Saturday, August 31, 2019

Risk Factors of Energy Industry

RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED 1) Existing electric utility industry regulations, and changes to regulations, may present technical, regulatory and economic barriers to the purchase and use of solar energy systems that may significantly reduce demand for your solar energy systems. 2) The expiration, elimination or reduction of these rebates, credits and incentives would adversely impact your business. ) If the Internal Revenue Service or the Treasury Department makes additional determinations that the fair market value of your solar energy systems is materially low your than what you have claimed, you may have to pay significant amounts to your investment funds or to your fund investors and such determinations could have a material adverse effect on your business, financial condition and prospects. 4) Your ability to provide solar energy systems to customers on an economically viable basis depends on your ability to finance these systems with fund investors who require particular tax and ot her benefits. ) You need to enter into additional substantial financing arrangements to facilitate your customers’ access to your solar energy systems, and if this financing is not available to you on acceptable terms, if and when needed, your ability to continue to grow your business would be materially adversely impacted. 6) A material drop in the retail price of utility-generated electricity or electricity from other sources would harm your business, financial condition and results of operations. 7) A material drop in the retail price of utility-generated electricity would particularly adversely impact your ability to attract commercial customers. ) Rising interest rates could adversely impact your business. 9) You must have guaranteed a minimum return to be received by an investor in certain of your investment funds and could be adversely affected if you are required to make any payments under those guarantees. 10) In your lease pass-through investment funds, there is a o ne-time reset of the lease payments, and you may be obligated, in connection with the resetting of the lease payments at true up, to refund lease prepayments or to contribute additional assets to the extent the system sizes, costs, and timing are not consistent with the initial lease payment model. 1) You are not currently regulated as a utility under applicable law, but you may be subject to regulation as a utility in the future. 12) A failure to hire and retain a sufficient number of employees in key functions would constrain your growth and your ability to timely complete your customers’ projects. 13) It is difficult to evaluate your business and prospects due to your limited operating history. 14) If you incur losses then it will be difficult for you to achieve or sustain profitability in the future. 5) You face competition from both traditional energy companies and renewable energy companies. 16) If you fail to remediate deficiencies in your control environment or are un able to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, the accuracy and timeliness of your financial reporting may be adversely affected. 17) Projects for your significant commercial or government customers involve concentrated project risks that may cause significant changes in your financial results. 8) You depend on a limited number of suppliers of solar panels and other system components to adequately meet anticipated demand for your solar energy systems. Any shortage, delay or component price change from these suppliers could result in sales and installation delays, cancellations and loss of market share. 19) Your business benefits from the declining cost of solar panels, and your financial results would be harmed if this trend reversed or did not continue. 0) You act as the licensed general contractor for your customers and are subject to risks associated with construction, cost overruns, delays, regulatory compliance and other contin gencies, any of which could have a material adverse effect on your business and results of operations. 21) Compliance with occupational safety and health requirements and best practices can be costly, and noncompliance with such requirements may result in potentially significant monetary penalties, operational delays and adverse publicity. 2) Problems with product quality or performance may cause you to incur warranty expenses and performance guarantee expenses, may lower the residual value of your solar energy systems and may damage your market reputation and cause your financial results to decline. 23) Product liability claims against you could result in adverse publicity and potentially significant monetary damages. 24) Damage to your brand and reputation would harm your business and results of operations. 25) If you fail to manage your recent and future growth effectively, you may be unable to execute your business plan, aintain high levels of customer service or adequately addr ess competitive challenges. 26) You may not be successful in leveraging your customer base to grow your business through sales of other energy products and services. 27) Your growth depends in part on the success of your strategic relationships with third parties. 28) The loss of one or more members of your senior management or key employees may adversely affect your ability to implement your strategy. 29) Your business may be harmed if you fail to properly protect your intellectual property. 0) The production and installation of solar energy systems depends heavily on suitable meteorological conditions. If meteorological conditions are unexpectedly unfavorable, the electricity production from your solar energy systems may be substantially below your expectations and your ability to timely deploy new systems may be adversely impacted. 31) You typically bear the risk of loss and the cost of maintenance and repair on solar systems that are owned or leased by your fund investors. 2) An y unauthorized disclosure or theft of personal information you gather, store and use could harm your reputation and subject you to claims or litigation. 33) In the long term if you intend to expand your international activities, which will subject you to a number of risks. Your long-term strategic plans include international expansion, and you intend to sell your solar energy products and services in international markets. Risks inherent to international operations include the following: | ? | Â  | inability to work successfully with third parties with local expertise to co-develop international projects; | ? | Â  | multiple, conflicting and changing laws and regulations, including export and import restrictions, tax laws and regulations, environmental regulations, labor laws and other government requirements, approvals, permits and licenses; | | ? | Â  | changes in general economic and political conditions in the countries where you operate, including changes in government ince ntives relating to power generation and solar electricity; | | ? | Â  | political and economic instability, including wars, acts of terrorism, political unrest, boycotts, curtailments of trade and other business restrictions; | ? | Â  | difficulties and costs in recruiting and retaining individuals skilled in international business operations; | | ? | Â  | international business practices that may conflict with Indian customs or legal requirements; | | ? | Â  | financial risks, such as longer sales and payment cycles and greater difficulty collecting accounts receivable; | | ? | Â  | fluctuations in currency exchange rates relative to the Indian Rupee; and | | ? | Â  | inability to obtain, maintain or enforce intellectual property rights, including inability to apply for or register material trademarks in foreign countries. |

Friday, August 30, 2019

Increasing Movie Ticket Prices Essay

  Increasing Movie Ticket Prices To conduct an experiment, AMC increased movie ticket prices from $9.00 to $10.00 and measured the change in ticket sales. Using the data over the following month, they have concluded that the increase was profitable. However, over the subsequent months, they changed their minds and discontinued the experiment. How did the timing affect their conclusion about the profitability of increasing prices? The timing affected the conclusion because the demand curve at the time was showing AMC that the consumer demand was allowing consumers to be willing to pay $10 per movie ticket at the time of the increase. Now over time the demand of going to the movie has decreased. Consumers will buy more if the price is less compared to buying less if the price is higher. So in the instance with AMC they profited from the increase for the first month but consumers stopped attending the theaters based on the higher costs. Learning Curve Suppose you have a production technology that can be characterized by a learning curve. Every time you increase production by one unit, your cost decreases by $6. The first unit costs you $64 to produce. If you receive a request for proposal (RFP) on a project four units, what is your breakeven price? Suppose that if you get the contract, you estimate that you can win another project for two more units. Now what is you break even price for those two units? Basically to find the breakeven price for the units we would have to take the initial cost of $64 it takes to produce one unit and subtract $6 from each unit that is produced after the first unit in order to find the breakeven cost. Unit 1: $64, Unit 2: $58, Unit 3: 52, Unit 4: $46 = $220 (total price cost); divide the total cost by 4 units which will equal a breakeven price of $55. We would have to sell each unit for the $55 to breakeven. If we added two more units the cost for unit 5: $40 and unit 6: 34. This would give a total cost of $74. Divide $74/2 = $37 which would be  the breakeven price for the additional 2 units.   Multiconcept Restaurants are a growing Trend A multiconcept restaurant incorporates two or more restaurants, typically chains, under one roof. Sharing facilities reduces costs of both real estate and labor. The multiconcept restaurants typically offer a limited menu, compared with full sized, stand alone restaurants. For example, KMAC operates a combination Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC)/Taco Bell. The food preparation areas are separate, but orders are taken at shared point of sale (POS) stations. If Taco Bell and KFC share facilities, they reduce fixed cost by 30%; however, sales in joint facilities are 20% lower than sales in two separate facilities. What do numbers imply for the decision of when to open a shared facility vs. two separate facilities? The numbers will imply to sharing facilities when it allows the businesses to be able to reduce overhead costs in regards to economic cost or the economies of scope in regards to costs. A business will also use the marginal analysis theory into consideration of when they should ta ke any action that would help in the businesses increasing its profits. So in sharing facilities if both businesses are able to keep costs decreased or continue decreasing over time and sales stay the same or increase, both businesses would profit on switching to a shared facility concept.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Business: Management and Different Stakeholders

You have been asked to produce an article on two contrasting businesses covering purpose, ownership, organisational structure, trategic planning and how businesses interact with their environments. Task 1 (Pl ,P3, P4) submtsston date: w,'C 7/10/13 Business organisations exist for many different purposes and have a range of aims and objectives. Privately owned businesses usually aim to make a profit for the owner(s); publicly owned organisations work to deliver services and there are many businesses employ staff and use other resources and are important to the economy ofa region.As part of your duties you and three colleagues have been asked to produce a presentation to local Chamber of Commerce. You and your team members have been asked to research and compare one Public Sector Organisation and one Private Sector Organisation and produce a short PowerPoint presentation of the above of no more 10 minutes duration and of 8 to 12 slides. Covering the following areas: a) (Pl) Describe th e type of business (what does the business/organisation do? b) (Pl) Describe the purpose and ownership (including liability for any business debts) of each business. c) (P3) Describe how two businesses are organised d) (P4) Explain how their style of organisation helps them to fulfil their purpose. note you will need to hand in a copy of the powerpoint and notes at the end of the presentation and answer questions from your tutor) Task 2 (p2) Submission date: wc 11/11/13 All organisations have groups or individuals who are said to be stakeholders in the business.This means that they have an interest in the actions, performance or plans of the business. For example, a decision to move location affects staff, suppliers, neighbours and customers, all of whom are stakeholders. Produce an article for the paper covering the following: a) (P2) Describe the different stakeholders of each of he selected contrasting organisations. b) (P2) Describe how each one influences the purpose of each of the organisations. ) (MI) Explain the points of view of different stakeholders seeking to influence the aims and objectives of these two contrasting organisations. d) (Dl) Evaluate the influence different stakeholders exert in one of your chosen businesses.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Introduction of Thesis Dignity in Elderly Care Essay

