... And Justice For All free essay sample

Metallica And Justice For All Tales of rage and war await you in your nearest music store. Before Metallica rocked MTV with their over-played hit Enter Sandman, they introduced their new bass player Jason Newsted, originally from Flotsam And Jetsam, with the blistering classic album And Justice For All. The album explodes with the haunting, apocalyptic melodies of Blackened, which gives a different environmental view with powerful lyrics like Blackened is the end/Winter it will send/Throwing all you see/Into obscurity Termination, expiration, cancellation-human race See our mother/Put to death/See our mother die. Following are some more optimistic little ditties: And Justice For All about our deteriorating court system, Eye of The Beholder about how censors enjoy twisting words against you (Freedom of choice is made for you my friend/ Freedom of speech is words that they will bend/Freedom no longer frees you), and One which is a tribute to the classic anti-war novel, Johnny Got His Gun, about a war casualty being kept alive by a life-support machine. We will write a custom essay sample on And Justice For All or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Some of the other songs meanings have evaded me slightly. The Shortest Straw is a little too repetitive for my liking. Harvester Of Sorrow and The Frayed Ends of Sanity contain classic Metallica topics: death and insanity respectively. Following Frayed Ends is an instrumental tribute to their late bass player Cliff Burton, who was killed in a bus crash in Europe in 1986. It is called To Live is to Die, which contains their last Burton-esque bass solo. The last song on the album is a hateful song called Dyers Eve about child abuse. Dyers Eve surpasses the power of Blackened with words such as Dear Mother, Dear Father /You clipped my wings before I learned to fly/Unspoiled, unspoken/Ive outgrown that f**king lullaby Innocence torn from me without your shelter, and blisteringly fast riffs. Unlike their self-titled release, And Justice For All is not for the meek or the mild- mannered. For those who like their metal hard and fast, but with enough talent and intelligence to balance the noise, this album is for you. There are no songs like Enter Sandman on this, so for those who were introduced to Metallicas lighter material, consider yourself warned. This album is harsh, violent, and brutal, but then again, so is life. . Review by K. L., Old Orchard Beach, ME

