Reggio Emilia research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Reggio Emilia research - Essay Example Malaguzzi developed a learning program or self-guided curriculum that had basis on respect, obligation, and community principles that influenced self-discovery and contributing to the enrichment of the environment basing on the interests of the children. The basis of this curricular was to provide education coupled with care where the parents of Reggio Emilia influenced its development through their sale of military equipments that had remained after the World War II. 1. The Reggio Emilia curriculum Since its inception, the Reggio Emilia Approach to offering education has experienced immense improvements in an attempt to improve the learning standards of children. The Reggio curriculum is the Approach that emerged in which the adopters of this philosophy became the Reggio educators. As per the curriculum, the educators are responsible for developing the educational goals that are in line with the intensive expansion of knowledge. In the Reggio application, most of the curriculum impl emented through projects results from the input of children or teachers meaning that it is a flexible education Approach. Ideally, children tend to be curious beings especially when at a tender age meaning that the learning project may change depending on the subjects that have caught their eyes (Grotewell & Burton, 2008). In this learning process, the project developed by either the children or the teachers signifies that children conduct this curriculum while their teachers guide them (Arnstrong, 2006). The Reggio curriculum projects may take months before completion depending on their length meaning a shorter Reggio Emilia project may take shorter to complete. 2. What does Reggio Emilia mean? When a child starts going to school, this means that from that point forward there would be lesser parent involvement, which might be a scary thought for many parents. The lessons rely heavily on structures developed by teachers meaning that there is less play and more study work for the chi ldren. As per the Reggio Emilia Approach, the application is different because parents, teachers, and children become equal stakeholders in the learning process. Presently, the Reggio Emilia application is a module that preschools and kindergartens in the world have adopted with plans to include the program in the elementary classes in the piping. In essence, Reggio Emilia is not a philosophy that bases on a set of established beliefs, but rather it is a philosophical approach whose fundamental values focus on the learning outcomes for children. In this approach, there are several core principles embedded in the execution of this philosophy in learning that include significance of the learning environment, the child being an active participant to the learning process, making the learning visible, and having the three stakeholders of the learning process to collaborate. The most critical part of the process is influencing the children to learn more within the program through the supp ort of the parents and the teachers alike as curiosity heightens the quest for knowledge for young children. Key beliefs that the Reggio Emilia model promotes regarding the learning and development of young children According to Morrison (2010), the Reggio Emilia program is applicable to children from the age of three months to those age six years in which many schools in the USA have incorporated it into their early childhood learning systems. Ideally, the execution of

Organizational Effectiveness and Leadership in Healthcare

Organizational Effectiveness and Leadership in Healthcare Miguel Boquer The success of a healthcare organization greatly depends on the effectiveness of the leadership in place. Leaders are a very integral part in the development and communication of new organizational strategies. Then, these strategies are shared throughout the organization as to motivate the employees so that they become more dedicated towards the organizations goals (The CEO Institute, 2016). Leaders must maintain certain competencies in order to be as effective as possible within any organization, which is why the best leaders are always looking for ways to improve themselves. If I am planning on being a leader at some point in the future for a healthcare organization, it is important that I take into consideration the competencies that I already possess to determine the areas in need of improvement. I will be using two competencies as an example, effective communication and self-management. Being an effective communicator is essential to leading any organization and I consider myself to be quite strong in this particular competency. Effective leaders must have a strong understanding of how to properly communicate to stakeholders, management, patients, employers, and any other important factors that affect the organization. Forms of communication have only improved over the years such as in the use of email, presentations, video conferencing, social media, or simply in-person. Then, there is the understanding of body language, tone of voice, or being a proactive listener to help you in becoming a better communicator. I initially learned how to become a gre at communicator as a student in a professional sales organization and then proceeded to practice effective communication throughout my professional career to this day. There is always so much to learn in regards to being an effective communicator. A survey that was conducted by Athena Health found that physicians significantly cited the ability to communicate as the most essential skill for management of healthcare. Physicians cited communication to be the top leadership skill to focus on for improvement, which is the area that would benefit the healthcare organization the most (Cosinuke, 2016). The second competency to discuss is self-management, which is an area where I find that I could always use a significant amount of improvement. The skills for self-management are the foundation of good leadership and a prerequisite of a excellent manager and leader. One of the most essential skills on managing oneself is emotional competencies (Kumar, Adhish, Chauhan, 2014). Dealing with emotions within the work environment can be challenging because work can tend to be a stressful environment. From personal experience, I find it difficult at times to prevent personal emotions from outside of work from affecting me entirely because it can be quite draining, especially with everything else you have to deal with in the workplace on top of that. I find it best to look for ways to cope with stress and emotions so that it will affect my professional work as minimal as possible. Emotional competencies are based on emotional intelligence and a particular amount of emotional intelligence is needed in order to learn the emotional competencies. Evidence has indicated that strong job performance is linked to high emotional intelligence (Kumar, Adhish, Chauhan, 2014). Individual behaviors can improve the quality of patient care significantly and emotional intelligence may explain why some practitioners and organizations are better at delivering patient care. It has also been shown to have a positive effect on teamwork, communication, stress management, organizational commitment, and effective leadership (Warren, 2013). These are just two of many competencies that are imperative towards being a great leader within a healthcare organization. Personal improvement is a long, worthwhile process. I hope to continue developing my competencies so that I can be a great leader some day. References: Cosinuke, R. (2016). Communication is the most important leadership trait. Retrieved from https://insight.athenahealth.com/communication-is-the-most-important-healthcare-leadership-trait/. Kumar, S., Adhish, V. S., Chauhan, A. (2014). Managing Self for Leadership. Indian Journal of Community Medicine: Official Publication of Indian Association of Preventive Social Medicine, 39(3), 138-142. http://doi.org/10.4103/0970-0218.137148. The CEO Institute. (2016). The Importance of Business Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.ceoinstitute.com/leadership-training/business-leadership/. Warren, B. (2013). Healthcare Emotional Intelligence: Its Role in Patient Outcomes and Organizational Success. Retrieved from http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-administration/healthcare-emotional-intelligence-its-role-in-patient-outcomes-and-organizational-success.html.

Lasers :: essays research papers

L A S E R S   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Did you know that some laser beams are small enough and powerful enough to drill two hundred holes on a spot as tiny as the head of a pin?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first major advancement in laser development came in 1954. This was the year that Charles H. Townes, an American physicist, created a device that amplified microwaves. This device was actually called a maser at first, which was short for Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation Masers. It produced microwaves of just one frequency. Then the laser was developed from the maser.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Several people have been accredited for the development of the laser’s basic design. These people are as follows: American Arthur L. Shcawlow, the Russians Alexander M. Prokhorov and Nikolai G. Basov, and the American Gordon Gould. But the first laser was constructed in 1960 by American physicist T.H. Maiman and it is still one of the most powerful lasers available. This laser used a ruby rod for its active medium, which is its way of producing light. Ali Javan then created the first gas laser later in 1960. Three separate teams of American scientists operated the first semiconductor laser in 1962. Then in 1966, the American physicist Peter Sorokin built the first dye laser.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To begin with, I will explain the definition of a laser: It is a device that produces a very narrow powerful beam of light. A laser light is a narrow beam of light, in which all the waves are traveling exactly at the same length and moving together as one. A laser light is made up of only one wavelength and it is a single pure color, while a normal light has many different wavelengths or colors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The most common laser has three parts to it. They are energy source, an active medium, and optical cavity. An energy source can be anything that can give energy to the active medium through a process called “pumping.'; Lasers often use electricity; usually a device called a flash lamp, as the energy source. An active medium is any material that can be used to create a laser light. The optical cavity is the structure that encloses the active medium. Most cavities have mirrors on both ends, one that fully reflects light and another that partially reflects light. The laser beam actually exits through the mirror that is partially reflecting.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The central process of the laser is called stimulated emission.

