Enlightenment Philosophers Essay

John Locke (1632-1704) The British philosopher John Locke was especially known for his liberal, anti-authoritarian theory of the state[->0], his empirical theory of knowledge, his advocacy of religious toleration, and his theory of personal identity. In his own time, he was famous for arguing that the divine right of kings is supported neither by scripture nor by the use of reason. In developing his theory of our duty to obey the state, he attacked the idea that might makes right: Starting from an initial state of nature with no government, police or private property, we humans could discover by careful reasoning that there are natural laws[->1] which suggest that we have natural rights[->2] to our own persons and to our own labor. Eventually we could discover that we should create a social contract[->3] with others, and out of this contract emerges our political obligations and the institution of private. This is how reasoning places limits on the proper use of power by government authorities. Regarding epistemology[->4], Locke disagreed with Descartes[->5]‘ rationalist theory that knowledge is any idea that seems clear and distinct to us. Instead, Locke claimed that knowledge is direct awareness of facts concerning the agreement or disagreement among our ideas. By â€Å"ideas,† he meant mental objects, and by assuming that some of these mental objects represent non-mental objects he inferred that this is why we can have knowledge of a world external to our minds. Although we can know little for certain and must rely on probabilities[->6], he believed it is our God-given obligation to obtain knowledge and not always to acquire our beliefs by accepting the word of authorities[->7] or common superstition. Ideally our beliefs should be held firmly or tentatively depending on whether the evidence is strong or weak. He praised the scientific reasoning of Boyle and Newton as exemplifying this careful formation of beliefs. He said that at birth our mind has no innate ideas; it is blank, a tabula rasa. As our mind gains simple ideas from sensation, it forms complex ideas from these simple ideas by processes of combination, division, generalization and abstraction. Radical for his time, Locke asserted that in order to help children not develop bad habits of thinking, they should be trained to base their beliefs on sound evidence, to learn how to collect this evidence, and to believe less strongly when the evidence is weaker. We all can have knowledge of God[->8]‘s existence by attending to the quality of the evidence available to us, primarily the evidence from miracles[->9]. Our moral obligations, says Locke, are divine commands[->10]. We can learn about those obligations both by God’s revealing them to us and by our natural capacities to discover natural laws. He hoped to find a deductive system[->11] of ethics in analogy to our deductive system of truths of geometry. Regarding personal identity[->12], Locke provided an original argument that our being the same person from one time to another consists neither in our having the same soul nor the same body, but rather the same consciousness. Thomas Hobbes (1588 -1679): Moral and Political Philosophy The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes is best known for his political thought, and deservedly so. His vision of the world is strikingly original and still relevant to contemporary politics. His main concern is the problem of social and political order: how human beings can live together in peace and avoid the danger and fear of civil conflict. He poses stark alternatives: we should give our obedience to an unaccountable sovereign (a person or group empowered to decide every social and political issue). Otherwise what awaits us is a â€Å"state of nature† that closely resembles civil war – a situation of universal insecurity, where all have reason to fear violent death and where rewarding human cooperation is all but impossible. His most famous work is Leviathan, a classic of English prose (1651; a slightly altered Latin edition appeared in 1668). Leviathan expands on the argument of De Cive, mostly in terms of its huge second half that deals with questions of religion. One controversy has dominated interpretations of Hobbes. Does he see human beings as purely self-interested or egoistic[->13]? Several passages support such a reading, leading some to think that his political conclusions can be avoided if we adopt a more realistic picture of human nature. However, most scholars now accept that Hobbes himself had a much more complex view of human motivation. A major theme below will be why the problems he poses cannot be avoided simply by taking a less â€Å"selfish† view of human nature. Hobbes’s moral thought is difficult to disentangle from his politics. On his view, what we ought to do depends greatly on the situation in which we find ourselves. Where political authority is lacking (as in his famous natural condition of mankind[->14]), our fundamental right seems to be to save our skins, by whatever means we think fit. Where political authority exists, our duty seems to be quite straightforward: to obey those in power. But we can usefully separate the ethics from the politics if we follow Hobbes’s own division. For him ethics is concerned with human nature, while political philosophy deals with what happens when human beings interact. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712—1778) Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the most influential thinkers during the Enlightenment in eighteenth century Europe. His first major philosophical work, A Discourse on the Sciences and Arts, was the winning response to an essay contest conducted by the Academy of Dijon in 1750. In this work, Rousseau argues that the progression of the sciences and arts has caused the corruption of virtue and morality. This discourse won Rousseau fame and recognition, and it laid much of the philosophical groundwork for a second, longer work, The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality. The second discourse did not win the Academy’s prize, but like the first, it was widely read and further solidified Rousseau’s place as a significant intellectual figure. The central claim of the work is that human beings are basically good by nature, but were corrupted by the complex historical events that resulted in present day civil society. Rousseau’s praise of nature is a theme that continues throughout his later works as well, the most significant of which include his comprehensive work on the philosophy of education, the Emile, and his major work on political philosophy, The Social Contract: both published in 1762. These works caused great controversy in France and were immediately banned by Paris authorities. Rousseau fled France and settled in Switzerland, but he continued to find difficulties with authorities and quarrel with friends. The end of Rousseau’s life was marked in large part by his growing paranoia and his continued attempts to justify his life and his work. This is especially evident in his later books, The Confessions, The Reveries of the Solitary Walker, and Rousseau: Judge of Jean-Jacques. Rousseau greatly influenced Immanuel Kant’s work on ethics. His novel Julie or the New Heloise impacted the late eighteenth century’s Romantic Naturalism movement, and his political ide als were championed by leaders of the French Revolution. The Social Contract is, like the Discourse on Political Economy, a work that is more philosophically constructive than either of the first two Discourses. Furthermore, the language used in the first and second Discourses is crafted in such a way as to make them appealing to the public, whereas the tone of the Social Contract is not nearly as eloquent and romantic. Another more obvious difference is that the Social Contract was not nearly as well-received; it was immediately banned by Paris authorities. And although the first two Discourses were, at the time of their publication, very popular, they are not philosophically systematic. The Social Contract, by contrast, is quite systematic and outlines how a government could exist in such a way that it protects the equality and character of its citizens. But although Rousseau’s project is different in scope in the Social Contract than it was in the first two Discourses, it would be a mistake to say that there is no philosophical c onnection between them. For the earlier works discuss the problems in civil society as well as the historical progression that has led to them. The Discourse on the Sciences and Arts claims that society has become such that no emphasis is put on the importance of virtue and morality. The Discourse on the Origin of Inequality traces the history of human beings from the pure state of nature through the institution of a specious social contract that results in present day civil society. The Social Contract does not deny any of these criticisms. In fact, chapter one begins with one of Rousseau’s most famous quotes, which echoes the claims of his earlier works: â€Å"Man was/is born free; and everywhere he is in chains.† (Social Contract, Vol. IV, p. 131). But unlike the first two Discourses, the Social Contract looks forward, and explores the potential for moving from the specious social contract to a legitimate one. Voltaire (1694-1778) Voltaire (real name Franà §ois-Marie Arouet) (1694 – 1778) was a French philosopher and writer of the Age of Enlightenment[->15]. His intelligence, wit and style made him one of France’s greatest writers and philosophers, despite the controversy he attracted. He was an outspoken supporter of social reform (including the defense of civil liberties, freedom of religion and free trade), despite the strict censorship laws and harsh penalties of the period, and made use of his satirical works to criticize Catholic dogma and the French institutions of his day. Along with John Locke[->16], Thomas Hobbes[->17] and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, his works and ideas influenced important thinkers of both the American and French Revolutions. He was a prolific writer, and produced works in almost every literary form (plays, poetry, novels, essays, historical and scientific works, over 21,000 letters and over two thousand books and pamphlets). As his best-known work, Candideis a satirical examination on numerous themes like religion, philosophy, and government, written in the mordant wit and skepticism that Voltaire employs in so many of his works. Translated to numerous languages and adapted to the stage and screen, Voltaire’s opus continues to be widely read over two centuries later. Voltaire certainly gained enough real life experience to garner a cynical attitude towards established dogmatic institutions that repressed the individual during his lifetime. Why does so much evil exist, seeing that everything is formed by a God whom all theists are agreed in naming â€Å"good?† (â€Å"Why?† Philosophical Dictionary, 1764). In his later years Voltaire championed the rights of victims of religious, cultural, and political persecution, sharing many of the same views as Jean Jacques Rousseau[->18] (1712-1778) Charles- de Montesquieu (1689 – 1755)Montesquieu was a French[->19] social commentator and political thinker[->20] who lived during the Enlightenment[->21]. He is famous for his articulation of the theory of separation of powers[->22], taken for granted in modern discussions of government[->23] and implemented in many constitutions[->24] throughout the world. Montesquieu’s most influential work divided French society into three classes (or trias politica, a term he coined): the monarchy[->25], the aristocracy[->26], and the commons[->27]. Montesquieu saw two types of governmental power existing: the sovereign[->28] and the administrative. The administrative powers were the executive[->29], the legislative[->30], and the judicial[->31]. These should be separate from and dependent upon each other so that the influence of any one power would not be able to exceed that of the other two, either singly or in combination. This was a radical idea because it completely eliminated the three Estates[->32] structure of the French Monarchy: the clergy[->33], the aristocracy, and the people at large represented by the Estates-General[->34], thereby erasing the last vestige of a feudalistic[->35] structure.Likewise, there were three main forms of government, each supported by a social â€Å"principle†: monarchies[->36] (free governments headed by a hereditary figure, e.g. king, queen, emperor), which rely on the principle of honor; republics[->37] (free governments headed by popularly elected leaders), which rely on the principle of virtue; and despotisms[->38] (enslaved governments headed by dictators[->39]), which rely on fear. The free governments are dependent on fragile constitutional arrangements. Montesquieu devotes four chapters of The Spirit of the Laws to a discussion of England, a contemporary free government, where liberty was sustained by a balance of powers. Montesquieu worried that in France the intermediate powers (i.e., the nobility) which moderated the power of the prince were being eroded. These ideas of the control of power were often used in the thinking of Maximilien de Robespierre[->40].Montesquieu was somewhat ahead of his time in advocating major reform of slavery in The Spirit of the Laws[->41]. As part of his advocacy he presented a satirical hypothetical list of arguments for slavery[->42], which has been open to contextomy[->43]. However, like many of his generation, Montesquieu also held a number of views that might today be judged controversial. He firmly accepted the role of a hereditary aristocracy and the value of primogeniture[->44], and while he endorsed the idea that a woman could head a state, he held that she could not be effective as the head of a family.|| Thomas Jefferson (1741-1826) Thomas Jefferson was born in Virginia in 1743 and died on July 4, 1826, t the same day as John[->45] Adams, his life long associate and friend. Their e relationship illustrates the dichotomy that was Thomas Jefferson. He a was the author of the Declaration of Independence, a Secretary of State, a an envoy to France, the third president of the United States, a founder of t the Democratic-Republican party, the anti-federalists party. Baron Charles de Montesquieu’s views on the separation of powers, and t the protection for the rights of the citizenry influenced Jefferson. He believed in the virtues of â€Å"checks and balances† in the formation of the national government, its secured rights and protection for the people. While his views of humanity were more idealistic than those of Madison, they were in agreement for different reasons, for controlling a strong central government. Jefferson, however, opted more for states rights as a means of protection for America’s citizen, an attitude that exemplified his anti-Federalist views. His political thinking was in some respects Newtonian, and he saw social systems as analogous to physical systems. Under this philosophy, love takes the place in the social world that gravity does in the physical world, so that all people are naturally attracted to each other, and it is dependence that corrupts this attraction and results in political problems. Wood argues that, though the phrase â€Å"all men are created equal† was a clichà © in the late 18th century, Jefferson took it further than most. Jefferson held that not only are all men created equal, but they remain equal throughout their lives, equally capable of this attractive love, and that it is their level of dependence that make them unequal in practice. Thus, removing all this corrupting dependence would make all men equal in practice. Thus, Jefferson idealized a future relatively devoid of dependence, in particular those caused by banking or royal influences. Jefferson’s concepts of democracy were rooted in The Enlightenment[->46]. He envisioned democracy an expression of society as a whole, calling for national self-determination, cultural uniformity, and based upon the education of the all the people. The emphasis on uniformity allowed no opportunity for a multiracial republic in which some groups were not fully assimilated into the identical republican values William Blackstone (1723-1780) Blackstone was the great Eighteenth Century English legal scholar whose philosophy and writings were infused with Judeo-Christian principles. The Ten Commandments are at the heart of Blackstone’s philosophy. Blackstone taught that man is created by God and granted fundamental rights by God. Man’s law must be based on God’s law. Our Founding Fathers referred to Blackstone more than to any other English or American authority. Blackstone’s great work, Commentaries on the Laws of England, was basic to the U. S. Constitution. This work has sold more copies in America than in England and was a basic textbook of America’s early lawyers. It was only in the mid-Twentieth Century that American law, being re-written by the U. S. Supreme Court, repudiated Blackstone. An attack on Blackstone is an attack on the U. S. Constitution and our nation’s Judeo-Christian foundations. Blackstone’s Commentaries draws on standard authorities from Bracton onwar d, especially Matthew Hale’s Analysis of the Law, but it is far more accessible. Book I, â€Å"Rights of Persons,† deals with government, church, corporations, and individuals; Book II, â€Å"Rights of Things,† with property, especially land; Book III, â€Å"Private Wrongs,† with torts; and Book IV, â€Å"Public Wrongs,† with crime and punishment. An immediate success—contemporary readers included George III, Burke, Edmund[->47], Charles James Fox, and legions of lawyers and laymen—it went through eight British editions in his lifetime and fifteen more by 1854, as well as numerous abridgements. The standard legal textbook for a century, it helped establish law as a university subject. The first of many American editions appeared in 1771-72, and it was translated into French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. Though outdated in some particulars, Blackstone remains widely read. Though systematic and thorough, Blackstone was conservative and provincial. He argued that the king could do no wrong, though he regarded parliament as essential and endorsed the separation of powers. He was convinced of the superiority of English common law, though his knowledge of civil law was limited (what he knew came from Burlamaqui, Jean-Jacques[->48], Grotius, Montesquieu, Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de[->49], and Pufendorf). His constitutional theory drew upon John Locke and Montesquieu, but he was not an Enlightenment creature. He had numerous critics: Priestley, Joseph[->50] objected to his comments on religious dissenters and most famously, Bentham, Jeremy[->51] denounced his views on the sovereignty of government, as did John Austin later. Other critics included Boswell, James[->52], Gibbon, Edward[->53], and Johnson, Samuel[->54].

