Knight Guys Finish Last Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Knight Guys Finish Last - Essay Example The fourth wall consisted of thick, iron bars. Beyond was a hallway leading to a dark staircase. This contained the weak light source; a torch in an iron sconce, high on the wall. People panic due to shock and Tess began to feel a little hysterical herself, as she paced the cell, trying to make sense of the situation. She turned to find Daniel, opening his arms to console her, and she lost control. It was hours until they were discovered by a man wearing a chain tunic, old dented armour, and a rusty short-sword at his waist and he hurried up the stairs upon spotting them, returning soon after with another man, who possessed the haughty mannerisms of the high-born. "I am Count William the Third," he paused as if expecting applause. Receiving none, he continued, "Deegan here was most distressed to find a group of persons, occupying a cell in my dungeon which was empty. Obviously, the mystery is how they came to be here. Deegan believes that you are a group of sorcerers, though I must disagree. Why would a sorcerer transport himself into a dungeon I think you must have displeased a sorcerer, who transported you into my dungeon, expecting me to dispense justice, which I will do unless one of you can defeat my champion in the tourney on the morrow." And with that, he walked away. The next morning found Tess and her friends clamped in chains and escorted to a large ... Receiving none, he continued, "Deegan here was most distressed to find a group of persons, occupying a cell in my dungeon which was empty. Obviously, the mystery is how they came to be here. Deegan believes that you are a group of sorcerers, though I must disagree. Why would a sorcerer transport himself into a dungeon I think you must have displeased a sorcerer, who transported you into my dungeon, expecting me to dispense justice, which I will do unless one of you can defeat my champion in the tourney on the morrow." And with that, he walked away. The next morning found Tess and her friends clamped in chains and escorted to a large stadium. After the jousting, sword fighting, and jesters, Count William stood up from amongst his many attendants. He called for one of the prisoners to face his champion in a battle of blades. "I volunteer," said Daniel. The guards went forward and after unchaining Daniel, he led him past the group stopping in front of Tess. "I've never been brave enough to tell you this," he began softly, "but I suppose certain death makes heroes of us all. Ever since the first time I met you, I've been hopelessly in love with you." Then he continued on his way. Tess tried to call out to him, but the words caught in her throat as they led him into the centre of the stadium, handed him a sword and shield, and left him alone. The crowd roared as a dark figure stepped from the opposite entrance. Everything about him was menacing; the way he walked spoke of sinister grace. He approached Daniel as a lion stalking a doe. Wasting no time, the champion crouched and drove his blade towards Daniel's throat. It never found its destination as Daniel moved impossibly fast, spinning on the ball of his foot and heaving the other foot into the champion's ribs. With a

Medical ethics | An analysis

Medical ethics | An analysis Introduction: Medical ethics became one of the most important teaching modules in most of the medical schools especially in the last three decades particularly in US7 . Ethics defined as the study of morality, careful and systematic reflection on and analysis of moral decision and behavior4. Hence the medical ethics is the study of ethics related to medical practice. There are four primary principals for medical ethics where all basic medical teaching teaches to medical students. These are non-malfeasance, beneficence, justice and autonomy with sub sectional principals like truth telling and confidentiality.12 Now a days doctors are facing more ethical questions and dilemmas in day to day clinical practice, this can be partly   attributed to the increase in the knowledge of patients about their health from the media and internet . Studies showed that there is a strong relation between resolving ethical issues and medical errors especially in the area of informed consent and end of life care8. In addition, the court compensation for medico legal cases opened the door for public to find faults for doctors or the health systems to earn some wealth from it! All these made the teaching of how to handle an ethical issue and resolve it very essential to produce a competent skillful physician. Medical schools adopted different styles and methods for teaching medical ethics, it included didactic lecturing, small group seminars, case based discussion and simulated patient but without uniformity or consensus as to method or content7. This could be as a result of lack of agreement about what shall we teach in medical ethics7. At sultan Qaboose