Gun Control: Research Paper Essay

People of this country have the right to protect themselves and own guns, so long as they are capable and responsible. Even though guns are dangerous, being defenseless is even more dangerous and everyone should have the right to defend themselves, whether or not firearms are used. As people of this country we should have the right to defend ourselves, and that should include defense by firearms. The gun owner does not have to pull the trigger of a firearm. Sometimes the threat of the gun and the possibility of it being fired is enough to send those who intend harm away. Statistics show that in true life instances of self-defense with firearms, firing the gun was necessary only one third to one half of the time, the rest of the time the mere presence of a gun was enough to scare away the attacker† (Moore 5). Some people are more defenseless than others including the elderly and smaller men and women. People have the right to defend themselves, but sometimes they are limited in doing so by inadequate physical ability, age and other factors. Statistics show that people who are attacked by a criminal are safer if they use a weapon to resist their attacker than if they do not resist. In addition, those who resist with a gun are less likely to be injured than those who use a less effective weapon, such as a knife. (Moore 5) Although there are means of defense other than guns, they are the most effective form of protection from someone trying to harm you. A knife is threatening, but there is not much you can do from a long distance, and throwing it won’t be the best option, since you would essentially be losing your weapon if you miss. Self-defense such as karate and other martial arts techniques also really can’t be used at a long distance, and are of no match to a criminal threat with a gun. Larry Pratt says, â€Å"Evil is in our hearts, not in the guns† (Burbaker1). Many advocates for gun restrictions and bans like to state that â€Å"Guns kill; people do not† (Zaremski1). I find this to be a faulty argument. It is people who kill, a gun will not kill unless the person holding it decides to use it to kill, and pulls the trigger. A gun lying around is not going to do any harm a gun is not making the decision to kill or to shoot its bullets; it does not have a mind. It is when a person picks up that gun that it is fired, the person with thoughts and a mind, he or she is killing not the gun. Anything can be fashioned into a weapon, and there are so many already made weapons out there. We should have the right to our guns, just as we have the right to any weapon out there. None of these weapons are doing any harm to us unless someone makes that happen. We should have the right to defend ourselves with a firearm if necessary if we are threatened by someone. The second amendment of the constitution states that, â€Å"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. † Back then, a militia was comprised of ordinary, common male citizens, who not only had the right, but the duty to own guns to protect the country and form a militia. Don Kates states that, â€Å"The amendment, in guaranteeing the arms of each citizen, simultaneously guaranteed arms for the militia† (2347). The founding fathers set it up so that the people had means of defense from anyone, including other citizens, foreigners, and even their own government. People such as James Madison, who was the one to introduce the Bill of Rights stated that the amendments in it â€Å"relate first to private rights† (NRA-ILA). He is stating that the Bill of Rights relates to private rights of the citizens before it relates to state or national rights, proving that it is the right of the people to own a firearm for protection. The second amendment talks about us as citizens owning guns for defense, not just the government. It would be going against the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights to take away or limit gun ownership and usage. Yes, this privilege should be taken away from those who abuse it and harm others or have the potential to harm, but not from regular, responsible citizens. This amendment is not only for personal and military defense, but also was intended to protect citizens from a tyrannical government, so that if it happens, people are able to defend themselves. Moore also states that, â€Å"The Founding Fathers of our country won our freedom with firearms. After we won our independence the Founding Fathers included the right to keep and bear arms in the Constitution to ensure that the freedom they fought for would last† (6). They put this in so that we had the right not only to defend ourselves from any harm from others or even animals, but also so that we had a defense to protect our freedom if it was ever threatened by the government. By taking away our guns, you are in a sense taking away part of our freedom as the people of this country. Some people argue that we have the right to protect ourselves from all dangers, including guns, and that there should be a more restrictive gun control. While it is true that we should make sure that guns should stay out of the hands of felons and mentally unstable people, they should not be banned from regular, responsible citizen’s hands. Moore defines what a responsible citizen is, The citizen must be law-abiding, with no felony record, must not abuse alcohol or drugs, must not be mentally ill, must not have renounced U. S. citizenship, must not have been dishonorably discharged from the military, and must be in the U. S. legally (2). Upon purchasing a gun you have to take a class on gun safety and use and are required to have a full criminal background check and to give your full set of fingerprints. I do not think that this is being enforced enough and shouldn’t be taken lightly. If we can keep the guns out of the wrong hands, we can eliminate most of the crimes caused by them. â€Å"By definition, a criminal is someone who breaks the law. Criminals have many ways to obtain weapons without going through the process mandated by the Brady Bill. Two obvious examples are theft and black market purchases. According to studies only one firearm of every six used in a crime is obtained legally† (Moore 3). Eliminating guns in this country will do nothing, stopping the wrong people to get their hands on it could. We are not going to ban cars because someone crashed it and they died. Many things are dangerous, it is up to the person to be responsible with it. Most products have a warning label or say what not to do with them, such as do not use your hair dryer in the bath, but, it is up to you as a person to be responsible with it and to protect yourself from harm. If another person lacks that responsibility, and uses something to harm you, such as a weapon, you should be able to defend yourself, even with a gun. Think about how well it went in the 1920’s when the prohibition happened and alcohol was made illegal, people still got alcohol through the black market, and because of that demand, the black market grew. The same is true today with the ban on drugs, they are illegal, but people can still get them, and people still use them. The same thing is going to happen, only with guns. Many surveys suggest criminals obtain their weapons through this illegal firearms market. One study indicated that in 37 percent of their arrests the criminal said they could obtain a gun in less than a week, while another 20 percent said they could get a firearm in a day or less. (O’Niell 1). You everyday criminals don’t just walk to the gun store and buy a gun; they get it from the black-market. These guns are usually stolen guns and unregistered. Taking away our right to legally have and buy guns is only going to lead to guns being in the wrong hands and ordinary citizens will be defenseless. Chicago, once seen as one of those go-to American cities, with its sweeping skyline and the lake, is now seen and is a haven for gun violence and crime. It has the strictest gun laws in the country; the question is what went wrong. Houston is very similar to Chicago in terms of socioeconomic factors such as population, density, and segregation. Houston, like Chicago, is a major center for illegal activities such as the drug trade and human trafficking. Despite all this, Houston has a murder rate  two-thirds [than]  that of Chicago. This is because the people of Houston are well armed, while innocents in Chicago have been condemned to be sitting ducks. (Vidal1) Many of the guns in Chicago that are used for these shootings are illegally obtained and are in the hands of criminals and gangs. You are able to get a gun in Chicago now, but you have to go through a firearms training class, 2 background checks, and have a firearm’s owner I. D. card. Only 7,640 people legally own a gun in Chicago, the rest are illegally had, 7,400 illegal guns last year were confiscated from crimes (Maass 1). The gun free law in Chicago is clearly not working if more guns are being confiscated from criminals than responsible citizens who own guns. Many people complain about the high rate of crimes involving guns and gun use in America. A law banning guns probably won’t lower this number at all. If we don’t have means to protect ourselves, we would have to find a way to call for help, such as law enforcement. There are not enough police to go around and protect everybody, and sometimes they come and too late. In that time it took for the cops to get there, that could have been the last few moments of that person’s life. We need to be able to defend ourselves. â€Å"Laws are not enough to protect people from aggression. We must allow people the means to protect themselves. Protection is a major reason that about half of all Americans own a firearm† (Moore 5). Yes firearms can be used against us, but they can also be used for us. We need to have more effective criminal regulations and crime control, rather than more gun control. This is the only way to stop crimes whether or not they involve guns. The tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut was unsettling, killing twenty-seven people, including twenty school children and seven adults. This school, just like all in the United States, is a gun-free zone, but should that mean those teachers and other staff, such as the cop in the school should not have access to guns? The gun free zone did not stop Adam Lanza, the shooter from bringing in his three guns to the school and killing 20 students and six adults. â€Å"Police and other first responders arrived on scene about 20 minutes after the first calls† (Sandy Hook 1). Had these teachers and staff had a gun or any means of protection at all, he may have been stopped before he killed anybody or at an even lower number, especially since the police arrived that long after calls. Pratt states, â€Å"Virtually all mass murders in the past 20 years have occurred in gun-free zones† (1). A mass murder is considered three or more deaths. The main reason that these have happened in gun free zones is because no one other than a police officer has a gun and can stop him and by that time one shows up there is a relatively high chance that more than three people are dead. I do believe that teachers should have a gun in their desk and ready just in case of another incident such as the Sandy Hook Tragedy or at least a cop in every school. Guns should be allowed on these gun-free zones by honest citizens. Criminal are not obeying the rules about the gun-free zones, so why should we take the chance and leave the school children, or mall goers at risk? Taking away guns is not going to solve anything, but instead leave the guns in the hands of criminals. Guns should be kept legal, and yes there should be regulations and better eye on who has it, but making them illegal all together will just cause us to be defenseless and a black market will start up for guns, just like all illegal things. We just need to better regulate the criminals, mental patients, and those on prescription drugs that could alter personality and rationality, not have guns. We need to have better crime control, rather than gun control and teach responsibility and safety and risks of guns. Making everyone well-educated on the topic and of guns themselves will overall help. Even making it mandatory to have a background check and mental health check every few years to make sure that these guns are in the right hands would help out a lot. Most of the time it’s not normal citizens that commit the crimes but criminals, and by taking away guns from normal good, people, we will be essentially leaving them in the wrong hands and taking away our protection. Works Cited Burbaker, Elisabeth. â€Å"Larry Pratt on Guns in America: â€Å"Evil’s in Our Hearts. Not in the Guns†Ã¢â‚¬ Piers Morgan RSS. Cable News Network, 8 Dec. 2012. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. KATES, DON B. , Jr. â€Å"Second Amendment. †Ã‚  Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Ed. Leonard W. Levy and Kenneth L. Karst. 2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. 2346-2347. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 Mar. 2013. Maass, Harold. â€Å"Chicago’s Rising Murder Rate: Has Gun Control Failed? – The Week. †Ã‚  The Week. N. p. , 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. Moore, Richard. Gun Control. Rep. N. p. : n. p. , 1995. Print â€Å"2013 NRA-ILA Firearms Fact Card. †Ã‚  NRA-ILA. N. p. , 8 Jan. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2013. ;lt;http://www. nraila. org;gt;. O’Neill, Kevin. â€Å"Gun Control, Unregistered Firearms and the Black Market. †Ã‚  Examiner. com. N. p. , 9 Nov. 2010. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. Pratt, Larry. Blood – Gun Owners of America. †Ã‚  Gun Owners of America. GOA, 16 Dec. 2012. Web. 29 Mar. 2013 â€Å"Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting: What Happened? †Ã‚  CNN. Cable News Network, n. d. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. Woodhill, Louis. â€Å"The Sandy Hook Horror Begs Us To Have The Courage To Do Nothing. â€Å"Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 27 Dec. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. Vidal, Charlie. â€Å"PolicyMic. †Ã‚  PolicyMic. N. p. , Feb. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. Zaremski, Miles J. â€Å"Guns: Screaming in Silence Is No Longer an Option. †Ã‚  The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost. com, 11 Jan. 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2013