Policies and Procedures Essay

Policy: A person requesting a release of patient information other than him or her self, needs to correctly identify the reasoning for the information and proper legal documents need to be completed, such as an authorization form signed by the patient. Under certain circumstances, the release of information would not need authorization due to certain federal and state statutes; these are explained in the measurement standards. Objective: To protect patient’s individual rights to the privacy, security, and confidentiality of medical information being released to others by recording authorization information into the database with accuracy and in a timely manner. The patient’s specific authorization forms must be filed within 24 hours of admission. Measurements: 1. The patient must disclose their written authorization by completing an authorization form prior to the release of patient information to a health care provider, an individual who assists a health care provider in the delivery of health care, or an agent of the health care provider. 2. If the patient decides to complete an authorization form, we are required to honor that authorization and, if requested, provide a copy of the recorded health information unless the health care provider denies the patient access to health information. 3. To be valid, a disclosure of authorization must be in writing, dated, and signed by the patient. Identify the nature of the information to be disclosed, identify the name and institutional affiliation of the person to whom the information is being disclosed, identify the provider and the patient, and contain an expiration date that relates to the patient. 4. A patient may revoke in writing a disclosure authorization to a health care provider at any t ime unless disclosure is required to effectuate payments for health care that has been provided or other substantial action has been taken in reliance on the authorization. 5. A health care provider or facility may disclose patient health information without the patient’s authorization in the event of the recipient needs to know the information because the provider or facility reasonably believes the person is providing health care to the patient. 6. Disclosure without authorization may also be made to federal, state, or local law enforcement authorities upon receipt of a written or oral request made to a nursing supervisor, administrator, or designated privacy official, in a case in which the patient is being treated or has been treated for a bullet wound gunshot wound, powder burn, or other injury arising from or caused by discharge of a firearm. 7. A health care provider shall maintain a record of existing health care information for at least one year following a receipt of an authorization to disclose that health care information under RCW 70.02.040, and during the pendency of a request for examination and copying under RCW 70.02.080, or a request for correction or amendment under RCW 70.02.100. 8. The authorization must be entered into the database within the first 24 hours of completion; therefore, other staff members in the facility such as providers and other members of the ROI department will know the limits to the release of that patient’s information if requested upon. State and Federal Statutes: RCW70.02.020, RCW 70.02.030, RCW 70.02.040, RCW 70.02.050, RCW 70.02.160.