University, medical students have a one interdisciplinary  Ã‚   activity (IDA) week for medical ethics during their mid of fifth year. During this week speakers from different medical and surgical specialties present to the students a common ethical issues encounter. This week is also attended by Islamic scholar (Professor Albar) to comment on Islamic perspective in selective cases like abortion and end of life care . As co-organizer of the course I introduced the presentation of clinical cases by the student to the entire group. I asked each subgroup of the students to select a case where there is an ethical issue and reflect on what was done and how can we improve it. I found the reflect practice theory is very suitable for teaching of medical ethics because it stimulates the thinking and give the students the opportunity to analyze the ethical dilemma and how to resolve it. The Theory: The theory of reflective practice is attributed primarily to Donald Schà ¶n3, 5. In life and based on our knowledge and experience we take decision easily to events that we are expecting and used to experience. However when surprise or unexpected event take place, based on Schà ¶n theory, people develop two types of reflection to that event. The first one is Reflection in action and it occurs immediately.It is the ability to learn and develop continually by creatively applying current and past experiences and reasoning to unfamiliar events while they are occurring5. The second, reflection on action, occurs later. It is a process of thinking back on what happened in a past situation, what may have contributed to the unexpected event, whether the actions taken were appropriate, and how this situation may affect future practice 5. The reflection in action can be considered as an emergency decision in which the physician should take the risk of being mistaken, however, this type of d ecision should be appreciated by people in authority if later turned to be not the perfect way of handling it and that is because it was taken based on the inputs of that situation and surrounding circumstances unless it is clearly odd approach. In contrast, the reflection on action comes later when the physician finished all duties and started re-calling cases seen and decisions taken. At this point s/he will start to bring other options and thoughts that could serve the situation better than the ones taken. This extremely important because it enables us to spend time exploring why we acted as we did, what was happening in a group and so on13. In addition if this type of reflection done in group (Peer) will lead to even more reasonable and appropriate reaction to the surprise14. Since this paper discusses the teaching of medical ethics, the following example will illustrate this approach. A 32 years old pregnant lady in her 3rd trimester involved in car accident and sustained severe head injury , brought to the casualty and treating physician confirmed her death but noticed that the baby still kicking !. Limited experience and lack of awareness about the regulation of such the situation made it a surprise for the physician. He used his basic knowledge of saving life and decided to perform postmortem caesarian section (PMCS) and a second surprise came when the husband arrived to refused PMCS!! . Reflection on action for such case is extremely crucial to reach to an approach which is ethical, legal and satisfy the patient. It is usually reached when the case is presented to the peer and each one is discussing different perspective of the case. In the previous example the reflection on action could be asking a senior physician on duty be a good option for the c ase. Application: At college of medicine in sultan Qaboose University, medical students are divided in group each composed of about 10 to 15 students (Boys and Girls). Each group will be asked to prepare a clinical case seen in practice where there was an ethical issue (e.g. breaching confidentiality) and one or two of the group members will present the case to whole group during the medical ethics week forum. Students will be informed in advance about the objectives and strategies of this approach and each group will linked to a facilitator who is usually senior medical/paramedical faculty with experience of making difficult medical decisions6. The group will keep in touch with facilitator either in person or online (e.g. email) to show the contents, structure and suitability of the case for presentation and discussion. The facilitator will guide the students in selecting the case and how to formulate the ethical issue and its resolution and use steps in table-1 adopted from Catherine Myser.9, 11 S/he will also teach them some basic ethical principal like doctors should refrain from being judgmental, patronizing or minipulative2. S/he will direct them to the appropriate resources and personals whenever required. In Oman, many decisions of ethical dilemma are driven by Islamic teaching and this is very prevalent in