Life Stressors Essay

Many daily hassles have contributed to a certain level of stress in our lives. For life to continue or achieve the set objectives, then the hassle must be there, no way we can avoid them. If we can not avoid these hassles, then we can manage then responsively for our well being and sound health. â€Å"Examples of the daily hassles are; regrets over past decisions, money worries or concerns and not enough time for family, relaxation or entertainment† (Coon & Mitterer†¦167). The pressures and demands that cause stress are called stressors. There are so many life stressors including, death of a close family member for instance the mother, divorce, bad health or a changing behavior of a family member. There are various symptoms that are visible to enable recognize that he or she undergoing stress. Stress causes mental, physical and emotional duress. To get a handle in stress, one needs first to learn how to recognize it. Incase of these daily hassles, a person needs to get used to then and prepare his/her psyche that without them there may be no tomorrow. If a person develops this mentality that the hassles are normal his /her conscious will not be bothering about the hassles. Incase of money, the rich who have the money are not satisfied, therefore a plan i. e. the budget in using the little money can save a person too much stress. The issue with lack of time to relax or be with family can solely be solved by good management of time resource and strictly adhere to the timetable or schedules. â€Å"Issues of the past can easily be avoided by getting occupied actively in the wok place and or focusing in the future† (Zautra†¦. 93). Stressors are the hardest to cope with but one must be occupied with no time to sit idle, talk to as many people as possible including counselors, pastors, close friends, workmates, and family members. To crown all these, â€Å"physical exercises are commendable to any kind of stressor or stress† (Cohen†¦57). Works Cited: Coon, Dennis & Mitterer, John, O. Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior. New York: Wadsworth Publishing, 2003. Cohen, S. Measuring Stress: A Guide for Health and Social Scientists. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Zautra, A. Emotions, Stress and Health. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Vague and Ambiguous

One main task of critical thinking is to identify these linguistic pitfalls. Let us start with the first major pitfall – obscurity. â€Å"Obscurity† here refers to unclear meaning. A concept or a linguistic expression can be unclear for various reasons. One reason is that it might be  ambiguous, i. e. having more than one meaning. The other reason is that it might be  vague. A term is said to be vague if there are borderline cases where it is indeterminate as to whether it applies or not.Finally, a term might also have an unclear meaning in that its meaning is  incomplete. Let us look at these cases one by one.  § M08. 1 Ambiguity There are actually different kinds of ambiguity: Lexical ambiguity This is a single word or term having more than one meaning in the language. For example, the word â€Å"deep† can mean profoundity (â€Å"What you have said is very deep. â€Å"), or it can be used to describe physical depth (â€Å"This hole is very deep†). Similarly for words like â€Å"young† (inexperienced or young of age), â€Å"bank† (river bank or financial institution), etc. Referential ambiguity It is not clear which thing or group is being referred to.This often arises when the context does not make it clear what a pronoun or quantifier is referring to. â€Å"Ally hit Georgia and then she started bleeding. † Who is hurt? Ally or Georgia? â€Å"Everybody is coming to the party. † Certainly â€Å"everybody† does not refer to every human being in the whole world. But then which group of people are we talking about? Of course in normal situations the speaker usually has some specific group of people in mind. Many people like to make very general statements, such as â€Å"All politicians are corrupt†. Literally, this statement implies that there is no politician who is not corrupted.But of course we can think of many counterexamples to such a claim. So the person who makes the statement might say â€Å"I don't really mean each and every politician. † But then who exactly are the people referred to? Syntactic ambiguity This means having more than one meaning because there is more than one way to interpret the grammatical structure. This can happen even when it is clear what the meanings of the individual words are. â€Å"We shall be discussing violence on TV. † – It might mean the discussion will be conducted during a television programme, or it might mean  violence on TV  is the topic to be discussed.When dealing with ambiguous language the thing to do is of course to clarify the meaning of the expression, for example by listing out all the different possible interpretations. This process of removing ambiguity is call â€Å"disambiguation†.  § M08. 2 Vagueness An term is  vague  if it has an imprecise boundary. This means that there are cases where it is indeterminate whether the term applies or not. For example, a small but c losed room with no windows or doors and no light inside is certain dark. If we switch on a 100W lightbulbs inside it will become bright.But we turn on the dimmer for the light and dim the light slowly until it goes out, then the room will gradually change from a bright room to a dark one. But there is no precise point at which the room suddenly ceases to be bright. Similarly, there is no precise point at which the room suddenly becomes dark. The terms â€Å"dark† and â€Å"bright† do not have clear boundaries of applications in this situation, and we say that these terms are vague. The term â€Å"a tall person† is also vague in that there are certain cases where it is hard to say whether a person is tall or not, but this indecision is not due to lack of knowledge about that person's height.You might know exactly how tall that person is, but still you don't know whether he is tall or not. This is because the meaning of the term is not precise enough. Other exampl es of vague terms : â€Å"heavy†, â€Å"dark†, â€Å"mountain†, â€Å"clever†, â€Å"cheap†. Notice that  we should make a distinction between vagueness and ambiguity. A word can be vague even though it is not ambiguous, and an ambiguous term having more than one meaning would not be said to be vague if the different meanings it has are very precise. Vague terms can be useful in everyday life  because often we do not have to be too precise.How precise we should be depends of course on the context. A form of (bad) argument about vagueness which we often encounter : â€Å"There is really no difference between X and Y because it is often quite unclear whether something is X or Y. † Example : â€Å"There is really no such thing as objective truth or falsity. Whether something is true or false is often hard to say. † This is a bad argument because even though a distinction might have borderline cases, it does not follow that the distin ction is not real. For example, it might sometimes be unclear whether a room is dark or bright.But (a) there is still a real distinction between dark and bright rooms, and (b) there can be clear cases where we have one but not the other. Vagueness should be avoided when we want to speak precisely, as vagueness decreases the informational content of a claim. For example, compare these sentences : â€Å"He is quite old, actually exactly eighty years old. † â€Å"He is quite old, actually about eighty years old. † â€Å"He is quite old. † Many students often like to ask questions such as : â€Å"Is there going to be a lot of homework for this course? † â€Å"Is the final exam going to be difficult? â€Å"But of course words like â€Å"difficult† and â€Å"a lot† are vague. Vague terms can make a claim vague and impossible to confirm or disprove. Horoscope predictions for example : â€Å"Be prepared for a change of direction this week as some thing crops up. † – SCMP Sunday Post Magazine. â€Å"This piece of news is going to affect the market somewhat. † But of course one might try to use vagueness to one's advantage in order to be non-committal or imprecise. â€Å"As a minister I agree that to some extent I am responsible. † â€Å"The government will deal with this problem in an appropriate manner when the right time comes. †  § M08. Incomplete Meaning A term has an  incomplete meaning  if the property or relation it expresses depends on some further parameter to be specified by the context, either explicitly or implicitly. This includes terms such as â€Å"useful†, â€Å"important†, â€Å"similar† and â€Å"better†. Practically all objects are useful and important only in some respects but not others. For example, is love more important than money? Well, it depends. If you are starving to death, then money is more important. But if you are trying to de termine which of the two contributes more to a happy and fulfilling life, then the answer might be different.So just saying that something is useful or important is empty unless it is made clear in what way it is so. This is also necessary if we want to evaluate whether what is said is true or not. â€Å"The education director shall visit Scotland to study their educational system because it is similar to the one in Hong Kong. † â€Å"Will this year's final exam be similar to the one last year? † â€Å"It is better to be beautiful than to be good. But . . . it is better to be good than to be ugly. † –   Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900) â€Å"Art never improves, but . . . the material of art is never quite the same. † –   T. S. Eliot (1888 – 1965)

