Competitive Position Essay

In this assignment we tried to look into the Baja Auto’s own position in Indian domestic market and how it has performed in last year compare to local rivals. In addition, we suggest company to invest directly in America’s automobile industry as America and India is more or less similar in terms of operating multinational organisations. As, it is a long term investment and high risk strategy for company, we clinically analysed new market scenario and different aspects of it. 1.0 Competitive Position Baja Auto is ranked as the world’s fourth largest two and three wheelers production company. It is in two wheelers and three wheelers Indian market since 1945 and recognised brand across Asia, Middle Eastern countries, Latin America. Bajaj Auto shares 26.70% of two wheelers market in India, fairly behind Hero Honda Motors which has 41.35% Indian customers, and ahead of TVS Motor Company which holds 18.14%. But when it comes to three wheelers vehicles, Bajaj Auto clearly control the majority of the market with 58.60%, much ahead then Piaggio Vehicles 32.70%. Bajaj’s closest competitor in two wheelers market is Hero Honda Motors. Hero Honda sold 3.72 million two wheelers units, almost double then Bajaj, who managed to sold 1.28 million units. Bajaj Auto is the country’s largest exporter of two- and three-wheelers. During 2008-2009, Bajaj Auto’s international sales achieved an all-time high of 772,519 units of two and three wheelers, representing a growth of 25% over the previous year. (Sources: Automobile Industry report -2012, India). Though, there is a huge difference in terms of selling units between three major players of India’s two wheelers, their growth rate is almost similar to each other. Hero Honda Motors enjoys 15.4% growth in 2012, and it was followed by TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto with 13.3% and 13.2% respectively. (Sources: Annual reports of Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda Motors and TVS Motors-2012). In plant wise capacity Bajaj Auto clearly out plays its competitors. Bajaj Auto has 4 active plants compare to 3 of each for Hero Honda motors and TVS Motors. Therefore Bajaj has upper hand in terms of number of units’ productions. Bajaj Auto’s plants are capable of producing 5 million units of vehicles compares to Hero Honda’s 4.75 million and TVS’ 4 . 50 million of units. (Sources: Automobile Industry report-2012, India). Adopted from Automobile Industry report-2012, India. 2.0 Market Entry Bajaj Auto is highly recognised company throughout the world and has vastly experienced management team. In addition, it has its own technology labs, engineering colleges and very strong labour power. Apart from having a fair amount of domestic market share, it is a leading exporter of India. Bajaj is famous for manufacturing two and three wheelers which have good fuel efficiency and strong outer body and comes in very cheap prise compares to other manufacturers. It is right time for the company to move forward and make its own base in well developed country like The USA, which help company to reduce the good amount of money spent on exporting its products to Latin America and Africa and moreover, America itself has huge crowd who are struggling with current worldwide economic downfall and looking for cheap available options. 2.1 Reason for Entering Into the USA Market PESTLE analysis is an useful analysis tool to evaluate future plans and it helps organisations like Bajaj Auto who is going to enter in new business environment to understand the risk associated with its next move .PESTLE helps company to analyse its position, potential and direction in new market place. 2.1.1 Political Situation of the USA It is very important to assess political condition of new working field before moving abroad. It helps company like Bajaj to make its business strategy. America is strong democratic country like India the motherland of Bajaj Auto and this will work company’s favour as it knows the pros and cons of such a political environment. 2.1.2 Economy The US has the largest and most technologically powerful economy of the world, with per capita GDP of $49,800. US Business companies have more flexibility than any other part of the world in decision to expand their capita plant. . At the same time, they face higher barriers to enter their rivals’ home markets than foreign firms face entering US markets. It is lucrative industry to enter for foreign company like Bajaj Auto. 2.1.3 Social America’s population is 316,668,567 which consist of 79.96% white, black 12.85%, Asian 4.43%. 40.2% of America’s population is 25-54years old. 82% population is urbanised and an annual urbanisation rate is 1.2%. 99% of total population is literate. 2.1.4 Technological highly diversified, world leading, high-technology innovator, second largest industrial output in world; petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber, mining. Bajaj Auto will enjoy a good amount of success due to technological expansion of the company which is comparably low in India. 2.1.5 Legal America has strong, fast legal system which gives every individual a fair chance to appeal decision of the court. Supreme court is the highest body who makes the final verdict on any legal issue. 2.1.6 Environment Air pollution resulting in acid rain in the US ; the US is the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels; water pollution from runoff of pesticides and fertilizers; limited natural freshwater resources in much of the western part of the country require careful management; desertification. Bajaj Auto developed the technology in recent years and some of its vehicles run on CNG and LPG which reduce the amount of carbon dioxide. This technology gives company an edge over its competitors to gain confidence of the US government to enter into their market. (Sources: http://www.cia.gov/library) 2.2Market Attractiveness DIAMOND MODEL Source: Porter, M. (1990) 2.2.1 Firm strategy, structure and rivalry As mentioned earlier, Bajaj Auto is famous for producing light weight two and three wheelers vehicles which have good fuel efficiency and strong body and it’s new for American population. There is no strong competitor in market at the present that can threat the position of Bajaj Auto in its production range. Bajaj Auto manufactures couple of motorbikes like Pulsar, Duke, and Discover which is heavy but it will not be a good idea to launch them in America as Harley Davidson, Yamaha motors, Kawasaki motors have strong hold on American customers. Bajaj Auto follows hierarchical strategy which resulted in advantages within industries and it helps company to gain upper hand in competition with major players. 2.2.2 Demand Conditions Light motorcycles, the summary say, will outperform other ICE product types and maintain their position as the largest single segment of the motorcycle market in America. This will be due to several factors, including the fastest population growth of any region, the lowest median age and the lowest (but climbing) per-capita GDP. (Source: world demand motorcycles grow). This is good future aspect for Bajaj Auto to succeed in international adventure. 2.2.3 Factor Endowment America has strong and large factor endowments compare to Western Europe. The US has comparative advantages of skilled workers, infrastructure, open market entry for international companies, natural resource and technology. Romalis (2004) provides a quasi-Rybczynski prediction, â€Å"if a country accumulates a factor more rapidly than rest of the world, then that country’s production and exports will systematically shift toward that more intensively use that factor.† The US has well developed technology when it comes to motorbike industry and that attracts Bajaj Auto to gain an entry in this market. 2.2.4 Related and Supporting Industries The US is rich in producing natural resources like iron, lead, petroleum, natural gas. In addition America has the world largest coal reserve with 491 billion short tons accounting for 27% of the world’s total.(Source: http://www.cia.gov/library). Strong supply chain of motorbikes engines parts, raw material for motorbike body, leather and machineries are always key factors in success of automobile business and America provides all these features to Bajaj Auto. 2.3 2.3.1 Target Market Young, universities’ students, African and Asian immigrants, middle class families and small vendors should be first priority as a target market for Bajaj Auto as they share large number of total American population (see 2.1.3). Above mention customers have limited resources of income and other responsibilities and therefore they always look out for cheap available option. The kind of two and three wheelers Bajaj Auto produces are low in prise and have high fuel efficiency. These two points will work in company’s favour and manage to pull big crowd. Once company get established, it can launch the range of heavy weight vehicles to provide competition to giants like Yamaha, Royal Enfield, Honda and Harley Davidson.

80s Fashion Essay

80s Fashion! For many, the 1980s was a great time. The creation of MTV revolutionised fashion, the music industry and even how we watched TV. But for others, it was nothing but bad hair, worse clothing and music often had more to do with machines than talent. The clothes worn in the 80s depicted people who were trying to find themselves. They looked fro ways to express their creativity and individuality.Men wore heavy make-up and grew long hair; for example David Bowie or Boy George. Whilst women wore layers of clothing and short hair cuts. The likes of Madonna and Cindy Lauper rocked this look. Both sexes were looking for an identity. Famous Fashion Trends In the 80s: New Romantic Look, Valley Girl, Power dressing, Leotards and Dance wear and Miami Vice Look were just a few famous trends that people in the eighties wore. New romantic Look:New Wave, New Romantic, and gothic fashion at this time was heavily influenced by punk fashion: the streaky eyeliner, the spiked hair, the outrage ous clothing, some of which derived from bondage wear and some of which (New Romantic) was a nod to long-gone eras. Power Dressing: Shoulder Pads, popularised by Joan Collins and Linda Evans from the soap Opera Dynasty, remained popular throughout the 1980s and even the first three years of the 1990s.The reason behind the sudden popularity of shoulder pads for women in the 1980s may be that women in the workplace were no longer unusual, and wanted to â€Å"power dress† to show that they were the equals of men at the office. Many women's outfits had velcro on the inside of the shoulder where various sized shoulder pads could be attached. Leotards and Dance wear: Leotards had been a fashion trend since the early 1970s, when were first used to add colour and texture under the â€Å"layered look† popular in the middle of that decade.By the end of the decade leotards made from shiny spandex had become the standard feminine fashion of the â€Å"disco era†, partly for their form-fitting quality and the fact that they allowed flexibility and ease of movement. With the arrival of the aerobics craze of the early 1980s the classic leotard moved from the dance floor to the gym, accompanied by matching tights, Leg warmers and elastic headbands. Leotards of the early 1980s boasted bright stripes, polka dots, and even elastic belts.

Microeconomic Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Microeconomic Questions - Assignment Example Unfortunately, since the heavy commercialization of Pepsi and Coca Cola in the 1980s, RC Cola has struggled to keep up with bringing its name forth to the general public. Presumably, RC Cola did not see the merit of wasting so much revenue on advertisements; its owners now of course, see the errors of their ways. RC cola must resort to advertising rather an lowering its prices because both Pepsi and Coca Cola have substantially-prominent name-recognition. Rather than using penetration pricing strategy (a strategy that involves undercutting the prices of competitors), RC Cola must get name recognition out there to compete on the same level as Pepsi and Coca Cola. Monopolistic Market Structures have a unique set of stratagems for optimal pricing and optimal profits. In a monopolistic market structure, the competition is between firms selling similar but not entirely-substitutable products. It is open to all firms that want to earn profits. The firms within a monopolistic market structure are profit maximizers and all of the firms have some market power. Saudi Arabia has strong government controls over major economic activities. It possesses one-fourth of the worlds proven petroleum reserves, ranks as the largest exporter of petroleum, and plays a leading role in OPEC. With its multiple oil reserves, the country still maintains low production costs and therefore will most likely remain the number one exporter of petroleum for a long time to come. The oil reserves also help in lowering the unemployment rate which generally hovers around 15%. The petroleum sector accounts for roughly 75% of revenues and 45% of GDP. About 40% of GDP comes from the private sector.1 By producing a consistently high amount of oil daily, the prices per barrel have continued to rise, as an increasing demand meets the expected quota. Other countries have ceased exporting their own oil because of the adequate amount produced by other leading contributors of the world’s

Introduction to international relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Introduction to international relations - Essay Example Sometimes it is considered as a whirlwind that brings disruptive and relentless changes that result in some unique social, economic, environmental and cultural problems that make the governments helpless (Brittan, 1998, pp 1-2). Sovereignty, on the other hand is a very important concept which is also not an easy one to describe. Sovereignty, in simple words can be defined as the quality that allows one to have independent and supreme authority over a particular geographic region. Globalisation is one of such powers that have challenged the concept of state sovereignty. The principle objective of this paper is to identify and analyse the effect of globalisation on the state sovereignty. The question, ‘has globalization undermined the concept of state sovereignty?’ will be tried to be properly answered in this paper. In the process of doing so it is crucial to have a clear idea about both ‘globalisation’ and ‘sovereignty’. This paper is attempted to give a brief but clear understanding regarding both the concept and then it tries to analyse the fact whether globalisation has weakened the concept of state sovereignty. Globalisation Globalisation is perhaps the most popular terms in the recent time. ... There are experts who believe that the term ‘globalisation’ may be a new one but the main concept and context are not. For instance, the economic integration among various economies of the world has been going on over the past fifty years. Organisations like GATT and WTO are actually the results of such integration (Gangopadhyay, Chatterji, 2005, pp 57-58). During the period of 1960-70 one of the most widely discussed subjects was the growth of different multinational corporations in terms of change in their operational mode i.e. from domestic to international. In simple words it can be said that globalisation is nothing but a new name which is given to the most recent sequence of internationalisation. According to David Colander, the most significant incident that has led to arise of the concept of globalisation is the breakdown of Soviet Union. This breakdown created a situation where intergovernmental relations started to focus on the economic aspects rather than on t he political aspects (Gangopadhyay, Chatterji, 2005, pp 57-58). Business organisations also started to take people from other countries into consideration as their potential customers. Governments also began to understand the importance of investments from foreign organisations to their economies and started to withdraw various restrictions regarding trade. With the gradual removal of different barriers entire globe started to emerge as a single market for the business organisations and as a result of this, ‘internationalisation’ started to turn into ‘globalisation’. Almost all the economies in the world are greatly impacted by the globalisation. Areas like investment, production and employment

