Logistics Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Logistics Management - Assignment Example This paper will look into the inventory control process of a business named Big D, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses and providing recommendations for improving it. Improving Inventory Control Before determining the course of action for improving inventory control, a SWOT analysis would be helpful since it would help define the areas the business needs to work on. From the SWOT analysis, it can be ascertained that by bringing certain changes in the inventory control, Big D can improve its working efficiency. First of all, records of all purchases, orders and deliveries should be kept. Second lot of production should not be started till the first has been finished. Products that have been made should not be stored and put on hold till the entire lot has been produced; rather focus should be on preventing excess storage when the products can be delivered timely. Records of previous sales, demand and supply should be used to guide supply for future production and records of each lot's inventories should be maintained. Records should be kept of accumulated parts from previous orders to guide future decisions. Delivery of products with a shorter shelf life and a higher risk of obsolescence should have a higher priority over those products which do not. Records of individual line of products should be kept. If the records suggest that ordering in small quantities is not economical, the business should shift to ordering bulk. Vendors and suppliers must be re-evaluated, and the most economical should be chosen. Records of losses sustained due to pilferage, breakage and misplacement should be noted.   Record Keeping System for Inventory Control The type of recordkeeping that would suit the business will be determined by its requirements and characteristics. Since the business has operations in various aspects of supply and production, a double entry account keeping system would allow it to self-balance its purchases and regulate the flow of inventory. In contr ast to a single entry record keeping system, the double entry system is most appropriate for businesses that are aiming to attain efficient financial management (Longenecker, Moore, Palich & Petty, 2006). They would provide greater insight into the functioning of the business which makes the advantages of this system outweigh its disadvantages such as increased time needed to input the information. Moreover, electronic record keeping systems would make the process yet more efficient and so should be preferred over manual records (Moore, Petty, Palich and Longenecker, 2008). Forecasting Inventory Control for Big D Forecasting is an important aspect of inventory management. According to the Business Dictionary (2012), forecasting is defined as â€Å"a planning tool that helps management in its attempts to cope with the uncertainty of the future, relying mainly on data from the past and present and analysis of trends†. Forecasting can enable Big D to predict the quantity of the raw materials it requires according to the demand. Deducing a transactions’ trend from previous records, forecasting can help determine the expected demand for goods and to purchase materials in bulk accordingly. By knowing the time it takes for each lot to be completed, it will also allow the business to plan its production run within a time limit. Countering Delivery Delays Transportation delays can be prevented by delivering the completed products as they are produced without waiting for the

On the Internet tax and whether Arizona should or should not repeal Essay

On the Internet tax and whether Arizona should or should not repeal its law taxing online sales - Essay Example On the contrary, if not well considered they can act as barriers on investors whose markets exist online. The U.S constitution has two provisions from Supreme Court jurisprudence that define the enacting of nexus, which include Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Commercial clause. The court requires that a particular state cannot impose duties levying responsibilities on a seller who is not physically present in the state, under the Dormant Commerce law. This law is subject to amendments by the congress as the congressional regulation has influence on most tax-related policies. Congress may therefore allow different regulations to govern commerce between states. The law of physical presence of the seller and buyer still holds until when the congress may change the contents of the law. Another tax that is levied together with the sales tax is the use tax., During the sale of services and commodities in the same state, sales tax is imposed, while the residents incur a use tax if they purchase goods or services outside the state boundaries. Use tax play an important role in ensuring that the citizens of a particular state purchase goods within the boundaries and evade the sales tax. However, constitutionally enough bond or â€Å"nexus† must be put in place between businesses and state on the onset of a state imposing tax burden on a business that operates beyond its boundaries. Remarkably, there exist discriminatory taxes like the Commercial Clause that bars states that do not allow commerce between states. As a result, states that impose taxes on the remote out-of-state sellers and not on the sellers from within its boundaries are disciplined by a judicial scrutiny. The subject state is exempted only when the tax burden is excessive as compared to the local benefits. Supreme Court under the Due Process Clause offered a distinction between the nexus analysis and the dormant clause for congress. The