Review of the “Safety Training” Episode of The Office Television Series Essay

The mockumentary-inspired effort of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in presenting real life situations of workplace environment has paid off with the apparent success of the network’s American version of British BBC 2001 hit television comedy show â€Å"The Office. † The 2005 release of the TV series in the United States paved the way for the public’s realization of the various exploits existing within an organizational setting. This is primarily due to the diversified hence obvious clashing of personalities and professional attributes among office personnel. In particular, such office conflict is clearly manifested by the 47th episode of â€Å"The Office† entitled â€Å"Safety Training. † This is where Andy Bernard who is being portrayed by actor Ed Helms and who after finishing his anger management therapy, returned to Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton, Pennsylvania branch which is a fictional paper supply office. It is during this specific episode that arguments concerning employees’ egos, improper conducts and boredom have become more effectively depicted. In the said episode, Regional Manager Michael Scoot, played by actor Steve Carell, showed his usual hazardous antics, which eventually endangered an employee and required all of them to undergo safety training. This showed a thesis that anything is inevitably risky in an office environment or that any office activity, even a supposedly safety training, may go astray if the personnel involved are apparently clashing with each other and are always in conflict thus despairing people. Ultimately, the said episode which was carried out in an amusing spoof manner manifested that an office-based depression is a threat to an employee (Novak & Ramis, 2007). Lastly, such episode of â€Å"The Office† generally imparted a premise that each office equipment and machinery has its own function and possible danger which may affect both the employees and organizational performance. Hence, office employees need to protect themselves regardless of their respective conflicts in order to achieve office success. Reference Novak, B. J. & Ramis, H. (2007). Safety Training. In G. Daniels, The Office. Los Angeles: Reveille Productions.

