Friday, November 29, 2019

Access Restrictions to Social Security Death Index

Access Restrictions to Social Security Death Index The Social Security Death Master File, maintained by the US Social Security Administration (SSA), is a database of death records collected from a variety of sources used by the SSA to administer their programs. This includes death information collected from family members, funeral homes, financial institutions, postal authorities, States and other Federal agencies. The Social Security Death Master File is not a comprehensive record of all deaths in the United States- just a record of those deaths reported to the Social Security Administration. The SSA maintains two versions of the Death Master File (DMF): The  full file  contains all death records extracted from the SSA database, including death data received from the States, and is shared only with certain Federal and State agencies pursuant to section 205(r) of the Social Security Act.The  public file  (commonly referred to as the Social Security Death Index, or SSDI), as of 1 November 2011, does  not  include protected death records received from the States.   According to the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), which disseminates the Death Master File, â€Å"Section 205(r) of the Act prohibits SSA from disclosing state death records SSA receives through its contracts with the states, except in limited circumstances.† This change removed approximately  4.2 million of the 89 million deaths at that time contained in the public Death Master File (Social Security Death Index), and approximately 1 million fewer deaths are now added each year.  At the same time, the Social Security Agency also stopped including the decedent’s residential state and Zip code in the public file (SSDI). Why the Changes to the Public Social Security Death Index? The 2011 changes to the Social Security Death Index began with a  Scripps Howard News Service investigation in July 2011, that complained about individuals using Social Security Numbers for deceased individuals found online to commit tax and credit fraud. Large genealogy services which offered access to the Social Security Death Index were targeted as helping to perpetuate the fraud related to use of social security numbers for deceased individuals. In November 2011, GenealogyBank removed social security numbers from their free U.S. Social Security Death Index database, after two customers complained their privacy was violated when the Social Security Administration falsely listed them as deceased. In December 2011, following a petition sent to the five largest genealogy services who provided online access to the SSDI, by  U.S. Senators  Sherrod Brown  (D-Ohio),  Richard Blumenthal  (D-Connecticut),  Bill Nelson  (D-Florida) and  Richard J. Durbin  (D-Illinois), A ncestry.com removed all access to the popular, free version of the SSDI that had been hosted on RootsWeb.com for over a decade. They also removed social security numbers for individuals who died within the past 10 years  from the SSDI database hosted behind their membership wall on Ancestry.com,  due to sensitivities around the information in this database. The Senators December 2011 petition urged companies to remove and no longer post on your website deceased individuals Social Security numbers because they believe that the benefits provided by making the Death Master File readily available online are greatly outweighed by the costs of disclosing such personal information, and that ...given the other information available on your website full names, birth dates, death dates   Social Security numbers provide little benefit to individuals undertaking to learn about their familial history.  While the letter conceded that posting the Social Security numbers is not illegal under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), it also went on to point out that legality and propriety are not the same thing. Unfortunately, these 2011 restrictions werent the end of the changes to public access to the Social Security Death Index. Pursuant to law passed in December 2013 (Section 203 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013), access to information contained in the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File (DMF) is now limited for a three year period beginning on the date of an individual’s death to authorized users and recipients who qualify for certification. Genealogists and other individuals can no longer request copies of social security applications (SS-5) for individuals who have died within the past three years under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. Recent deaths are also not included in the SSDI until three years after the date of death. Where You Can Still Access the Social Security Death Index Online