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 24~25

Twenty-four The Sheriff Sheriff John Burton stood by the ruins of Theo's Volvo, pounding the keys of his cell phone. He could smell the cow shit he'd stepped in coming off his Guccis and the damp wind was blowing cowlicks in his gelled silver hair. His black Armani suit was smudged with the ashes he'd poked through at Theo's cabin, thinking there might be a burned body underneath. He was not happy. Didn't anybody answer their goddamn phone anymore? He'd called Joseph Leander, Theophilus Crowe, and Jim Beer, the man who owned the ranch, and no one was answering. Which is what had brought him to Pine Cove in the middle of the night in a state of near panic in the first place. The second shift of crank cookers should be working in the lab right now, but there was no one around. His world was falling down around him, all because of the meddling of a pothead constable who had forgotten that he was supposed to be incompetent. Crowe's line was ringing. Burton heard a click, then was immediately disconnected. â€Å"Fuck!† He slammed the cell phone shut and dropped it into the pocket of his suit jacket. Someone was answering Crowe's phone. Either he was still alive or Leander had killed him, taken his phone, and was fucking with him. But Leander's van had been parked at Crowe's cabin? So where was he? Not at home, Burton had already checked, finding nothing but a sleepy baby-sitter and two groggy little girls in nightgowns. Would Leander run and not take his daughters? Burton pulled out the phone and dialed the data offices at the department. The Spider answered. â€Å"Nailsworth,† the Spider said. Burton could hear him chewing. â€Å"Put down that Twinkie, you fucking tub of lard, I need you to find me a name and an address.† â€Å"It's a Sno Ball. Pink. I only eat the marshmallow covers.† Burton could feel his pulse rising in his temples and made an effort to control his rage. In the rush to get to Pine Cove, he'd forgotten to take his blood pressure medication. â€Å"The name is Betsy Butler. I need a Pine Cove address.† â€Å"Joseph Leander's girlfriend?† the Spider asked. â€Å"How do you know that?† â€Å"Please, Sheriff,† the Spider said with a snort. â€Å"Remember who you're talking to.† â€Å"Just get me the address.† Burton could hear Nailsworth typing. The Spider was dangerous, a constant threat to his operation, and Burton couldn't figure out how to get to him. He was immune to bribes or threats of any kind and seemed content with his lot in life as long as he could make others squirm. And Burton was too afraid of what the corpulent information officer might really know to fire him. Maybe some of that foxglove tea that Leander had used on his wife. Certainly, no one would question heart failure in a man who got winded unwrapping a Snickers. â€Å"No address,† Nailsworth said. â€Å"Just a P.O. box. I checked DMV, TRW, and Social Security. She works at H.P.'s Cafe in Pine Cove. You want the address?† â€Å"It's five in the morning, Nailsworth. I need to find this woman now.† The Spider sighed. â€Å"They open for breakfast at six. Do you want the address?† Burton was seething again. â€Å"Give it to me,† he said through gritted teeth. The Spider gave him an address on Cypress Street and said, â€Å"Try the Eggs-Sothoth, they're supposed to be great.† â€Å"How would you know? You never leave the goddamn office.† â€Å"Ah, what fools these mortals be,† the Spider said in a very bad British accent. â€Å"I know everything, Sheriff. Everything.† Then he hung up. Burton took a deep breath and checked his Rolex. He had enough time to make a little visit to Jim Beer's ranch house before the restaurant opened. The old shit kicker was probably already up and punching doggies, or whatever the fuck ranchers did at this hour. He certainly wasn't answering his phone. Burton climbed into the black Eldorado and roared across the rutted ranch road toward the gate by Theo's cabin. As he headed out to the Coast Highway to loop back to the front of the ranch (he'd be damned if he'd take his Caddy across two miles of cow trails), someone stepped into his headlights and he slammed on the brakes. The antilocks throbbed and the Caddy stopped just short of running over a woman in a white choir robe. There was a whole line of them, making their way down the Coast Highway, shielding candles against the wind. They didn't even look up, but walked past the front of his car as if in a trance. Burton rolled down the window and stuck his head out. â€Å"What are you people doing? It's five in the morning.† A balding man whose choir robe was three sizes too small looked up with a beatific smile and said, â€Å"We've been called by the Holy Spirit. We've been called.† Then he walked on. â€Å"Yeah, well, you almost got to see him early!† Burton yelled, but no one paid attention. He fell back into the seat and waited as the procession passed. It wasn't just people in choir robes, but aging hippies in jeans and Birkenstocks, half a dozen Gen X'ers dressed in their Sunday best, and one skinny guy who was wearing the saffron robes of a Buddhist monk. Burton wrenched his briefcase off the passenger seat and popped it open. False passport, driver's license, Social Security card, stick-on beard, and a ticket to the Caymans: the platinum parachute kit he kept with him at all times. Maybe it was time to bail. Skinner Well, the Food Guy finally got a female, Skinner thought. Probably because he had the scent of those mashed cows on him. Skinner had been tempted to roll in the goo himself, but was afraid the Food Guy would yell at him. (He hated that.) But this was even better: riding in the different car with the Food Guy and his female and the Tall Guy who always smelled of burning weeds and sometimes gave him hamburgers. He looked out the window and wagged his tail, which repeatedly smacked Theo in the face. They were stopping. Oh boy, maybe they would leave him in the car. That would be good; the seats were chewy and tasted of cow. But no, they let him out, told him to come along with them to the small house. An Old Guy answered the door and Skinner said hi with a nose to the crotch. The Old Guy scratched his ears. Skinner liked him. He smelled like a dog who'd been howling all night. Being near him made Skinner want to howl and he did, one time, enjoying the sad sound of his own voice. The Food Guy told him to shut up. The Old Guy said, â€Å"I guess I know how you feel.† They all went inside and left Skinner there on the steps. They were all nervous, Skinner could smell it, and they probably wouldn't be inside long. He had work to do. It was a big yard with a lot of shrubs where other dogs had left him messages. He needed to reply to them all, so each could only get a short spray. Dog e-mail. He was only half-finished when they came back out. The Tall Guy said, â€Å"Well, Mr. Jefferson, we're going to find the monster and we'd like your help. You're the only one who has seen it.† â€Å"Oh, I think you'll know him when you see him,† said the old guy. â€Å"Y'all don't need my help.† Everyone smelled sad and afraid and Skinner couldn't help himself. He let loose a forlorn howl that he held until the Food Guy grabbed his collar and dragged him to the car. Skinner had a bad feeling that they might be going to the place where there was danger. Danger, Food Guy, he warned. His barking was deafening in the confines of the Mercedes. Estelle Estelle was fuming as she cleared the teacups from the table and threw them into the sink. Two broke and she swore to herself, then turned to Catfish, who was sitting on the bed picking out a soft version of â€Å"Walkin' Man's Blues† on the National steel guitar. â€Å"You could have helped them,† Estelle said. Catfish looked at the guitar and sang, â€Å"Got a mean old woman, Lawd, stay angry all the time.† â€Å"There's nothing noble in using your art to escape life. You should have helped them.† â€Å"Got a mean old woman, Lawd, Lawd, Lawd. She just stay angry all the time.† â€Å"Don't you ignore me, Catfish Jefferson. I'm talking to you. People in this town have been good to you. You should help them.† Catfish threw back his head and sang to the ceiling, â€Å"She gots no idea, Lawd, what's hers and what's mine.† Estelle snagged a skillet out of the dish rack, crossed the room, and raised it for a rocketing forehand shot to Catfish's head. â€Å"Go ahead, sing another verse about your ‘mean old woman,' Catfish. I'm curious, what rhymes with ‘clobbered'?† Catfish put the guitar aside and slipped on his sunglasses. â€Å"You know, they say a woman was the one poisoned Robert Johnson?† â€Å"Do you know what she used?† Estelle wasn't smiling. â€Å"I'm making my shopping list.† â€Å"Dang, woman, why you talk like that? I ain't been nothin but good to you.† â€Å"And me to you. That's why you keep singing that mean old woman song, right?† â€Å"Don't sound right singin ‘sweet old woman.'† Estelle lowered the pan. Tears welled up in her eyes. â€Å"You can help them and when it's over you can stay here. you can play your music, I can paint. People in Pine Cove love your music.† â€Å"People here sayin hello to me on the street, puttin too much money in the tip jar, buying me drinks – I ain't got the Blues on me no more.† â€Å"So you have to go wreck your car, or pick cotton, or shoot a man in Memphis, or whatever it is that you have to do to put the Blues on you? For what?† â€Å"It's what I do. I don't know nothin else.† â€Å"You've never tried anything else. I'm here, I'm real. Is it so bad to know that you have a warm bed to sleep in with someone who loves you? There's nothing out there, Catfish.† â€Å"That dragon out there. He always be out there.† â€Å"So face it. You got away from it before.† â€Å"Why you care?† â€Å"Because it took a lot for me to open my heart to you after what I've been through, and I don't have much tolerance for cowards anymore.† â€Å"Call it like you sees it, Mama.† Estelle turned and went back to the kitchen. â€Å"Then maybe you better go.† â€Å"I'll get my hat,† Catfish said. He snapped the National back into its case, grabbed his hat from the table, and in a moment he was gone. Estelle turned and stared at the door. When she heard his station wagon start, she fell to the floor and felt a once warm future bleed a black stain around her. Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch The cave lay under a hillside, less than a mile from the ranch road at Theo's cabin. The narrow mouth looked down over a wide, grassy marine terrace to the Pacific, and the interior, which opened into a huge cathedral chamber, echoed with the sound of crashing waves. Fossilized starfish and trilobites peppered the walls and the rocky floor was covered with a patina of bat guano and crystallized sea salt. The last time Steve had visited the cave it had been underwater, and he had spent a pleasant autumn there feeding on the gray whales that migrated down the coast to Baja to bear their young. He didn't remember the cave consciously, of course, but when he sensed that Molly was searching for a hiding place, the map in his mind that had long ago gone to instinct led them there. Since they'd arrived at the cave, a dark mood had fallen on Steve and, in turn, over Molly. She'd used the weed-whacker on the Sea Beast several times to try to cheer him up, but now the sex machine was out of gas and Molly was developing a heat rash on the inside of her thighs from repeated tongue lashings. It had been two days since she had eaten, and even Steve refused to touch his cows (Black Angus steers, now that Molly knew he couldn't tolerate dairy). Since the coming of the Sea Beast, Molly had been in a state of controlled euphoria. Worries about her sanity had melted away and she had joined him in the Zen moment that is the life of an animal, but since the dream and the horrible self-consciousness that had descended on Steve, the notion of their incompatibility had begun to rise in Molly's mind like a trout to a fly. â€Å"Steve,† she said, leaning on her broadsword and staring him squarely in one of his basketball eyes, â€Å"your breath could knock a buzzard off a shit wagon.† The Sea Beast, rather than go on the defensive (which was fortunate for Molly, because the only defense he could think of was to bite her legs off), let out a pathetic whimper and tried to tuck his huge head under a forelimb. Molly immediately regretted her comment and tried to patch the damage. â€Å"Oh, I know, it's not your fault. Maybe someone sells Tic Tacs the size of easy chairs. We'll get through it.† But she didn't mean it, and Steve could sense her insincerity. â€Å"Maybe we need to get out more,† she added. Dawn had broken outside and a beam of sunlight was streaming into the cathedral like a cop's flashlight in a smoky bar. â€Å"Maybe a swim,† Molly said. â€Å"Your gills seem to be healing.† How she knew the treelike growths on his neck were gills, she wasn't sure – perhaps more of the unspoken communication that passes between lovers. Steve lifted his head and Molly thought that she might have gotten his attention, but then she noticed that a shadow had come over the entrance to the cave. She looked up to see half a dozen people in choir robes standing at the opening of the cathedral. â€Å"We've come to offer sacrifice,† one woman managed to say. â€Å"And not a breath mint among you, I'll bet,† Molly said. Twenty-five Theo H.P.'s Cafe was crowded with early morning old guys drinking coffee. Theo downed three cups of coffee quickly, which only served to make him anxious. Val and Gabe had ordered a cinnamon roll to share, and now Val was feeding a piece of it to Gabe as if the man had somehow managed to reach middle age and earn two Ph.D.s without ever having learned to feed himself. Theo just wanted to blow the bitter chunks of indignation. Val said, â€Å"I certainly hope that the presence of this creature isn't responsible for how I feel right now.