Sex Education in Schools and Home Research Paper

Sex Education in Schools and Home - Research Paper Example On the other hand, teachers too fail to touch on sex related issues when educating teenagers believing it is the responsibility of their parents and guardians to educate these growing youth about sex education. At the end of the day, teenagers remain in darkness, without knowledge about sex, or even the slightest clue to what pertains to sexual education. Their curiosity to try out new things without a guiding hand ends up in even more dreadful results, such as early pregnancies and school dropouts. As such, this research paper seeks to explore various peer-reviewed journals discussing issues related to sex education, as well as, evaluate how various institutions approach this issue about sex among the youth (Brown, Dunn, Newby & Wallace, 2012). What are Parents really saying then they talk with Their Children about Sexuality? American Journal of Sexuality Education This article explores the communication that exists between parents and their children about sex and sexuality. A resea rch carried out on a number of parents within the United States revealed that parents took an authoritarian tone whenever speaking to their children about sexuality. ... Some of the reasons given by these parents on their indecision to discuss sexuality with their children were religious influences and cultural backgrounds, alongside distinct patterns of communication. Some religions forbid open discussion of sexuality, as they consider it as a sacred matter only for the married couples. On the other hand, a qualitative analysis on these parents revealed that these parents sometimes focused on specific issues when discussing sexuality with their children, such as early pregnancies, STDs/STIs, HIV/AIDS virus, and other adversities related to premature sexuality. As such, the lack of sexual orientation, as well as the lack of parental knowledge and support of sexuality, leads these children to exploring murky waters, hence coming out scotched and bruised from their actions (Cox, Gagnon, McDonalds, Meglio, Mitchelle & Rennick, 2011). Asking to Listen: Towards a Youth Perspective on Sexual Health Education and Needs, Sex Education This article explores t he perspectives of the youth in relation to sexual health education and needs within a Canadian province. This article seeks to impart some sense of responsibility among the youth by giving them power to take control of their sexual health behavior. As such, participating youths to this program learnt measures of how to take control of their sexuality, as well as develop a number of preventive skills towards the sexual risks involved in premature sexuality. This control and prevention skills over sexuality were particularly important in areas suffering from socioeconomic disparities. Statistics show that the rate of active sexuality is very high in areas with low socioeconomic standings as compared to the areas that live in affluence. For example, girl growing up in the

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 17

Economics - Essay Example Thus, for each of the input employed in order to produce a good, the resource should be able to increase the volume of production at the lowest possible cost. Logically, the lower the cost of producing the product the higher the productivity of the resource. Cost and productivity thus have an inverse relationship—when cost of manufacturing a unit of output is high, the productivity is low and conversely, the lower the production cost per unit the higher the productivity. In order to illustrate this point, take two workers who both assemble stuff toys for eight hours. Each of them is paid $10 an hour and the eight hour period will be paid $80. For simplicity’s sake, let us assume that the first worker can produce 8 stuffed toys within the working hours while the second can only produce 4. The first worker’s labor cost of producing a stuffed toy is $10 while the second is $20. Being able to produce at a lower cost, the first worker is more productive. The law of diminishing marginal productivity states that the â€Å"when the technology of production and some of the inputs are held constant and the quantity of a variable input increases continually, the marginal productivity of the variable input will eventually decline.† It should be noted that the law of diminishing marginal productivity assumes that only on input is increased while all others are held constant. This economic law can be proven by real world examples in the workplace where employees are put to work on certain projects with a constant level of resource. In a factory where people are employed to manufacture candles. Suppose that each day, 100 kg of waxes should be melted and turned into aromatherapy candles. Assigning one worker will undoubtedly contribute the highest return considering the cost of labor which is needed to transform the input into output. Adding a second employee will add more output, yet will not be as productive as the first since the

Impact of mass food production on food borne illness outbreaks Essay

Impact of mass food production on food borne illness outbreaks - Essay Example clude Campylobacter jejuni, Clostridium botulinum, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogene, amongst others, but the ones mainly responsible for mass outbreaks are Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. Coli), and Listeria monocytogene. These pathogens are extremely sustainable and productive, thus their ability to withstand the extremes in the production processes, and reproduce rapidly to contaminate the entire, or most of the production lines. This essay will conduct a research and give the findings of how directly responsible the mass food production industry is in causing Foodborne disease outbreaks. The World Health organization (WHO) conducts what is referred to as â€Å"public health surveillance† which is a process involving the collection, evaluation, and interpretation of the morbidity and mortality data that is essential for the plan, implementation, and evaluating of public health services, and relaying of the information in time for public health action. The aim of such is to identify strange clusters of outbreaks potentially transmitted through food, and might prompt a public health response or investigation (World Health Organization 9). The WHO and many other organizations conduct researches and studies, which indicate that, indeed, mass food production is a major potential cause of Foodborne illnesses. According to Monica Eng, a Chicago Tribune reporter, meat consumption has risen over the last forty years but the surprise in it is that people pay less than half of what is cost back then. The reason for this is the housing of thousands of animals in confined factory farms that cut down the cost of producing protein, thus the low cost of the commodities. However, Monica argues, these cheap production processes have potential dangers of their own, including the exorbitant rise of health care expenditures. She states, â€Å"But the system also has created disasters like last months recall of half a billion salmonella-tainted eggs. Critics

Developing work in and with communities Assignment

Developing work in and with communities - Assignment Example There is no denying that the only way forward is by strengthening the community through cross-community relations. Personally, I believe that integration is a long-way battle considering that Northern Irish society in general, do not subscribe to a unilateral agenda. And as long as these divisions are encouraged, the same issues will thrive and Northern Ireland will remain a weak state in the face of a hypercritical world. Today, various interests groups abound but it is the growing number of youth and working professionals taking part in a nonviolent form of resistance that holds a promise. It means that students do not only feel the burden, they also want to lessen the burden. It means that the working class seeks for counter-culture attacks in the face of the ignoble Irish failure (against European success). It means that the status quo is not favored and the once naà ¯ve groups are finally capable of taking responsibility. The foundation of Section 75 I believe is a testament that the conditions mentioned above are recognized by the state. It is like reinforcing the people that public authorities are there to serve and that amidst the many divisions, the government is one with the people in pushing for a better and inclusive Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, statistics and empirical evidence do not seem to reinforce the government’s stance. Records would agree that children’s rights are continuously hindered by poverty and that poor children are still easy preys for discrimination and economic exploitation. Children remain voiceless. Though there have been researches that involved children’s perspectives on sectarianism, equality promised by Section 75 is nowhere to be found. Although various structural mechanisms have been created to foster service provisions to the youth, the fact is that even schools are no longer havens

Analyzation of the Kings Speech Essay Example for Free

Analyzation of the Kings Speech Essay Anatole Francis wrote, â€Å" To accomplish great things, one must not only act but also dream, not only plan, but also believe.† In the film The King’s Speech, King George VI did not believe that speech therapy could help him. He was so traumatized after trying to articulate clearly in front thousands of people. The audience frowned with disdain and sympathy for him. The minute one experiences embarrassment, he or she will never want to experience it again. The King tried many techniques one can think of, But because of his short fuse and temper, he was not too successful. His supportive wife Elizabeth, seeks a speech therapist named Lionel Logue, who was the key to his success and accomplishments with overcoming his speech impediment. Even though the speech therapist didn’t have a degree, his intense therapeutic lessons did the King well, which proves that no one has to have a degree in order to help someone overcome a challenging obstacle. Overcoming a challenge doesn’t happen instantly or automatically. It is the outcome of an intention and conscious efforts to doing things that scare a person. Pageantry involves frequent public speaking and impromptu questions. On one eventful night of the Miss Sophomore Sweetheart 2009-2010 pageant, there was a contestant who was truly awesome the whole night until the question and answer segment. She stepped out in a gorgeous turquoise cocktail dress and cinderella glass heels. She stood in front of the mic awaiting her question. The contestant was so nervous that her knees began to tremble. The only thing she could do was smile and listen. The master of ceremonies finally began asking the question. As the contestant began to answer the question, she stared right into the audience as they were whispering and giggling. She then stopped in her tracks and started to stumble. Her heart felt a deep pounding because of the embarrassing moment. She then got lost in her answer and terribly confused. To end that embarrassing moment, she just said â€Å"Thank you!† She quickly walked off the stage in disappointment knowing that her chance of the crown was gone. After that, she never wanted to do another show again. Later in the year 2010, she decided that she would like to vie for the prestigious title of Virgin Islands Carnival Queen. But she had one problem and that was the impromptu segment of question and answer. In the film The King’s Speech, there were many techniques used to improve his stuttering. This includes diaphragmatic breathing, shadowing, masking and pacing techniques. Also, when they would have little conversations, when he stuttered, Mr. Logue would tell him to sing it in a song. He also used tongue twisters to exercise his tongue. These techniques were also applied in the lessons for the contestant who stumbled on her words. Her chaperone, Mrs. Kenya Frett Rowe, like Mr. Logue, also doesnt have a degree, but, also like him, she did a great job. Taking smaller breaths with the diaphragm, helped the contestant to relax and to speak more fluently. When relaxing the breathing, the entire body will be relaxed, and this would make the body more comfortable than tense and nervous. This was exactly what the contestant needed. She was also taught to pace herself while answering the question. Slowing down and pacing helps tremendously in preventing stuttering and stumbling. Every other day, Mrs. Rowe and the contestant would work on her issue of answering impromptu questions and giving speeches for the show. The day of any interview or introductory performance, they would go to the place where the event was being held and practice. This was a big help for the contestant because it allowed her to feel comfortable on the day of the event. The night of the Virgin Islands Carnival Queen show was one of the biggest moments of her life. It was time to answer the impromptu question. She stepped out onto the stage with confidence, but deep inside, she was very nervous. As she stood in front of the mic, she thought of all the techniques she was taught. After they asked the question she took a deep breathe and began to answer. After she said â€Å"thank you†, she couldn’t believe that she done it. She was in shock and full of excitement at the same time. She was so relieved that it was over. Her chaperone was very proud. As a result of overcoming challenging obstacles, one grows as a person and expands the possibilities that surrounds their life. Stuttering is due to a combination of factors, including genetic and environmental. In order to overcome challenging obstacles, one must have support and someone who believes in them. Mrs. Rowe believed in her contestant just like Mr. Logue believed in the King. He believed that he was a strong and powerful individual whom with time can overcome any obstacle with good help and support. Even though Mr. Logue did not have a degree, he was still a great therapist. This shows that one does not have to be taught in an academic environment to help someone overcome challenging obstacles. Being experienced is just as good as having a degree.

The three demands of being a college student Essay Example for Free

The three demands of being a college student Essay Modern life offers great opportunities for college graduates. That is why receiving college education is very important in today’s fast dynamic world. However, studying in college puts a lot of responsibilities on the shoulders of students, because they have to experience an increased level of academic requirements and competition, which make them feel more responsible for their actions, achievements, progress and even failures. Since college environment is completely different than the one of high school, studying in college requires from the students to use more skills than they used in high school. Therefore, attending college is more demanding, because students need to learn how to manage their time, strengthen their reading skills, as well as improve their social skills. First of all, effective time management in college is very important for students to be successful. In high school, teachers try to be easy on students with the due dates of the assignments or with students’ being late for the classes. However, in college, teachers tend to set everything in stone. For example, all college students are required to submit their assignments and projects on time. They also have to be in their classes on time whenever exams are held. Not following these guidelines can cause a lot of problems for the students who want to receive high final ratings. Moreover, college requires the students to complete full taken credits successfully. So, for students to do well in college, it is necessary to know how to manage their time properly. Another important demand of being a college student is developing strong reading skills. In college, the majority of classes require students to read in order to understand the lectures throughout the semester. For example, my History 10 class fully depends on reading the textbook in order to understand the lectures given in the class. Also, college teachers require their students to read some specific textbooks, so the students can participate in the graded in-class discussions. That is why college students have to keep in mind that reading is one of the paramount necessities because it helps to achieve good academic success and a great number of their other personal goals. And, finally, most classes in college require students to work in groups for setting a competition among classmates and making the students to receive better results. In order to perform a group work students need to know how to socialize and establish good personal connections with the classmates. Strong social skills help college students to participate in various team projects and receive good reward from such work. Besides, when a student knows how to communicate with his classmates and to convince them of his point of view, he will have a great opportunity to feel more comfortable in social environment of the college. This means that socializing also helps students to be successful and demonstrate great academic performance in college. Therefore, the demands of being a college student are quite different than usual demands for high school students. In college, every student has to learn time management, reading skills, and social skills because those abilities are very helpful for every student to get through the last stage of his or her academic life. Nevertheless, college students should keep in mind that their experience and knowledge received in high school are crucial and very important, because everything they learned during their high school times will help them a lot to progress, advance, get good grades, win a good reputation, and make their years of studying in college bright and interesting.