Monday, November 25, 2019

Technology Essays (1863 words) - Digital Media, Free Essays

Technology Essays (1863 words) - Digital Media, Free Essays The technology which surrounds almost everyone in the modern society, affects both work and leisure activities. Technology contains information that many would rather it did not have. It influences minds in good and bad ways, and it allows people to share information which they would otherwise not be able to attain. Even if a person does not own a computer or have credit cards, there is information on a computer somewhere about everyone. The technology which is just now beginning to be manipulated and harnessed is affecting the minds of small children and adolescents in ways that could be harmful. It is affecting our immediate future. It also gives another form of communication and exchange of information which was not available before, information that is both good and bad. Technology is one of the principal driving forces of the future; it is transforming our lives and shaping our future at rates unprecedented in history, with profound implications which we can't even begin to see or understand. Many different elements affect how satisfied we are with our lives. The impact of technology on these elements can change how safe, healthy and happy people feel. Throughout history, people have looked for better ways to meet their needs and to satisfy their expectations. Technology has improved the way people feed, clothe and shelter themselves. Technology has also changed other aspects of everyday life, such as health care, education, job satisfaction, and leisure time activities. People have used technology since they first chipped stone blades to improve their hunting. Yet some people call the current age the "Technological Age" because of society's dependence on technology. For the first time in human history, almost all the goods and services people use d epend on technology. Almost everyone believes that technology has made life easier and more comfortable and that it has enabled us to perform tasks that we could not do otherwise. A list of the benefits of technology would be very long indeed. However, as with almost everything we human beings have created, technology has a downside. There is, we might say, a dark side to technology. For openers, technology does not necessarily make life simpler; rather, it tends to make life more complicated. Nowadays, for example, nearly every discussion of the "wonderful power of technology to enrich our lives" mentions the cell phone. Certainly, the instant communication brought about by the telephone has been a boon. It was originally a rather simple device that anyone could learn to use in a matter of minutes, and we soon began using phones to make and receive phone calls, usually about matters of some consequence. Recently, however, we have enabled these devices to perform a ridiculous number of irrelevant functions. One needs a thirty-page booklet to learn how to use them. Anyone who enters a phone store today seeking a phone that simply sends and receives phone calls is likely to be looked upon as a refugee from the Dark Ages or from another planet. Furthermore, we have millions of people walking about or driving their cars while talking on cell phones, usually discussin g matters of no importance whatsover. If an alien civilization were to tap into our phone lines, its inhabitants would think that everyone on our planet was insane, and they wouldn't be far from wrong. In a sane world, would almost all of its inhabitants carry complex, multifunction gadgets that are used primarily to engage in trivial chatter and use them in ways that are socially annoying and unsafe? Another example of the complexity of modern technology is the computer. Again, nobody can deny that computers have enabled us to share information, process data, and perform numerous other tasks with speed and ease that, as recently as a generation ago, we would have thought impossible. Computer technology has been advancing so rapidly that new applications are discovered faster than anyone can keep pace and that's a problem. Even the experts understand only a fraction of what these machines do (just ask an expert for help when a computer malfunctions). Although most users can and do master some of the basic operations, most computer owners cannot use many of the functions that are built into computer programs. Much

Friday, November 22, 2019

Modern leaders still use Machiavelli's The Prince approach to, Essay

Modern leaders still use Machiavelli's The Prince approach to, politics - Essay Example This classic of political science has retained its relevance down the five centuries it has survived to come down to us, and leaders of various reputes have been acquainted with it, and consciously or sub-consciously followed its principles. Modern leadership in the twentieth and twenty-first century are no exception, and examples of Machiavellian wisdom abound from Stalin and Hitler, to Ronald Reagan, Nixon and George Bush. One of the most striking pronouncements that Machiavelli made was absolutely revolutionary in terms of accepting facts as they are, and not what they ought to be or portrayed to be in traditional political philosophies. He claims to talk about what really goes on behind the corridors of power and what a political aspirant should basically learn in order to get to the top: Because how one ought to live is so far removed from how one lives that he who lets go of what is done for that which one ought to do sooner learns ruin than his own preservation: because a man who might want to make a show of goodness in all things necessarily comes to ruin among so many who are not good. Because of this it is necessary for a prince, wanting to maintain himself, to learn how to be able to be not good and to use this and not use it according to necessity.( Machiavelli, 1513) Joseph Stalin, a totalitarian leader was a self-confessed admirer of Machiavelli, and sought to maintain his supremacy through being "not good". He validated torture and oppression by plainly declaring that anyone who did not agree with him was in fact and "enemy of the state" and deserved to be punished as such: Stalin originated the concept "enemy of the people." This term automatically rendered it unnecessary that the ideological errors of a man or men engaged in a controversy be proven; this term made possible the usage of the most cruel repression, violating all norms of revolutionary legality, against anyone who in any way disagreed with Stalin, against those who were only suspected of hostile intent, against those who had bad reputations. ( Russian Institute-orgname, 1956) But on the other hand, Stalin brilliantly followed the other machiavellian concept of appearing to be very good, where Machiavelli strictly instructs a political aspirant to always appear totally benevolent, "A prince, therefore, must be very careful never to let anything slip from his lips which is not full of the five qualities mentioned above: he should appear, upon seeing and hearing him, to be all mercy, all faithfulness, all integrity, all kindness, all religion". Stalin really took care to create a myth around himself about being a caring humanitarian gentleman, despite actually being a merciless and manipulative despot: As brutal despots have learned throughout the centuries, and as Machiavelli counseled, Stalin could show himself to be a caring, even benevolent father figure. .....Even today, among some older Russians a strong nostalgia persists for "Uncle Joseph," a kindly, all-seeing, and all-caring man who never really existed but lives on that way in the myths that still surround him. (Dvoretsky, Fugate, 1997) Another devotee of Machiavelli was the infamous Hitler, the scourge of our modern times who deceived the Germans into believing their superiority as the