Do nuclear weapons lead to peace or to war Essay

Do nuclear weapons lead to peace or to war - Essay Example Many of the states, which possess such weapons, only use them for deterrence purposes and this has created a situation where all the powers, which have nuclear weapons, are at a stalemate (Waltz 1990, P.731). The ownership of nuclear weapons has since its beginnings, been an extremely controversial issue in the world, with many of the countries, which do not possess them claiming that it, is unfair for those, which do to have such weapons. Others have taken matters into their own hands and, defying the countries that have such weapons; have chosen to go ahead with their own nuclear programs (Rubin, 2006). The ownership of nuclear weapons is considered a source of prestige for the countries, which possess them, and it is for this reason that many still hold on to their arsenals while others are aspiring to develop their own. Over the last two decades or so, there has developed a debate concerning whether the possession of nuclear weapons is a deterrence to war, and that it is the reas on why no major wars have taken place in recent history. Quite a number of people believe that the possession of nuclear weapons is one of the reasons why there has not been a third world war, since all of the most powerful states that would be involved in the war are armed with nuclear weapons. The lessons learnt from Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Roberts, 2012) seem to be extraordinarily fresh in the minds of those who make national policies and it is because of this that these weapons have come to be used, not for offensive purposes, but for peace. There is a belief that if a third world war were to take place, then it would be a nuclear war, and the devastation which such a war would cause would probably lead to the end of humanity as we know it. The horror of such an occurrence is something, which many people would not like to picture and because of this many states that possess nuclear weapons, keeps them under a tight leash (Donnelly, 2012). Even those states, which are considered most unstable, such as North Korea, do not use the weapons in their possession for any other purposes other than that of deterrence because of the recognition that to use them otherwise would be disastrous. One of the best cases that can be studied, when considering the possession of nuclear weapons as a means towards peace, is the Cold War. The Cold war came up because of the competition on a global scale of the world’s two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. There was a great fear in the United States of the Soviet Union’s ambition to spread the ideology of communism, which it followed, worldwide and this was not acceptable to the American government. In response, the American government chose to shore up those regimes which were allied to it all over the world not only financially but also militarily to ensure that they combated the potential communist forces and parties which were to come up against them (Mueller 2002, P.172). Moreover, the Soviet Union was very fearful of the American acquisition of nuclear weapons and this led to its rush to build up its own arsenal, causing a nuclear arms race between these two states. While this may have been the case, none of these states used their weapons against the other. It is quite possible that the Cold War will have resulted in a world war, which would have pitted the United States

Minimum wage essay Essay Example for Free

Minimum wage essay Essay Some people may support minimum wage legislation because they believe it will help struggling workers to make ends meet. What do you think about that? Minimum wage, as a kind of price floor, refers to the least amount of money that employers can legally pay labors for per hour of work. Therefore, government sets a price that is under the market equilibrium price in order to reduce the poverty and ensure that young employees and minority will not be treated unequally. However, those aimed goals are not accomplished as expected and minimum wage only makes economy inefficient and worsens some people’s lives. After the minimum wage is imposed above the equilibrium wage rate, this results in the supply of labour being greater than the demand for labour. Therefore, while only E2 amount of labour is demanded in the market, E3 amount of labour is provided and causes excess labour. In theory, the minimum wage results in excess supply of labour because the higher costs of labour motivate companies to cutoff employees and then cause unemployment, ceteris paribus. Meanwhile, the minimum wage reduces the demand from E1 to E2 so this reduces both consumer and producer surplus, and creates a deadweight loss to the society. Furthermore, it is highly possible that because of the increased production costs, the quantity of supply is increased and the average price level is increased overall, so consumers tend to pay higher prices. Therefore, when price floor is imposed, deadweight loss and excess supply of labour are created, and unemployment rates and overall price level will be increased. Subsequently, although there are considerable large amounts of people are benefited from the minimum wage, those poor people without enough professional skills or in the state of unemployment are likely to suffer worser living conditions. While those people in employment are benefited from the minimum wage, they are also affected by minimum wage negatively, like less opportunities to increase income. Since the minimum wage increases production costs of company, except cutting off labour, companies would also decide to reduce times to promote employees. Therefore, in the long run, those employees will be demotivated and then decrease their passion and working efficiency. Besides, even if those employees still get lots of opportunities, their  living standards will not be enhanced so much because the overall price is also increasing. Therefore, although people enjoying minimum wage have higher wages, they need to pay more when consuming goods in daily life. In conclusion, although minimum wage ensures the salary of some people in the short run, minimum wage creates welfare loss and excess labour in the market, so in the relatively long run, unemployment rate and overall price level will be increased due to increased production costs (which are consist of labour, land, technology and capital). Therefore, for people in the state of unemployment, they will suffer by the higher price and they will be poorer. While for those people benefited by the minimum wage, they tend to obtain less promotion chances, receive higher average prices in the market and in the long run even may lose enthusiasm for working hard.