Ageing and Disability Policies | Country Comparison

Ageing and Disability Policies | Country Comparison Gian Nestle Sorronda Aging and Disability Task 4 4.1 Disability United States of America – In United States of America, they made an act that would help lessen or eliminate discrimination in the country for those people who have disability. This act was created back on 1990 and was called the Americans with Disability Act or ADA which prohibits discrimination towards the disabled person in any sector of the community. This is from employment, transportation, public accommodation, communication and any other government activities. The services of the mentioned should be suitable, reasonable and realistic for the individuals with disabilities to be qualified. New Zealand In New Zealand, they have formed an act that would help and give benefits for the disabled person. The act was called The New Zealand Disability Strategy which was created last 2001. This act pointed out 15 objectives that would basically address the needs of those individual who are suffering from disability. This was made to make sure that New Zealand does have a long term plan for these individuals who are perceived by the society as different. This act also will pave way to changing New Zealand’s point of view from a disabling society to an inclusive society. United Kingdom – In 2010, the United Kingdom replaced the act that was established in 1995 and called the Disability Discrimination Act. It was changed to The Equality Act of 2010 and the goal was to address the discrimination against age, gender, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, civil partnership, marriage, and lastly the disability. This act was established to make sure that the mentioned group or part of the society receives adequate help. The help should be fair enough and proper to make sure that it will comply with the act. Similarities and Differences: The similarities of these two policies are that they wanted the people of their country and their respective community to treat the people with disability with fairness, equality and without discrimination. This means that they need to encourage and allow education for the disabled individual, ensure that their rights are met, proper employment, aware on how to access services, life style choice and allow them to live with a quality life. On the other hand, differences are also noticeable especially in the part of United Kingdom wherein they included the disability together with other part of the society. Unlike the United States of America and New Zealand, they have created a separate act and strategy for those disabled individual to make sure that their needs will be addressed immediately. Aging United States of America – They have established an act for the older people to make sure needs are met. It is called the Older American Act which was established back on 1965. This was created to provide each community to have services for the aging people. This was passed due to the concern that was arising during this time that older people are not receiving appropriate care in the community. The government mostly funds the services that will be provided to the person though there some nonprofit agencies as well that helps out for the services, the government is still the primary provider. United Kingdom – The Equality Act of 2010 by the UK Government also covers the needs and the rights of the aging population by receiving adequate help from them and treat them without discrimination by the public and from the society. This covers from their employment, education and training. One individual who in fact is aging doesn’t lose their rights to be able to work and support themselves. They can continue to be employed as much as they like or pursue any education that they would like. New Zealand – In New Zealand, there are two current act and strategy that is in place and active. One was established in 2001 and called the New Zealand Positive Aging Strategy and the other is the Health of Older People Strategy which was established in 2002. Both of these act has only one goal which is to provide a proper care and place for the aging people and live a quality life despite their age. Both of these also encourage the government or guide the government to have agencies to be able to provide the kind of services that these older people need. Starting from a place where a person can age and still is able to have a quality life until to the services that are needed from transport services, communication and etc. Similarities and Differences The similarities with these act and strategy are that they are aiming one goal for the older people. These acts are a representation from the government by each country that everyone has the right to receive proper care as they aged and that the government is still accountable for them. These countries are well aware as well that they need to fund the services that will be provided to aging people. Their respective government mostly provides the funding and they also linked with other nonprofit or local government unit to provide proper assistance, care, transportation needs, communication needs, mobility needs and that they will not be discriminated in any part of the society from employment to other services for the aged. The differences are mainly how these acts are established. Both US of A and New Zealand created or established a different and specific act and strategy to address the aging population while United Kingdom created a broader aspect as aging was included to their Eq uality Act of 2010 which covers from gender, religion and disability. 4.2 Disability United States of America – The Americans with Disability Act of 1990 or ADA provides services such care in a hospital, education and public transport to the disabled individual from the government. This means that services are being funded by the American government to give out proper care to those who are affected. This is by way of the creation of sub group of the government to particularly provide these cares and also from an individual or private sector but still fully funded by the government. United Kingdom – The Equality Act of 2010 by the government solely addresses the needed guide on how to provide cares to the disabled people. This may be by the government or any private service provider. This is to make sure that cares and services delivered from or by a public hospital, educational institution, nonprofit organization and local government unit are aligned to the act. This is also to ensure that there is no discriminatory act anywhere from banks, shops, colleges, transport services, taxi and public bodies. New Zealand – the New Zealand Disability Strategy of 2001 provides guide on how to be able to give out proper care and services to an individual who is suffering from disability. This is to make sure that services given to them are associated and calibrated by the act. This is also one way of making sure that DHB’s or District Health Board, General Practitioner’s or GP’s and other private and local agencies are providing care without discrimination and that they are providing their care according to the act. Similarities and Differences The similarities within the acts of these three countries are that all of them can be able to apply for those individual who are affected by mental disability and physical disability. These acts were established for them to be able to have an access whenever they needed help. Especially when an individual that has disabilities have been discriminated by and in the society. Lastly, the main goal of these acts is to provide fairness in giving out care and services for an individual who has disability. On the other hand, the difference between these acts is that for the United Kingdom, they merged together 116 legislation and made into an act which will provide better service for the disabled. Some services as well are publicly funded and there are services that are not and could be subsidized by the government and the family. Aging United States of America – The Older American Act of 1965 was established to provide community services for the aging people whose services are often funded by the government and some are provided by a private agency. This is to ensure that older people can still improve their lives in relation to their income, health, housing, employment, long term care, retirement, and community services. The purpose for the act is to provide and enhance the ability of an aging individual to maintain its independence and to be able to stay and interact still in their house and in their community. The funds are given from federal funds wherein it is allocated solely for the purpose of the act. United Kingdom – Since the act made by the UK government replaced previous laws and made into a one act which made it to be easier to grasp and understand. The act just clearly states that providing care for the aged people should be without discrimination. They should be receiving the same treatment as what others received as well. The law particularly states that an individual should be receiving fair treatment when they receive services from the government or any other local government unit and should not be discriminated due to their age. This also covers not only for the services but for education, transportation, accessing the services and communication. New Zealand – This is to ensure that Kiwi’s or New Zealanders will receive proper care and have a significant life while coming to age. The strategy made sure that they will be able to acquire services whenever they needed from DHB’s or District Health Board, in the community and whenever they use transportation. The strategy also made sure that aging individual can still receive services like health and wellness, financial security, independence, self fulfillment, a good and living environment. Similarities and Differences The similarities between these acts by different countries are they aim to make sure that service deliveries are well provisioned and there is fairness in the services given to the older and aging individual. Due to the rampant discrimination of other citizens in these said countries, their government created this acts and their primary goal is to have a positive aging for each individual such as employment of mature workers, changing the society’s attitude towards older people and last the protection of the rights and interest for the older people. On the other hand, there are noted services that are available for the older people that are competent enough to be able to provide idealistic care and services for them but there are also incompetent services such as supporting their life style, recreation and their cultural belief. References: Administration for Commnity Living. Older Americans Act. Retrieved from http://www.aoa.gov/AoA_programs/OAA/ Age UK. The Equality Act- What It Means for You. Retrieved from http://www.ageuk.org.uk/work-and-learning/discrimination-and-rights/the-equality-act/ Equality and Human Rights. What is the Equality Act? Retrieved from http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/legal-and-policy/key-legislatures/equality-act-2010/what-is-the-equality-act Ministry of Social Development. The New Zealand Positive Aging Strategy. Retrieved from https://www.msd.govt.nz/what-we-can-do/seniorcitizens/positive-ageing/strategy/ Office of the Disability Issues. New Zealand Disability Strategy Objectives. Retrieved from http://www.odi.govt.nz/nzds/progress-reports/july01-sept01/new-zealand-disability-strategy-objectives.html Americans with Disability Act of 1990. Retrieved from http://www.ada.gov/pubs/ada.htm Division of Aging Services. History of Older Americans Act. Retrieved from https://aging.dhs.georgia.gov/history-older-americans-act Utilitarianism: The War On Iraq Utilitarianism: The War On Iraq Utilitarianism is the concept that the moral worth of an action is determined exclusively by its contribution to overall utility, that is, its contribution to happiness or pleasure as summed among all people. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral significance of an action is concluded by its outcome. Often described as the greatest good for the greatest number of people  [1]  , the topic can be classified as a quantitative and reductionist approach to ethics. With advocates such as John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham, it is a subject that is perhaps one of the most famous within ethics, Mills book Utilitarianism exemplifies this, as most scholars educated in the subject will be familiar with the work. In relation to the current war in Iraq, the subject is as relevant as ever. However, as with most ethical theories there are differing branches. The main debate within utilitarianism is the act vs. rule question. Act utilitarianism states that, when faced with a choice, we must first think about the likely consequences of potential actions and, from that, choose to do what we believe will result in most gratification. Rule utilitarianism, on the other hand, begins by looking at potential rules of action. To decide whether a rule should be followed, you must look at what would happen if it were constantly followed. If adherence to the rule produces more happiness than otherwise, it is a rule that morally should be adhered to at all times. Some argue that rule utilitarianism collapses into act utilitarianism, because for any given rule, in the case where breaking the rule produces more utility, the rule can be sophisticated by the addition of a sub-rule that handles cases like the exception.  [2]   For the purpose of this essay, we will mainly consider act utilitarianism in relation to the Iraq war. Obviously there are massive questions surrounding the ethical reasoning behind the invasion in Iraq, particularly on the part of the United States, but also in the UK where it is one of the big issues in current news and has been since it all began in 2003. The actual reason for the invasion of Iraq is often queried and there has never been an answer given that can be 100% proven. For example, the main reason given by Bushs government in 2003 was the now infamous Weapons of Mass Destruction. Although advised that only some degraded remnants of misplaced or abandoned chemical weapons from before 1991 were found, they were not the weapons which had been the pretext for the invasion  [3]  , yet it continued regardless. Some US officials also accused Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein of supporting al-Qaeda  [4]  , and other reasons were given such as spreading democracy in the count ry  [5]  , Iraqi government human rights abuse and Iraqs financial support for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers  [6]  . The sceptics amongst us will also point towards the oil factor in the war and many believe the sole reason for invading was fuelled by fuel itself. Even Americas elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, said I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.  [7]   Before utilitarianism and Iraq is examined more closely, the first factor to be considered in any ethical dispute about battle should be the Just War Theory. This concerns itself directly with the ethical debate preceding any conflict, and the actions of combatants concerning ethical execution of warfare. These two distinctions are called Jus ad bellum, i.e. the morality of going to war, and Jus in bello, meaning the morality of action within a war. Both have specific criteria to be addressed and identified before war may be decided ethical. Going to war is just, according to this theory, when there exists a just and proportionate cause, meaning the cause is right, and the seriousness of the issue merits the grave decision to fight. Secondly, right intention, earning a fuller peace will be achieved after war than is possible in the absence of war, and right authority, asserting only those with authority can declare war, must both be fulfilled as well. Lastly, there must be a reasonab le chance of success, and war must be the absolute last option.  [8]  Looking at this list, you could argue that before the invasion even took place we were dealing with a wholly unethical concept. As people cant decide on one definite reason as to why the war in Iraq actually began, it is difficult to argue that there is a just and reasonable cause. Moreover the fact that many believe the war is simply for oil again poses problems for those who would say the right intentions are behind the war, and the fact that Iraq is such a volatile state anyway indicated that the chances of peace after the war are slim. In February 2003, the U.S. Armys top general, Eric Shinseki, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that it would take several hundred thousand soldiers to secure Iraq  [9]  , perhaps indicating that there wasnt a reasonable chance of success either. Also in 2003 French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin stated we believe that military intervention would be the wor st solution  [10]  , in direct contrast to the idea that war should be the absolute last option. All of these would suggest that before utilitarianism has been considered, the war in Iraq is unethical anyway, as if there is such a concept, it is not a just war. Many people might question whether any war can be a just war but World War II is one of the few wars that nearly everyone believes was morally justified. Nazi Germany and Japan were dangerous regimes that committed atrocities against conquered peoples, and many nations felt that they needed to be stopped. For these reasons, some refer to World War II as the good war. In contrast, the social and political turmoil caused by the Vietnam War was based, in part, on debate over whether that war was justified.  [11]   Following on from this, there are also many legal questions surrounding the war in Iraq. With regard to utilitarianism, it is clear that something illegal should not be for the greatest good for the greatest number of people as the UN and even representatives of supporting countries such as the UK have spoken out against it. Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, said of the invasion, I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN Charter. From our point of view, from the Charter point of view, it was illegal.  [12]  Furthermore, Lord Bingham, the former British Law Lord said the war was in serious breach of international law. He went on to accuse Britain and the US of acting like a world vigilante, obviously not a tag youd associate with an ethical war. Bingham said: Particularly disturbing to proponents of the rule of law is the cynical lack of concern for international legality among some top officials in the Bush administration.  [13]  If utilitar ianism is the moral significance of an action being decided by its outcome, then an invasion that besides removing Hussein doesnt seem to have achieved much in over 6 years, and is arguably illegal anyway, then the war in Iraq seems completely unethical. There is lots of literature that covers the topic of utilitarianism and one essay written to offer evidence of its worth as a moral premise, and to retort to common misapprehensions about it is Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill, who will we look at in more detail later. Utilitarianism is defined by Mill as a theory originating from the belief that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. He classifies happiness as pleasure and the absence of pain and continues to argue that pleasure can fluctuate in quality and quantity. Furthermore Mill considers that pleasures that are embedded in your higher faculties should be superior to more base pleasures. Additionally, it is argued that accomplishment of goals such as virtuous living, and other achievement of ambitions and purposes should be considered when thinking about ones happiness.  [14]   Mills thesis embodies his effort to respond to the condemnations of utilitarianism, and thereby to provide a more intricate and distinct moral hypothesis. Reasons that the theory had been criticised include that it does not afford sufficient defence for individual rights an issue which as we will discuss later, Mill himself championed. Another criticism is that happiness is more difficult to understand than shown by the theory and gauging everything by the same standard is not satisfactory or realistic.  [15]   Mill reasons that the theory of utilitarianism overlaps with natural emotions that derive from the social personalities of humans. For this reason, people would innately incorporate these values as an ethical requisite, if the general public were to integrate utilitarianism itself as an ethic. He argues that happiness is the solitary foundation of morality, and that happiness is the only thing that society desires. This claim is backed up by explaining that all the other entities of individuals aspiration are either methods to happiness, or are taken into account when happiness is defined. In a verbose manner Mill describes that the concept of justice is actual fact sourced from utility, and that things like rights subsist simply for the reason that they are essential for individual content.  [16]   The argument for utilitarianism encompasses five chapters. His opening chapter provides an introduction to the essay, and in the following chapter, Mill presents some common delusions about the theory and considers the definition of utilitarianism. The third chapter is an analysis about the definitive incentives that the theory can offer. The penultimate chapter examines techniques of establishing the soundness of utilitarianism. In his fifth and last chapter, particularly relevant to this essay owing to issues like the Just War Theory, Mill writes about the relationship between justice and utility, and argues that happiness is the foundation of justice.  [17]   Looking at the fifth chapter of Mills Utilitarianism in more depth, we can deduce many ideas that also relate to the war on Iraq and whether it is a just or ethical war. The first section of the chapter is largely descriptive as Mill begins by saying that throughout history, one of the major obstacles to the reception of utility has been that it does not tolerate a supposition of justice. Whether or not the justice or injustice of an act is something inherent and separate from questions of utility is what Mill attempts to determine in the chapter. Mill commences by attempting to pinpoint the definition of justice, by coming up with a list of things that are often described as just or unjust. In trying to define justice, Mill considers many factors, including legal rights, deprivation of something someone has a moral right to possess, whether a person receives what they deserve or not, violating agreements, the injustice of preferentialism in improper situations, and finally the notion of equality as an element of justice. In the mainly descriptive first part of the chapter, Mill counters the assertion that utilitarianism is opposed to justice. He mainly writes about the classification of justice and its origins historically and it is also noteworthy that Mill does not offer his own conjecture about what is required for justice. From Mills point of view, justice is not a theoretical model so much as it is a feeling about morality that lots of people possess. As a result, in defining justice Mill studies what other people denote by the term. He concludes that justice exists for the reason that people believe it does, and it means what they consider it to mean. Beginning at the accepted understanding of justice, Mill envisages what associates a different set of ideas about the theory. Subsequently, he puts forward that they are amalgamated by the concept of rights, an idea he brings in through his claims about perfect obligation. For Mill, a right insinuates that an individual has a legitimate entitlement that the social order is to guard them against any desecration. Many advocates of utilitarianism write off the idea of rights, and many debates about the subject are based around whether rights do actually exist, but Mill held a different perspective. Having just defined justice, Mill now turns to the question of whether the sentiment of justice comes from a special, unique tendency of nature, or whether it can be linked to the concerns of utility. Mill argues for the latter. Mill contends that there are two components to justice. The first is the desire to punish a person who has done harm. This desire comes from the impulse of self-defense, and the feeling of sympathy. All animals have instincts of self- defense. However, unlike animals, humans are capable of sympathizing not only with their offspring, but with all human beings. Furthermore, humans are more intelligent, and thus have a wider range of sentiments and are able to feel that they are a part of a broader community of interests. Justice then, reflects the natural feeling of retaliation, expanded by sympathy and intellect to apply to things that harm society at large. In themselves, these feelings are not moral sentiments. Justices moral component can be seen rather in the quality of the outrage people feel at an injustice: people can be upset by an injustice not only if it affects them individually, but if it goes against the interests of society at large; this demonstrates a moral concern. The other component of justice is that there is an identifiable victim who suffers if justice is infringed upon. Mill argues that the idea of a right is not a concept separate from justice, but is rather a manifestation of the other aspects of justice, namely the desire for punishment and the fact that there is an assignable person who has been harmed. A right means that a person has a valid claim on society to protect him in the possession of that right. However, if one wants to know why society should defend this right, Mill argues that the only reason is one of general utility. The sentiment of justice derives its intensity from its link to the animalistic need for retaliation. It gets its moral force from the impressive kind of utility that is involved in rights violationsnamely the interest of security. People cannot do without security, and require before they can enjoy anything else. Security is so fundamental that its difference of degree as a form of utility becomes a differ ence in kind. It is so important that it takes on a feeling of absoluteness, of moral necessity. Mill then observes that if justice exists independent of utility, if it is a standard in its own right that can be understood through introspection, then it is difficult to understand why questions of justice are often so debatable. In fact, there is as fierce a discussion about what is just as there is about what is useful to society, and it is guided by many conflicting ideas. For example, there is a conflict over which acts should be punished, and over the proper apportionment of punishments. In a different arena, there is disagreement over whether people should be paid more for having natural talents, and whether taxes should be graduated, or issued at a flat rate. In fact, the only way to navigate among conflicting claims of justice is to look to the source of its authority, namely, social utility. This does not mean, however, that there is no difference between the just and the expedient, or that policy is more important than justice. Rather, justice grounded on utility is the chief part, and the most important part, of all morality; it concerns many of the most basic essentials for human well-being. Mill argues that the moral rules that forbid people to harm each other are more important than any rules of policy, rules about how societal affairs should be managed. Furthermore, the preservation of justice preserves peace among human beings. Thus, there is a very strong utility interest in preserving and enforcing justices dictates. Mill argues that most of the applications of justice we observe today are simply ways of maintaining the notion of moral rights just discussed. Impartiality is one rule that is partly based in these, but also comes from the very meaning of utility. The greatest happiness principle doesnt have meaning unless each persons happiness, supposed equal in degree, is valued exactly as much as somebody elses. People are seen to have an equal claim to happiness, and an equal claim to the means to happiness. Social inequalities that are not required by expediency are thus seen to be unjust. Mill closes by observing that justice is a name for some moral requirements, which are higher on the scale of utility, and thus more important, than any others. However, there can be cases in which some other social duty is so important that it overrules one of the general rules of justice. Thus, it could be acceptable to steal in order to save a life. Mill argues that the previous discussion has resolved what had been the only real problem with utilitarian theory. It has always been clear that cases of justice are also cases of expediency; the difference is that very different sentiments attach themselves to issues of justice and expeediency. Mill argues that he has accounted for what this feeling is; it is simply the natural feeling of resentment, moralized by being connected to social good. Justice is the name for certain social utilities that are more important than any other kind, and thus should be preserved by a feeling that is different in kind from others. It might be thought that utilitarianism supports the immediate withdrawal of American forces, but that isnt necessarily the case. Indeed, two aspects of utilitarian thought suggest that immediate withdrawal would be wrong. The first of these is the fact that utilitarianism is progressive. As opposed to concepts like Kantian thought, it takes no account of the past. In utilitarianism you deal with the situation you find yourself in. Even if the war in Iraq was wrong, by utilitarian standards, and even if its been badly managed by those same standards, its a separate question what ought to be done now, given the situation as we find it.  [18]  The second aspect is that utilitarianism sanctions negative responsibility. Bernard Williams defines this by saying, If I am ever responsible for anything, then I must be just as much responsible for things that I allow or fail to prevent, as I am for things that I myself, in the more everyday restricted sense, bring about.  [19]  This im plies that a person is responsible not only for what they do, but for what they allow also. With relation to the US occupation, if they withdraw their troops and the differing sects of Iraq, Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds etc, begin to kill each other en masse, as seems likely  [20]  , then from the viewpoint of a utilitarian, the US is responsible, as the deaths could have been prevented. The question utilitarians must answer is which action, available to the US, would maximise overall utility? According to utilitarianism, Americans count for no more than Iraqis.  [21]  Mill describes Bentham as saying Everybody to count for one, nobody for more than one.  [22]  It may be that every action available to the US results in death and suffering, and therefore pleasure doesnt seem an applicable notion; however the question is which action would result in the least deaths and the least suffering. Furthermore, act utilitarianism makes no distinction between the guilty and the innocent e.g. if breaking a promise does not weaken respect for the moral rule to keep promises (in which chaos would result and bad utility would be produced), then the act can be justified.  [23]  This is important because not many utilitarian supporters have spoken out about the Iraq war, and Burgess-Jackson speculates that it may be because it will make utilitarianism look bad  [24]   . He goes on to state that most Americans think American lives are worth more than Iraqi lives, i.e. patriotism. Most think that, all being equal, doing harm is worse than allowing harm. Also many think that what was done in the past is morally relevant to what we ought to do now. Finally, most Americans think that the interests of the innocent are more important than the interests of the guilty. From this spectrum you can see why utilitarianism would look unfavourable. ] Along with the Just War Theory, utilitarian ethics both claim moral correctness through the evaluation of consequences. Other ethicists though, originally Kant, contend that good intention is the true substance of moral certainty. This belief led Kant to propose an ethical system comprised of maxims called duty.  [25]  In this type of system a lie, even when committed under implications of good consequences, is always unethical. Applying Kantian ethics to war is more problematic than this, but in comparison to predicting outcomes it is far more one-dimensional. Kant, urges us to follow a maxim authorising violent action only when our own life is threatened, To preserve ones life is duty  [26]  . If then it was 100% proven that Weapons of Mass Destruction were present in Iraq, then the Kantian maxim for war is satisfied. At present though, it seems it is not. Ethical thinkers can therefore be roughly divided into two sections. First of all we think of those who deem whether an action is moral or immoral owing to the motive behind it. The second camp relates to those who decide whether or not an action is moral with regard to the consequences it manufactures. Kant is firmly in the former camp, making him a deontologist rather than a consequentialist when it comes to ethics. (Deontology stems from the Greek for duty, deon and logos i.e. science.)  [27]  Kant would argue that we are subject to moral judgment because we are able to consider and give reasons for our actions, and hence moral judgment should be directed at our reasons for acting. As has already been established, an extremely important figure in the field of utilitarianism is John Stuart Mill, whose essay we considered earlier. Born in 1806 in London, one of the most important philosophers and writers of the Victorian period, John Stuart Mill was a political activist, and was involved in efforts for social reform throughout his life. Mills father, James Mill, was also a famous philosopher and historian. In order to be properly trained and educated, Mill Senior believed that a childs mind was like a blank slate and must be subject to a strict regimen. Consequently, he isolated his son from children his own age and kept him under a rigorous schedule. He saw to it that by the age of three, Mill was learning Greek, and by the age of eight had become skilled in Latin. Mills day consisted of academic work, and he was granted only one hour of leisure each day. By the age of fourteen, he had studied profoundly in history, logic, mathematics, and economics. Mill began studying Jeremy Bentham at the age of fifteen, the fundamentalist English theorist and more importantly the founder of utilitarianism. The premise of utilitarianism initiated a lifelong quest for social reform.  [28]   In 1822, Mill began publishing and a year later he had helped form the Utilitarian Society, which convened at Benthams house. He recovered from a severe bout of depression in 1826, attributed his emotionally restricted childhood. After this Mill resumed an active academic life, but with an altered point of view. He now allowed for a human dimension in his thought that counterbalanced the futility of utilitarianism, emphasising an intellectual attitude to life at the expense of emotions. Even though Mill was influenced by utilitarianism, a theory that addresses individuals to work for the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people, he nonetheless worked to protect peoples rights, and in particular women. Mills concern for social reform had roots in his belief that the majority often denies liberty to the people, be it through moral judgments, social judgments, or indeed law.  [29]  The concept of individual autonomy reappears right the way through Mills work. He held th e belief that a person may do anything they wish, as long as that persons actions do not harm others. He upheld that governments have no right to interfere with an individuals affairs, even when they use laws that are intended to be beneficial to the individual in question. In effect, the only feasible grounds for any government to exist in the first place is to protect the individual so that he or she experiences defence in times of war, security in peacetime, and safety from deception.  [30]   With regards to the War on Iraq then, you can compare the war to the points raised by Mill. He held that a person could do what they liked, as long as it didnt harm others. Obviously the war in Iraq has harmed countless people in one way or another so this is a violation of liberty. Mill proposed that governments have no right to interfere with an individuals affairs, even when the law is intended to be helpful. Arguably, when you look at the contradictory evidence now at our disposal, Iraq was posing no threat to America or the UK. Hence if we look at Iraq as an individual, then the US government and their allies were interfering with their affairs, even though it was meant to be beneficial, i.e. disposing of Saddam Hussein. Things got so bad in Iraq that people started saying they were better off under Saddam, so for some Iraqi civilians, the interference was completely unnecessary. This is not to say that they had a good life under the dictator, just that it was the better of two evils.  [31]  Furthermore, Mill went on to stress that the only grounds for government to exist is so that the individual, in this case America, would experience safety from deception, security in times of war and also in times of peace. You could argue that all three of these criterions havent been met and hence the Iraq war violates individuals rights as well as being an unjust war. Daniel Pipes raises some great points in his book, Militant Islam Reaches America with the chapter Who is the enemy? The first section of the chapter is entitled, Vagueness and Euphemism. He speaks of the first few weeks after the 9/11 attacks, when Bush would not explicitly name his enemies. He insisted they were neither Afghans nor even Muslims but rather people, as I have noted earlier, whom he called evildoers or the evil ones.  [32]  The chapter is based on the original invasion of Afghanistan, but everything that Pipes says rings true for the war on Iraq also. When Bush announced that military action was being initiated, he defined the goal as the disruption and defeat of the global terror network. Pipes again questions what this means, global terror network is applicable assuming that the global network is not exclusively Al-Qaeda to militant Islamic groups such as Hizbullah and Hamas, the IRA and the Tamil Tigers. Most interestingly however, the last group that Pipes ca tegorises in the potential global terror network is States like Iraq?  [33]  The book was published before the actual invasion of Iraq yet Pipes predicted it, all down to Bushs (arguably clever) vagueness when thinking of a tag for the enemies of the United States. Still no one really knows the real reason Iraq was invaded, and hence for critics of the war such the oil sceptics Pipes argument shows a very interesting argument. Bushs deliberate vagueness meant that in effect, he could do whatever he liked to an enemy state, because the threat of evildoers continuing to try and harm America and Americans  [34]  didnt limit his options to a specific adversary and as long as he could claim some sort of threat, i.e. weapons of mass destruction, then in his mind he could justify America going on the offensive. In conclusion there are many topics in history that we can look at with regard to utilitarianism and war, which show surprising similarities with the Iraq war this essay was