Filipino Voting Pattern Essays

Filipino Voting Pattern Essays Filipino Voting Pattern Essay Filipino Voting Pattern Essay THE CAMPAIGN First World techniques, Third World setting The Philippines uses state-of-the-art campaign techniques, but its elections are taking place in a political culture that is pre-modern and oriented toward the family. BY LUZ RIMBAN SATURDAY, JANUARY 3RD, 2004 | Filipino politicians use the latest campaign techniques, but still look upon voters as mendicants. | | | ADVERTISING  guru Reli German tells the story of the time he was tapped to produce commercials and jingles for then candidate Ferdinand Marcos’s 1965 presidential bid. The campaign was more of a family venture with no less than Marcos’s wife Imelda herself directing the troops. She would drop by German’s office to look over campaign materials and listen to the jingles being prepared for her husband’s campaign. â€Å"It was more of Imelda that we were dealing with directly for the campaign in 1965,† German recalls. One night Imelda summoned German and his production team to the Marcos home in San Juan, where they were led to her bedroom, which had a closet full of shoeboxes. The group, a team of professional advertising people, did not know exactly what they were doing in Imelda’s boudoir, but the mystery was soon revealed. German remembers that â€Å"she took three shoeboxes and the boxes were offered to us, and they were full of money! † With that, the campaign production team was paid, and paid handsomely. German’s story does not only provide insights on the other uses Imelda made of her shoes (or, more precisely, the boxes they had come in). : It also tells us that advertising professionals had been involved in Philippine election campaigns as far back as 1965, when radio was reaching its peak and television, just beginning to make a dent in Filipinos’ consciousness. Then and now, however, professionals like German are relegated to the background, hidden members of the campaign team who are traditionally composed of the candidate’s trusted family members. Campaign professionals, though, have actually been around longer than that. Soon after the United States introduced elections in the Philippines, the country’s former colonizer also exported to the islands U. S. -style campaigning. This included the use of the mass media to create and manipulate public images, the hiring of public relations and advertising professionals, and later, the employment of sophisticated tools like campaign research and polling. Candidates like Manuel Quezon, Ramon Magsaysay, and Ferdinand Marcos were sold to voters partly through images crafted by experts and peddled to the public through newspapers, radio, and later, television. At least in terms of elections, the Philippines is not the laggard of Asia, but perhaps the first country in the region that has mastered the use of first-world election techniques. | The first national-level Philippine elections were held in 1907. Photo shows voters reading campaign posters issued for that election. | | | But it isn’t easy applying first-world election know-how to a third-world political setting. Despite what appear to be advanced campaign methods, the Philippines is still basically a feudal society where the family lords over political life. And with the weakening of political parties - alongside the weakening of other institutions in society - the family has remained the country’s basic political organization. This feudal, family-oriented base is one of the factors that stunts the growth of political-campaign professionals. Four decades after Imelda Marcos successfully steered her husband to power, Philippine campaigns are still far from being well-oiled political projects run by professionals. In the Philippine setting, a political campaign machine - especially one designed for a presidential candidate - can be a complex structure with various compartmentalized sub-groupings. The professionals would be embedded somewhere within, a silent and unknown minority who bow to tacticians and campaign operators. These tacticians and operators, in turn, are usually members and friends of a political clan. It isn’t altogether surprising that a campaign can still look like a mom-and-pop affair with the candidate’s wife as campaign manager, the husband a fundraiser, and all sorts of hangers-on filling the backroom. There is a difference in this year’s election, however. It is the first presidential election in decades in which political advertisements will be allowed. It is the first time that the power of media in general - and television in particular - may determine who wins. At no other time in the nation’s history will candidates be sold like soap and toothpaste because 40 million voters will be relying on little more than visibility and image to make their choices. More than ever before, candidates and their campaign machineries will now need to use the media specialists, campaign managers, and assorted professionals to make themselves known to the public, and through whatever means available. By passing the law lifting the ban on political advertisements, â€Å"Congress was in fact saying there’s another way of winning,† says political consultant Malou Tiquia. And part of the message to candidates may be that there could be more room for the pros. For some candidates, this may be a welcome development, since it may mean more effective campaigns, i. e. more votes. But it may not necessarily be good news for the public. As U. S. political scientist Dan Nimmo points out in his book,  The Political Persuaders, hiring professionals may just mean more sophisticated manipulation. Without question,† says Nimmo, â€Å"the new technology introduces not only the possibility but indeed the likelihood of systematic deception in electoral politics. † More and more, candidates will be seen in images and settings that do not really reflect who they really are and what they are going to do once elected to office. With more professional sleight of hand at work, the public may have a harder time distinguishing fact from fiction, especially when they remain unaware that experts now have more say in the show. IN THE  so-called mature democracies of the West, there are experts for every task in a campaign. In the United States, the election industry is huge, manned by a wide range of specialists including campaign managers, political consultants, public relations people, speechwriters, audio-visual experts, and fundraisers. They operate by a set of rules and design campaign strategies based on scientifically obtained data provided by another component of that growing industry: the profession of campaign research that includes not only pollsters but also psychologists and behavioral experts. | President Quezon addresses a crowd. | | | That is not the case in the Philippines. For starters, there are very few such professionals in the country. For example, there are only two or three reputable independent polling agencies in the Philippines. Image specialists, political consultants, and campaign managers are also hard to find. Two years ago, an organization called the Association of Political Consultants of Asia was formed, bringing together political technicians aiming to transform political consultancy and campaigning from craft to science. Still, quips one political consultant: â€Å"It’s easier to find a cardiologist who can do open heart surgery than to find a good spin master. † That is partly why families and friends remain the captains of Philippine political campaigns. Fernando Poe Jr. ’s campaign machinery, for instance, is packed with his siblings and supporters in the entertainment world. Brother Conrad Poe handles logistics, sister Elizabeth Poe is the official scheduler, while erstwhile comedian and Senator Tito Sotto is the campaign manager. Even actors Rez Cortes and Richard Gomez have been assigned parts to play in the campaign, as has Poe’s swarm of stuntmen-friends who dabble as spokespersons, rallyists, and even act as Poe’s security cordon. On that point, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo isn’t far behind. Her brother Diosdado ‘Buboy’ Macapagal Jr. s her campaign manager and fundraiser. First Gentleman Mike Arroyo is in the thick of her campaign, too, even if just last year, he had gotten embroiled in a scandal that portrayed him as using an alias to stash away millions of pesos of surplus campaign funds from his wife’s 1998 vice-presidential bid. Of course, a family-run campaign does not necessarily translate into an inefficient and ineffective venture. The most politically experienced clans have even elevated political campaigning to an art, and have over time mastered how to best maximize manpower, resources, and connections. Elite families are especially skilled at this, putting the charismatic and media-savvy members at the frontlines, assigning the crafty and the cunning to the management side, and mobilizing the clan and its network for other tasks in the campaign, including recruiting campaigners, poll watchers, goons, bodyguards - even hitmen, if need be. But with this election promising more pros, campaigns are bound to be slicker than ever. There is, for instance, the advertising agency Campaigns and Grey and its stable of image specialists working for presidential candidate Raul Roco. There will also be groups like Tiquia’s Publicus Ltd. , a political consultancy firm that provides campaign services to senatorial and local candidates. There is even the television production team TAPE Productions - which puts out programs like the noontime variety show â€Å"Eat Bulaga! † - acting as image makers for Fernando Poe Jr. Most of these professionals, though, remain in the background. â€Å"It’s an underground industry-most of these people don’t carry calling cards, don’t introduce themselves, don’t appear at press conferences, don’t advertise their services,† says a political consultant. They get hired by referral and by word of mouth. The really good ones are overloaded with clients and forced to turn down others. † For this article, they refused to be identified. â€Å"You let the spotlight fall only on your principal,† this political consultant adds. Another one says, â€Å"The pros are often rel egated to the backroom, or they don’t have the stature to face the public. † â€Å"Undocumented experts,† is how yet another political consultant describes himself and his peers. The secrecy is understandable. Most of them have day jobs, either as reporters, columnists, businessmen, advertising executives, legislative staff, or civil servants. Elections and political campaigns don’t come that often and cannot be a stable source of livelihood, which is why most political professionals consider themselves â€Å"political sacadas† or sharecroppers whose work is seasonal. Besides, in the professions where they officially belong, moonlighting for politicians is an ethical taboo. Journalists working as public relations practitioners or political consultants would be violating the rules on independence, impartiality, and conflict of interest. Some advertising agencies even insist that they have no history or record of involvement in political campaigns. Yet as far back as 1965, the presidential campaign was already a battle of the ad agency executives. | Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos display their affection for each other during their heyday. | | | For that particular campaign, adman Billy Esposo writes in a recent column, Marcos hired Proctor and Gamble’s creative team, which was composed of, among others, Miniong Ordonez, now of Jimenez Basic Advertising. Reli German was part of that team. On the other side of the fence, says Esposo, Diosdado Macapagal’s â€Å"image team was headed by the late Fenny Hechanova, himself a former adman from a pioneering agency called Philprom. † When Marcos ran for reelection four years later, Esposo continues, he got Greg Garcia, who eventually headed the prominent ad agency Hemisphere-Leo Burnett. Greg Garcia, now retired but still part owner of Leo Burnett, is the chief image handler of Senator Panfilo Lacson. The reticence of many professionals in admitting their political work stems from the stigma it apparently carries. Political campaigning is often viewed as an illicit undertaking. Players are perceived to ink deals and engage in dirty tricks and special operations that can go from wooing special interest groups and thinking up a candidate’s position on issues, to peddling propaganda, buying the media, and negotiating for votes with local party leaders. But much of the bad name suffered by political professionals has also been blamed on Marcos. After he declared martial law in 1972 and abolished elections, the political pros’ skills and talents were put to use only to promote his Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (the only active political party at that time) or push his New Society. It was a situation that didn’t allow skilled political organizers to thrive and develop a profession called campaign management or political consultancy. Although the Development Academy of the Philippines and the Department of Interior and Local Government became training grounds where political managers could hone their skills managing political organizations, all their work was still for Marcos’s benefit. The only other option was to escape the system and cross over to activist organizations or the underground Left, such as the National Democratic Front (NDF) or the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Today’s top party and campaign people, in fact, trace their roots to these diverse beginnings: Lakas’s Gabriel Claudio and Ronaldo Puno were products of the DILG, while Horacio ‘Boy’ Morales and Rigoberto Tiglao, came from the leftist movement. PERHAPS  the unsuspecting public should be thankful that the country still has a relatively tiny community of campaign management experts, resulting in often-chaotic campaigns that either reveal more than the candidate wants the public to know, or reveal so little that the voters are left annoyed. In truth, present Philippine campaigns are quite like those in the United States were more than 100 years ago. In The Political Persuaders, which was published in 1970, Nimmo writes, â€Å"A century ago, candidates relied on their wits, their friends, and a few trusted allies to mount a campaign for office. Few men specialized in selling political advice. The campaign specialists of that day were primarily party politicians. † | Joseph Estrada is mobbed by adoring crowds during his 1998 campaign. | | | According to Nimmo, the campaign management industry is a â€Å"direct descendant of the public-relations profession† that became popular in the 1920s. That was when U. S. capitalists were under attack by consumers who were reading in newspapers about unsavory business practices. Countering such criticism required a specialist who could proclaim the good side of U. S. industry. Thus was born the PR agent. â€Å"In the process,† Nimmo continues, these PR people â€Å"made increasingly adroit use of the means of mass communication; the result was the burgeoning field of mass advertising. It would not be long before public relations and mass advertising would cross over to the world of