Case 2- Marketing Mix

Case 2 1. What is the company’s strategy with respect to each of the 4 Ps of the marketing mix? 2. Based on the current marketing strategy, should the company’s promotion mix focus be on personal selling or on advertising? 3. What further questions might you ask Herr Wursching to help his company move toward a more relationship-based business and establish CRM initiatives? What other recommendations might you make for him with respect to CRM? 1.The company’s strategy with respect to each of the 4 Ps of the marketing mix: †¢Product: They have come up with providing cell phone services with advanced satellite network and they have come up with five cell phone options for customers to choose from. †¢Place: The Company’s corporate offices are located all around the world in different cities. The customer service outlets and retail sales are conducted through the company Web site, as well as though licensed electronics retailers.The company does not m aintain its own customer service or retail locations. †¢Price: Customer’s interested in paying a premium for worldwide cell phone coverage are what the company is looking for and in large volumes. †¢Promotion: A Berlin-based advertising and public relations agency to develop a worldwide advertising campaign is doing the promotion for the company. Print and television ads have already entered the European market and will soon be shown in the U. S. market. Several promotions to get its product and name known are already in process. . Based on the Company’s marketing strategy, the company’s promotion mix should focus on advertising. Since they don’t have their own customer service, sales force, or retail locations and due to that fact, the company is receiving customer’s through the advertising. So I think it makes sense for them to focus on advertising heavily. 3. Further questions that I might ask Herr Wursching to help his company move to ward a more relationship-based business and establish CRM initiatives: 1. Will you establish a sales force soon? If so, where? 2.Will you be using the online website for all of your client/sales based activities or will you establish other methods of marketing and offering services? The recommendations that I would make Herr Wursching in regards to CRM would be to purchase software which could be used for client data since they offer their phones/services in worldwide locations. It would be something that would benefit the company regardless of the fact that it’s expensive. The benefits outweigh the costs. Also I think he should set up retail stores in main cities where Client and Customer Representative can interact directly, face to face.

Quantitative Methods for Finance and Investment Essay

University of Bristol – School of Economics, Finance and Management QUANTITATIVE METHODS FOR FINANCE AND INVESTMENT (EFIMM005) Review Questions Question 1: Concepts a. Deï ¬ ne a stochastic process. Give an example in Finance of a quantity that can be modelled as a stochastic process. b. Deï ¬ ne a stationary stochastic process. c. Consider a stochastic process {Yt , t = 1, .., T }. Deï ¬ ne the partial autocorrelation function (pacf) associated to this process. d. Explain the diï ¬â‚¬erence between estimator and estimate. e. Let {Ut , t = 1, .., T } be a mean zero white noise process. What is the value of pacf at lag 2 for the process Yt = .5Yt−1 + Ut ? f. Explain the diï ¬â‚¬erence between the autocovariance function and the sample autocovariance function. Question 2: Application The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) can be written as E(Rjt |Rmt , Rf t ) = Rf t + ÃŽ ²j (Rmt − Rf t ), where Rjt is the net return of security j at period t, Rmt is the return on a market portfolio proxy, and Rf t is the return on a risk-free proxy. The coeï ¬Æ'cient ÃŽ ²j is the CAPM beta for security j. Suppose that you have estimated ÃŽ ²j by ordinary least squares and found that the estimated value was 1.37 with standard deviation 2.6. based on 3665 observations. a. A city analyst has told you that security j closely follows the market, in the sense that security j is equally risky, on average, to the market portfolio. Perform a 5% signiï ¬ cance level test of hypothesis to determine whether data support the analysts claim. b. Are hypotheses tested concerning the value of ÃŽ ²j or its estimated values? Question 3: Techniques Consider the moving average process: Yt = ÃŽ µt + ÃŽ ¸1 ÃŽ µt−1 + ÃŽ ¸12 ÃŽ µt−12 with {ÃŽ µt }T a mean zero white noise process with variance ÏÆ' 2 > 0. t=0 a. Calculate the mean of Yt . b. Calculate the variance of Yt . c. Calculate the autocovariance function of {Yt }T . t=a T =120 d. Assume that {yt }t=1 represents the monthly tons of ice cream sold in the UK between Oct. 2001 and Oct. 2012. What type of dependence can the term ÃŽ ¸12 ÃŽ µt−12 capture? 1

Celebrities Have a Tremendous Influence on the Young

There are many other ways to find role models for young people. Plus, celebrities become famous because they can sing, dance, act, or they are super good at something. But celebrities are human beings too. Like everyone else, celebrities make mistakes too. People think celebrities should act as role models because celebrities choose to live in a way to put themselves in front of the public so that a lot of people will pay attention to them. It is obvious true that the young people are learning from the celebrities about what to do and how to do. But young people are surrounded by other grown-ups such as parents, friends, relatives, and teachers. In the way of contact with all others, the young can set their role models. Also there are so many books, articles and movies about famous people who are not close to us, but kids can still learn value, passion, dream and life. Thus celebrities are not necessarily to be pushed as role models. Celebrities become famous because they are better than other in some ways. But it doesn’t mean that celebrities have to live in a role model life. Everyone makes mistakes, including celebrities. But when celebrities get wrong on one thing, they are easily put in front of the public since they get attention all the time. It is not fair to blame celebrities just because people think they should be role models. Take the example of Britney Spear, young people are so fascinated by her songs and dances. But when it comes to love and marriage, she is unluckily on a wrong path. Many girls make same kind mistakes and they learn from lessons. We cannot expect Britney to be a role model then blame her on bad experience. In a word, celebrities have huge influence on the young. But celebrities do not have a responsibility to be role models. Celebrities Have a Tremendous Influence on the Young There are many other ways to find role models for young people. Plus, celebrities become famous because they can sing, dance, act, or they are super good at something. But celebrities are human beings too. Like everyone else, celebrities make mistakes too. People think celebrities should act as role models because celebrities choose to live in a way to put themselves in front of the public so that a lot of people will pay attention to them. It is obvious true that the young people are learning from the celebrities about what to do and how to do. But young people are surrounded by other grown-ups such as parents, friends, relatives, and teachers. In the way of contact with all others, the young can set their role models. Also there are so many books, articles and movies about famous people who are not close to us, but kids can still learn value, passion, dream and life. Thus celebrities are not necessarily to be pushed as role models. Celebrities become famous because they are better than other in some ways. But it doesn’t mean that celebrities have to live in a role model life. Everyone makes mistakes, including celebrities. But when celebrities get wrong on one thing, they are easily put in front of the public since they get attention all the time. It is not fair to blame celebrities just because people think they should be role models. Take the example of Britney Spear, young people are so fascinated by her songs and dances. But when it comes to love and marriage, she is unluckily on a wrong path. Many girls make same kind mistakes and they learn from lessons. We cannot expect Britney to be a role model then blame her on bad experience. In a word, celebrities have huge influence on the young. But celebrities do not have a responsibility to be role models.

Environmental policy and energy in the next 30 years Research Paper - 1

Environmental policy and energy in the next 30 years - Research Paper Example It is forecast that by 2025 natural gas will occupy the second position among all energy sources to be used worldwide. Much of the natural gas demand will be met by supplies from unconventional sources such as shale and rock formulations and it is estimated that its contribution will be almost 30 percent of total global production and the gas from shale and rock can meet world demand for next 250 years based on the current demand levels. China will witness the largest growth in gas consumption through 2040 amounting to nearly half of Asia pacific non-OECD consumption growth. Oil and natural gas together will meet 60 percent of the world energy needs. Demand for coal will reach at its pinnacle around 2025 and then will continue to decline due to shift toward non-polluting or lesser carbon emitting energies. Overall, oil, gas, and coal together will account for almost 80 percent of the energy needs of the world. Renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind and bio-fuels will registe r strong growth and likely to meet around 4 percent global energy demand by 2040. Hydropower and wind energy will show the fastest growth among the renewable energy sources – likely to register 8 percent a year growth. ... Nuclear energy is likely to grow at 2.2 percent a year worldwide and will have a checkered growth after Fukushima mishap in Japan (ExxonMobil, 2012). Below mentioned graph shows world energy consumption pattern between OECD and non-OECD countries. Source: http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/ieo/world.cfm In 2008, transportation sector consumed 27 percent of the total world energy demand and will grow at the rate of 1.4 percent until 2040. Major consumption or increase in demand will be from non-OECD countries as more and more people are adopting personal mode of transportation. Lesser population and economic growth in the OECD nations through 2040 will restrict the energy growth in the transportation sector at lowly 0.3 percent against likely growth of 2.6 percent per year in the non-OECD countries. Over the next 30 years, hybrid vehicles will become the mainstream vehicles for transportation needs and it is expected that by 2040, hybrid and other fuel efficient vehicles will constitute 50 percent of all light duty vehicles plying on the road. Commercial transportation energy needs through 2040 will also rise by 45 percent (ExxonMobil, 2012). Below mentioned chart shows likely consumption of energy in the transportation sector in OECD and non-OECD countries from 2008 through 2035. Source: http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/ieo/world.cfm Environmental Impact Burning of fossil fuels release huge amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that lead to the greenhouse effect in which, gases such as carbon-dioxide, methane etc. absorb the heat and then release it back to the earth atmosphere (International energy agency, 2012). Due to higher consumption of fossil fuel (coal, oil, and gas) in next 30 years, the levels of global

Fault Detection and Diagnosis using Principal Component Analysis of Literature review