What Makes an Author Bundle Successful

What Makes an Author Bundle Successful What Makes an Author Bundle Successful? It’s no secret that we at Reedsy like to explore the power of communities and what they bring to authors and publishing professionals (maybe because we’re building one ourselves!). I firmly believe that authors grow stronger when they unite and work together, a prospect that–like indie publishing itself–only gets easier with new and better technologies.While the notion that â€Å"like attracts like† brings independent authors together with other indies, and hybrid authors in commune with other hybrid authors, the next wave of online community-building is a frontier awaiting those eager to experiment and explore new opportunities. Outside the Box: Women Writing Women is the perfect example of that: 7 indie and hybrid authors (all members of the Alliance of Independent Authors) launching  a â€Å"contemporary fiction† bundle, available for purchase on Amazon  for a limited time.Sharing resources, sharing readershipsThe idea behind such a co llective effort is simple: explore the power of the group. â€Å"I’ve admired the power that author collectives like Triskele Books have,† says Jane Davis, author of the novel An Unchoreographed Life, which is included in the Women Writing Women project. Creating a bundle, is, in a way, like forming a collective for a limited period of time.Boxsets usually have an â€Å"expiration date† that functions for two reasons: First, it creates a sense of rarity. This, coupled with the uniting of several prominent voices, makes it easier to generate excitement both among readers and in the media. Or as writer, editor, and bestselling ghostwriter Roz Morris told us in an email:â€Å"We’ve already been interviewed by The Guardian books pages, Books + Publishing (the Australian counterpart of Publisher’s Weekly) and have interest from the arts programmes of BBC Radio 4. If any of us had approached them on our own– impressive though our CVs might lookâ €“we probably wouldn’t have got even a reply.†More importantly, a bundle aggregates reader bases. While it’s likely that some of Davis’s readership already knows a couple of other authors in the bundle, they probably haven’t heard of a majority of authors included. So it’s still a bargain for them to get the bundle and the 4-5 books they haven’t read yet for $12.Cumulated reader bases usually result in cumulated sales. Though sales aren’t usually the #1 objective of forming a bundle, they can unlock additional discoverability potential. Let’s take the example of the Deadly Dozen. This boxset was released in March of last year by The Twelve, a consortium of thriller authors who joined their marketing and promotion efforts and managed to sell over 100,000 copies in the first six weeks, hitting both NYT and USA Today bestsellers lists.Though the boxed set was priced at a mere $0.99, appearing on both bestseller lists tre mendously increased the profile and discoverability of The Twelve, and gave its participant authors access to new readers they might have never have found on their own.The Twelve’s Deadly Dozen was pulled a few months after its release. The 7 authors from Outside the Box have also set an expiration date to the bundle: it will be available for 90 days, and not one more.Why run bundles on a limited period of time if they sell so well? First, there’s the rarity factor that comes with a â€Å"limited edition†. But more importantly, bundles usually record most of their sales in the first few weeks (as do most single books); box sets are more about aggregating existing readerships than finding new ones, unless you hit a list or special ranking or get exceptional PR – which all bring immediate results anyway. Once these readerships have purchased the bundle, there aren’t necessarily many more sales to be made.David Gaughran also shared a similar experienc e with me when I asked him about The Indie Author Power Pack, a box set he released in October 2014 together with Joanna Penn and Sean Platt/Johnny B. Truant:â€Å"The primary aim with the box was to shoot for the NYT. The original plan was to leave it up only for November and December for two reasons. 1) All the promo was front-loaded to try and hit the NYT so sales were naturally going to tail off anyway, and tail off faster than if we were aiming to, for example, maximize sales or maximize income. 2) Plan B if we missed the list was to slowly raise the price as it fell in the rankings and make some money out of it. And 3) Sales of the box set were cannibalizing sales of the individual titles, so it was always going to be a temporary thing.†Raising the voice and standard of self-publishingThere is something even more interesting in the Outside the Box initiative. When I asked the authors about their goals, they didn’t mention hitting lists or even making sales. Inste ad, they focused on the excitement this new projects brings both to them and to readers. Kathleen Jones expressed it perfectly in a recent email:â€Å"I’m intrigued by the contrasts and resonances that are set up when you put seven very different books and authors together. You know your work is going to be read by readers who wouldn’t normally have bought it. There’s an edge to that and it’s very exciting.†The main message that comes from this initiative, though, is really the desire to brandish and wave the indie flag as high as possible. By uniting 7 critically acclaimed works of indie contemporary fiction, their authors hope to demonstrate that author publishing is a valid quality route even in a genre that is still perceived by many as a traditional publishing chasse guardà ©e, according to Jane Davis:â€Å"I would like to change readers’ perception of self-published fiction, particularly those who are clinging to the belief that it i s the preserve of amateurs. I too was sold that line.The fact is that there is a new breed of hybrid authors who look at each writing project and decide if it is one to submit to their publisher or one to go it alone. With the Society of Authors advising their members that publishing contracts are no longer fair or sustainable, my belief is that the predicted growth in self-publishing will now come from authors who are currently under contract.†Roz Morris goes on to express a similar concern, which she hopes this bundle will continue to tackle:â€Å"We want to prove that fine, original authors are self-publishing as a mark of independence and integrity, and doing work of value and quality. You might ask: is that still necessary? Does anyone still consider self-publishing to be ‘vanity’ or second rate? They clearly do, because this is one of the issues we’ve been asked about most frequently.†To achieve this noble goal, the authors spared no effort whe n it came to giving the bundle the polished feel readers expect from sets managed in traditional publication. Each author contributed to production and promotion according to her strengths. Far from a collaboration in name only, the effort seems to have made a bona fide community of these writers that can only serve to better this project and the women’s individual endeavors.Finding the right balanceWhen we think about bundle success, a lot depends on pre-launch marketing and promotion, and on the number of authors involved. But I believe there is one inherent quality to a bundle that the author-partners absolutely must get right: the diversity balance.The books in the bundle must be diverse enough to make the box set interesting for readers (and to reduce their likeliness of having already read all its books). On the other hand, all books in a box set also have to be written in such a way that they appeal to the same target market–grouped either by genre, theme or cor e topic (non-fiction).Even within fiction, the landscape for bundles has become much more competitive. In his 2015 predictions for the publishing industry, Mark Coker announced that he believed this year would be one of collaboration between authors. If that is the case, we are about to see many more bundle efforts across all genres, which might threaten, in time, the â€Å"rarity† factor that has so much to do with their effectiveness.In that regard, the 7 authors of Outside the Box: Women Writing Women are ahead of their time; â€Å"contemporary fiction† bundles are rare due to the broadness of the generic distinction. But Outside the Box has been structured around an original common core that Joni Rodgers describes as â€Å"artistic integrity, serious craft chops and an unshakable belief that books by and about women are important.† Says Jane Davis:â€Å"I think it’s an incredibly strong set of books without borders. I don’t insult my readers b y assuming they only like to read one type of fiction. Visit any book club and you’ll see that readers welcome variety. But the irony of fighting against labels is that, ultimately, it was necessary to define what the box-set was about. Our decision was to focus on our characters and the boundary-breaking nature of our fiction.â€Å"It might very well be that OutsideThe Box: Women Writing Women is setting the template for indie author bundles in 2015. Here’s to their success.- - - We want to personally thank all the authors of â€Å"Outside the Box†, and David Gaughran, for their answers to our numerous questions on their respective experiences.This post was edited by our lovely editor Becca!You can find Ricardo (author of this post) and Reedsy on Twitter: @RicardoFayet  and @ReedsyHQ   What’s your take on author bundles? Have you ever contemplated doing similar? What’s been your personal experience? Do let us know what you think in the comm ents below!