politics, especially with the rise of television, and give birth to a profession that proclaims the good side of political candidates. Nimmo recounts that election campaigns soon became a battle for public exposure. That battle, however, hasn’t been easily fought and won. Many other things compete for the voters’ attention, and candidates need people who are masters not only at constructing the candidate’s message and image, but also at sending these in the most effective way that will make full use of manpower, time, and limited resources. In short, campaigns need strategies. The U. S. -trained Tiquia, formerly a legislative staff member in the Philippine and U. S. Congresses, defines the ingredients that make for a good campaign strategy. These are listed in a book entitled Campaign Politics: defining the voting population being targeted, creating the message to be communicated, managing resources, timing, and tactics. Tactics include direct voter contact such as campaign events, rallies, and even door-to-door campaigning, and indirect tactics like media advertisements, billboards, and campaign paraphernalia. Having a professional campaign team to implement the strategy is another necessity. The team is supposed to put order into the traditionally topsy-turvy exercises called campaigns. In this country, however, third-world realities can get in the way. For instance, Tiquia says, there are times when a candidate hires a professional campaign team that may find itself clashing with family members, or with yet another professional team working for the same politician. Problems like these only slow down the campaign. Campaign Politics also advises politicians to plot their moves way in advance, get their hands on the best people before the competition beats them to it, and plan carefully how resources are to be spent. But there’s that manana habit of the Filipino-his penchant for not planning ahead and waiting till the last minute-which can wreak havoc on the campaign in many ways. As examples, Tiquia cites candidates who are buying TV spots only now, and are finding out that there are none available because an enterprising agency had purchased all that was left months ago. It is now selling these â€Å"on the secondary market† at much higher rates. There were, however, a few who bought spots early, and at rates that were far, far cheaper. Among the more visible swift-footed ones are presidential candidate Raul Roco and Panfilo Lacson, whose ads had been airing regularly since the campaign started, and senatorial candidate Mar Roxas. As if operating in such a third-world conditions weren’t enough, political professionals in the Philippines also have to deal with obsessive-compulsive candidates who try to control the campaign every step of the way. Among the cardinal rules for campaigns, says one of the political consultants interviewed for this piece, is that â€Å"a candidate cannot think and campaign at the same time; a candidate shouldn’t handle his or her own campaign. † But most candidates refuse to leave things to the experts. Despite the enormity of her duties as president and candidate, Gloria Arroyo still decides where her campaigns sorties will go, political consultants say. Even members of her campaign still cannot fathom why she chose to launch her presidential bid in the hills of Cavinti, Laguna. Observers could only guess that  feng shui  might have had something to do with it; taking the team to high ground probably bodes good luck, they said. But after Cavinti, the president went north, leaving observers still trying to discern a pattern in her campaigning - if there was really any at all. One consultant, though, says, â€Å"Look at the route she has taken, and you’ll see that it’s like she’s drawing the number eight on the map-she goes up, she goes down, forward, then backward. † Poe is said to be no different, at least as far as his political rallies are concerned. Remember that he’s a movie director, so he wants to have a say in how his rallies are produced,† says a political professional. But the king of Philippine movies is also a political neophyte, which has unfortunately resulted in Poe being kept in an artificial world where everything is stage-managed. Hence, every interview, every appearance has to be scripted. And h aving written lines for scripts, Poe tends to have a say in how his campaign is managed. â€Å"The best candidate surrenders himself to his handlers,† says another political consultant. And if there was one who embodied this, it was Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada in 1998. Erap was a good follower in the sense that when you said the schedule was like this, even if it was so hot or he was already dead tired, he would still follow the schedule to the letter,† says Lito Banayo, who was on Estrada’s 1998 campaign team, and is now on Lacson’s. â€Å"That’s why he was a joy to handle. Perhaps because he was an actor, he was used to having a call time, he had to be on the set at this certain time. He (carried that) discipline in the campaign. † But another plus factor in the Estrada campaign was its near-perfect machinery, which was due to a generous influx of funds. Ample funds and resources make a large part of a successful campaign. Reli German even says, â€Å"The three most important things (in a campaign) are money, money, and money. † The Estrada campaign in 1998 had that in huge quantities. Recalls Banayo: â€Å"There were really a lot of people who helped in that campaign by way of cash as well as material donations. † A feature of Estrada’s campaign sorties, for instance, were the motorcades and caravans where Estrada would appear beside his showbiz friends Poe and Nora Aunor, and they would then toss candies to the crowd. Banayo says they never ran out of candies because the supplies just kept coming. Banayo explains the â€Å"symbiotic relationship† of campaign elements: â€Å"Once the perception or image of a candidate improves, the survey results become stacked in his or her favor, the numbers go up, the resources will pour in accordingly. † Making the candidate more visible, his image more winnable, translates into more campaign contributors. Traditionally, political consultants say, donors such as Filipino-Chinese businesspeople who put in large sums of money into election campaign, initially give equal amounts to all candidates. The money reportedly starts getting bigger only by April, when donors have a clearer idea who among the candidates is pulling away from the pack, and likely to lead the race. But Tiquia laments how fundraising, like the other aspects, remains a hidden but very important facet of Philippine campaigns. Candidates do not, in the course of the campaign, reveal who their funders are, and methods for raising funds are not always above board. In the United States, Tiquia notes, fundraising is a profession. Professional fundraisers’ methods include organizing events or dinners, or sending out mail asking supporters to contribute to the campaign kitty. There are limits to the amounts supporters can donate. In this country, it is the field of contributors that is limited. The money comes mostly from Filipino-Chinese businesspeople; the bigger players are the likes of Lucio Tan and Eduardo Cojuangco, whose hearts, minds, and pocket the candidates have to compete for. In exchange, candidates promise them the moon, the stars, and even a piece of the economy. And now to lure them - and the voters - candidates are tapping political professionals. The irony is that takes a lot of money as well. Nimmo notes, â€Å"The professionals are for hire, but at very high prices. Fewer and fewer politicians can afford the costs of candidacy†¦. In an age when less affluent members of society are already disillusioned with a political arrangement which they perceive are shutting them out, it will hardly produce harmony to request that they play by the rules of an electoral game they cannot afford to enter. Source: http://pcij. org/stories/first-world-techniques-third-world-setting/ Voters Harder To Fool With Empty Promises by Kathleen A. Martin, ABS-CBNnews. com Posted at 01/17/2013 11:22 AM | Updated as of 01/17/2013 11:22 AM MANILA, Philippines Aspiring politicians will need more than a catchy jingle and an empty promise to capture the hearts of Filipino masses, advertisers said. Yoly Ong, group chairperson at Campaigns and Grey, said that ba sed on various focus group discussions, Filipinos are more selective when voting for candidates. They (the masses) actually say, peke yan e, because the promises are different from what the politicians actually do, Ong told ANCs Inside Business. In fact, Ive come to the conclusion that its harder to fool the masses today, Ong continued. Ong is behind President Benigno Aquino IIIs successful campaign in 2010, and the brains behind the catchy Pag walang corrupt, walang mahirap slogan. They (Filipino voters) have very different behaviors toward candidates. For presidential candidates, they dont want the jingles. What they want to know is what the guy is going to do to improve their quality of life, Ong said. But for the senatorial candidates, I guess its more of remembering who to vote for because theres 12 people you need to choose, Ong noted. Ong believes that for the national elections, the air war or the television and radio will be the primary venues for warring candidates. But lo cal candidates such as congressmen and mayors will still need to battle it out retail-elections style, or going from house to house. Consultant Greg Garcia concurs with Ong, but stressed the role of television in political campaigns has dramatically changed over the years. If youre not on TV, dont even think about running for national office because the penetration of TV is just fantastic, Garcia said. I always advise clients that 80% of their money should go into media, and 80% of that 80% should go to television. Television is the only way to communicate to as many people as you can in the shortest amount of time, he added. Garcia is the man behind Vice President Jejomar Binays successful 2010 bid. Garcia said Binays narrative of Ganito kami sa Makati, sana ganito din sa buong bayan was the secret behind the vice presidents win. The campaign for the vice president was really right on and I think every candidate must have a narrative to win, Garcia said. Its not just about name rec all, whats important is recalling the candidates narrative, he stressed. Source: abs-cbnnews. com/-depth/01/17/13/voters-harder-fool-empty-promises Philippine Elections Will Stop Being A Sham When Voters Wisen Up By: Ilda, November 9, 2012 Poor Filipinos. We can only stand back and watch in awe at how the Americans conduct their successful Presidential election. Less than a day after the US Presidential election, the winner could be declared without a hitch and without much contention from the losing candidate. Months of campaigning from both candidates come to an abrupt halt as soon as the winner is announced. It is back to work for everyone in the White House. The ease with which the US election sailed by so smoothly is not even because they have a computerized voting system. For many decades, US elections have always come and gone with hardly any drama. It’s just another walk in the park for people who follow a system that works. In relative terms, there’s hardly any cheating that would cause the sorts of delays that could put entire institutions in doubt. In contrast, even the Philippines’ very first computerized election in 2010 was fraught with allegations of fraudulent activities as reported by some of the members of the local and international community who participated and observed the election. As mentioned in my previous article immediately after the 2010 election, foreign observers concluded that there was massive cheating involved in the first ever-automated Presidential election. Apart from the problems encountered with the machines, there were other elements whose presence was questionable considering they should not have been in the polling stations in the first place. Observers witnessed a chaotic scene with strong military presence and lots of instances of intimidation in and around the polling stations. One international observer who was assigned at the Pampanga and Tarlac region even specifically mentioned that intimidation was rampant in Hacienda Luisita, the hometown of President Benigno Simeon â€Å"BS† Aquino. These were observations made by outsiders who are completely unbiased. It is incomprehensible why our public officials allow these things to happen. This is why until now there are still some people who question the legitimacy of President BS Aquino’s win. The following is a summary of their observation all throughout the country: Serious and systematic irregularities: Vote buying People lining up outside the candidate’s house waiting to receive cash or goods There was no privacy in the polling stations People could see what the voter is writing The ballot sheet could not be folded to cover the information There were voters who were not stamped with indelible ink There were voters who were stamped with ink before voting There were people taking pictures and videos of voters for intimidation purposes Police and military presence was strong. Despite reports of massive election fraud, majority of Filipinos don’t seem inclined to do or don’t even want to know anything about them. The Commissions on Elections (Comelec) and President BS Aquino’s media cohorts were quick to declare the election a success. They wanted everyone to think that the first automated voting system delivered as expected and that Aquino’s win was a decisive one. Unfortunately, we will never know the truth. Filipinos will always be in the dark as to what truly happened because they chose to ignore boring details. Filipinos have this tendency to just listen to what the Philippine media is telling them. The Filipino people’s preference for turning a blind eye to impropriety is what’s preventing our country from moving forward. It is turning the Philippines into a nation of cheaters. The irony is that we cry foul after a bad deed is done but we ignore the deed as it transpires. It seems we don’t want the inconvenience of having to deal with the fallout of reporting a crime in progress. We don’t even have protection for whistleblowers. Instead of commending people for their bravery in coming forward, Filipinos turn against the whistleblowers, making them look like they are making mountains out of molehills. People who are seen supporting the whistleblowers are considered â€Å"sore losers†. This discourages people from doing the right thing. Vigilance against crime is what will actually foster an environment of trust in our society. If we know that illegal activities are not tolerated, we can be assured that people will be honest with their day-to-day activities. Sadly, we shun people who go out on a limb to expose corruption or any form of malpractice, but what we need to do is to help promote a society in which it is possible to speak out without reprisal about corruption, dangers to the public and environment, and other vital social issues. Until we change the way we think and do things collectively as a people, we will never have a smooth election like the Americans. Here are some of the lessons I learned during the 2010 election that could help us in the 2013 Senatorial election and even the 2016 Presidential election: 1. Campaign platforms No one comes up with a credible platform during elections because voters don’t care about platforms. They cared about Noynoy’s love life and what he does in his spare time. Voters were also smitten with the â€Å"Aquino Legacy† and are convinced that Noynoy will continue whatever it is they think that Ninoy or Cory could have achieved but for whatever reason did not. The voters don’t even have a clue what a platform is. You have to wonder now how they plan to evaluate how Noynoy sticks to his campaign promises during his term of office. Lesson learned: Most Filipino voters are star-struck ignoramuses. If you want to run for the presidency in 2016, get an image makeover or try to appear â€Å"good† and â€Å"humble†. 