Fault Detection and Diagnosis using Principal Component Analysis of Vibration Data from a Reciprocating Compressor - Literature review Example PCA has been employed with genetic algorithms (GA) in order to reduce data dimensionality for use in fault diagnosis of induction motors. PCA was employed to remove relative features, after which GA was employed to select the irrelative features and to optimise the ANN (Yang, Han and Yin, 2006). Fault detection and diagnosis of plant subsystems have also been attempted using PCA. Normal plant operation decomposed through PCA was compared to faulty operation data through PCA decomposition to create thresholds for taking corrective actions. Real time monitoring of plant operation data was compared to both data sets with thresholds settled through Q statistics in order to detect faults (Villegas, Fuente and Rodriguez, 2010). Vibration monitoring of helicopter transmissions has been attempted using tri-axial accelerometers and PCA processing of the obtained data. The three different dimensions of acceleration data obtained using accelerometers were reduced to a single dimension using PCA for simpler processing. This approach is seen to provide a simpler and computationally robust technique for vibration monitoring in highly complex systems (Tumer and Huff, 2002). Independent PCA models suffer due to the control limits required for the Q and T2 statistics. Also, the limits are produced assuming that the process data is Gaussian in character, which may lead to complications if the process data is not actually Gaussian in character. Probabilistic techniques have been used in conjunction with PCA (PPCA) in order to handle both Gaussian and non-Gaussian process data for fault detection and diagnosis in a process control environment. Outcomes signified improvement over simple PCA based control schemes, but certain areas still required improvement under the PPCA based control scheme (He et al., 2012). PCA applications to process control are growing over time. Polyester film process monitoring has been attempted using Q and T2 statistics through a PCA approach for multivar iate quality control (MQC). When compared to other techniques, PCA provided a more robust model for fault detection although diagnosis was not highly reliable. It could be inferred that PCA standalone approaches are best suited to fault detection since fault diagnosis requires the application of other techniques for established reliability (Qin, 2003). A combined index consisting of statistics Q and T2 has been developed in order to minimise the index when faulty variables are being isolated. This provides a better solution than applying the conventional approach of using statistics Q and T2 separately (Chen, Lee and Liu, 2011). It must be noted that PCA provides a simple reduction of dimensionality, but PCA processing is not suited to data streams with a large amount of outliers. A robust PCA (ROBPCA) method has been suggested for dealing with large dimension data using projection pursuit in combination with robust estimation of lower dimensions. Classification of outliers has been made possible through diagnostic plots (Hubert and Engelen, 2004). ROBPCA has been employed for fault detection and isolation in various theoretical situations in order to prove its worth over PCA. The findings signify that ROBPCA provides better results than PCA with its inherent ability to process large data sets (Tharrault et al., 2008). PCA has also been applied together with acoustic emission testing (AET) to deal with vibration monitoring of

Rapid Economy Developmentt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Rapid Economy Developmentt - Essay Example Both India and China government can now provide timely and more efficient services for everyone’s wellbeing. This is as a result of more people being able to pay their taxes as there are more employment opportunities. The availability of more revenue has thus enabled them to improve on the medical healthcare facilities and education. This not only has private benefit, but a healthy population can be more productive due to the increased life expectancy. There is also the reduction of crime. This is because those lower the social ladder are able to earn enough thus eliminating theft cases. Economic, environmental and global problems that have arisen and are likely to arise On the other hand, rapid growth has caused a lot of harm in China and India. These negative consequences have affected the economic sector, the environment and the global security. These issues arise from expansion of economic activities. As demand keeps on increasing, the more the global side effects. India a nd China being in the beginning phase are experiencing the structural shifts from agriculture to industrial growth. With this, there is a substantial decline in the agricultural share, in these two countries. This has led to the rural- urban migration and thus the amount of farming has reduced. While this happens, the levels of energy consumption go high thus the release of poisonous gases into the environment. To achieve economic growth, these two countries have to increase in manufacturing exports, and decline in manufacturing imports. This leads to increase in energy consumption levels which cause environmental dilapidation. Both China and India are dependent on coal, fuel and electricity as sources of energy. India consumes a lot of energy in the form of solids which include coal and commercial wood. With the rate of economic growth, they had to depend more on liquid fuel, which includes petroleum. However, with the scarcity of oil sources, India had to depend on liquids from th e rest of the world, therefore, started importing, which has peaked annually. China being a popular nation with rapid industrialization requires a lot of energy. From the availability of resources, China depended more on solid fuel mainly coal. However, the energy consumption went higher each year, creating the need for other sources of energy and that's when they started falling back on liquid fuel (Erol & Yu, 1987). By the year 2005, China was the second largest consumer of oil led by United States of America. The net imports for oil seem to be growing each year. This puts an economic strain on citizens who pay for these imports indirectly through their taxes. This high usage of energy in these two countries causes the main problem of pollution. While meeting the high energy demand, the energy production causes the release of toxic gases like carbon dioxide and sulphur. High dependency on coal in both China and India causes severe air pollution by release of sulphur in the air whi ch is the cause of acid rains. The continued emission of these gases is a leading cause of global warming, which causes the erosion of the ozone layer, resulting in the rise, in temperatures. The effects of this are already global; with the melting of snow ice and glaciers, the rivers are overflowing causing high dispensation of waters into the oceans. Other effects of global warming are the increase

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 15

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example e strengths and limitations of the business, primary areas where the entrepreneur requires in developing expertise and economic risks in starting the venture. It reflects the dynamic procedure of planning, and reviewing the agenda of the business over time. Business plan assists executive talents realize an entrepreneur’s idea and determine the viability of the business in investing resources and time. The two most crucial aspects of a business plan are mission statement or idea and information analysis. This is because a business plan states the mission or the idea of the business in a clear and brief manner. The business idea communicates the venture’s philosophy, ideas and core values. Organization information, on the other hand, communicates the organizational structure of the venture to investors and members. It also indicates the financial status, information flow, decision-making process and new ideas of the business. Gumbert, David , Harold Klein, and Robin Sands. How to Really Create a Successful Business Plan: The Importance of a Business Plan in Building Your Business : [the Essential Elements of a Great Plan]. Boston, Mass.: Inc. Magazine,

Common & Civil Law in the Global Economy Assignment

Common & Civil Law in the Global Economy - Assignment Example This is achieved through a critical analysis of the past judicial interpretations of the law in search for advice. On the contrary, common law refers to a legal system principally based on past judicial opinions. The past judicial opinions postulate prior interpretations of the legislation, which provides a better guidance as compared to literal requirements as in the case of civil law. This implies that, as much as common law systems develop their laws over time, the laws may be altered by single ruling (Emerson, 2009). As such, common law perpetuates a legal system that is more flexible and expeditious. The most prominent difference between common law and civil law is based on their methodological approach towards statutes and codes. In this regard, common law is dictated by customs while civil law is bound to written codes which have to be abided by the courts inexorably. Thus, legislation is the main source of law in countries which embrace civil law system. This implies that judges make their decisions based on the laid down statutes and codes. Common law legal systems are dominant in commonwealth countries. According to Emerson (2009), this is attributable to their shared British heritage. On the other hand, civil law is predominant in most countries in the globe, especially in the Europe continent and Latin America. Thus, basing on the foregoing discussion, Civil law is the best legal system in the global economy. In this regards, civil law seeks to resolve non-criminal disputes which include disagreements in contracts, divorce, damages for personal and property damage, child custody and property ownership. It covers a profusion of areas which are rife in the global market system. They include employment law, consumer law, entertainment law, international law, animal law, agriculture law, business law, tax law, family law, negligence, intentional torts like battery, assault, slander, defamation and libel, inter alia. In conclusion, common law

Modern management of Honda Company Research Paper

Modern management of Honda Company - Research Paper Example Honda is the leading global developer of motorcycles and internal combustion engines. It is located in Singapore, Japan. This company became dominant over Nissan in 2001 and gained the position of one of the most successful and largest manufacturers in Japan. In 2008 Honda over passed Chrysler and became the greatest manufacturer in the USA. In the world the Company gains the position of the sixth largest manufacturer of automobile. As far as we can see, the company is a powerful and estimable competitor in the arena of the global automobile industry. In order to advance its positions in the modern world, Honda should increase its sales. Unlike its main competitors, the Detroit Big Three and Toyota, Honda gained a 1% increase of sales in America (The Official Website of Honda). Still, there is a need to focus more on the demands of global markets and take into account advanced needs if the customers all over the world. Two basic pillars of the modern demand of the automobile industry is environmental safety and energy efficiency. Moreover, in accordance with recent statistical data: â€Å"Honda is the largest engine maker in the world, producing nearly 11 million engines annually for its three product lines, including sales of engines to other manufacturers. Honda also builds products in more than 100 manufacturing plants in 33 countries, employing more than 125,000 associates globally† (The Official Website of Honda). The most beneficial strategy chosen by Honda in terms of economical crisis in the world can be illustrated by the Civic and the Accord automobiles. These models of automobiles are of mid-size and there is a high fuel-efficiency of the vehicles. There is also an essential flexibility of the automobiles. Moreover, within the last decade Honda managed to create their factories more flexible and these are able to reshape any Honda model of the automobile at any moment. Global locations of the Company’s plants in such countries as Canada , England, Brazil, Belgium and many others indicate their leading positions of Japanese market and the important role it plays globally (Honda Raffles Trip to Japan to Celebrate 20 Years).   Another benefit of Honda is its acknowledgement by the customers around the globe, because it produces economically friendly automobiles. Moreover, constant innovative developments indicate Honda’s ability to be successful in the global arena. High quality products at a low price- this is one of the main advantages of the company as well, especially in the post-crisis economical period. Environmental factors affecting business Modern automobile industry exists in a challenging global environment. Such factors, as social, political, economic and technological ones should be taken into account by the car producers. On the example of Honda it should be noted that this large car manufacturer is surrounded by preventive environmental factors. Political factors, such as degree of intervention in the economy, are rather influential external factor for automobile industry. There are set customers protection laws, which are focused on the safety of customers’ interests. Moreover, the qualities of the infrastructure of the economy as well as the knowledge of the workforce are determinant factors in the political context of the country. Practices of employment or labor laws are also important for the automobile industry. Workforce protection laws are followed by Honda. Moreover, a tendency for a constant innovations and technological advancement is also reflected by the policies of the Company. Economic Environment of Honda influences development of economically safe and reliable automobiles and engines, which are customer-friendly. Business decisions of Honda are developed with respect to the main concerns of economic factors (Khanfan & Loudon, 2008). There is a strong