Introduction of Thesis Dignity in Elderly Care - Essay Example experienced throughout the past years, as well as failure of will, which once engrained within the mentality and daily attitudes of the elderly, tends to persist till their very death. The media both local and foreign has depicted on diverse occasions, the scrupulous levels of neglect and abuse that the elderly may experience at times within the health care systems (Mark et al., 1998); while often there are also reports of direct killings of the elderly patients perpetuated by their caregivers (Wainwright, 2008). in this context, The World Health Organisation defines the term â€Å"Elder Abuse† act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person† (WHO, 2011). This abuse can take place in three different ways: psychological/ emotional abuse, physical abuse, financial abuse, and sexual abuse. The basic notions of human dignity were first conceived within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR) that states in its preamble â€Å"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world† (UNDHR, 1948). Based on this guiding principle, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union states in its first article, â€Å"human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected,† thus, proclaiming that dignity in an integral part of all human existence, and human dignity must always be upheld. Article 3 of the Charter focuses on physical and mental integrity, whilst article 4 focuses on the protection against inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 25 focuses on â€Å"the right of the elderly to lead a life of dignity and... All forms of undertaken research work consist of a fixed procedure, which is made up of a series of varying enquiries on the selected issue/ problem that are systemic in nature. These systemic enquires enable the research scholar, to imbibe new knowledge on that particular theme. This thesis paper will comprise of both primary and secondary work, though the primary nature of the research work carried out in this paper is secondary research, defined as â€Å"analyzing [the] already collected data within another study† (Sarantakos, 2005, 297). Secondary researches generally involve a detailed study of all the available data, which is perceived as necessary, owing to the fact that often ‘a wealth of data’ that has been collected for various other non-research objectives, can also be used quite effectively to answer one’s questions in a research paper. Secondary research work generally creates a broader perspective for the concerned researcher to study and coll ect a large number of required data from various resources. The research process methodology as followed for this paper is based on the outline given by Graziano & Raulin, in their paper.

Sports prodigy a curse of blessing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sports prodigy a curse of blessing - Essay Example A child sometimes may project a health which is not normal for him. Sometimes parents and sports coach or teachers may take it as a blessing .This is not right, as a child can hurt himself trying to improve his health more. The bones of a child are not strong as an elderly man, anytime before maturity. And he needs to have mental maturity also to perform well in sports like a matured man. And moreover, childhood is a time to enjoy the sports and not be a sport professional. Being a sport prodigy is definitely a curse. A child cannot think of his future like 30 years ahead before the age of 21 or so and hence being a sports prodigy steals from him his childhood. As per (SPIT)â€Å"It is difficult to ask a 16 year old to think ahead to what her body will be like when she’s 30. But 30 are awfully young to be struggling with symptoms of a degenerative knee and a possible knee replacement†. Normally children at young age need to look after their body well and eat food that is healthy for the body. Only a body with a strong base can help a child to be a sport star. Being a sport prodigy is not an easy thing as one needs to provide all the nutrients to the body in the right quantity at the right time. A sports prodigy means a child who becomes expert in sports due to his skill and capabilities at a smaller age. According to (King Kamali)â€Å" My strength has been a blessing and a curse at the same time. I HAVE to lift heavy to â€Å"feel† the contraction†. It would not be easy even for his parents to maintain him. A child may at times project a well developed body at a small age due to a genetic problem. So the child should be taken to the doctor to look into the problem as a child is overgrowing. Sports are not a temporary activity for a professional, as his whole life is based on that. So once a child shows a sign of sport prodigy, the parents should take it as a

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Slavery by Another Name Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Slavery by Another Name - Essay Example He uses real letters, and photos to pass the message to viewers of the film. It is evident that the film bases its topics on scholarly heritage, long-term experiences, and contributions of African. The documentary highlights that slavery was effectively considered only after the World War 2. The documentary also depicts themes such as forced labor that can be used by tutors’ in teaching students in the class. Slavery by Another Name is better since forced labor is a common topic practiced in the contemporary society; hence, still significant as subject to teach students (DeFore, 2012). The film is better than others to be added in the course since it has a unique and exceptional topic that analyses the historical events in America. It talks about new findings in American history since an individual has to involve in a thorough research to generate the topic. It is a summary and critique of the events that occurred amid the emancipation period and the end of the World War 2; therefore, making the documentary an outstanding one. Students learn that constitutions are not perfect, and some have mistakes since they are written by a human being. For example, the 13th Amendment of the constitution did not fully eliminate slavery; it had a clause that read ‘except as a punishment for a crime’ that gave room for the whites to arrest the blacks for petty mistakes made. Africans who escaped being arrested faced the wrath of paying debts (DeFore, 2012). Learners learn that racism is a negative factor in society and should not be practiced. Students learn that racism was the core reason for slavery. This knowledge will make them avoid practicing bigotry and advocate against it in the community.

Monday, August 26, 2019

THE CURRENT MACROECONOMICS SITUATION IN THE UNITED STATES Essay

THE CURRENT MACROECONOMICS SITUATION IN THE UNITED STATES - Essay Example Continuous increase in the prices of food, shelter and gasoline lead to an increase of 0.2% in August, 2011, same as the previous month. Apparel and shelter are the biggest contributors whereas the prices of health care, personal care, medical care, household operations and furnishing have also seen to be increased significantly. Since April, the Unemployment rate has detained between narrow ranges of 9.0% to 9.2%. Currently, the unemployment rate is 9.1%. The number of long-term unemployed people is 6.2 million, as recorded in September, 2011. These individuals accounted for 44.6% of the total unemployed people in U.S. GDP growth rate is an important indicator to measure the strength of an economy. GDP growth rate is said to be positive when the economy develops. Annualized Growth of real GDP has been recorded far below than 5.4% than the normal recoveries of previous business cycles. Credit rating of U.S is also at risk. Credit rating agencies have downgraded the credit rating of U.S from AAA to AA. Many economists now believe that America’s economy has gone fragile. They recommend that it would not be to cut down the consumption and increase tax rates at this point of time. The dysfunctions in U.S have immense pressure from increasing population, globalization and technological advancements. The U.S requires smart and effective policies in every area. It needs to spend in areas like retirement funds and health care whereas it is encouraged to invest in the fields of research and development, education and infrastructure in order to grow. U.S is at that point of budgetary limits where money should to be used wisely and only on effective projects. But in every other area, government policies are suboptimal. The world used to look at the U.S with awe as Americans had built highway systems for interstate, created best standard for education in the world, invested heavily in the frontiers of knowledge. But this is not now how the world perceives America

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Social Intelligence of People Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Intelligence of People - Assignment Example Albrecht scale of behavioral concepts can help identify areas of human interaction that need to be addressed for improved social skills. I have achieved a score of 91 on Albrecht’s self-assessment quiz which has revealed my nourishing and toxic behavioral traits. Five aspects of each are discussed as below. Five of my most nourishing traits are: communicating openly and honestly; acknowledging and affirming others; expressing respect for others’ ideas; and sympathize with others; and keeping confidences. These have helped me to build a constructive social relationship with lots of genuine friends and well-wishers. These attributes have also given me credibility amongst friends and acquaintances, facilitating improved performance in academia as well as personal development as an individual. Respecting others’ ideas has helped me to develop critical thinking and providing me with the ability to look for new opportunities even in adverse circumstances. My five toxic behaviors include: monopolizing conversation; sometimes snappy and moody having low tolerance; interrupting others and not listening patiently to others; bragging, and manipulating others for my own goals. These traits have created some enemies and have blocked my progress in the work arena. They have also created distrust amongst some of my acquaintances and obstructed my progress in studies as well as frustrated my efforts for strengthening my relationships others. These traits have led to reduced trust and respect amongst my friends and peer group. I would like to have more communication skills as they are important tools for resolving conflicts. It is an important mechanism of expressing and explaining facts that could create problems for oneself and others. A person, who makes effort to develop better ways of communicating with other people, is able to strengthen his/her personal and  professional relationship and facilitate a better understanding that paves way for a productive outcome.  Moreover, the vast scope of communication, in terms of behavioral pattern, language used and non-verbal means of contact are important aspects which are extremely relevant in the social interaction.  