2. Surveys and Polling firms Some Filipinos were dumb enough to think that if a candidate is popular, it means that he should be voted in as president. The fact of the matter is, candidates with a lot funds can hire polling firms and publish reports when it is favorable to them. It was also reported that polling firms conducting the surveys in 2010 were closely linked to the presidential candidate leading the polls. Likewise, despite the number of candidates allowed to run, people were actually just choosing between two candidates. Lesson learned: Next election, call for more transparency around poll survey questionnaires; clamor for more polling firms to conduct surveys and be vigilant and critical of Media’s interpretation of the poll results. 3. Media Bias Noynoy Aquino was given more exposure by prominent media outlets like thePhilippine Daily Inquirer  during the campaign period. It didn’t matter how trivial the news was; Noynoy Aquino was always on the front page. Broadcast networks such as ABS-CBN also helped expose Noynoy to the masa through shows that flagged the â€Å"Aquino Legacy†. Lesson learned: Media outlets owned and operated by members of the Philippine oligarchy will give more exposure to whoever presidential candidate offers concessions they can benefit from. 4. Religious endorsements A week before Election Day, the leader of Iglesia ni Cristo announced that they will be endorsing presidential candidate Noynoy Aquino. It has been said that this religious group actually waits for the last minute before announcing their endorsement because they want to ensure that whoever they endorse actually wins - presumably with the aim of making a few deals with the president once in office. It was also said that Noynoy’s party was secretly courting that leader’s guarantee that the INC votes will be in their favor. Lesson learned: The endorsement of religious leaders depends on which candidate is popular; religious leaders can make or break a presidential aspirant; Filipinos will vote for whoever their religious leaders instruct them to vote for. . Election Day thugs and vote buying It seems that all of the above exercise with the possible exception of item number four will have no bearing on Election Day to the majority of voters because of the presence of thugs in the polling stations. As previously mentioned, police and military personnel who have no business being in polling stations and who are under the payroll of candidates, hang around to intimidate voters. If the Police and the military themselves are involved in this illegal behavior, to whom can the voters report the irregularity to? The illegal activity called vote buying involves the buyer and the seller. They both are accountable for their actions. In this case, both parties won’t be willing to report each other because they both benefit from the activity. Unfortunately, the voter who sells his vote will only benefit in the short term. Lesson learned: As long as irregularities like this happens on Election Day, any efforts at educating the voters will just go down the drain. 6. Automated Machines It turns out that automated machines are not foolproof. Reports abound of machines malfunctioning, machines found kept in someone’s shed, the discrepancies in time lapsed, and allegations of malicious software installed in the machine itself. Lesson learned: Filipinos cannot be trusted with both manual and automated election. Filipinos are very resourceful at finding a way to cheat. Lastly, here is the bottom-line: Filipinos are ultimately to blame for allowing fraudulent activities to happen. Politicians will keep trying to get away with cheating but it is up to us to decide if we will let them. Source: http://getrealphilippines. om/blog/2012/11/philippine-elections-will-stop-being-a-sham-when-voters-wisen-up/ 2013 Mix-And-Match Voting By  Ramon Casiple, Mon, Jan 7, 2013 The weak political party system in the Philippines can be seen in the way voters will vote in the 2013 national and local elections. A cursory study of the voting patterns in the past elections showed that voters vote for a candidate on various grounds, among th em their personal relationship to the candidate, a candidate’s popularity (not necessarily in politics), endorsement by respected persons, and, of course, what the candidate stands for in relation to voters’ own. Nowhere in this list is a voter’s recognition of the candidate’s political party platform and program. The candidate, in this sense, sells himself, not the party. A tacit recognition of this can be seen in the way candidates and political parties present themselves to the voters. In streamers and billboards, the face and name of the candidate stands out compared to the party. Even in the party-list system- where the party-list groups are the ones to be electedit has become more advantageous to present faces of their nominees in addition to the group names. The result is mix-and-match voting by individual voters. Rarely do they vote straight for a party’s candidates. Source: http://ph. news. yahoo. com/blogs/communityvoices/2013-mix-and-match-voting-130754846. html Everything I Need To Know About Improving The Outcome Of Philippine Elections I Learned In Kindergarten By: benign0, February 25, 2013 Campaign platforms You’d think that the call for platforms is so new this year considering how much of the mainstream has now taken up the cudgels of beating this concept into the tiny skulls of the Filipino voters. Yet only just four years ago, the idea of demanding platforms from candidates making their pitch to voters was so exotic. So exotic it was that I  wrote a piece  back in mid-2009 outlining the basic how-to’s of developing a campaign platform. As evident in what I wrote there, â€Å"If we are to expect Filipinos to courageously rally around a serious effort to become a better country in the foreseeable future, it would help to see a leader who has it clear in his or her mind how to get us from A to B. † it is obvious that the concept back then was quite new. The call for platforms rose to a crescendo as the presidential campaign leading to the 2010 elections marched on. But as it became more apparent that the then front-running candidate, Benigno Simeon â€Å"BS† Aquino III lacked one, had no inclination of producing one, and was happy enough to run entirely on the back of his family pedigree, many folk who had by then drank enough of BS Aquino’s Yellowist Kool Aid were loudly extolling the irrelevance of revealing clear governance platforms during an election campaign. Instead, what to them was BS Aquino’s qualification to lead the country was his  perceived  honesty, integrity, and lack of a track record of corrupt practices. Funny how the most important lessons are learnt after the disaster had already wrought havoc. BS Aquino is now President of the Philippines and the very same bozos who thought platforms were not  that  important are now parroting what we had been saying back in 2009. Voter education In the lead up to and then in the aftermath of the 1986 EDSA people power â€Å"revolution†, the idea that in â€Å"freedom† lies the singular key to Philippine prosperity became deeply-ingrained in the Filipino psyche. It was all about freedom, and a blanket of demagoguery built around this simpleton’s message descended upon and enveloped the Philippine National â€Å"Debate† in the subsequent 27 years. The Vote - the â€Å"freedom† to choose one’s leaders - guaranteed that the  right  ones would be elevated to office as the prevailing thinking went. This was, the activists insisted, the â€Å"power† that the Filipino people â€Å"regained† after the 1986 â€Å"revolution†. But then as one bozo after another got elected into office since 1986, it became quite clear that the erstwhile thought leaders of the time simply gave Filipino voters too much credit. It turns out they were really not that smart after all. Freedom in the hands of the Filipino voter was like a blowtorch in the hands of a two-year-old. And so the idea of â€Å"educating† Filipino voters came about. The thing with â€Å"voter education† is that it is really not that complicated. It comes down to something most normal people learned in kindergarten - that we are ultimately all accountable to ourselves for the decisions we made in the past. In a society renowned for a collective faculty for thinking that is stunted by amnesia and voodoo logic, â€Å"voter education† should start with a re-visit of these kindergarten basics; that being accountable as a â€Å"voter† encompasses a system of three key acts of responsibility: (a) Select the right leaders; b) Use the system to hold them accountable; and, (c) Hold ourselves accountable for the quality of the leaders we choose using the system. A lot of the focus of this year’s â€Å"voter education† activist fad is on just the first one,  selecting the right leaders. The harder part of the equation - keeping politicians on their toes  in between elections  is where the  real  deal lies. Unfo rtunately Filipinos are simply not up to delivering their part of the deal in between fiestas. And so politicians gravitate to the same old buffoonery†¦ Grandstanding politicians The reason Filipino politicians are so at liberty to make big, lofty, colourful, noisy, but  hollow  promises during election campaigns is because the Filipino voter simply drops the ball once the fiesta is over. Because Filipino voters simply fail to  use the system to hold them accountable  as a matter of routine in between elections and utterly lack an ethic of  holding themselves accountable for the quality of the leaders they choose  during those fiestas, Philippine politics is a con man’s wet dream. You only need a lousy product and a million suckers to make a lot of money in business. And Philippine politics is, indeed, good business. And so we come to†¦ The role of social media in Philippine politics In a recently-concluded â€Å"convention† that saw one of the current crop of â€Å"thought leaders† after another pontificate about what such a  kewwwlllthing social media is, we learned that social media is unprecedented in the way it†¦ breaks traditional commuinication barriers; serves as a platform for unfiltered egalitarian â€Å"dialogue†; elevates â€Å"political discourse† by; providing a more â€Å"inclusive† discussion community; and, prompts - and demands - quick response from its participants. Yadda, yadda, yadda. In short (cutting through all the fad jargon), social media  transmits  andamplifies  the â€Å"voice of the people† at an unprecedented scale and efficiency so that every schmoe and her dog has a crack at the proverbial bullhorn once wielded by only the most powerful and influential people. Sounds nice -   on paper. The thing with participating in social media chatter is that it is really a form of high-tech Chinese whispers. The Twitter â€Å"retweet† and the Facebook â€Å"share† functions are the 21st Century facilitators of this game - and it is now a game played on a vast scale. Communication engineers will point out that the principle of signal degradation as data is transmitted, relayed, and re-amplified a number of times as transmission distance increases over a channel is the same as the way hearsay information is perverted in a typical Chinese whispers game. Human debate unfortunately remains  analog, so the advent of social media - the  digital intermediary  in the propagation of this â€Å"debate† - merely served as a more efficient way to  accurately  spread low-quality information. With every digital factoid passing through Filipino brains in between retweets, the signal progressively  degrades  into noise. We see this degradation in  signal-to-noise  ratios everyday - when we make photocopies  of photocopies  and make photocopies of  those  photocopies, the quality of the copy worsens as the number of copies increase. Enlarge one of these nth-generation copies and you will come up with a really bad image. In the same way, amplify and transmit a bad signal over several iterations and all you get for your trouble is a louder and even noisier signal. That is essentially what social media is doing for the Philippine National â€Å"Debate†. * * * Indeed, everything essential to practicing democracy  properly  comprises stuff most well-bred people learned as little kids. Having a plan to get where one wants to go. Acquiring relevant information and applying it shrewdly. Regarding sales pitches with a critical mind. Being respectful and prudent when communicating with other people - regardless of the communication technology being used. You don’t really need a Masters Degree in political â€Å"science† to really get all that. When one understands  fundamental  problems using  common sense, we tend to have a more practical regard for some of the silver-bullet â€Å"solutions† that the savviest spin-meisters around us build buzzes around. Source: http://getrealphilippines. com/blog/2013/02/everything-i-need-to-know-about-improving-the-outcome-of-philippine-elections-i-learned-in-kindergarten/ BLOG POSTS: Policy Dialogue Series 2004 Academe Meets the Political Parties It has often been said that political parties in the Philippines are based on personalities, not on platforms and ideologies. But individuals do not aggregate demands of sectoral interests. Ideally, parties become the key venues where policies and programs are shaped. In the end, it is still the parties who can be made accountable to their constituents and to the people come post-electoral politics. While it may be true that voting patterns in the Philippines have reflected preference for personalities rather than parties, the platforms of the political parties should still be subjected to public scrutiny. Source: http://twsc. upd. edu. ph/training_PDS1. html Date: March 01, 2004 Filipino Voting Patterns By: Reynz According to some of the articles on the Internet about Filipino voting patterns, most Filipino voters choose their candidates based on the following: 1. ) Utang na loob (Debt of gratitude) 2. ) Winnability 3. ) Charisma 4. ) Media exposure 5. ) Eloquence 6. ) Pakikisama 7. ) Ka-ching! ka-ching! In other words, Filipino voters rarely vote on the basis of the following: 1. ) Capability 2. ) Leadership skills 3. ) Knowledge of the job 4. ) Moral upbringing and, 5. ) Fortitude Source: reynaelena. com/2013/02/03/filipino-voting-patterns/ Date: February 03, 2013

