Malaysias Unemployment Rates

Malaysias Unemployment Rates Jump to: Causes of Unemployment | Types of Unemployment | Unemployment in Malaysia | Impact of Unemployment | Unemployment and Inflation | Conclusion The main objective of this paper is to investigate the unemployment and growth rates of Malaysia. Unemployment is an important issue for developing economies in a country. Inefficiently of using labor resources will cause to high unemployment rate. The result shows that the economics in Malaysia is better with high employment. In economics, unemployment statistics measure the condition and extent of joblessness within an economy.  Full employment should be a major macroeconomics goal because it maximizes output. For many years, the manufacturing has been the strongest sector in the country until it is now being progressively replaced by the service sector. In this research, we will measure how unemployment affects economics growths in Malaysia and also the reason of high unemployment rate of fresh graduate. Thus further research and relevant factors is required.   Introduction This paper asks the question of how the rate of economic growth affects unemployment. The main considerations that lead us to think that this is an interesting question have to do with the re-allocative aspect of growth. Faster economic growth must come from a faster increase in knowledge. Besides, unemployed graduates have become a serious case in Malaysia that need more concern by the government. In year 2006 involving 132,900 graduates from institutions of higher learning all over Malaysia indicated that 30.7% of graduates remained unemployed six months after graduation, while 5.7% were still awaiting job placement (Tan, 2007). There are more female graduates in this country were unemployed because they lacked the relevant skills required in the labor market despite having excellent academic results. The number was much higher in comparison to male graduates (Nor Hartinin, 2007). In the sixties and seventies Okuns Law was regarded as one of the most reliable macroeconomic relations. Okuns Law can clearly present the relationship between GDP growth and unemployment. Most economists were playing down the relationship between growth and unemployment. Unemployment was explained by structural factors, mainly by inflexible labor markets: too high wages, too high unemployment benefits and labors attitude. Unemployment Unemployment or joblessness occurs when those individuals actively seeking jobs remain unhired within the past four weeks. Unemployment is expressed as a percentage of the total available work force. The level of unemployment varies with economic conditions and other circumstances. The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed individuals currently in the labor force. During periods if recession, an economy usually experiences a relatively high unemployment rate. In a 2011 news story, Business Week reported, More than 200 million people globally are out of work, a record high, as almost two-thirds of advanced economies and half of developing countries are experiencing a slowdown in employment growth. Causes of unemployment The level of unemployment differs with economic conditions and other market forces. Unemployment occurs when an individual is out of his current job and looking for another job. It also means that they are unemployment during the time period of shifting between two jobs. Normally the job seeker needs few months to hunt for their favourite job. When there is a mismatch of skilled workers in the labor market, the structural change within an economy will influence the unemployment. Some of the causes of unemployment are geographical immobility, occupational immobility and technological change. Nowadays, most of the companies are using information technology to carry out the job. The employees who have no upgrade himself will disqualify from the company. Moreover they need to go for training to increase their knowledge on the working field. Unemployment will occur when trade unions and labor organization bargain for higher wages, which leads to fall in the demand for labor. Currently the fresh graduates are hunting for the job which has high salary, nice environment and easy task. They do not have determination and bear hardships to face the challenges. Unemployment occurs when there is a downturn in an economy, the aggregate demand for goods and services decrease and demand for labor decreases. At the time of recession, unskilled and surplus labors become unemployed. When there is insufficient demand in the economy to maintain full employment, the problem of unemployment will occurs. If demand falls, firms sell less and so reduce production. If there are producing less, this leads to lower demand for workers. Either worker is fired or a firm cuts back on employing new workers. In the worst-case scenarios the fall in demand may be so great a firm goes bankrupt and everyone is made redundant. Reasons for  unemployment in Malaysia Lack of experience Nowadays most of the companies prefer to employ people with experiences rather than those without working experiences. Based on our research, there are several reasons leading to the high unemployment rate. People lacking of experience are mostly fresh graduates from university or college. The syllabus in university should provide more exposure on real-life industrial training, such as industrial attachment and internship program. Different circumferences have to be managed in different solutions, and the problem-solving skills can be accumulated from the real-life experiences. For example, a programmer has to be familiar with a series of computer languages such as C++, PHP, Java and etc. If the applicant did not meet the basic requirements of the company, the company cannot offer the job to this applicant. In University, the knowledge is mostly gained from textbooks, but sometimes the knowledge learnt is hard to be applied on working environments. University may extend the required internship period from 3 months to 6 months or even longer. If the training duration is not long or sufficient enough, students may not be able to apply what they have learnt in school on their works. University students are suggested to apply for companies related to their courses. This may help them improve the learning and practical skills. It is not recommended to join those companies which simply arrange the trainees sitting in front of the computers and do nothing but day dreaming. Firstly, the reason why employers prefer experienced employees is because experienced employees can complete the jobs easily without spending much time on learning their works. Having employees without experiences, companies need to provide additional training and courses for those employees. This will definitely contribute to the cost of the company. Besides, the employee may be not familiar with the industry, thus, it is possible that they cannot complete the job well on time. It is not ensured that they are able to complete their jobs precisely and correctly with their assigned supervisors. They may spend some time on adapting to the new environment and less focus on the jobs. Thirdly, the skills learnt from school are insufficient in real lives. In real life, company job is based on project and it requires the employee to communicate with colleagues. Universities also have to provide more project-based modules for students. This can create more chances for students to discuss with their group members. In addition, it helps improve the soft skill of students. Last but not least, the fact that new graduates demand for high salaries also causes the