medical field, hence students will be directed to Islamic scholars who have some medical background in order to help them understanding Islamic teaching in medical field. During the medical ethics IDA week forum, each group will present their case to the entire group in the presence of the facilitators. The presentation will be briefing about the case, the ethical issue, what was done, and how can we do better? More time will be given for discussion and comments by other students who are not member of the presenting group. The discussion will be regulated and guided by the facilitator supervising the presenting group. At the end of discussion the facilitator will re solve any argument and give the final comment summarizing the ethical issue and the best way to deal with it. Discussion: Medical schools around the world used different models in teaching medical ethics; the variation in selection of teaching model could rise from the availability of resources, number of students and curriculum design. For example, both university of Pennsylvania and university of Washington used small group facilitation and peer interaction while uniformed services university introduced a novel model called SCOOP which stand for Students Clinical Observation Of Preceptors11 . A SCOOP reverses the process of evaluation by giving the students evaluation form and ask them to evaluate the teachers. This gives them the opportunity to identify the teaching skills and methods reflect on them and hence acquire the appropriate one and avoid the other one. Shaheen and his group wrote in commentary about time to unified approach to medical ethics where he advocated for unified framework of ethics education justifying that it will   ensures measurable and accountable basis for the complex o f far-reaching ethical issues present in the medical field7 . However, it is difficult and impractical to unify the contents and materials of medical ethics for different parts of the world where there is a diversity of culture, believe and traditional values. That is because most of the ethical decisions are driven by these factors. For example, In Oman (and other Muslims countries) it is forbidden to drink any amount of alcohol as per the Islamic teaching, hence it is unethical to advice patient to drink alcohol as part of heart protection advice while the same advice can be carried out normally in non-Muslim country. However, I support the statement of Rameshkumar in his paper Ethics in medical curriculum when he said The structure of ethics education has to be closely monitored and the curriculum goals have to be well defined.10 The strength of this proposal is that there is national and international move toward teaching of medical ethics to both pre and post graduates students. Most of the senior physicians who did not have training in medical ethics realized that it made a gap in their qualification and they urge the new generation in order not to miss the chance. In Oman the support of the current and previous deans of college of medicine at sultan Qaboose University along with other many medical faculties will make this proposal overcome any obstacles. In addition, there interest of health care providers from different medical disciplines in any activities in medical ethics (workshop, seminars and lectures) will prepare the ground and the environment for the proposal to grow up at the university. This interest always clears during our annual medical ethics week where we get several requests from different institutes and departments asking for registration to the event although the week primarily designe d for medical students. The challenges that this proposal might face is the limited resources that include trained personals and teaching material. The later is easier to overcome since it merely financial and the college is ready to provide any recommended teaching material as long as there is a clear vision and mission of its utilization. In term of training personals, there are already two faculties sent abroad for master in bioethics. In addition, there are several faculties who has special interest in teaching of ethics, all these will make the overcome of human resources obstacles more feasible.  Ã‚   Recommendation: In order to implement this theory in teaching medical ethics to medical students I recommend the college to consider the following points: Identify and train people interested in teaching of medical ethics. The training should be for high degree ( Master , PhD ) and it is preferred to be in a center where culture and value of people are close to Oman. Provide teaching resources and materials to students. It should include textbooks, journals, video etc. Instruct the clinicians to integrate teaching of issues related to medical ethics in their daily patient care. Include assessment of medical ethics in the standard summative and formative methods of assessment in the college. Regular evaluation and audit of the program in order be developed farther .