Case Study Wal-Mart Essay

Evaluate the general environment of Wal-Mart using the framework in Chapter 2. What are the key opportunities and threats facing Wal-Mart? (This is the â€Å"OT† of a SWOT analysis)Wal-Mart’s builds its stores in towns with a population size of 5000-25,000 people. Wal-Mart has recently started to tap into the more populated city suburbs by building smaller less obtrusive stores in those regions. Wal-Mart targets every age group from infants to senior citizens. Wal-Mart’s geographically places it’s stores in rural less populated areas with very few employment opportunities. Wal-Mart tries to attract all income levels by selling brand name items along with generic brand items. Wal-Mart approaches its global market by evaluating market potential based on economic and political risk, growth potential, and availability of real estate for development. In countries that had became saturated Wal-Mart used acquisitions to acquire ownership. In markets that were not saturated and land was easily accessible Wal-Mart used organic growth. The technology that Wal-Mart uses to run their business is unmatched. They have a network of satellites that can track a person purchase and automatically refurbish those items from suppliers without any human intervention. Wal-Mart maximizes efficiency by using effective technology to gain a competitive advantage. Wal-Mart has grown into a global empire and has become the world largest private employer and the number one retailer in the world. Despite all of this success Wal-Mart still has a huge opportunity to grow. Wal-Mart continues to adapt to the ever-changing economy by remodeling their store and by placing the customer as their number one priority. Wal-Mart took advantage of its rural locations early on and gained a significant competitive advantage, now Wal-Mart is taking on the urban environment by placing stores in the outskirts of major metropolitan areas. At first local residents rejected the idea of having a Wal-Mart in their neighborhood for fear it would drive down property value and unwanted individuals to their suburbanite neighborhood. Wal-Mart quickly resolved this problem by changing the format and size of their stores located in these regions. The only threats to Wal-Mart faces are mostly from within (eg..) lawsuits employee disputes and the threat to become unionized. Use Porter’s Five Forces Model to analyze the global retailing industry. Given this analysis, is the industry attractive or unattractive? Support  your decision. Wal-Mart is a huge threat to new entrants. Wal-Mart has created huge barriers to new entries by offering one stop shopping. Wal-Mart’s Super Centers offer everything from prepared meals to sports gear. Grocery chains have taken a huge hit because of this, even Kmart is feeling the heat, there stock hit rock bottom in 2004. The discount clothing and apparels have also taken a bite from this retail giant. Wal-Mart has produced a very proficient economy of scale from incremental improvements that they have acquired since becoming so large. Manufactures scramble to try and keep up with the huge demand that Wal-Mart places on its suppliers, this further reduces the prices of goods and services for their customers. Small-scale entries are nearly impossible in a region where Wal-Mart is located. Large-scale entries face the retaliation factor when trying to tap into Wal-Mart’s market because suppliers are forced to do things the Wal-Mart way. Wal-Mart has successfully customized many of their products and forced manufactures have been forced to produce the Wal-Mart brand. Wal-Mart has taken total control of the bargaining power of suppliers. Wal-Mart has a small group of buyers based in Bentonville Arkansas that’s in charge of managing the purchasing of all retail stores. Wal-Mart is responsible for selling 35% of all pet food, 24% of all toothpaste, the largest volume of jewelry, groceries, DVDs, CDs, toys, guns, diapers, sporting goods, bedding, and numerous other things. This has put the retail giant in a very favorable negotiating position with suppliers. Wal-Mart has generated a huge market of loyal buyers by supplying them with the lowest possible prices for quality products. With Wal-Mart having such a huge share of the market and good prices there is no need for buyers to seek deals elsewhere. Wal-Mart has proven to be a huge threat of substitute products in several industries for example the jewelry industry, Wal-Mart has become one of the leading jewelry dealers in the North America. Wal-Mart has also created its own brand name for several of its items that have been so successful that manufactures are forced to produce products bearing the Wal-Mart brand. Wal-Mart competitors have to be very calculated with their responses because Wal-Mart is so large it can really drive a business under ground (Kmart). What is Wal-Mart’s business-level strategy? Is the strategy appropriate to offset the forces in the industry? Do you recommend any changes? If not, support your decision why you would not recommend any changes. Wal-Mart uses Integrated Lost Leadership/Differentiation Strategy. Wal-Mart has offset the forces in the industry by creating the most efficient supply chain in the industry. Efficient production has allowed Wal-Mart to keep cost low and pass own saving to its customers. Wal-Mart has successfully used Integrated Cost Leadership/Differentiation Strategy by setting the pace in new technology and adapting quickly to new technologies in their external environment. Concentration on the needs of its core customers (discount retailers), Wal-Mart has created a friendly family environment that’s economically smart and beneficial to its patrons. Flexibility is one of Wal-Mart’s strongest assets, which allows them to complete primary and support activities in ways that allow them to produce somewhat differentiated products at a low cost. I would not personally recommend any changes to this strategy because it has made Wal-Mart the worlds largest retailer. What is your evaluation of the leadership at Wal-Mart?Wal-Mart has become the most successful business in the world through its un-yielding leadership. Mr. Walton has laid the foundation for success for years to come. The leaders at Wal-Mart focus on providing the customer with the highest possible quality at the lowest possible cost. They have redefined the retail industry with their cutting edge technology and flexibility that is un-matched by any competitor. The fact that upper management travel in economy class shows a lot about the character within the organization. The leadership at Wal-Mart has made the world we live in much smaller through economic availability and convenience. The leaders at Wal-Mart are a true example of profit through customer satisfaction. Works Cited Hitt, M., Ireland, R., & Hoskisson, R. (2007), Strategic Management, Competitiveness andGlobalization: Concepts and Cases. 7th ed. Mason: Thomson South-Western(August 21, 2006). Global Labor Strategies: Wal-Mart: The Homefront. RetrievedSeptember 18, 2007,

The Ultimate Program for Gifted Learners Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Ultimate Program for Gifted Learners - Essay Example It gives them a place and an identity in the world. They help him carve for himself a good standard of living and a decent status in society, depending on the upbringing he gets. Nevertheless, these are not good enough for a child gifted with special learning abilities and talents. Funds and resource material are important and necessary to discover and hone the skills of the pupil with special learning abilities. However, these are just some of the tools to be put in place for such students. Unlimited funds and resource do not necessarily guarantee success for an aspiring pupil seeking to discover his special talents and abilities. Equally important is confidence building measures and emotional factors that play a vital role in shaping the future and lives of these students. Nothing can replicate their worth and value. They comprise the bond of relationship between the tutor and the taught. A very large premium is placed on the intelligence and integrity of the tutor, for these are the standards the student will seek to emulate. It is customary in schools to allow brilliant students, especially in the lower classes, to skip a grade, in order to accelerate their education and put them up at a grade which will be a match for their level of intelligence. We so often come across students too young for the grade they are in. However, their performance is brilliant. They are promoted in a double measure. This is done in order to introduce them to a curriculum which will prove to be a match to their special learning skills which is superior to their peers. A fourth-grade student who shows extraordinary skills in mathematics, science and English, qualify for grade-skipping and is promoted to the sixth grade, even if the rest of the students in the new class are senior to him by a couple of years. Education acceleration helps accommodate him at a level where he could enthusiastically prove himself and gain confidence. These students automatically qualify for the program. (http://www.projectappleseed.org/gifted.html) 2. The next group of students who may qualify are those who consistently remain among the first five rankers in a class of 40-45 students. These are the ones who possess extraordinary learning skills and leadership qualities. It is necessary to consider this group of students even if they do not necessarily qualify for grade skipping, in order to ensure that no deserving student is left out of the program. Also, gifted children with Learning Disabilities (LD) must be given the opportunity to seek admission in the program. Until recently, students with the LD tag were written off as below average students. Ultimately, most of them ended up as dropouts. However, times have changed. Students with learning disabilities are no longer treated as misfits. It may be difficult to identify their

The Medium is the Message Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Medium is the Message - Essay Example The first sign was from a Prudential magazine advertisement that appeared in the New Yorker. With this concept in mind it’s clear that the denotative intentions of the advertiser were to reach a more educated audience, who already has a general understanding of financial aspects and upper-level vocabulary and comprehension skills. In these regards, the extent the audience is clearly middle to upper class and educated. There are a great many visual techniques elements in the signification mechanisms in the advertisement. The first notable concept is that the advertising consists of a full page spread with an entirely dark blue background. The effect of this sign is such that it creates a juxtaposing effect in relation to the heavy text-based stories that constitute the majority of the magazine. In terms of specific pictures, in the upper-right hand of the advertisement a city backdrop is pictured in muted-tones. The signification of this imagery seems to indicate that Prudentia l has an urban feel, perhaps reminiscent of Wall Street. This is further indicative of an understanding of financial systems as being rooted in industrial or urban life. The very functions of the urban experience demonstrate the gear and wheels of the working economy; indeed, right next to the picture of buildings are pictures of gears in motion that connotatively demonstrate this point. Pictured even further to the left of these individuals is a small man in yellow. The implication of this signs seems to empathize with the potential customer or client. In essence, the advertising is situating the reader in the position of the small man in yellow, and the Prudential advertisement is saying that through going to Prudential for financial advice will result in the individual being able to navigate this challenging urban environment. The overall signification of the advertisement seems to indicate that through Prudential’s experience the reader will be able to navigate the challe nges of the contemporary financial environment. It implements contrast to bring out the heading ‘Bring Your Challenges’ which also signifies the denotative theme of the advertisement (New Yorker). It also displays this theme in connotative ways through the juxtaposition of the small man in yellow and the city backdrop. Ultimately, the advertisement sign has a denotative theme – ‘Bring Your Challenges’ – that is connoted through textual and visual ways as a means of appealing to the reader with the greatest possible emotional impact. The next advertisement considered is from ESPN the Magazine. The advertisement is for an online poker site, PokerStars.net. The denotative sign consists of an individual in the background sitting next to a poker table. The individual appears to be throwing grenades onto the table. In the foreground there is a picture of an individual’s hand holding two playing cards. Above the cards are the words ‘figh t or flight’ (ESPN the Magazine). Perhaps most notable about this sign in relation to the sign that was featured in the New Yorker is the drastically less amount of text that is implemented. One can make an ideological statement on this, indicating that it represents the decreased median education level of readers of ESPN the Magazine as compared to the New Yorker. In terms of the

Facial Reconstruction Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Facial Reconstruction - Research Paper Example Third is the measurement of the soft tissue thickness and marking of the anatomical locations (currently standard are 21 points). Finally, the landmarks are joined; spaces are filled in the lattice and model smoothed to produce a possible look of the deceased. There are both 2-D and 3-D manual and computer aided methods that support forensic facial reconstruction. Facial recreation are currently used for medical purposes and supporting legal issues in crimes and investigation, other than for retaining the historical memories of unknown past heroes from centuries ago. Keywords: Facial Reconstruction, Approximated Look, Skeleton, Skull, Victims, 3-D and 2-D Imaging, CT Scanning, Facial Soft Tissue Thickness, Modelling, Anatomical Locations, Landmarks, Investigation, Artists, The first ideas in the mind of unfamiliar people to the term facial reconstruction would be surgical operations to repair human faces. Such a need would be cosmetic purposes or to re-shape deformities of birth or accidents. Others especially in the fields of arts and law would relate the term to the identification of human remains using the skull. While some may view these two ideas differently, they are basically founded through a similar principle. It is possible to restore back the face of patient whose face has been severely disfigured in an accident, just like reconstructing the face of a deceased person based on the skull after the body’s decomposition over the years. The face has to be reconstructed through the available methods, before the reconstructive surgery is undertaken. According to Miller, Vandome and McBrewster â€Å"forensic facial reconstruction is the process of recreating the face of an unidentified individual from their skeletal remains through an amalgamation of artistry, forensic science, anthropology, osteology, and anatomy† (2009, n.p.). With additional information recorded or acquired from close family

