms of raising the Kuwaiti Literacy level, the government has made education to be compulsory for student aged 6-14. The Kuwaiti government has in its vision and commitments the need to provide its citizens with a stable and highly educated human resource base. This is in an effort to meet the social challenges attributed to development challenges as outlined in their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).This is through the guarantee of an education slot to each and every citizen who wishes to pursue their education to whatever level that they desire. It is quite evident from the number of schools alone, the governments commitment towards ensuring that the Kuwaiti population is properly educated. The general Kuwaiti education system is made up of elementary, intermediate and secondary schooling systems. As of 1995, there were about 861 state and private institutions (schools) that fell into these categories. Once an individual goes past these three basic levels of education, they proceed to institutions of higher learning such as the Kuwait School and other educational centers where they learn various courses in various fields of study Cost of private schooling in Kuwait The private education in Kuwait makes a very crucial element of the Kuwaiti education system. There is a very strong government presence in the private schools in Kuwait. The private schools do enroll about one third of children at the elementary level.The cost of private schooling in Kuwait was a preserve for the high income families only before Kuwaiti was invaded by Saddam.This situation has however changed and students from moderate and modest families also do enroll in the private schools. This move is mainly fueled by the perceived decline in the quality of education in the public school system. Their main attraction is however pegged on the quality education that they desire for their children. There is however situations that necessitate the parents to return their children to the public schooling system due to the increase in the school fees paid in the private schools in Kuwait. Some of these parents resort to this move despite the availability of loans to fund for their ch ildrens education (Kuwaiti Times, 2007) Different students get enrolled in different schools majorly due to their level of performances and their family income, this has always been the question asked mostly and a major source of debate whether students in private schools are better than their counterparts in public schools. Several parents and guardians have developed the mentality that paying extra money for their kids education makes all the difference as far as quality and success in their childrens education is concerned. With this kind of belief in existence, more wealthy parents or guardians prefer paying so as to secure well the future of their children in the private learning institutions. On the other hand, some parents, guardians, students and even college professors believe that education is generally the same whether it is from a public institution or a private one. This depends on the attitude and mental preparedness of the student towards their education and future. When comparing the public schools to the private ones, it is quite obvious that the quality of education in private schools is much lower than those in public schools. This is mainly reflected in the strategies used when competing for students. In public schools, there has always been a setting of qualification which must be achieved by a student before being accepted for admission; this kind of admission setting is designed to enable public schools act as monopolies whereby zero tuition fees for students with high abilities is initiated. When it comes to private schools, the mode of competing for students is not through the ability of a student but the financial capability. This means low ability students can be admitted so long as they can pay for the private fee; this has enabled many students to accede higher education, thus boosts total income in the economy. Competition between private and public schools is determined by numerous variables including exams taken as well as general prices in the institutions. An active role played by schools in setting the exams and the tuition fees determines the level of quality of education provided. While public schools have always maximized public surplus. That is, the total sum of students earnings less the all the costs spent in providing education, the private schools have always aimed at maximizing profits; which is, all income generated by the students who have been admitted in the institution less all the expenses incurred in providing education for the students in the schools. This clearly shows that private schools use price as admission policy so as to ascertain their sustainability in providing better education, this is because money from students is basically the only funding they use in running their institutions. As far as price is concerned, there are variations in pricing in different p rivate schools depending on various factors of which educational quality is the most paramount. Thus the better the quality level of a private school, the higher the tuition fees paid by the parents (Tabora, 2008). Students who attend public schools under public monopoly are basically the same students who are admitted in these institutions under competition. These students have always obtained similar quality in school in both cases. The existence of private schools for higher has raised total welfare since students who have not been admitted in the public monopoly have been given a chance of joining the private schools and get educated. When observing the market partitions in which both public and private schools compete for students, there is a very unique equilibrium that exists in which the private schools are lower in quality than the public schools. Importance of schooling The concept of schooling was invented in order to empower the human capital. Previous research on human capital has however been targeted on the quality and quantity of returns that a person obtains as a result of schooling. As advanced by Mincer in his outstanding and standard formulation, the amount of investment invested in a particular cause can be translated into various observable differences that various from one individual to the next (Mincer, 1976). Therefore, in case the investment in an individuals education is considered to decline on a linear scale, an all the amount of investment are considered to be forgone income, a very simple and direct correlation can be derived between the