Evaluating Retail Markets in Several Small Cities :: Retail Market Analysis

Due to the resent desire of expanding into one of the following three cities; Ann Arbor, MI, Lincoln, NE and Madison, WI that have been chosen for possible location sites. I Regina Molel, Junior Executive of Swifts’ researched and analyzed the best possible location to start up another Swifts’ boutique, due to the request of Swifts’ CEO, Taylor Swift. At Swifts’ Boutique there will be merchandise that will appeal to those around the ages of 15-24 years old. The ideal area for the new expansion would have a larger population of teenage girls as well as younger women that are within our age range. Our company will be looking for Economic Indicators such as Household Income Growth and Projected Future Job Growth. Site Selection is a key category for the reason that depending on the location selected could make or break a company, for this reason we will be looking at Mall Locations, retail Sales, Local Transportation, and Entertainment and Restaurants. Then finally there is the competition; Swifts’ will be looking into how many stores are there that have the same customer base and would be competing with our brand directly. Madison, WI and Lincoln, Ne both did very well in the category of Population. Madison has a Metro Population of 568,593, Lincoln has a Metro Population of 302,157, and Ann Arbor, MI with 344,791. As for Female Population, Lincoln was on top with a total Female Population of 129,462, then Madison with 118,377, and finally Ann Arbor with 57,779. Ann Arbor may seem like it is being beat in most of the categories but when it comes to our target market Ann Arbor is at the top with 31.8% of their population landing in the range of 15-24 years of age, next with Madison at a 22.1% and lastly, Lincoln with 19%. Looking in to the Economic Indicators is at the highest in Lincoln at .8% Household Income and 44.48% for Future Job Growth, then in Ann Arbor with .4% Household Income, 31.30% Future Job Growth and finally ending in Madison with 0% Household Income, and 36.78% for Future Job Growth. Within the three towns there are possible malls that Swifts’ could expand in that would be sui table. The Retail Sales falls into this category, Madison dominating the Women’s and Girls’ clothing with $382,503 in sales, next would be Lincoln with $218,360, and lastly Ann Arbor with $155,768.

Jaguars :: essays research papers

In appearance the Jaguar is often confused with the Leopard both cats, depending to a degree on sub-species have a similar brownish/yellow base fur colour which is distinctively marked with dark rosette markings. However, the jaguar can be distinguished by the presence of small dots or irregular shapes within the larger rosette markings, a more stocky and muscular body and a shorter tail. Melanistic or black jaguars (see below) are common in certain parts of its range and are often confusingly labelled Black Panthers a name which is also applied to black Leopards. In this melanistic form the cats are more difficult to separate, however the jaguars large head and stocky forelimbs are often a good way to differentiate between the two cats.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the wild, identification would not be an issue as the cats inhabit different continents - the jaguar is the only member of the panthera family to be found in the Americas and its is by far the biggest cat on the continent. The Jaguars range, which once spanned from the southern states of the USA down to the tip of South America, now centres on the north and central parts of the South American continent. The jaguar is predominantly a forest dweller with the highest population densities centring on the lowland rain forests of the Amazon Basin - dry woodland and grassland also serve as suitable terrain, although the cat is rarely found in areas above 8000 feet.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The overall body size and coloration of the cat often relates to its location - jaguars found in dense forested areas of the Amazon Basin are often only half the size of those found in more open terrain and it has been suggested that this can be related to the more frequent occurrence of larger prey species found in open terrain . Coloration of dense forest dwelling jaguars is often darker than those found in grassland and scrub forest - here, as with the darker coloration of rainforest leopards, the darker coats give better camouflage in the low light condition on the forest floor and offers the dark coated cat greater success in hunting and a greater chance of survival.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Unlike many other big cats, apart from man, the jaguar has no rivals - no other predator can compete with this powerful cat. The jaguars main periods of hunting activity are greatly dependant upon location - in some areas which are close to human habitation it appears that the cat is most active at night, whilst in other locations the jaguar is crepuscular and in certain cases diurnal in its hunting activity.

Abolishing Slavery: Abraham Lincoln

Abolishing Slavery: Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the end of slavery all go hand in hand in modern day United States classrooms. Lincoln, a Kentucky native, was the great 16th president of the United States who brought freedom to black slaves throughout the country, forever abolishing slavery in the nation. Well, that’s at least what has been instilled in the young minds of children across the US. Before we can start calling Lincoln the â€Å"Great Emancipator,† or an abolitionist we need to take a look at the facts.Lincoln’s reign as a political leader was in an extremely crucial time of need in our country as the country was tearing apart with the eventual Civil War looming. In 1858 Lincoln ran for, and lost, the senator position in Illinois. His running mate Stephen Douglass made a veteran political move by accusing Lincoln of supporting black equality, which helped put fear into many voters’ ballots when they decided to vote for t he less radical Douglass.Lincoln, being the knowledgeable politician he was, responded with a statement in an attempt to clear his name with the white population by saying â€Å"I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races. † Although these views were most likely used as a political ploy, they didn’t sit well with the black community when Lincoln started receiving credit for freeing the slaves. Fast-forward about a decade when Lincoln was in the presidential seat and Lincoln was facing similar issues in his struggle to unify the wilting United States.As president Lincoln’s main goal was to unify the two sides of the United States: the Union and the Confederacy. In order to unify the country Lincoln had to hurdle his biggest obstacle in abolishing slavery. Perhaps the only reason Lincoln supported the freeing of slaves was because he realized it was the only way to unify the coun try, which is a solid argument in itself to the idea of Lincoln receiving too much credit for freeing the slaves. Anyhow, Lincoln somewhat reluctantly proceeded to announce his plans to abolish slavery with his first plan called compensated emancipation.In this plan Lincoln would free the slaves by paying off the slave owners large sums of money in return for the slaves freedom. Once freed, the slaves must move out of the country to foreign lands such as the Caribbean, Latin America, or West Africa. Although this plan would work for Lincoln in his main goal of unifying the country, the black community was outraged, rightfully so, in that the United States was just as much the blacks land as it was the whites land. After some time, Lincoln finally came to the realization that in order to avoid a country separation he had to release the Emancipation Proclamation (EP).The EP was a two-part document, the first being known as the preliminary EP, which was released on Sep 22, 1862. This g ave the confederate states 100 days to join the union or Lincoln would abolish slavery in the states that continued to rebel. On Jan 1st, 1863 the proclamation went into affect and Lincoln abolished slavery in the nine of the ten states that had yet to join the Union (Texas was exempted). This is the day in history that is perceived to be the day that slavery was forever abolished.However, slavery was only abolished in nine rebellious states while it was legal in states that had been apart of the Union before that Jan 1st date. Although this was clearly not the end of all ends in slavery, it was a genius political move by Lincoln who achieved his goal of unifying the country. But that’s all it was. Lincoln did his job; he unified the country. But, to pronounce Lincoln as the man who ended all slavery is simply put, ridiculous. It was defiantly a start as over 50,000 slaves were freed on that historic day, but was far from over as pockets of the country were continuing on with slavery as if nothing had happened.This included the entire state of Texas who was somehow exempt from the whole ordeal. Lincoln indeed was a great president who brought the country out of deep times, but he was not the man who ended slavery on the spot as we have been inclined to learn over the years. It was the next two or so years leading up to the 13th amendment that deserve most of the credit. The time following the EP was joyous for some, insulting to others, but in truth was most important to the complete freedom of blacks in America. Slavery continued on in the states for quite some time after the EP, which started to confuse many black leaders of the time.One of the most important dates in freeing the blacks was June 19th, 1865, two and a half years after the EP, when General Gordon Granger landed in Galveston, Texas to announce that slavery had been abolished and that at that moment all slaves had equal rights to their slave masters and could do as they please. This creat ed much jubilation in the state and around the country, as these slaves had been â€Å"illegal† slaves for over two years. This date, now celebrated as Juneteenth as an official holiday in 38 states, is considered to be the beginning of the end of slavery in the United States.About 6 months later on Dec 6th, 1865 the 13th amendment was added to the constitution stating that slavery was officially prohibited in the United States of America under any circumstances. It took nearly three years since the EP to completely abolish slavery, which by some people is considered completely ridiculous and insane, but it must be noted that the EP was not put in place to abolish slavery, but was in fact an intricate and in many ways brilliant political move by Abe Lincoln to unify the country.It was not intended to free the slaves as most of us are falsely led to believe. So, when are we going to get the celebration of abolished slavery in America right? No more should Lincoln receive credi t for abolishing slavery, we need a real holiday to celebrate this historic event. How about December 6th? The day when over 4 million slaves were finally free and slavery was officially abolished in the states. So here’s to a December 6th holiday, the day the 13th amendment of the constitution was established.

60 Years of Indian Republic

60 years of Republic, â€Å"India† from the eyes of a common man. India is now progressing on the verge of becoming a developed nation through relentless efforts and thus reinforcing its stand globally. Today as we celebrate 60 years of republic it forces me think what has india achieved for a common man. Today still there are 80 million tribals in india, lakhs of people are still below poverty line which is a paradox for the country of vedas. On the brighter side we assert on the very fact that we are developing, the development is essential but it shudn't be on the extent of taking the lives of innocent people, snatching the shelters of poor on the name of developing big glitzy malls. Well we cannot stop developing but we should be aware of the conditions which still prevail in india and the ones which are alleviated on the name of development. The tears and pains of mumbai attack are still in the eyes of thousands who lost their loved ones, and till date the assassins havnt been punished. So can we feel happy to develop this way. This wasn't the India Bapu and Nehru ji had dreamt of, today we need to build a terror free and violence free india. An India of everyone's dreams! Being an Indian it aches to see the treasures of Gandhi ji being destroyed, as it happned when the Van Vasi Chetna Asharam was destroyed just because they violated against Salwa Judum, at Dantewada district in Chattisgarh. The communal harmony is still killing thousands just on the issue of being a hindu and a muslim. We still need enlightenment of our hearts for instilling in us the feelings of brotherhood and love! So that we dont witness again another Ram mandir and Babri masjid issue. Today when we talk of modernisation and development, these communal harmonies tear us apart and take us aback. The state is elected by the people but during the intercourse of development the worst sufferers are the poors who cannot exercise their rights, who are thrown away from their dwellings to rural places in the name of making the city clean and beautification. The Nandigram violence is another set back which killed innocents in the name of development. So lets learn make others aware of the reality which India faces each chilly night, still there are thousand homeless, forced to spend night huddled in a single blanket when the whole city sleeps in quilts. I am not against development but it shudnt be carried out putting the guns on the shoulders of poor. Lets develop in a way that there occurs no harm to nybody, lets flourish with a feeling of love and lets be empathic towards the harsh realities of our country. Lets learn to raise voice against injustice and help the sufferers then whether the war be against individuals, big celebrities or the state, to stand with courage against the feigning personalities in politics or anywhere. If we kindle this spirit today, there would be thousands to follow and muster strength can work wonders, so lets spread this message with a hope to see india democratic in a real sense! Let us condone our vindictiveness for religions and rise above the horizons where each human is equal in the eyes of almighty. This way we can carve a Beautiful India- the golden bird n true sense!!! last but not the least i cannot conclude without saying the lines- † SARE JAHAN SE ACHA HINDUSTAN HAMARA, HUM BULBULEIN HAI ISKI YE GULISTAN HAMARA† Jai Hind!!!!