Business Organisations In A Global Context Commerce Essay

Business Organisations In A Global Context Commerce Essay The process of strategic planning is not simple and easy one, it involves a lot of industry research and clear understanding of your market, your customers, your competitors, your team, your core competencies, the environment in which you are operating, changing parameter, your vision and mission etc. These are not easy question to answer as well as its not a quick process. Effectively management of people can produce substantially enhanced economic performance. A plethora of terms have been used to describe such management practices: high commitment, high performance, high involvement, and so forth. A social unit of people, systematically structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals on a continuing basis. All organizations have a management structure that determines relationships between functions and  positions, and subdivides and delegates  roles,  responsibilities, and authority to carry out defined tasks. Organizations are open systems in that they affect and are affected by the environment beyond their boundaries. Globalisation is a phenomena that is used to interact among different countries attempting to develop global economy. It is a process of connecting the worlds markets and business with each other. It is basically a process by which different economies, cultures and societies are combined together by latest communication system. Globalisation has been defined by different experts at different places, according to an economist Harris (1993), the increasing internationalisation of the production, distribution and marketing of goods and services is globalisation. Another definition of globalisation is the functional integration of national economies within the circuits of industrial and financial capital.(Rhodes, 1996). The key differences between global business operations:- Businesses operate in a global context: even if they do not trade directly with other countries, they might be affected by a domestic shortage of skilled labour or may be subject to developments on the global financial markets. Globalization and international business as business terms are often used synonymously in casual conversation. As economic pressures continue to abound, many corporations are looking within their organizations to determine how to improve operations and reduce costs. Cost constraints, efficiency gains and productivity measures are commonly sought to achieve this objective. It is no surprise that development of or improvement in an enterprises service delivery model is desired. Many companies have developed some aspect of shared services, and many more have embraced the outsourcing service delivery model as one lever to drive economic improvement. However, we believe there are plenty of opportunities remaining with respect to shared services in general along with some terrific opportunities for an emerging concept called global business services to drive significant improvement and manage all service delivery model alternatives. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY SHARED SERVICES? A successful shared services model typically incorporates these concepts: Focused company resources Process ownership as a key characteristic Critical values of partnering, teamwork and adding value Effective leverage of tools and technology Accountability by specialists with service focus (internal and external) Strong communications and governance principles Centre of excellence and a company asset for developing talent Results that emphasize efficiently meeting customer requirements Focal point for company best practices Responsibilities of organisations Importance of ethics in the business world is superlative and global. New trends and issues arise on a daily basis which may create an important burden to organizations and end consumers. Nowadays, the need for proper ethical behaviour within organizations has become crucial to avoid possible lawsuits. The public scandals of corporate malfeasance and misleading practices, have affected the public perception of many organizations. An organizations responsibilities are not limited to primary stakeholders. Although governmental bodies and regulatory agencies do not usually have ownership stakes in companies in free-market economies, they do play an active role in trying to ensure that organizations accept and meet their responsibilities to primary stakeholder groups. Organizations are accountable to these secondary stakeholders. All companies, especially large corporations, have multiple stakeholders. One way of classifying stakeholder groups is to classify them as primary or secondary stakeholders. Primary stakeholders have some direct interest or stake in the organization. Secondary stakeholders, in contrast, are public or special interest groups that do not have a direct stake in the organization but are still affected by its operations. The impact of external factors on organisations: There is a simple rhyme which goes: Environment to each must be. All there is that isnt me. You can see therefore that the business environment consists of all those things outside the business. The business needs to keep a watchful eye on the environment because it is continually changing. Key elements in the environment are: 1. Competition. Rival companies are continually changing what they have to offer. They may lower prices, bring out new products, engage in exciting new advertising campaigns, and a range of other activities. 2. Political factors. The action of government affects business and other organisations. Governments are continually changing the rules and the laws that affect business. This is illustrated by the way in which government rules affect schools. Simon Jenkins in an article in The Sunday Times, on 24 September 2006 illustrates this well when he wrote: This government tries to keep control of every school. Since coming to office its education department has issued 500 regulations, 350 policy targets, 175 efficiency targets, 700 notes of guidance, 17 plans and 26 separate incentive grant streams. 3. Economic factors. The economy consists of businesses, individuals and government. The international economy consists of the economies of all the countries in the world. The economy consists of many markets the market for goods, the market for services and the market for money are key parts of this. These markets determine the price that business has to pay for its resources such as labour, and raw materials. Businesses are continually affected by changes in the economy. 