earnings and the years that an individual spends while schooling. The application of the commonly available data portrays that there is a characteristic that is eminent in all the schools allover the world. Is very important that the world provide their citizens with the best level of education. The importance of the human capital cannot be overemphasized. This is because of the various gains that result of the gainful and observable changes that come with having a population with a high literacy rate. Every country in the world must have its own dependable and experienced workforce in order for it to succeed in its endeavors of being both sovereign and prosperous. This requires the individual countries to device their own efficient and customized education system and curricula that would fully take care of its industrial and intellectual deficiencies. The investment in human capital therefore very crucial for the success of every nation. In certain cases however, it becomes crucial for certain sectors of a nations economy to require specialist support from expatriates. This is due to the fact that certain courses or rather education needs are never relevant or rather are never heavily invested on in certain specialist areas of the economy. Thus the need for expatriate support in certain areas such as engineering and other very technical areas of the economy. It is therefore necessary for every government to be heavily involved in the education of its citizens. This is very applicable in almost every country. There is however a generalizability that is used as an indicator of the role and importance of return variation of schooling investment in different nations across the globe (Psacharopoulos, 1994). The exact role of government in education is however still subject to debate and is subject to various different views. It is worthwhile to note that a high returns on the schooling level does not necessarily imply that it is the role of government intervention that has subsequent resulted to the better academic yield. However, in order to conclusively justify the level of government intervention, it is important to take into account various parameters that affect the educational yields or rather outcome. For quite a long time, the role of education to a given society has been researched upon by various scholars. The role of the government has been featured as one of the major determinants of the success in terms of schooling in the lives of the citizens. Kuwait for example has her government put in place various mechanisms to ensure that the citizens and foreigners who attend its education system do get certain critical notions and ideas imparted upon them. Kuwait being a Muslim state, has most of its schooling requirements tailored to meet the strict requirements of the Muslim religion. In fact in earlier years, the rules that govern schooling were very strict. The education of the girl child for example was forbidden for a long time. But later on, partly due to the effects of westernization, the education of the girl child became accepted as one of the steps toward a democratically balanced Kuwaiti society. The role of government intervention can however be justified using certain mechanisms such as market failure. Importance of resources availability to the quality of education Several researchers have focused their attention to the important role that is played by the availability of resources to the success in the schooling process in various countries. It is however very important that the amount of resources that are devoted to the process of acquiring proper education can not be directly tied to the outcome of the various schooling processes. In Kuwait for example, the private schools that are in essence run and managed by foreigners are better equipped as compared to the public schools. The analysis that focuses on the role of resources in the outcome of schooling process is however subject to a lot of discussions and debate. This is because of the multivariate nature of the schooling process. Despite the controversies that surround the analysis, there is however a considerable amount of evidence that supports that fact that a positive correlation exists. This is based on the minority of scholarly work that exposes a substantial and positive correlati on (Schneider, 2002). Other studies however, are focused on the simple relationship between the resources and the outcome of the schooling process. In these studies, a simple correlation is devised in order to relate the causal factors and the outcomes of the schooling process. The relationships that have been derived do not however have a systematic review but the causal factors do have a certain level of support in the review process. A proxy relationship can however be conclusively be justified as appropriate. The existence of this stronger relationship that exists between the resources and other causal factors may be applicable. Factors such as the amount of wealth in a students family background may to a large extent be an influence and a major contributor to the level of students performance as a result of a dedication and provision of more resources into the schooling of the student. The growth setting however, has no direct proxy relationship. In certain instances, poor proxies have however been a ssigned to the process of getting a correlation between the amount of resources and the outcome of schooling (Hanushek Kimko , 2000). International schooling policies have been supported hugely and are now gaining increased income. Numerous debates have been carried out and the arguments have supported interventions by the government based on spillovers which are as a result of the growth process in education. This is why the general endogenous growth model has clearly shown that education level in an economy influences the growth of a country. That is, if the education level of an economy is low, the growth of that particular nation will definitely drag unlike if the education level is was higher. The structure of the endogenous development model brings in a spillover that people will not take into consideration their own decision making process. Empirical work carried out has underscored the merits of schooling quantity in these particular places. The relationship between individual earnings and schooling have shown the most consistent and strongest support in education performance; when an individual uses own mo ney to finance schooling, the seriousness becomes extreme to the extent that exam performance of that individual turns out to be quite pleasing. While basing reliance on evidence