high unemployment rate. Some of the graduate job-seekers are with high expectation for their first jobs. Even they are aware they lack of working experience, they still try to apply for higher salaries compared with those with one or two years experiences. Furthermore, students who graduated with excellent academic results are no longer secured with good jobs or competitive edges in career advancement. Lack of social and communication skills Most of the graduates with rural background lack of communication skills compared with those from city. The reason may be because most of the residents staying in villages communicate with their elder adults and friends using their own dialects or mother tongues. They seldom speak in English. However, the working environment in Malaysia mostly requires people to communicate efficiently in English and Malay. Therefore, Kampung students may not be competitive in terms of communication skills even though they graduate with excellent academic results. Besides, a number of town students who further study in university seldom use English to communicate with their teachers or friends. For example, the author mostly speak mother language, Mandarin, with her friends. This situation also makes the communication skill in English poor among town students. According to a survey conducted by Ministry of Human Resources, it shows that in Malaysia compared with male graduates, female graduates become unemployed because the female are weaker in communication and social skills. Furthermore, the female have a poor command of language and low levels of self-confidence. The unemployment rate of female graduates is much higher than that of male graduates. The result also indicates that a lot of female graduates are able to achieve excellent academic results but they could not secure their employment without the relevant skills required in the labor market. According to  JobStreet.com which conducted an English Language Assessment (ELA) test whereby it had ranked Singaporeans is first, Filipino is second and Malaysians is third. This has proven that Malaysian English level standard is not up to satisfaction. The survey reveals that 65% of employers have turned down job seekers due to poor communication of English, which is the official business language for 91% in Malaysias companies. Another report shows that, graduates throughout the country were unemployed due to poor communication skill in English. Though the fresh graduates possess excellent qualification and technical backgrounds, but they are unable to speak English efficiently when facing an interview. They definitely should improve their English language standards. For the basic process of an interview, the first point that the interviewer would assess the interviewee is his/her English communication capability. The way in which the interviewee speaks and interacts with the interviewer is a benchmark when the company measures suitable candidates for the job. If the interviewee even could not talk properly, it is impossible for the supervisor to assign a task to this interviewee. Most of the fresh graduates are not good team players. They are somehow arrogant and believe that they are talented and able to complete the tasks. If the fresh graduates did take part in co-curriculum and be the main committee, this will help prove that they are well trained and capable of managing the task. Co-curriculum also can build characters of people. It provides a platform for students to show their personalities. In addition, the social skill, which is also essential for each graduate, is practiced with various co-curriculums as well. Education in Malaysia Choosing the wrong course and the poor result. Bahasa Malaysia is the national and official language in Malaysia. Bahasa Malaysia is used as the teaching language for primary school and secondary school. In recent years, Ministry of Education Malaysia has begun focusing on English teaching. However, so far Malaysian education still mainly uses Bahasa Malaysia as teaching media, while in working environment people mostly communicate in English. The fresh graduates who are unable to communicate in English fluently will be very tough when finding a job. Generally, the citizens in government organizations use Bahasa Malaysia as communication language. The citizens have got used to communicating in Bahasa Malaysia. However, there are a lot of Multinational Corporations which set their head offices or Asia pacific offices in Malaysia. They require their Malaysian employees capable of communicating in English efficiently. Could Malaysia provide sufficient manpower armed with English communication skills? This is a big challenge for Malaysia educations system. Besides, high-level education of Malaysia is not competitive compared to overseas education. In Malaysia, the top university is University of Malaysia (UM), but its ranking is the 167th so far, among the worldwide university according to investigation of USNews.com. Compared with our neighbour country Singapore, the National University of Singapore (NUS) ranks at the 28th and Nanyang Techonological University (NTU) is the 58th. This is a great distance between the education systems of the two countries. Therefore, Malaysia government has to put a lot of effort into the education sector to upgrade the ranking and provide talents to international labour markets. The syllabus in local university is not sufficient or up to the satisfaction of working environment. Most of the students gain their knowledge purely from textbooks. They lack of practical skills. Facilities in university have not reached the global standard and still maintained in Kampung standard. Professors and researchers are not graduates from world-class Universities. Equipments in the laboratories are 10-20 years backward. These are all the reasons why more and more students are willing to study in overseas universities although the cost of education is expensive. Moreover, the qualification lines of entering the universities are very low, as the corresponding university standard is low as well. University should set the higher entry qualification to increase the standard of coming students. Besides, the university should increase their level as well by employing professional stuffs to strengthen education levels. A lot of private colleges which are unqualified set by the Ministry of Education intend to promote as a university. The official explanation is this can improve the quantity of undergraduates. However, it seems the government did not include the quality of undergraduates into their consideration. It is suggested that Ministry of education should review the education system in Malaysia by referring to foreign education systems to improve Malaysia education system. With a huge number of students graduating with CGPAs below 3.0, it is unsurprising that these people become unemployable in the Malaysian private sectors. It is recommended that students should take courses based on their capabilities and interests but not based on what is apparently in-demand in the society (e.g., IT courses). If students are not interested in the courses, less effort would be put in the study; hence, the result would not be scored in flying colour. Normally the company hire employees based on their paper results and abilities instead of their capabilities in other fields. Student with lower scores would probably get lower opportunities of interviews. Types of unemployment After the research, we found that there are four type of unemployment. And below is the summary of structural unemployment, frictional unemployment, and cyclical unemployment. Structural unemployment