4. Social factors. Society is made up of all the people in a given area. It is important to be able to find out what the main trends are that are happening in society because these trends affect business. For example, changes in age patterns, such as the increasing numbers of older people in the population, determine which goods are popular. Then there are social trends which are affected by fashion for example this year some goods will be in, whereas next year nobody or very few people will want to buy them. 5. Technological factors result from the development of new techniques, i.e. new types of products and new processes to make products. For example, recent years have seen a massive change in information technology which has transformed the way we run our lives. For example, today more than 90% of young people possess a mobile phone. (www.acquaint.me.uk) The impact of global factors on business organisations Businesses are affected by an external environment as much as they are affected by the competitors. Global factors influencing business are legal, political, social, technological and economic. Understanding of these factors is important while developing a business strategy. a. Social factors These factors are related to changes in social structures. These factors provide insights into behaviour, tastes, and lifestyles patterns of a population. Buying patterns are greatly influenced by the changes in the structure of the population, and in consumer lifestyles. Age, gender, etc all determine the buying patterns and understanding of such changes is critical for developing strategies which are in line with the market situations. In a global environment it is important that business strategies are designed keeping in mind the social and cultural differences that vary from country to country. Consumer religion, language, lifestyle patterns are all important information for successful business management. b. Legal factors These factors that influence business strategies are related to changes in government laws and regulations. For a successful business operation it is important that the businesses consider the legal issues involved in a particular situation and should have the capability to anticipate ways in which changes in laws will affect the way they must behave. Laws keep changing over a period of time. From the point of view of business it is important that they are aware of these changes in the areas of consumer protection legislation, environmental legislation, health safety and employment law, etc. c. Economic factors These factors involve changes in the global economy. A rise in living standards would ultimately imply an increase in demand for products thereby, providing greater opportunities for businesses to make profits. An economy witnesses fluctuations in economic activities. This would imply that in case of a rise in economic activity the demand of the product will increase and hence the price will increase. In case of reduction in demand the prices will go down. Business strategies should be developed keeping in mind these fluctuations. Other economic changes that affect business include changes in the interest rate, wage rates, and the rate of inflation. In case of low interest rates and increase in demand Businesses will be encouraged to expand and take risks. Therefore, business strategies should have room for such fluctuations. d. Political factors This refers to the changes in government and government policies. Political factors greatly influence the operation of business. This has gained significant importance off late. For example: companies operating in the European Union have to adopt directives and regulations created by the EU. The political arena has a huge influence upon the regulation of businesses, and the spending power of consumers and other businesses. Business must consider the stability of the political environment, governments policy on the economy etc e. Technological factors These factors greatly influence business strategies as they provide opportunities for businesses to adopt new innovations, and inventions. This helps the business to reduce costs and develop new products. With the advent of modern communication technologies, technological factors have gained great impetus in the business arena. . Huge volumes of information can be securely shared by means of databases thereby enabling vast cost reductions, and improvements in service. Organisations need to consider the latest relevant technological advancements for their business and to stay competitive. Technology helps business to gain competitive advantage, and is a major driver of globalization. While designing the business strategies firms must consider if use of technology will allow the firm to manufacture products and services at a lower cost. Firms can select new modes of distributions with the help of technology. It has become easier for companies to communicate wi th their customer in any part of the world. (http://www.businessteacher.org.uk) Strategies employed by organisations operating globally Operations strategy is the development of a long-term plan for using the major resources of the firm for a high degree of compatibility between these resources and the firm long term corporate strategy. Operations strategy addresses very broad questions about how these major resources should be configured to achieve the desired corporate objectives. Some of the major long-term issues addressed in operations strategy include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ How large do we make our facilities? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What type of processes do we install to make the products or provide services? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What will our supply chain look like? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What will be the nature of our workforce? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ How do we ensure quality? (http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0070922837/158533/sample_ch2.pdf). Managing culture, society and economy challenges Companies move to other countries to expand their business and to increase the profits. When companies do move to other countries they face different challenges like meeting local customers demands, understanding the rules or regulations of local government, language problems etc. If we sum up these problems generally there are three main problems in moving business to overseas countries which are social, cultural and economic factors. Companies do have to understand the culture of the country so that they can run their business properly. They have to understand their social customs and economy of the country. For example McDonalds, KFC or Subway, these companies have operations all over the world. They sale poultry, pork and meat products. Now expanding their business to Asian countries, they first get knowledge about their social, cultural and economy factory. Taking example of Muslim countries, when these three companies moved to Muslims countries they cannot sell Pork or Non-Hala l products in Muslim countries because it is against their cultural values or religious values. So they do sell Halal products to these countries and avoid selling of Pork. This shows that companies have to change themselves according to local culture and social life to do good business in other countries. Also they do offer prices according to local economy or purchasing power of customers. They cannot apply the same prices both in US, UK, India and Pakistan because the economic condition of all these countries is different. Conclusion There is no doubt that with the progress in globalisation living standard of people in many countries has improved but there is also no denial to the fact that most of benefits are being gained by developed countries. They are exploiting the rights of developing countries in the name of globalisation. The income gap between developed countries and developing countries has been increased which is a matter of concern. Through globalisation many companies have also gained benefits especially multinational companies and big companies. They are getting huge profits through globalisation. But they are also exploiting peoples right to some extent, like they are not giving the same pays to developing and developed countries.