Tesco Plc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Tesco Plc - Essay Example . Tesco plc is largest retailer in the UK and one of the largest retail firms in the world. The company operates four store formats :Tesco Express, Tesco Metro, Tesco Extra and Tesco Superstores.Tesco Express store are combinations of convenience and gasoline retailers. Tesco Metro locations are small urban stores designed to meet the needs of the local community. Tesco Extra stores are hypermarkets located in Asia. Tesco Superstores provide traditional grocery items as well as insurance, banking, telecommunications products, books, flowers, movie rentals and school uniforms. The firm has expanded all of its grocery stores to include non-food items, such as book, software, electronics and music. Tesco also operates on e-commerce site with over 500,000 registered users in the UK. This division makes nearly 300,000 CD, video and DVD titles. The firm also operates the Tesco Direct catalog and the Tesco Baby club. Tesco is involved in the financial services business, serving nearly 1.5 m illion customers. Services offered by the company include saving accounts, online banking, and travel, house and pet insurance policies. In early 2006, Tesco telecom began offering a cost effective, easy to use Internet phone. Also in 2006, Tesco introduced self-branded software. Its office suit retails for roughly $35, well below Microsoft’s. The firm owns a 35% stake in Safeway Grocery works, a grocery store chain in the U.S.Tesco plans to open convenience stores on the West Coast of the U.S. in early 2007.... in early 2007. Also in 2007, the company will begin running a dedicated green rail line between Scotland and the Midlands to improve its suppy chain Strategic review of Tesco Plc Environmental Analysis Organizations need to be in tune with their environment. In particular, they need to anticipate the sort of changes that will take place in their environment and make appropriate plans for these. Environmental auditing enables the organization to be proactive rather than reactive. The effective organization will put a lot of effort into the process of environmental auditing and scanning. The principal tools used to carry out the environmental analysis of Tesco Plc is: PEST Analysis Competitor Analysis/Audit (Porter's 5-force analysis) SWOT Analysis PEST Analysis PEST stands for political, economic, social and technological features of the business environment which might influence or even threaten the company. The acronym PEST suggests that these are all nuisance or hindrance factors to business development. New regulations to be compiled with, increased taxes or import tariffs, reductions in market size due to demographic changes or the threats of new technology rendering products obsolete - these are all stuff of the executive nightmares. Often, however, PEST factors can often be of considerable business value. This technique is, in truth, little more than four headings to stimulate thinking about broad aspects of the business environment that might otherwise go unnoticed. Political: Changes in law or regulations introduced by Governments or government agencies. Can also include political changes which may stabilize or

Ethnic Marketing in Indonesia Essay Example for Free

Ethnic Marketing in Indonesia Essay Indonesia’s national slogan  « Bhinneka ika tungat.  » that means unity and diversity, is a strong local motto that celebrates differences, specially the demographic one. This slogan was adopted at independence in 1945. This can indicate in a first approach a strongly united population, a country where people are allowed to practice and conserve their ethnic Identity. But this never was the general case in Indonesia. There is this insidious ordinary racism in the country that takes place in their everyday living. Because this sacred diversity is however limited to ethnic groups with claims to a territory: this includes the Javanese, the Sundanese and the Madurese. There are other local groups that are not as significant. For the other groups that can not have the same claims, it is another story especially when it comes to the Chinese Indonesian. Being migrants with powerful and strategic positions, they are often excluded by the population or they exclude themselves. If this is how the Indonesian society can be perceived, it isn’t the same when it comes to the marketing approach. It can be said that it is not that simple to talk about ethnic marketing in Indonesia when it is related to physical characteristics. If the comparison was made with Singapore, It is much easier to identify that a person belongs to a certain ethnic group when she is shown in an advertisement. It becomes more delicate when the ethnic groups have a lot of similarities. Even if Chinese, Indo or Arab origins Indonesians are not accepted everywhere or not recognized as true Indonesian by a part of the society, they still have their place and are represented for marketing purposes. We can give an example of Western Union: For the first Ad, adressed to the chinese Indonesian poulation, the person is an office working man, we would rather think that he has a good salary and is educated. The emphasis here is about the importance of the speed of the transaction. For the second Ad, more adressed to Indonesians with claims of territory, The main character is a little girl that due to the received money, could go to school. It shows the importance that is taking girls education in those groups. When it comes to the language, companies that operate at a national level generally use Indonesian or English for their advertisement campaigns. The use of a specific language related to a group is more likely to stay in the frame of small companies that operates in very restricted areas.