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Employers nd Collective Bargaining Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Employers nd Collective Bargaining - Essay Example Th Europen ocial charter, convention for baic right nd freedom nd th number of work of convention from International 87,98 nd 151 nd 154 are mot importnt. Th traditional model of th ocial relation of public ervice however wa prone to deep chnge during th lat decade. Th tendency wa toward th collective bargain, put in parallel by decentralization by determining th term nd general term of employment, of a legal framework reembling that of th private ector nd th identification of th right of trade union nd th right to trike (Bach, 1999,21) n importnt matter in ocial relation of public ervice wa th point to which th collective bargain i centralized or decentralized. Th general tendency i the lat year toward decentralization. n importnt argument in favour of decentralization i that it leave more flexibility thn th ytem centralized in term of profeional ituation, regional nd local pecific of job market. (Boaert, 2001,22) while thi cn increae th effectivene nd th effectivene in public ervice, it cn alo lead to fragmentation (Dell 'Arringa, 2001; Farnham nd Horton, 2000). In practice, th collective bargain in public ervice neithr i completely centralized nor i completely decentralized in ny Member State within th EU. Centralization nd decentralization often go hnd in hnd. Th centralized apect often refer to a certain form of central order, uch a limit of budget impoed by th Britih treaure. In th countrie with ytem of public office of career, thre i a degree more raied of centralization thn in th countrie without uch ytem. However, in th majority of th countrie, of th combination of th centralized nd decentralized negotiation are found. Within th EU, three group of country cn be ditinguihed. Th firt group contain countrie where th collective bargain i mainly centralized nd decentralization i limited. Th econd group contain countrie with th decentralized collective bargain. nd th third group contain partially centralized/decentralized collective bargain, but where th mot importnt negotiation take place with ectoral or at th regional level. (Boaert, 2001,22) Centralied collective bargaining In Frnce, one centrally conclude Germny, Greece, Autria nd Portugal, pay rie for th whole public ervice. In Spain, although not truth for th civil ervnt, remuneration of th contractual employee i negotiated by each minitry or department within central adminitration. nd with RU, th wage for th public employee are mainly centrally given in th National ervice of Health (NHS) nd th local government. In Frnce, th ytem ued to determine th baic alary of th civil ervnt i th ame one for five million civil ervnt. In th French ytem, each poition in a category equalize a certain number of point on th index of wage (indicial of grill of). Th baic nnual alary of a civil ervnt cn be calculated by multiplying th index of th category of th civil ervnt with th money value of a point of index. Th negotiation of wage relate to primarily negotiation in increae in money value of th point, implying a general pay rie. (Dell 'Arringa, 2001,87) In Germny, th determination of wage for th civil ervnt alo i very centralized. Th Federal law

Friday, August 23, 2019

Comparison between two methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Comparison between two methods - Essay Example The most important rule of SSADM is that a system should be developed from the top down in hierarchical method and advanced to larger levels in feature. The design should initially reflect on the foremost activity of software, and then break this activity into sub activities and decompose each sub activities until the lowest level of detail has been achieved. The lowest level components illustrates the authentic giving out that will take place. In this manner all high-level logic and deign model are carried out earlier than detailed software code is written. If structured analysis has been carried out, the structured specification document can hand out as input to the design method (Kenneth, 1999). SSADM is now utilized as an expressive practice to additional argument of information systems development. SSADM is a group of conventional, methodical and certification principles for information systems development. SSADM comprises 5 core modules (Middleton, 2000): MERISE employs a data modeling procedure which recognizes the units concerned in the system, the association among these in addition to the practical reliability limitations associated to every relationship. The theoretical procedure model, examine a development as a position of process described from the position of observation of the administration policies of the corporation. This section will present the NIMSAD analysis and differentiate this technique from the MERISE methods for better system modeling and development. Now I will present the explanation of the SSADM methods through the Normative Information Model -based Systems Analysis and Design or NIMSAD model phases (Middleton, 2000). In this phase: it is stated that computers are â€Å"sensibly malleable† in the acumen that â€Å"they can be shaped and modeled to carry out several movement that can be distinguished in states of outputs, inputs and concerning logical procedures. This can direct to approach vacuums originated through

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Time Travel Essay Example for Free