Thesis for Gun Control

COM 220 Gun Control I belive there is a need to increase gun control in an effort to decrease crimes that are related guns. The control of guns has been a controversdial topic as far back as 1813. In today’s society the issues regarding gun control have been controversial. Many strict laws have been passed by the federal government to regulate ownership of guns. In an attempt to regulate gun control many people believe that past familiar high profile political shootings have been as a result of the impactful gun control restrictions.In 2008 there was a battle taking place in The Supreme Court that voted five to four in favor of the American people’s constitutional right to keep a loaded handgun at home for self-defense. The ruling has made anti- gun supporters disagree and angry. Weapons are tools used for a variety of reasons weather it’s for safe guarding material that is highly pilfer able or protection of a family home. Guns are tools that should be treated a nd handled with respect and should not be abused or misused by any means.It is a privilege as well as a right that a person may own a weapon if he or she should decide to do so. I support the right to own and bear fire arms. I understand that if weapons get into the wrong hands tragedies can be a result. I believe that there should be stricter laws for those who have commited felonies, have been a respondent to a restraining order, committed assault, or any other hanous crime. I understand that crime will never cease in this world but that should not be the factor to make an infringement to the Second Amendment.

About Hemja Villege Resort

Hemja Village Resort is newly organized service oriented business venture in the tourist sector (Pokhara). The proposed resort is located at Hemja, Pokhara. The resort is situated at the middle part of Hemja, near of Tibetian Camp near of the Pokhara city. It is spread over 2 biga with full of the facility HVR is a partnership organization, comprising of two business partners. The total investment would be around 5 million. Each business partners would invest 2. 5 million each.The Hemja Village Resort was envisioned to be Nepal’s most luxurious and exclusive property, offering amenities that a modern world-weary traveler can desire. The proposed schemes are very good, reliable, and qualitative service with reasonable price. The main objective of the resort is to establish a small-scale resort to provide the good lodging and food services to internal and external customer with full availability of recreational activities and ultimately achieve the large pie of the marketplace.T hat â€Å"Quality Service for all† would be our slogan. The management committee vision three types of customers Nepali, Indian, and foreign (from different countries like Japan, German, America, Australia, Korea, china). The resort is estimating near about 3,000 customers in the first year with the incremental of 20% each year. This resort is thinking to attain an average growth in service revenue of about 10% per year and to increase market share by 10% annually. HVR reaches breakeven point in the second year of operation and earn profit thereafter.The special promotional tools would be used such as FM, Newspaper, TV channels, banners, and news journal, e. t. c. customers can gain information and book their services from our website: www. hemjavillegeresort. com. np. During the first few years, HVR uses the low cost advantage strategy and differentiation strategy to attract the more customers and then after few years of operation it uses the growth strategy for the developm ent of resort as the marketing strategy.In its marketing mix 7 Ps are analyzed. These are product, price, place, promotion, people, process, physical environment. HVR will use a set of action programme to achieve its marketing objectives. The financial projection is based on the implementation of the action programme, which gives the detail information about the income and expenses of the resort. To evaluate overalls performance of the resort it implements the monthly, quarterly or annual evaluation and control syste