† She licked icing from her fingers. Right, Theo thought, the fact that you've fucked up all the previously fucked-up people in town and committed a string of felonies in the process shouldn't be the rain on your little love parade. However, Theo did sub-scribe to the â€Å"honest mistake† school of law enforcement, and he honestly believed that she was trying to right a wrong by taking her patients off their medication. So although Val was currently irritating him like a porcu-pine suppository, he was honest enough to realize that he was merely jealous of what she had found with Gabe. That realized, Gabe started to irritate him as well. â€Å"What do we do, Gabe? Tranquilize this thing? Shoot it? What?† â€Å"Assuming it exists.† â€Å"Assume it,† Theo spat. â€Å"I'm afraid if you wait for enough evidence to be sure, we'll have to find you an ass donor, because this creature will have bitten yours off.† â€Å"No need to be snotty, Theo. I'm just being sensibly skeptical, as any researcher would.† â€Å"Theo,† Val said, â€Å"I can write you a scrip for some Valium. Might take the edge off your withdrawal symptoms.† Theo scoffed. He didn't scoff often, so he wasn't good at it, and it appeared to Gabe and Val that he might be gacking up a hair ball. â€Å"You all right?† Gabe asked. â€Å"I'm fine. I was scoffing.† â€Å"At what?† â€Å"At Dr. Feelgood here wanting to give me a prescription for Valium so Winston Krauss can fill it with M&Ms.† â€Å"I'd forgotten about that,† Val said. â€Å"Sorry.† â€Å"It would appear that we have multifarious problems with which to deal, and I don't have a clue where to start,† Theo said. â€Å"Multifarious?† Gabe said. â€Å"A shitload,† said Theo. â€Å"I know what it means, Theo. I just can't believe it came out of your mouth.† Val laughed gaily at Gabe's kinda-sorta humor. Theo glared at her. Jenny, who was almost as cranky as Theo for having had to close H.P.'s the night before and then open the restaurant in the morning when the morning girl called in sick, came by to refill their coffees. â€Å"That's your boss pulling up, isn't it, Theo?† she asked, nodding toward the front. Out the window Theo could see Sheriff John Burton crawling out of his black Eldorado. â€Å"Back door?† Theo said, urgent pleading in his eyes. â€Å"Sure, through the kitchen and Howard's office.† Theo was up in a second and halfway to the kitchen when he noticed that Val and Gabe had missed the entire exchange and were staring into each other's eyes. He ran back and slapped the table with his open palm. They looked at him as if they'd been dragged out of a dream. â€Å"Attention,† Theo said, trying not to raise his voice. â€Å"Sheriff coming in? My boss? Deadly drug dealer? We're criminals. We'll be making a break for the back door? Now? Hello?† â€Å"I'm not a criminal,† Gabe said. â€Å"I'm a biologist.† Theo grabbed him by the front of the shirt and made for the kitchen, dragging the biologist behind him. The criminal shrink brought up the rear. The Sheriff â€Å"I'm looking for Betsy Butler,† Burton said, flipping open a badge wallet as if everyone in the county didn't immediately recognize his white Stetsonover-Armani look. â€Å"What's she done?† Jenny asked, putting herself between the sheriff and the door to the kitchen. â€Å"That's not your affair. I just need to talk to her.† â€Å"Well, I'm on the floor alone, so you have to follow me if you want to talk or I'll get behind.† â€Å"I don't want to talk to you.† â€Å"Fine.† Jenny turned her back on the sheriff and went to the waitress station behind the counter to start a fresh pot of coffee. Burton followed her, suppressing the urge to put her in a choke hold. â€Å"Do you know where she lives?† â€Å"Yes,† Jenny said. â€Å"But she's not home.† Jenny glanced back through the kitchen window to make sure that Theo and his bunch had made it through to Howard's office. Burton's face was going red now. â€Å"Please. Could you tell me where she is?† Jenny thought she could jerk this guy around for another ten minutes or so, but it didn't look as if it was necessary. Besides, she was pissed at Betsy for calling in anyway. â€Å"She called in this morning with a spiritual emergency. Her words, by the way. The flu I can understand, but I'm working a double after closing last night over her spiritual emergency – â€Å" â€Å"Where is Betsy Butler?† the sheriff barked. Jenny jumped back a step. The man looked as if he might go for his gun any second. No wonder Theo had bolted out the back. â€Å"She said she was going with a group up to the Beer Bar Ranch. That they were being called by the spirit to make a sacrifice. Pretty weird, huh?† â€Å"Was Joseph Leander going with her?† â€Å"No one's supposed to know about Betsy and Joseph.† â€Å"I know about them. Was he going with her?† â€Å"She didn't say. She sounded a little spaced out.† â€Å"Does Theo Crowe come in here?† â€Å"Sometimes.† Jenny wasn't volunteering anything to this creep. He was rude, he was mean, and he was wearing enough Aramis to choke a skunk. â€Å"Has he been in here today?† â€Å"No, haven't seen him.† Without a word, Burton turned and stormed out the door to his Cadillac. Jenny went back to the kitchen, where Gabe, Val, and Theo were standing by the fryers, trying to stay out of the way of the two cooks, who were flipping eggs and thrashing hash browns. Gabe pointed to the back door. â€Å"It's locked.† â€Å"He's gone,† Jenny said. â€Å"He was looking for Betsy and Joseph, but he asked about you, Theo. I think he's going up to the Beer Bar to find Betsy.† â€Å"What's Betsy doing at the ranch?† Theo asked. â€Å"Something about making a sacrifice. That girl needs help.† Theo turned to Val. â€Å"Give me the keys to your car. I'm going after him.† â€Å"I don't think so,† the psychiatrist said, holding her purse away from him. â€Å"Please, Val. I've got to see what he's up to. This is my life here.† â€Å"And that's my Mercedes, and you're not taking it.† â€Å"I have guns, Val.† â€Å"Yeah, but you don't have a Mercedes. It's mine.† Gabe looked at her as if she'd squirted a grapefruit in his eyes. â€Å"You really won't let Theo use your car?† His voice was flat with disappointment. â€Å"It's just a car.† They all stared at her, even the two cooks, burly Hispanic men who had until now refused to acknowledge their existence. Val reached into her purse, brought out the keys, and handed them to Theo as if she were giving up a child for sacrifice. â€Å"How will we get home?† Gabe asked. â€Å"Go to the Head of the Slug and wait. I'll either pick you up or call you from my cell phone and let you know what's going on. It shouldn't take long.† With that, Theo ran out of the kitchen. A few seconds later Valerie Riordan cringed at the sound of squealing tires as Theo pulled out of the restaurant parking lot. Skinner Skinner liked chasing cars as much as the next dog, and they didn't get away as easily when you chased them in another car, but despite the excite-ment of the chase, Skinner was anxious. When he had seen the Tall Guy come out to the car, he thought that the Food Guy was coming too. But now they were driving away from the Food Guy and toward the danger. Skinner could feel it. He whined and ran back and forth across the backseat of the Mercedes, leaving nose prints on the window, then jumped into the front seat and stuck his head out the passenger window. There was no joy to the turbo-charged smells or the wind in his ears, only danger. He barked and scratched at the door handle to warn the Tall Guy, but all he got for his efforts was a perfunctory ear scratching, so he crawled into the Tall Guy's lap, where it felt at least a little safer. The Sheriff Burton first noticed the Mercedes behind him when he turned onto the access road to the Coast Highway. A week ago he might not have thought twice about it, but now he was seeing an enemy in every tree. DEA wouldn't use a Mercedes, and neither would FBI, but the Mexican Mafia could. Except for his operation, they ran the meth trade out of the West; perhaps they'd decided that they wanted the whole trade. That would explain the disap-pearance of Leander, Crowe, and the guys at the lab, except that it had been a little too clean. They would have left bodies as a warning, and they would have burned down all of Crowe's cabin, not just the pot patch. He pulled his Beretta 9 mm. out of its holster and placed it on the seat next to him. He had a shotgun in the trunk, but it might as well be in Canada for all the good it would do him. if there were two or less in the car, he might take them. If more, they probably had Uzis or Mac 10 machine guns and he would run. The Mexicans liked to have a crowd in on their hits. Burton made a quick right off the highway and stopped a block up a side street. Theo Why hadn't he let Skinner out at the cafe? He hadn't been able to figure out the electric seat adjustment on the Mercedes, so he was driving with his knees up around the wheel anyway, but now he had an eighty-pound dog in his lap and he had to whip his head from side to side to keep Burton's Caddy in sight. The Caddy made an abrupt turn off the highway and it was all Theo could do to get the Mercedes around the corner without screeching the tires. By the time he could see around Skinner's head again, the Caddy was stopped only fifty yards ahead. Theo ducked quickly onto the passenger seat and tried to call on THE FORCE to steer as they passed the Caddy. The Sheriff Sheriff John Burton was prepared for a confrontation with DEA agents, he was prepared for a high-speed escape, he was even prepared for a shoot-out with Mexican drug dealers, if it came to that. He prided himself on being tough and adaptable and thought himself superior to other men be-cause of his cool response to pressure. He was, however, not prepared to see a Mercedes cruise by with a Labrador retriever at the wheel. His Uber-mensch arrogance shriveled as he stared gape-jawed at the passing Mercedes. It made an erratic turn at the next corner, bouncing off a curb before disap-pearing behind a hedge. He wasn't the sort of man who doubted his own perceptions – if he saw it, he saw it – so his mind dropped into politician mode to file the experi-ence. â€Å"That right there,† he said aloud, â€Å"is why I will never support a bill to license dogs to drive.† Still, political certainties weren't going to count for much if he didn't get to Betsy Butler and find out what had happened to his prized drug mule. He pulled a U-turn and headed back to the Coast Highway, where he found himself looking a little more closely than usual at the drivers in oncoming cars. Molly There were thirty of them all together. Six stood side by side at the cave entrance; the rest crowded behind them, trying to get a look inside. Molly recognized the one doing the talking, she was the ditzy waitress from H.P.'s cafe. She was in her mid-twenties, with short blonde hair and a figure that promised to go pear-shaped by the time she hit forty. She wore a white choir robe over jeans and aerobics shoes. â€Å"You're Betsy from H.P.'s, right?† Molly asked, leaning on her broadsword. Betsy seemed to recognize Molly for the first time, â€Å"You're the craz – â€Å" Molly held up her sword to hush the girl. â€Å"Be nice.† â€Å"Sorry,† said Betsy. â€Å"We've been called. I didn't expect you to be here.† Two women stepped up beside Betsy, the pastel church ladies that Molly had chased away from the dragon trailer. â€Å"Remember us?† Molly shook her head. â€Å"What exactly do you all think you are doing here?† They looked to each other, as if the question hadn't occurred to them before this. They craned their necks and squinted into the cathedral chamber to see what was behind Molly. Steve lay curled up in the dark at the back of the chamber, sulking. Molly turned and spoke to the back of the chamber. â€Å"Steve, did you bring these people here? What were you thinking?† A loud and low-pitched whimper came out of the dark. The crowd at the entrance murmured among themselves. Suddenly a man stepped for-ward and pushed Betsy aside. He was in his forties and wore an African dashiki over khakis and Birkenstocks, his long hair held out of his face with a beaded headband. â€Å"Look, man, you can't stop us. There's something very special and very spiritual happening here, and we're not going to let some crazy woman keep us from being part of it. So just back off.† Molly smiled. â€Å"You want to be a part of this, do you?† â€Å"Yeah, that's right,† the man said. The others nodded behind him. â€Å"Fine, I want you all to empty your pockets before you come in here. Leave your keys, wallets, money, everything outside.† â€Å"We don't have to do that,† Betsy said. Molly stepped up and thrust her sword into the ground between the girl's feet. â€Å"Okay then, naked.† Molly said. â€Å"What?† â€Å"No one comes in here unless they are naked. Now get to it.† Protests arose until a short Asian man with a shaved head shrugged off his saffron robes, stepped forward, and bowed to Molly, thus mooning the rest of the group. Molly shook her head dolefully at the monk. â€Å"I thought you guys had more sense.† Then she turned to the back of the cave and shouted, â€Å"Hey, Steve, cheer up, I brought home Chinese for lunch.†

