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Policy Analysis: Impact of a Program on Cost Saving

Introduction

The national premarital screening and genetic counselling program was established in 2004 all over Saudi Arabia, and became mandatory law in 2005 (Hamamy & Al-Allawi, 2013). The main objective of this program was to reduce the prevalence of sickle cell disease (SCD) and b-thalassemia by reducing the number of at-risk marriages. Sickle cell disease and b-thalassemia are costly to manage, causing an economic burden to Saudi Arabia’s government and individuals. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the national premarital screening and genetic counselling in reducing the number of at-risk marriages. Consequently, this will translate to cost savings factors due to decreased rates of both SCD and b-thalassemia occurrence. Several scholarly studies have shown some impact of the screening and counselling policy, indicating reduced rates of at-risk marriages. However, the policy impact depends on the number of cancelled engagements or at-risk marriages after screening and counseling. (more…)

A Review of the Live Jazz Performance by the Robert Glasper Trio in Paris

This is a review of a live jazz performance by the Robert Glasper Trio, with Bilal Oliver as a featured vocalist. The group is additionally composed of the following members: Robert Glasper on piano, Derrick Hodge on the double bass, and Chris Dave on the drums. The trio performed in 2010 at the Festival Jazz a la Villette in Paris, France. The length of the performance was about one hundred minutes long, and the following musical pieces were performed, which were all composed by the trio that is playing: “G & B,” a second track which is listed as “Unknown,” “Little B’s Poem,” “Body & Soul,” “Yes I’m Country,” “Butterfly,” “All Matter,” and finally an encore song titled “Reminisce.” The featured vocalist Bilal Oliver performs on about half of the band’s repertoire – “Little B’s Poem,”  “Body & Soul,” “All Matter,” and “Reminisce.”

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Behavioral Effects of Entertainment Devices to the American Society

Introduction

Technological expansion has changed the entertainment industry for the better. A lot of improvements have been achieved and the devices used in entertainment have become sophisticated, simpler and more friendly. Past data reveal the complexity of the devices used in the entertainment industry. The contemporary society has inexpensive ways of achieving their goals in the entertainment industry since the available devices simplifies the way entertainment is executed. With technology, the entertainment industry is drastically changing, implying that the transition from analogue to digital transmission of data has made things simpler and convenient (Cheok, 2010 p. 20-24). Both positive and negative effects though, have surrounded the music and the entertainment industry. In the past the cost of CDs and DVDs accounted for millions of dollars in revenues but in the contemporary society where piracy and other file sharing methods being discovered, many artist’s loss a lot of money from those who share files, music and other copyright materials. (more…)

TOC or Theory of Constraints is a technique that business strategists use to identify the key limiting element (constraint) that affects the operation of their businesses, and then systematically improve the constraint to the extent that its harmfulness stops affecting the business. In a manufacturing firm, the limiting factor is also known as bottleneck. This essay will highlight a process that identifies and improves a constraint to make it harmless to business operation.

Application of the principles of the theory of constraints can improve internal business operations leading to reduced inventory and lead times, improvement of capacity, and profit growth. The theory of constraints offers a method that identifies and implements constraints. This method is called the Five Focusing Steps, and diagram below explains this cyclical process. (more…)

Purpose and Portrayal of History in Literature

The collection of fourteen plays written by Walter Mosley and dedicated ‘Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned’ contained a fascinating account called ‘History’ that featured the story of and ex-police officer, Socrates Fortlow. Fortlow displayed a pitiful image of a retired officer who served over two decades for the murder of two citizens. Socrates ended up in a string of altercations with a group of friends and exemplary strangers (a burglar, a pervert and a war veteran) with whom he regularly held astute philosophical discussions on morals, repentance and justice. Fortlow also socialized with neighbors who, despite the odds, have assisted his community at the lower levels, like Mr. Burke, whose irritable spouse administered a rooming shelter for deprived African Americans, and Mr. Minette, who operated a self-sufficient bookstore (Mosley 34). Discussion will be based on why Socrates Fortflow values his history and literature study. (more…)

Is Carbon Trading better than Carbon Taxes?

Proposed Research Topic: The research will answer the question of whether carbon trading is better than carbon taxes.

Theoretical framework

I will be guided by social economic theory. Social economic theories do not embark on individuals but deals with the entire economy or institutions within it or groups. Such theories do not view the economy as a separate subject from the society (Aldred et al., 2011). They instead view economic processes as social processes embedded in the society. Rather than developing an economic theory from assumptions about what persons do, social theory deals with societal aspects – like its structuring into social classes or groups – as a starting point. Social theories show how social structure and individual behavior interact (Wagner, 2012). An aspect of social theories’ engagement in economics has been the interest to understand institutions together with their implications for economic behavior. People in societies can suffer from high level of health and social problems. (more…)

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Napoleon Bonaparte was a famous French soldier and politician who is greatly celebrated for the French revolution.  Napoleon’s mode of leadership was not in accordance to the traditional Europe rule where the leaders would oppress their subjects in the form of taxes and forced labor among others. This sparked the leader to engage in various civil as well as international wars or conflicts, and this forced him to run into exile at some point in his life. The celebrated Bonapatre was born in the late 1769 in Ajaccio in Corsica. This discourse is about the story or rather brief history of the celebrated French leader.

His childhood is well regarded as unique or rather special by various historians during that era. Napoleon was a self driven youth who did everything by himself. At a tender age, he could read great history books and this made him show interest in politics in very tender age. (more…)

Introduction

This discussion will delve deeper into a number of fallacies and understand their validity. The explanation of fallacies will be used to explain a number of observations in daily life. The fallacy concept will be used in the business line to make sense. This will include relating fallacies to situations. This will be instrumental in fostering a deeper understanding of the topic. The objective of fallacies is to gain an understanding of various concepts.

Appeal to person fallacy

The appeal to person fallacy is based on the idea of skeptical thinking about facts. (more…)

Can the tort of negligence be built on shaky foundations?

Introduction

Identifying the appropriate test for finding a duty of care in novel situations is a matter which has exercised the minds of the judiciary across many jurisdictions since Lord Atkin’s famous formulation of the ‘neighbour’ principle in Donoghue v Stevenson. Almost 40 years after Donoghue the English Court of Appeal, in Dutton v Bognor Regis Urban District Council, applied the ‘neighbour’ test and held that a local council could be liable to both the original and subsequent owners of a house where damage was suffered as a result of the council’s surveyor having negligently approved the foundations during the construction of the property. Prior to that decision it had not been considered that a territorial authority would owe such a duty of care to original owners and subsequent purchasers of a property. (more…)

No longer at Ease is a novel written by the late Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe, a literary genius to say the least. The novel revolves around the main character, Obi Okonkwo, whose grandfather, Okonkwo, was the main character of an earlier and famous book by Chinua Achebe, entitled Things Fall Apart. Obi Okonkwo leaves his village in Nigeria to pursue further studies in Britain, to study Law. He struggled to a great extent to adapt to the lifestyle of the west-Britain. He even changed his major from Law to English Language. (more…)