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Perfect markets, do they exist Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Perfect markets, do they exist - Essay Example Fundamentally speaking, the three salient market situations are monopoly, oligopoly and perfect competition. A monopoly is a market situation characterized by a single seller, similar products and many buyers. In a monopoly, the seller commands a major influence over the price of the product. An oligopoly is a market system that has few firms, homogeneous products and multiple buyers. In an oligopolistic market, the products usually have high investment costs that make the entry of new players in the market utterly difficult if not impossible. Contrary to a monopoly or an oligopoly, perfect market is a system defined by very different set of parameters. According to Lim Chong Yah, "Perfect competition is a market situation where there is a large number of buyers and sellers, a homogeneous product, free entry of products into the industry, perfect knowledge amongst buyers and sellers of existing market conditions and free mobility of factors of production among alternative uses (1981)." The question that often attracts the attention of the students of economics is that is perfect market a pragmatic and observable reality. A thorough catechism on the given line of query necessarily calls for a basic understanding as to what a perfect market is. The essential features of a perfect market are: 1. Perfect Rationality - All the participants including the buyers and the sellers tend to be perfectly rational and economic men. 2. Large Number but Small Size of Buyers and Sellers - In a perfect market, the number of buyers and sellers is very large. However, the potential of the respective buyers and sellers is so small that none of them has a discernable influence over the demand, supply and price of the commodity being sold. 3. Homogeneous Products - A perfect market is usually associated with homogeneous products so that the buyers have no reason as to prefer the product being sold by any particular seller. 4. Perfect Knowledge - In a perfect market, all the buyers and sellers have a perfect knowledge of the price of the product prevailing in the market at a given time. Therefore, in a perfect market there exists no uncertainty as to the price of the commodity being sold. 5. Free Entry and Exit of Firms - In a perfect market, there exist no social, financial or legal restrictions hampering the entry of a new firm in the market or the exit of any old firm from the market. 6. Free from Checks - A perfect market is free from checks in the sense that the buyers and the sellers are free from all types of restrictions governing the buying and selling of a commodity in the market. Such checks may include government restrictions and agreements between the buyers and the sellers regarding the quantity, price or the production of a commodity. 7. Perfect Mobility - One basic assumption associated with a perfect market i

Monday, November 18, 2019

About FedEx and UPS and who has better financial health Essay

About FedEx and UPS and who has better financial health - Essay Example Both companies have negligible difference in paying off their creditors in AP turnover. Liquidity is the ability of the company to cover its operation and its obligations. In this aspect UPS fared better in the previous two years compared to FedEx (1.70 to 1.60, 1.96 to 1.70) indicating the financial stability of the company. It is supported by a better financial position with a cash ratio that higher than its liability compared to FedEx (.62 to .39, .57 to .48). This better financial position reflects in UPS higher oeperatoing cash flow ratio compared to FedEx (1.09 to .83 in 2011) indicating its ability to cover its operation and short term debts with its available cash. Ultimately, a company will be valued by its shareholder by its profitability or ability to give returns to its investors. In this aspect, UPS clearly dominated FedEx in all aspects of profitability that includes ROA (Return on Asset), Return on Equity (ROE) and Margin before interest and tax. Of the two companies, UPS is conclusively in a better financial position than FedEx. It is only in the efficiency aspect that FedEx came near UPS in terms of its financial position. With regard to financial vitality and profitability as indicated by liquidity and profitablity ratios, UPS was clearly ahead of FedEx. Its ratio on profitability which is many times over FedEx indicates the company’s ability to profit and give return to its shareholders and is the ultimate indication that it is a better company compared to FedEx . Moreover, UPS profitability is grounded on solid fiscal discipline indicated by its liquidity that it can cover its obligations and supported by its operational efficiency to generate sales with a very competitive (comparable to FedEx) use of its resources thus making it a better company in terms of its financial