Incongruities Within The Philosophy Of Socrates :: essays research papers

Incongruities Within the Philosophy of Socrates   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There appears to be an unnatural and unfounded fascination with the alleged â€Å"works† of Socrates. Perhaps that it is simply that the absolutist ideals of philosophers such as Plato and Socrates do not appeal to the post-modern, politically correct, wishy washy, materialistic reader. It is more likely, however, that the problems posed by the philosophy itself and its surrounding circumstances outweigh the insight and philosophical ingenuity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The world of forms is a creation in the mind of Socrates that contains within it multiple ironies. Socrates claims to be closer to the real and Truth than any other man in the history of the world. Socrates claims that he has achieved this level of higher understanding through a lifetime in passionate pursuit of his personal ideal†¦Truth. Yet this Greek philosoph is the sole propounder of the viewpoint, which holds that there is one true example of all objects (a singular definition and model of a table or a chair).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The craftsman and idea smith of new theories cannot claim them as fact, for in similar situations, great thinkers have claimed that the world is flat, that the planets, the sun and all the heavens revolve around the Earth, and that Asia and the East Indies lie only 1100 miles west of the European continent. All of these conceptions of reality were later proved to be false, and, indeed, now seem ridiculous to the modern scholar. Anyone who is even slightly educated knows that this planet (and, in fact, all known planets) is spherical; the Earth and the rest of the planets in this solar system revolve around the sun, which is, incidentally, a relatively minor star; and there is an entire continent between Europe and Columbus’s Asian objective, the continent, in fact, on which we live. The theories proposed by Socrates are similar. It is difficult for the modern reader to believe that there is one quintessential automobile or television set.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Just as there is no singular true representation of an object, these articles do not even necessarily have a solitary purpose. The world’s most perfect stick, the one that exists in the world of forms, also makes a dandy measuring device. According to Socrates, there is only one illustration of each object and one and only one definition of the article’s purpose. However, it cannot be denied that a stick can also be used to measure, and a flashlight could also be used as a weapon.

Agent Banking for Bangladesh

| | VOL 20 NO 157 REGD NO DA 1589 | Dhaka, Thursday, March 28 2013| http://www. fe-bd. com/index. php? ref=MjBfMDNfMjhfMTNfMV85Ml8xNjQ1NzA= | Bangladesh Bank mulls agent banking for financial inclusionM S Siddiqui Agent banking is a financial service offered to customers by a third party on behalf of a financial institution (FI). An agent is an entity that is engaged by an FI to provide specific financial services on its behalf using the agent's premises.It is an additional delivery channel that can enhance the convenience, the outreach of quality and affordable financial services, particularly to the underserved, in a more cost-efficient manner. Such an arrangement is a cheaper way for FIs to reach out to the underserved population. The use of the term ‘agent' is not necessarily a reference to an agent in the traditional legal sense of a party authorised by a principal to act on the principal's behalf and for whom the principal is liable with respect to activities taken by the agent within the scope of its agency relationship or contract.An agent is any third party acting on behalf of a bank, whether pursuant to an agency agreement, service agreement, or other similar arrangement. In most countries, the principal banker is liable under a law for the actions of its agents, whether such actions are explicitly or implicitly authorised. Liability for the actions of a non-agent entity acting on behalf of the bank may be different and will often depend on the contractual agreement.However, a bank's liability (whether by law or contract) for third-party actors will likely impact the bank's policies and procedures, which will in turn impact the superviser's oversight of the bank. The Bangladesh Bank has many recent projects for inclusive financial packages to reach out to non-bankable citizens. Achieving financial inclusion therefore requires innovative business models that dramatically reduce costs for everyone and thus pave the way for profitable extension of financial services to the poor citizens. A major obstacle to financial inclusion is he cost-not only the cost incurred by banks in servicing low value accounts and extending banking infrastructure to underserved, low-income areas, but also the cost incurred by poor customers, in terms of time and expense in reaching bank branches. The banking agent method emphasises greater efforts towards achieving the vision of an inclusive financial system that best serves all members of society, including the underserved, to have access and usage of quality and affordable essential financial services. FIs can reach an additional client segment or a geographical area.Reaching poor clients in rural areas is often prohibitively expensive for financial institutions, since transaction numbers and volumes do not cover the cost of a branch. In such environments banking agents use their existing retail