When there are less suitable job provide for the people will cause to structural unemployment because there is a mismatch between the skills needed for the jobs and the skills of the unemployed workers. For example, A employee fired by his car maker company because machine had replace human in making car and the employee does not know how to operate the machine, so the employee only have the skills of make car and he have the difficulty in searching a new job. Structural unemployment may also be affected by cyclical unemployment. If a nations economy is suffers from a recession, that means many of the unemployed workers become discouraged, while their skills become rusty and outdated. This means that they (unemployed workers) may not suitable for the job vacancies that are reserved for them when the economy turns to normal. Some economists see this scenario The implication is that sustained high demand may lower structural unemployment under the speech from British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during the 1970s and 1980s. This theory has been referred to as an example of path dependence. A lot of technological unemployment occurs, because of the replacement of workers had change into machines to produce more effectively, we called as structural unemployment. Thus technological unemployment refer to the way in which production increases by machine but lesser workers to produce the actual same level of output or more output every year. The fact that aggregate demand increase suggests that this problem is instead one of cyclical unemployment. As like we said before Okuns Law, the demand side must grow rapidly to absorb the growing labor force but also the workers made redundant by increased labor productivity. Frictional unemployment Frictional unemployment is the time period between jobs and unemployed workers when a worker is seeking for a better job and or a new environment. Frictional unemployment is always present in an economy no matter which country are u, so the level of unemployment is calculated by the unemployment rate minus the rate of frictional unemployment. This means that any changes in unemployment rate are normally represented in the simple statistics. Frictional unemployment exists because both jobs and workers are multifarious, and a mismatch between the demand and supply. Such a mismatch can be related to skills, payment, work-time, location, attitude, and other factors. New entrants of employee such as graduated students and homemakers that want to return to the career can also include in frictional unemployment. Workers as well as employees accept a certain level of compromise or risk. Time and effort will be invested to find a better match but there is always a risk. This will increase the economy growth since it results in a better allocation of resources. However, if the mismatches are taking too long finding a job or too frequent, the economy will suffers a decreasing, since some work will not get done. Therefore, governments should search for multiple ways to reduce unnecessary frictional unemployment happen too deep through planning nicely which means including providing education, advice, training, and assistance such as having some camp providing the more information about how to seeking job. An increase or decrease in labor market frictions will shift the curve outwards or inwards. The frictions in the labor market sometimes will illustrate graphically with a Beverage curve, a downward-sloping, convex curve that shows a relationship between the unemployment rate and the vacancy rate. Changes in the demand or the supply for labor cause movements along the curve. Cyclical unemployment Cyclical unemployment, also known as deficient-demand unemployment, occurs whenever there is not enough aggregate demand in the economy to provide jobs for everyone who needs a job (People who seeking for job). Demand for most goods and services decreases will lead to less production and for sure fewer workers are needed when they are less product in the market, wages fall and fail to meet the equilibrium level. Its name is derived from the frequent shifts in the business cycle although unemployment can also be persistent (during the Great Depression of the 1930s). Besides, with cyclical unemployment occurs, the number of unemployed workers will increase and exceeds the number of job seekers, so that even with full employment and all open jobs were filled, they are still some workers will remain unemployed. These two friction cyclical unemployment and frictional unemployment happen because of the cyclical variables. For example, a surprising decline in the money supply may influence the entire rational economic factors and will cause to restrain aggregate demand. Summary Structural unemployment Where their skills becomes outdated.  (Example: Someone who do not use computer get fired because he do not know how to type in information into computer.) Frictional unemployment where people lose their jobs in order to look for better ones or still searching for job. Cyclical unemployment Unemployment occurs when there is a recession of economy in a nation. The thing about unemployment is that the economy has to do with gross domestic product (GDP). We can produce more stuff with full employment. So if there is high unemployment, we should produce more but if we dont, this will lead to a bad economy growth in a nation. Malaysia Unemployment Rate Normally unemployment rate in developed countries is higher than developing countries due to higher competition. For example, in the last three quarters of 2011, United Kingdoms unemployment rate has rose from 7.8% to 7.9% and followed by 8.3% respectively. At the same time, Malaysias unemployment rate has went up from 3% to 3.2% and followed by 3.3%, and was ranked at 170th place out of 198 countries based on their degree of severity (The Human Resource Ministry of Malaysia and CIA World Factbook, 2012). Observation reveals that youth unemployment rate is even greater than the overall unemployment rate for both of the countries suggesting that youngsters are facing more difficulties in finding jobs as compared to adults. In Malaysia, one of the badly affected sector is the nursing field whereby in 2010, more than 54% of the private nursing graduates were unemployed three to four months after graduating, compared to only 21.7% in 2008 (The Star, 2012). It is a worry situation as fresh graduates find themselves difficult to get employed despite having a solid academic qualification. Malaysia Unemployment Rate (From July 2010 until January 2012) The unemployment rate in Malaysia was last reported at 3 percent in April of 2012. Historically, from 1998 until 2012, Malaysia Unemployment Rate averaged 3.3600 Percent reaching an all time high of 4.5000 Percent in March of 1999 and a record low of 2.8000 Percent in March of 2012. The unemployment rate can be defined as the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labor force. This page includes a chart with historical data for Malaysia Unemployment Rate. Needs of the Labour Market Quality of education Firstly, the quality of education has become a significant cause in current situation and it getting worst. Seems like every year our country produces more and more excellent students. This is proved where our students get better and better result (straight A) in SPM or PMR. With the increasing number of straight A students in SPM and PMR, it seems like our student is improving a lot. Besides that, it is also easier to find degree holders anywhere. Surely, this is a good sign of the graduates quality. This statement may not bode well with some of the