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Study of Effect Rollings Process

Study of Effect Rollings Process 1.1 Introduction Aluminum composites are favored building material for car, aviation and Due to the elite demands, another sort of, supposed, innovative materials which are utilized as a part of air ship, rocket or car industry, for high voltage electrical links, need a decent mix of properties underling statics with elements stacking. One gathering of materialls thats could meeting suches necessities were metallizing composites witches comprise metallics lattice (metalling or combination) strengthened whist hairs or directional lying arranged strands auxiliary phases [1]. Presently days with the cutting edge improvement need of advancements of cutting edge building materials for different designing applications continues expanding. for meeting suches requests metal framework composite is one of solid source. Composite material is one of the solid answers for such requirement [2]. Those were an extraordinary improvement of one classes of composites with aluminum combination lattice best as knowing samespasmodically strengtmhened aluminum materials (DRA). These materials comprise of aluminum compound network fortified on artistic particales [1]. Through the course of analysts in late decades to discover contrasting options to customary building materials and supplant it consolidates light weight mechanical and physical details that empower these Material s work in various conditions with high proficiency has been the utilization of composite materials with a metal base and strengthened by various types of high mechanical particulars material materials .Aluminum framework composites for these highest quality to weighting proportion, minimal effort and highest wears resistance are broadly fabricated , utilized as a part of auxiliary applications alongside aviation and vehicle industry. Additionally a Straight forward and financially savvy strategy for assembling of the composites is exceptionally fundamental for extending those applications. Fortifications likes particulates alumina, silicon carbide, graphite, fly fiery debris and so on†¦ can without much of a stretch be joined in the dissolve utilizing shabby and broadly available[2]. A Composite material is shaped when at least two materials are consolidated on a naturally visible scale, So that the properties of composite are distinctive (typically better) from those of the individual constituents. Lattice is the materiales works to tie the fortifying material together with a specific end goal to make a composite material that can convey loads or stresses [3]. Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) blends of pottery and metals (Primary Phase, for example, established carbides and different cermets that serves to Provides the mass type if parts on item made of the composite material, holding imbeddeds stage set up, generally encasing and regularly hiding it. At the point when a heap is connected, the lattice imparts the heap to the optional stage, now and again disfiguring so that the anxiety is basically conceived by the fortifying operator. While Reinforcings Phases (Secondaryes Phases) was the Functionfor fortify essential stage Imbeddeding stage is most generally one of the accompanying shapes, filaments, particles and Flakes [4]. Meaning of composite material, as indicated by Broutman and Krock, contained in publications [5] is as per the following: A composite material is shaped by a nearby blend of no less than two artificially and physically unmistakable materials which ought to stay isolated and particular while a decent and persistent interface between them is kept up; the strengthening segments in the entire volume of the lattice ought to be as uniform as could reasonably be expected. The vast majority of the Al-compounds utilized contain magnesium; this is on the grounds that lights, modest, financially practical possessesing great erosion resistances. utilization of TiC same a support offeres a highest softening points, to a great degree high hardness, is moderately reasonable and shows great wetting qualities by aluminum and its combinations [6] . The most critical prerequisite fluid metal to been drawing fired preform by capillaritys was wettings of the strongest substrates. fluid stage wets a strong when ÃŽ ¸b90 °. At the points where there is a decent wettings in a metal ceramic framework undeingr satisfactory states on temperatures. [6] Expansion highest modulus and high quality unmanageable molecule to the low malleable framework produces composite whose properties are in the middle of lattice and support. In this properties are enhanced by controlling the handling conditions, dispersion of support and relative sum, appropriate concoction organization, shape, estimate, etc.