Time Travel Essay The urge to hug a departed loved one again or prevent atrocities are among the compelling reasons that keep the notion of time travel alive in the minds of many. While the idea makes for great fiction, some scientists now say traveling to the past is impossible. There are a handful of scenarios that theorists have suggested for how one might travel to the past, said Brian Greene, author of the bestseller, â€Å"The Elegant Universe† and a physicist at Columbia University. â€Å"And almost all of them, if you look at them closely, brush up right at the edge of physics as we understand it. Most of us think that almost all of them can be ruled out. † The fourth dimension In physics, time is described as a dimension much like length, width, and height. When you travel from your house to the grocery store, you’re traveling through a direction in space, making headway in all the spatial dimensions—length, width and height. But you’re also traveling forward in time, the fourth dimension. â€Å"Space and time are tangled together in a sort of a four-dimensional fabric called space-time,† said Charles Liu, an astrophysicist with the City University of New York, College of Staten Island and co-author of the book â€Å"One Universe: At Home In The Cosmos. † Space-time, Liu explains, can be thought of as a piece of spandex with four dimensions. â€Å"When something that has mass—you and I, an object, a planet, or any star—sits in that piece of four-dimensional spandex, it causes it to create a dimple,† he said. â€Å"That dimple is a manifestation of space-time bending to accommodate this mass. † The bending of space-time causes objects to move on a curved path and that curvature of space is what we know as gravity. Mathematically one can go backwards or forwards in the three spatial dimensions. But time doesn’t share this multi-directional freedom. â€Å"In this four-dimensional space-time, you’re only able to move forward in time,† Liu told LiveScience. * Video: Can You Time Travel? Tunneling to the past A handful of proposals exist for time travel. The most developed of these approaches involves a wormhole—a hypothetical tunnel connecting two regions of space-time. The regions bridged could be two completely different universes or two parts of one universe. Matter can travel through either mouth of the wormhole to reach a destination on the other side. â€Å"Wormholes are the future, wormholes are the past,† said Michio Kaku, author of â€Å"Hyperspace† and â€Å"Parallel Worlds† and a physicist at the City University of New York. â€Å"But we have to be very careful. The gasoline necessary to energize a time machine is far beyond anything that we can assemble with today’s technology. † To punch a hole into the fabric of space-time, Kaku explained, would require the energy of a star or negative energy, an exotic entity with an energy of less than nothing. Greene, an expert on string theory—which views matter in a minimum of 10 dimensions and tries to bridge the gap between particle physics and natures fundamental forces, questioned this scenario. â€Å"Many people who study the subject doubt that that approach has any chance of working,† Greene said in an interview . â€Å"But the basic idea if you’re very, very optimistic is that if you fiddle with the wormhole openings, you can make it not only a shortcut from a point in space to another point in space, but a shortcut from one moment in time to another moment in time. † Cosmic strings Another popular theory for potential time travelers involves something called cosmic strings—narrow tubes of energy stretched across the entire length of the ever-expanding universe. These skinny regions, leftover from the early cosmos, are predicted to contain huge amounts of mass and therefore could warp the space-time around them. Cosmic strings are either infinite or they’re in loops, with no ends, said J. Richard Gott, author of â€Å"Time Travel in Einsteins Universe† and an astrophysicist at Princeton University. â€Å"So they are either like spaghetti or SpaghettiO’s. † The approach of two such strings parallel to each other, said Gott, will bend space-time so vigorously and in such a particular configuration that might make time travel possible, in theory. â€Å"This is a project that a super civilization might attempt,† Gott told LiveScience. â€Å"It’s far beyond what we can do. We’re a civilization that’s not even controlling the energy resources of our planet. † Impossible, for now Mathematically, you can certainly say something is traveling to the past, Liu said. â€Å"But it is not possible for you and me to travel backward in time,† he said. | However, some scientists believe that traveling to the past is, in fact, theoretically possible, though impractical. Maybe if there were a theory of everything, one could solve all of Einstein’s equations through a wormhole, and see whether time travel is really possible, Kaku said. â€Å"But that would require a technology far more advanced than anything we can muster, he said. Don’t expect any young inventor to announce tomorrow in a press release that he or she has invented a time machine in their basement. † For now, the only definitive part of travel in the fourth dimension is that we’re stepping further into the future with each passing moment. So for those hoping to see Earth a million years from now, scientists have good news. â€Å"If you want to know what the Earth is like one million years from now, I’ll tell you how to do that,† said Greene, a consultant for â€Å"Deja Vu,† a recent movie that dealt with time travel. â€Å"Build a spaceship. Go near the speed of light for a length of time—that I could calculate. Come back to Earth, and when you step out of your ship you will have aged perhaps one year while the Earth would have aged one million years. You would have traveled to Earth’s future. † Source 2 Time Slips / Time Travel 0digg 1 comment A time slip is an alleged paranormal phenomenon in which a person, or group of people, travel through time through supernatural (rather than technological) means. As with all paranormal phenomena, the objective reality of such experiences is disputed. One of the best-known, and earliest, examples of a time slip was reported by two English women, Charlotte Anne Moberly (16 September 1846 – 7 May 1937) and Eleanor Jourdain (1863–1924), the principal and vice-principal of St Hugh’s College, Oxford, who believed they slipped back in time in the gardens of the Petit Trianon at Versailles from the summer of 1901 to the period of the French Revolution. On August 10, 1901 Moberly and Jourdain were visiting the Palace of Versailles. They decided to go in search of the Petit Trianon. While walking through the grounds they both were impressed by a feeling of oppressive gloom. They claimed to have encountered, and interacted with, a number of people in old fashioned attire whom they later assumed to have been members of the court of Marie Antoinette and to have seen a figure that may have been Marie Antoinette herself on the day in 1792 when she learned that the mob had stormed the Tuileries Palace. Source 3, 4, 5 . http://www. youtube. com/watch? feature=player_embeddedv=FdWXMD4rOGQ#! http://www. youtube. com/watch? feature=player_embeddedv=rqQV_UzVQks http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=X02WMNoHSm8 Source 6 The Big Question: Is time travel possible, and is there any chance that it will ever take place? By Steve Connor, Science Editor Friday 08 February 2008 Why are we asking this now? Two Russian mathematicians have suggested that the giant atom-smasher being built at the European centre for nuclear research, Cern, near Geneva, could create the conditions where it might be possible to travel backwards or forwards in time. In essence, Irina Arefeva and Igor Volovich believe that the Large Hadron Collider at Cern, which is due to be switched on this year for the first time, might create tiny wormholes in space which could allow some form of limited time travel. If true, this would mark the first time in human history that a time machine has been created. If travelling back in time is possible at all, it should in theory be only possible to travel back to the point when the first time machine was created and so this would mean that time travellers from the future would be able to visit us. As an article in this weeks New Scientist suggests, this year – 2008 – could become year zero for time travel. Is this really a serious proposition? The New Scientist article points out that there are many practical problems and theoretical paradoxes to time travel. Nevertheless, the slim possibility remains that we will see visitors from the future in the next year, says the magazine says, rather provocatively. It has to be said that few scientists accept the idea that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will create the conditions thought to be necessary for time travel. The LHC is designed to probe the mysterious forces that exist at the level of sub-atomic particles, and as such will answer many important questions, such as the true nature of gravity. It is not designed as a time machine. In any case, if the LHC became a time machine by accident, the device would exist only at the sub-atomic level so we are not talking about a machine like Dr Whos Tardis, which is able to carry people forwards and backwards from the future. What do the experts say about the idea of time travel? The theoretical possibility is widely debated, but everyone agrees that the practical problems are so immense that it is, in all likelihood, never going to happen. Brian Cox, a Cern researcher at the University of Manchester, points out that even if the laws of physics do not prohibit time travel, that doesnt mean to say its going to happen, certainly in terms of travelling back in time. Saying that the laws of physics as we know them permit travel into the past is the same as saying that, to paraphrase Bertrand Russell, they permit a teapot to be in orbit around Venus, Dr Cox says. Its possible, but not likely. Time travel into the future is absolutely possible, in fact time passes at a different rate in orbit than it does on the ground, and this has to be taken into consideration in order for satellite navigation systems to work. But time travel into the past, although technically allowed in Einsteins theory, will in the opinion of most physicists be ruled out when, and if, we develop a better understanding of the fundamental laws of physics – and thats what the LHC is all about. Why is the possibility of time travel even considered? It comes down to the general theory of relativity devised by Albert Einstein in 1905. It is the best theory we have so far on the nature of space and time and it was Einstein who first formulated the mathematical equations that related both time and space in the form of an entity called space-time. Those equations and the theory itself do not prohibit the idea of time travel, although there have been many attempts since Einstein to prove that travelling back in time is impossible. Is there anything to support the theory? Lots of science fiction writers have had fun with time travel, going back to H. G. Wells, whose book The Time Machine was published in 1895 – 10 years before Einsteins general theory of relativity. Interestingly, it was another attempt at science fiction that revived the modern interest in time travel. When Carl Sagan, the American astronomer, was writing his 1986 novel Contact, he wanted a semi-plausible way of getting round the problem of not being able to travel faster than the speed of light – which would break a fundamental rule of physics. He needed his characters to travel through vast distances in space, so he asked his cosmologist friend Kip Thorne to come up with a possible way of doing it without travelling faster than light. Thorne suggested that by manipulating black holes it might be possible to create a wormhole through space-time that would allow someone to travel from one part of the Universe to another in an instant. He later realised that this could also in theory be used to travel back in time. It was just a theory of course, and no one has come close to solving the practical problem of manipulating black holes and creating wormholes, but the idea seemed to be sound. It spawned a lot of subsequent interest in wormholes and time travel, hence the latest idea by the two Russian mathematicians. Apart from the practicalities, whats to stop time travel? The biggest theoretical problem is known as the time-travel paradox. If someone travels back in time and does something to prevent their own existence, then how can time travel be possible? The classic example is the time traveller who kills his grandfather before his own father is conceived. Cosmologists, renowned for their imaginative ingenuity, have come up with a way round this paradox. They have suggested that there is not one universe but many – so many that every possible outcome of any event actually takes place. In this multiple universe, or multiverse model, a woman who goes back in time to murder her own granny can get way with it because in the universe next door the granny lives to have the daughter who becomes the murderers mother. Where does this leave the time machine in Geneva? The science writer and physicist John Gribbin, who explains these things better than most, points to a saying in physics: anything that is not forbidden is compulsory. So they expect time machines to exist. The snag is that the kind of accidental time tunnel that could be produced by the LHC in Geneva would be a tiny wormhole far smaller than an atom, so nothing would be able to go through it. So there wont be any visitors from the future turning up in Geneva just yet. Id take it all with a pinch of salt, but it certainly isnt completely crazy. So, not completely crazy, just a bit crazy. So will we one day be able to travel into the future? Yes * There is nothing in the laws of physics to prohibit it, and events in Geneva are pointing the way and could be a first step * In physics, so the saying goes, if nothing is prohibited, it must happen at some point * All we need to do is to work out how to manipulate black holes and wormholes, and away we go No * The practical problems with time travel are too immense to solve, and even if you could, who would want to? * You might travel back in time and kill one of your grandparents by accident. Then where would you be? * If time travel is possible, why are we still waiting to welcome our first visitors from the future? Source 7 Time Travelers By Stephen Wagner, About. com Guide Where and to what date would you go if you could travel through time? Its a question people have long enjoyed contemplating the possibilities are so fraught with wonder and excitement. Would you watch the pyramids of Egypt being build? Join the spectacle of a gladiatorial battle at the Roman Coliseum? Catch a glimpse of real dinosaurs? Or would you prefer to see what the future holds for humankind? Such fantasies have fueled the success of such stories as H. G. Welles The Time Machine, the Back to the Future movies, favorite episodes of Star Trek and countless science fiction novels. And although some scientists think that it might be at least theoretically possible to travel through time, no one (as far as we know) has devised a sure-fire way to make it happen. But thats not to say that people havent reported traveling through time. There are many fascinating anecdotes from those who say they seem to have quite unexpectedly visited if only briefly another time and, sometimes, another place. These events, often called time slippages, seem to occur randomly and spontaneously. Those who experience these events are often bewildered and confused by what they see and hear, and afterward are at a complete loss to explain them. Here are some interesting cases that will keep you wondering: FLIGHT INTO THE FUTURE In 1935, Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard of the British Royal Air Force had a harrowing experience in his Hawker Hart biplane. Goddard was a Wing Commander at the time and while on a flight from Edinburgh, Scotland to his home base in Andover, England, he decided to fly over an abandoned airfield at Drem, not far from Edinburgh. The useless airfield was overgrown with foliage, the hangars were falling apart and cows grazed where planes were once parked. Goddard then continued his flight to Andover, but encountered a bizarre storm. In the high winds of the storms strange brown-yellow clouds, he lost control of his plane, which began to spiral toward the ground. Narrowly averting a crash, Goddard found that his plane was heading back toward Drem. As he approached the old airfield, the storm suddenly vanished and Goddards plane was now flying in brilliant sunshine. This time, as he flew over the Drem airfield, it looked completely different. The hangars looked like new. There were four airplanes on the ground: three were familiar biplanes, but painted in an unfamiliar yellow; the fourth was a monoplane, which the RAF had none of in 1935. The mechanics were dressed in blue overalls, which Goddard thought odd since all RAF mechanics dressed in brown overalls. Strange, too, that none of the mechanics seemed to notice him fly over. Leaving the area, he again encountered the storm, but managed to make his way back to Andover. It wasnt until 1939 that that the RAF began to paint their planes yellow, enlisted a monoplane of the type that Goddard saw, and the mechanics uniforms were switched to blue. Had Goddard somehow flown four years into the future, then returned to his own time? CAUGHT IN A TEMPORAL VORTEX Dr. Raul Rios Centeno, a medical doctor and an investigator of the paranormal, recounted to author Scott Corrales a story told to him by one of his patients, a 30-year-old woman, who came to him with a serious case of hemiplegia the total paralysis of one side of her body. I was at a campground in the vicinity of Markahuasi, she told him. Markahuasi is the famous stone forest located about 35 miles east of Lima, Peru. I went out exploring late at night with some friends. Oddly enough, we heard the strains of music and noticed a small torch-lit stone cabin. I was able to see people dancing inside, but upon getting closer I felt a sudden sensation of cold which I paid little attention to, and I stuck my head through an open door. It was then that I saw the occupants were clad in 17th century fashion. I tried to enter the room, but one of my girlfriends pulled me out. It was at that moment that half of the womans body became paralyzed. Was it because the womans friend pulled her out of the stone cabin when she was half entered into it? Was half her body caught in some temporal vortex or dimensional doorway? Dr. Centeno reported that an EEG was able to show that the left hemisphere of the brain did not show signs of normal functioning, as well as an abnormal amount of electric waves. (See Dimensions Beyond Our Own for more details on this story. ) Source 8 How Time Travel Works by Kevin Bonsor and Robert Lamb Stuff You Should Know From millennium-skipping Victorians to phone booth-hopping teenagers, the term time travel often summons our most fantastic visions of what it means to move through the fourth dimension. But of course you dont need a time machine or a fancy wormhole to jaunt through the years. As youve probably noticed, were all constantly engaged in the act of time travel. At its most basic level, time is the rate of change in the universe and like it or not, we are constantly undergoing change. We age, the planets move around the sun, and things fall apart. We measure the passage of time in seconds, minutes, hours and years, but this doesnt mean time flows at a constant rate. Just as the water in a river rushes or slows depending on the size of the channel, time flows at different rates in different places. In other words, time is relative. But what causes this fluctuation along our one-way trek from the cradle to the grave? It all comes down to the relationship between time and space. Human beings frolic about in the three spatial dimensions of length, width and depth. Time joins the party as that most crucial fourth dimension. Time cant exist without space, and space cant exist without time. The two exist as one: the space-time continuum. Any event that occurs in the universe has to involve both space and time. In this article, well look at the real-life, everyday methods of time travel in our universe, as well as some of the more far-fetched methods of dancing through the fourth dimension. Source 9 Is Time Travel Possible? Analysis by Robert Lamb Thu Apr 22, 2010 06:14 PM ET Its not glamorous, but its time travel. (Michael Dunning/Photographers Choice/Getty Images) From summer blockbusters to sensational science headlines, modern culture is constantly inundated with tales of time travel. But when you boil down the physics involved, is it possible to travel through time? To answer this question, I tracked down theoretical physicist and cosmologist Paul Davies, author of How to Build a Time Machine. SLIDE SHOW: What are the favored time travel methods as used in science fiction? We are all time travelers The short answer is that time travel into the future is not only possible, its been done, and weve known about it for over a century, says Davies. The reason that the public doesn’t seem to know about it is because the amount of time travel involved is so pitifully small that it doesnt make for a Doctor Who style adventure. A phenomenon called time dilation is the key here. Time passes more slowly the closer you approach the speed of light an unbreakable cosmic speed limit. As such, the hands of a clock in a speeding train would move more slowly than those in a stationary clock. The difference would not be humanly noticeable, but when the train pulled back into the station, the two clocks would be off by billionths of a second. If such a train could attain 99. 999 percent light speed, only 1 year would pass onboard for every 223 years back at the train station. But speed isnt the only factor that affects time. On a much smaller scale, mass also influences time. Time slows down the closer you are to the center of a massive object. Time runs a little bit faster in space than it does down on Earth, Davies says. It runs a little faster on the roof than it does in the basement, and thats a measurable effect. A clock aboard an orbiting satellite experiences time dilation due to both the speed of its orbit and its greater distance from the center of Earths gravity. Both gravity and speed can give you a means of jumping ahead, Davies says. So in principle, if you had enough money, you could get to the year 3000 in as short a time as you like one year, one month, whatever it takes. It is only a question of money and engineering. Forward, not back? Time travel into the future is an established and fundamental aspect of Albert Einsteins theory of relativity. Scientists have tested and retested this in both experimental and practical settings. But what about time travel in the opposite direction? Going back in to the past is a whole different kettle of fish. Davies says. Theres nothing in Einsteins theory, which is the best theory that we have about the nature of time, which precludes it. Theres nothing in even his general theory of relativity, published in 1915, which precludes travel back into the past, but many scientists are deeply uneasy about it because of all the well-known paradoxes that it unleashes. For instance, imagine going back in time and killing your own mother. Then shed never give birth to you, and just how would you have been able to travel back in time to commit matricide in the first place? Wormholes as spacetime shortcuts Davies surmises that, given our current understanding of the nature of time and physics, time travel into the past simply isnt possible. But the universe is full of mysteries, and one of them the hypothetical wormhole might just permit such a journey. This is a little bit like a tunnel or shortcut between two distant points, Davies says, So for example, if I had a wormhole here in my hotel room and I jumped through it I wouldnt come out on Pennsylvania Avenue, Id maybe come out near the other side of the galaxy. Source 10 Scientists have theorized that such a shortcut through time and space could be turned into a time machine. If a worm hole could exist and could be traversable, then it would provide a means of going back in time, Davies says. So it all hinges on whether stable wormholes are a reality or if theres some aspect of physics not relativity, because theres nothing wrong from that point of view but some other aspect of physics might intercede and prevent the wormhole from forming. Thats an open question. World-famous theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has proposed that wormholes occurring at a quantum level could theoretically provide a foothold for time travel, but University of California at Santa Barbara physicist Andrew Cleland urges caution on that front. Im an experimentalist, and physics is ultimately an experimental science, Cleland says. Any predictions that are made based on mathematics or on philosophical or intellectual speculation have to pass the test of experiment, and I am certainly not aware of any experiment that demonstrated the possibility of traveling backward in time. Cause and effect Cleland also points out that the fundamental principle of causality stands in the way of travel into the past. The entire universe, as we understand it, is beholden to this rule. Something occurs first and the outcome of that occurrence happens afterward, Cleland says, and there has never to my knowledge been an experiment that came out different from that. I am not aware of any experimental tests of quantum mechanics that have shown any violation of causality, in spite of the fact that many experiments could reveal such a violation. Still, in the same way that time dilation isnt flashy enough to seem like time travel into the future, the public often overlooks a very common means of traveling into the past. In a sense, astronomers are always traveling backward in time, but it is in a way that most people are not so excited about, Cleland says. When we measure the cosmic microwave background, were looking back more than 10 billion years in time. Thats how long it took for the light to reach us. A number of questions about time travel remain unanswered. Will time tourists from the future ever show up to help us out? Well just have to wait and see. But if they come here using a wormhole time machine, well have to build one first. After all, you couldnt cross a bridge if only one side had been completed, right? Theoretically, it would take more than 100 years to create a 100-years time difference between the two ends of a wormhole, Davies says, so theres no way that our descendants could come back and tell us were wrong about this.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Marijuana as a Social Problem Essay Example for Free