Financial Management of Information Systems Essay

Financial Management of Information Systems - Essay Example Customer service, operations, product and marketing strategies, and distribution are heavily, sometimes even entirely, dependent on IT. For example, the internet and intranets, and external inter-organizational networks, called extranets can provide the information infrastructure that a business needs, to make it more efficient and effective. Information systems perform three vital roles in any type of organization. They support business operations, guide managerial decision-making, and provide strategic and competitive advantage to the organization (ICFAI Center for Management Research, 2003). The hierarchical classification of an organization comprises three levels - operational, tactical, and strategic. The nature of decisions made at each level is different. Therefore, the information requirements at different levels are also different. At the operational level, a large quantity of data needs to be processed. This data is usually generated by business transactions with customers, suppliers etc. At the tactical level, the concern shifts from day-to-day decisions that have a short-term focus, to those which have a medium-term impact on the organization. Consolidated reports on the performance of various business units would be required to compare plans with actual, and to take remedial measures for any deviations. At the strategic level, in addition to the internal information, the decision-makers need information from the external environment as decisions at this level are taken in situations marked by uncertainty. The objective of using information technology in business is to determine business processes, which are relevant for applications, which will improve business performance. This may involve improvements in the efficiency of operations, in the quality of the management processes and even in the way; the business is conducted or organized. When it is targeted at operational efficiency, transaction processing becomes important. Transaction processing is a fundamental activity of every organization. Although an information system has a very important role to play in supporting management, ensuring control, and undertaking other knowledge work, such an emphasis should in no way, obscure its importance in transaction processing. Without transaction processing, normal functioning of an organization would be impossible, and the data for management information would not be available. Beyond such operational level, processing of data, information systems have specific applications in the various functions of an organization, like accounting etc. Information technology can benefit businesses in many ways. It helps businesses in performing various functions, solving business problems and pursuing business opportunities. Since organizations are goal-oriented, there should be a clear understanding of the type of information to be collected, stored and analyzed. Management can be categorized into top, middle and lower management. Due to the difference in the nature of decisions taken at different levels of management, their information needs also vary. This information should also be consistent with the requirement of the organizational level at which it is targeted. Accounting information systems are the oldest, and perhaps the most widely used information syste

A Bear Workshop Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

A Bear Workshop - Essay Example The management structure has knowledgeable and dedicated staff that provide ample knowledge exchanges in an interactive environment with customers. This is a fundamental strength of a business to be able to provide better customer relationship management and provide them with exactly what customers are looking for. Clearly, the owner understands the importance of cost monitoring when it comes to purchasing and production and will likely continue these trends over the next five to ten years. Having a strategic-focused management system is the key to ensuring a proper expansion. If the business conducts regular market research using focus groups or interviews with target customers, it will likely find more success in identifying social and buying trends early in order to gain market share in the toy market. Further, growth in Internet usage in developing countries such as India, China and Pakistan will provide even more customers in an environment that is convenient. Through agreements with different distribution agencies, Build A Bear will probably be able to find low-cost distribution to ensure that many international customers are able to buy the products and have them delivered in a timely fashion. If the business remains focused on product rather than pricing, higher resource (financial) consumers will likely recognize the brand and have a loyalty that can be built up over the next five years.

Materiality in Auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 6

Materiality in Auditing - Essay Example Materiality levels of organization are often undisclosed to avoid fraud that may be conducted by the parties involved in preparing financial statements. Analysis of the fundamentalism and the secrecy of materiality are essential in understanding how this concept is applicable in the auditing profession. Materiality is a concept that describes discrepancies in the financial statements that may mislead the decision making process of users of those records (Stuart, 2012). The discrepancies may be included or omitted in the financial statements intentionally or as a result of errors in recording. If users of accounting records would not change their decision after the correction of the discrepancies, the misstatement are said to be immaterial. However, if users of financial statements would change their decisions after the corrections, then the discrepancies are said to be material (Messier, Martinov-Bennie, & Eilifsen, 2005, p. 5). Materiality in the financial statements may be individual or collective. Individual materiality is the one that occurs when a record in an account is recorded wrongly. Collective materiality, on the other hand, is the one that arises when the total discrepancies in two or more accounts of a similar classification mislead decision makers (FRC, 2013). Auditors have to determine the level of discrepancies that they will find to be immaterial and those that are material at the planning stage. The materiality level is usually stated in quantitative figures such as percentages. For example, the auditors may state that a misstatement of the income before tax by 5% and below is immaterial while the error is material of it exceeds this allowance (Lessambo, 2013). Examiners use professional judgement to determine the materiality allowances because there is no formula of calculating the amount. Auditors make their judgements based on their understanding of the factors that influence the decisions of users of financial reports (IAASB, 2009).

Short History on Cyber Space Essay Example for Free

Short History on Cyber Space Essay The Internet has been designed as a ‘pool of endless information’ for anyone who has access. With its introduction in the mid 1990’s, it has vastly changed the way we do business, obtain all kinds of data and the way we communicate in the world today. With its sheer potential, we have created the most powerful tool of our modern day technology. In a series of memos that were first written in 1962, by an MIT expert of the name of J. C.R Licklider, he had envisioned a type of ‘network’ in which a set of computers were globally interconnected in sharing information and anyone could access data from anyone of these terminals (Leiner, Cerf, Kahn Clark, 1962-1974). The Internet society believe that the Internet should be used by everyone freely, meaning that the number one objective is to promote the development, security and stability of the World Wide Web. Malicious attacks such as viruses, spams, spyware and other viscous attacks on hardware and software have become well known wide spread through the web. These attacks often result in irreparable damage and abuse the very freedom the Internet principles were based on (Internet security, 2012). Many aspects of our lives include the electronic transferring of data through some means of electronic devices such as cell phones, computers and other mobile devices such as emails and text messaging. Everything from traffic signals, car technology and airport/airplane navigation has been linked to the usage of transferring vital information via the web and through other communication channels. Government data such as birth records, social security documentation and tax records also need to be protect ed. This information is very confidential and establishes the identity of millions of people in the world today. What exactly is cyber security? In its broadest definition, it is the protection of information and computer systems in we rely on, whether at work or at school. Information is crucial and it may not be altered incorrectly. It should only be shared with the appropriate users and intentional parties. There are, of course, many different levels of security. The information must only be accessible to those who need it and have been intended to see it, for example, medical records. They should have a different level of security and only be made available to those who need this information such as the appropriate doctors, hospitals, insurance companies and other medical staff. These records need to be well protected to prevent anyone from making unauthorized changes resulting in harmful activities. Cyber security is becoming increasingly more important, because every day, new attack methods are being launched and thousands of web pages are discovered continuously in the involvement of illegal data breaches. Several examples of types of ‘electronic infections’ include ‘Denial-of-Service’, which includes the actual shut-down of many legitimate websites and denies access to its existing user base, rendering many users unable to access important information. Another type of malicious attacks is ‘Malworms’ or ‘Trojan Horses’; these are viruses spread by email and instant messaging, sometimes unaware by the user. They may be downloaded simply by visiting the wrong websites. ‘Botnets or Zombies’ use several computers to launch the attack and steal information across a spread of terminals, copying the ‘evil software’ from one device to the next. Social network attacks are also on the rise and sometimes a link may be posted to steal personal information or download a virus hidden by the attacker. User’s inherent trust in posting vital information for their friends is what causes these social networks to be prime targets for the attackers (Internet security, 2012). Today, 70% of large companies rank viruses and hacking ahead of fraud and physical break-ins as their greatest threat. The importance of protecting vital electronic data is more important today than it has ever been. Whether it is the stealing of information, the planting of malicious malware or simply the intention to ‘search and destroy’, hackers have become the nation’s number one threat in creating immense damage to businesses of all sizes and can severely impact a company’s integrity or capability to perform at its peak potential. IT security has now been placed very high on the risk management agenda of any major corporation (â€Å"Why cyber security, 2010). There are several examples of attacks on computers to obtain private information. One of many examples involves a 20 year old kid, by the name of Christopher Maxwell who created a 50,000 computer zombie network that caused approximately $135,000 in damage by infecting a Seattle hospital and various military locations. The attack shut down not only the finance departments, but also attacked computers in the hospital’s intensive care unit, seriously compromising many patients welfare (OBrien, 2007). With the high demands of IT versatility, companies are more and more in need of more flexible hardware and software to cater to the ever growing demands of data transfer and information storage capabilities. The technology is becoming more advanced and creates endless opportunities for today’s businesses however this also creates more opportunity for cyber criminals to launch attacks and become more proficient in succeeding with new ‘gateways’ to cause great harm or steal valuable data. A new recent trend in stealing data is when traveling employees use these so called ‘hot-spots’ to obtain internet access. Clever hijackers have found ways to throw up ‘splash pages’. These splash pages track user data, credit card details used to pay for the wireless service and other information that may be used to harm the employee and/or the company the person works for. This also applies to home networks. Usually, individuals do not invest into the same type of security that companies may do, making these home networks viable for attacks. This is very crucial, because the home computer can become infected with vicious malware and introduced into the workplace or vital information can be stolen that is confidential to the company (â€Å"Why cyber security, 2010). It is now known that the Secret service maintains its own Electronic Crimes Task Force (ECTFs), which focus on identifying and locating cyber criminals involved in all types of criminal activity such as bank fraud, sensitive data breaches and other cyber related issues. The DHS (Department of Homeland Security) prevented the potential losses of nearly $1.5 Billion through cyber crime and brought charges against 72 individual cyber criminals for their direct or indirect participation of wide-spreading the use of children pornography (â€Å"Combat cyber crime,n.d.). In most recent news, President Obama is considering issuing an executive order that would require the DHS to prepare a set of guidelines and rules in the combat against cyber criminal activity. In April of 2012 (this year) the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) was introduced into the House of Representatives, but failed to pass the Senate due to privacy issues, shows how serious Americans are on creating a plan of attack. Even though CISPA was not passed, the executive order that would be issued would not surpass the privacy issues that were the reason for CISPA not passing the Senate’s approval. The reason the CISPA bill did not pass is that several privacy advocacy groups oppsed the bill strongly because it would have allowed private companies to sell or exchange user data with the federal government for critical cyber security information (Koebler, 2012). Cyber security is the processes and practices designed to protect programs, networks and computers (and other devices) from malicious attacks and unsupervised access. It represents the body of technologies to understand and fight back in the event of unlawful damage and unnecessary harm (cybersecurity, 2010). The conclusion is to do our best to try and prevent as much cyber criminal activity as possible. There a few things that companies and individuals can do. Stop. Think. Connect. These basic rules and guidelines have been measured by the industry and several help factors have been evaluated. The first of many basic rules is to keep your firewall and security software (ani-virus programs) up-to-date. Computer viruses and hackers are like any other common flu virus, they evolve and become stronger with each step in their evolutionary path. Constantly changing your passwords on your devices/software is also recommended. On average (at a minimum) these passwords should be changed at least once every three months. The second recommendation is to shop online with the utmost care. Make sure you are on a HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) website when submitting personal information such as credit card numbers and bank account records or transactions. Another is laptop security. If a laptop is stolen, make sure you have the proper software installed. There is tracking software available to pinpoint where you laptop is and there is also software available that can remotely access your computer’s files, erase them on the stolen device, and then place them in a secure data center for recovery. Another important tip is to avoid spam and scams. Questions every email of which the origin you do not know or trust, because simply by opening the wrong email can one access a virus or other harmful software. Social networking has become huge and it is also a great tool to obtain and research valuable information. It is highly recommended that not all data be put out there for one to see. This information is sometimes easily accessible to the wrong individuals. Also, don’t just open any attachments or click on any suspicious links. Download with caution, because the Internet has a lot of harmful software out there that can cause serious damage to either your hardware or data files (and software). References cybersecurity. (2010, December). Retrieved from http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/cybersecurity Combat cyber crime. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.dhs.gov/combat-cyber-crime Internet security. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.internetsociety.org/what-we-do/issues/security?gclid=CNydtKjAr7ICFYSo4AodvnIA0g Koebler, J. (2012, September 11). Obama may use executive order to advance cybersecurity policies. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/09/11/obama-may-use-executive-order-to-advance-cybersecurity-policies Leiner, B., Cerf, V., Kahn, R., Clark, D. (1962-1974). Brief history of the internet. Retrieved from http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/internet-51/history-internet/brief-history-internet OBrien, R. (2007, January 22). Cyber crimes impact on