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Symbolism in Packer's Drinking Coffee - Essay Example ous efforts to distance herself from the pain-giving experiences of her life, like her devastating relationship with her Dad, grudging interview sessions with the psychiatrist imposed on her by the college administration, and suspicious interactions with counselors and study-buddies, take her to the portal of happiness? Dina’s cherished dreams do not fructify, she looks out for alternative avenues, to forget the pain. The mention of revolver as the inanimate object she’d most like go transform, on the eve of Yale University freshmen orientation, says a lot about her grudge against her past life and her future plans.(of revenge?) It is easy to say that life is to be lived in its trials, tribulations, duty and beauty. But when it comes to practical applications, the unforgettable incidents of the past continue to torture the inner core of an individual, who has faced the wrath of the society on many counts. Dina is one such individual, who has to cope up with lots of maladjustments. In the story â€Å"Drinking Coffee Elsewhere†, Packer provides enough homework for the reader’s imagination. She concludes the story without providing firm conclusions. The reader has to view the situation from own perspective. But her writing has the cordiality and grace to draw the reader to mainstream of the story. The ‘not so gentle’ gentleman with whom Dina has strained relationship is Dr. Raeburn. But one can not blame the Doctor. He is a psychiatrist and he is expected to do his professional job to treat the fresher. If the revolver is ‘triggered’ by Dina, he will be held responsible by the University authorities. He tries his best to probe the hidden layers within her mind and unearth the real Dina! When she expresses contempt for her father, the ‘shaken’ Doctor reaches out for a cigarette and Dina’s protests instantly. She says, â€Å"You can’t smoke in here.† She gives clever answers to his questions but the professional psychiatrist is able to isolate

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The differences between Ayyubid, Mamluk and Ottoman Mosques - Essay Example It was was founded in the eighth century by Suleiman Abd probably after the conquest of Aleppo. The mosque is slim, and its base is square having built using minaret. The Great Mosque is a six storey building divided by naskhi and Kufic inscriptions. Architected by Hassan Mufarraj, the Mosque has continuous moldings, pilasters, polyfoil arches and elaborate trefoil. It is the earliest extant monument in the prehistoric city of Aleppo and one hemicycle of the then city’s Byzantine cathedral still exists in the northern part of Bab Antikiyah (Ernst 38). Additionally, the mosque also has three major fragments: inscribed stones, grans antique and capitals. Moreover, the minaret of the Great Mosque in Aleppo is seen to be heavy with some relief ornament. The classicizing details, continuous moldings, cusped arches and certain idiosyncratic details all originate from the distinctive northwest Syria. The idiosyncratic details included pointed ovals that were inserted at the cusps of the moldings. The Mosque also is had mugarnas-like cornice on top of the shaft that helped to support the balcony. From a closer range, the masonry finishing does not look as fine as on the later ornamented style mosques in the Mamluk and Ottoman dynasties. The softer stones make the overall surface of the mosque to look smooth thus a finer finish. From a different dimension, the east and south courtyard facades preserve the significant sections of Nural-Din’s reconstruction of the mosques. Additionally, the complex Stereotomy of the ornamented style is left to free play and is accompanied by moldings drawn from local Late Antique monuments, inscriptions and finely dressed masonry that is beveled along the coursing. The Mosque was of great importance in the Muslim world since it is the oldest congregational mosque in the Islamic architecture (Burgoyne, 68). On the hand, the Mamluk dynasties new form of architecture evolved

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Do We Live in a World of Media Infotainment And Melodramatic Reportage - Essay Example It is in the context of this process that infotainment has been expanded in countries worldwide. The above process is related to the limitation of national media cultures and the establishment of media rules and ethics that are common in all countries – at least those being affected by the particular media system. In other words, infotainment reflects the trend for the promotion of a global media culture (Thussu 2007, p.68). Melodramatic reportage has been another aspect of the above trend, supporting – like infotainment – the promotion of common media ethics and rules for all countries worldwide. In order to understand the level at which media infotainment is currently developed worldwide, it would be necessary to refer primarily to the characteristics and the content of the particular term, i.e. to show the activities and ideas that the above term incorporates. In accordance with Kellner (2003) ‘infotainment discloses a synergy between information technol ogies and multimedia which combine entertainment and information’ (Kellner 2003, p.14). In other words, infotainment incorporates two different media roles, the provision of information and the entertainment. The combination of these roles can lead to a dynamic media concept, being able to attract the interest of people of different ages and social classes. Various explanations have been given in the literature regarding the expansion of infotainment. In accordance with Lange (1999) the increase of competition in media has led to the alteration of the content and the structure of news programmes; instead of focusing on political news, media emphasizes on ‘human interest stories’ (Lange 1999, p.27). It is... This essay approves that the role of infotainment in the above case has been clear: attracting the attention of the British people away from the government’s decisions, gathering funds for supporting various public activities and improving the relationship between the British public and the monarchy. The above fact shows that infotainment can have different aspects, influencing the views of the public on various political and social activities. The specific role of infotainment has been made clearer in the case of celebrities’ crimes. In such cases, infotainment has three distinctive roles: to provide information on the crime committed, to prevent public from developing similar behavior and to entertain – at the level that the crime committed is used as a chance for focusing on the private life of the celebrity involved – for example the case of Lindsay Lohan, as analyzed below. This phenomenon is more intense in developed countries – where the fund s invested on media advertising are quite high. This report makes a conclusion that the expansion of media infotainment and melodramatic reportage in most countries internationally cannot be doubted. In fact, the review of two specific news texts – related to media infotainment – proved that the approach used by journalists when presenting a particular story is highly differentiated compared to the past. Of course, the role of the media infotainment in the increase of publicity of a particular event cannot be doubted.