Knowledge Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Knowledge Management - Essay Example Keywords: knowledge management, organizations, Siemens, organizational culture. Knowledge Management Knowledge management is one of the most popular objects of scholarly and empirical analysis. Much has been written and said about the principles of effective knowledge management in organizations and factors affecting it. Despite the growing body of literature, many organizations fail to implement KM practices properly. â€Å"The major problems that occur in KM usually result because companies ignore people and cultural issues† (Geisler & Wickramasinghe, 2009, p.12). For organizations that seek to establish themselves as repositories of knowledge, creating a culture that rewards individuals for knowledge sharing and recognized the value of tacit knowledge is crucial (Geisler & Wickramasnighe, 2009). This paper presents an analysis of the human and cultural issues involved in knowledge management in Siemens and, actually, many other organizations. In this paper, the examples of Texaco, Semantech, Xerox, Hewlett Packard, General Motors, BP Amoco and others are used to substantiate the argument. Knowledge Management as Human Resource Management Randall Sellers stated that â€Å"the challenge is managing the people who manage the knowledge†. In other words, the human dimension is believed to be an essential ingredient of knowledge management practices in organizations. ... ity is logical and reflects an ongoing tension between the growing role of knowledge and increasingly distributed structure of modern organizations (Swan et al., 1999). KM had to reduce this tension and enhance organizations’ capacity to generate and share knowledge. Unfortunately, failure to understand the basics of KM creates a situation, when organizations hide behind technologies and do not notice human resources which, in the meantime, are primarily responsible for creating this knowledge. Many organizations rely on the systems and tools that codify and commodify knowledge (Swan et al., 1999). Managers in these firms adopt an information-based perspective on KM, which interprets knowledge management in terms of information, not people, and emphasizes the importance of accessibility, availability, and real-time changes of information (Alavi & Leidner, 1999). In reality, the main challenge of knowledge management is in managing people who produce this knowledge, and there a re several reasons for this. First, knowledge is a human act (McDermott, 1999). Therefore, no knowledge management is possible without people. The essence of knowledge management is in generating knowledge, piecing information together, reflecting on individual and collective experiences, generating insights, and using the results to solve acute organizational problems (McDermott, 1999). â€Å"From the point of view of the person who knows, knowledge is a kind of sticky residue of insight about using information and experience to think† (McDermott, 1999, p.106). Yet, many organizations make one and the same mistake, when they limit their knowledge management solutions to IT systems and networks. The real challenge of KM is to manage people, who generate and possess this knowledge. Well-known is