The Current Climate Change Trend In Malaysia

The Current Climate Change Trend In Malaysia Climate change is rapidly increased and become very serious global issue. The emission and concentration of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases is affecting the increase in temperature, and thus leading to global warming. The world community is very concerned with the impacts of climate change and the current series of extreme weathers that could possibly affect the global climate systems. In developed countries such USA, Europe and Japan, their community are increasingly aware of and concerned about global climate change and supportive of a wide range of mitigation and adaptation policies. Unfortunately, we also still know very little about international public opinion or behavior regarding climate change, in large part because only a few multi-national surveys have included even a single question on the issue (Leiserowitz, Kates, Parris, 2005; Brechin, 2003). Large majorities worldwide believe that human activities are a significant cause of climate change, yet many continue to confuse and conflate global warming with depletion of the ozone layer, which in turn leads many to support ineffectual solutions, such as the banning of aerosol spray cans. Malaysia is one of the countries in the world which is experiencing a warming trend for the past few decades. According to IPCC in year 2001, the global land precipitation has raising about 2% since the early of the 20th century. They also reported in year 2007, the extremely hot temperature, heat waves and heavy precipitation events will contribute to become more frequent. In the past few years, the frequency of long dry period tended to be higher with significant increase in the mean and variability of the length of the dry spells. All the indices of wet in these areas show a decreasing trend. Increasing temperature with long dry periods would give variable result of weather and climate (Deni et al., 2008). According to INC, 2000; Malaysias temperature and rainfall are rapidly increasing between +0.6 to 3.4C and -1 to +32% in 60 years repetitively and the rise of sea level is about 13-94 cm within 100 years respectively. Thus, these will give impacts on water resources, coastal zone, public health, food supply, drainage, flooding, land slides, haze, typhoons, and others negative phenomenon that need national and international responses to face climate change. Realizing the importance of reducing and combating the impact of climate change and GHGs emissions, the Malaysian government has taken concerted efforts towards this issue by introducing the mitigation programs in the Ninth Malaysian Plan. 2.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT Malaysias desire to achieve the status of a developed country by the year 2020 will require rapid economic growth and expansion, especially in the urban, industrial and commercial sectors. Economic growth is guided by the principles of sustainable development. The extent to which sustainable development is achieved will ultimately depend on the ability of the country to monitor and manage the impacts of economic activities on the environment. NGOs continue to advocate national efforts to address such issues as the economics of climate change, the compilation and publication of timely data on GHG emissions, and projections of energy consumption by different end-users. Most Malaysian is not aware of the effects of global warming. Being in a hot climate country and most likely holed up in their air conditioned offices, most did not notice the changes in daily temperatures. Rising temperatures from global warming are creating violent storms in Malaysia for the past few years. A disaster caused by climate change or global warming could be defined as a serious disruption to the functioning of a community or a society causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. Prediction about impact of climate change on public health are general, there are no specific region scenarios is available. Nevertheless, Malaysia can expect significant impact mainly because of its tropical weather with high rainfall and temperatures that make dangerous combinations for air factor, food diseases, and illness due to air pollution. In Malaysia public perception on climate change is not well documented. Hence, this objectives, want to discover the perception on climate change. With such poor understanding on structure in the climate system, people are likely to rely on the intuitive wait and see strategy that works well in a range of everyday tasks. 3.0 OBJECTIVES The purpose of this survey is to assess the public opinion, perception, and understanding regarding the current climate change trend in Malaysia. The objective includes:- 1. Public perception and awareness of the seriousness of climate change 2. The extent to which public informed about climate change. 3. To determine public attitudes towards the solution to climate change. 4.0 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY Public should be taught more about GHG that are held responsible for climate change issues. Since climate change is affecting evrything all over the world, thus, by having sufficient or extra understanding or more specifica, knowledge about this issue can be the most important way to adress our attention about it and the solution towards it. This research will contribute to public understanding about the current as well as future issue on climate change by providing information about the key point that should be seriously concentrate in environmental education effort. Climate change is widely recognized as the hottest issues on the current international environmental agenda. Climate change gives implications for many events such flood and water shortage, food supplies, human health, and social and political initiatives. Public awareness of environmental issues generally, many people lack understanding of the delicate interrelationships between man, and all species of animals and plants to climate change. There is quite small number of people that able to relate their daily activities to environmental harmless whether in the short and long term effects. Most of them only concern about the impacts of climate change without knowing the exactly causes of climate change. Since people generally have very basic knowledge about climate change, it is probable that many rely on the mass media as a primary source of information about this topic. The purpose of this research also to know the effectiveness of environmental regulation in Malaysia; hence this explanatory research which is a combination of literature review, data collection and interviews can be used to encourage the responsible bodies to formulate further solutions on the issues associated with climate change. 5.0 LITERATURE REVIEW a. Climate Change Issue on climate change arises as the increasing a number of tragedies and disaster phenomenon occurred in Malaysia. Kedah and Johor are the worst states that experienced floods recently. An analysis of temperature records in Malaysia shows a warming trend. For the assessment of the impacts of climate change on agriculture, forests, water resources, coastal resources, health and energy sectors, temperature changes ranging from +0.3Â °C to +4.5Â °C and rainfall changes ranging from -30% to +30% were used. Several fixed sea level rise scenarios within the range of 20-90 cm in 100 years were adopted for the assessment of impacts on coastal resources (INC, 2000). Every 10C temperature rise may cause 10% reduction in rice yields and prolonged drought conditions may adversely impact the current flooded rice ecosystem, putting national food security at greater risk (MOSTI, 2000). GHG emissions from sources and removal by sinks resulting from human (anthropogenic) activities have been estimated and included in the inventory. Natural processes lie outside the scope of the inventory. The sources and sinks were grouped under five categories, namely, energy, industrial processes, agriculture, land use change and forestry, and waste. According to NAHRIM, 2006 and Wan Azli et al., 2008, modeling results estimate that temperature in Malaysia may become warmer by mid and end of the century. A substantial increase in monthly rainfall over the North East Coastal region and decrease in monthly rainfall in West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia may be expected. Future river flows in several watersheds in East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia were simulated as increases in hydrologic extremes when compared with their historical level. Generally, Malaysia is considered as a free zone from climate related disaster. However, mild climate-disasters are quite frequent to happen lately. These refer to the occurrence of floods and droughts that caused significant socio-economic impacts to the nation while the occurrence of land slides due to excessive rainfall and strong winds happened at the hilly and the latter, at the coastal areas caused minimal damage. The floods incidence happened in the southern states of Malaysia, such as Negeri Sembilan and Johor. There are many obstacles remaining, including our limited understanding of the current status of Malaysian public opinion and the unknown potential for rapid social change to dramatically reduce global greenhouse gas emissions at a rate fast enough to forestall large-scale climate disruptions. Malaysias national policy on sustainable development is based on a balanced approach such that environment and development complement each other. While the past and existing national policies and initiatives may have indirectly addressed climate change concerns under the context of sustainable development, the need to formulate a dedicated climate change policy is increasingly recognized. Therefore, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia in collaboration with the Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, had conducted the Policy Study on Climate Change. The aim of the study was to develop a national policy and strategies on climate change in fostering sustainable development in Malaysia to meet the needs of the country and respond to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).The other stakeholder consultants regarding to climate change issue are Ministry of Science Technology and Ministry of Natu ral Resources and Environment, DOE, Ministry of Health and Institute of Medical Research, Environmental Protection Society of Malaysia, SIRIM, Maritime Institute Of Malaysia and Business Council for Sustainable Development. To address climate change issues, RMK9 initiates the following mitigation programs such: 1. Increase supply and utilization of alternative fuel such Renewable Energy. 2. By 2010, about 300 MW of RE is expected to be generated and conducted to the TNB Grid in Peninsular Malaysia and 5o MW to SESB Grid in Sabah 3. RE project utilizing municipal waste will be promoted 4. Encourage energy efficiency in industrial, building, and transport sectors. 5. Protect forest areas via sustainable forest management to ensure the forest areas are maintained as sink to GHG, i.e., CO2. 6. Conduct Coastal Vulnerability Index study 7. Implement coastline protection program 8. Implement flood mitigation program such as Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) Project 9. Undertake study to identify the relationship between the impacts of climate change and vector borne diseases. 5.0 Methodology The purpose of this study is to investigate public opinion, perception, and understanding regarding the current climate change, and to reach this aim, respondents will be selected randomly to fill questionnaire form which would be used to collect the data for this study. This chapter is to presents the methods used to achieve the objectives of the study. The study will be conduct in 2 areas in Johor Darul Takzim where in urban cities (Johor Bharu) and rural area (Segamat) to gather the information on the public understanding regarding the climate changes trends in Malaysia. A survey will be conduct to assess the public awareness regarding the current climate change in Malaysia. Questionnaires will distribute and the collection data will be use as primary data to know the level of public understanding regarding to this study. Method to Analyze Data SPSS is complete statistical software packages that used for analyzing dissertation and thesis data and can bring in dissertation data from any type of file for analysis. The package is mainly aimed at those that want to research problems and features a wide range of analytical functions. SPSS is performed to make tabulated dissertation charts, reports, plots of distributions and trends, and expressive statistics, and difficult statistical analysis making use of the data. Though SPSS appears like a very user-friendly statistical package since it is the easiest method to translate the data into SPSS; this significantly reduces the preliminary work needed to explore new data.