Classical Theory of International Trade

Classical Theory of International Trade The purpose of this chapter is to review the existing body of knowledge about foreign direct investment and the studies on strategies adopted to attract FDI. It attempts to present a summary of the relevant theories, hypotheses and schools of thought that contribute to the understanding and fundamental motivation of FDI flows. An exploration of these theories will assist in the study and it will support arguments to be used in empirical estimation and discussion. Additionally the aim of this chapter is to review the theoretical approaches to the determinants of FDI, also known as private foreign investment. Various theories have been developed since the World War II to explain FDI. These theories state that a number of determinants both at micro and macro level could explain FDI flows in a particular country or a particular region. Various studies have also been published on the assessment of the key determinants of FDI. However, there is no general agreement insofar, especially that in different context, specific factors may vary significantly in their degree of importance as regards to FDI. 2.2 Definition of FDI Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a category of investment that reflects the objective of establishing a lasting interest by a resident enterprise in one economy (direct investor) in an enterprise (direct investment enterprise) that is resident in an economy other than that of the direct investor. The lasting interest implies the existence of a long-term relationship between the direct investor and the direct investment enterprise and a significant degree of influence on the management of the enterprise. The direct or indirect ownership of 10% or more of the voting power of an enterprise resident in one economy by an investor resident in another economy is evidence of such a relationship (OECD, year 2008 Benchmark Definition of Foreign Direct Investment 4th Edition). The Benchmark Definition is fully compatible with the underlying concepts and definitions of the International Monetary Funds (IMF) Balance of Payments and International Investment Positions Manual, 6th edition (BPM6) and the general economic concepts set out by the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA). In accordance with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developments (OECD) Benchmark Definition, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is said to be an investment which entails a long duration equation and is an indication of sustained interest and authority by a hosted firm in an economy (foreign direct investor or origin firm) in a firm hosted in a country other than that of the foreign direct investor (FDI firm or associated firm of foreign affiliate). FDI entails both the initial dealing between two enterprises and all following money dealing between them and amid the associated firm, both integrated and non-integrated (OECD, 2008). The concept of FDI took prominence in 1962 following the publication of an article- Development Alternatives in an Open Economy by Hollis Chenery and Michael Bruno wherein a two-gap analysis of capital requirements was formulated. They pointed out that foreign investment apart from foreign aid and foreign trade was important to fill the resource gap needed to finance economic development especially for countries where their imports exceed their exports. FDI stimulates larger flows of private capital for the development of the recipient countries. Increase in FDI is not enough. It must ensure that the said increase is meeting the development objectives of the recipient countries. FDI must go beyond private while government must ensure that risks are not too high or the return on investment is not too low. Being given that private capital offers some special advantages over public capital, there must be a mutual interest for both private foreign investors and the host country. The latt er will have to assist in securing information on investment opportunities and establish economic overhead facilities such as industrial estates, protective tariffs, exemption from import duties and tax concessions schemes. 2.3 Theories of FDI Over the past few decades, extensive research have been conducted on the behaviour of multinational firms and determinants of FDI and many authors have put forward various theories (and complementary) to explain them. Theories and contexts that are being developed are challenging established facts, systems and knowledge bases. Though many theories have been developed to explain various dimensions of FDI, the current chapter will endeavour to examine the following paradigms considering the scope of the present study namely: the classical international trade theory, the neoclassical location theory, the market imperfection theory, the OLI paradigm and Porters Diamond theory. Broadly speaking the theories could be classified as international trade theories dealing with comparative advantage for nations to go for trade and foreign direct investment theories relating to corporate advantage for foreign corporations  entering the host countries. 2.3.1 Classical Theories of International Trade The concept of FDI cannot be disassociated with the basis of why countries trade and the latter has been pioneered by the famous classicists namely Adam Smith (1776) with his Absolute Advantage theory and David Ricardo (1819) with his Comparative Advantage theory of trade. Adam Smith, the founder of economic theory, was the first to broach in Wealth of Nations that business would grow internationally for real economic growth. Both Smith and Ricardo concluded that countries would benefit from international trade if they have an absolute and comparative advantage in those products that they would be exporting and they should import those goods for which they have an absolute and comparative disadvantage. Consequently they were of the opinion that there should be complete specialisation by the countries involved in international trade based on the same principle as that of division of labour. They based their reasoning on the labour theory of value. The labour theory of value states that the value or price of a commodity is equal to or can be inferred from the amount of labour time going into the production of the goods. It, however, assumes that labour is the only factor of production and that it is also homogeneous. Because of these restrictive assumptions, the labour theory of value was contested and replaced by the opportunity cost advantage propounded by G.Haberler in 1936. The latter emphasised more on how a country has a comparative advantage rather than on what are the determinants of comparative advantage. It says that the cost of a commodity is the amount of a second commodity that must be given up in order to release just enough factors of production or resources to be able to produce one additional unit of the first  commodity. Consequently labour will not be the only factor of production and will not be homogeneous. 2.3.2 The Heckscher-Ohlin (HO) Theory The HO theory also known as factor endowment model was put forward by Heckscher (1919) and Ohlin (1933) and was among the modern theories of international trade showing the causes of international trade. Adam Smith and David Ricardo remained silent on the causes of trade and on how trade affects factor prices and the distribution of income in each of the trading nations. The HO theorem postulates that each nation will export the commodity intensive in its  relatively abundant and cheap factor and import the commodity intensive in its relatively scarce and expensive factors of production. It implies that a country must have the necessary resources to export goods. Some of the assumptions of the model again act as its own limitations on its effectiveness namely when it comes to free trade with no transport costs, tastes are similar across countries, perfect competition in factor and commodity markets, factors immobility internationally, use of same technology in the production of the two goods andtwo factors of production and two countries model (2x2x2 model). There has been extensions to the HO model namely through the Stolper-Samuelson model (1949) and Rybczynski theorem (1955). These theorems postulate that trade leads to the equalisation of relative and absolute factor prices between nations so that there will be internationalisation of prices and wages based on still the restrictive assumptions as those under the HO model. As Faeth (2009) and Seetanah and Rojid (2011) highlight, the first explanations of FDI were based on the models propounded by Heckscher-Ohlin (1933), according to which FDI was motivated by higher profitability in foreign markets with the possibility to finance these investments at relatively low rates of interest in the host country. Ohlin also observed that availability and securing sources of raw materials, flexible and business friendly trade policies as well as accessibility and availability of factors of production were the components influencing FDI inflows into the country. 2.3.3 Modern International Trade Theories There have been empirical tests concerning the traditional trade theories namely the Ricardian and HO models. Some tests have gone according to the theories while others have disproved them. For instance Sir Donald MacDougall in 1951 tested the Ricardian theory using the 1937 data for the USA and UK for 25 industry groups whereby it was found that US wages were twice as those for UK resulting in the USA being capital intensive while UK being labour intensive. However, according to Dougall there is incomplete specialisation as opposed to complete specialisation proposed in the Ricardian model. This is based on the fact that tastes are different, products are non-homogeneous, transport costs matter and industry groups are highly aggregated where we can have different model for a particular products like cars and cigarettes. The USA may have comparative advantage in cars but this does not prevent the UK from exporting one or two different models. Sir Donald MacDougall has also in 1960 talked about the benefits and costs associated with private investment from abroad. He pointed out that an increase in FDI will lead to an increase in real income based on the fact that value added to output by foreign capital is greater than the amount appropriated by the foreign investor as foreign capital raises overall productivity in the host country. With FDI, social returns are far greater than private returns based, inter alia, on the  following: (a) Domestic labour having a higher real wages; (b) Consumers having better choice with lower prices; (c) Host Government getting higher tax revenue; (d) Realisation of external economies of scale; (e) An alternative to labour migration from the poor country; (f) Increase in managerial ability and technical personnel; (g) Transfer of technology and innovation in products; and (h) Serving as a stimulus for additional domestic investment. However, Sir Dougall also warned that there is need for the host country to have the right additional public expenditure as foreign investors are likely to be less interested in receiving an exemption after a profit is made than in being sure of a profit in the first instance. Wassily Leontief tested the HO theory in 1951 and 1956 and found that the USA imports competing were about 30% more capital intensive than its exports. Since the USA was the most capital abundant nation, this result was the opposite of what the HO theory predicted and this became known as the Leontief paradox. Although subsequently the Leontief paradox was partly resolved in the 1980s, it led to the spring ball of modern theories of trade namely Linders thesis (Similar Preference Model or Spillover Theory), Posners Model (Technological Gap Model or Innovation -Imitation Model) in 1961 and the Product Cycle theory of Vernon in 1966. The HO model is inappropriate in explaining trade between countries with the same level of development while with the Spillover theory especially concerning manufactured goods, industrialised countries which have similar factor abundant can trade together. The Linders thesis rests on the belief that a country will export a particular commodity if it has a domestic market for the goods. In fact, domestic market is exploited first. If there are economies of scale in the domestic market, there will be a cost advantage to make export possible. Goods will be exported to countries with similar tastes and similar level of development so that trade will take place with countries of similar living standards. The technological gap theory is typical for the industrialised countries. It states that new products are likely to emerge in the market as a result of innovation. At first production is made for the domestic market. Then firms which bring forth these products have economic rent so that they have strong monopoly position. This makes it easier to tap international market. But this product in question is imitated overseas after some time period. Therefore, there is a shift in comparative advantage. So, we can say that there is an innovation-imitation process. We talk of technological gap because there is a gap between the country which invent the product and those which imitate them. The product life cycle model is an extension of the technological gap model. It states that any product moves through different stages or cycles and comparative advantage keeps shifting during these stages. There are four stages namely: Stage I New product for domestic market only Stage II If product is successful, there is overseas demand so that exportation will be possible Stage III Exports decline because overseas firms produce the goods due to innovation-imitation theory Stage IV Because of comparative advantage, the second country export the product to the first country, that is, the latter will start importing the goods which only a few years back was exporting it. Vernon (1966) explained that FDI will occur when the product enters its mature stage in the product life cycle hypothesis. Vernon (1979) re-examined his own theory and came to the conclusion that the cycle has shortened considerably whereby multinational companies are now more geographically diffused. 2.3.4 Market Imperfections Theories The suggestion that FDI is a product of market imperfection was first discussed by Hymer (1976). He also confirms that investment abroad involves high costs and risks inherent to the drawbacks faced by multinationals because they are foreign. The model was later extended by Caves (1971) and Buckley and Casson (1976) into the internationalisation theory. Hymer shifted the theory of FDI out of the neoclassical international trade theories and into industrial organization (the study of market imperfections). He also argued that there are two factors motivating FDI, namely: (i) the attempt to reduce and/or remove international competition among firms; and (ii) the desire of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) to increase their returns from the utilization of their special advantages. Foreign firms face disadvantages compared to domestic firms, mainly due to the extra costs of doing business in an alien territory and given the information on cost disadvantages, a foreign firm will engage in FDI activity only if it enjoys offsetting advantages such as superior/newer technology, better products or simply firm-level economies of scale. Buckley and Casson (1976) talked about the internalization theory of foreign direct investment. An important pre-requisite for internalisation whether being executed vertically or horizontally, is the existence of an imperfect market. They stated that there are two ways in which a firm can internalise namely by replacing a contractual relationship with unified ownership and secondly by internalising an advantage such as production knowledge through the establishment of a market where there is initially an absent of the said market. Together with the internalisation theory, there is the transaction cost theory put forward by Williamson (1975). He investigated whether a firms transactions are governed by hierarchy or the market. He identified three dimensions to this problem, namely (i) the frequency with which a transaction occurs; (ii) asset specificity; and (iii) uncertainty in the presence of uncertainty and also as uncertainty increases, it is better to govern through a hierarchy rather than through the market and vice versa. Caves (1982) also developed the rationale for horizontal integration (specialised intangible assets with low marginal costs of expansion) and vertical integration (reduction of uncertainty and building of barriers to entry). 2.3.5 The OLI Paradigm John Dunning (1988) in his Explaining International Production proposed an eclectic paradigm also known as the ownership-location-internalisation (OLI) paradigm. The OLI paradigm argued that FDI activity is determined by a composite of three sets of forces namely: Foreign firms enjoying ownership advantages in the form of better technology, product quality, or simply brand name, and other organizational knowledge that are not available to local firms. In other words, it refers to the competitive advantages which firms of one country possess over firms of another country in supplying a particular market or set of markets through product differentiation. These advantages may accrue either from the firms privileged ownership of assets or from their ability to co-ordinate these assets (common management strategy with a global scanning capacity) with other assets across national boundaries in a way that benefits them relative to their competitors;   Foreign firms can benefit from location advantages. This will make FDI activity more profitable than exporting. Examples can be: availability of cheap labour or other factors of production; market size, lower transportation cost, and trade barriers. This refers to the extent to which firms choose to locate value-adding activities outside their national jurisdictions; Foreign firms may seek internalisation advantages which arise when ownership advantages are best exploited internally rather than when offered to other firms through contractual arrangements, i.e. franchising, management contract etc. In other words, we here refer to the extent to which firms perceive it to be in their best interests to internalise foreign markets for the generation and/or use of their assets with a view to add value to them and reduce the high information costs. The significance of the eclectic paradigm, however, varies across industries, countries and firms. Another problem with the eclectic paradigm is that each of the Ownership, Location and Internalisation variables tends to be interdependent. For instance, a firms response to the independent locational variables may influence its ownership advantages and also its willingness to internalise markets. This is well known as the problem of multicollinearity among exogenous variables which can reduce the empirical validity of the model. 2.3.6 Porters Diamond Theory Porters Diamond Theory (1990) emphasises global patterns of FDI based on different country characteristics. He explained why certain countries tend to become leaders in some activities by using examples of sophisticated industries. According to him, firms that have successfully globalised their production activities have done so because of their ability to carry their home-based advantages in foreign market. Taking from the shape of a diamond, Porter (1990) maps out that there are four endogenous variables that would affect the decision of the multinational firms to compete internationally. These factors are: Factor conditions the countrys position in terms of factors of production such as infrastructure and skilled labour necessary to compete in a given industry; Demand conditions the nature of home demand for the industrys product or service; Related and supporting industries the presence or absence in the country of supplier industries and related industries that is internationally competitive; and Firm strategy, structure and rivalry the conditions in the country governing how companies are created, organized, and managed, and the nature of domestic rivalry. The role of government and chance are taken as exogenous variables in the model which can influence to a great extent any of the four endogenous variables. Government policy can either impede or help a firms progress and innovation. Chance events can come in the form of technological advancements that create a national competitive advantage for a firm. Porter (1990) stated that different dynamics may exist between the endogenous and exogenous variables, depending on what drives FDI flows namely factor-driven, innovation-driven and wealthdriven. The factor-driven and innovation-driven can be associated with continuous improvement of a countrys competitive advantages that contribute to the development of an economy. On the other hand, the wealth-driven cause can be associated with stagnation and continuous decline that perpetuate a countrys declining economy. The components identified by Porter (1990) are to some extent similar to the host-country characteristics that Dunning (1988) ou tlined in his OLI paradigm. 2.4 Determinants of FDIs Empirical Survey There has been an extensive body of empirical studies trying to explain why some countries were more successful than others in attracting FDI (Moosa Cardak 2003). This plethora of empirical studies have tested and explored the effect of a range of macroeconomic determinants including GDP, GDP growth rate, real GDP per capita, exchange rate policy, openness of the economy, financial stability and physical infrastructure among others. There have also been studies dealing with the impact of socio-political factors such as political stability, education, corruption, political freedom etc., on FDI flows (Dar et al., 2004). The empirical investigation in this paper focuses more on the macroeconomic determinants (pull factors) that will influence the FDI flows in the host country in particular Mauritius by using a time series analysis. Although there have been diverse methodologies used for the determinants of FDIs, it has also been controversial (especially when it comes to the causality effect between FDI and economic growth) so that it is difficult to have a simple model or any strong theoretical foundation to guide an empirical analysis on these issues. Kok, R and Ersoy B A in 2009 have stated that A large number of studies have been conducted to identify the determinants of FDI but no consensus has emerged, in the sense that there is no widely accepted set of explanatory variables that can be regarded as true determinants of FDI. While some parameters are comprehensively discussed and of high relevance, it remains unclear how these interact. However, the results of past studies be it panel data or t ime series analysis for a specific category of countries or regions have been employed as an imperfect but useful guide. Given the vast amount of empirical literature on the determinants of FDI especially during the last few decades, the present section will elaborate on those studies which take on board Mauritius be it as small island economies or as a regional economic community namely SADC, Sub-Saharan African countries. Also those studies will be taken on board where time series analysis have been undertaken for specific countries using almost the same key determinants for FDI as those being proposed in the model of this paper. Wint and Williams (2002), Thomas et al (2005) and Wijeweera and Mounter (2008) have been using economic factors such as the target countrys market size, income level, market growth rate, inflation rates, interest rate and current account positions to explain the determinants of FDI. They found that a positive interest rate differential assist in attracting FDI inflows as MNCs get the incentive to invest in foreign countries with positive interest rate differential barring the fact that there is no major fluctuation in the exchange rate. In the same vein, Cleeve  (2008) using a multivariate regression model for 16 Sub Saharan Countries and trying to capture economic stability through the proxy (nominal exchange rate adjusted deflator), has shown that this variable is statistically effective. Rogoff and Reinhart (2002) and Wint and Williams (2002) show that a stable country attracts more FDI implying that a low inflation environment is desirable to promote capital inflows. Ali and Guo (2005) and Choudhury and Mavrotas (2006) have indicated that there is a strong relationship between the money growth acting as a proxy for financial stability in the host country and its effects in attracting FDI. Asiedu (2006) using a panel data for 22 Sub Saharan African countries has also shown that inflation rate depicts a negatively and statistically significant effect. However, under Mhlanga et al (2010) multivariate regression model for 14 SADC countries (Southern African Development Community), the inflation rate independent variable does not have any effect as it is statistically insignificant. In terms of the importance of capturing human capital development, both Asiedu (2006) and Cleeve (2008) made use of the percentage of adult literacy and secondary school education index respectively. Both indicators have proved to be not only positive (that is higher stock of human capital will increase FDI) but also statistically significant. According to Helleiner (1998), investment incentives by host country such as tax holiday appear to play a limited role to attract the MNCs as those incentives are believed to compensate for other comparative disadvantages. On the contrary, it is generally believed that removing restrictions and providing good operating conditions will positively affect FDI inflows. This has been reinforced through Cleeve (2008) whereby he found that proxies like temporary tax incentives, tax concessions and profit repatriation when used to capture financial and economic  incentives are statistically insignificant. It goes without saying that in order to attract FDI, economic liberalization is important both internally and externally. This has been translated in several empirical studies even for SADC countries and Sub Saharan African countries from Cleeve (2008) and Mhlanga et al (2010). The famous proxy used for openness of the economy, remains the total value of exports plus imports divided by the level of national income (GDP) although Asiedu (2006) uses an openness index from the International Country Risk Guide which also proved to be positive and statistically significant. In 2008, D.Ramjee Singh, Hilton McDavid, A.Birch and Allan Wright used a linear cross-sectional model of 29 small developing countries having a population of less than 5 million to test for the statistical significance of the determinants of FDI. They found that several of the traditional variables such as infrastructure, economic growth and openness to trade do promote the flow of FDI to small developing nation states. The focus of tourism has also been highlighted in the study. Contrary to expectation the role of market size as a determinant was found to be insignificant basically as the sample taken being small economies. With regard to infrastructure per se, Asiedu (2006) and Mhlanga et al (2010) have pointed out that the proxies (number of phone lines per 1,000 inhabitants and number of landline and mobile subscribers per 1,000 inhabitants) did matter for the 22 Sub Saharan African countries and 14 SADC countries respectively. There has been previous research done with regards to the determinants of FDI in  Mauritius (Seetanah B and Rojid S; 2011) applying a reduced-form specification for a demand for inward direct investment function using dynamic framework and a differenced vector autoregressive model using data from 1990 to 2007. The variables used were size of the country, wage rate, trade/GDP, the secondary education enrolment rate and tax rate. The findings revealed that the most instrumental factors appear to be trade openness, wages and quality of labour in the country. Size of market is reported to have relatively lesser impact on FDI. The present research would use more independent variables in view of capturing a maximum variation of the model and also using data from year 1976 to 2011 which would enable the capturing of the impact of the global financial crisis of 2007/2008. There were also important policy decisions taken in the period post 2006 and the present model would try to capture the effect of those important policies. New explanatory variables would supplement the existing literature on the determinants of FDI in Mauritius and trying to use those independent variables would capture the maximum variation in the FDI inflows.