Canadas Copyright Law Essays - Copyright Law, File Sharing

Canada's Copyright Law Essays - Copyright Law, File Sharing Canada's Copyright Law Canada's Copyright Law Canada's copyright law is one of our hardest laws to enforce. The reason the police have so much trouble enforcing this law, is due to technology. This law is very easy to break, and once broken, it is very hard to track down violators. So although some form of a copyright law is needed, the one we have has, too many holes to be effective. There are three main ways in which the copyright law is broken in everyday life. They is audio/video tape copying, plagiarism, and software piracy. The first, and most commonly violated aspect of the copyright law, is the copying of audio tapes for oneself and friends. Thanks to the invention of dual cassette stereos, this has become very easy. You simply take an original or even another copy of a tape, as well as a blank tape. Stick them both in to the stereo and bingo you have a new tape. You also just broke the law. Along with copying audio tapes, now we can copy video tapes almost as easily. If you hook two VCR's together, they can copy from one to the other. You could rent a movie form the video store, copy and return it, with no one the wiser. The problem with copying video and audio tapes is that for every copy you make the recording artist, the actors, producers and everyone else who collect royalties from the tapes lose money. If the companies start to lose money, they raise prices. Thus a vicious circle begins. As prices go up, fewer people buy original copies. If less people buy the original cassettes prices will once again rise. Another major form of piracy is plagiarism. The stealing of someone elses ideas or work. The biggest category of people who fall into here are students. Very often a student when doing a research paper will "accidently" forget to footnote his work. By "forgetting" to give the author credit, the student has claimed the work as his own. Another reason students may copy someone else's work is to sound more sophisticated hoping that if they use someone elses words it will sound better than their own. Generally, this provides an easy way for a teacher or the police to catch them. Teachers also plagiarize rather frequently. Very often a teacher will photocopy several pages from a book, in order to save the students the expense of having to buy the book for themselves. While this is a noble act by the teacher, in most cases, this is illegal. Unless the author of the book, gave consent for his/her work to be freely distributed, teachers can't copy it any more than students or anyone else can. The third category of piracy is Software Pirating. There are several forms which this can take. The most common form is very similar to audio/video cassettes. It is when someone copies a game or program from his/her computer to someone elses. As long as the two people have the same type of computer, (they both have apples or IBM's) this is a very simple process, so long as the programmer didn't put a bug into the program (a precaution they take against people copying their work). Another form of Computer Piracy is a "cracker". A cracker is someone who has an in-depth knowledge of computers and programming. He can then remove the "bug" that prevents programs from being copied. After he removes the bug he's able to distribute the software at his own discretion. This is in direct conflict with the copyright law, because the program was not meant to be copied thus the bug. It therefore becomes illegal to remove the bug. Like audio/video cassettes copying, computer games causes people to lose money. In this case, instead of it being the singer, or actors, it is the programmer, and the software companies who lose. This leads to the same vicious circle. More copies make higher prices etc.. The copyright law is hard to enforce likewise so are the penalties. If you are found in violation of breaking the copyright laws, you probably will only have to pay a fine. However, the fines can be quite substantial and depending where you are in the distribution chain (how many copies were made before yours) the fine varies, with whoever copied the original paying the most. In extreme cases, where a contract is enacted upon the purchase of the original copy like with Word Perfect, a

What to Do When a Dangling Participle Defies Revision

What to Do When a Dangling Participle Defies Revision What to Do When a Dangling Participle Defies Revision What to Do When a Dangling Participle Defies Revision By Mark Nichol A dangling participle is a construction in which the participle, or verb, that follows the subject of a sentence is not associated with an introductory phrase, leaving the participle dangling. For example, in â€Å"As a client, we know this new standard may affect you and your financial-reporting requirements,† the subject â€Å"we† is identified in the introductory phrase (which modifies we) â€Å"as a client.† But â€Å"as a client† modifies you, not we, and because we, not you, is the subject, that phrase is not appropriate at the head of the sentence. Often, such phrases can simply be relocated (with or without slight rewording) so that it is adjacent to the word it modifies, and the subject can begin the sentence. However, in this case, each of several permutations is problematic: In â€Å"We know, as one of our clients, that this new standard may affect you and your financial-reporting requirements,† the implication is that the party identified as â€Å"we† is one of its own clients. â€Å"We know that, as one of our clients, this new standard may affect you and your financial-reporting requirements† implies that the new standard, not the person identified as â€Å"you,† is a client of â€Å"we.† And â€Å"We know that you, as one of our clients, and your financial-reporting requirements may be affected by this new standard† suggests that being one of the clients of â€Å"we† is the cause of being affected by the new standard. In this case, the best solution is probably to further distinguish the two components of this sentence- the statement that the reader is a client of the business that produced the message and the information about the implications of the new standard- in a revised and expanded statement such as this: â€Å"You are one of our valued clients, and we want to make sure you know that this new standard may affect you and your financial-reporting requirements.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Words with More Than One SpellingEnglish Grammar 101: Verb MoodNeither... or?

Transistor level implementation of karaoke machine with 6 band graphic Essay - 1

Transistor level implementation of karaoke machine with 6 band graphic equalizer - Essay Example The project, entitled "Transistor Level Implementation of Karaoke Machine with six-band Graphic Equalizer," aims to develop a transistor-based, Karaoke-type amplifier that is able to run from the mains power supply and consists of the following elements: 1. a 12-V regulated power supply, 2. two inputs: a microphone and a line input, 3. a Common-emitter mixer/preamplifier stage, 4. a six-band graphic equalizer stage, 5. a Common-emitter voltage amplifier stage, 6. a Common-collector power amplifier stage, and, 7. a loudspeaker output; as indicated in the schematic diagram below. Figure 1. Project Schematic Diagram Circuit Design and Operation Power Supply Power supplies, as defined by Howard (1998), are electronic circuits, basically composed of four sections: transformer, rectifier, filter, and regulator, designed such that an input ac signal is converted to dc, at any desired level. Shown below is a block diagram of a basic power supply. Figure 2. Basic Power Supply Block Diagram Th e input line voltage is either stepped up or stepped down by the transformer, depending on the application; in this case, a step-down transformer, T1 rated at 9.5Vac (10.5Vac on actual testing), was used, giving a peak voltage of 14.84V (Vp = 10.5 x ?2), and allowing the device to run from the mains power supply. In addition to that, the power supply is being isolated by this section from the power line. The rectifier section, specifically a full-wave bridge rectifier D1, then converts the resulting signal, still ac, to a pulsating dc, which is made purer by a simple capacitor (C18) filter section, giving a dc hold capacitor peak voltage of 13.44V (Vp – 2(0.7) = 14.84 – 1.4). This leaves enough voltage overhead for the final section, the 12V-regulator IC1 (LM7812) that maintains output at a constant level of 12V and about 1.3A continuous, regardless of changes in load current and/or input line voltages. This configuration has minimum power loss, and negates the need fo r a heat sink on IC1. The capacitor C19 removes any spikes from the regulator for a smoother output. Howard (1998) Mixer/Preamplifier When a combination of two or more audio signals is expected in a single output, simply connecting the inputs will result to the degradation of system efficiency and poor overall performance due to impedance mismatches of different signal sources and the amplifier input. Furthermore, the differing signal amplitudes of the sources, too, presents another problem since direct connection may result to higher-amplitude inputs obliterating the weaker inputs, and even worse, damage the sources. By isolating inputs and providing independently variable gains at each of these inputs, an audio mixer eliminates both dilemmas aforementioned, allowing input signals to be blend in the desired ratio. (Gibilisco, 2002) Shown below is a sample circuit of a simple transistor-based two-channel mixer/preamplifier. Figure 3. Transistor-based Two-channel Mixer/Preamplifier I n this project, two signals, one from a microphone (J1) and another from a line input (J2) are to be mixed. Potentiometers (R1 and R4) were utilized as volume controls for each channel, adjusting the amount of signal passing from the inputs, from a maximum of the entire signal (Rmicin = R1||R3||RQ1in = 10k||10k||2.3k = 1.58kohm, Rlinein = R4||RQ1in = 10k||2.3k

Final paper about the Marshall Plan Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Final about the Marshall Plan - Research Paper Example This was after the Second World War. The major aim besides the rebuilding is that it targeted to avert the percolation of the Soviet Communism. It is important to highlight that this plan was employed from April 1948 for a span of four years (Nicolaus, 2008, pg 32). This came into being after the European cities had underwent some serious destructions and even the individual families seriously affected. This was a serious incident and the trade in the continent was adversely affected. The people thereby lived in the refugee camps and got assistance from the United Nations Administration. This was consequently followed by food shortage which was experienced in the harsh seasons of winter. Various infrastructural facilities were attacked aerially while the sea vessels were sunken (John, and Nicholas, 2004, pg 42) This was a speech that was given when the United States could not hold it any longer for the several unsuccessful mediations with the Soviet Union. This was by George Marshall who was the Secretary of the state at Harvard University. In the speech, he assured of the support from America in the making the economic status of the European states to grow through a gradual recovery system. In the speech, what came out so clearly is that Marshall believed that for the country to recover, grow and be economically stable, there has to high levels of cool political climate in the sense that a country has to be peaceful with no form of political violence that would stimulate high massive investments to flow into the economy (Robert, 2008, pg 71). It is important to highlight that the negotiation with the Soviet Union was in January 1947.this was after Marshall was appointed into the office. The officials thereby had to make arrangements on how they could meet the Soviet Foreign minister. The move was aiming at the recovery of Germany for financial economic states. It is important to highlight that for the effective and efficient implementation

Final paper about the Marshall Plan Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Final about the Marshall Plan - Research Paper Example This was after the Second World War. The major aim besides the rebuilding is that it targeted to avert the percolation of the Soviet Communism. It is important to highlight that this plan was employed from April 1948 for a span of four years (Nicolaus, 2008, pg 32). This came into being after the European cities had underwent some serious destructions and even the individual families seriously affected. This was a serious incident and the trade in the continent was adversely affected. The people thereby lived in the refugee camps and got assistance from the United Nations Administration. This was consequently followed by food shortage which was experienced in the harsh seasons of winter. Various infrastructural facilities were attacked aerially while the sea vessels were sunken (John, and Nicholas, 2004, pg 42) This was a speech that was given when the United States could not hold it any longer for the several unsuccessful mediations with the Soviet Union. This was by George Marshall who was the Secretary of the state at Harvard University. In the speech, he assured of the support from America in the making the economic status of the European states to grow through a gradual recovery system. In the speech, what came out so clearly is that Marshall believed that for the country to recover, grow and be economically stable, there has to high levels of cool political climate in the sense that a country has to be peaceful with no form of political violence that would stimulate high massive investments to flow into the economy (Robert, 2008, pg 71). It is important to highlight that the negotiation with the Soviet Union was in January 1947.this was after Marshall was appointed into the office. The officials thereby had to make arrangements on how they could meet the Soviet Foreign minister. The move was aiming at the recovery of Germany for financial economic states. It is important to highlight that for the effective and efficient implementation