Why Do People Need Faith In God Theology Religion Essay

Why Do People Need Faith In God Theology Religion Essay We have known about God since a very long time. We know that in Islam God name is Allah, Hinduism has many Gods and some of them are Ganesh, Vishnu and Brahma, in Hebrew God name is Yahweh, in Christianity God name is Jehovah, Chineses NGod is Yang Yin, one of Greeks Gods is Zeus and so on. We all know it, but we dont know why in different religions God has different names and why some religions have many Gods. May be we never think about it. So my research question is why in different religions God has different names and why some religions have many Gods. In this essay I try to find out answer to these questions. In the Christian Religion, there is only One God, who is a Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus was Jew hence He believed and worshipped the only true God Jehovah and always tried to please Him he prayed to Him and loved Him John 17:3 states this means everlasting life the taking in knowledge of YOU (prayer to Jehovah by Jesus) and the One you sent forth (Jesus) He never referred to Himself as God He never said the Holy Spirit was God. You see taking in knowledge of Jesus does not make Him God, but faith in Him is requirement for life. God cannot die but Jesus died for our sins and if we do not respect Jesus new role as Messiah we cannot gain life everlasting. Jehovah is God; Jesus is the son of God as stated in scripture.  [1]   In the Jewish Religion, there is only one God, HaShem (The Name). In deference to Judaism, God is the correct spelling.  [2]   In the Islamic Religion, there is only one God, Allah, and Muhammed is his prophet. Allah has no intermediaries, no spouse, no children, and thus, Allah is ONE. In the Sikh Religion, there is only One, Hari; who has many names and many forms.  [3]   In the Buddhist Religion, there are many Buddhas, but not all buddhists are deists or worshippers of Idols of Buddha. The first Buddha to attain enlightenment is Gautama Buddha, who is worshipped as a God in some strands of Buddhism. The Dalai Llama, for example comes from Tibetan Buddhism, which has deities. Buddha was a Hindu, so he would have been familiar with the Hindu deities.  [4]   In the Hindu Religion, there is one Formless God and a trimurti of Creator, Preserver and Destroyer Gods. There are many other gods and consorts. In the Parsee Religion, Zoroastrianism, there is Ormazd, sometimes called Ahura Mazda or simply Mazda, the most well-known of their Gods.  [5]   There were other deities. In Confucianism, there is Tien (Heaven). Also known as Shang Di(The Lord on High). Ancestors are also worshipped. Taoism has numerous deities. Shinto has numerous deities. Jainism has numerous deites. Africans didnt have a religion, they had Spirituality from which ALL religions began, had Gods such as Isis, Horus, Heru, Ausar,Osirus; Mayan religion has many deities, Ancient Greek and Roman religions all had myths for example Yesus, Thor, Zeus, Mercury. The American Indians had their deities, and the Australian Aboriginals had their Gods and the Dreamtime. There were Norse Gods, Scandinavian Gods, Celtic Gods, Druidic Gods, along with nature religions also. Where ever there is mankind, there you will find worshippers of the Divine.  [6]   So, from this text I understand that many religions have just one God. But in some religions people believe that we more Gods and that there have certain destination. But why, maybe people were easier to believe in something, such as a God to explain different phenomena, phenomena of life or explain some occurring moments in the life of mankind. However, why just this names? Firstly, we need to know what the name is. In the ancient world names were thought to be extremely powerful and to act, in some ways, as a separate manifestation of a person or deity.  [7]  Well, I think that God hasnt particular name, so people named God like that, because they were based on their imagines about him. For example, Muslims, adherents of Islam named God Allah, because it is an Arabic word meaning The God. Greeks imagined that Zeus is the Father of Gods; he is the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology, so for Greek people Zeus is the main God, because sky is impersonation of world. But why we, people need faith in God? Faith is our motivation to fulfill our purpose. Faith and work are dependent upon one another for existence. Theyre like energy and matter, Yin and yang, opposites, but complements. Without faith its impossible to please God  [8]  , so our relationship with the Lord is dependent on it. Faith is what brings the things God has provided for us from the spiritual realm into the physical realm  [9]  . Our faith is the victory that enables us to overcome the world  [10]  . Everything the Lord does for us is accessed through faith. Human faith can only believe what it can see, taste, hear, smell, or feel; its limited to the five senses. Using natural human faith, we can sit in a chair weve never sat in and believe it will hold us up. We fly in airplanes when we dont fully understand how they work, and we dont know the pilot, but we trust that everything will be okay. That takes human faith, which God gave to every person. Yet when it comes to God, we have to believe things that we cannot see. You havent seen God or the devil. You havent seen heaven or hell. You havent seen sin; therefore, you wouldnt know what you would look like if your sins were taken awa y. However, you have to believe in all these things to be born again. How can you believe in things you cant see? The answer is that you cant believe in invisible things with human faith. You need Gods supernatural faith.  [11]   Sometimes when a person is bad, when he lost everything, he has only faith, belief in something good. We have a lot of good thoughts to believe, but the best of them is the thought of God. In some situations, only faith in God can help keep the kindness, confidence in our heart and move on. In concluded, why in some religions have many Gods? I think in some religions people cant prove or cant explain some phenomenon in life, in nature, so, their think that it all happens because of Gods. For example, if the sky shines for lightning, that gods were angry at someone or at something or if the sun shines brightly, it means that the gods have good mood and they were shone by pleasure because of their eternal, divine life. So people explain all this phenomena. Fine, I have answer for this question, but I didnt answer the question, why in different religions God has different names? I think because different people have a different worldview, so there have different beliefs to God, and there have different religions. If people have similar worldview, similar beliefs and have different religion I think it is wrong, because if all there thinks are similar, they dont need different religions, and they can be one extended religion. I think people need to believe to different Gods names, because they need to prove that their thoughts are different from other. So, I think exactly because of that in different religions God has different names.

The Significance of the Last Stand :: History Historical essays

The Significance of the Last Stand I. Fictionalizing History Relating history of past to history of present [1] What do historians create with the history they account? History is a story that never ends. The events of the present in essence have already happened in the past. Historians try to make sense of the present by deconstructing the past. Only through analysis of the past can one understand the present. I remember playing cowboys and Indians as a child. I would always play the part of the cowboys, and consequently the cowboys always won. At the end of my day's adventure I went to my parents to tell them of my conquest against the Indians. I made certain to include every detail of the battle -- from first charge to last saber stroke. History was made that day in my backyard with the green figurine—soldier on horseback—whose defeat of the Indian nemesis forces was both courageous and honorable. [2] Past history is connected to the occurrences of the present. History repeats itself as present action gains significance from past events. President Clinton was recently impeached. To date he is the first President to receive this less-than-honorable acclaim. In my opinion, no critical repercussions resulted. The only reason why Clinton’s impeachment was important was because it was the first such instance in our nation’s history. If President Nixon had not resigned and had been impeached and removed from office, the importance of Clinton’s impeachment would have appeared far less important in retrospect. Because of the past history of our nation, the present history became significant. II. The Purpose of They Died With Their Boots On Recreation of American Cause 1876 [3] American film demonstrates history as narrative. The historical classic They Died With Their Boots On is a recreation of the history of General George Armstrong Custer’s life. This movie adds to the already prevalent myth of the Boy General. The movie was released in 1941, when Germany, under Adolf Hitler, had control of â€Å"Fortress Europe," and threatened to end democracy as the world knew it. The United States prepared to defend democracy in total war. American soldiers needed a cause to die for.

Exploring Methodological Individualism Essay -- Psychology

Exploring Methodological Individualism ABSTRACT: I defend the truth of the principle of methodological individualism in the social sciences. I do so by criticizing mistaken ideas about the relation between individual people and social entities held by earlier defenders of the principle. I argue, first, that social science is committed to the intentional stance; the domain of social science, therefore, coincides with the domain of intentionally described human action. Second, I argue that social entitites are theoretical terms, but quite different from the entities used in the natural sciences to explain our empirical evidence. Social entities (such as institutions) are conventional and open-ended constructions, the applications of which is a matter of judgment, not of discovery. The terms in which these social entities are constructed are the beliefs, expectations and desires, and the corresponding actions of individual people. The relation between the social and the individual 'levels' differs fundamentally from that bet ween, say, the cellular and the molecular in biology. Third, I claim that methodological individualism does not amount to a reduction of social science to psychology; rather, the science of psychology should be divided. Intentional psychology forms in tandom with the analysis of social institutions, unitary psycho-social science; cognitive psychology tries to explain how the brain works and especially how the intentional stance is applicable to human behavior. The principle of methodological individualism in the social sciences has its origin in the Austrian school of economics and was introduced into the philosophy of social science in general by Friedrich Hayek and Karl Popper. Hayek was the first to us... ... the Aristotelian Society 76, 1-27. Rosenberg, Alexander (1980), Sociobiology and the preemption of social science. Baltmore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Ruben, David-Hillel (1985), The metaphysics of the social world. London etc.: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Stich, Stephen (1983), From folk psychology to cognitive science. The case against belief. Cambridge, Mass./London: MIT Press. Thornhill, Nancy Wilmsen (1991), 'An evolutionary analysis of rules regulating human inbreeding and marriage', Brain and Behavioral Sciences 14, 247-261. Tuomela, Raimo (1984), A theory of social action. Dordrecht etc.: D. Reidel. — (1995), The importance of us. A philosophical study of basic social notions. Stanford, Cal.: Stanford University Press. Watkins, John (1952), 'Ideal types and historical explanation', British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 3, 22-43.