Tasso Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Tasso - Assignment Example attest to his influence on various artists expression and interpretation of his significant works of which La Gerusalemme liberate was considered his masterpiece. The life and works of Tasso enlighten art enthusiasts in the realization that the concept of love unfulfilled might have contributed to his insanity – as it still happens in contemporary times. In Amita, the object of the shepherd hero’s amorous desires, Sylvia, found pleasure in engaging in a chase for her heart even to the point of death. Tasso, thought to have represented himself in the character of Thyrsis, revealed his inner thoughts through analogies of love with goddesses and beams of emotions like silver and gold: insurmountable, ephemeral, distant. He sees this as a bondage ever seeking freedom and hope of realization even in the face of death. Tasso was credited for various works of arts including Rinaldo, a narrative poem â€Å"meant to combine the regularity of the Virgilian with the attractions of the romantic epic† (NNDB, par. 1); Torrismondo, a meritorious tragedy; Monte Olivet, a poem considered as dull by critics; Gerusalemme Conquistata, a grim revision of his masterpiece; and Le Sette Giornate, â€Å"a prosaic composition in Italian blank verse† ((NNDB, par. 1). Despite his illness and notoriety, he was to be crowned in Rome by Pope Clement VIII as Italys Poet Laureate but died one day before the coronation. (Liukkonen, par. 11) The themes and poetic expression of Tasso clearly reflected the life of the poet with its extreme touches of poverty amidst living in the presence of dukes, duchess, prince and princess of his era. Like his Aminta, his life ended just on the verge of being ascended into the realization of his

First Day of High School Essay Example for Free

First Day of High School Essay Walking into a brand new school for the first time with a bundle of happiness and a twisted knot in your stomach indicating just how nervous you really are, sure is a way to start your first day of high school. It is natural on the part of every student to remember the first day at school. Recently, I just became a 9th grader. I remember the day as a unclear haze, that resembled a impossible puzzle to complete. The night before was spent with stories of high school back in the last couple decades or so. Ever so often was an, Oh youll blend in, Youve grown so much, and I cannot believe youre already in high school. Eventually the praise died down and it was time to climb into bed. The first thing I came to realize was a large building pacted tightly together within a compound wall. As small as I am, i couldnt not seem to put the puzzle pieces together but luckily a map became my bestfriend. The schedule was confusing at first, since it was a long summertime before I had last read one. Nothing felt stable or ordered, everything seemed like it was going to be chaotic any minute. A few seconds later the bell rang, as I thought to myself how much I did not ever recall a harsh stop and ponder during the summer about miss the bell itself. The pattern went throughout the day as a class began, and after a long period a bell ended the period and began a new class. This went on for what felt like years. I walked through the halls and tried to categorize exactly what type of people I would be dealing with and Ive realized the fact high school is anything but the type of events they describe in movies. Everyone seemed to fit each category perfectly, however it wasnt quite the match. These faces appeared more normal and friendly. I remember my imagination of what high school was like when I was younger. I was just dying to experience all the new and exciting things that awaited me. From sports to boys to all the partying, I just wanted to know what everything was like and now that Im finally here, I feel like I want to go back to when I was younger and not wish to grow up so much. As time goes on you find yourself getting to class earlier and earlier each day. Finding new routes, talking a little more, taking more time between  classes and the tension eases. The days do not get harder, but the work and study habits do. Later days of the school year are always easier then the first few. Some say that high school was the best time of my life, just like others say that high school was the worst time in their lives. To be honest, I am not sure which category I fall into yet. Ive had a good start but I know high school wont be picture perfect for me. The only thing I can say is that I am learning.