infrastructure. Lower set-up and running cost can play a vital role in offering many low income people their first time access to a range of financial services. Also, low income clients often feel more comfortable banking at their local store than walking into a marble branch. The clients benefit from the agents' banks with lower transaction cost and service, but closer to the client's home.Bankable persons visit stores anyway for groceries all the day, enjoy services with a smaller crowd than in branches. Globally, retailers and post offices are increasingly utilised as important distribution channels for financial institutions. The points of service range from post offices in the outback of Australia where clients from all banks can conduct their transactions, to rural France where the bank Credit Agricole uses corner stores to provide financial services, to small lottery outlets in Brazil at which clients can receive their social payments and access their bank accounts.It has been used very well in Latin America and Asia. There are few African countries that have taken up agency banking. Cheaper to operate: It has been found in research that agent banking systems are up to three times cheaper to operate than branches for two reasons. First, agent banking minimises fixed costs by leveraging existing retail outlets and reducing the need for financial agent banks to invest in their own infrastructure. Second, acquisition costs are lower for bank-enabled agents and bank wallets.The advancement in information and communication technology (ICT) has brought with it the tremendous innovation in the banking industry. Currently, agent banking is an integral part of modern banking in many countries. Banks in Bangladesh are offering services for transfer of money from overseas to any remote area of the country. The payment of different utility bills through mobile bank outlets is very common. The agent banking will provide much more services to the clients.Whether a client accesses his bank account at the agent's outlet or in a branch or at an ATM does not make any dif ference. Technology can enable banks and their customers to interact remotely in a trusted way through the existing local retail outlets. Customers can be issued bank cards with appropriate personal identification number (PIN)-based or biometric security features and the local store-the banking agent can be equipped with a point of service (POS) device controlled by and connected to the bank using a phone line or wireless or satellite technology.Infrastructure requirements can be further reduced by using mobile phones both to hold â€Å"virtual cards† for customers and as a POS device at the store. Responsibilities of agents: The agents have many responsibilities. Such responsibilities include – * apply diligence in validating a customer's identity and transactions to avoid entering into fraudulent transactions or dealing with fraudsters; * maintain a transaction record book, being evidence of every transaction undertaken in the specified format or in such a manner as required by the bank.The transaction record book should be the property of the bank and be returned to the bank by the agent upon termination of the contract or when it is fully completed before issuance of a new transaction record book; * comply with the bank's Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-money Laundering/Combating Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements and/or laws or other regulations in force; * keep details of customers or customer transactions confidential; * maintain their connectivity with the internet in order to gain access to the web agent portal; provide sufficient cash for the location offering cash load and payout services; * comply with the central bank regulations, where the online web portal is in use; * display merchandising materials provided at their location; * ensure employees are trained by the bank on agency operations. Banks also have to ensure that agents, as extensions of the banking system, are able to provide professional customer service, ke ep records, handle cash, and manage liquidity. As a result, one of the primary questions regulators grapple with is who can act as an agent.BB's initiatives: The ongoing global expansion of high-tech telecommunications infrastructure, coupled with the increased availability of advanced information technology services, is having an impact on almost every industry, including banking. The Bangladesh Bank (BB) plans allowing agent banking to gear up further its drive for financial inclusion aiming to help the government achieve sustainable economic growth. The BB has already laid the necessary foundation for agent banking by introducing mobile banking that has already got a good response, especially from rural people.Currently, eight banks are providing mobile banking services involving the country's major mobile phone operators. Many countries permit a wide range of individuals and legal entities to be agents for banks. Other countries limit the list of eligible agents on the basis of a legal form. For example, India permits a wide variety of eligible agents, such as certain nonprofits, post offices, some shop owners, retired teachers and most recently, profit companies including mobile network operators (MNOs).Explicitly excluded, however, are the largest microfinance institutions (MFIs) registered as non-bank finance companies (NBFCs). Kenya takes a different approach, requiring agents to be for-profit actors and disallowing non-profit entities (like non-governmental organisations (NGOs), educational institutions, and