Literary Elements Movie Analysis

Literary Elements Book/Movie Analysis Activity Have you ever thought why most of us are interested in the stories we read or the movies we watch, the characters, the action, the suspense and the love stories? The writer has to think of how the story must be told, what effect it must it have on a reader or movie-goer, and what is the best way to present his/her ideas. To get the reader's attention,  literary elements, the techniques or kinds of writing, are used by authors/screenwriters. The proper use of those elements enables the author to keep us interested while reading a story or a writer to enjoy a movie.Literary elements, such as setting, characters, point of view, conflict and the included dialogue, are all relevant to stories, establishing their plot, mood, and theme. For your assignment you will choose a favorite book or movie that is appropriate for school. You will be identifying some of the literary elements that we have been learning in reading class. You will also ana lyze and explain the elements as I did for you in class for â€Å"The Color Purple† (TCP) You will identify the the following:  I will give you examples from the project I modeled in class: Title:Scene: Time and place the story takes place. Point of View: Through whose eyes is the story being told? Celie speaks in the first person through a series of private letters she writes to God and her sister Nettie. We see and hear the story through Celie's eyes. Characters: Protagonist and Antagonist Exposition or Beginning: Like you, all of the characters in a story have a history, details about their pasts that are important to understanding their personality and their present lives. It is important that readers know some of these details in order to understand a story. This is call the exposition.It is the backround information on the characters and setting explained at the beginning of the story. For example, when I modeled my presentation in class regarding â€Å"The Color Pur ple's† protagonist Celie. It was important to know that she was abused physically, mentally and verbally by all of the men in her life. It was important to know that her father gave her away to a vicious man named Albert to be married. We can then understand why Celie was so shy, introverted and had such a low self-esteem. Rising Actions:   These are the actions or events that build up to the tension or conflict in a story.As I modeled in class a rising action for The Color Purple was Celie's relationship with her friend Shug, a strong and independent beautiful woman. Shug teaches Celie about God, love and self-respect. This relationship teaches Celie to build confidence, a sense of self, love and a voice. This gives Celie the confidence to stand up to Mr. Albert and the conflict of the story. Conflict: Is the problem and exciting action in a story that is happening to or against the protagonist. There are seven conflicts that we have learned about in class.Please identify w hat conflict(s) that are happening to the protagonist in the story. As I modeled in TCP Celie's conflicts are Character vs. Character (her Father, Alfonso and Mr. Albert), Character vs. Society(Racism) Climax:  When the conflict of the plot is resolved. It is often the most exciting part of the story. The climax is sometimes referred to as the â€Å"turning point† of the story, when the plot changes for better or for worse for the protagonist. In TCP the climax is when Celie uses her newly gained self-confidence to stands-up to Mr. Albert and leaves him to move to Tennessee with Shug.Falling Action: The action and events that happen after the climax. The protagonist usually defeats the antagonist in some way. The reader/viewer will see a change in the characters affected by the climax. In TCP, Celie returns to Georgia as a successful entrepreneur and finds that Mr. Albert has undergone a personal transformation. Resolution:  After Alphonso's death Celie inherits his home. Mr. Albert has finally done good for Celie and she welcomes the return of her sister Nettie and her children Samuel, Olivia and Adam. Theme:   The idea, message or moral the author is trying to tell.Examples: love, friendship, war, racism, sexism, relationships. In TCP the theme is the power of voice, strong female relationships and the cyclical nature of racism and sexism. We have learned about all of these elements of literature in class. Now we must think about them as we are reading our books or watching our favorite film. We will identify these elements and analyze them. We will work on this for 20 minutes a day in class. You will take this time to do research, ask me questions and show me the work you have completed so far so I can guide you in the correct direction.If you need help choosing a book or movie please just ask. You may use any of our read aloud we are currently reading in class. Points: I want the organization of your project to look exactly as is does above, f rom Title-Theme. Each correctly identified element will be worth 5 points. Your  ANALYSIS  and  EXPLANATION  in YOUR OWN WORDS( if you need help with paraphrasing please visit Brainpop. com and search â€Å"Paraphrase†) will be worth 10 pts each. Please make sure you put your explanation in your own words. Points will be taken for messy work and misspelled words.You will be graded on creativity. Please provide visuals or audio from your book or movie. As I modeled in class please add any clips of your movies or books that are appropriate for class. I found my clips of the exposition, climax and resolution on IMDB. com and YouTube. These clips will add to the creativity and quality of your project. You may use power point, Microsoft word, a smart board document, or poster board to present your project. If you have other ideas on how you would like to present I am open to a discussion.If you need to use our resources at school you must COMMUNICATE that to me to set up t ime to do that. DO NOT WAIT until the last minute. This project will help us understand better the motivation and reasons why authors create the characters they do, why the characters say what they say and why they do what they do. It will also help us start to be able to understand how to complete a literary analysis of a story, short story or poem which we will eventually do in class. This is DUE on FEBRUARY18, 2013. Each day it is late you will lose 10 points. Any questions please see me.

Water Resources Should Be Nationalized

WATER RESOURCES SHOULD BE NATIONALISED India is one country united by various states to have peace within,we should live together by sharing our wants with each other. Surplus should be shared. Every state has dispute in sharing water resources with its neighbouring state. Then and thereproblem arising between peoples of two states. they are not allowing neighbouring state vehicles to enter into their state. We have enough water from nature but we tend to overuse or misuse it. Some parts of India are flooded with rain,they don’t have place to live till the flooded rain water gets drained,in some other parts people are longing to get water for irrigation and their basic needs. Loss in one place can be utilized as a resource in one place. So India as whole will be benefited. The main purpose of national utilization of water resources is uniform and proper use of this resource at every place,in order to avoid problem between the states,nationalization should be done,but on the other hand it is also necessary that it should not be merely a political agenda. The rivers flowing from the north to south are not 100% utilized by the individual states efficiently. Because some state may need water and some may not need depending upon the geographical location,requirement,agriculture,etc. So the unused water of these rivers are directed to the sea. So what the government has planned to nationalize the rivers by constructing a water channel from north to south,like hoe the national highways are there in our country. we will have the water highway routes in the form of the channels. AS PER MY KNOWLEDGE THE PROBLEMS IN IMPLEMENTING THIS I THINK ARE At present water resourcesin India are under the control of respective state government,to nationalize it all state governments must accept it. Detailed well planned architecturehave to be prepared to connect all rivers without any city gets affected. Lakhs and lakhs of acres of land will be needed to connect all rivers,this must be taken care by the respective state government. I like to approach this problem in two steps STEP 1:REGARDING THE NATIONALIZATION OF WATER RESOURCES The country can be divided into zones. each zone can include equal number of states with and without the problem of water scarcity. Each zone can be controlled by a panel formes by the central government. The panel can be the final authority regarding the planning and execution of the entire project and it takes decision regarding the water sharing formula between the states in a particular STEP 2:AWARENESS PROGRAM The same board can take steps to spread awareness among the masses regarding the water scarcity situation that is prevailing in every corner of the globe and especially in developing countries like ours and take measurements to teach the efficient use of water,its conservation and some knowledge about preventing pollution of water bodies. They should also be taught about the need for afforestation and how forests can bring rain. This program can be initiated in all schools and colleges run by the state and central government. The government can also take the help of various organizations that are working for this cause. Last but not the least the rural masses need more education regarding the present situation. Plays can be organized to tell the people about the dangers of water scarcity. THE BENEFITS OF NATIONALIZING WATER RESOURCES Apart from the satisfaction of water,employment oppurtunites can be given to people. Hydel power generation is possible from this project. Also water transport will become familier inside the nation. KAVERI WATER DISPUTE This dispute can only be solved when people of tamilnadu and Karnataka realize that its their own family member on other side who is using water for quenching his thirst or using it in farms I know it is too idealistic but this is the only way to solve the problem. To solve all these kinds of problems all rivers in India should be nationalized and a neutral committee comprising of experts in water resource,major political leaders of the states in dispute and central political authority should be formed. The decision of that commitee should become binding to all the parties involved in dispute. Again this solution involves individual honesty and national perspective and in my view both of these are lacking in India. The only way out of these types of problems is the real;ization by all Indians about their responsibility as citizens. River kaveri is like any mother is treating her children equal with its flow but its her children who are not treating each other equal and right. I hope the better sense prevails†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ May almighty direct out intellect in right direction.