institutions out there but this should be taken as a challenge, not a mockery. (Abdul Razak Ahmad, New Straits times Sunday, March 20 2005) Most of the students will concern only on the major subject instead of minor subject. Besides, government also offer less minor subject to the students. Now the majority of student studying only for certificate, so they do select the easier subject compare to others. Most schools also began to commercialization to benefit, they will reduce the level of subject, resulting in a lot more apparent (look impressive but is worthless) of the University. Economy Secondly, fresh graduate unemployed because of the recession of economy in our nation too. The changing of the economic structure is a probably cause for the increasing number in unemployment. For many years, the manufacturing has been the strongest sector controlling the unemployment rate in the country until it is now being replaced by the services sector step by step. The services sector requires people who do not only know the right technical knowledge, but also those people who know the right soft skills wisdom, communication, interpersonal, maturity and business oriented. Economics growth Economic growth is the increase in the amount of the goods and services produced by an economy over time. It is conventionally measured as the percent rate of increase in real gross domestic product, or real GDP. An increase in the capacity of an economy to produce goods and services, compared from one  period of time to another. Economic growth can be measured in nominal terms, which include inflation, or in real terms, which are adjusted for inflation. As an area of study, economic growth is generally distinguished from development economics. The former is primarily the study of how countries can advance their economies. The latter is the study of the economic aspects of the development process in low-income countries. As economic growth is measured as the annual percent change of gross domestic product (GDP), it has all the advantages and drawbacks of that measure. Advantages of Economic Growth Sustained economic growth is a major objective of government policy not least because of the benefits that flow from a growing economy. Higher Living Standards: For example measured by an increase in real national income per head of population see the evidence shown in the chart below. Employment effects: Growth stimulates higher employment. The British economy has been growing since autumn 1992 and we have seen a large fall in unemployment and a rise in the number of people employed. Fiscal Dividend: Growth has a positive effect on government finances boosting tax revenues and providing the government with extra money to finance spending projects. The Investment Accelerator Effect: Rising demand and output encourages investment in new capital machinery this helps to sustain the growth in the economy by increasing long run aggregate supply. Growth and Business Confidence: Economic growth normally has a positive impact on company profits business confidence good news for the stock market and also for the growth of small and large businesses alike. Disadvantages of economic growth There are some economic costs of a fast-growing economy. The two main concerns are firstly that growth can lead to a pickup in inflation and secondly, that growth can have damaging effects on our environment, with potentially long-lasting consequences for future generations. Inflation risk: If the economy grows too quickly there is the danger of inflation as demand races ahead of aggregate supply. Producer then take advantage of this by raising prices for consumers. Environmental concerns: Growth cannot be separated from its environmental impact. Fast growth of production and consumption can create negative externalities (for example, increased noise and lower air quality arising from air pollution and road congestion, increased consumption of de-merit goods, the rapid growth of household and industrial waste and the pollution that comes from increased output in the energy sector) These externalities reduce social welfare and can lead to market failure. Growth that leads to environmental damage can have a negative effect on peoples quality of life and may also impede a countrys sustainable rate of growth.   Examples include the destruction of rain forests, the over-exploitation of fish stocks and loss of natural habitat created through the construction of new roads, hotels, retail malls and industrial estates. How does unemployment affect your economy? If more people are unemployed, less people pay taxes or less money for spending. Spending money boosts the economy through taxes which is why everything is taxed. The taxed money adds up when everyone shops. If one is unemployed, they live on what is saved or what unemployment departments give them. Therefore, they do not have more money to spent, they only buy necessities. Also by not having the money to buy wants, not only needs, it means some business will have to cut prices in order to try to sell. By cutting prices this leads to less, no, or sometimes negative profits. Enough of this happens and that business might go out of business which leads to MORE unemployment. All of this leads to deflation which could lead to a depression. Deflation does not encourage spending, in fact it does the opposite. Also your dept numerically stay the same but now you earn less so it will be even harder to pay them off. The consequences of unemployment to the Malaysian economy Unemployment can lead to stress emotionally and mentally. When stress occurs, the individual and the loved ones around them suffer. There would be unnecessary pressure and expectations and a case of low morale. Thus leading to misunderstandings.   When misunderstandings occur, one may resort to violence and in turn affect the relationship or lead to an increase in crimes. Unemployment affects the economy by having a reduction in AD (aggregate demand), and economic growth. There would also be a lack of demand as people unemployed are saving. Unemployment influence and effect economic growth Unemployment affects the economy in ways that most people do not visually see. If more people are unemployed, less people pay taxes or have money for spending. Spending money boosts the economy through taxes which is why everything is taxed. The taxed money adds up when everyone shops. If one is unemployed, they live on what is saved or what unemployment departments give them. Therefore, they do not have money to be frivolous, they only buy necessities.  Spending less doenst benefit the economic growth. With the increase in unemployment people will be more inclined to turn to a life of crime thereby decreasing the economic growth. Some of the well-known effects of unemployment on the economy are: Unemployment financial costs The government and the nation suffer. In many countries the government has to pay the unemployed some benefits. The greater the number of the unemployed or the longer they are without work the more money the government has to shell out. Therefore, the nation not only has to deal with the lost income and decreased production but also with additional cost. Spending power: The spending power of an unemployed person and his/her family decreases drastically and they would rather save than spend their money, which in turn affects the economy adversely. Reduced spending power of the employed Increased taxes and the insecurity about their own work may affect the spending power of the working people as well and they too may start to spend less than before thus affecting the economy and also the society in a negative manner.