faith-based organisations). In another example, Brazil permits any legal entity to act as an agent, but prevents individuals from doing so. The issue of liability: There is the delicate issue of liability of any mistake or misappropriation.Imposing liability on banks for acts of their agents is often the key factor in giving bankers the comfort needed to permit the use of agents. There is a point of imposing liability on banks for agents' non-comp liance with bankers' requirements. Imposing liability on banks for acts of their agents is often the key factor in giving banks the comfort needed to permit the use of agents. The bank liability for agents' noncompliance forces the agents to ensure professional agent behaviour and agents' compliance with agreed norms and rules issued by central bank.All countries that permit bank agents also impose bank liability for these agents. Brazil, a country with perhaps the most widespread use of banking agents, requires banks to be â€Å"fully responsible for services rendered by its agents. † Similarly, India requires that â€Å"all agreements/contracts with the customer shall clearly specify that the bank is responsible to the customers for the agents' acts of omission and commission. Interestingly, Pakistan imposes bank liability but states that the bank may â€Å"take steps it deems necessary to safeguard itself against liabilities arising out of the actions of its agents?. Thi s clause suggests that banks should enter into indemnification agreements with their agents-a protection that could steer banks toward large and well-capitalised agents capable of indemnifying the bank while forgoing agent relationships with smaller retailers who may nevertheless be better positioned to serve the low-income population segments. However, despite the widespread imposition of liability for agents' acts, financial inclusion goals would benefit from limiting the provider liability to those actions or omissions related to the provision of financial services.A failure to do so potentially increases costs of the financial services provider who may have to pay damages for agents' actions unrelated to the purpose of the agency. These costs could have a market chilling effect, negatively impacting not only on the emergence of viable business models but also the ease and speed by which such models reach a certain scale. Some countries more clearly limit the extent of liability to the financial services provided. For example, Kenya's banking agent guidelines impose liability on banks for agents' actions, even if not authorised in the agency contract.The service charge of an agent is a matter of concern. Nearly all countries prohibit the agent from charging customers directly for agent services, and some countries even restrict how much a bank can charge customers for agent transactions. Such well meaning regulations, aimed at protecting customers from excessive fees, can endanger the spread of branchless banking models, if they leave participants unable to make an acceptable return in light of the unique challenges and costs of reaching the poor.According to the BB plan, the agent could be an employee of bank who would offer people banking services including deposit and withdrawal of cash, transfer of fund, bill payment and the receipt of remittance, salary and government benefits. We would wait with interest for the BB rules on bank agency, particularly t he list of eligible agents, the liability of errors and omission of agents. The writer is pursuing PhD at Open University, Malaysia [email  protected] com| | |

I Need Help case Essay

1. Think of a real or made up but realistic example of a pure risk that you or someone you know may face, and then answer the questions below. a. Describe the specific risk. The specific risk is losing a job b. What sort of negative outcomes are possible for this type of risk? You won’t have any money because you won’t get paid. c. Would this risk be likely to create unexpected expenses? Why or why not? I don’t think so , there is no other extra bills you have to pay. d. Describe at least one way you could protect yourself against this risk. One way you could protect yourself is to get insurance. 2. Think of a real or made up but realistic example of a speculative risk that you or someone you know may face, and then answer the questions below. a. Describe the specific risk. Invest in something to make money b. What sort of negative outcomes are possible for this type of risk? One negative outcome is losing all your money. c. What sorts of positive outcomes are possible for this type of risk? One positive outcome is that you can gain money. d. Would this risk be likely to create unexpected expenses? Why or why not? No they only thing you are putting money on is the investment I would think. e. Describe at least one way you could protect yourself against this risk. One way you could protect yourself against is by diversifying your investments among many different types 3. Imagine that you are a parent with young children. You want to get life insurance to protect your children financially until they are old enough to produce their own incomes. Would term life insurance or permanent life insurance be a better choice in this situation? Why? 4. Describe two types of insurance that you have or are likely to have at some point in your life. What risks are these insurance plans protecting you against? Why do you think these types of insurance are important? 5. List four valuable items that might be kept in an apartment or house. Next to each item, write the estimated dollar amount that each item might be worth.