Succubus Heat CHAPTER 3

I neither packed nor called Dante when I got home. I was exhausted. Talking to Seth had been too depressing. I lived too close to the bookstore, I decided. What had once been convenient now felt oppressive. A few blocks simply wasn't enough distance between Seth and me. I kind of wished Emerald City had another branch somewhere that I could work. In lieu of that, maybe I was the one who needed to find a new residence. My lease here was ending soon, and until now, I'd never considered anything except renewing. Moving was a startling-and weirdly appealing-thought, and I pondered it as I drifted off to sleep that night, my cat Aubrey snuggled against my legs. The next morning, I had to scramble to pack my things. Jerome hadn't given me any specific time to be in Vancouver, only â€Å"soon.† I decided not to test the exact terms of that. Packing didn't take long, fortunately. I could shape-shift any clothing I wanted, but I had some favorites I preferred to just take with me. It was another lingering human habit. There were also cosmetics and other toiletries I wanted with me; I liked to do my own hair and makeup if I had the time. I was pouring my third cup of coffee in the kitchen when I felt the tingle of immortal signatures appear in my living room. Only a higher immortal, like a demon or angel, could directly teleport in, and I immediately recognized these two. Grace and Mei. They were Jerome's lieutenant demonesses. Heaven ran its agenda in a haphazard way, but ours was carefully organized. Territory was parceled out to archdemons, who in turn controlled a network of subordinate demons and lesser immortals like me and my friends: succubi, vampires, and imps. Jerome handled the big issues in the area, went to meetings with the demons who were above him, and was in charge of discipline. Grace and Mei handled the minutiae and paperwork and also kept an eye on the far reaches of Jerome's territory, areas he was too busy for and uninterested in. His full jurisdiction actually stretched along the coast of western Washington, though his base of operation was the Seattle metropolitan area. That was also where most of his staff was located. He only kept an occasional eye on the outskirts and left it to Grace and Mei to keep him apprised of what occurred there. For whatever reason, the demonesses always wore matching clothing. Today they sported black pantsuits, tailored to a perfect fit. Grace was blond and Mei black-haired, but their hairstyles were also similar: bluntly cut at the chin. Both wore brick-red lipstick. â€Å"Good morning, Georgina,† said Grace. â€Å"We're here with last-minute instructions,† said Mei. â€Å"Oh, okay.† I was relieved. I'd been afraid Jerome had sent them to find out why I hadn't already crossed the Canadian border. â€Å"You guys want some coffee?† I offered them something every time they were here, and every time, they refused. So, I was a bit astonished when Grace asked, â€Å"What kind?† â€Å"Um†¦Starbucks. Their house blend.† â€Å"No,† replied Grace and Mei in unison. I shrugged and sat down on the couch. Aubrey had been lying there a minute ago but was nowhere in sight now. She hated these two. Mostly they creeped me out. â€Å"Okay,† I asked. â€Å"What's the scoop?† They remained standing. Mei crossed her arms. â€Å"Jerome wants you to understand the situation with Cedric. The two of them have had a†¦disagreement over territorial lines.† This perked my interest. â€Å"Ah. It's him, then. We'd heard Jerome had something going on with another demon.† â€Å"The two of them had been eyeing each other's areas,† explained Grace. â€Å"In the hopes of expanding their own boundaries into one large Pacific Northwest†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She paused thoughtfully. â€Å"†¦empire?† I suggested. She shrugged by way of agreement. â€Å"Something like that,† said Mei. â€Å"But eventually, they put the dispute aside and gave up, each settling for their current territories. That's why Jerome is lending you to Cedric, as a sign of good will.† I was too intrigued to retort about the degradation of Jerome â€Å"lending† me to anyone. â€Å"Jerome doesn't do things out of good will,† I pointed out, recalling his snide remark about altruism last night. â€Å"There's more going on.† Grace nodded. â€Å"Indeed. Jerome suspects that Cedric actually hasn't given up the struggle and is still plotting against him. Jerome wants you to spy and report back.† Oh, I didn't like that. Not at all. â€Å"He wants me to spy on another demon? An arch demon? Do you know what kind of trouble I could get in if Cedric finds out?† Neither demoness said anything. It was no concern of theirs if I got smote. Considering Jerome's current attitude toward me, it probably wasn't much of a concern for him either, aside from having to send a requisition to Personnel for a new succubus. â€Å"So,† continued Mei, â€Å"you'll have two agendas. You need to let Jerome know what Cedric's doing. And, you need to infiltrate Cedric's problem cult and keep them in line-although, if you make things a little uncomfortable for Cedric along the way, Jerome won't mind.† â€Å"Right. The Canadian Satanists. What on earth are they doing that's such a big deal? Putting 666 on the backs of hockey jerseys?† My joke had no effect on either demoness. Someday, I thought, I'd get one of them to crack a smile. â€Å"They're attracting attention, enough that Cedric's superiors are embarrassed. They'd prefer this cult conduct its evil in more subtle ways.† â€Å"Last I knew, true Satanists aren't actually evil per se,† I mused. The rep aside, most Satanists were more into just acknowledging chaos and humanity's wild, base nature. â€Å"Most aren't actually out conducting bloody rituals or spray-painting pentagrams on walls.† â€Å"Actually,† said Mei, â€Å"this group is spray-painting pentagrams on walls.† â€Å"Oh,† I said. â€Å"That's lame.† â€Å"They think they're evil†¦Ã¢â‚¬  began Grace. â€Å"†¦but they're not,† finished Mei. â€Å"They need to be reined in.† â€Å"Okay, sure. No problem.† Influencing wannabe Satanists was a piece of cake compared to spying on a demon. I glanced at the time. â€Å"Anything else? I should probably head out.† â€Å"Yes,† said Mei. â€Å"Jerome wants you to check in on Tawny.† â€Å"Seriously?† I groaned. â€Å"He hates me.† The demonesses neither confirmed nor denied this statement. â€Å"See you around, Georgina,† said Grace. â€Å"We'll check in,† said Mei. They vanished. With a heavy heart, I finished my packing and told Aubrey good-bye. Then I lugged my suitcase down to my Passat, off to play Mata Hari. I just hoped my end would be better than hers. Once you clear Everett, a naval city just north of Seattle, the drive up to Canada is pretty easy. The speed limit goes up, and the most exciting attractions along the way are casinos and outlet malls. About a half-hour from the border, I reached Bellingham, the current residence of Tawny Johnson. Tawny was a succubus, a very new succubus. Technically, I was her mentor, but her assignment in Bellingham mercifully limited our interactions. She'd come to Seattle back in December and had gotten involved with an imp named Niphon who'd been trying to make my life more of a living hell than it already was. He'd roped her into his plans, and as angry as I'd been about it, I knew the fault was his more than hers. She hadn't really known what she was doing and had been convinced he could help fast-track her career. Nonetheless, she'd gotten in enough trouble that Jerome had sent her out of the city. It was better than being sent back to Hell, so really, the arrangement suited all of us just fine. I gave her a call, and we met up at a caf? ¦ just off I-5. Tawny was easy to spot when she entered the place. Despite the fact that Tawny had been kind of a con artist when she was a mortal-a profession you'd think would lend itself well to succubus work-she was actually pretty horrible at seduction. Oh, she could still get guys to sleep with her, but it was more thanks to her availability rather than any particular wiles on her part. In particular, she was convinced that the most alluring form she could take was that of a six-foot blonde with breasts that would have given a human a back injury. Tawny also had a penchant for spandex and metallic fabrics that I found disturbing but that delighted Hugh and the vampires to no end. I made a mental note to tell them about the chartreuse hot pants she wore today. â€Å"Georgina!† she exclaimed, dancing over to my table on gold stilettos. â€Å"I'm so happy to see you.† She held out her arms, like maybe I was supposed to stand and hug her, but I remained sitting. Taking the hint, she sat down as well. â€Å"What are you doing here?† â€Å"I'm going to Vancouver,† I said, wrapping my hands around my white chocolate mocha. â€Å"Jerome wanted me to stop by and see how things were going.† Her eyes lit up. â€Å"Great! I've been spending a lot of time over at Western.† She leaned forward and spoke in a sage voice. â€Å"You know, if you're ever having trouble getting someone into bed, you should go check out college guys. They're so easy.† â€Å"Thanks for the tip,† I said dryly. â€Å"I'll keep it in mind.† She pursed her lips and eyed me. â€Å"Doesn't look like you need it, though,† she added wistfully. â€Å"I could never get a glow like that.† Too bad she hadn't seen the glow in full effect yesterday. It would have blown her away. â€Å"You will,† I said. â€Å"Someday.† Some day far, far away. Tawny had miles to go before gaining the subtleties required to land really moral guys. â€Å"I don't know how you do it. You aren't even blond. I mean, maybe a little, but mostly you're a brunette. I just don't see guys going for that.† My hair was long and light brown, lightly highlighted with gold. My eyes were a hazel-green that I also suspected didn't fit in with her worldview of what was sexy, at least if her baby blues were any indication. â€Å"Yeah, well, some people are into kinky stuff, I guess.† The waiter showed up and took our lunch orders. I made myself comfortable and prepared to do some mentoring. â€Å"So,† I said. â€Å"You got any questions?† Tawny titled her head, long-lashed blue eyes filled with thought. â€Å"Yeah. There's something I've been wondering about.† â€Å"Okay, go for it.† â€Å"These colleges guys†¦they're kind of, like, fast.† â€Å"Fast?† â€Å"Yeah. You get them into bed, and it's over before it begins.† â€Å"They're eighteen or twenty. Still pulsing with adolescent hormones. They don't really know what they're doing yet.† â€Å"Yeah, yeah, I know,† she said. â€Å"Except, when you're going down on them, it takes forever . You know what I mean?† I forced a straight face. â€Å"It's one of the mysteries of the universe, Tawny. You just gotta roll with it.† â€Å"But my mouth gets sore,† she whined. â€Å"Makes my jaw ache the next day! Isn't there any way to speed it up?† My immortal friends would die if they could hear this conversation. â€Å"You can try the ‘don't stop' trick. Or maybe tell them you want them to come on your face. That'll get things moving.† â€Å"Ew! That's disgusting.† I shrugged. â€Å"Don't ask the question if you don't want to hear the answer.† â€Å"But how can I even say anything when my mouth is, well, you know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Thus went the rest of our lunch conversation, and blow jobs turned out to be the mildest of topics. Fortunately, no one sat within listening distance. I ate my chicken salad as fast as I could, eager to be on my way. As we were paying the bill, a thought came to me. â€Å"Hey, Tawny. You're practically on top of Cedric's turf here. You ever see any signs of him and Jerome fighting?