Eliminating Physician Oversight for APRNs in Texas

Eliminating Physician Oversight for APRNs in Texas The recent passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the effort to provide healthcare for every American is expected to create a large influx of citizens seeking primary care providers. The current demand for primary care services has already burdened most states with a projection of more than 16 million individuals gaining health coverage by 2016, with a projection in Texas of more than 4.2 million (Schiff, 2012). Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) possess the training, experience and expertise in providing primary care services and can be part of the solution in solving shortages, but face unnecessary restrictions in Texas. Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) are nurses possessing masters, post-masters or doctoral level education. An APRN holds national certification and in Texas is licensed by the state Board of Nursing (BON) (CNAP, 2013). A wealth of evidence suggests that APRNs have the skills and expertise to perform many of the primary care services that physicians perform with an equal or higher patient satisfaction rate (Humphries, 2007). The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has criticized states laws that prevented APRNs from practicing to the full extent of their training (2011). Therefore, removing these restrictions, will permit APRNs in Texas is a practical solution to help meet this shortage. In addition, APRNs will also enhance health delivery efficiency and provide economic benefit as well for Texas by creating nearly 100,000 permanent jobs for the state of Texas (Perryman, 2013). Action needs to be taken to remove restrictions that are preventing or delaying APRNs from caring for Texans. As the population of Texas grows, this problem will only be compounded to a system that is already inadequate and overloaded. The laws and regulations concerning APRNs scope of practice varies by state, with 16 states permitting full practice authority, without physician oversight. This permits APRNs to practice to the full extent of their training. The remaining states (34) require some degree of physician oversight and involvement. States with only minimal restrictions have not reported any increased threat to patient safety (Texas Public Policy Foundation, 2013). Texas is one of the remaining states with a high level of oversight. Recent research indicates that APNs who live in states that allow full practice authority give more care (IOM, 2011). By removing these unnecessary restrictions, more NPs will be able to meet the healthcare needs of Texans. Texas Public Policy Foundation (2013) reports that of Texas’s 254 counties, only 23 have an adequate number of healthcare professionals to serve their populations. In addition almost 90% of rural Texas counties are considered partially or completely underserved. Twenty-five Texas counties have no physicians at all and it is estimated that 20% of Texans (3.3 million) do not have access to a primary care provider. As the provisions of our national healthcare law go into effect we can expect this to worsen with an anticipated shortage of 44,000 to 46,000 primary care providers nationally by 2025. The severe PCP shortage has also been affected by a shrinking medical school enrollment and a decrease in the number of students choosing primary care as a specialty (Texas Public Policy Foundation, 2013). Utilizing the expertise of APRNs as for primary care can lead to a more efficient delivery system that will provide significant savings. This would create almost 100,000 new permanent jobs by 2020, increase annual economic output (gross product) by $8 billion, and 16.1 billion in total expenditures within Texas (Perryman, 2013). In addition, this would stimulate the economy with yearly tax receipts of 483.9 million to the state of Texas and $233.2 million to local governments. These projections would be expected to rise each decade. Many studies over the last 40 years have indicated that APRNs are able to provide safe, high quality and low cost primary care to their patients (Perryman, 2013). Studies also indicate that patients report a similar if not better experience when they receive primary care from APRNs vs. physicians, and often at a lower cost (Brown Grimes, 1992). In a research study of Medicaid patients, the cost- effectiveness of utilizing APRNs was evident as patients re ceived the same high quality of care as physicians, while providing a discount of 8% from physician rates (Perryman, 2013). Failure to make the necessary changes to our healthcare delivery system in Texas will result in a worsening of the primary care shortage compounded by the provisions of the affordable healthcare law and the influx of newly insured individuals (Schiff, 2012). In addition to restrictions this places on accessibility to primary care services, there is a potential for a rise in the already inflated healthcare costs for services (Perryman, 2013). Changes in legislation are needed to address the removal of physician oversight restrictions on APRNs and to allow full practice authority in Texas. APRNs possess the training and experience to necessary to provide primary care services to Texas citizens and should be allowed to practice to the full extent of their education and training (IOM, 2011). This is vital and the best practical solution for addressing the healthcare needs of Texans. Political Environmental Scan Timing The Coalition of Nurses in Advanced Practice (CNAP) has been working to improve the recognition, reimbursement, and utilization of APRNs since 1991. Their efforts have accelerated legislative policies for this cause (CNAP, 2013). The most recent legislative action put into effect in November 2013 was SB 406 in which a collaborative agreement was made among APRNs and medical groups. This bill was unanimously passed by both the House and the Senate of the 83rd Texas legislature. The bill expanded the number of APRN’s/PA’s that a physician can supervise, eliminated any limit for medically underserved populations, reduced the number of face-to-face meeting with the physicians, and permitted these to be done via video web conferencing. In addition the new law lifts restrictions on prescriptive authority in regard to site–based restrictions and introduces a Prescriptive Authority Agreement (PAA) (Nelson, 2013). Further clarifications are still needed related to the SB 406, in particular on issues related to contracting problems with certain managed care organizations (CNAP, 2013). It is the ANA’s and CNAP’s position that removing barriers of APRN’s is a vital measure that must be taken to promote universal accessibility of healthcare especially in light of current healthcare reform goals (Hutto, 2013). The Texas legislature (84th) will meet again in regular session beginning January 2015 for 140 days. The CNAP continues to work on new legislative agenda during the interim. Since the last legislative session addressed these issues, it is unlikely this topic will be a priority for the 84th session. General elections are slated for November 2014, so the exact makeup of the next legislature is unknown, however, the Republican party has had a stronghold on both the Executive branch as well as the Legislative branch for the last decade and is likely to continue (UT Austin, 2009). Relationships/Reputation Political relationships have been formed between nursing organizations like the CNAP and Texas legislators and include lobbyists who discuss these important issues. This coalition of advanced nursing organizations includes all statewide APN organizations. Their focus is to expand prescriptive authority, ensure clinical privileging, increasing third party reimbursement, improve the recognition of APN’s, and keep APN’s informed on laws and regulations (CNAP, The major stakeholders are the organizations and groups that have a vested interest in the issue. APRN’s will most definitely benefit from the elimination of oversight since it will allow them to practice to their full potential. Hospitals, insurers and managed care facilities will also benefit from cost savings and improved quality of patient-centered care. In addition, the taxpayers and the State of Texas will benefit from the decreased healthcare costs and increased economic output (Perryman, 2012). The stakeholders with opposing viewpoints include the AMA, Texas Medical Association (TMA), Texas Academy of Family Physicians, American Society of Anesthesiologists, and American Academy of Pediatricians. These groups will most likely continue to resist changes that they feel infringe on their scope of practice and will be reluctant to agree to the removal of barriers that restrict APRNs from practicing to their full potential (CNAP, 2013). Resources Much research has been done to support this issue and according to the CNAP, there is no evidence that patient outcomes in states that mandate physician delegation are better than in states where APRNs are allowed to practice independently (CNAP, 2013). In a review of literature by Brady (2000), comparisons were made regarding the performance of nurse practitioners and physicians on three key patient outcome measures: patient satisfaction, health status, and service utilization. Researchers investigated the primary care given by NPs using the traditional medical model and found no difference in effectiveness or quality when compared to that of physicians (Brady, 2000). To support advancement of this issue, several other organizations are also lobbying for these proposed changes. These include organizations like the ANA and the Veterans Administration (VA), who are pushing for policy changes. The VA has in fact revised its nursing handbook, allowing APRNs to practice as independent practitioners throughout the Veteran’s Health Administration system, even in states where laws require physician oversight (ANA, 2014). The ANA has supported this change within the VA system, since the change is congruent with the 2010 Institute of Medicine’s recommendation that nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training (ANA, 2014). On the state level, the TNA supports the elimination of MD oversight of APRNs as well. According to the TNA, removal of practice barriers for APRNs will alleviate the shortage of primary care providers, especially in rural areas (TNA, 2014). Communication Several media platforms can be utilized to creating public awareness of an APRN’s role and as a viable option for primary care. These can be used to increase public awareness and gain support for the removal of the practice restrictions currently in place in Texas. An increased public awareness can also assist the policy process by creating grass-roots approaches to this issue. The use of PSA’s via social media sites can encourage the general public to send emails, letters, and support for candidates, nursing organizations and action committees that work to advance the nursing agenda. A media strategy has been proposed to include the following communication tools: 1) a PSA using a PowerPoint delivered via popular media sites like YouTube that can provide public information regarding the need for immediate changes to this health policy issue and can encourage support, 2) a social media approach utilizing a Facebook page for the same intent, and 3) a pamphlet/flyer to be distributed to Texas US Senators and Members of the House, outlining the key talking points and urging support for the policy changes and future legislation on the issue. (See Appendix A for links) Included in each of the different media strategies, key aspects will be addressed using these talking points: What is the role, education and training of an APRN? What is the impact of the ACA on the existing shortage of primary care providers in Texas? How will allowing full practice authority for APRNs benefit Texas? The recent passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is expected to create a large influx of citizens seeking primary care providers. The current demand for primary services has already burdened most states with a projection of more than 16 million individuals gaining health coverage by 2016, with projections in Texas of more than 4.2 million. Advanced practice nurses (APRN) possess the training, experience, and expertise in providing primary care services. The Institute of Medicine has urged states, like Texas, to change laws that place unnecessary restrictions on APRNs, as part of a solution to these shortages. Removing these restrictions will allow APRNs to be more fully utilized in Texas to serve the healthcare needs of Texans. As the population of Texas grows, the efficiency of a healthcare system that is already inadequate and overloaded will worsen. Reports indicate that of Texas’s 254 counties, only 23 have an adequate number of healthcare professionals to serve their populations. Nearly 90% of rural Texas counties are considered partially or completely underserved. Furthermore, 20% of Texans (3.3 million) do not have access to a primary care provider. As the provisions of our national healthcare law go into effect we can expect this to worsen with an anticipated shortage of 44,000 to 46,000 primary care providers by 2025. The severe physician shortage has also been affected by a shrinking medical school enrollment and fewer opting for a primary care specialty. APRNs can enhance health delivery efficiency and provide economic benefit by creating nearly 100,000 permanent jobs by 2020, increase annual economic output (gross product) by $8 billion, and 16.1 billion in total expenditures within Texas. This would also stimulate the economy with yearly tax receipts of 483.9 million to the state of Texas and $233.2 million to local governments by 2020, with projections continuing to rise every decade. A large number of studies indicate that patients have similar if not better experience when they receive primary care from APRNs vs. physicians and often at a lower cost. In the US, 33 states grant APRNs the freedom to diagnose and prescribe, 11 without physician collaboration. Failure to make changes in Texas will result in a worsening of the primary care shortage, compounded by the influx of newly insured individuals. In addition, there is a potential for an increase in the already inflated healthcare costs for services. Please support legislation that addresses the removal of physician oversight restrictions on APRNs currently in place in Texas. APRNs possess the training and experience necessary to provide primary care services to Texas citizens and should be allowed to practice to the full extent of their education and training. This is vital and the best practical solution for addressing the healthcare needs of Texans.