The Problems with Farm Subsidies :: Economy

The Problems with Farm Subsidies Subsidies are payments, economic concessions, or privileges given by the government to favor businesses or consumers. In the 1930s, subsidies were designed to favor agriculture. John Steinbeck expressed his dislike of the farm subsidy system of the United States in his book, The Grapes of Wrath. In that book, the government gave money to farms so that they would grow and sell a certain amount of crops. As a result, Steinbeck argued, many people starved unnecessarily. Steinbeck examined farm subsidies from a personal level, showing how they hurt the common man. Subsidies have a variety of other problems, both on the micro and macro level, that should not be ignored. Despite their benefits, farm subsidies are an inefficient and dysfunctional part of our economic system. The problems of the American farmer arose in the 1920s, and various methods were introduced to help solve them. The United States still disagrees on how to solve the continuing problem of agricultural overproduction. In 1916, the number of people living on farms was at its maximum at 32,530,000. Most of these farms were relatively small (Reische 51). Technological advances in the 1920's brought a variety of effects. The use of machinery increased productivity while reducing the need for as many farm laborers. The industrial boom of the 1920s drew many workers off the farm and into the cities. Machinery, while increasing productivity, was very expensive. Demand for food, though, stayed relatively constant (Long 85). As a result of this, food prices went down. The small farmer was no longer able to compete, lacking the capital to buy productive machinery. Small farms lost their practicality, and many farmers were forced to consolidate to compete. Fewer, larger farms resulted (Reische 51). During the Depression, unemployment grew while income shrank. "An extended drought had aggravated the farm problem during the 1930s (Reische 52)." Congress, to counter this, passed price support legislation to assure a profit to the farmers. The Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936 allowed the government to limit acreage use for certain soil-depleting crops. The Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 allowed the government to set the minimum price and amount sold of a good at the market. The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, farmers were given price supports for not growing crops. These allowed farmers to mechanize, which was necessary because of the scarcity of farm labor during World War II (Reische 52). During World War II, demand for food increased, and farmers enjoyed a period of general prosperity (Reische 52).

Capital Budgeting Methods for Corporate Project Selection

Capital Budgeting Methods for Corporate Project Selection In a 2001 Graham and Harvey survey of 392 chief financial officers (CFOs) asked â€Å"how frequently they used different capital budgeting methods? † Approximately 75% of the CFOs replied that they use net present value (NPV) or Internal Rate of Return (IRR) always or almost always (Smart, Megginson & Gitman, 2004, pg. 251). Projects are viewed as capital investments in the corporate world, and as such, are evaluated closely for their possible financial impacts on the â€Å"bottom line† due to their higher risk of failure.Capital investments are those that are considered long-term investments such as manufacturing plants, R&D, equipment, marketing campaign, etc. , and capital budgeting is â€Å"the process of identifying which of these investment projects a firm should undertake† (Smart, Megginson & Gitman, 2004, pg. 227). According to Smart, Megginson & Gitman, there are three steps in the capital budgeti ng process: * Identifying potential investments Analyzing the set of investment opportunities, identifying those that will create shareholder value, and perhaps prioritizing them * Implementing and Monitoring the investment projects selected This paper will focus on step two, and will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the four most common methods that are utilized for evaluating, selecting and prioritizing projects in the corporate world. Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Straight/Discounted Payback Period and Profitability Index are the four of the most come methods used during step 2 of the capital budgeting process.Four fictional potential capital investments will be used to illustrate how the different methods can affect project selection for a portfolio. THEME PARK CAPITAL INVESTMENTS A theme park senior executive management team had four capital projects presented during the last capital budget meeting. The projects are a $250M park expansion, $50M value resort renovation, $500M new moderate resort construction and $200M new value resort construction. All these projects have similar completion time frames and have 20 year life expectancies.Years 1 to 5 cash flows for each project come from the pro formas, and Years 6 -20 are based on an expected 2% per increase in cash flows. The company has $750M to invest on capital projects this year, and they must decide which projects should be approved. NET PRESENT VALUE Net Present Value is the sum of discounted future cash flows and provides the appropriate adjustments for the time value of money. In short, NPV is the reverse of compounding interest, and this process begins with the selection of a â€Å"discount rate. † According to Smart, Megginson & Gitman, pg. 01, â€Å"A project’s discount risk must be high enough to compensate investors for the project’s risk† The discount rate can be based on the inherent risk of a project, the required rate of return on shares, cost of equity, etc. The discount rate should not be one rate for all projects with in a firm, but reflect the nature of the project. The formula for NPV is: In this calculation, CFt represents the net cash flow of the year and r is the selected discount rate. CF0 usually represents the initial outlay to get the project started, and is usually a negative cash flow.As a rule, projects with a negative NPV are not approved, but a â€Å"hurdle† could be set such as projects with a NPV