A Game of Thrones Chapter Eleven

â€Å"My fellow magisters have doubled the size of the city guard,† Illyrio told them over platters of honey duck and orange snap peppers one night at the manse that had been Drogo’s. The khal had joined his khalasar, his estate given over to Daenerys and her brother until the wedding. â€Å"Best we get Princess Daenerys wedded quickly before they hand half the wealth of Pentos away to sellswords and bravos,† Ser Jorah Mormont jested. The exile had offered her brother his sword the night Dany had been sold to Kbal Drogo; Viserys had accepted eagerly. Mormont had been their constant companion ever since. Magister Illyrio laughed lightly through his forked beard, but Viserys did not so much as smile. â€Å"He can have her tomorrow, if he likes,† her brother said. He glanced over at Dany, and she lowered her eyes. â€Å"So long as he pays the price.† Illyrio waved a languid hand in the air, rings glittering on his fat fingers. â€Å"I have told you, all is settled. Trust me. The khal has promised you a crown, and you shall have it.† â€Å"Yes, but when?† â€Å"When the khal chooses,† Illyrio said. â€Å"He will have the girl first, and after they are wed he must make his procession across the plains and present her to the dosh khaleen at Vaes Dothrak. After that, perhaps. If the omens favor war.† Viserys seethed with impatience. â€Å"I piss on Dothraki omens. The Usurper sits on my father’s throne. How long must I wait?† Illyrio gave a massive shrug. â€Å"You have waited most of your life, great king. What is another few months, another few years?† Ser Jorah, who had traveled as far east as Vaes Dothrak, nodded in agreement. â€Å"I counsel you to be patient, Your Grace. The Dothraki are true to their word, but they do things in their own time. A lesser man may beg a favor from the khal, but must never presume to berate him.† Viserys bristled. â€Å"Guard your tongue, Mormont, or I’ll have it out. I am no lesser man, I am the rightful Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. The dragon does not beg.† Ser Jorah lowered his eyes respectfully. Illyrio smiled enigmatically and tore a wing from the duck. Honey and grease ran over his fingers and dripped down into his beard as he nibbled at the tender meat. There are no more dragons, Dany thought, staring at her brother, though she did not dare say it aloud. Yet that night she dreamt of one. Viserys was hitting her, hurting her. She was naked, clumsy with fear. She ran from him, but her body seemed thick and ungainly. He struck her again. She stumbled and fell. â€Å"You woke the dragon,† he screamed as he kicked her. â€Å"You woke the dragon, you woke the dragon.† Her thighs were slick with blood. She closed her eyes and whimpered. As if in answer, there was a hideous ripping sound and the crackling of some great fire. When she looked again, Viserys was gone, great columns of flame rose all around, and in the midst of them was the dragon. It turned its great head slowly. When its molten eyes found hers, she woke, shaking and covered with a fine sheen of sweat. She had never been so afraid . . .. . . until the day of her wedding came at last. The ceremony began at dawn and continued until dusk, an endless day of drinking and feasting and fighting. A mighty earthen ramp had been raised amid the grass palaces, and there Dany was seated beside Khal Drogo, above the seething sea of Dothraki. She had never seen so many people in one place, nor people so strange and frightening. The horselords might put on rich fabrics and sweet perfumes when they visited the Free Cities, but out under the open sky they kept the old ways. Men and women alike wore painted leather vests over bare chests and horsehair leggings cinched by bronze medallion belts, and the warriors greased their long braids with fat from the rendering pits. They gorged themselves on horseflesh roasted with honey and peppers, drank themselves blind on fermented mare’s milk and Illyrio’s fine wines, and spat jests at each other across the fires, their voices harsh and alien in Dany’s ears. Viserys was seated just below her, splendid in a new black wool tunic with a scarlet dragon on the chest. Illyrio and Ser Jorah sat beside him. Theirs was a place of high honor, just below the khal’s own bloodriders, but Dany could see the anger in her brother’s lilac eyes. He did not like sitting beneath her, and he fumed when the slaves offered each dish first to the khal and his bride, and served him from the portions they refused. He could do nothing but nurse his resentment, so nurse it he did, his mood growing blacker by the hour at each insult to his person. Dany had never felt so alone as she did seated in the midst of that vast horde. Her brother had told her to smile, and so she smiled until her face ached and the tears came unbidden to her eyes. She did her best to hide them, knowing how angry Viserys would be if he saw her crying, terrified of how Khal Drogo might react. Food was brought to her, steaming joints of meat and thick black sausages and Dothraki blood pies, and later fruits and sweetgrass stews and delicate pastries from the kitchens of Pentos, but she waved it all away. Her stomach was a roil, and she knew she could keep none of it down. There was no one to talk to. Khal Drogo shouted commands and jests down to his bloodriders, and laughed at their replies, but he scarcely glanced at Dany beside him. They had no common language. Dothraki was incomprehensible to her, and the khal knew only a few words of the bastard Valyrian of the Free Cities, and none at all of the Common Tongue of the Seven Kingdoms. She would even have welcomed the conversation of Illyrio and her brother, but they were too far below to hear her. So she sat in her wedding silks, nursing a cup of honeyed wine, afraid to eat, talking silently to herself. I am blood of the dragon, she told herself. I am Daenerys Stormborn, Princess of Dragonstone, of the blood and seed of Aegon the Conqueror. The sun was only a quarter of the way up the sky when she saw her first man die. Drums were beating as some of the women danced for the khal. Drogo watched without expression, but his eyes followed their movements, and from time to time he would toss down a bronze medallion for the women to fight over. The warriors were watching too. One of them finally stepped into the circle, grabbed a dancer by the arm, pushed her down to the ground, and mounted her right there, as a stallion mounts a mare. Illyrio had told her that might happen. â€Å"The Dothraki mate like the animals in their herds. There is no privacy in a khalasar, and they do not understand sin or shame as we do.† Dany looked away from the coupling, frightened when she realized what was happening, but a second warrior stepped forward, and a third, and soon there was no way to avert her eyes. Then two men seized the same woman. She heard a shout, saw a shove, and in the blink of an eye the arakhs were out, long razor-sharp blades, half sword and half scythe. A dance of death began as the warriors circled and slashed, leaping toward each other, whirling the blades around their heads, shrieking insults at each clash. No one made a move to interfere. It ended as quickly as it began. The arakhs shivered together faster than Dany could follow, one man missed a step, the other swung his blade in a flat arc. Steel bit into flesh just above the Dothraki’s waist, and opened him from backbone to belly button, spilling his entrails into the dust. As the loser died, the winner took hold of the nearest woman—not even the one they had been quarreling over—and had her there and then. Slaves carried off the body, and the dancing resumed. Magister Illyrio had warned Dany about this too. â€Å"A Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is deemed a dull affair,† he had said. Her wedding must have been especially blessed; before the day was over, a dozen men had died. As the hours passed, the terror grew in Dany, until it was all she could do not to scream. She was afraid of the Dothraki, whose ways seemed alien and monstrous, as if they were beasts in human skins and not true men at all. She was afraid of her brother, of what he might do if she failed him. Most of all, she was afraid of what would happen tonight under the stars, when her brother gave her up to the hulking giant who sat drinking beside her with a face as still and cruel as a bronze mask. I am the blood of the dragon, she told herself again. When at last the sun was low in the sky, Khal Drogo clapped his hands together, and the drums and the shouting and feasting came to a sudden halt. Drogo stood and pulled Dany to her feet beside him. It was time for her bride gifts. And after the gifts, she knew, after the sun had gone down, it would be time for the first ride and the consummation of her marriage. Dany tried to put the thought aside, but it would not leave her. She hugged herself to try to keep from shaking. Her brother Viserys gifted her with three handmaids. Dany knew they had cost him nothing; Illyrio no doubt had provided the girls. Irri and Jhiqui were copper-skinned Dothraki with black hair and almond-shaped eyes, Doreah a fair-haired, blue-eyed Lysene girl. â€Å"These are no common servants, sweet sister,† her brother told her as they were brought forward one by one. â€Å"Illyrio and I selected them personally for you. Irri will teach you riding, Jhiqui the Dothraki tongue, and Doreah will instruct you in the womanly arts of love.† He smiled thinly. â€Å"She’s very good, Illyrio and I can both swear to that.† Ser Jorah Mormont apologized for his gift. â€Å"It is a small thing, my princess, but all a poor exile could afford,† he said as he laid a small stack of old books before her. They were histories and songs of the Seven Kingdoms, she saw, written in the Common Tongue. She thanked him with all her heart. Magister Illyrio murmured a command, and four burly slaves hurried forward, bearing between them a great cedar chest bound in bronze. When she opened it, she found piles of the finest velvets and damasks the Free Cities could produce . . . and resting on top, nestled in the soft cloth, three huge eggs. Dany gasped. They were the most beautiful things she had ever seen, each different than the others, patterned in such rich colors that at first she thought they were crusted with jewels, and so large it took both of her hands to hold one. She lifted it delicately, expecting that it would be made of some fine porcelain or delicate enamel, or even blown glass, but it was much heavier than that, as if it were all of solid stone. The surface of the shell was covered with tiny scales, and as she turned the egg between her fingers, they shimmered like polished metal in the light of the setting sun. One egg was a deep green, with burnished bronze flecks that came and went depending on how Dan y turned it. Another was pale cream streaked with gold. The last was black, as black as a midnight sea, yet alive with scarlet ripples and swirls. â€Å"What are they?† she asked, her voice hushed and full of wonder. â€Å"Dragon’s eggs, from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai,† said Magister Illyrio. â€Å"The eons have turned them to stone, yet still they burn bright with beauty.† â€Å"I shall treasure them always.† Dany had heard tales of such eggs, but she had never seen one, nor thought to see one. It was a truly magnificent gift, though she knew that Illyrio could afford to be lavish. He had collected a fortune in horses and slaves for his part in selling her to Khal Drogo. The khal’s bloodriders offered her the traditional three weapons, and splendid weapons they were. Haggo gave her a great leather whip with a silver handle, Cohollo a magnificent arakh chased in gold, and Qotho a double-curved dragonbone bow taller than she was. Magister Illyrio and Ser Jorah had taught her the traditional refusals for these offerings. â€Å"This is a gift worthy of a great warrior, O blood of my blood, and I am but a woman. Let my lord husband bear these in my stead.† And so Khal Drogo too received his â€Å"bride gifts.† Other gifts she was given in plenty by other Dothraki: slippers and jewels and silver rings for her hair, medallion belts and painted vests and soft furs, sandsilks and jars of scent, needles and feathers and tiny bottles of purple glass, and a gown made from the skin of a thousand mice. â€Å"A handsome gift, Khaleesi,† Magister Illyrio said of the last, after he had told her what it was. â€Å"Most lucky.† The gifts mounted up around her in great piles, more gifts than she could possibly imagine, more gifts than she could want or use. And last of all, Khal Drogo brought forth his own bride gift to her. An expectant hush rippled out from the center of the camp as he left her side, growing until it had swallowed the whole khalasar. When he returned, the dense press of Dothraki gift-givers parted before him, and he led the horse to her. She was a young filly, spirited and splendid. Dany knew just enough about horses to know that this was no ordinary animal. There was something about her that took the breath away. She was grey as the winter sea, with a mane like silver smoke. Hesitantly she reached out and stroked the horse’s neck, ran her fingers through the silver of her mane. Khal Drogo said something in Dothraki and Magister Illyrio translated. â€Å"Silver for the silver of your hair, the khal says.† â€Å"She’s beautiful,† Dany murmured. â€Å"She is the pride of the khalasar, † Illyrio said. â€Å"Custom decrees that the khaleesi must ride a mount worthy of her place by the side of the khal.† Drogo stepped forward and put his hands on her waist. He lifted her up as easily as if she were a child and set her on the thin Dothraki saddle, so much smaller than the ones she was used to. Dany sat there uncertain for a moment. No one had told her about this part. â€Å"What should I do?† she asked Illyrio. It was Ser Jorah Mormont who answered. â€Å"Take the reins and ride. You need not go far.† Nervously Dany gathered the reins in her hands and slid her feet into the short stirrups. She was only a fair rider; she had spent far more time traveling by ship and wagon and palanquin than by horseback. Praying that she would not fall off and disgrace herself, she gave the filly the lightest and most timid touch with her knees. And for the first time in hours, she forgot to be afraid. Or perhaps it was for the first time ever. The silver-grey filly moved with a smooth and silken gait, and the crowd parted for her, every eye upon them. Dany found herself moving faster than she had intended, yet somehow it was exciting rather than terrifying. The horse broke into a trot, and she smiled. Dothraki scrambled to clear a path. The slightest pressure with her legs, the lightest touch on the reins, and the filly responded. She sent it into a gallop, and now the Dothraki were hooting and laughing and shouting at her as they jumped out of her way. As she turned to ride back, a firepit loomed ahead, directly in her path. They were hemmed in on either side, with no room to stop. A daring she had never known filled Daenerys then, and she gave the filly her head. The silver horse leapt the flames as if she had wings. When she pulled up before Magister Illyrio, she said, â€Å"Tell Khal Drogo that he has given me the wind.† The fat Pentoshi stroked his yellow beard as he repeated her words in Dothraki, and Dany saw her new husband smile for the first time. The last sliver of sun vanished behind the high walls of Pentos to the west just then. Dany had lost all track of time. Khal Drogo commanded his bloodriders to bring forth his own horse, a lean red stallion. As the khal was saddling the horse, Viserys slid close to Dany on her silver, dug his fingers into her leg, and said, â€Å"Please him, sweet sister, or I swear, you will see the dragon wake as it has never woken before.† The fear came back to her then, with her brother’s words. She felt like a child once more, only thirteen and all alone, not ready for what was about to happen to her. They rode out together as the stars came out, leaving the khalasar and the grass palaces behind. Khal Drogo spoke no word to her, but drove his stallion at a hard trot through the gathering dusk. The tiny silver bells in his long braid rang softly as he rode. â€Å"I am the blood of the dragon,† she whispered aloud as she followed, trying to keep her courage up. â€Å"I am the blood of the dragon. I am the blood of the dragon.† The dragon was never afraid. Afterward she could not say how far or how long they had ridden, but it was full dark when they stopped at a grassy place beside a small stream. Drogo swung off his horse and lifted her down from hers. She felt as fragile as glass in his hands, her limbs as weak as water. She stood there helpless and trembling in her wedding silks while he secured the horses, and when he turned to look at her, she began to cry. Khal Drogo stared at her tears, his face strangely empty of expression. â€Å"No,† he said. He lifted his hand and rubbed away the tears roughly with a callused thumb. â€Å"You speak the Common Tongue,† Dany said in wonder. â€Å"No,† he said again. Perhaps he had only that word, she thought, but it was one word more than she had known he had, and somehow it made her feel a little better. Drogo touched her hair lightly, sliding the silver-blond strands between his fingers and murmuring softly in Dothraki. Dany did not understand the words, yet there was warmth in the tone, a tenderness she had never expected from this man. He put his finger under her chin and lifted her head, so she was looking up into his eyes. Drogo towered over her as he towered over everyone. Taking her lightly under the arms, he lifted her and seated her on a rounded rock beside the stream. Then he sat on the ground facing her, legs crossed beneath him, their faces finally at a height. â€Å"No,† he said. â€Å"Is that the only word you know?† she asked him. Drogo did not reply. His long heavy braid was coiled in the dirt beside him. He pulled it over his right shoulder and began to remove the bells from his hair, one by one. After a moment Dany leaned forward to help. When they were done, Drogo gestured. She understood. Slowly, carefully, she began to undo his braid. It took a long time. All the while he sat there silently, watching her. When she was done, he shook his head, and his hair spread out behind him like a river of darkness, oiled and gleaming. She had never seen hair so long, so black, so thick. Then it was his turn. He began to undress her. His fingers were deft and strangely tender. He removed her silks one by one, carefully, while Dany sat unmoving, silent, looking at his eyes. When he bared her small breasts, she could not help herself. She averted her eyes and covered herself with her hands. â€Å"No,† Drogo said. He pulled her hands away from her breasts, gently but firmly, then lifted her face again to make her look at him. â€Å"No,† he repeated. â€Å"No,† she echoed back at him. He stood her up then and pulled her close to remove the last of her silks. The night air was chilly on her bare skin. She shivered, and gooseflesh covered her arms and legs. She was afraid of what would come next, but for a while nothing happened. Khal Drogo sat with his legs crossed, looking at her, drinking in her body with his eyes. After a while he began to touch her. Lightly at first, then harder. She could sense the fierce strength in his hands, but he never hurt her. He held her hand in his own and brushed her fingers, one by one. He ran a hand gently down her leg. He stroked her face, tracing the curve of her ears, running a finger gently around her mouth. He put both hands in her hair and combed it with his fingers. He turned her around, massaged her shoulders, slid a knuckle down the path of her spine. It seemed as if hours passed before his hands finally went to her breasts. He stroked the soft skin underneath until it tingled. He circled her nipples with his thumbs, pinched them between thumb and forefinger, then began to pull at her, very lightly at first, then more insistently, until her nipples stiffened and began to ache. He stopped then, and drew her down onto his lap. Dany was flushed and breathless, her heart fluttering in her chest. He cupped her face in his huge hands and looked into his eyes. â€Å"No?