Marijuana as a Social Problem Essay Introduction Marijuana is a green, brown, or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant. You may hear marijuana called by street names such as pot, herb, weed, grass, boom, Mary Jane, gangster, or chronic. There are more than 200 slang terms for marijuana. All forms of marijuana are mind-altering. In other words, they change how the brain works. They all contain THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the main active chemical in marijuana. They also contain more than 400 other chemicals. Marijuanas effects on the user depend on the strength or potency of the THC it contains. The potency of marijuana has increased since the 1970s but has been about the same since the mid-1980s. Marijuana inherits its name from Mexico, although it has a past steeped with global tradition. Long before its U.S. debut, marijuana was widely used, and popular among, some of the world’s earliest civilizations. History documents show that the fiber-rich cannabis plant was used to produce rope and woven fabrics around 7000 B.C. in Central and South Asia. Additionally, it was referenced in Chinese manuscripts dating back to 2700 B.C. and ancient Indian scriptures have attributed medicinal properties to it. After being used by half of the world for nearly 8,000 years, marijuana traditionally reached North America with Christopher Columbus in 1492 A.D. Initially, cannabis was only used to make industrial goods; its recreational use in America didn’t become popular until the early 20th century. It wasn’t until then that the misunderstandings about cannabis truly began to popup. The recreational use of marijuana soon became considered as harmful as cocaine or heroin. However, it has never led to a single case of human death from overdose in its entire history. This is a sharp contrast to the heavy mortality rate of its supposed counterparts. Nonetheless, the use and cultivation of the cannabis plant was made illegal at the hands of many capable antidrug advocates. Domestic production of the marijuana plant was encouraged in various parts of America during the 17th century. The cannabis sativa plant, whose dried flower extracts can form potent recreational marijuana, was in great demand because of its long fibers which could be used for the production of clothing, ropes, and sails. In fact, The Assembly of Jamestown Colony, Virginia, passed legislation in 1619 making it compulsory for every farmer to grow the Indian hempseed – ironically America’s first marijuana law. Other colonial states like Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania allowed hemp to be exchanged as legal tender and could even be used to pay taxes. The plant was an essential requirement during war times and farmers would be jailed if they were not able to produce enough hemp. Men who Americans hold in great reverence grew and encouraged the growth of hemp. George Washington grew hemp as his primary crop in the late 18th century for fiber production at Mount Vernon. Thomas Jefferson grew the plant as a secondary crop at Monticello and urged farmers to grow hemp in place of tobacco due to its many useful qualities. Even Benjamin Franklin used cannabis as the raw material to start one of America’s pioneering paper mills. By the mid-19th century, marijuana’s medicinal properties were recognized in North America and it was used as a popular ingredient in many medicinal products. The United States Pharmacopeia had marijuana on its list of pharmaceuticals from 1850 until 1942, and many companies like Brothers Smith, Eli Lilly, Parke-Davis, and Tildens produced a cannabis extract, which Sir William Osler, â€Å"the father of modern medicine,† pronounced as the best treatment for migraines. Marijuana was prescribed for various pain-relieving and mood-altering conditions such as nausea, labor pains, and rheumatism. A score of medical papers were published in this era flaunting the curing abilities of cannabis, and even the personal physician of Queen Victoria, Sir John Russell Reynolds, announced cannabis as having amazing powers to treat painful maladies. It was sold openly and was easily available in public pharmacies. However, during this time, marijuana was also starting to be used more often as an intoxicant. The recreational use of marijuana started on a small scale in the late 19th century in the northeastern United States with the opening of many Turkish smoking parlors. It was also during this time that about two to five percent of America’s population had unknowingly become addicted to morphine as most over-the-counter medicines contained levels of the substance. Among the addicts were soldiers, businessmen, housewives, and children. In response, the American government passed the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906 and formed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in part to help counter and control the addiction situation. The law, though not targeting marijuana specifically, also required cannabis -based medications to have its contents mentioned on the label. TThe Spanish-American War, and the subsequent Mexican revolution of 1910, also influenced the marijuana scene in America. During the post-revolution years there was a great influx of Mexican-Americans who mostly found work on large farms in American fields. These immigrants cultivated marijuana, which they brought with them from Mexico, and indulged in its smoking for recreational purposes. Strong prejudice against the immigrants caused many to view the plant as an addictive and violence-inducing drug that created criminals, murderers, and delinquents. Not until the 1930’s, when the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and its director, Harry J. Anslinger, began drafting a bill to tax marijuana did an all out smear campaign begin, which eventually led to its national ban. State regulation of cannabis started in Massachusetts in 1911 and in New York and Maine by 1914. California passed the first state marijuana prohibition law in 1913, outlawing the preparations of hemp or â€Å"locoweed,† which was more a prejudiced controlling measure over the Mexican immigrant population than a controlling measure over the marijuana itself. More states came up with laws that banned marijuana, including Wyoming in 1915, Texas in 1919, and Nebraska in 1927. The states of Iowa, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Arkansas took this step in 1923. Marijuana was prohibited by 29 states by 1931 due largely to the poor socio-economic conditions during The Great Depression. With unemployment at its peak, many American’s found they competing against Mexican immigrants for jobs in the fields. Consequently, Mexican workers and their associated drug marijuana became easy targets for attack. By this time, marijuana’s misleading reputation began to overshadow its historic medicinal and industrial applications.