† She shook her head. â€Å"No. I've never even met Cedric. But there's a vampire here in town who's mentioned them fighting before. He seems to think it's a big deal.† â€Å"Everyone seems to, and yet†¦I don't know. I have a weird feeling about all this. Like that someone's trying to cover up something.† Tawny placed some cash on the table, her clawlike nails lacquered and red. For half a moment, she looked remarkably wise. â€Å"Back when I was doing cons, the best way to pull one past people was to make a big deal about something else. Misdirection.† It was quite possibly the most intelligent thing I'd ever heard Tawny say. â€Å"Yeah, but if so, what are we being misdirected from?† â€Å"Hell if I know. That's for smart people like you to figure out. I'm just trying to get college guys to speed up their blow jobs.† My first minute in Canada, I got pulled over. Right after you go through customs, there's a short stretch of the freeway with an incredibly low speed limit. Every time I drive through there, I try to drive that speed. And I'm the only one who ever does it. All the locals zip through that area, already driving the speed that the freeway clicks up to about half a mile (or kilometer or whatever) later. Every time, just before I officially hit the higher speed zone, I finally crack and speed up too-and that's always when the cops get me. I've been pulled over three times. This was my fourth. I handed over my license and other pertinent paperwork to the cop. â€Å"American, eh?† he asked, like it wasn't perfectly obvious. â€Å"Yes, sir,† I said. â€Å"You know you were speeding, don't you?† He mostly sounded curious, not harsh. â€Å"Was I?† I asked blankly, looking at him with doe eyes. I saw the succubus glamour seize him. â€Å"But the sign said sixty-five.† â€Å"Sixty-five kilometers per hour,† he corrected gently. â€Å"We use the metric system here.† I blinked. â€Å"Ohhhh. God, I forgot. I feel so stupid.† â€Å"It happens a lot,† he said. He handed my stuff back without even running it. â€Å"I'll tell you what. I'll let you go this time. Just make sure you get the units right, eh? Your speedometer's got kilometers per hour underneath the miles per hour.† â€Å"Oh, that's what the little numbers are for, huh-er, eh?† I gave him a dazzling smile. â€Å"Thank you so much.† So help me, he tipped his hat. â€Å"Happy to help. Be careful now, and enjoy your stay.† I thanked him again and headed off. It's worth noting here that while I've been pulled over four times in this stretch, I've also gotten off four times. Canadians. So nice. I made it into downtown Vancouver without further incident and checked into my hotel. It was a boutique one over on Robson Street, and I decided maybe Jerome didn't hate me after all. Or at least, Hell's travel agency didn't hate me. Robson was a fun neighborhood, full of restaurants and shopping. I threw my stuff into my room and then headed off to meet Cedric. He would have sensed me crossing into his territory, but I wanted it officially noted for the record that I was here so that I didn't get in further trouble with Jerome. Unlike Jerome, who was impossible to find sometimes, Cedric actually had a suite of offices over in the Financial District. I kind of liked that. The front desk was staffed by an imp named Kristin. She seemed pleasant enough, just incredibly busy. She told me I'd lucked out and that Cedric could fit me in right now. Walking into his office, I found him at his desk, reading something on Wikipedia. He glanced up. â€Å"Oh. Jerome's succubus.† He turned from the monitor and gestured to a chair opposite his desk. â€Å"Have a seat.† I sat down and immediately began assessing the office. Nothing about it screamed evil. It was neat and sleek, with an expansive window full of office buildings beyond him. Silver perpetual motion balls sat on his desk, and one of those framed motivational posters hung on the wall. It had a picture of a struggling pine sapling in front of a larger tree and read, DETERMINATION . Cedric himself didn't look too evil either. He had an average build and pretty blue-gray eyes. He kept his hair shaved army-style, and like Kristin, the biggest vibe I got off him was busy. Inasmuch as one could be busy surfing Wikipedia, that is. I glanced at the screen, curious as to what he'd been looking at. Demonic takeovers, perhaps? â€Å"Oh, that,† he said, following my gaze. â€Å"Just a hobby of mine. It's the entry on marsupials. I just like going in sometimes and putting in incorrect information. It's always fun to see how long it takes them to notice. They're better about it than they used to be, but that just makes it more of a challenge. I just wrote about how marsupials are an integral part of the Lutheran Eucharist.† He chuckled at his own ingenuity. â€Å"God, I hated the Reformation.† I smiled, not entirely sure what to say. Cedric clasped his hands in front of him, face turning serious. â€Å"So, let's get down to business. You're here to spy on me.† My mouth opened, but nothing coherent came out right away. â€Å"Um†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He waved his hand. â€Å"No, no, it's fine. You don't honestly expect me to believe Jerome would do me a favor without strings attached? Whatever. I don't have anything to hide. He can keep his territory-I'm too busy watching my own. You can tell him whatever you want so long as you do what I need you to.† â€Å"Right,† I said, finding my voice at last. â€Å"Your embarrassing Satanic cult.† He grimaced. â€Å"God, those guys are such a pain in the ass. What do you know about them?† â€Å"That they aren't Satanists like the usual groups, not like Anton LaVey's followers or the anti-Christians.† I felt like a student reciting in front of a class. â€Å"They think they're anti-Christian, but mostly, they're just ridiculous. Just some flakes in search of identity who got together and thought it'd be cool to be evil. They have meetings in robes and keep making up secret handshakes.† â€Å"And that's a problem?† â€Å"Nah, I don't care about any of that. They can play dress-up all they want. What's annoying is that they're doing all the things people think evil people do but don't actually do. They ripped up a bunch of bibles once and left them on this church's lawn. They also appear to have a fondness for spray paint.† â€Å"I heard about that.† â€Å"They keep writing stupid stuff like ‘The Angel of Darkness is Lord' and ‘What Would Satan Do?'† Cedric rolled his eyes. â€Å"Yeah, like that's original.† â€Å"I can see why you'd be embarrassed,† I admitted. â€Å"No kidding. The worst part is that they're attracting some media attention- especially among local churches. So, now those guys are doing their own sort of backlash and triggering a whole bunch of demonstrations about faith and light and all that stuff. Not what we need. Kind of defeats our purpose, really.† â€Å"What do you want me to do?† â€Å"Kristin hangs out with them sometimes. They know her and recognize what side she works for, but frankly, she doesn't have the people skills to manipulate them. She'll take you to them and give them some bullshit about how you're high-ranking in the ways of evil or something equally absurd. Then, I want you to hang out with them and just be part of their group. Stop them from doing more stupid things. Get them to go back to their role-playing in the basement. Hell, if you can convince them to disband, go for it.† He eyed me. â€Å"You're a succubus. You've been around for a while. You should be able to talk them into anything.† I nodded. â€Å"I can.† â€Å"Good. I'm tired of them. I'm not allowed to interfere directly, and my own people are too busy.† He stood up and walked toward the door. I took the hint and followed. â€Å"Do whatever you want the rest of the day. Kristin'll take you over to them tomorrow. Check them out. See what you think. I've got some appointments in the morning, but stop by anyway and give me your impressions of those fools.† â€Å"Is there anything in particular you want me to find out for you?† â€Å"Yes,† he said. â€Å"In addition to keeping them out of trouble, I want you to simply observe them. They're not just attracting media attention-they're attracting attention from my superiors.† Ah, yeah. Hell could get pissy about that kind of thing. â€Å"If someone's purposely manipulating them, I want to know.† â€Å"Okay.† He gave me a narrow-eyed look. â€Å"And I hope it's not Jerome.† He still had that mild, businesslike exterior, but I heard the stern note in his voice. I shivered but gave him a smile anyway, trying not to think about misdirection. â€Å"I hope not either.† I was a bit surprised at how short my meeting with Cedric had been. I was more surprised still that after all the grief Jerome had given me about the urgency of this trip, I now had nothing to do. Of course, if he was trying to get rid of me, this was as good a way as any. My bad attitude and I were out of Seattle. It was dinnertime when I got back to Robson Street, so I found food at an Ethiopian restaurant a few blocks from my hotel and lingered over the remains of my meal with a novel I'd picked up a few days ago. Afterward, I wandered up and down the street, looking at various shops and designers, but eventually had to stop after passing two T-shirt stores. One sold retro stuff and had a dark purple Quiet Riot shirt in their window. Another sold Canadian souvenirs and displayed a shirt showing a map of Canada in red with a map of the U.S. below it in blue. The caption read: â€Å"Canada Likes It on Top.† If I'd still been dating Seth, I would have bought him both. He would have shaken his head and given me a slight quirk of the lips as he tried to hide his smile. The thought depressed me, and I found myself growing sadder and sadder as I walked back to my hotel. In that moment, I would have given anything to be with Seth again, to right the wrongs we'd done to each other back around Christmastime. Losing him was losing a part of me that- Searing, white-hot anger suddenly shot through me. What the fuck was I whining about? Why should I miss him? Why should I pine for someone who'd betrayed me and hurt me with my friend , of all people? Seth didn't deserve my longing or my love, and as I continued walking, that dark despair within me transformed to rage and spite-just as it had done nearly every day for the past four months. When I got back to the hotel, I was no longer sad. I was pissed. I hated everyone and everything, but especially Seth. I wanted to make him pay. Unfortunately, there was no way to do that, not here in Vancouver. Passing near the hotel's bar on my way through the lobby, I paused and surveyed the patrons. It was a veritable smorgasbord of men, most of them lone travelers making transient friends over their drinks. My succubus lust sprang up in me, and suddenly, all I wanted was to get drunk and go to bed with some guy. I wanted to lose myself in the haze of alcohol and fucking, in the hopes that it might all dull the pain that lay buried under my anger. And as I scanned the room, one guy in particular caught my attention. The face was all wrong, but he had hair almost the same color as Seth's. It was worn messy too, though it appeared as though he'd achieved that look with gel, rather than the lack of brushing Seth employed. No, this guy wasn't a perfect match by any means, but he was close, and there was an aura of shy vulnerability about him that I liked. Putting on a smile, I strolled across the room to introduce myself. I might not be able to actually punish Seth, but at least for tonight, I could pretend that I could.