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Answer at least 5 queations thoroughly - Assignment Example However, caution adherence is paramount when using the traits to measure origins because characteristics of men and women are different. Also, mixed ancestry may cause complications. Metric traits are sex and age discriminatory while non-metric traits are mainly age discriminatory. Conclusively non-metric traits appear to be less discriminative and are more applicable. Apes have no tails; they are large and cumbersome; the body posture is upright, and the ratio of their brains to their body is bigger than the monkeys. Monkeys have tails, smaller body sizes with relatively equal hind limbs and forelimbs order (Walker and Suzanne 178). Primate is in two groups the Prosimians and anthropoids (simians). Monkey and apes fall under simians. Primate sub-orders Strepsirrhini, (wet-nosed primates), consisting of non-tarsier prosimians, and the suborder Haplorhini (dry-nosed primates), composed of tarsiers and the simians. Simians are sub-divided into catarrhine (narrow-nosed) and platyrrhine ("flat-nosed"). Catarrhine include great apes, baboons and macaques (old world monkey) while platyrrhine (New World monkeys) squirrel, howler and the capuchin. Monkeys and apes have certain similar features which they with the other primates, such features include climbing trees, movement skills like jumping from tree to tree. They all walk on two or four legs and swaying amid branches (Walker and Suzanne 226). The primates have only a pair of mammary glands, heterodyne dentition, and all have fingernails. Monkey and apes differ from other primates with their larger body sizes, condensed dependence on sense of smell, less specified color vision. They have a bony plate that forms back of the eye socket and merging two edges of maxilla at midline forms one bone. Finally, they have longer gestation and development stages. Primates have some common characteristics like

Should there be a Ministry of Justice for England and Wales What are Essay

Should there be a Ministry of Justice for England and Wales What are the advantages and disadvantages - Essay Example The role for these departments is to nab the accused and give them the appropriate punishments, so they will never commit the crime again, thereby saving others’ lives. This paper will discuss one such government department in United Kingdom, the Ministry of Justice for England and Wales by focusing on its advantages and disadvantages. The Ministry of Justice for England and Wales was formed in 2007, after the home office was bifurcated into two arms, one for security and the other for justice. This separate justice department of the United Kingdom government only takes care of the sentencing of the accused, probation, prisons and also prevention of re-offending. It has wide reach as it handles the affairs of the three devolved governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, with England. Its wide scope has some inbuilt advantages because certain legal aspects like extradition, conviction in multiple cases etc can be handled easily, due to interlinking. The next advantage with this separate Ministry of Justice is that, the slimmed down Home Office will be able to deal with terrorism related issues more efficiently. That is, with United Kingdom often being the target of terrorist related attacks including the tragic London bombing in 2005, concentration and prevention of terrorism is of utmost importance. So, this separate Ministry of Justice for England and Wales by looking at crimes other than terrorism will provide the home office a good source of personnel, man hours, intelligence inputs to counter terrorism effectively. Thus, the Ministry of Justice provides an indirect advantage. The other advantage with this separate Ministry of Justice is that, it helps to correct an unwanted ironical situation. That is, with the previous arrangement, the home department has to singularly take care of administering justice to the accused as well as sentencing and putting the convicts behind bars. This anomalous situation

Significance of Manned Missions to Mars Essay Example for Free

Significance of Manned Missions to Mars Essay After Apollo 11 succeeded in the first manned mission to land on the Moon in 1969, people’s interests were gradually leaving the Moon and went on to Mars, which is the most similar planet to Earth in the solar system. In such a current of public opinion, the U. S. and other countries have been trying to send human beings to Mars. However, today, there is a debate as to whether we should continue making efforts to send mankind to Mars, or not. Some people say that it is not worth the expense and risk to make a manned flight to Mars. On the other hand, others think it is still important to continue making those attempts – not for a material purpose, but for pursuing romance of space travel. Opponents of a manned mission to Mars claim that it costs too much to keep making attempts, and if we did not have to spend such money on those missions, we could increase health-care, education, and some other budgets. It is true. However, what is waiting for us in such a future as we will get at the sacrifice of dream or romance? What is necessary for people of today is not material wealth which we can get by cutting the budget of missions to Mars but mental wealth which we can cultivate by pursuing romance or dreaming of it. Opponents also maintain that we should quit trying to make those impractical attempts and wait until the technology is established because we cannot send mankind to Mars with the current technology. However, this argument is off the point because it is not important whether those attempts are impractical or not at the present moment. Necessity always makes technology develop. By practically continuing making efforts to send mankind to Mars, we can develop the technology which is needed to make it possible. In order to get something, we have to do something. Just waiting for something doesn’t help. The other arguments advanced by opponents is that we will not have any beneficial results except mental satisfaction such as dream or romance even if we can make a manned flight to Mars. However, of course, there are several beneficial things we will get from the success of missions to Mars. At first, understanding Mars helps us to understand more about our planet Earth because of the similarity between these two planets. We may be able to know how to protect the environment on Earth by studying how Mars died. Additionally, space engineering is one of the latest frontiers of science. We will be able to apply the technology we will have developed in this field to several other fields. Accordingly, missions to Mars have a benefit not only for people who are interested in Mars but also for people who are not. Certainly, it may not be easy to continue making efforts to send mankind to Mars, and it costs a lot. Nonetheless, things we get by missions to Mars are more than things we lose by it as mentioned above. By pursuing romance of space travel, we make dream which seems impossible to be achieved come true, and while we enjoy technology and knowledge we get from missions to Mars, we can avoid losing mental wealth at the same time. We should continue trying to make a manned flight to Mars.