Factors of Single Parent Families

Factors of Single Parent Families Single-parent families  can be defined as families where a parent lives with dependent children, either alone or in a larger household, without a spouse or partner. Single-parent is a parent who cares for one or more children without physical assistance of another parent in home. Single parenthood may vary according to the local laws of different nations or regions. Single-parent families which are families with children under age 18 headed by a parent who is divorced, widowed, adoption, artificial insemination, surrogate motherhood or not married. But mostly single-parent families came about because of the death of spouse. Besides that, most of the single-parent families face common problem and special challenge, the most common problem is their children. Children who live with single father or mother, they have to take care themselves and get less care from parent because of busy working. According to social scientists, children who growing up in single-parent families are disadv antages in other ways when compared to a two-biological-parent families. Many of these problems are directly related to the poor economic condition of single-parent families, not just to parenting style. Factors of Single-Parent Families The effect on children In single-parent families, children tend to experience short-and long-term economic and psychological disadvantages, higher absentee rates at school, lower levels of education, and higher dropout rates (with boys more negatively affected than girls). Besides that, they will more delinquent activity, including alcohol and drug addiction. Teenagers, on the other hand, are more negatively affected by parental discord prior to divorce than by living in single-parent families and actually gain in responsibility as a result of altered family routines. In addition, children in single-parent families more likely to suffer emotional problem, due to mother and father split up or any other reason. Children in single-mother homes are also more likely to experience health-related problems as a result of the decline in their living standard, including the lack of health insurance. In future, children who from single-parent families become adults, they are more likely to marry early, have children early, and divorce. Girls are at greater risk of becoming single mothers as a result of noncapital childbearing or divorce. Economics of single-parent families The main problem of single-parent families is economic, in single-father families, there will be no any problem, because father have particular job, have no worry. But in single-mother families, there might have problem, for example, when single-mother divorced or widowed, she have no any job or any income to maintain the families. Single-mother has to face economic problem, such as lack of money paid for children studies. Lower level of educational achievement Children or teenagers who live under single-parent families will face lower level of education problem, this is because the families facing finance problem, having poor economic condition, so the parent have no enough money send the children to tuition, or any learning centre to have extra learning, children just only go to the government school study. Besides that, parent who have finance problem, he or she dont have enough money to buy the reference books for their child, they just study the text book, cant get extra learning material or knowledge. Children / Teenagers having conflict with their parent Children or teenagers who lives in single-parent families will have conflict with the parent, this is because the parent are busy working outside and spend less time with their children, or even cant have a good communicate with them, lack communication between parent and their children, then the conflict occur. Parent who busy working outside, they cant spend more time on them, thats why the parent dont even know what their child need or wants. Besides that, children or teenagers with argue with their parent because the parent cant understand them, cant have a good communicate with them. Less supervised by parent In a single-parent families, single father or mother are busy working at outside, they dont have much more time supervised their children. This will cause the children turn to bad side, because the parent cant spend time on supervise them. When parent busy working not at home, or parent dont have much time with the children, so when the children will feel alone or boring, they will hanging out with friends, truancy with friends, smoking with friends, or taking drugs. In this situation, the parent doesnt know at all, they dont know what their children doing outside, making good or bad friends. No discipline Children who lives in single-parent families, most of them dont have discipline, this is because single father or mother didnt spend time on family education, they just busy with their job. Family education is important for children, for example, children who dont have discipline, he or she is just a rude boy or girl, they dont know what is respect and how to respect other people. Besides that, when the children study in school without discipline, he or she dont know how to respect the teacher and not following the instruction, for example, when teacher teaching the lesson, he or she playing with other friends and disturbing other students, he or she will be punish by the teacher or headmaster due to dont have any discipline. Divorce parent/single parent finds new partner who treats the children of the previous partner badly When a divorce parent or single parent live single for few years, he or she might find a new partner for accompany his or her. But here is the problem, if the parent find the new partner is bad, the new partner will treats the children of the precious partner badly. For example, if the new partner of the parent doesnt like the children, he or she will keep making trouble on them, such as beating them, threaten the children, and any other worst things on them.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Pagan and Christian Influences in Beowulf Essay examples -- Epic Poems,

The author of the epic poem Beowulf is unknown, and similarly to the Illiad by Plato its origins remain a mystery. Throughout the poem there are many clues that Beowulf has become a tradition and was passed down orally for centuries, and finally have been translated from the â€Å"old English† that it possibly could have been originally recited as, to the English we know today. In the poem Beowulf a bard recites poetry orally, or in a song, usually telling stories about historical triumphs and adventures. These poets were referred to in this epic poem as "carriers of tales..., traditional singer[s] deeply schooled in the lore[s] of the past" (Beowulf 50). This was common in Germanic culture. Scops would keep folkloric heroes alive in the "oral" tradition. They passed down stories orally from one generation to the next. "The Beowulf poet himself imagines such oral performances by having King Hrothgar's court poet recite a heroic lay at a feast celebrating Beowulf's defeat of Grendel" (Beowulf 29). "[A] thane of the king's household...linked a new theme to a strict meter. The man started to recite with skill, rehearsing Beowulf's triumphs and feats in well-fashioned lines, entwining his words" (Beowulf 50). This poet of Hrothgar's goes on to tell of Sigemund and of Waels' son. This section of the oral poetry is actually in the text, giving an example of the Germanic "oral" tradition. In the same celebration at the mead hall the author illustrates again the "oral" tradition. This time the king's poet performs "with the saga of Finn and his sons, unfolding the tale of the fierce attack in Friesland where Hnaef, king of the Danes, met death" (Beowulf 54). These eighty-nine lines tell a detailed historical story, which is also engrossed i... ... fiend. Whichever one death fells must deem it a just judgment by God" (Beowulf 41). Here Beowulf gives the outcome to God. As mentioned earlier, Grendel met his fate the night Beowulf was waiting for him. This clearly is contradicting since both dogmas are used to describe the same occurrence. In the fight against Grendel's mother "Almighty God would ... turn the tide of his misfortunes" (Beowulf 61). He also says that God decided the victory in the same fight. "It was easy for the Lord, the Ruler of Heaven, to redress the balance once Beowulf got back up on his feet" (Beowulf 66). Beowulf also claims in this fight that God helped him. After the fight with the dragon the poet says "[w]hat God judged right would rule what happened to every man, as it does to this day" (Beowulf 93). How could there be so many discrepancies in this poem if only one poet wrote it?

Monday, August 19, 2019

EMAIL ETIQUETTE Essay -- essays research papers fc

Email etiquette refers to a set of dos and don’ts that are recommended by business and communication experts in response to the growing concern that people are not using their email effectively or appropriately. Since email is part of the virtual world of communication, many people communicate in their email messages the same way they do in virtual chat rooms: with much less formality and sometimes too aggressively. Email etiquette offers some guidelines that all writers can use to facilitate better communication between themselves and their readers. One overall point to remember is that an email message does not have non-verbal expression to supplement what we are "saying." Most of the time we make judgments about a person’s motives and intentions based on their tone of voice, gestures, and their proximity to us. When those are absent it becomes more difficult to figure out what the message sender means. It is much easier to offend or hurt someone in email a nd that is why it is important to be as clear and concise as possible. Electronic mail (E-mail) cannot replace personal contact. David Angell states that electronic email has many advantages, â€Å"†¦eliminates phone tag, †¦breaks down the distance and time barriers of telephone calls and traditional written communication, †¦shortens the cycle of written communication, †¦improves productivity, †¦creates flexibility†¦by reducing telephone interruptions.† (Angell-Heslop 2). There is a tendency to be less formal or careful, which can sometimes provoke anger. Remember that direct, person-to-person contact is best for handling sensitive, difficult, complex, or emotional issues. Therefore, a company needs to implement etiquette rules for the following three reasons: professionalism, by using proper email language your company will convey a professional image, efficiency, emails that get to the point are much more effective than poorly worded emails, and protection from liability: employee awareness of email risks will protect your company from costly law suits. There are many etiquette guides and many different etiquette rules. Some rules will differ according to the nature of your business and the corporate culture. A few of these rules are to be concise and to the point, answer all questions, pre-empt further questions, use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation, answer swiftly, do not attach unnecessar... ...ensitive. If you don't understand a particular item, ask the sender for clarification before replying to an incorrect conclusion. In a reply, include the relevant parts of the original message for clarity, but keep the quotations to a minimum. Otherwise, simply attach the original message. Cite your information clearly and correctly, even if you are paraphrasing. When ending an email always use a signature because it identifies who you are and includes means of contacting you, but keep it short. Remember that electronic email is about communication with other people. When you compose an e-mail message, read it over before sending it and ask yourself what your reaction would be if you received it. Anytime spent on making out email clearer is time well spent. Works Cited Angell, David, and Brent Heslop. The Elements of E-Mail Style: Communication Effectively Via Electronic Mail. Canada: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1994. Harris, David. â€Å"Electronic Mail Etiquette.† School of Computing. 1997. Queens University 14 July 2003 . Miller, Samantha. E-Mail Etiquette: Do’s and Don’ts and Disaster Tales from People Magazine’s Internet Manners Expert. New York: Warner Books, Inc., 2001.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Essay -- To Kill a Mockingbird Essa

Harper Lee has incorporated the representation of her most meaningful statement in the title of her novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. The many points of discussion which surface in Lee's book would certainly have partially submerged the parallel she created between Tom Robinson and the mockingbird. In any classic novel such as To Kill A Mockingbird, the myriad differences in thinking between readers allow for many different interpretations. The author of such a work, however, must constantly make decisions concerning the best ways to fulfill his or her purpose in writing; Harper Lee decided that the symbol of the mockingbird was not displayed prominently enough, and so made it the crux of her novel rather than one of its neglectable elements. With its seemingly unsuited title, Lee's book keeps readers waiting for the moment when a mockingbird pops up--and shows what the author truly wanted her audiences to find. When Jem and Scout Finch receive their first, longed-for air rifles, their instinctive desire to shoot birds is taken for granted. Their father refuses to teach them to shoot, but warns them that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird--the only time his children heard him call something a sin, reflecting how strongly he, and Lee, feel about this. After this order that they avoid their natural inclination towards shooting the colorless, brown mockingbird, Atticus tells his children that they may shoot as many blue jays as they like. These orders were certainly in opposition to...

