Ann Romney: Why Women Should be paid equal to men? Essay

Ann Romney was asked during her speech at a Moms for Mitt meeting, â€Å"Why should women get equal pay?† The ladies of the meeting wanted her opinion on equal pay for employees based on gender. She took no time to answer the question with a response that would shock the audience into silence to hear the following: â€Å"Why should women be paid equal to men? Men have been in the working world a lot longer and deserve to be paid at a higher rate. Heck, I’m a working mom and I’m not paid a dime. I depend on my husband to provide for me and my family, as should most women†¦ and if a woman does work, she should be happy just to be out there in the working world and quit complaining that she’s not making as much as her male counterparts. I mean really, all this wanting to be equal nonsense is going to be detrimental to the future of women everywhere. Who’s going to want to hire a woman, or for that matter, even marry a woman who thinks she is the same, if not better than a man at any job. It’s almost laughable. C’mon now ladies, are you with me on this?† When Mrs. Romney finished speaking, there was an awkward silence in the room with scattered applause that seemed a bit forced because of the audience’s support for her husband. Seemingly, Ann Romney was embarrassed and was escorted to a vehicle that took her to her husband. I view Ann’s perspective as a pre- meditated woman who believes women aren’t the backbone of this country just as much as men. But all women have the right to the same and equal opportunities as men. I wonder if her speech affected her husband’s presidential campaign.

“Bless Me, Ultima”: The Role of Parents Essay

The novel â€Å"Bless Me, Ultima† by Rudolfo Anaya shows the complexity and changeability of human nature and destiny. The author reveals that in the process of maturation and development every person is being influenced by parents, friends and acquaintances. Anaya tells a story of a young boy Antonio who is troubled of uncertainty of his destiny and parents’ influence on his life. Gabriel and Maria Merez are Antonio’s parents, but they have conflicting views towards the future of his child. Therefore, it is very difficult for Antonio to accept either mother’s or father’s belief system. Antonio’s mother is very religious and she is devoted to Catholic Church. She teaches Antonio to follow God’s commandments, as well as to accept values and beliefs of the church. Moreover, she wants her son to become a priest following her Luna family traditions. Maria thinks that it is a sin to grow and she doesn’t want Antonio to choose his own destiny. But the heart prevails and â€Å"the tragic consequences of life can be overcome by the magical strength that resides in the human heart†. (p.34) Antonio’s father is rather important for his spiritual growth. Despite the fact that he wants his son to become Llano vaquero, he wants Antonio to feel independence and freedom. From the first glance Gabriel seems a common drunkard, but with the novel progression we see the depth and dignity of his relations with Llano. Antonio inherited father’s inquisitive and questionable mind. When one of the villagers dies Antonio asks: â€Å"God! Why did Lupito die? Why do you allow the evil of the Trementinas? Why did you allow Narciso to be murdered when he was doing good? A thousand questions pushed through my mind, but the Voice within me did not answer†. (p.23) Maria forces Antonio to follow her family traditions, whereas Gabriel wants him to choose the life of vaquero only if he wants. He doesn’t want Antonio to be in a state of regret as he is. In such a way, Gabriel is the first person who teaches Antonio to make his own decisions about the future. Works Cited Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1994.   