[7] Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) are routinely manufactured utilizing diverse procedures, for example, powder metallurgy, press throwing, semi-strong mixing process. Mix throwing is thought to be best technique to get ready substantial amount of composites because of its preparing straightforwardness, adaptability and low cost [8]. Whats more, the optional procedure is metal shaping and which are an imperative assembling operation. It appreciates mechanical significance amongst variousing productions operationes because of its points of interest, for example, cost adequacy, improved mechanical properties, adaptable operations, higher profitability, significant material sparing. Materials were changed over into completed items however extraordinary assembling forms. Producing procedures were grouped into molding [casting], framing, joining, covering, partitioning, machining of altering materials property [9].Rollingwas one of forming process knew of fourteenth century. Leonardo da Vinci for moving golds ,silverwasplanned the main moving plants in 1480. By around 1600, lead and tin was icy moved by physically moving plants. In Europe, press bars were moved forsheets on eighteenth centuries. Afterward, the present day moving began from 1783 when England issued patent for utilizing notched moves to create the iron bars [10]. Forces and deformations during the hot. (Typically, recrystallization temperattures to materials range from 0.5 Tm to 0.8 Tm, when Tm was melting temperatture on materiales) and cold metal forming depend upon mechanical properties of processed materials, which in their turn depend upon the nature (chemical composition, structure) of metal as well as upon the deformation conditions (temperature, degree and rate of deformation)[11].And finally the relay process can be considered as composite materials have many features including: Prodect costs wasreduce. Composites may be made by a wide wide for prodection [12], Increment in yield quality , rigidity at room temperature or more while keeping up the base flexibility or rather sturdiness, Increases in crawl resistance at higher temperatures contrasted with for traditional compounds, increment in weakness quality, particularly at higher temperatures, Improvement warm stun resistance, Improvement erosion resistances ,Greater resistance to chemicals and weathering (not rust). Increases in Youngs moduelus, Redueses of warm elongationing. lighting weightes, performances at higherest temperattures, highest strengthen, lowest densities , betters wears [13]. While the Disadvantages the reinforcement of metals as: Composite was most breakthan wrought metals whats more, subsequently were all most effortlessly harmed. Thrown metals additionally have a tendency been weak, change of their mechanical properties and physical properties faster than traditional materials under different conditions, Age shorter than the age of traditional materials and itsthermal resistance is still low (despite the existence of studies of the existing experience in this regard, it is enough to say that the introduction the space shuttle is made of material composed, which bear the bulk of the resulting,chemicals harmful to the environment often cannot be remanufactured and hard to get rid of them[12]. 1-2 Aim of the Research: The main aim of this work lies on: 1- research aims to study effect rollings process to resist wears tear to using differents proportions of formingat differenes temperatures to reach the best values were obtained from which good mechanicall propertiess. 2- researches aims to producing composite materials using alumminum alloyed by vortex techniques disperse TiC particales in the lattice of alloyed containing 4.5 Mg. 3- research aim to study effects TiC contents sizes on micarostructure, densities, haradness weasr resistances of Al-Mg lattice compoisites were fabricated using casting method, below specific of Tic. In this study, it was important to have a fundamental understanding of mechanism effect of forming on wears Resistances of Al-Mg composites. 1-3 Objective of the Research Titanium carbide (TiC) powdering was picked as fortification due to its higher haradness (near jewel) than traditional routinely utilized support, for examples, SiC, Al2O3,†¦ and so forth. Composites of TiC particaulates in alumminum combinations have been effectively created by throwing methods. It has been exhibited that critical changes in firmness, quality, weariness break proliferation, crawl quality, wears resistances were accomplished as contrasted unreinforced aluminum compounds. Furthermore, they can likewise be molded by customary metals working procedures, for example, expulsion, producing, rolling or super plastic framing into complex auxiliary parts. Thus, theywere economical to create contrasted other metal grid composite frameworks. The comparative reports of used the Tic particles as the reinforced material are not available. This research area is still vacant and scope for work in this particular field. The made for TiC as a reinforcements offered a highest meltings points, was relative yes shows great wet qualities by aluminum and its combinations. AlMg/tic composite has the advantages be so lights metallic. And to study the effect of weight percentage of titanium carbide on mechanical behavior of aluminum metal matrix composite. 1-4 Thesis Layout This thesis includes in addition to the foreground and objective search for another six seasons, where Chapter II deals with the private theoretical side Special matrix aluminum- magnesium and Phase Diagram and its properties behavioral her addition to the overlapping materials and their properties The third chapter deals with the scientific research of mineral compounds and the effect of the minutes and specifications on the characteristics of behavioral article basically deals Chapter IV configuration process on the cold and their properties as well as the way the casting and The fifth chapter deals with the practical part of the way that sample preparation and tests related to research and Chapter VI deals with the results of tests that were made and discussed and the seventh and last chapter deals with the most important conclusions and recommendations.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

