Thursday, October 31, 2019

Hard news Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Hard news - Essay Example â€Å"I use acrylic paints because they are versatile, available in many shades, blend well and can be mixed with glazes or pastes for different effects. As I work fairly quickly, they are more suited to my style,† he says. â€Å"Angony is very quick when he works and he doesn’t like to be interrupted. I think that is why he doesn’t usually like to have people around while he’s ‘in the zone’† says neighbor Sheila Creeley. â€Å"But sometimes you’ll notice the green hat you were wearing or that thing that you were doing in one of his next paintings.† Primitive art recognizes that the underlying elements of human emotions can be deeply expressed through the colors and lines of the work more than the symbols and forms found in the image. By de-emphasizing focus on the image and channeling the emotional experience of the moment, primitive artists attempt to bridge any emotional distance introduced through cultural or social differences of symbol interpretation. This concept is perhaps best expressed by the words of Jean Francois Lyotard in his 1984 book The Postmodern Condition when he describes the process as an attempt â€Å"to make visible that there is something which can be conceived and which can neither be seen nor made visible.† This element is most often referred to as the sublime. For many artists, such as Angony, this sublime element is recaptured to the highest degree through the sense of wonder and imagination typically found through the focus on ‘primitive’ geometric forms. The movement toward primitive art was started by Pablo Picasso. As artists concentrated on the essence of the experience of the art and its creation instead of the symbolic form, they discovered that emotions were generally felt the same universally even when technical elements such as symbols, shapes or colors were understood differently by different cultures. This meant that the

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Summary and Critical Response Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summary and Critical Response - Assignment Example Some skills are learnt in these workplaces, Etzioni claims, but they are often not a good example. Money earned in these jobs is spent by teens to support themselves, in poorer areas, or saved for a major item, but more often it is used to buy trend items, with little lasting value, according to Etzioni. He concludes the article by advising balance in activities for teenagers, so that the desire to earn money does not prevent a well-rounded educational process. (199 words) Critical Response to the article â€Å"Working at McDonald’s† by Amitai Etzioni Amitai Etzioni in the article â€Å"†Working at McDonald’s† examines the phenomenon of teen employment in the United States. The writer’s central claim is that the kind of employment that is offered to teens, and their widespread joining of such employment, is becoming a problem due to the inappropriate nature of the jobs they are able to get. At the outset, the writer acknowledges that very few scientific studies have been carried out to examine the nature of jobs at places such as fast-food outlets. This concession may strengthen the argument presented, because it suggests that the writer is going to persuade the reader with logical argument based on personal observations. A point of view is going to be proposed, for the audience to be convinced by. On the other hand, it may weaken the argument, in that not enough scientifically proven fact exists to strengthen what is being claimed. The latter is true. This article presents an almost entirely personal point-of-view, and generalizations so wide that the reader would have to question even the most simple of Etzioni’s claims. An important example of generalization is that there are more traditional teen jobs, which are much better for young people than current ones. The claim is that the traditional lemonade stands, which teach the value of entrepreneurship, and paper routes, to learn the skills of hard work and regu lar, good service fit into the American work ethic better than jobs currently(according to the writer). Not only is it a generalization to propose that every youngster in the past benefited from these â€Å"wholesome† jobs, it is also an appeal to the emotions of Americans, generally, in that the writer presumes that everyone believes that the old way of life in the USA was better than the current one. Other generalizations follow: that all teenagers with very few exceptions spend their money unwisely; that most fast-food outlets are poorly managed and do not allow for the employee to take initiative; that all teenagers’ school education is badly affected by part-time work. Added to these sweeping statements, the writer also appeals to the reader’s emotions, and exaggerates the actual conditions of work for teens. He uses negative terms such as â€Å"pot party† to describe these workplaces. Any parent would not be happy with the possibility that a childâ €™s place of work could be described in this way. Etzioni further proposes that the kind of work available to teenagers causes the continued poverty of sections of the American population: â€Å"

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Problems Facing Bmw Company Marketing Essay