Corporate financial statement analysis of Volkswagen

Corporate financial statement analysis of Volkswagen Abstract The main aim from this project is to analyze manufacturing company in term of ratios analysis and common size analysis. We took Volkswagen Group as a manufacturing company and we try to know what are the line business, major competitors, and the goals of Volkswagen Group. Then we start to make common size analysis (vertical and horizontal analysis) for both income statement and balance sheet from year 2005 to 2009 to see the financial performance of the company over the time. Moreover we make ratios analysis to check the liquidity, solvency, profitability, efficiency, and cash flow of the Volkswagen Group.Finally, the report is going to discuss the data that we found on common size analysis and ratios analysis. Also the report will include all the annual report from 2005 to 2009. Company profile a)What is the companys principal line of business and major competitors? Volkswagen Group majorly known as the VW group is a German originated automobile manufacturing group that is ranked third largest in world as a motor vehicle manufacturer. The core business of the group includes developing vehicles and components for all marques and manufacturing complete vehicles for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles marques. The group has world-wide working of operations but its primary focus is Europe market. Major competitors of Volkswagen are Toyotta, General Motors, Ford and Hyundai. b)On what day does the companys fiscal year end? The company Fiscal year ends on Dec, 31st c) What is the largest source of cash from financing activities? For the year ended Dec 31, 2009 its â€Å"Proceeds from issue of Bonds† d) What is the largest use of cash from investing activities? For the year ended Dec 31, 2009 its â€Å"Disposal of Equity Investments† e) What is the average income tax rate for the fiscal year reported? Income tax rate for 2005 is : 35.2%, 2006: 9.1%, 2007:37.0 %, 2008: 29.1%, 2009: 27.7%. The average tax rate is 27.62%. f) What is the average issue (sale) price per share of common stock issued as of the end of the fiscal year reported? The average issue (sale) price per share â‚ ¬ 149.42 Company goals and achievements Descriptive information, Compare goals provided in annual reports with achievements in the following periods, seek for any possible predetermined standards and find out whether the company achieved them in the following periods. There are numerous objectives and goals set by the Management of Volkswagen with the motive of enabling the company to expand the scope of its business and generate sustainable success by focusing on its customers and environment. As part of business operations management, the Board has focused on introducing measures to improve cost structures through process optimization overall and modular strategy implementation. The implementation of these goals can be seen through the financial performance of Volkswagen where in terms of sales, the related costs are kept in controlled and balanced trend with no irregular hikes. Volkswagen goal of servicing its customers with most innovative and fascinating vehicles is met with its ability to generate increased world-wide sales and improved cost position. In 2007, the company earned a sales record of 6.2 million vehicles. As part of Volkswagens global business strategy, the goal of the company had been to implement its multi brand strategy and introduce most environments friendly and broadest vehicle range. Towards implementing these goals, the company in year 2009 has been able to cope with the weak industry trends due to financial and economic crisis overall. Its implementation of integration and partnerships with Porsche and Suzuki have unlocked many growth prospects. It is the result of such policies of management that Volkswagen group did not suffer from the financial crisis to the extent most of the competitors did. The focus of maintaining quality standards is also evident from the analysis of financial statements where each year better quality improving standards and procedure are implemented as part of production processes to enable Volkswagen in delivering its customers best equipped quality vehicles. Future goals of company include exploring more developments in fuel efficiency for vehicles and climate friendly fuels as key components of automobility along with driver assistance systems to promote fuel efficient driving. Common Size Analysis Ratios analysis Data Analysis Having done with a thorough financial statement analysis of Volkswagen Group for year 2005-2009, it is seen that the company as a key component of Automobile Industry has been able to maintain its financial performance with slight disturbance in profits for fiscal year 2009 as a result of global depression in markets. Firstly having a look at the vertical common size analysis of Volkswagen Income statement and Balance sheet revealed that most items of Income statement and Balance sheet do not present any major fluctuations over five years. Year 2007 and 2008 were better performing business years where due to decreased CGS as a percentage of Sales, overall profitability was improved i.e. Operating profit and EBT improved from 2% in 2006 to 6% in 2007 and 2008. However, due to an overall market recession profitability has significantly decreased due to burden on costs and expenses i.e. PAT decreased from 4% in 2008 to 1% in 2009. The vertical common size balance sheet showed the group structure consists of Debt: Equity of 80:20. Other significant values are fixed assets, cash, inventory and financial service receivables. The horizontal common size analysis of Income statement and balance sheet taking 2005 as base year showed a healthy growth trend for years 2006-2008, whereas for year 2009, it exposed a decreased trend of profitability significantly in operating profit, Profit before tax and Profit after tax. The balance sheet shows increasing and decreasing fluctuations when looked at individual items but overall can be considered relatively stable and improving. The Ratio analysis of financial statements is done to evaluate the performance of company in a given year using relations between different balance sheet, income statement and cash flow items. Volkswagen analysis of different financial ratios over the period of 5 years enabled us in seeing the performance of Group under five heads: Assets efficiency, liquidity, cash flow, profitability and solvency. Assets efficiency: These ratios are used to check the efficiency of a company i.e. how efficiently assets of company are used in generating revenue. The fixed asset turnover and total asset turnover ratios are lower in magnitude over the time period under analysis. Generally the greater the magnitudes of these ratios the efficient are the assets of a company are considered in generating sales revenue. Volkswagen group assets turnover ratios for last five years vary within range of 0.5 and 1.2 which is not quite impressive. The inventory turnover ratio over the last five years shows a mixed trend whereas the receivable and payable turnover are also a concern as payable turnover should be greater in magnitude than receivable whereas its the opposite case here. Profitability: The profit margins for past five shows an increasing trend till 2008, however for year 2009 profitability is effected due to decreased sales and pressures on costs. The trends for Return on assets and equity, are also the same, whereas the magnitude of these is moderate. The earnings per share for the group is attractive enough just declines much for year 2009 i.e. from â‚ ¬4.6 in 2008 to â‚ ¬0.9 in 2009. Liquidity: These are the ratios derived from balance sheet and measure ability of company to generate liquid funds to pay its debts. The current and quick ratios for Volkswagen fall within the range of 0.9 and 1.2 for past five years which is considered well enough for liquidity purposes. The cash conversion cycle is the number of days cash is tied up in production and sales process. Our analysis shows a mixed trend which is observed to decrease in 2009 which is a good indicator. The receivable collection and payable deferral periods are also in favor of companys liquidity requirements. Cash flow: The cash flow ratio of less is one is indicative of greater chances for bankruptcy. Volkswagen cash flow ratio over past five years is consistently low and need attention. Debt /Solvency: These show the overall debt load of company. The debt as compared to assets does not portrays greater risks, however greater dependence if debt as compared to equity increases leverage and so the risk scope for the Volkswagen.