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 6

Chapter 6 The Animals The daytime people called them the Animals. The store manager had come into work one morning to find one of them hanging, half-naked, from the giant red S of the Safeway sign and the rest of them drunk on the roof, pelting him with Campfire marshmallows. The manager yelled at them and called them Animals. They cheered and toasted him by spraying beer on each other. There were seven of them now that their leader was gone. They wandered into the store around eleven and the manager informed them that they were getting a new crew chief: â€Å"This guy will whip you into shape – he's done it all, his application was four pages long.† Midnight found the Animals sitting on the registers at the front of the store, sharing worries over a case of Reddi Wip. â€Å"Screw this hotshot from back East,† said Simon McQueen, the oldest. â€Å"I'll throw my fifty cases an hour like always, and if he wants more, he can do it himself.† Simon sucked a hit of nitrous oxide from the whipped cream can and croaked, â€Å"He won't last longer'n a fart on a hot skillet.† Simon was twenty-seven, muscular and as wiry-tense as a banjo string. He was pockmarked and sharp-featured, with a great mane of brown hair that he kept out of his face with a bandanna and a black Stetson, and he fancied himself a cowboy and a poet. He had never been within six-gun range of a horse or a book. Jeff Murray, a has-been high school basketball star, pulled a can of whipped cream from the open case and said, â€Å"Why didn't they just promote one of us when Eddie left?† â€Å"Because they don't know their ass from a hot rock,† Simon said. â€Å"Can up,† he added quickly. â€Å"They probably did what they thought best,† said Clint, a myopic, first trimester born-again Christian, who, having recently been forgiven for ten years of drug abuse, was eager to forgive others. â€Å"Can up,† Simon repeated to Jeff, who had upended the whipped cream can and was pushing the nozzle. Jeff inhaled a powerful stream of whipped cream that filled his mouth and throat, shot from his nostrils, and sent him into a blue-faced choking fit. Drew, the crew's pot supplier and therefore medical officer, dealt Jeff a vicious blow in the solar plexus, causing the ex-power forward to expel a glob of whipped cream approximately the size of a small child. Jeff fell to the floor gasping. The glob landed safely on register 6. â€Å"Works as good as the Heimlich maneuver† – Drew grinned – â€Å"without the unwanted intimacy.† â€Å"I told him to hold the can up,† Simon said. There was a tap on the glass at the front of the store and they all turned to see a skinny dark-haired kid in jeans and flannel waiting by the locked door. He wore a price gun low on his right hip. â€Å"That would be our hotshot.† Simon went to unlock the door. Clint grabbed the case of whipped cream and shoved it under a register. The others ditched their cans where they could and stood by the registers as if awaiting inspection. They were sensing the end of an era; the Animals would be no more. â€Å"Tom Flood,† the new guy said, offering his hand to Simon. Simon did not take his hand, but stared at it until the new guy withdrew it, embarrassed. â€Å"I'm Sime; this is Drew.† Simon waved the new guy in and locked the door behind him. â€Å"We'll get you a time card.† The new guy followed Simon to the office, pausing to look at the glob of whipped cream on register 6, then at Jeff, still gasping on the floor. â€Å"Can up,† the new guy said to Jeff. Simon raised an eyebrow to the rest of the crew and led the new guy into the office. While he was digging in the drawers for a fresh time card, the new guy said, â€Å"So, Sime, do you bowl?† Simon looked up and studied the new guy's face. This could be a trap. He stepped back and squared off like a gunfighter at high noon. â€Å"Yeah, I bowl.† â€Å"What do you use?† â€Å"I like a twelve-pound Butterball.† â€Å"Net or no net?† â€Å"No net,† Simon said. â€Å"Yeah, nets are for grannies. I like a fourteen-pound self-basting, myself.† Tommy grinned at Simon. Simon grinned back and offered his hand to shake. â€Å"Welcome aboard.† He handed a time card to Tommy and led him out the office. Outside, the crew waited. â€Å"Dudes,† Simon announced. â€Å"This is Tom Flood.† The crew fidgeted and eyed Tommy. â€Å"He's a bowler.† The crew let out a collective sigh of relief. Simon introduced them each, tagging them each with what they did. â€Å"That's Jeff on the floor, cake-mix aisle, plays basketball. Drew, frozen food and budmaster. Troy Lee, glass aisle, kung-fu fighter.† Troy Lee, short, muscular, wearing a black satin jacket, bowed slightly. â€Å"Clint,† Simon continued, â€Å"cereal and juices; he's buddies with God.† Clint was tall and thin with curly black hair, thick horn-rims, and a goofy, if beatific, smile. Simon pointed to a stout Mexican in a flannel shirt. â€Å"Gustavo does the floors and has forty kids.† â€Å"Cinco ninos,† Gustavo corrected. â€Å"Excuse the fuck out of me,† Simon said. â€Å"Five kids.† He moved down the line to a short, balding guy in corduroys. â€Å"Barry does soap and dog food. His hair fell out when he started scuba diving.† â€Å"Fuck you, Sime.† â€Å"Save your money, Barry.† Simon moved on. â€Å"This dark-skinned fellow is Lash, dairy and non-foods. He says he's studying business at Frisco State, but he's really a gunrunner for the Bloods.