Problems Facing Bmw Company Marketing Essay Globalization diversifies markets for vehicle manufactures where regions like Japan, North America and Western Europe are established big manufactures with over 18 vehicle manufactures across the board. This accounts for almost 90 percent of vehicle produced thus a scramble for available markets, attention now turns to upcoming economies like Russia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, Governments in developing economies aware of the value of their prospective growth auction off their market share to the highest bidders, like BMW, this investors hoping to increase manufacturing capacities so as to build their intended market bid away their economic returns and in so doing multiply the overcapacity problem on a large scale (Griffin Pustay 2009). Risks involved in venturing into new markets weigh in and most companies aware of the consequences of losing a market place bid, this either plays out in the company over bidding or throwing in the towel and losing the market.   Differentiation Successful ECO-Specialties must emphasize their differentiation. Differentiation means that the marketing mix is distinct from and better than what is available from the competitor; product differentiation is the core to a healthy market share. An abundance of option for the vehicle buyers exists with vehicle models with almost similar functional characteristics, BMW is now forced to manufacture unique products for a particular region at a point in time, and this is to cope with tastes and fickle needs of consumers. This differentiation wanes on their budget heavily since financial consequences of missing a market are disastrous (Prahalad Hamel 1990). Innovation Commitment to innovation and product variety has brought on the greatest challenge in the companies history, the intricacy and complexity of the functions offered in BMWs premium luxurious cars has burgeoned making manufacturing costs increase. Product development is the most financially taxing for BMW, the cost of developing a new models and model parts is enormous, time consuming and carries major risks. where the ford and general motors GM experience of 1970s and 1980s implies that commonization among manufactures leads to consumer backlash and confusion, BMW is now faced with expensive process of innovating prototypes and going through rigorous expensive and risk prone testing phases (Hollensen 2007). Competition Competition from other vehicle manufacturers dictate company strategies, with 69% of the market controlled by six companies its more difficult for a manufacturer to maintain his buyers without raids from rivals, this has the most direct effect on prices. Slow growth in automobile industry intensifies competition and has affected the BMW strategy leading to the BMW brand acquiring the merger partners (Tata Motors Inc. 2009). Substitute Products Substitute products threat on the auto market relates to products, materials or resources that may cause the demand for a product to shift. BMW targets premium buyers with whom quality matters, however other manufactures targeting this premium car market like, Mercedes, Audi, and the Porsche consequently become a close substitute to BMW. Global Warming With Global Warming a great concern in the modern world, environmental activists, non governmental organizations and governments are pushing for manufacturing companies to go green, BMW The carmaker, whose stable includes its core BMW brand along with the compact Mini and the super luxury Rolls-Royce, which hopes to deliver over 1.8 million vehicles a year by 2012 is faced with stricter regulation to conform, the company warned it is also likely to be confronted in the future by stricter emission standards in many countries. This implies further costs in innovation of more environmentally friendly engines, fuels and investment into alternative sources of energy to drive their cars. Proposed Solutions On globalization BMW can solve this over taxing problem through carefully calculated mergers and acquisitions, this allow the company to gain market share and penetration as well as access to already existing technology, local professionals and local brands. Furthermore, reviewing policies to improve the ratio of profitable to unprofitable customers which tends to run 20:80. Developing a global view of the brand and the buyers portfolio will reveal uncharted regions for expansion. And the use of existing plants in suitable locations to manufacture or assemble vehicles maintaining the quality of the BMW brand will greatly cut operational start up costs. Differentiation BMW has adopted advanced technology used to increase engineering and the quality of the models which are the route to competitive advantage. Mainly the major areas of differentiation are in alternative energies and security features, ensuring the brand maintains uniqueness, the BMWs 2002 (sports sedans) ensured differentiation was achieved, BMW use of advanced electronics make their cars luxurious as well as sporty to drive Innovation and product variety The use of technologically announced Intel Xeon processor 5500 series helps BMW Group to balance hardware, energy and application licensing costs, while also increasing its performance. This allows for new applications to be run, prototypes can be virtually created and tested virtually, Dr. Burkhard Goeschel, member of BMW board explains key areas of innovation incorporated in product development, this key areas include, Connected Drive which allows for an innovative and comprehensive concept networking