Constitutional and Administrative Law (Parliament Sovereignty in UK) Essay

Constitutional and Administrative Law (Parliament Sovereignty in UK) - Essay Example Britain is known to have an unwritten constitution; nevertheless, still, they do exist in a solitary text, just like other countries, for instance, the USA and Germany. For that reason, Britain constitution is too often described as partially written and completely unchanged (Goldsworthy, 1999). According to Goldsworthy (2010) the principle of parliamentary supremacy is about the connection between the Legislature and the courts. Is parliament sovereign or the courts? As aforementioned, the United Kingdom is known to have parliament sovereignty, but to what to degree? Dicey asserts that parliament is supreme, meaning that the Legislature has, under the English constitution, the right to make or unmake any decree whatsoever. Further, no individual or entity is acknowledged by the law of England as having a right to overrule or refute the legislation of Parliament. The dogma of legislature sovereignty in the United Kingdom has been considered as the most significant feature of the British constitution. It can be abridged in three parts. The Legislature has the authority to make any law they want, and no legislature can create a decree/law that future parliament cannot amend and only parliament can adjust or unmake a law passed by parliament. It offers categorical authority to Westminster Parliament Dicey illustrates it as the overriding trait of our political organs. Another feature to put into account is the effects of the European Union, the Human Rights Act 1998. It is also essential to consider the Devolution of sovereignty to Scottish Legislature and Welsh Assembly and the establishment of the United Kingdom Supreme Court. These features do not essentially undercut the doctrine of parliament sovereignty, at least theoretically, as the legislature could repeal any of the law carrying out these transformations. The Scottish Legislature and Northern Ireland Congress are both capable to pass key legislation within the places that have been devolved to them. As the network remains devolved and not centralized, the authority of these parliaments stems from the United Kingdom and can be balanced, as has occurred with the Northern Irish case. Nevertheless, this appear improbably to take place in Scotland or Wales, as such a judgment would presently be exce edingly out of favor with the electorate in both areas. The bodies of the European Union, in specific the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that suggests the supremacy to carried out judicial assessment over the United Kingdom law. In this scenario, an unfavorable establishment by the ECJ that a United Kingdom decree is conflicting with the EC Treaties mechanically rescinds the law, because the European Communities Act 1972 offers that European Community decree is sovereign in Britain. An example of this in connection to a law, the Merchant Shipping Act 1988, was the Factortame case. The European Community Act has been considered as a constitutional law. In the case of Thoburn V Sunderland City Council, the Weights puts on leash the impact of parliamentary supremacy, as the ECA must be explicitly repealed for it to be annulled by later unsuited legislation. The European Convention on Human Rights and the integration by the Human Rights Act 1988 of the European Convention an establishm ent of a contravention of Convention rights by the ECHR does not mechanically resc

A thing or place that effect you and change your life Essay

A thing or place that effect you and change your life - Essay Example This allowed me to understand how life shaped up and what I needed to do in order to learn more new things and find remedies to problems which came up all of a sudden, and without many warning signs. Learning a new language was always exciting to me because I believed that with a little effort, I could master a dictum which was not my own. This indeed was the motivating force behind my acquisition of a new language within school at Canada. Work was no doubt fun but getting back to school after a while gave me immense reasons to smile once again. It made me feel like I was someone younger to my age, and allowed me to experience the joy of learning things yet again. It seldom happens that a grown up gets to feel the thrills of being back at school, and I can safely and proudly say that I have had such an experience ever since I joined school again. Just the feeling that I can be counted amongst the students who will learn something novel and unique was enough to tell me that I had made the right decision by re-joining school within Canada. It made me feel privileged more than anything else. What this did was to change my life for the better and that too in a quantifiable way. It made me feel at ease with the changing norms of the time and allowed me to get acquainted with how I can enrich my life time and time again. The people around me also supported the fact that I have made the right decision and this shall facilitate me in future realms which remain very quintessential for me undoubtedly. Also I found out that the teachers present in the school assisted me without any concerns whatsoever. They made me feel at ease with what was being taught and I felt at home with what I was learning all this while. In the end, I would fathom that this was indeed one of the best lessons that I had from life up till now. It allowed me to understand life’s different

Art style comparsion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Art style comparsion - Assignment Example In the comparing of the two images, the techniques employed in drawing are quite different according to texture and the final product view. The most fascinating part about this drawing is that the abstractive drawing can express the qualities of the expressive drawing. During the painting of the two drawings, the artists may have a similar goal to achieve a good image that expresses a hidden message. An abstract art may be portraying beauty like in the image provided above. Actually many abstract arts occur as a hidden beauty of art from a rough draft design. To many, thou the image is designed roughly the painting is beautiful. When it comes to an expressive art, the painting certainly portrays the name. Beauty is a compared issue to the abstractive act. The expressive art shows more meaning of the photo and emotions on the painting are the first capture tools to the viewer. The two images deliver a lot to the