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Night World : The Chosen Chapter 15

The sound of her own voice sent Rashel spinning out of the light. It was as if she were emerging from deep water- from one world into another. Or as if she were re-entering her own body. For a moment everything was confusion, and Rashel wasn't sure of where she was or how she was positioned†¦ and then she felt her arms and legs and saw yellow light. Lamplight. She was in an upstairs room in a mansion on a private island, and Quinn was holding her. They had somehow ended up on the floor, half kneeling, half supported by the wall, their arms around each other, Rashel's head on his shoulder. She had no idea when he'd stopped biting her. She also had no idea how much time had passed. She coughed a little, shaken by what had just happened. That other place, with the light-it still seemed more real than the hard shiny boards of the floor underneath her and the white walls of the room. But it also seemed encased in its own reality. Like a dream. She didn't know if they would ever be able to get back there again. â€Å"Quinn?† He was Quinn again. Not John. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Do you know what happened? I mean, do you understand it?† â€Å"I think,† he said, and his voice was gentle and precise, â€Å"that sharing blood can strengthen a telepathic bond. I've always been able to block it out when I fed before, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He didn't finish. â€Å"But it happened that other time. Or something like it happened. When I first met you.† â€Å"Yes. Well. Well, I think it's†¦ there's something called†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He gave up and resorted to nonverbal communication. There's something called the soulmate principle. I've never believed in it. I've laughed at people who talked about it. I would have bet my life that- â€Å"What is it, Quinn?† Rashel had heard of it, too, especially recently. But it wasn't something from her world, and she wanted a Night Person to explain. It's the idea that everyone has one and just one soul-mate in the world, and that if you find them, you recognize them immediately. And†¦ well, that's that. â€Å"But it's not supposed to happen between humans and Night People. Right?† There are some people who think that it is happening-now-for some reason-especially between humans and Night People. The Redferns seem to be getting it in particular. There was a pause, then Quinn said aloud, â€Å"I should probably apologize to some of them, actually.† He sounded bemused. Rashel sat up, which was difficult. She didn't want to let go of Quinn. He kept hold of her fingers, which helped a little. He looked more mussed than he had down near the wharf, his neat hair disordered, his eyes large and dark and dazed. She met his gaze directly. â€Å"You think we're soulmates?† â€Å"Well.† He blinked. â€Å"Do you have a better explanation?† â€Å"No.† She took a breath. â€Å"Do you still want to make me a vampire?† He stared at her, and something flamed and then fell in pain in his eyes. For an instant he looked as if she'd hit him-then all she could see was regret. â€Å"Oh, Rashel† In one motion he caught her and held her. His face was pressed to her hair. She could feel him breathing like some stricken creature-and then she felt him regain control, grabbing discipline from somewhere, wrapping himself in it. He rested his chin on her head. â€Å"I'm sorry you have to ask that, but I understand. I don't want to make you a vampire. I want-â€Å" I want you to be what you were two minutes ago. That happy, that idealistic†¦. He sounded as if it were something that had been lost forever. But Rashel felt a new happiness, and a new confidence. He had changed. She could sense how much he had changed already. They were in the real world, and he wasn't raving about needing to kill her, or her needing to kill him. â€Å"I just wanted to be sure,† she said. She tightened her own arms around him. â€Å"I don't know what's going to happen-but as long as we're right together, I think I can face it.† I think we live or die together from now on, Quinn said simply. Yes, Rashel thought. She could still feel lingering sadness in Quinn, and confusion in herself, but they were right together. She didn't need to doubt him anymore. They trusted each other. â€Å"We have to do something about the people downstairs,† she said. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"But we can't kill them.† â€Å"No. There's been enough killing. It has to stop.† Quinn sounded like a swimmer who'd been tumbling in a riptide, and whose feet had finally found solid ground. Rashel sat up to look at him. â€Å"But we can't just let them walk out of here. What if they try it again? I mean, whoever set this bloodfeast up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She suddenly realized that she had asked everybody else, but not him. â€Å"Quinn, who did set this up?† He smiled, a faint echo of his old savage smile. Now it was grim and self-mocking. â€Å"I don't know.† â€Å"You don't know?† â€Å"Some vampire who wanted to get the made vampires together. But I've never met him. Lily was the go-between, but I'm not sure she knows either. She only spoke to him on the phone. Neither of us asked a lot of questions. We were doing it for the money.† He said it flatly, not sparing himself. And to be rebellious, Rashel thought. To be as bad and as damned as possible, because you figured you might as well. She said, â€Å"Whoever it is might just go somewhere else and find somebody else to get his slaves for him. Those seven guys could be having a new bloodfeast next month.† â€Å"That has to be stopped, too,† Quinn said. â€Å"How to stop it without violence, that's the question.† His fingers were still tight on Rashel's, but he was staring into the distance, lost in grim and competent thought. It was a new side of Quinn. Rashel had seen him in almost every mood from despairing to manic, but she had never worked with him before. Now she realized that he was going to make a strong and resourceful ally. Suddenly Quinn seemed to focus. â€Å"I've got it,† he said. He smiled suddenly, mocking but without the bitterness. â€Å"When violence won't work, there's no other choice but to try persuasion.† â€Å"That's not funny.† â€Å"It's not meant to be.† â€Å"You're going to say, ‘Please don't kill any more young girls'?† â€Å"I'm going to say, ‘Please don't kill any more young girls or I'll report you to the Joint Council.' Listen, Rashel.† He took her by the arms, his eyes flashing with excitement. â€Å"I have some authority in the Night World-I'm the Redfern heir. And Hunter Redfern has more. Between us, we can make all kinds of trouble for these made vampires.† â€Å"But Fayth-a friend of mine-said they were all so powerful.† In the intensity of the moment, Rashel almost missed the fact that she'd just called Fayth her friend. Quinn was shaking his head. â€Å"No, you have to understand. These aren't rogues, they're Night World citizens. And what they're doing is completely illegal. You can't just kill a bunch of girls from one area without permission. Slavery's illegal, bloodfeasts are illegal. And no matter how powerful they are, they can't stand up against the Night World Council.† â€Å"But-â€Å" â€Å"We threaten them with exposure to the Council. With exposure to Hunter Redfern-and to the lamia. The lamia will go crazy at the thought of made vampires getting together in some kind of alliance. They'll take it as a threat of civil war.† It might work, Rashel was thinking. The made vampires were just individuals-they'd be up against whole lamia families. Especially against the Redfern family, the oldest and most respected clan of vampires. â€Å"Everybody's scared of Hunter Redfern,† she said slowly. â€Å"He's got tremendous influence. He practically owns the Council. He could run them out of the Night World if he wanted. I think they'll listen.† â€Å"You really do think of him as a father, don't you?† Rashel said, her voice soft. She searched Quinn's eyes. â€Å"Whatever you say about hating him-you respect him.† â€Å"He's not as bad as most. He has†¦ honor, I guess. Usually.† And he's a New Englander, Rashel thought. That means he's against vice. She considered another moment, then she nodded. Her heart was beating fast, but she could feel a smile breaking on her face. â€Å"Let's try persuasion.† They stood-and then they paused a moment, looking at each other. We're strong, Rashel thought. We've got unity. If anyone can do this, we can. She picked up her knife almost absent-mindedly. It was a piece of art, a valued possession, and she didn't want to lose it. They walked down the stairs side by side. Music was still blasting from the gathering room at the end of the hall. It hadn't been that long, Rashel realized. The whole world had changed since she'd been in this hallway-but somehow it had all happened in minutes. Now, Quinn said silently before they went in. There shouldn't be any danger-/ don't think they'll be stupid enough to attack me-but be alert anyway. Rashel nodded. She felt cool and businesslike, and she thought she was perfectly rational. It was only later that she realized they had walked into the room like little lambs into the tiger's lair, still dizzy and reeling from the discovery of love. Quinn went in first and she could hear voices stop as he did. Then she was walking through the door, into that ruddy flickering room with shadows dancing on the walls. And there they were again, those handsome young guys who looked like a TV-series ensemble. They were looking at Quinn with various expressions of interest and surprise. When they saw her, the expressions sharpened to pleasure and inquiry. â€Å"Hey, Quinn!† â€Å"Hi there, Quinn.† â€Å"So you've arrived at last. You've kept us waiting long enough.† That from the dark one who was looking at his watch. Quinn said, â€Å"Turn off the music.† Someone went to a built-in mahogany cabinet and turned off an expensive stereo. Quinn was looking around the room, as if to appraise each of them. â€Å"Campbell,† he said, nodding slightly. â€Å"Radhu. Azarius. Max.† â€Å"So you're the one who brought us here,† Campbell said. He had rusty hair and a sleepy smile. â€Å"We've all been dying to find out.† â€Å"Who's that?† someone else added, peering at Rashel. â€Å"The first course?† Quinn smiled fractionally, with a look that made the guy who'd asked step backward. â€Å"No, she's not the first course,† he said softly. â€Å"In fact, unfortunately, all the courses have disappeared.† There was a silence. Everyone stared at him. Then the guy with the silver-blond hair said, â€Å"What?† â€Å"They've all-just-disappeared.† Quinn made an expressive gesture. â€Å"Escaped. Vanished.† Another silence. Rashel didn't like this one. She was beginning to get an odd impression from the group, as if she were in a room, not with people, but with animals that had been kept past their feeding time. â€Å"What the hell are you talking about?† the dark one, the one Quinn had called Azarius, said tightly. â€Å"What kind of joke is this?† Campbell added. â€Å"It's not a joke. The girls who were brought for the bloodfeast are gone,† Quinn said slowly and distinctly, just in case anybody hadn't gotten it yet. Then he said, â€Å"And as a matter of fact, it's a good thing.† â€Å"A good thing? Quinn, we're starving.† â€Å"They can't have gone too far,† the silver blond said. â€Å"After all, it's an island. Let's go and-† â€Å"Nobody's going anywhere,† Quinn said. Rashel moved closer to him. She was still nervous. These guys were on the edge of getting out of control. But she trusted Quinn, and she could tell they were afraid of him. And, she told herself, they'll be even more afraid in a minute. â€Å"Look, Quinn, if you brought us here to-† â€Å"I didn't bring you here. In fact, I don't know who brought you here, but it doesn't matter. I've got the same thing to say to all of you. There isn't going to be any bloodfeast, now or ever. And anybody who objects to that can take their problem to the Council.† That shut everyone up. They simply stared at Quinn. It was clearly the last thing they expected. â€Å"In fact, if you don't want the Council to hear about this, I'd advise everybody to go home quietly and pretend it never happened. And to have a headache the next time anybody asks you to a bloodfeast.† This silence was broken by somebody muttering, â€Å"You dirty†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Meanwhile, Rashel's mind had begun to tick. Just how were these guys going to go home quietly? There weren't any boats. Unless the host brought one when he came-if he came. And where was he, anyway? And where was Lily? â€Å"Quinn,† she said softly. But somebody else was speaking. â€Å"You'd tell the Council?† a lean tough-looking guy with brown hair asked. â€Å"No, I'd let Hunter Redfern tell the Council,† Quinn said. â€Å"And I don't really think you want that. He might put it in a bad light. Raise your hands everybody who thinks Hunter Redfern would approve of this little party.† â€Å"Do I get a vote?† The voice came from the doorway. It was deeper than the voices of the young guys in the room. Rashel recognized the sound of danger instinctively and turned. And later it seemed to her that even before she turned, she knew what she would see. A tall man standing easily, with a girl and a child behind him in the shadows. He was colored by the flickering ruby light of the fire, but Rashel could still see that his hair was red as blood. And his eyes were golden. Golden like hawk's eyes, like amber. Like Lily Redfern's eyes. Why hadn't she realized that before? The face was a face she would never forget. It came to her every night in her dreams. It was the man who'd killed her mother. The man who'd chased her through the climbing structure, promising her ice cream. All at once, Rashel was five years old again, weak and helpless and terrified. â€Å"Hello, Quinn,† Hunter Redfern said. Quinn was absolutely still beside Rashel. She had the feeling that he couldn't even think. And she understood why. She'd seen into his mind; she knew what Hunter represented to him. Stern necessity, even ruthlessness, but honor, too. And he was just now finding out that that was all a lie. â€Å"Don't look so upset,† Hunter said. He stepped forward with an amiable smile. His golden eyes were fixed on Quinn; he hadn't even glanced at Rashel yet. â€Å"There's a reason for all this.† He gestured to the vampires in the room, and his voice was gentle, rational. â€Å"We need allies in the Council; the lamia are getting too lax. Once I've explained it all to you, you'll understand.† The way he'd made Quinn understand that Quinn had to be a vampire, Rashel thought. The way he'd made Quinn understand that humans were the enemy. She was shaking all over, but there was a white-hot fire inside her that burned through the fear. â€Å"Was there a reason for killing my mother?† she said. The golden eyes turned toward her. Hunter looked mildly startled. Beside her, Quinn's head jerked around. â€Å"I was only five, but I remember it all,† Rashel said. She took a step closer to Hunter. â€Å"You killed her just like that-snapped her neck. Was there a reason for killing Timmy? He was four years old and you drank his blood. Was there a reason for killing my great-aunt? You set a fire to get me, but it got her.† She stopped, staring into those predatory golden eyes. She'd searched for this man for twelve years, and now he didn't seem to recognize her. â€Å"What's wrong, did you hunt too many little kids to keep track of?† she said. â€Å"Or are you so crazy you believe your own public image?† Quinn whispered, â€Å"Rashel†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She turned. â€Å"I'm sure. He was the one.† In that instant, she saw Quinn's face harden implacably against the man who'd made him a Red-fern. His eyes went dark as black holes-no light escaped. Rashel suddenly had the feeling of glacial cold. Look into eyes like that and what you saw alone might kill you, she thought. But she had her own fire inside her, her own vengeance. The knife was in her waistband. If she could just get close enough†¦. She moved toward Hunter Redfern again. â€Å"You destroyed my life. And you don't even remember, do you?† â€Å"I remember,† the little shadow beside him said. And then the world flipped and Rashel felt the floor slipping away from her. The child behind Hunter was walking into the light-and suddenly she could smell plastic and old socks, and she could feel vinyl under her hands. Memories were flooding up so quickly that she was drowning in them. All she could say was â€Å"Oh, Timmy. Oh, God, Timmy.† He was standing there, just as she'd seen him last, twelve years ago. Shiny dark hair and wide tilted blue eyes. Except that the eyes weren't exactly a child's eyes. They were some strange and terrible combination of child and adult. There was too much knowledge in them. â€Å"You left me,† Timmy said. â€Å"You didn't care about me.† Rashel sank her teeth into her lip, but tears spilled anyway. â€Å"I'm sorry†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Nobody cared about me,† Timmy said. He reached up to take Hunter's sleeve. â€Å"No humans, anyway. Humans are vermin.† He smiled his old sweet smile. Hunter looked down at Timmy, then up at Quinn. â€Å"It's amazing how quickly they learn. You haven't met Timmy, have you? He's been living in Vegas, but I think he can be useful here.† He turned to Rashel and his eyes were pure evil. â€Å"Of course I remember you. It's just that you've changed a little; you've gotten older. You're different from us, you see.† â€Å"You're weak,† Lily put in. She had stepped forward, too, to stand beside her father. Now she linked her arm in his. â€Å"You're short-lived. You're not very bright, and not very important. In a word, you're†¦ dinner.† Hunter smiled. â€Å"Well put.† Then he dropped the smile and said to Quinn, â€Å"Step away from her, son.† Quinn moved slightly, closer to Rashel. â€Å"This is my soulmate,† he said, in his softest and most disturbing voice. â€Å"And we're leaving together.† Hunter Redfern stared at him for several long moments. Something like disbelief flickered in his eyes. Then he recovered and said quietly, â€Å"What a shame.† Behind Rashel there were noises of stirring. It was as if a hot wind from the savanna had blown in, and the lions had caught its scent. â€Å"You know, I was already worried about you, Quinn,† Hunter said. â€Å"Last summer you let Ash and his sisters get away with running out on the enclave. Don't think I didn't notice that. You're getting lax, getting soft. There's too much of that going around lately.† Stand back to back, Quinn told Rashel. She was already moving into position. The vampires were forming a ring, encircling them. She could see smiles on every face. â€Å"And Lily says you've been strange these last few days-moody. She said you seemed preoccupied with a human girl.† Rashel drew her knife. The vampires were watching her with the fixed attention of big felines watching their prey. Absolute focus. â€Å"But the soulmate idea-that's really the last straw. It's like a disease infecting our people. You understand why I have to stamp it out.† Hunter paused. â€Å"For old time's sake, let's finish this quickly.† A voice that wasn't Quinn's added in Rashel's mind, / told you I'd see you later. Rashel stood on the balls of her feet, letting Hunter's words slide off her and drip away. She couldn't think about him right now. She had to concentrate on awareness, open her energy, and free her mind. This was going to be the biggest fight of her fife, and she needed zanshin. But even as she found it, a small voice inside her was whispering the truth. There were simply too many vampires. She and Quinn couldn't hold them all off at once.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Building Construction for the Fire Service