School Readiness: Literature Review

School Readiness: Literature Review School Readiness The heart and core of this paper is the increased emphasis on School Readiness. The paper would define the integration, Cognition and Emotion with conceptualization of Childrens functioning at School level Entry. The character of work and society in the United States is changing. The technological nature of the information-based economy is placing increased emphasis on the active role of the individual in seeking out and applying knowledge in diverse ways. The workplace and the classroom increasingly require ready access to information and analytical and creative thinking skills that allow for self-regulated learning through goal setting, strategy use, and self-monitoring. Indeed, some see the ability of our educational institutions to enhance thinking skills and produce self-regulated learners as having broad implications for the future role of the United States in the global economy and the ongoing viability of the democratic process (Bransford, Brown, Cocking, 1999; Presidents Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology, 1997). PART I Problem Statement From the standpoint of research on learning, the growing emphasis on thinking skills and self-regulation signals the need for increased understanding of the ways in which young children become active seekers and appliers of knowledge (Lambert McCombs, 1998). High levels of motivation and self-regulation are clearly associated with academic achievement independent of measured intelligence (Gottfried, 1990; Skinner, Zimmer-Gembeck, Connell, 1998). The developmental origins of motivation and engaged learning during early childhood, however, are less well known. Parents involvement, peer-group influences, and school characteristics have all been shown to influence motivation and engagement (e.g., Eccles, Wigfield, Schiefele, 1998; Grolnick Ryan, 1989; Ryan, 2000). But childrens characteristics associated with engagement in learning, particularly those related to brain development, have been less well studied. Part II Analysis of Policy Approaches Recent advances in developmental neuroscience indicate the rapid growth and modification in infancy and early childhood of brain areas that subserve self-regulation, including emotion, memory, and attention (Nelson Luciana, 2001). An important next scientific step in the study of self-regulation and engaged learning is the examination of implications of this rapid change and its determinants for functional outcomes, such as the adjustment to school (Byrnes Fox, 1998). To this end, I detail a central role for emotionality and emotion-related functioning in neurological development and childrens adjustment to school. I conclude by suggesting that influences on emotionality can influence the development of neurological interconnections among structures underlying emotion and higher order cognition. As such, these influences on emotionality are particularly relevant to the design and implementation of early compensatory educational programs to promote childrens school readiness (see Nelson, 2000b) and can assist in the ongoing construction of an empirical foundation on which to erect social policy designed to meet Americas foremost educational goal: ensuring that all children enter school ready to learn (Lewit Baker, 1995; Zigler, 1998). However, although my focus is on the development of self-regulation abilities as an aspect of school readiness, only by keeping in mind that readiness is a multidimensional construct involving family, peer, school, a nd community levels of influence will the value of the neurodevelopmental perspective on self-regulation become apparent. Ecologically minded thinkers on readiness focus on transactional, systemic models of influences and seek to define processes at multiple levels (S. L. Kagan, 1990, 1992; Meisels, 1996; Pianta Walsh, 1996). Within this developmental transactional approach, the study of emotionality provides an excellent framework for arraying multiple influences on readiness. Part III- (Recent Legislation) Whether defined as the regulation of emotion in appropriate social responding or the regulation of attention and selective strategy use in the execution of cognitive tasks, self-regulatory skills underlie many of the behaviors and attributes that are associated with successful school adjustment. Researchers have long considered intelligence to be a key predictor of success in school. Indicators of self-regulation ability, however, are independent and perhaps equally powerful predictors of school adjustment. Much of the literature on school readiness points to the importance of self-regulation (Grolnick Slowiaczek, 1994; Normandeau Guay, 1998; Wentzel, Weinberger, Ford, Feldman, 1990). Clear relations between achievement and the percentage of time that students are engaged in academic activities have been demonstrated both in elementary and in preschool regular and special education classrooms (Carta, Greenwood, Robinson, 1987; Greenwood, 1991). Emotionality and regulatory aspects of measures of temperament have also been implicated in school achievement in both regular and special education classrooms. Children who are temperamentally less distractible and exhibit more positively valenced and moderate levels of emotional intensity are rated by their teachers as being more teachable and achieve at higher levels academically than do children without these characteristics (Keogh, 1992; Martin, Drew, Gaddis, Moseley, 1988; Palinsin, 1986). As well, aspects of social and cognitive self-regulation, such as those implicated in friendship and social interaction skills (Ladd, Birch, Buhs, 1999) and in perceived control over learning (Skinner et al., 1998), point to a key role for childrens self-regulatory ability in the transition to school. Further, data from the National Center for Education Statistics survey of kindergarten teachers ratings of child characteristics considered to be essential or very important to being ready to start kindergarten indicate teachers predominant concern for regulatory aspects of childrens behavior (Lewit Baker, 1995). In particular, it is noteworthy that 84% of teachers endorsed that children need to be able to communicate wants, needs, and thoughts verbally, 76% endorsed the idea that children need to be enthusiastic and curious, and 60% endorsed that children need to be able to follow directions, not be disruptive of the class, and be sensitive to other childrens feelings. In contrast, only 21% of teachers endorsed the need for children to be able to use a pencil or paintbrush, and only 10% and 7%, respectively, endorsed knowing several letters of the alphabet and being able to count to 20 as being essential or very important to being ready to start kindergarten. In addition, in a survey conducted by the National Center for Early Development and Learning, 46% of a nationally representative sample of kindergarten teachers indicated that over half the children in their class lacked the kinds of abilities and experiences that would enable them to function productively in the kindergarten classroom (Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, Cox, 2000). This suggests that many children are arriving at school without effective self-regulation skills. Overall, the results of these teacher surveys clearly indicate that kindergarten teachers are concerned with childrens regulatory readiness for school activities rather than with more strictly cognitive and academic aspects of readiness. The surveys suggest that teachers are concerned with being able to teach; that is, they are concerned with the capacity of each child to be attentive and responsive and to become engaged in the classroom. Development of Regulation Despite growing interest in self-regulation and evidence for its direct relevance to school readiness, individual differences in self-regulation and the relation of these individual differences to functional outcomes, such as the adjustment to school, have not been studied. The developing cognitive skills that, in part, form the basis for self-regulated learning are generally referred to as executive or metacognitive skills. Executive function is a construct that unites working memory, attention, and inhibitory control for the purposes of planning and executing goal-directed activity (Bell, 1998; Lyon Krasnegor, 1996; Zelazo, Carter, Reznick, Frye, 1997). That is, the construct combines basic cognitive processes within a goal-directed executive that marshals resources toward a desired end state. Normative developmental study of executive function, usually in cross-sectional designs with a battery of neuropsychological assessments, indicates an age-related maturational developmental course for the construct and its component processes (Krikorian Bartok, 1998; Luciana Nelson, 1998; Welsh, Pennington, Groisser, 1991). These findings support the idea that the emergence of behaviors indicative of cognitive processes involved in executive function are dependent to some extent on the development of the prefrontal cortex at ages approximately congruent with school entry (Gerstadt, Hong, Diamond, 1994; Luciana Nelson, 1998). As well, the finding that executive ability and general intelligence are only moderately correlated (Krikorian Bartok, 1998; Welsh et al., 1991) further underscores that executive regulatory skill is an independent contributor to the school-adjustment process. Clinical examination of frontal lobe damage has indicated that frontal dysfunction, depending on t he exact location of the deficit, leaves specific cognitive abilities and general intelligence largely intact but greatly impairs planning, self-monitoring, attention, and responsiveness to impending reward or punishment (Damasio, 1994; Eslinger, Biddle, Pennington, Page, 1999; Tranel Eslinger, 2000). A longitudinal study of the development of one aspect of executive cognition, referred to as effortful or inhibitory control has demonstrated it to be an antecedent of the internalization of norms of conduct in young children (Kochanska, Murray, Coy, 1997). When examined by a multimethod measure defined as the ability to inhibit a predominant response when instructed to engage in a subdominant response (i.e., to be told to wait to eat a cookie or to unwrap a present), effortful control has been shown to increase with age, to be stable, and to become increasingly coherent. As well, several characteristics of children and parents have been associated with the construct of effortful control. Childrens capacity for focused attention in infancy and maternal responsiveness to children, as well as parental personality characteristics such as dependability, prudence, and self-control, have been associated with variation in effortful control (Kochanska, Murray, Harlan, 2000). Similarly, maternal responsiveness in infancy, as assessed by a measure of the affective synchrony of the mother and child in face-to-face interaction, has been identified as a precursor of effortful control at age 24 months. Most notably, however, the interaction of mother–child affective synchrony with child negative emotionality appears to be a highly salient predictor of self-regulation. In particular, the impact of affective synchrony in mother–infant interaction on the development of effortful control is large for children exhibiting high negative emotionality in infa ncy. The effect of affective synchrony on effortful control for infants not characterized by negative emotionality is substantially smaller (Feldman, Greenbaum, Yirmiya, 1999). The role of negative emotionality in early intervention to prevent grade retention is of strong interest. Grade retention appears to be a well-intentioned educational practice that frequently has deleterious consequences for childrens academic and social success in school (Shepard Smith, 1989). In spite of evidence indicating adverse outcomes associated with its use, the practice persists, and effective programs to prevent its occurrence are needed. The continued use of grade retention as a remedial strategy seems to reflect the lack of alternative solutions when teachers have concerns about the academic progress, maturity, and general school readiness of individual children. To the extent to which grade retention is dependent on interrelations among childrens social, emotional, and cognitive adaptation to school, it may be that early compensatory education interventions that specifically address social and emotional functioning can prevent its occurrence. Future Directions Examination of emotionality within early intervention to promote school readiness and prevent grade retention provides a useful model for evaluating the role that programs to enhance social and emotional competence might play in preschool education. The study of emotionality suggests that a particularly promising direction for early intervention efforts may be the implementation in preschool and early elementary school of programs that combine interventions focusing on social and emotional competence with early compensatory education. Such programs would provide an exceptionally strong model for the promotion of school readiness and school success. As noted above, several early compensatory education interventions have demonstrated cognitive benefits to program recipients. Several school-based programs to enhance social and emotional competence have also demonstrated benefits to childrens social competence (see Eisenberg, Wentzel, Harris, 1998, for a review). An interesting area in which programs focusing on social competence interface with more cognitively oriented programs is problem solving related to the development of executive cognitive functioning. A particular example of the executive cognitive problem-solving approach to the promotion of prosocial behavior and social competence is the Promoting Alternative Thinking Skills (PATHS) curriculum, an intervention curriculum with demonstrated benefits to young childrens social competence, emotion regulation, and problem-solving skills in the early elementary grades (Greenberg, Kusche, Cook, Quamma, 1995). The neurobiological approach to early childhood education and school readiness is premised on the idea that the school classroom represents a distinct context within which specific regulatory demands are made of children. Children are expected to adapt to a socially defined role for which they may or may not have been previously socialized. Differences among children in the capacity for regulation within this environment, as well as differences in supports for childrens self-regulatory attempts both within and without this environment, are important to conceptualizations of readiness that view the transition to school within an ecological framework (Meisels, 1996; Pianta, Rimm-Kaufman, Cox, 1999). From the foregoing, it can be seen that a focus on childrens characteristics in the development of readiness does not preclude study of the influences of parents, schools, and communities. On the contrary, when viewed from the ecological contextual perspective that drives much of the resea rch on child development, it necessitates their inclusion. Researchers concerned with readiness over the past two decades have rightly moved from static child-focused conceptions of readiness embodied in academically oriented standardized tests of ability or aptitude. An exclusive focus on childrens cognitive skills and abilities in the assessment of readiness has proved to be of limited benefit (Pianta Walsh, 1996). This fact has rightly led researchers to seek alternative definitions for and determinants of readiness. This recognition of readiness as a socially constructed phenomenon has led to a broadening of the research base to include a focus on schools and teachers and the development of educational policies geared toward maximizing childrens potential for success in school (Graue, 1993; NAEYC, 1990; Willer Bredekamp, 1990). Continued efforts to foster readiness with an eye toward the neurobiology and psychophysology of childrens emotionality and regulation may be particularly likely to yield long-term benefits. In this, measures of biologically based processes can serve as both predictors and outcomes in the evaluation of programs to promote readiness and success in school. Programs to foster regulation can use physiological and neurocognitive measures to identify individuals at high risk for poor school outcome because of negative emotional reactivity. Treatment Ãâ€" Risk interactions can be specified that can increase the precision with which intervention effects on outcomes are estimated. Although-brain imaging techniques are perhaps not currently usable with children younger than seven years of age because of features of the assessment, magnetic resonance imaging and perhaps, under certain conditions, positron emission tomography could be used, along with physiological and neurocognitive assessments, as outcome measures of the efficacy of preschool interventions. Programs could demonstrate efficacy through assessments of behavioral outcomes and underlying neurobiology and physiology. As in the studies by Fox et al. (2001) and Davidson and Rickman (1999), which indicated change over time in emotional reactivity and EEG measures of frontal asymmetry, intervention studies might demonstrate change in frontal asymmetry and emotionality in response to curricula designed to reduce stress, foster emotional competence, and enhance attention, working memory, and other components of cognitive self-regulation. As noted by Nelson (1999), neuroscientific measurement techniques and knowledge of neural plasticity and human development are now sufficiently advanced to inform the conceptualization and evaluation of interventions to promote competence and foster resilience. PART IV Conclusion In conclusion, the neurobiological approach to the study of readiness can now supplant nativist or idealist conceptions of readiness that focus exclusively on maturation. The maturational view, primarily associated with Arnold Gessell (1925), posited that readiness comes about through the gradual development of abilities that facilitate learning: being able to sit quietly, to focus on work, to attend, and to follow directions. Certainly, there is some maturational component to the neurodevelopmental view of readiness; however, the traditional maturational view has been fully supplanted by an epigenetic conception of relations between nature and nurture (Elman et al., 1996). Indeed, the ideas that fostered the replacement of the traditional maturational view with an epigenetic conception of development were clearly in place in Gesells time, most notably in the work of Myrtle McGraw (1946/1995). Although any explicitly maturational view is and always has been unsuitable as a theoretical basis for child study, the child characteristics important for readiness that such a view purports to explain remain vital to the construct. In their modern form, however, these characteristics are now tethered to a comprehensive and ecologically sensitive framework relating neurobiological and behavioral research. Behavioral scientists, educators, and policymakers studying readiness and school adjustment should be aware of this. To this end, I have attempted to propose a conception of readiness that maintains a focus on relevant aspects of child functioning in a way that is theoretically and empirically well established and that has demonstrated or demonstrable links to family, peer, classroom, school, and community influences on readiness and school achievement.