† he said, and she knew it was a question. She took his hand and moved it down to the wetness between her thighs. â€Å"Yes,† she whispered as she put his finger inside her. A Game of Thrones Chapter Eleven â€Å"My fellow magisters have doubled the size of the city guard,† Illyrio told them over platters of honey duck and orange snap peppers one night at the manse that had been Drogo’s. The khal had joined his khalasar, his estate given over to Daenerys and her brother until the wedding. â€Å"Best we get Princess Daenerys wedded quickly before they hand half the wealth of Pentos away to sellswords and bravos,† Ser Jorah Mormont jested. The exile had offered her brother his sword the night Dany had been sold to Kbal Drogo; Viserys had accepted eagerly. Mormont had been their constant companion ever since. Magister Illyrio laughed lightly through his forked beard, but Viserys did not so much as smile. â€Å"He can have her tomorrow, if he likes,† her brother said. He glanced over at Dany, and she lowered her eyes. â€Å"So long as he pays the price.† Illyrio waved a languid hand in the air, rings glittering on his fat fingers. â€Å"I have told you, all is settled. Trust me. The khal has promised you a crown, and you shall have it.† â€Å"Yes, but when?† â€Å"When the khal chooses,† Illyrio said. â€Å"He will have the girl first, and after they are wed he must make his procession across the plains and present her to the dosh khaleen at Vaes Dothrak. After that, perhaps. If the omens favor war.† Viserys seethed with impatience. â€Å"I piss on Dothraki omens. The Usurper sits on my father’s throne. How long must I wait?† Illyrio gave a massive shrug. â€Å"You have waited most of your life, great king. What is another few months, another few years?† Ser Jorah, who had traveled as far east as Vaes Dothrak, nodded in agreement. â€Å"I counsel you to be patient, Your Grace. The Dothraki are true to their word, but they do things in their own time. A lesser man may beg a favor from the khal, but must never presume to berate him.† Viserys bristled. â€Å"Guard your tongue, Mormont, or I’ll have it out. I am no lesser man, I am the rightful Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. The dragon does not beg.† Ser Jorah lowered his eyes respectfully. Illyrio smiled enigmatically and tore a wing from the duck. Honey and grease ran over his fingers and dripped down into his beard as he nibbled at the tender meat. There are no more dragons, Dany thought, staring at her brother, though she did not dare say it aloud. Yet that night she dreamt of one. Viserys was hitting her, hurting her. She was naked, clumsy with fear. She ran from him, but her body seemed thick and ungainly. He struck her again. She stumbled and fell. â€Å"You woke the dragon,† he screamed as he kicked her. â€Å"You woke the dragon, you woke the dragon.† Her thighs were slick with blood. She closed her eyes and whimpered. As if in answer, there was a hideous ripping sound and the crackling of some great fire. When she looked again, Viserys was gone, great columns of flame rose all around, and in the midst of them was the dragon. It turned its great head slowly. When its molten eyes found hers, she woke, shaking and covered with a fine sheen of sweat. She had never been so afraid . . .. . . until the day of her wedding came at last. The ceremony began at dawn and continued until dusk, an endless day of drinking and feasting and fighting. A mighty earthen ramp had been raised amid the grass palaces, and there Dany was seated beside Khal Drogo, above the seething sea of Dothraki. She had never seen so many people in one place, nor people so strange and frightening. The horselords might put on rich fabrics and sweet perfumes when they visited the Free Cities, but out under the open sky they kept the old ways. Men and women alike wore painted leather vests over bare chests and horsehair leggings cinched by bronze medallion belts, and the warriors greased their long braids with fat from the rendering pits. They gorged themselves on horseflesh roasted with honey and peppers, drank themselves blind on fermented mare’s milk and Illyrio’s fine wines, and spat jests at each other across the fires, their voices harsh and alien in Dany’s ears. Viserys was seated just below her, splendid in a new black wool tunic with a scarlet dragon on the chest. Illyrio and Ser Jorah sat beside him. Theirs was a place of high honor, just below the khal’s own bloodriders, but Dany could see the anger in her brother’s lilac eyes. He did not like sitting beneath her, and he fumed when the slaves offered each dish first to the khal and his bride, and served him from the portions they refused. He could do nothing but nurse his resentment, so nurse it he did, his mood growing blacker by the hour at each insult to his person. Dany had never felt so alone as she did seated in the midst of that vast horde. Her brother had told her to smile, and so she smiled until her face ached and the tears came unbidden to her eyes. She did her best to hide them, knowing how angry Viserys would be if he saw her crying, terrified of how Khal Drogo might react. Food was brought to her, steaming joints of meat and thick black sausages and Dothraki blood pies, and later fruits and sweetgrass stews and delicate pastries from the kitchens of Pentos, but she waved it all away. Her stomach was a roil, and she knew she could keep none of it down. There was no one to talk to. Khal Drogo shouted commands and jests down to his bloodriders, and laughed at their replies, but he scarcely glanced at Dany beside him. They had no common language. Dothraki was incomprehensible to her, and the khal knew only a few words of the bastard Valyrian of the Free Cities, and none at all of the Common Tongue of the Seven Kingdoms. She would even have welcomed the conversation of Illyrio and her brother, but they were too far below to hear her. So she sat in her wedding silks, nursing a cup of honeyed wine, afraid to eat, talking silently to herself. I am blood of the dragon, she told herself. I am Daenerys Stormborn, Princess of Dragonstone, of the blood and seed of Aegon the Conqueror. The sun was only a quarter of the way up the sky when she saw her first man die. Drums were beating as some of the women danced for the khal. Drogo watched without expression, but his eyes followed their movements, and from time to time he would toss down a bronze medallion for the women to fight over. The warriors were watching too. One of them finally stepped into the circle, grabbed a dancer by the arm, pushed her down to the ground, and mounted her right there, as a stallion mounts a mare. Illyrio had told her that might happen. â€Å"The Dothraki mate like the animals in their herds. There is no privacy in a khalasar, and they do not understand sin or shame as we do.† Dany looked away from the coupling, frightened when she realized what was happening, but a second warrior stepped forward, and a third, and soon there was no way to avert her eyes. Then two men seized the same woman. She heard a shout, saw a shove, and in the blink of an eye the arakhs were out, long razor-sharp blades, half sword and half scythe. A dance of death began as the warriors circled and slashed, leaping toward each other, whirling the blades around their heads, shrieking insults at each clash. No one made a move to interfere. It ended as quickly as it began. The arakhs shivered together faster than Dany could follow, one man missed a step, the other swung his blade in a flat arc. Steel bit into flesh just above the Dothraki’s waist, and opened him from backbone to belly button, spilling his entrails into the dust. As the loser died, the winner took hold of the nearest woman—not even the one they had been quarreling over—and had her there and then. Slaves carried off the body, and the dancing resumed. Magister Illyrio had warned Dany about this too. â€Å"A Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is deemed a dull affair,† he had said. Her wedding must have been especially blessed; before the day was over, a dozen men had died. As the hours passed, the terror grew in Dany, until it was all she could do not to scream. She was afraid of the Dothraki, whose ways seemed alien and monstrous, as if they were beasts in human skins and not true men at all. She was afraid of her brother, of what he might do if she failed him. Most of all, she was afraid of what would happen tonight under the stars, when her brother gave her up to the hulking giant who sat drinking beside her with a face as still and cruel as a bronze mask. I am the blood of the dragon, she told herself again. When at last the sun was low in the sky, Khal Drogo clapped his hands together, and the drums and the shouting and feasting came to a sudden halt. Drogo stood and pulled Dany to her feet beside him. It was time for her bride gifts. And after the gifts, she knew, after the sun had gone down, it would be time for the first ride and the consummation of her marriage. Dany tried to put the thought aside, but it would not leave her. She hugged herself to try to keep from shaking. Her brother Viserys gifted her with three handmaids. Dany knew they had cost him nothing; Illyrio no doubt had provided the girls. Irri and Jhiqui were copper-skinned Dothraki with black hair and almond-shaped eyes, Doreah a fair-haired, blue-eyed Lysene girl. â€Å"These are no common servants, sweet sister,† her brother told her as they were brought forward one by one. â€Å"Illyrio and I selected them personally for you. Irri will teach you riding, Jhiqui the Dothraki tongue, and Doreah will instruct you in the womanly arts of love.† He smiled thinly. â€Å"She’s very good, Illyrio and I can both swear to that.† Ser Jorah Mormont apologized for his gift. â€Å"It is a small thing, my princess, but all a poor exile could afford,† he said as he laid a small stack of old books before her. They were histories and songs of the Seven Kingdoms, she saw, written in the Common Tongue. She thanked him with all her heart. Magister Illyrio murmured a command, and four burly slaves hurried forward, bearing between them a great cedar chest bound in bronze. When she opened it, she found piles of the finest velvets and damasks the Free Cities could produce . . . and resting on top, nestled in the soft cloth, three huge eggs. Dany gasped. They were the most beautiful things she had ever seen, each different than the others, patterned in such rich colors that at first she thought they were crusted with jewels, and so large it took both of her hands to hold one. She lifted it delicately, expecting that it would be made of some fine porcelain or delicate enamel, or even blown glass, but it was much heavier than that, as if it were all of solid stone. The surface of the shell was covered with tiny scales, and as she turned the egg between her fingers, they shimmered like polished metal in the light of the setting sun. One egg was a deep green, with burnished bronze flecks that came and went depending on how Dan y turned it. Another was pale cream streaked with gold. The last was black, as black as a midnight sea, yet alive with scarlet ripples and swirls. â€Å"What are they?† she asked, her voice hushed and full of wonder. â€Å"Dragon’s eggs, from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai,† said Magister Illyrio. â€Å"The eons have turned them to stone, yet still they burn bright with beauty.† â€Å"I shall treasure them always.† Dany had heard tales of such eggs, but she had never seen one, nor thought to see one. It was a truly magnificent gift, though she knew that Illyrio could afford to be lavish. He had collected a fortune in horses and slaves for his part in selling her to Khal Drogo. The khal’s bloodriders offered her the traditional three weapons, and splendid weapons they were. Haggo gave her a great leather whip with a silver handle, Cohollo a magnificent arakh chased in gold, and Qotho a double-curved dragonbone bow taller than she was. Magister Illyrio and Ser Jorah had taught her the traditional refusals for these offerings. â€Å"This is a gift worthy of a great warrior, O blood of my blood, and I am but a woman. Let my lord husband bear these in my stead.† And so Khal Drogo too received his â€Å"bride gifts.† Other gifts she was given in plenty by other Dothraki: slippers and jewels and silver rings for her hair, medallion belts and painted vests and soft furs, sandsilks and jars of scent, needles and feathers and tiny bottles of purple glass, and a gown made from the skin of a thousand mice. â€Å"A handsome gift, Khaleesi,† Magister Illyrio said of the last, after he had told her what it was. â€Å"Most lucky.† The gifts mounted up around her in great piles, more gifts than she could possibly imagine, more gifts than she could want or use. And last of all, Khal Drogo brought forth his own bride gift to her. An expectant hush rippled out from the center of the camp as he left her side, growing until it had swallowed the whole khalasar. When he returned, the dense press of Dothraki gift-givers parted before him, and he led the horse to her. She was a young filly, spirited and splendid. Dany knew just enough about horses to know that this was no ordinary animal. There was something about her that took the breath away. She was grey as the winter sea, with a mane like silver smoke. Hesitantly she reached out and stroked the horse’s neck, ran her fingers through the silver of her mane. Khal Drogo said something in Dothraki and Magister Illyrio translated. â€Å"Silver for the silver of your hair, the khal says.† â€Å"She’s beautiful,† Dany murmured. â€Å"She is the pride of the khalasar, † Illyrio said. â€Å"Custom decrees that the khaleesi must ride a mount worthy of her place by the side of the khal.† Drogo stepped forward and put his hands on her waist. He lifted her up as easily as if she were a child and set her on the thin Dothraki saddle, so much smaller than the ones she was used to. Dany sat there uncertain for a moment. No one had told her about this part. â€Å"What should I do?† she asked Illyrio. It was Ser Jorah Mormont who answered. â€Å"Take the reins and ride. You need not go far.† Nervously Dany gathered the reins in her hands and slid her feet into the short stirrups. She was only a fair rider; she had spent far more time traveling by ship and wagon and palanquin than by horseback. Praying that she would not fall off and disgrace herself, she gave the filly the lightest and most timid touch with her knees. And for the first time in hours, she forgot to be afraid. Or perhaps it was for the first time ever. The silver-grey filly moved with a smooth and silken gait, and the crowd parted for her, every eye upon them. Dany found herself moving faster than she had intended, yet somehow it was exciting rather than terrifying. The horse broke into a trot, and she smiled. Dothraki scrambled to clear a path. The slightest pressure with her legs, the lightest touch on the reins, and the filly responded. She sent it into a gallop, and now the Dothraki were hooting and laughing and shouting at her as they jumped out of her way. As she turned to ride back, a firepit loomed ahead, directly in her path. They were hemmed in on either side, with no room to stop. A daring she had never known filled Daenerys then, and she gave the filly her head. The silver horse leapt the flames as if she had wings. When she pulled up before Magister Illyrio, she said, â€Å"Tell Khal Drogo that he has given me the wind.† The fat Pentoshi stroked his yellow beard as he repeated her words in Dothraki, and Dany saw her new husband smile for the first time. The last sliver of sun vanished behind the high walls of Pentos to the west just then. Dany had lost all track of time. Khal Drogo commanded his bloodriders to bring forth his own horse, a lean red stallion. As the khal was saddling the horse, Viserys slid close to Dany on her silver, dug his fingers into her leg, and said, â€Å"Please him, sweet sister, or I swear, you will see the dragon wake as it has never woken before.† The fear came back to her then, with her brother’s words. She felt like a child once more, only thirteen and all alone, not ready for what was about to happen to her. They rode out together as the stars came out, leaving the khalasar and the grass palaces behind. Khal Drogo spoke no word to her, but drove his stallion at a hard trot through the gathering dusk. The tiny silver bells in his long braid rang softly as he rode. â€Å"I am the blood of the dragon,† she whispered aloud as she followed, trying to keep her courage up. â€Å"I am the blood of the dragon. I am the blood of the dragon.† The dragon was never afraid. Afterward she could not say how far or how long they had ridden, but it was full dark when they stopped at a grassy place beside a small stream. Drogo swung off his horse and lifted her down from hers. She felt as fragile as glass in his hands, her limbs as weak as water. She stood there helpless and trembling in her wedding silks while he secured the horses, and when he turned to look at her, she began to cry. Khal Drogo stared at her tears, his face strangely empty of expression. â€Å"No,† he said. He lifted his hand and rubbed away the tears roughly with a callused thumb. â€Å"You speak the Common Tongue,† Dany said in wonder. â€Å"No,† he said again. Perhaps he had only that word, she thought, but it was one word more than she had known he had, and somehow it made her feel a little better. Drogo touched her hair lightly, sliding the silver-blond strands between his fingers and murmuring softly in Dothraki. Dany did not understand the words, yet there was warmth in the tone, a tenderness she had never expected from this man. He put his finger under her chin and lifted her head, so she was looking up into his eyes. Drogo towered over her as he towered over everyone. Taking her lightly under the arms, he lifted her and seated her on a rounded rock beside the stream. Then he sat on the ground facing her, legs crossed beneath him, their faces finally at a height. â€Å"No,† he said. â€Å"Is that the only word you know?† she asked him. Drogo did not reply. His long heavy braid was coiled in the dirt beside him. He pulled it over his right shoulder and began to remove the bells from his hair, one by one. After a moment Dany leaned forward to help. When they were done, Drogo gestured. She understood. Slowly, carefully, she began to undo his braid. It took a long time. All the while he sat there silently, watching her. When she was done, he shook his head, and his hair spread out behind him like a river of darkness, oiled and gleaming. She had never seen hair so long, so black, so thick. Then it was his turn. He began to undress her. His fingers were deft and strangely tender. He removed her silks one by one, carefully, while Dany sat unmoving, silent, looking at his eyes. When he bared her small breasts, she could not help herself. She averted her eyes and covered herself with her hands. â€Å"No,† Drogo said. He pulled her hands away from her breasts, gently but firmly, then lifted her face again to make her look at him. â€Å"No,† he repeated. â€Å"No,† she echoed back at him. He stood her up then and pulled her close to remove the last of her silks. The night air was chilly on her bare skin. She shivered, and gooseflesh covered her arms and legs. She was afraid of what would come next, but for a while nothing happened. Khal Drogo sat with his legs crossed, looking at her, drinking in her body with his eyes. After a while he began to touch her. Lightly at first, then harder. She could sense the fierce strength in his hands, but he never hurt her. He held her hand in his own and brushed her fingers, one by one. He ran a hand gently down her leg. He stroked her face, tracing the curve of her ears, running a finger gently around her mouth. He put both hands in her hair and combed it with his fingers. He turned her around, massaged her shoulders, slid a knuckle down the path of her spine. It seemed as if hours passed before his hands finally went to her breasts. He stroked the soft skin underneath until it tingled. He circled her nipples with his thumbs, pinched them between thumb and forefinger, then began to pull at her, very lightly at first, then more insistently, until her nipples stiffened and began to ache. He stopped then, and drew her down onto his lap. Dany was flushed and breathless, her heart fluttering in her chest. He cupped her face in his huge hands and looked into his eyes. â€Å"No?† he said, and she knew it was a question. She took his hand and moved it down to the wetness between her thighs. â€Å"Yes,† she whispered as she put his finger inside her.