the car, the driver, and the surrounding world, by-wire technology and iDrive control, all these concepts are available in the new BMW 7 series. Competition BMW has introduced new models, the x5, x3 and z4 with advanced electronics to make them sporty as well as luxurious, BMW has also acquired the Mini Cooper and Rolls Royce car manufacturers and the new models have boosted their competitive edge. Substitute products BMW prioritizes quality and product differentiation such that for its targeted premium market the BMW standards remain top and the car is still prestigious. Environmental challenges To combat this BMW along with other motor companies have tried to use some of the emerging technologies to make money, lower costs and ultimately help in reducing pollution. Toyota, Ford and BMW have incorporated this mentality in manufacturing of three lines of their cars, the new BMW 7series and the greatly awaited z4 are all projected to embrace these environmental friendly features, in future innovation of electric cars and alternative fuel sources are being considered. Major Strategic Alternatives BMW has established a basic supply chain in order to improve its load planning, this aids in determining its allocation strategies to cope with globalization; this supply chain ensures putting up of new manufacturing plants in suitable foreign countries and dedicated assembly lines for every product with few variants and thus increases productivity and reduces costs. With the market full of options for the buyer, the chain allows BMW to establish its brand in emerging anomies before competitors bid for market shares. Mergers and acquisitions of key brands of premium brands of cars have further solidified BMW market dominance. Beginning with the BMW Rover merger, the company has newly acquired MINI, and Rolls Royce cars. Its products cover the full range of size classes and car types but consist exclusively of premium-class cars, this allows the company to venture into new markets use the facilities used by former brands to re model new cars thus reducing operational costs while fostering growth. Unlike former mergers like the vole-Renault deal of the early 1990s which collapsed because the company cultures were incompatible, BMW integration with their new acquisitions have proved profitable, most vehicle manufactures have resulted to creating entirely new vehicle segments, and BMW hit home run with its 2002 sports sedan which generated returns to its innovator by fending its differentiated position, the company has designed and always built cars with exponentially greater responsiveness to a dri vers actions, this has been greatly attributed to the companies product differentiation policies (Teece et al 1996). The BMW engine roaring sound is music to the ears of sports and performance car lovers, outside the box thinking like the BMW sedans and convertibles give BMW a competitive advantage over other manufacturers. New and advanced technology like greatly improved safety features, advanced control features have led to market dominance. BMW cars typically have product life cycle of seven years. and according to Jim McDowell, vice president of marketing at BMW If a product is declining, we would prefer to withdraw it from the market, as opposed to having a strategy for dealing with the declining product this awareness ensures that BMW ventures are only profitable ones, the rover case shows how failing mergers operate and instead of working on it BMW sold it to UK venture capital firm Alchemy Partners (Siciliano Zuvich 2006). To foster growth BMW instead acquired profitable mergers like with luxury cars rolls Royce. This ensures the company always remains relevant to the market and trendy to its buyers With advancing technology and introduction of fiber optic cables in developing economies, the world has become a global village where car enthusiast can order in their premium BMW cars online, check features and ask questions on performance, : BMW Car maker uses web mostly to drive its brand, taking the phrase beyond the banner seriously, online adds like the Marketing Channels Internet 46860 banners, appear on equal rotating basis with each search result, with BMW targeting 26.5% the percentage of viewers between age group (25-34) , this along with E-mail Marketing, Brochure test-drive Registration for Mail alert message, and e-catalogue, enable more availability of information anywhere to prospective buyers, BMW has launched an email marketing campaign for the release of the long awaited Sporty new Z4 Convertible, Z4 BMW (Key General Motors Financial 2007). This guarantees availability to buyers who dont have to attend gallery shows at the dealership. BMW has established Numerous Overseas Subsidiaries in countries like, south Africa, India, china Canada and Egypt, where BMW vehicles are assembled, 2003 saw the signing of a deal the production of sedans in China, this subsidiary firms are well equipped to build cars for export to specific markets like, the south Africa plant builds left hand drives for the Taiwan market, and also right hand drives for sub Saharan Africa, Malaysia and Singapore. This shows a great understanding of the market and understanding of the buyer needs in different regions, Predictions If put in place supply chains will enable the company to greatly take advantage of existing infrastructure in different regions, this will allow for strategic allocation of plants in areas where the BMW