The Deontological Views of Capital Punishment Through the Works of Kant

Capital Punishment has been used in the United States justice system for many years now, yet one must question whether or not it should be used at all. This paper will look at the Deontological views of capital punishment through the works of Kant’s categorical imperative. Arguments such as the unethical misuse of medical practice by physicians, who swear an oath to do everything in their power to save the lives of the people they care for, while using their expertise on an individual for an execution. Another argument that can be made would be the understanding just what the role of both race and religion may play in making this particular moral issue and question if individuals have a â€Å"right to life† and its effect on future execution rulings. Yet we must ask ourselves, can we still justify capital punishment being used today with the same moral standings of Kant’s Categorical Imperative? An alternative method for dealing with individuals rather than si mply killing them off, for it is also important to understand the views of whether the ethical practice made by medical physicians, the social attitudes and religious views of capital punishment, and a look into a person’s right to life should play a role in determining the ethical standings of continuing the use of capital punishment in the United States. Immanuel Kant, a philosopher in the late 1700s, developed what is now known as the categorical imperative which is an important system in determining the moral standings of important issues in regards with an individual’s intuition of moral law. Certain desires a person feels, such as revenge or hatred, are considered what he would call external forces (Wells-Quash, 2010) these external forces could lead individuals to ... ... alternative method for dealing with criminals that do heinous crimes and use a stable universal law (maxim) to what the categorical imperative intended for the good of everyone. Works Cited Bessler, J. D. (2002). America's Death Penalty: Just Another Form of Violence. Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 82(1), 13. Black, L., & Fairbrother, H. (2008). The Ethics of the Elephant: Why Physician Participation in Executions Remains Unethical. American Journal Of Bioethics, 8(10), 59-61. Iftene, A., & PaÅŸca, N. (2011). RELIGIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT TO LIFE. US-China Law Review, 8(6), 511-547. Wells, S., Quash.B (2010). Introducing Christian Ethics. Massachetts: John Wiley & Sons. (pp. 121-124). Young, R. L. (1992). Religious Orientation, Race and Support for the Death Penalty. Journal For The Scientific Study Of Religion, 31(1), 76.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay

Good vs. Evil has been a classic contrast used for centuries. It has been used in films, books, plays, and even children’s tales. But what constitutes good and evil? What determines if an act is good or evil? The things that we know, the things we believe, are not our own original ideas. That is a known fact. Everything we know and believe was influenced by our upbringing, our family and friends or lack of, our education; basically every thing that comes into contact with us. Even for the people who would say â€Å"I hated my parents and my education so they didn’t influence my beliefs! † Well, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but they did. The need that you may have had to rebel caused you to believe in opposite things from your family or whoever you wanted to rebel against. But thats another question for another chapter. In todays world, we trust our own beliefs as to what is good and what is evil. But what defines this? Most people would tell you that the â€Å"norm† defines good and evil. Society tells you that helping an old lady across the street is good and shooting a man in the head is evil. Don’t get me wrong though, I do believe in good and doing the right thing, I just want to portray a philosophical approach to this contrast. Back to the point, if everyone trusts the â€Å"norm† to decide what is good and what is evil; then isn’t that a form of mob mentality? Mob mentality is something that people are constantly warned about in literature through out time, an example being Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. So I have reached a paradox. If the â€Å"norm† is decided by the majority of people, and the majority of people coming together to create an idea is mob mentality, and mob mentality is considered bad and wrong; then aren’t our ideas of good and evil created by something that is not good in the first place? If you are at this point reading and wondering what my answer will be to this question, I want to tell you now not to get your hopes up because I don’t have a difinitive answer to that. Let’s bring this idea back in time to the early times of human existence. What are a human’s basic needs? Food, water, clothing and shelter, right? I’ve heard this hundreds of times. Well if we humans are in fact animals, then we have a set of instinctive needs. Just like a new born cougar enters the world with instinct for hunting, don’t we as well? If society wasn’t here to set guidelines wouldn’t we just be living in and amongst our instinctive needs? If one of our instinctive needs is to eat, and some of us choose to eat dogs or cats (as they do in some countries) then why do we have animal help groups breathing down people’s necks to make this stop? Because it is evil, right? But is it really? I myself could not stand the thought of me eating a dog or cat, and that is because I come from a society where these animals are pets, your friends. But why is it wrong for people from another society to do this, when they don’t see it the same way we do? Who is right here? Of course, each side thinks they are right but is there a real answer to this question? Let’s give a scenario; two men break into your house, they kill everyone in your family except you and your mother. They put a gun to your mother’s head and say â€Å"We will kill her and you will get everything, the house, the car, the money, the only thing we require is that you join us and work for us. † What would you do? Do you take their offer and watch them kill your mother, or do you tell them no and die for it. It is a lose-lose situation, there is no realistic decision you could make that would create a win. If you let them kill your mother, you will live out the rest of your life with that hanging over your head. If you say no, then you both die. The people that are doing this are evil, right? Why? I would say because they are murdering innocent people, just wiping their existence away with the pull of a trigger. But do they think that? What if the person with the gun thought what he was doing was ok? What if he grew up on the streets and the only thing that he learned was violence. If violence was the norm for him, and it conflicts with our norm, which one is right? If you should always trust in your beliefs, what if your beliefs are wrong? Lets take an example from history. Martin Luther King Jr. vs. Hitler. Good vs. Evil, right? For argument’s sake, lets classify the general population of the world into two groups. Group A are the people who idolize MLK Jr. and despise Hitler. Group B are the people who idolize Hitler and despise MLK Jr. Both sides are amongst a group that holds the same beliefs and ideals as themselves. They all believe they are right, and if the idea of wrong and right is determined by the norm, and the norm is what the majority of people decides, then aren’t they both right? Doesn’t this faulty decision lead to extreme conflict? Look at all the past wars in this world. They all boil down to the basic fact that each side had conflicting beliefs and each side believed that they were doing the right thing. So does that make each side wrong or right? Good or Evil? What do you do to fix this major flaw in today’s society? Be yourself. Individuality. Don’t allow yourself to be too heavily influenced by the things around you. Take everything you see and keep it, soak it all up, leave no stone unturned, and when you think you have everything, then decide for yourself. The truth is what we all seek in one form or another. Some are content to leave things be and others aren’t. For those of us uncontent to settle for anything less than the truth, we are fighting a losing battle. I leave you with this quote from Wilkie Collins â€Å"Are there, infinitely varying with each individual, inbred forces of Good and Evil in all of us, deep down below the reach of mortal encouragement and mortal repression — hidden Good and hidden Evil, both alike at the mercy of the liberating opportunity and the sufficient temptation? â€Å"