† â€Å"And Simon wants to be Grand Dragon for the Klan,† Lash said. â€Å"Be good or I won't help you with your master's feces.† â€Å"Thesis,† Lash corrected. â€Å"Whatever.† â€Å"What do you do, Sime?† Tommy asked. â€Å"I am on a quest for the perfect big-haired blonde. She must be a beautician and she must be named Arlene, Karlene, or Darlene. She must have a bust measurement exactly half that of her IQ and she must have seen Elvis sometime since his death. Have you seen her?† â€Å"No, that's a pretty tall order.† Simon stepped up, nose to nose with Tommy. â€Å"Don't hold back, I'm offering a cash reward and videotape of her trying to drown me in body lotion.† â€Å"No, really, I can't help you.† â€Å"In that case, I work the can aisle.† â€Å"When's the truck due?† â€Å"Half an hour: twelve-thirty.† â€Å"Then we've got time for a few frames.† There are no official rules for the sport of turkey bowling. Turkey bowling is not recognized by the NCAA or the Olympic Committee. There are no professional tournaments sponsored by the Poultry Farmers of America, and footwear companies do not manufacture turkey bowling shoes. Even the world's best turkey bowlers have not appeared on a Wheaties box or the  «Tonight » show. In fact, until ESPN became desperate to fill in the late-night time slots between professional lawn darts and reruns of Australian-rules football, turkey bowling was a completely clandestine sport, relegated to the dark athletic basement of mailbox baseball and cow tipping. Despite this lack of official recognition, the fine and noble tradition of â€Å"skidding the buzzard† is practiced nightly by supermarket night crews all over the nation. Clint was the official pinsetter for the Animals. Since there was always wagering, Clint's religion forbade his playing, but his participation, in some part, was required to ensure that he would not squeal to the management. He set ten-quart bottles of Ivory liquid in a triangle pattern at the end of the produce aisle. The meat case would act as a backstop. The rest of the crew, having chosen their birds from the freezer case, were lined up at the far end of the aisle. â€Å"You're up, Tom,† Simon said. â€Å"Let's see what you got.† Tommy stepped forward and weighed the frozen turkey in his right hand-felt its frigid power singing against skin. Strangely, the theme from Chariots of Fire began playing in his head. He squinted and picked his target, then took his steps and sent the bird sliding down the aisle. A collective gasp rose from the crew as the fourteen-pound, self-basting, fresh-frozen projectile of wholesome savory goodness plowed into the soap bottles like a freight train into a chorus line of drunken grandmothers. â€Å"Strike!† Clint shouted. Simon winced. Troy Lee said, â€Å"Nobody's that good. Nobody.† â€Å"Luck,† Simon said. Tommy suppressed a smile and stepped back from the line. â€Å"Who's up?† Simon stepped up and stared down the aisle, watching Clint set up the pins. A nervous tick jittered under his left eye. Strangely, the theme from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly began playing in his head. The turkey was heavy in his hand. He could almost feel the giblets pulsing with tension – the Butterball version of the Tell-Tale Heart. He strode to the line, swinging the turkey back in a wide arc, then forward with an explosive yell. The turkey rocketed, airborne, three quarters of the way down the aisle before touching down and slamming through the soap bottles and into the base of the meat case, smashing metal and severing wires in a shower of sparks and smoke. The store lights flickered and went out. The huge compressors that ran the store's refrigeration wound down like dying airliners. The smell of ozone and burned insulation filled the air. A moment of dark silence – the Animals stood motionless, sweating, as if waiting for the deadly sound of an approaching U-boat. Battery back-up modules switched on safety lights at the end of each aisle. The crew looked from Simon, who stood at the line with his mouth hanging open, to the turkey, sticking, blackened and burned, in the side of the meat case like an unexploded artillery shell. They checked their watches: exactly six hours and forty-eight minutes to exact repairs and stock the shelves before the manager came in to open the store. â€Å"Break time!† Tommy announced. They sat on a row of grocery carts outside the store, their backs against the wall, smoking, eating, and, in the case of Simon, telling lies. â€Å"This is nothing,† Simon said. â€Å"When I was working a store in Idaho, we ran a forklift through the dairy case. Two hundred gallons of milk on the floor. Sucked it up in the Shop-Vac and had it back in the cartons ten minutes before opening and no one knew the difference.† Tommy was sitting next to Troy Lee, trying to get up the courage to ask a favor. For the first time since arriving in San Francisco, he felt as if he fit in somewhere and he didn't want to push his luck. Still, this was his crew now, even if he had padded his application a bit to get the job. Tommy decided to dive in. â€Å"Troy, no offense, but do you speak Chinese?† â€Å"Two dialects,† Troy said around a mouthful of corn chips. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Well, I'm living in Chinatown. I kinda share a place with these five Chinese guys. No offense.† Troy clamped a hand over his mouth, as if appalled with Tommy's audacity. Then he jumped to his feet into a kung-fu stance, made a Bruce Lee chicken noise, and said, â€Å"Five Chinese guys living with you? A pasty-faced, round-eyed, barbarian pig dog?† Troy grinned and dug in the bag for another handful of chips. â€Å"No offense.† Tommy's face heated with embarrassment. â€Å"Sorry. I just wondered if – I mean, I need an interpreter. There's some weird shit going on at my place.† Troy vaulted back to his seat on the carts. â€Å"No problem, man. We'll go there in the morning when we get off – if we don't get fired.† â€Å"We won't get fired,† Tommy said with confidence he didn't feel. â€Å"The union – â€Å" â€Å"Jesus,† Troy interrupted and grabbed Tommy's shoulder. â€Å"Check this out.† He nodded toward Fort Mason at the edge of the parking lot. A woman was walking toward them. â€Å"She's out a little late,† Troy said; then, to Simon, he shouted, â€Å"Sime, skirt alert.† â€Å"Bullshit,† Simon said, checking his watch. Then he looked in the direction where Troy was pointing. A woman was, indeed, walking across the parking lot toward them. From what he could tell at that distance, she had a nice shape. Simon climbed down from the carts and adjusted his black Stetson. â€Å"Stand back, boys, that redhead is down here for a reason, and I'm packing that reason right here.† He patted his crotch and fell into an affected bow-legged gait toward the woman. â€Å"Evening, darlin', you lost or just in search of excellence?† Jeff, who was sitting beside Tommy opposite Troy, bent over and said, â€Å"Simon is the master. That guy gets more pussy than all of the Forty-Niners put together.† Tommy said, â€Å"Doesn't look like he's doing that well tonight.† They couldn't hear what Simon was saying to the woman, but it was obvious she didn't want to hear it. She tried to walk away from him, and Simon stepped in front of her. She moved in another direction and he cut her off, smiling and chattering the whole time. â€Å"Leave me alone!† the girl shouted. Tommy leaped off the carts and ran toward them. â€Å"Hey, Simon, lighten up.† Simon turned and the woman started away. â€Å"We're just getting acquainted,† Simon said. Tommy stopped and put his hand on Simon's shoulder. He lowered his voice as if sharing a secret. â€Å"Look, man, we've got a lot to do. I can't afford to lose you all night while you show this babe the meaning of life. I need your help, dude.† Simon looked at Tommy as if he'd just exposed himself. â€Å"Really?† â€Å"Please.† Simon slapped Tommy on the back. â€Å"I'm on it.† He turned back toward the store. â€Å"Break's over, dudes. We've got some wrenching to do.† Tommy watched him go, then broke into a run after the woman. â€Å"Excuse me!† She turned and eyed him suspiciously, but waited for him to catch up to her. He slowed to a walk. As he approached her he was surprised at just how pretty she was. She looked a little like Maureen O'Hara in those old pirate movies. His writer's mind kicked in and he thought, This woman could break my heart. I could crash and burn on this woman. I could lose this woman, drink heavily, write profound poems, and die in the gutter of tuberculosis over this woman. This was not an unusual reaction for Tommy. He had it often, mostly with girls who worked the drive-through windows at fast-food places. He would drive off with the smell of fries in his car and the bitter taste of unrequited love on his tongue. It was usually good for at least one short story. He was a little breathless when he reached her. â€Å"I just wanted to apologize for Simon. He's – he's†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"An asshole,† she said. â€Å"Well, yes. But – â€Å" â€Å"It's okay,† she said. â€Å"Thanks for coming to the rescue.† She turned to walk away. Tommy swallowed hard. This was why he had come to the City, wasn't it? To take a few risks? To live on the edge. Yes. â€Å"Excuse me,† he said. She turned again. â€Å"You're really beautiful. I know that sounds like a line. It is a line. But – but it's true in your case. Thanks. ‘Bye.† She was smiling now. â€Å"What's your name?† â€Å"C. Thomas Flood.† â€Å"Do you work here every night?† â€Å"I just started. But yes, I will be. Five nights a week. Graveyard shift.† â€Å"So you have your days free?† â€Å"Yes, pretty much. Except when I'm writing.† â€Å"Do you have a girlfriend, C. Thomas Flood?† Tommy swallowed hard again. â€Å"Uh, no.† â€Å"Do you know where Enrico's is on Broadway?† â€Å"I can find it.† He hoped he could find it. â€Å"I'll meet you there tomorrow night, a half hour after sunset, okay?† â€Å"Sure, I guess. I mean, sure. I mean, what time is that?† â€Å"I don't know; I have to get an almanac.† â€Å"Okay then. Tomorrow evening then. Look, I've got to get back to work. We're sort of in the middle of a crisis.† She nodded and smiled. He shuffled awkwardly, then walked away toward the store. Halfway across the parking lot he stopped. â€Å"Hey, I don't know your name.† â€Å"It's Jody.† â€Å"Nice meeting you, Jody.† â€Å"See you tomorrow, C. Thomas,† she called. Tommy waved. When he turned around again, the Animals were all staring at him, slowly shaking their heads. Simon glared, then turned abruptly and stormed into the store.