brand will not be compromised, this areas will preferably have skilled professional workers, laid out infrastructure which the company will exploit. This aids in reduction of start up costs in new markets. Integration with already existing local brands allow for easy market penetration (Franey 2008). E-commerce is a must have for companies in the modern world and will increased emphasis on e marketing, BMW stands to break into markets far and wide, most upcoming economies have low income citizens without many premium luxurious cars available, the internet brings the BMW experience closer to them, thus when the market is established the concept of luxury cars wont be so alien, this allows for easier market penetration and preparation of a ready market (Juslin Hansen 2003). Product differentiation among premium car market is a key to successes, with the targeted buyer giving more emphasis to quality and uniqueness and elegance as opposed to pricing, BMW seeks to offer intricate designs and features to these new models allowing for elegance that buyers crave. In reaction to the differentiation major competitors like Volkswagen, Porsche, Mercedes, have released new models like the jeep Cherokee luxurious SUV, and the mustang pony cars so as to try and keep up. Establishing of overseas subsidiary in developing markets in the Latin America, and parts of eastern Europe, and Africa BMW will be able to put up assembly plants closer to the buyer, sales are predicted to sore with introduction of this new markets, the subsidiary firm are able to carry out research in respective Regions and integrate the outcome in their strategic plans to give the buyers exactly what they desire, this bolsters sales, Strategy outcome Prediction When implementing E- Marketing as a basis for extending growth and penetration to market regions, various risks are involved especially when the internet is being used to launch details of new vehicle series being manufactured, BMW had a case in 2004 when there were cases of website incursions, theft of vehicles and a constant threat of arson even in its UK head offices in Bracknel (Hambrick Fredrickson 2001). In addressing all these, the company specified a self-sufficient security solution that was cost effective and that required minimal human supervision and intervention. Reliance securities implemented a state of the art security solution including CCTV surveillance with intelligent detector activation, to avoid future incursions. Mergers and acquisitions are effective in breaking into new markets through acquiring and integrating an already existing brands, great risks are involved in such takeovers, having seen the BMW-Rover merger record massive losses, in light of this failure BMW has learnt to plan its mergers with companies whose cultures are compatible, this has seen successful mergers with luxurious car manufactures rolls Royce and the mini (Pearce Robinson 2009). Production of entirely new brands is the most expensive aspect of car manufacturing with average of 2 models released in a decade, across the wide range of car manufactures, though this allows for product differentiation and preferences to the buyer, great risks are involved, since the sports sedan in 2002, only the 2seater roadster and coupe have been sold since 2002 (Marshall Stuart 2008). The company has however heavily invested in technology when intricate applications are put in place to virtually make desired prototypes, and virtually test the models this greatly reduces costs of manufacturing a car and having it fail.   Many countries have enacted stricter environmental restrictions on pollution and emissions, BMW, has greatly put in place measures to manufacture more fuel efficient cars, this comes with elevated costs and consequently the cost is projected down to the buyers, more fuel efficient engines are expensive, electric cars which are regarded as the future are even more costly even to premium market target manufacturers, The 2011 BMW Active Hybrid 7 and the vision Efficient Dynamic Concept car which was unveiled during the September 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show are projected to offer fuel economy of 62.6 mpg. BMW also has a recycling policy where they use the shredded parts of the cars in their yard, this reduces pollution, and the foundation for the environmental friendly recycling of vehicles is laid during the production of each vehicle (Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft 2008).    Supply chains overall levels of integration ensuring a reduction to fixed costs of assets and labor, they also serve to reduce the number competitors supplying into the same market, for instance India is a viable market but has competitors such as, Audi, Daimler Chrysler, Tata, Mahindra an Hyundai looking to invest in that market by putting up assembly units, the supply will ensure such a flooded market is avoided or a more appropriate means of entry is effected (Thompson Strickland 1996). Globalization leads to governments of up coming economies take advantage of their growth potential and thus bid off their markets to the highest bidders amongst the major vehicle manufactures. But there is growing unwillingness within the supply community to invest in plants that might not reach potential in over a decade, this leads to investors pulling out instead of bidding away, this markets form good grounds for take over and acquisitions of already in place plants (Kiley 2004).