In the aspect of social community safety and welfare, incidence of fire disaster is indeed viewed to be very critical and damaging for the people. Primarily, this disaster posts danger to the people as it present injuries and even death to afflicted individuals and also, fire disaster posts certain damages to valuable life properties and social construction.Indeed, fire disasters are dangerous and very disadvantageous thus, the people must exert efforts and resource to prevent this problem from occurring and causing problems for the people. There are actually many new ways and technological advancement that have created to address the need of the society towards safety and security against the fire disaster. One of which is the development of the water sprinkler system in the social construction such as houses, buildings and other private and public construction.The system of water sprinkler is indeed an efficient and effective innovation for public safety as countless fire disasters have already been prevented by this creation. Consider primarily the beneficial that this system offers to the society. First, the water sprinkler system is automatic through its sensors thus, fire incidences can be premature prevented before it even destroy valuable property or inflict danger to the people.Second, modern innovations have developed this system to be more efficient thus, the aspect of water problem can be minimized. Indeed, the water sprinkler system installation is an effective means to prevent the dangers of fire disaster thus, the mandatory state of this installation need must be establish in each local community. As some people may argue, water sprinkler system also has its flaws and adverse issue yet, these people must consider first the question: â€Å"What if there is no water sprinkler system?† Indeed, this scenario would be much more problematic and adverse for the people as even the simplest fire originating form small sparks or friction can create a major fire disaster destroying valuable and even priceless infrastructures and property. What is more important that each community must consider when evaluating the need for the said system is the value and importance of people’s lives and their safety. Thus, the installation of the water sprinkler systems is an important addition to the basic construction elements for each private and public buildings and dom