Team resource management in aviation industry Essay - 1

Team resource management in aviation industry - Essay Example nce, to combat that crucial situation, the industry has ventured into various concepts such as Cockpit Resource Management (CRM), Crew Resource Management (CRM) and now Team Resource Management (TRM) to enhance the safety of the aircraft and the passengers. Therefore, this project study, Team Resource Management in the Aviation Industry is proposed to identify challenges and constraints in TRM after analysing its various elements. In the aviation industry, teamwork is one of the vital factors in sustaining and enhancing the safety and effectiveness in Air travel. After the success of CRM in aviation over the past decades, TRM has emerged as an improved version for managing the available resources for the operating personnel including pilots, Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) and crew members. The study analyses the elements of the TRM concepts in aviation management. The study will also look at TRM training and its most important factors. The significance of TRM in flight management as well as its effectiveness on the flight crew members to provide safety and be less error prone will be identified. Common problems in flight management will be unveiled in the study as well as solutions to identified problems. Various air accidents and incidents will be quoted and discussed to make the focus very candid. Since TRM is considered one of the best strategies, all available resources are utilised to the optimum level c arefully and properly to accomplish the safety of the aircraft and the passengers Team Resource Management (TRM) is a  set of training procedures and techniques for use in environments where human error can have devastating effects. Used primarily for improving air safety, TRM focuses on interpersonal communication, leadership and decision making in the cockpit, in addition to other elements of human factors (SkyBrary). According to the Irish Aviation Authority, TRM is a philosophy, which helps to realise that human beings are error prone.It not only helps

Do Legislators represent their constituencies economic perspectives Term Paper

Do Legislators represent their constituencies economic perspectives - Term Paper Example One of the aspects that are of our concern is the bailout that tried to stabilize the economy after it crashed in the last decade. The proposal allowed the transfer of $700 billion to the Department of Treasury to purchase declining property that financial firms lost their money on. This paper will also focus on whether or not legislators equally represent their low-income constituents as much as they represent their high-income constituents. As much as it would be believable that representation is equal among everyone, there are many reasons why this is not the case. Because of the inequality of wealth in America, the poor become very poor and the rich become very rich. Likewise, when congressional representatives run for election the price is very high and they need support to be elected. This support is more likely to come from people who have enough money compared to the poor and middle class people who are concerned about their own needs. Both of these aspects will help uncover and answer the burning question regarding our legislators. Pertaining to the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP), better known as the bailout, the infusion of money was supposed to prevent large banks from going under and losing everything. It started in 2007 when many banks had loaned out mortgages to people who defaulted, or could not pay back. Soon losses were obvious and many knew of the situation but tried to cover up the problem. This made many banks insolvent in the period between late 2007 and 2008. The TARP was written to prevent a complete economic collapse caused by side effects of banks bankrupting. However, from the point of view of legislators, this helped the rich bankers who lost a lot on their poor investment choices leaving out the poor people that had been affected. Both conservatives and liberals did not appreciate the bill. For conservatives, the bill went against their belief in free market. For liberals, the bill benefited wealthy people

BUS law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

BUS law - Essay Example Once a police officer stops a vehicle for any kind of traffic offence, the basic standards as set out in Terry v Ohio must be followed. The first Terry condition stipulates that a traffic stop begins at the point when the vehicle is stopped and ends when the officer conducting the investigation tells the occupants that they can go. In Arizona v. Johnson, the standard that should be followed to an officer’s pat down of a passenger during a traffic stop is based on whether the officer reasonably suspects that the individual in question is armed and dangerous. The law does not require the officer conducting the investigation during a traffic stop to have a search warrant. His suspicion of the driver and/or passenger being armed and dangerous is enough to warrant a pat down. However, if the officer does not suspect the vehicle occupants of being armed and dangerous, then it would not be lawful to conduct a pat down as doing so would be infringing on the individual’s constit utional rights. Work Cited Supreme Court of United States. Arizona v. Johnson, 129 S. Ct. 781, 2009. Web. 18 July 2011.

Business planing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Business planing - Assignment Example Our products will be of high quality and our services will be exceptional (Tuver, 2009). Zaet mobile home accessory and gift shop aim at creating a personalized home environment. Our services and products will be located in the City of San Diego as we look forward to extending it to the other parts of the state (CANN, 2012). Our stores will be in various part of the city, and we shall have a twenty-four hours customer service in place. The city of San Diego will be our target market. As per the population study that was conducted in the year 2014, the city’s population was estimated at 3,368,650 people with 58.9% being white, 45.1 % non-Hispanic, 6.7 % black and African-American. 28.8% Latino whereas the Asian population was represented by 15.9 %. The San Diego’s urban area has a total population of 3,095,313 making it the third largest city in the state of California (Simons, 2011). The high population will provide a ready market for our products. Our business will target more middle-class and upper-class consumers who focus beyond the national gift chain stores as well as home accessory for that expression of style and individual personality. I believe that our unique products, quality, and unparallel customer service, as well as values, will complement the experience of our clients. Through our online services, we expect to target more and more customers in the city as well as other parts of Calif ornia. The firm expects to register comfortable total revenue at the end of the first year, Followed by the development of marketing plans in the second year as well as creation of E-commerce and extension of our business to other parts of the city by the end of the third year (Sarr, 2009). The 2013 census report indicated that there was an increase in the number of household. San Diego has over a million families according to the survey that was conducted in the year 2013. The city has recorded a poverty level of below ten percent as well as median

BUS law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

BUS law - Essay Example Once a police officer stops a vehicle for any kind of traffic offence, the basic standards as set out in Terry v Ohio must be followed. The first Terry condition stipulates that a traffic stop begins at the point when the vehicle is stopped and ends when the officer conducting the investigation tells the occupants that they can go. In Arizona v. Johnson, the standard that should be followed to an officer’s pat down of a passenger during a traffic stop is based on whether the officer reasonably suspects that the individual in question is armed and dangerous. The law does not require the officer conducting the investigation during a traffic stop to have a search warrant. His suspicion of the driver and/or passenger being armed and dangerous is enough to warrant a pat down. However, if the officer does not suspect the vehicle occupants of being armed and dangerous, then it would not be lawful to conduct a pat down as doing so would be infringing on the individual’s constit utional rights. Work Cited Supreme Court of United States. Arizona v. Johnson, 129 S. Ct. 781, 2009. Web. 18 July 2011.

Computer Forensic Tools Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Computer Forensic Tools - Term Paper Example The program recovers files in various operating systems such as vista, windows 7, Xp and different server. Recuva enables the recovery of files with sheer minimal footprint on the disk. The program can be downloaded freely from the internet and is easy to install and run. In addition, the software is able to recover the files that have been emptied from the recycle bin. The program can also be used to recover files in tablet computers. Pandora on the other hand enables the recovery of files that are in NTFS and FAT-formatted volumes. It works by scanning the hard drive and creating an index both existing and deleted files and directory on the logical drive of the computer. The scanning will provides retrieve all the deleted files where you will choose one’s to recover. Unlike the Racuva, Pandora provides a preview of the files in case you can to refer to it shortly. The software is also downloaded freely. However, a version with more robust function is obtained by subscribing $500. The software is exceedingly straightforward to use. Glary undelete is a hybrid file recovery software that enables recovery of files in NTFS, NTFS + EFS, FAT, compressed files, encrypted files, compressed, fragmented and files in removable devices. The program has a remarkably easy user. The software supports both dynamic and basic volumes. Like the other two, the software can be obtained free by downloading from the internet. The most prevalent tools used to extract forensic evidence from mobile phones are Flasher Box and PmExplorer. The devices are extremely effective and therefore used by the security agencies such as the police. According to Heiser & Kruse (2011), the two devices are hugely expensive. In addition, one requires a personal computer such as a laptop to use the device. The latest model of Flasher Box cost approximately $10000. This cost does not include the other supporting hardware and software. You also have to buy a set of cables that are used to connect to different mobile phones. A laptop that runs remarkable software for analysis the evidence is also needed. In total, price of a complete Flasher Box system is almost 12000 dollars. PmExplorer is relatively cheaper. It comes with an ensuite of all required software and hardware. According to Solomon & Barrett (2012), the total price is approximately $8000. This explains why the system is more common compared to Flasher Box. The cost hiring a professional computer forensic expert is extremely high. A profound trial lawyer and Technologist computer forensic examiner based in UK charges between 500 to 1000 dollars per hour to examine a computer system that contains digital evidence. The expert charges the client according to the magnitude of the crime committed and the size of the company. To perform the operation for a large business organization, the expert can charge over a thousand dollars. In addition, the expert also charges some extra $500 for his security. Research has shown tha t the expert has experience in the field. In fact, he has been conducting several government investigations (Vacca, 2005). The investigations were successful and he has helped the government deal with cyber criminal. Though there are other forensic experts, the quality of services they offer is low. I would recommend any organization which needs to hire a forensic expert with experience. In addition, they should be registered with HTCIA. There was a case in the court which involved