Friday, October 25, 2019

Essay --

The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, critique the effects of private property, division of labor, and capitalism. With the industrial revolution in full swing, Marx argues history is a progressive process of â€Å"the struggle of men to realize their full human potentialities† (Berlin 118). The transformation from feudal to capitalist societies is the beginning of â€Å"the story of man’s alienation in his life as a producer† (Reader, 66). In the Manuscripts, Marx discusses human nature and four types of alienation with which he uses as a platform to argue that estrangement from labour, estranges species from man and makes man individualistic. First and foremost, human nature, as described by Marx in the form of species being, is the understanding that the self is social and lives for the purpose of the species. It is human nature to realize full human potential. Hence, unlike animals, humans have a will and consciousness, which allows for freedom of physical need and ability to produce. Marx defines nature as man’s â€Å"direct means of life [as well as] the material, the object, and the instrument of his life activity† (Reader, 75). Nature is thus the means of both survival and invention. In this respect, humans are capable of shaping nature and therefore creating new wants and desires along with new outlooks and relationships towards nature and the people around them. Though, because needs are beyond survival, the immediate need of nature is lost and alien. Moreover, this human capacity to invent and produce creates division of labor. Berlin declares that the division of labor increases productivity and thus creates wealth beyond immediate needs. Therefore, the manifestation of excess accumulation is withheld from the laborers ... ...are alienated from the product that is given to the species. In other words, â€Å"Capitalism, under which the labour power of human beings is bought and sold, and the workers are treated merely as sources of labour, is plainly a system which distorts the truth about what men are and can be, and seeks to subordinate history to a class interest†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Berlin, 133). In conclusion, the Manuscripts of 1844 connect Marx’s earlier philosophical work to his future as a political economist. He describes how capitalism, a necessary stepping-stone, is a system that creates large disparities between two classes: the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The division of labor during the industrial revolution produces various forms of alienation for the workers of the proletariat. The result of this estrangement is the deviation of man from his human essence, or in other words species being.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Accounting Cycle

The accounting cycle is a systematic process used to help perform the basic function of accounting, which is to identify, record, and communicate information. A business or organization may have its own unique way of performing its accounting cycle, but each must perform the task in one way or another. Alvarez Bookkeeping Services, a small family operated business, has a very simplified version of the accounting cycle. The company was established in 1971 and is located in Flushing, NY.The company is consists of four employees this includes the owner. One person, the owner, performs the entire accounting cycle for the Alvarez Bookkeeping Services. Gradually, the accounting cycle has evolved much like business have evolved; the multiple steps have been reduced as technology has simplified the process, â€Å"today, most companies use accounting software that processes many of these steps simultaneously† (Averkamp, n. d. , para. 3).The accounting cycle consists of: identifying, jo urnalizing, posting, trail balance, adjusted entries, adjusted trial balance, preparing financial statements, closing, post-closing trial balance, reversing entries, and financial statements (Kieso, Weygandt, & Warfield, 2007). Identifying a transaction or event is the first step in the cycle; businesses engage in various activities on a daily, as a result, determining when to record and activity is crucial. Once the activity is identified a transaction must be recorded, the next step is to journalize the transaction.The journalizing process can be completed in a variety of ways; the most common method is the general journal, although some companies keep other special journals. The next step in the accounting cycle is posting, which is the procedure of transferring journal entries to the ledger accounts (Kieso et al. , 2007), so that the transactions reflect in the appropriate ledger accounts balances. After the transactions from the general journal have passed to the general ledger a trail balance can be performed. The trial balance â€Å"lists accounts and their balances at a given time† (Kieso et al., 2007, pg. 74), which is very useful in detecting errors that may have occurred during recording or posting. In the event an error is detected or a transaction is missing, an adjusting entry is made. Adjusting entries may also be made to update an account, such as prepaid accounts. For instance, a company may have pre-paid insurance on its books as assets, at the end of the period an adjusting entry is made to reflect what is prepaid and what an expense is. Often times a trial balance is done after the adjusting entries are made just to be sure everything is still in balance.At this point in the accounting cycle, the financial reports are typically generated, the most common are the: balance sheet, income statement, and retained earnings. The accounting cycle concludes with the closing entries and closing trial balances. The expense and revenue accounts are closed against income summary, which is closed against retained earnings; thus, preparing the cycle to start again in the coming period. Today, technology is used often in accounting and has made it easier processing accounting. The way a company processes accounting is changing.Alvarez Bookkeeping Services uses accounting software called Peachtree Quantum has vastly improved the accounting cycle process. The transactions are recorded in the software’s general journal, if the transaction is out of balance the system will not complete the transaction and prompt to balance the transaction, therefore eliminating the need for