Like Water For Chocolate - Movie versus Book Essay -- essays research

Like Water For Chocolate â€Å"Like Water for Chocolate† by Laura Esquivel, is a beautiful romantic tale of an impossible passionate love during the revolution in Mexico. The romance is followed by the sweet aroma of kitchen secrets and cooking, with a lot of imagination and creativity. The story is that of Tita De La Garza, the youngest of all daughters in Mama Elena’s house. According to the family tradition she is to watch after her mother till the day she does, and therefore cannot marry any men. Tita finds her comfort in cooking, and soon the kitchen becomes her world, affecting every emotion she experiences to the people who taste her food. Esquivel tells Titas story as she grows to be a mature, blooming women who eventually rebels against her mother, finds her true identity and reunites with her long lost love Pedro. The book became a huge success and was made to a movie directed by Alfonso Arau. Although they both share many similarities, I also found many distinct differences. The mov ie lost an integral part of the book, the sensual aspect of the cooking and love. The story begins with Titas birth prematurely when Mama Elena was chopping onions. Tita grows up with Nacha the most dominant figure in her life, and follows Mama Elenas routine of cooking, cleaning and sewing. At every incident she can, Mama Elena criticizes Tita and even beats her if she tries to speak up. One day Tita tells her mother that Pedro wants to come and ask for her hand, but according to the family tradition she cannot marry because she is the youngest daughter. Mama Elena tells Pedro he can marry Rosaura- one of her older daughters, and Pedro agrees to the arrangement just to be closer to his true love- Tita. Preparing food for the wedding Ti... ...d coloring of certain images. The novel, however, puts much greater emphasis on the imagination and creativity, and on the main character Tita. The novel really makes the reader feel Titas pain and grow with her as she discovers her freedom, whereas the movie failed to achieve this. Moreover, the movie tends to ignore the significant of 3 integral motifs, cooking, tears and sensuality. Both book and movie capture good moments and ideas of Esquivel. I would say the book was more entertaining and memorable for me. The novel never rests or drags on, and although it evolves around many tragedies a dying love and lovers, in the end you truly feel happy for the way things turn to be. So does the movie, the end of it is very powerful, I might have not got attached to its characters but I fell in love with the magical fairy tale and romance of Like Water For Chocolate.

Abortion Choices :: Essays Papers

Abortion Choices Driving up to the clinic where I worked I did not expect what I saw. There were several protestors outside picketing and shouting their beliefs about rights and murder at me. I opened the door to see a teenage girl standing in panic and fear. She cried, â€Å"I’m only a child myself!† I walked into my room and was preparing to help this young teenage girl when I heard a loud sound and I felt heat coming from the front of the clinic. I ran out front to realize that the clinic had been bombed. If only I didn’t have a controversial job, then there wouldn’t be so many deaths. Abortion is a controversial and political issue that is widely debated. Abortion is a public health problem that affects the entire globe. Since Christianity was established and the Ancient Romans ruled, the concept of abortion was known. However, abortion was not used since the expected age of death for four out of 100 people was 50 years of age. At the time of the Catholic Churches Inquisition, extreme punishment was enforced for the mothers and midwives who aborted babies. These women were thought to be witches. At this time abortion was wrong for a person and also the society in which they lived. Now abortion is legal, but still has affects the entire world. Abortion has become such a large issue over the years that some individual and right to life groups find it necessary to bomb clinics, killing those who perform the abortion procedures (Correa). Abortion is used to save lives in the 189 countries of the 193 countries to save women’s lives. At rates that are 20 times what the United States has registered are the countries of Peru, Dominican Republic and Chile. Material deaths reached 78,000 for unsafe abortions between the years of 1995 and 2000. Complications due to abortion, kills one in eight women. Abortion does not just affect mothers, it affects the entire world. The process of having a child can easily be controlled through the use of birth control and condoms.

In Favor of Discontinuing the TASP Testing Program :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

In Favor of Discontinuing the TASP Testing Program Now that the TASP mandatory testing program has been in place for some time, we are better able to understand if the TASP should be continued or discontinued. Those opposed to eliminating the TASP testing program believe that the TASP helps colleges and universities to provide better classes to meet the needs of the students. Those in favor of eliminating the TASP testing program believe the test is discriminatory. I favor the elimination of the TASP testing program because the test is too expensive, the test is unfair to people with test anxiety, and the test keeps students from pursuing a college education. First, I favor the elimination of the TASP test program because the test is too expensive. The TASP test costs twenty-nine dollars to take. Paying twenty-nine dollars the first time may not seem so bad, but if you fail, you have to retake the test. Then, since you failed the test, you have to pay another twenty-nine dollars. Still think that is not bad? Well, if you take the test ten times, the testing fees add up to two hundred and ninety dollars. It is not fair that people should pay to take a mandatory test. The TASP test is taking twenty-nine dollars from you to take the test. Then, if only one section of the TASP needs to be completed, the person taking the test must pay twenty-nine dollars to only do a third of the test. It's probably easier to relate that the cost of the test is twenty-nine dollars for all three objectives, but for one objective to cost the same amount is absurd. The TASP test is too expensive and deserves to be eliminated. Second, I favor the elimination of the TASP testing program because the test is unfair for people with test anxiety. When a person walks into a classroom to take a test, that person thinks that he knows everything needed to know in order to pass. However, as soon as the teacher passes out the test, the student "freaks" out, and his mind goes blank. Test anxiety can cause people to fail the TASP test, and that doesn't seem fair. Then, the person must retake the test, and the same thing happens the anxiety "kicks" in. The person taking the test with anxiety is not likely to pass the test and it is unfair to put him through that ordeal.