MTV :: essays research papers

Somewhat perversely, it might be expedient to begin by pointing out that this paper is not about the music video per se. There will be no close textual analysis of individual clips. Eminent pop philosopher Elvis Costello once said that "writing about music is like dancing about architecture. It's a really stupid thing to want to do" (quoted in Goodwin, 1993: 1). Conscious that 'accidents can happen", this paper is concerned with the institutional as opposed to the purely textual; with the processes of production and reception (although it should be noted that it is perhaps inevitable that such a consideration will touch upon the channel - if not the videos themselves - as "text" in its most socially-engaged sense). The focus here, then, is on those organisations which broadcast music videos, on Music Television (MTV) in particular, and on the possible impact of what has become a truly global phenomenon. There is a common perception that American products dominate the world's markets. Coke and Pepsi slug it out across continents. It would appear that there is no place on earth where one cannot purchase a Big Mac. In his book Superculture, Christopher Bigsby offers this assessment of America's global dominance: American corporations shape the physical and mental environment, influence the eating habits, define the leisure pursuits, produce TV programmes and movies: devise, in other words, the fact and fantasy of the late twentieth century (Bigsby, 1975: 4). The perceived threat of globalisation has prompted fears and resentments not dissimilar in temper and tone to those by-now familiar reactions to the threat of Americanisation. Globalisation is sometimes seen as a force that will erode or, worse still, dissolve cultural difference and variety. Yet, the presence and pervasiveness of American-made goods does not necessarily signal the death of the local, regional or national. As Frederic Jameson notes, late modern or postmodern capitalism has led to a more disorganised set of relationships between trading nations. Thus, it is one of the characteristics of the dreaded "P"-concept - postmodernism or, perhaps more accurately, postmodernity - that it leads to uncertainty and paradox, as opposed to certainty and confidence. As a kind of postmodern capitalism, globalisation reflects this. For with it, the act of cultural transfer becomes more problematic, the flow of goods and ideas so much more difficult to "police". Economically, globalisation refers to a shift in capitalist practice. Today's multi- nationals talk of "global marketing strategies" and securing a "global market share" - corporate- speak which alludes to a kind of capitalism sans frontieres. MTV :: essays research papers Somewhat perversely, it might be expedient to begin by pointing out that this paper is not about the music video per se. There will be no close textual analysis of individual clips. Eminent pop philosopher Elvis Costello once said that "writing about music is like dancing about architecture. It's a really stupid thing to want to do" (quoted in Goodwin, 1993: 1). Conscious that 'accidents can happen", this paper is concerned with the institutional as opposed to the purely textual; with the processes of production and reception (although it should be noted that it is perhaps inevitable that such a consideration will touch upon the channel - if not the videos themselves - as "text" in its most socially-engaged sense). The focus here, then, is on those organisations which broadcast music videos, on Music Television (MTV) in particular, and on the possible impact of what has become a truly global phenomenon. There is a common perception that American products dominate the world's markets. Coke and Pepsi slug it out across continents. It would appear that there is no place on earth where one cannot purchase a Big Mac. In his book Superculture, Christopher Bigsby offers this assessment of America's global dominance: American corporations shape the physical and mental environment, influence the eating habits, define the leisure pursuits, produce TV programmes and movies: devise, in other words, the fact and fantasy of the late twentieth century (Bigsby, 1975: 4). The perceived threat of globalisation has prompted fears and resentments not dissimilar in temper and tone to those by-now familiar reactions to the threat of Americanisation. Globalisation is sometimes seen as a force that will erode or, worse still, dissolve cultural difference and variety. Yet, the presence and pervasiveness of American-made goods does not necessarily signal the death of the local, regional or national. As Frederic Jameson notes, late modern or postmodern capitalism has led to a more disorganised set of relationships between trading nations. Thus, it is one of the characteristics of the dreaded "P"-concept - postmodernism or, perhaps more accurately, postmodernity - that it leads to uncertainty and paradox, as opposed to certainty and confidence. As a kind of postmodern capitalism, globalisation reflects this. For with it, the act of cultural transfer becomes more problematic, the flow of goods and ideas so much more difficult to "police". Economically, globalisation refers to a shift in capitalist practice. Today's multi- nationals talk of "global marketing strategies" and securing a "global market share" - corporate- speak which alludes to a kind of capitalism sans frontieres.