trial balances. Once the transaction is recorded the system automatically posts to proper ledger accounts and also carries the information over to financial statements.If the owner wishes to review how the company is doing, he would run a financial report by selecting the report and forms option selecting the specific report they would like run. Adjustin g entries are still necessary, but the accounting cycle has been effectively reduced to: identifying, journalizing, adjusted entries, financial statements, and closing. The accounting cycle is proven methodical system is beneficial in performing accounting tasks at Alvarez Bookkeeping Service.The role of people and systems in the cycle has changed the way companies perform the accounting cycle; some companies have departments specified for specific tasks of the cycle, whereas Alvarez Bookkeeping Services has one individual who does the entire process. Nonetheless, companies have benefited from the advancements in technology and most notably in accounting systems. Accounting systems have expedited the process and given more accurate results, which allow the user to focus on analyzing the information.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

To Be Human Is To Discuss

There were only 100 years without war in the whole history of human civilization! Iraq and Kuwait had had a long standing, but low level, border dispute over a pair of Persian Gulf islands. No preventative diplomacy was employed during this period of escalation, and Kuwait was invaded in August of 1990. more than 200 people lost their lives. In Vietnam war the total amount of casualties is more than 1,800 million people. In Rwanda after April 6, 1994, 800,000 men, women, and children perished in the Rwandan genocide, perhaps as many as three quarters of the Tutsi population.Although the Rwandans are fully responsible for the organization and execution of the genocide, governments and peoples elsewhere all share in the shame of the crime because they failed to prevent and stop this killing campaign. Not only did international leaders reject what was going on, but they also declined for weeks to use their political and moral authority to challenge the legitimacy of the genocidal govern ment. When international leaders finally voiced disapproval, the genocidal authorities listened well enough to change their tactics although not their ultimate goal.Far from cause for satisfaction, this small success only highlights the tragedy: if weak protests produced this result in late April, imagine what might have been the result if in mid-April the entire world had spoken out. Syria now is bogged down in endless killing. Early in the uprising, Western support might have ousted Mr Assad and preserved Syria’s sectarian harmony. , but the West held back. Now, after more than 110,000 people have died during 30 months of violence, it is too late. Like many civil-war leaders Mr Assad prefers to prolong the fighting rather than risk compromise.The rebels, too, battle on in the knowledge that surrender is likely to mean death. Guys,we live in the 21 century and the humans became so developed that we can tell GOOGle what to GOOgle with our voice but we still fight even more ho rribly than centuries ago. why do wars still occur then? Wars occur when negotiations fail or don’t even take place. The talks fail when one or more of the parties refuse to participate in negotiations. There are 4 most common reasons for such refusals- 1) that the refusing party thinks that it can get a better outcome by some other means-usually through force.2)they fear they will be forced to accept unwanted compromises. If parties think they will have to compromise their values, or give up their chance to obtain their fundamental needs, they will refuse to participate in any negotiation. 3)that parties may refuse to negotiate because they make think that the negotiations are a waste of time and are destined to fail. 4)A final reason why parties may refuse to negotiate is that they are so angry with the other group that they are not even willing to sit down at a table , because they do not want to grant them the legitimacy that such an act would imply.These reasons are not sensible enough to risk thousands of human lives. The main reason why the man got ahead of the mammals is thanks to the intensive development and differentiation of the cerebral cortex. But even the mammals don’t kill each other whereas it’s not uncommon for us to do this. We really differ from mammals and need to understand that the power of the word is immense and the only way for us to remain human beings is to discuss. All these bloodstained wars are not the inability to discuss, but just the unwillingness.While war has created more separation between Arab world and the West, negotiations could have improved the relationships and found long-term solution. the only way to stop the continuous fight in Syria is through negotiations. The Economist suggests that The effort is worth it—about 40% of civil wars end through negotiation. And to pave the way for negotiated solutions, parties should have clear understanding of their interests, acknowledge their interdep endence by considering both short-term and long-term interests, and recognize that their interests are not incompatible.The parties should also reject the attempt to frame negotiations as talk with a madman. Negotiations are about finding common ground with the opponent, but not judging personal qualities of the negotiator. And the thing that the parties should understand best of all- is that they are humans and that as leaders they have to protect their people from war. Nothing in this world is more valuable than a human life. Let’s save it by discussion! It began to snow.. lightly at first, but then in large flakes. The wind started to howl,it was a snowstorm.In an instant the dark sky merged into an ocean of snow. Everything disappeared. The epigraph for Bulgacov’s â€Å"White Guardian† seems like a snowy night on December the 9th in Kiev. the protesters have blockaded streets and occupied municipal buildings, riot police have beaten demonstrators and journal ists, agent provocateurs have tried to discredit the crowd and thus to excuse the repression. The violence can get much worse but the both parties answers to the idea of talks are â€Å"we shall push a little bit more and everything will be OK†. Won’t it be only worse?