A Game of Thrones Chapter Sixty-eight

Daenerys Wings shadowed her fever dreams. â€Å"You don't want to wake the dragon, do you?† She was walking down a long hall beneath high stone arches. She could not look behind her, must not look behind her. There was a door ahead of her, tiny with distance, but even from afar, she saw that it was painted red. She walked faster, and her bare feet left bloody footprints on the stone. â€Å"You don't want to wake the dragon, do you?† She saw sunlight on the Dothraki sea, the living plain, rich with the smells of earth and death. Wind stirred the grasses, and they rippled like water. Drogo held her in strong arms, and his hand stroked her sex and opened her and woke that sweet wetness that was his alone, and the stars smiled down on them, stars in a daylight sky. â€Å"Home,† she whispered as he entered her and filled her with his seed, but suddenly the stars were gone, and across the blue sky swept the great wings, and the world took flame. † . . . don't want to wake the dragon, do you?† Ser Jorah's face was drawn and sorrowful. â€Å"Rhaegar was the last dragon,† he told her. He warmed translucent hands over a glowing brazier where stone eggs smouldered red as coals. One moment he was there and the next he was fading, his flesh colorless, less substantial than the wind. â€Å"The last dragon,† he whispered, thin as a wisp, and was gone. She felt the dark behind her, and the red door seemed farther away than ever. † . . . don't want to wake the dragon, do you?† Viserys stood before her, screaming. â€Å"The dragon does not beg, slut. You do not command the dragon. I am the dragon, and I will be crowned.† The molten gold trickled down his face like wax, burning deep channels in his flesh. â€Å"I am the dragon and I will be crowned!† he shrieked, and his fingers snapped like snakes, biting at her nipples, pinching, twisting, even as his eyes burst and ran like jelly down seared and blackened cheeks. † . . . don't want to wake the dragon . . . â€Å" The red door was so far ahead of her, and she could feel the icy breath behind, sweeping up on her. If it caught her she would die a death that was more than death, howling forever alone in the darkness. She began to run. † . . . don't want to wake the dragon . . . â€Å" She could feel the heat inside her, a terrible burning in her womb. Her son was tall and proud, with Drogo's copper skin and her own silver-gold hair, violet eyes shaped like almonds. And he smiled for her and began to lift his hand toward hers, but when he opened his mouth the fire poured out. She saw his heart burning through his chest, and in an instant he was gone, consumed like a moth by a candle, turned to ash. She wept for her child, the promise of a sweet mouth on her breast, but her tears turned to steam as they touched her skin. † . . . want to wake the dragon . . . â€Å" Ghosts lined the hallway, dressed in the faded raiment of kings. In their hands were swords of pale fire. They had hair of silver and hair of gold and hair of platinum white, and their eyes were opal and amethyst, tourmaline and jade. â€Å"Faster,† they cried, â€Å"faster, faster.† She raced, her feet melting the stone wherever they touched. â€Å"Faster!† the ghosts cried as one, and she screamed and threw herself forward. A great knife of pain ripped down her back, and she felt her skin tear open and smelled the stench of burning blood and saw the shadow of wings. And Daenerys Targaryen flew. † . . . wake the dragon . . . â€Å" The door loomed before her, the red door, so close, so close, the hall was a blur around her, the cold receding behind. And now the stone was gone and she flew across the Dothraki sea, high and higher, the green rippling beneath, and all that lived and breathed fled in terror from the shadow of her wings. She could smell home, she could see it, there, just beyond that door, green fields and great stone houses and arms to keep her warm, there. She threw open the door. † . . . the dragon . . . â€Å" And saw her brother Rhaegar, mounted on a stallion as black as his armor. Fire glimmered red through the narrow eye slit of his helm. â€Å"The last dragon,† Ser Jorah's voice whispered faintly. â€Å"The last, the last.† Dany lifted his polished black visor. The face within was her own. After that, for a long time, there was only the pain, the fire within her, and the whisperings of stars. She woke to the taste of ashes. â€Å"No,† she moaned, â€Å"no, please.† â€Å"Khaleesi?† Jhiqui hovered over her, a frightened doe. The tent was drenched in shadow, still and close. Flakes of ash drifted upward from a brazier, and Dany followed them with her eyes through the smoke hole above. Flying, she thought. I had wings, I was flying. But it was only a dream. â€Å"Help me,† she whispered, struggling to rise. â€Å"Bring me . . . † Her voice was raw as a wound, and she could not think what she wanted. Why did she hurt so much? It was as if her body had been torn to pieces and remade from the scraps. â€Å"I want . . . â€Å" â€Å"Yes, Khaleesi.† Quick as that Jhiqui was gone, bolting from the tent, shouting. Dany needed . . . something . . . someone . . . what? It was important, she knew. It was the only thing in the world that mattered. She rolled onto her side and got an elbow under her, fighting the blanket tangled about her legs. It was so hard to move. The world swam dizzily. I have to . . . They found her on the carpet, crawling toward her dragon eggs. Ser Jorah Mormont lifted her in his arms and carried her back to her sleeping silks, while she struggled feebly against him. Over his shoulder she saw her three handmaids, Jhogo with his little wisp of mustache, and the flat broad face of Mirri Maz Duur. â€Å"I must,† she tried to tell them, â€Å"I have to . . . â€Å" † . . . sleep, Princess,† Ser Jorah said. â€Å"No,† Dany said. â€Å"Please. Please.† â€Å"Yes.† He covered her with silk, though she was burning. â€Å"Sleep and grow strong again, Khaleesi. Come back to us.† And then Mirri Maz Duur was there, the maegi, tipping a cup against her lips. She tasted sour milk, and something else, something thick and bitter. Warm liquid ran down her chin. Somehow she swallowed. The tent grew dimmer, and sleep took her again. This time she did not dream. She floated, serene and at peace, on a black sea that knew no shore. After a time—a night, a day, a year, she could not say—she woke again. The tent was dark, its silken walls flapping like wings when the wind gusted outside. This time Dany did not attempt to rise. â€Å"Irri,† she called, â€Å"Jhiqui. Doreah.† They were there at once. â€Å"My throat is dry,† she said, â€Å"so dry,† and they brought her water. It was warm and flat, yet Dany drank it eagerly, and sent Jhiqui for more. Irri dampened a soft cloth and stroked her brow. â€Å"I have been sick,† Dany said. The Dothraki girl nodded. â€Å"How long?† The cloth was soothing, but Irri seemed so sad, it frightened her. â€Å"Long,† she whispered. When Jhiqui returned with more water, Mirri Maz Duur came with her, eyes heavy from sleep. â€Å"Drink,† she said, lifting Dany's head to the cup once more, but this time it was only wine. Sweet, sweet wine. Dany drank, and lay back, listening to the soft sound of her own breathing . She could feel the heaviness in her limbs, as sleep crept in to fill her up once more. â€Å"Bring me . . . † she murmured, her voice slurred and drowsy. â€Å"Bring . . . I want to hold . . . â€Å" â€Å"Yes?† the maegi asked. â€Å"What is it you wish, Khaleesi?† â€Å"Bring me . . . egg . . . dragon's egg . . . please . . . † Her lashes turned to lead, and she was too weary to hold them up. When she woke the third time, a shaft of golden sunlight was pouring through the smoke hole of the tent, and her arms were wrapped around a dragon's egg. It was the pale one, its scales the color of butter cream, veined with whorls of gold and bronze, and Dany could feel the heat of it. Beneath her bedsilks, a fine sheen of perspiration covered her bare skin. Dragondew, she thought. Her fingers trailed lightly across the surface of the shell, tracing the wisps of gold, and deep in the stone she felt something twist and stretch in response. It did not frighten her. All her fear was gone, burned away. Dany touched her brow. Under the film of sweat, her skin was cool to the touch, her fever gone. She made herself sit. There was a moment of dizziness, and the deep ache between her thighs. Yet she felt strong. Her maids came running at the sound of her voice. â€Å"Water,† she told them, â€Å"a flagon of water, cold as you can find it. And fruit, I think. Dates.† â€Å"As you say, Khaleesi.† â€Å"I want Ser Jorah,† she said, standing. Jhiqui brought a sandsilk robe and draped it over her shoulders. â€Å"And a warm bath, and Mirri Maz Duur, and . . . † Memory came back to her all at once, and she faltered. â€Å"Khal Drogo,† she forced herself to say, watching their faces with dread. â€Å"Is he&mdash?† â€Å"The khal lives,† Irri answered quietly . . . yet Dany saw a darkness in her eyes when she said the words, and no sooner had she spoken than she rushed away to fetch water. She turned to Doreah. â€Å"Tell me.† â€Å"I . . . I shall bring Ser Jorah,† the Lysene girl said, bowing her head and fleeing the tent. Jhiqui would have run as well, but Dany caught her by the wrist and held her captive. â€Å"What is it? I must know. Drogo . . . and my child.† Why had she not remembered the child until now? â€Å"My son . . . Rhaego . . . where is he? I want him.† Her handmaid lowered her eyes. â€Å"The boy . . . he did not live, Khaleesi.† Her voice was a frightened whisper. Dany released her wrist. My son is dead, she thought as Jhiqui left the tent. She had known somehow. She had known since she woke the first time to Jhiqui's tears. No, she had known before she woke. Her dream came back to her, sudden and vivid, and she remembered the tall man with the copper skin and long silver-gold braid, bursting into flame. She should weep, she knew, yet her eyes were dry as ash. She had wept in her dream, and the tears had turned to steam on her cheeks. All the grief has been burned out of me, she told herself. She felt sad, and yet . . . she could feel Rhaego receding from her, as if he had never been. Ser Jorah and Mirri Maz Duur entered a few moments later, and found Dany standing over the other dragon's eggs, the two still in their chest. It seemed to her that they felt as hot as the one she had slept with, which was passing strange. â€Å"Ser Jorah, come here,† she said. She took his hand and placed it on the black egg with the scarlet swirls. â€Å"What do you feel?† â€Å"Shell, hard as rock.† The knight was wary. â€Å"Scales.† â€Å"Heat?† â€Å"No. Cold stone.† He took his hand away. â€Å"Princess, are you well? Should you be up, weak as you are?† â€Å"Weak? I am strong, Jorah.† To please him, she reclined on a pile of cushions. â€Å"Tell me how my child died.† â€Å"He never lived, my princess. The women say . . . † He faltered, and Dany saw how the flesh hung loose on him, and the way he limped when he moved. â€Å"Tell me. Tell me what the women say.