Grim First-Quarter Results for Newspapers Essay

This particular article talks about the continuing decline in newspaper subscriptions and purchases by the general public.   Many people believe that the newspapers and all print magazines are well on their way to being extinction.   Many critics believe the reason for this is because the news can easily and efficiently be found and read on the internet.   The world wide web offers a great source of news but beyond that it allows for people to have a discussion about news topics.   This leads to a more well rounded approach to every issue that becomes news worthy.   No longer is the public blindly fed whatever the newspapers want them to read. The public can aggressively seek out information, both sides of the story, on the internet.   Obviously, as an online news reader you have to be good at research and just as good at telling the truth from fiction.   However, I think the decline of the newspaper has very little to do with the internet and blogging. In today’s world, newspaper are so focused on selling adds and inserts that they fail to offer the public any interesting information.   Who wants to wade through all the advertisements only to find the information you want squished between what is on sale at the grocery store and what’s one sale at JcPenney’s.   When you pay for a newspaper you are paying for the news not be manipulated by marketing companies telling you what you should be, buy, and strive for.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Online I can search for exactly the news story I want.   I have direct access to all the information and I don’t have to dispose of all those paper inserts trying to sell me shoes.   Newspapers have failed to keep up with the demands on a now much more well informed public.   Instead of having better articles written by better authors to increase circulation (thus increasing profit) they have chosen to fill up every extra piece of space with marketing junk that most news reader could care less about.   Newspapers will die out but only because they believe money was more important than truth. lGrim First-Quarter Results for Newspapers lAd Revenue From Web Operations Become More Important to Publishers By Nat Ives Published: April 14, 2006 NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Newspapers made a bit of a grim display this week when they reported their first-quarter earnings, revealing profit declines at The New York Times Co., Tribune Co., McClatchy Co. and powerhouse Gannett Co., but displayed at every turn the rising importance of the Web to their businesses. The New York Times Co. reported perhaps the brightest results yesterday, even though first-quarter profit fell 68.5% to $35 million from $111 million a year earlier. That apparent free fall, however, mostly reflected the extra income in last year’s first quarter when the company sold its headquarters in Times Square. About.com boosts Times Co. The Web played a big role in the company’s overall respectable results. Ad revenue rose 3.9% in the first quarter to $554.6 million, up from $533.8 million in the year previous quarter. The Times Co. ad increases were largely delivered by About.com; without that property, ad revenue would have increased just 0.7%. Earnings per share were 4 cents, a penny higher than the analysts’ consensus expectation compiled by Thomson Financial. â€Å"Our results in the first quarter reflect higher advertising and circulation revenues at The New York Times Media Group and the Regional Media Group, in part due to the introduction of innovative new products,† said Janet L. Robinson, president-CEO. But The Boston Globe’s unit, The New England Media Group, was again hit hard by consolidation among advertisers and a tough competitive environment, she said. Tribune looks to Web assets Another heavy-hitter, The Tribune Co., reported yesterday that its first-quarter earnings also fell to the tune of 28%, with flat ad revenue. The Tribune owns newspapers including The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune. Tribune expects online ad revenues to contribute about $350 million in 2006; it counts a stake a CareerBuilder.com among its Web assets. McClatchy Co., which agreed last month to buy Philadelphia Inquirer parent Knight Ridder, reported a 14.2% decline in first-quarter net income. Ad revenue at McClatchy, which houses newspapers including the Sacramento Bee, grew 1.4% to $237.1 million. The powerhouse that is Gannett turned in perhaps the most surprising report on April 12, announcing that net income sank 11.5% in the first quarter. Its newspapers’ ad revenue grew 5.7% to nearly $1.3 billion, but that factors in acquisitions without which first-quarter ad revenue would actually have fallen 1.8%. At its flagship USA Today, ad revenues declined 4.2%.

The Security Of A Bank Transaction, Online Shopping Or...

ABSTRACT Whether it be transferring of funds, making a bank transaction, online-shopping or booking flight tickets on our mobile app, these things have never been so quick and hassle free as today. Evolution of banking sector has been phenomenal. Moreover, the present, ever expanding, inculcation of digital technology has accommodated, within its premise, a further lag in analyzing the consequential stakes. A common practice of espionage targets both banking institution as well as its customers. Strikingly, the frontier between the different security threats are fuzzy, either due to the complexity of domain or the ever-increasing customer base. The banks are governed by some regulations and policies, yet it does have a scope for the well-equipped sophisticated fraudsters to function with seeming impunity. Besides, the complexity that governs these frauds is even more baffling. A bank fraud can cause notable damage at an unprecedented scale, be it to an individual customer or the complete organization. Over and above, today a bank fraud cannot be claimed as furtiveness and anonymity are apparent rewards of choosing Internet as the base platform. Every niche of our socio-economic environment is technology dependent which proportionately increases the vulnerability of the entire plot to frauds. Threat such as breach of certitude necessitates constant awareness and diligence for mitigating and preventing unseen frauds. Definitely we cannot suppress these frauds but theirShow MoreRelatedAir Asia Marketing Plan17846 Words   |  72 Pageswhich is expected to be operational by end 2011. [1] AirAsia focuses on high frequency and h igh turnaround of flights, both of which add to customer convenience and greater cost efficiencies. Its turnaround of 25 minutes is the fastest in the region. 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