that is limited, there has been quite promising support that exists on the importance of education and schooling in relation to effects of growth as well as the distribution of earnings (Gregorio, 1999) The economic effects as a result of differences in educational quality of secondary and elementary schools are not well comprehended as the effects of quantity, especially in relation to the aggregate performance the nations economy. This poor understanding of the implications of quality in education makes it difficult to reflect measurement. It is very difficult to precisely define the quality of education since the term quality reflects the extent of an institutions knowledge base as well as the analytical skills employed as the focal points of learning institutions. To properly build the base of this discussion, this study will rely on data sourced from standardized exams of achievements in academics and students ability in education. Re lying on this information from standardized tests to reflect quality measures is controversial in a way that there are gaps available in evidence and also the emanated conclusions follow (as stated below). All in all, these measures prove to be th e most effective indicators available of quality and have a relationship with the results that we positively satisfy us. Numerous research studies have been carried out and documented in the field of labor markets which directly focus on personal differences when it comes to cognitive ability and effects in earnings (as well as modify the estimates of returns in terms of quality). 4. The latest direct research study of cognitive achievement have recorded substantial returns in the labor market has measured individual variations when it comes to cognitive achievement. For example, ONeill (1990), Murnane, Willett, and Levy (1995), Bishop (1989, 1991), Neal and Johnson (1996), Currie and Thomas (2000), Grogger and Eide (1993), and Murnane et al. (2000) each conclude that the earnings advantages are quite substantial when standardized test are highly achieved. These conclusions have been extracted from various approaches. Bishop (1989) is much concerned about the errors that result in the most testing environments and emphasize on extreme care when dealing with that problem since it has very dramatic consequences on the estimated importance of the test variations. On the other hand, Grogger and Eide (1993), ONeill (1990), Neal and Johnson (1996), and Bishop (1991) have greatly put their reliance on the latest labor market information as well as representative sampling which suggests that earnings advantage to measured variations in skill is much greater than those of the earlier times and earlier research studies (even when reliability of the test is not corrected. In Kuwait, just like in other quickly-developing education systems, one main domain of interest is ensuring that the quality of education that is offered by both private and public providers is up to standards needed. This paper elaborates by way of a thorough review the history of development of Kuwaiti education system since its initiation. It considers several quality systems that are currently employed in other countries in the Gulf States so as to identify the effects of the education systems both private and public on the attitudes of the students towards schooling. Two main results emerge from the present analysis. The first suggests that there are no significant effects from class attendance. The second indicates that smaller classes do not translate into gains in achievement. Other results include the lack of significant peer effects and evidence of variability in teaching effects, which is, however; also not significant. These findings need to be interpreted carefully. For instance, the result of no attendance effects may not necessarily indicate that attendance does not matter per se: on the contrary, it can instead be the case that attendance does matter but that the students in our data choose optimally how many classes to attend, so that marginal variation around that attendance level does not translate into any gains in terms of achievement. The outlook of the 21st century Kuwaiti education The Gulf States have undergone a number of serious challenges both on their economic and political existence. These numerous challenges have been brought about by the prosperity and accelerated growth as well as the heightened levels in social services. There tends to be some sort of deception in some certain levels when one looks at the external wealth and modernity of some of these Gulf States. For example, it is true that Kuwait as a country is in possession of 9.5% of the proven oil reserves in the world (out of a combination of 64.9% of all Gulf States) and many of the Kuwaitis are very rich people thanks to their oil rich nation. While this is so, the oil revenues in Kuwait are very modest when comparisons are made to the gross domestic product of the developed countries of the world. The fluctuating prices of oil have greatly influenced the reliability of development as well as long term planning; this is so especially when the price per every barrel remains low on the world m arket like it was in the eighties and the nineties. According to reliable sources, studies have shown that the low oil prices in 1980s was the cause of deficit budget operation by the Gulf States; which was barely the size of Switzerlands GDP if they were combined i.e. (U.A.E, Kuwait, Oman, Iran, Bahrain, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar). The Gulf States wealth illusion is as a result of control of the oil reserves by only a hand full of people who easily access the world markets through exports in ships; this clearly explains the long gap between the rich and the poor; which is bad for the economy. These Gulf States have had to deal with the grapples that affect their budgetary uncertainties in the oil markets. Some of these problems are public sector dominance, visible and hidden unemployment, poor revenues for the huge populations, dominance of foreign workers among, and also poor participation in the decision making process with the exception of Kuwait which has an elected body that represents it. The core feature of this analysis, however, is how the quality of schooling influences the national and economic growth. It is obvious that schools (no matter their geographical locations) have numerous variations as far as knowledge and general quality is concerned. These differences are always very difficult to deal with since the implications for comprehending the core issues are emphasized in this study.