† He turned his face away. His eyes were haunted. â€Å"They say the child was . . . â€Å" She waited, but Ser Jorah could not say it. His face grew dark with shame. He looked half a corpse himself. â€Å"Monstrous,† Mirri Maz Duur finished for him. The knight was a powerful man, yet Dany understood in that moment that the maegi was stronger, and crueler, and infinitely more dangerous. â€Å"Twisted. I drew him forth myself. He was scaled like a lizard, blind, with the stub of a tail and small leather wings like the wings of a bat. When I touched him, the flesh sloughed off the bone, and inside he was full of graveworms and the stink of corruption. He had been dead for years.† Darkness, Dany thought. The terrible darkness sweeping up behind to devour her. If she looked back she was lost. â€Å"My son was alive and strong when Ser Jorah carried me into this tent,† she said. â€Å"I could feel him kicking, fighting to be born.† â€Å"That may be as it may be,† answered Mirri Maz Duur, â€Å"yet the creature that came forth from your womb was as I said. Death was in that tent, Khaleesi.† â€Å"Only shadows,† Ser Jorah husked, but Dany could hear the doubt in his voice. â€Å"I saw, maegi. I saw you, alone, dancing with the shadows. â€Å" â€Å"The grave casts long shadows, Iron Lord,† Mirri said. â€Å"Long and dark, and in the end no light can hold them back.† Ser Jorah had killed her son, Dany knew. He had done what he did for love and loyalty, yet he had carried her into a place no living man should go and fed her baby to the darkness. He knew it too; the grey face, the hollow eyes, the limp. â€Å"The shadows have touched you too, Ser Jorah,† she told him. The knight made no reply. Dany turned to the godswife. â€Å"You warned me that only death could pay for life. I thought you meant the horse.† â€Å"No,† Mirri Maz Duur said. â€Å"That was a lie you told yourself. You knew the price.† Had she? Had she? If I look back I am lost. â€Å"The price was paid,† Dany said. â€Å"The horse, my child, Quaro and Qotho, Haggo and Cohollo. The price was paid and paid and paid.† She rose from her cushions. â€Å"Where is Khal Drogo? Show him to me, godswife, maegi, bloodmage, whatever you are. Show me Khal Drogo. Show me what I bought with my son's life.† â€Å"As you command, Khaleesi,† the old woman said. â€Å"Come, I will take you to him.† Dany was weaker than she knew. Ser Jorah slipped an arm around her and helped her stand. â€Å"Time enough for this later, my princess,† he said quietly. â€Å"I would see him now, Ser Jorah.† After the dimness of the tent, the world outside was blinding bright. The sun burned like molten gold, and the land was seared and empty. Her handmaids waited with fruit and wine and water, and Jhogo moved close to help Ser Jorah support her. Aggo and Rakharo stood behind. The glare of sun on sand made it hard to see more, until Dany raised her hand to shade her eyes. She saw the ashes of a fire, a few score horses milling listlessly and searching for a bite of grass, a scattering of tents and bedrolls. A small crowd of children had gathered to watch her, and beyond she glimpsed women going about their work, and withered old men staring at the flat blue sky with tired eyes, swatting feebly at bloodflies. A count might show a hundred people, no more. Where the other forty thousand had made their camp, only the wind and dust lived now. â€Å"Drogo's khalasar is gone,† she said. â€Å"A khal who cannot ride is no khal,† said Jhogo. â€Å"The Dothraki follow only the strong,† Ser Jorah said. â€Å"I am sorry, my princess. There was no way to hold them. Ko Pono left first, naming himself Khal Pono, and many followed him. Jhaqo was not long to do the same. The rest slipped away night by night, in large bands and small. There are a dozen new khalasars on the Dothraki sea, where once there was only Drogo's.† â€Å"The old remain,† said Aggo. â€Å"The frightened, the weak, and the sick. And we who swore. We remain.† â€Å"They took Khal Drogo's herds, Khaleesi,† Rakharo said. â€Å"We were too few to stop them. It is the right of the strong to take from the weak. They took many slaves as well, the khal's and yours, yet they left some few.† â€Å"Eroeh?† asked Dany, remembering the frightened child she had saved outside the city of the Lamb Men. â€Å"Mago seized her, who is Khal Jhaqo's bloodrider now,† said Jhogo. â€Å"He mounted her high and low and gave her to his khal, and Jhaqo gave her to his other bloodriders. They were six. When they were done with her, they cut her throat.† â€Å"It was her fate, Khaleesi,† said Aggo. If I look back I am lost. â€Å"It was a cruel fate,† Dany said, â€Å"yet not so cruel as Mago's will be. I promise you that, by the old gods and the new, by the lamb god and the horse god and every god that lives. I swear it by the Mother of Mountains and the Womb of the World. Before I am done with them, Mago and Ko Jhaqo will plead for the mercy they showed Eroeh.† The Dothraki exchanged uncertain glances. â€Å"Khaleesi, † the handmaid Irri explained, as if to a child, â€Å"Jhaqo is a khal now, with twenty thousand riders at his back.† She lifted her head. â€Å"And I am Daenerys Stormhorn, Daenerys of House Targaryen, of the blood of Aegon the Conqueror and Maegor the Cruel and old Valyria before them. I am the dragon's daughter, and I swear to you, these men will die screaming. Now bring me to Khal Drogo.† He was lying on the bare red earth, staring up at the sun. A dozen bloodflies had settled on his body, though he did not seem to feel them. Dany brushed them away and knelt beside him. His eyes were wide open but did not see, and she knew at once that he was blind. When she whispered his name, he did not seem to hear. The wound on his breast was as healed as it would ever be, the scar that covered it grey and red and hideous. â€Å"Why is he out here alone, in the sun?† she asked them. â€Å"He seems to like the warmth, Princess,† Ser Jorah said. â€Å"His eyes follow the sun, though he does not see it. He can walk after a fashion. He will go where you lead him, but no farther. He will eat if you put food in his mouth, drink if you dribble water on his lips.† Dany kissed her sun-and-stars gently on the brow, and stood to face Mirri Maz Duur. â€Å"Your spells are costly, maegi.† â€Å"He lives,† said Mirri Maz Duur. â€Å"You asked for life. You paid for life.† â€Å"This is not life, for one who was as Drogo was. His life was laughter, and meat roasting over a firepit, and a horse between his legs. His life was an arakh in his hand and his bells ringing in his hair as he rode to meet an enemy. His life was his bloodriders, and me, and the son I was to give him.† Mirri Maz Duur made no reply. â€Å"When will he be as he was?† Dany demanded. â€Å"When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east,† said Mirri Maz Duur. â€Å"When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When your womb quickens again, and you bear a living child. Then he will return, and not before.† Dany gestured at Ser Jorah and the others. â€Å"Leave us. I would speak with this maegi alone.† Mormont and the Dothraki withdrew. â€Å"You knew,† Dany said when they were gone. She ached, inside and out, but her fury gave her strength. â€Å"You knew what I was buying, and you knew the price, and yet you let me pay it.† â€Å"It was wrong of them to burn my temple,† the heavy, flat-nosed woman said placidly. â€Å"That angered the Great Shepherd.† â€Å"This was no god's work,† Dany said coldly. If I look back I am lost. â€Å"You cheated me. You murdered my child within me.† â€Å"The stallion who mounts the world will burn no cities now. His khalasar shall trample no nations into dust.† â€Å"I spoke for you,† she said, anguished. â€Å"I saved you.† â€Å"Saved me?† The Lhazareen woman spat. â€Å"Three riders had taken me, not as a man takes a woman but from behind, as a dog takes a bitch. The fourth was in me when you rode past. How then did you save me? I saw my god's house burn, where I had healed good men beyond counting. My home they burned as well, and in the street I saw piles of heads. I saw the head of a baker who made my bread. I saw the head of a boy I had saved from deadeye fever, only three moons past. I heard children crying as the riders drove them off with their whips. Tell me again what you saved.† â€Å"Your life.† Mirri Maz Duur laughed cruelly. â€Å"Look to your khal and see what life is worth, when all the rest is gone.† Dany called out for the men of her khas and bid them take Mirri Maz Duur and bind her hand and foot, but the maegi smiled at her as they carried her off, as if they shared a secret. A word, and Dany could have her head off . . . yet then what would she have? A head? If life was worthless, what was death? They led Khal Drogo back to her tent, and Dany commanded them to fill a tub, and this time there was no blood in the water. She bathed him herself, washing the dirt and the dust from his arms and chest, cleaning his face with a soft cloth, soaping his long black hair and combing the knots and tangles from it till it shone again as she remembered. It was well past dark before she was done, and Dany was exhausted. She stopped for drink and food, but it was all she could do to nibble at a fig and keep down a mouthful of water. Sleep would have been a release, but she had slept enough . . . too long, in truth. She owed this night to Drogo, for all the nights that had been, and yet might be. The memory of their first ride was with her when she led him out into the darkness, for the Dothraki believed that all things of importance in a man's life must be done beneath the open sky. She told herself that there were powers stronger than hatred, and spells older and truer than any the maegi had learned in Asshai. The night was black and moonless, but overhead a million stars burned bright. She took that for an omen. No soft blanket of grass welcomed them here, only the hard dusty ground, bare and strewn with stones. No trees stirred in the wind, and there was no stream to soothe her fears with the gentle music of water. Dany told herself that the stars would be enough. â€Å"Remember, Drogo,† she whispered. â€Å"Remember our first ride together, the day we wed. Remember the night we made Rhaego, with the khalasar all around us and your eyes on my face. Remember how cool and clean the water was in the Womb of the World. Remember, my sun-and-stars. Remember, and come back to me.† The birth had left her too raw and torn to take him inside of her, as she would have wanted, but Doreah had taught her other ways. Dany used her hands, her mouth, her breasts. She raked him with her nails and covered him with kisses and whispered and prayed and told him stories, and by the end she had bathed him with her tears. Yet Drogo did not feel, or speak, or rise. And when the bleak dawn broke over an empty horizon, Dany knew that he was truly lost to her. â€Å"When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east,† she said sadly. â€Å"When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When my womb quickens again, and I bear a living child. Then you will return, my sun-and-stars, and not before.† Never, the darkness cried, never never never. Inside the tent Dany found a cushion, soft silk stuffed with feathers. She clutched it to her breasts as she walked back out to Drogo, to her sun-and-stars. If I look back I am lost. It hurt even to walk, and she wanted to sleep, to sleep and not to dream. She knelt, kissed Drogo on the lips, and pressed the cushion down across his face.