The Experience of Coca-cola in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Experience of Coca-cola in China - Essay Example As with other multinational corporations, Coca-cola was only able to establish its presence the Chinese market through joint ventures. It should be noted that the government of the Republic of China favors the formation of joint ventures between a foreign firm and a local business entity. All over the country, Coca-cola has 24 bottling and two concentrate plants, the former being joint ventures with other organizations. Each of the bottling facilities is co-owned with one of the three state-owned agencies: State Light Industry Bureau, China International Trust and Investment Corp., and China National Cereals, Oils, and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corp. (Weisert, 2001). Coca-cola is also allied by two primary multinational key partners-Swire Pacific and Kerry Beverages Group. These Hong Kong based business institutions serve as the foreign majority partners of Coca-cola of 19 out of 24 bottling facilities. While Swire Pacific is involved in the bottling and distribution of Coca-cola' s product in the Southern and Interior China, Kerry Beverages Group focus on Northern and Interior China (Economic Impact of the Coca-cola System in China, 2000). The success of Coca-cola's operation in the Chinese market is recognized by other international business organizations. Currently, the beverage company accounts for 35% of the total carbonated beverage market. From 1990, Coca-cola reports huge gross profit from its estimated $1.2 billion annual sales. Looking at the economic impact of the multinational's operation in China, Coca-cola is seen to generate employment for 15,000 local workers, provides a $1.1 billion total investment, and augmenting the national income by purchasing $600 million worth of materials from domestic producers and suppliers (Coca-cola Will Plant 1 million Trees in Beijing, 2006). However, the success of Coca-cola is not without a price. For one, the Chinese beverage industry is relatively underdeveloped evidenced by the decrepit bottling facilities. This is even worsened by the tight control of the government on the beverage industry (Weisert, 2001). Initially, Coca-cola is only allowed to import its product and sell them only to foreigners at designated retail outlets. This is a strict policy implemented by the state as it wants only Chinese owned, wholly or partially, business to provide products and services to domestic customers. In 1980, Coca-cola decides to establish its own five bottling plants. However, the Chinese government holds the ownership of these facilities giving the sales and distribution rights to Coca-cola (Weisert, 2001). Technologically speaking, Coca-cola was faced with the dilemma of finding the right suppliers with the high level of technology to suit the company's supply needs. This led to a problem in the domestic network development. Coca-cola was burdened with the problem of finding suppliers for packaging materials, drink ingredients, bottling-line equipment, and construction services. Initially, the multinational opted to import basic materials such as glass and aluminum. Later, the company provided financial and technical assistance to local businesses in order for them to develop their technology. These supports help local suppliers to develop their equipment and enhance quality standards (Weisert, 2001).

Book review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Book review - Essay Example Amongst his collection of short stories, Blood and Tears stands out from amongst the rest because of its literary values and the ideas presented within. In the introduction to these stories, Ali (1984) compares Mas to other Malaysian writers and says that, â€Å"The few short stories which he has contributed have greater literary value than the more prolific output of many other writers. For this reason alone Keris has earned a special place and is to be regarded as the leading figure in the new literature (Ali, 1984, Pg. 8)†. If anything at all, Blood and Tears establishes that quality is indeed more important than quantity. While examining the stories, it becomes clear to us that the historical and cultural influences of the Malaysian past figure prominently in the works of Mas. Like many other nations in south Asia, Malaysia has a history of colonization as well as rule by foreigners on local soil and the after affects of colonization remain with the people even after many decades have passed. The struggle between the Japanese and the British over Malaysia during the Second World War gave birth to the country but also create social and cultural dichotomies which still linger as a part of the social structure of the country. Mas was certainly an influential writer and had a close group of fellow writers that sought to bring about changes in Malaysian society by creating awareness through literature. Speaking about these likeminded writers as well as himself as a writer, Mas says that: â€Å"We criticized societal backwardness and those whom we regard as the instruments responsible for the birth of such backwardness. We criticized colonialism and its instruments, that is, the elite class, those whose consciousness have been frozen by the influence of feudalism and myths, and superstition that has been enmeshed with religion (Wikipedia, 2007, Pg. 1)†. Such leanings

Discussion Board 2-2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion Board 2-2 - Essay Example One of the important training for traumatic counselors is self-awareness. According to Jackson-Cherry and Erford (2014), self-awareness refers to the understanding and knowledge about one’s abilities, weaknesses and professional skills. Training on the area is important considering that it enables counselors to monitor their behaviors and enforce effective management to avoid any occurrences or situations that can compromise quality of treatment. Another training area for trauma counselor is self-care. As discussed by Jackson-Cherry and Erford (2014), counseling in crisis conditions usually illicit emotions and depression due to witnessing of suffering people. To survive effectively, trauma counselors require thorough training in self-care so to manage harsh conditions and design proper treatment frameworks and strategies An experienced trauma counselor should understand or have ways to know when they act outside their profession. One of the ways that counselors can know when they work outside their competence is when involved in countertransference that entails counselors relating certain characteristics of individuals handled in the past to the current clients (Jackson-Cherry, 2014). The characteristics referred to here are usually negative and often compromise relationship of counselors to clients leading to compromised treatment process. Another way that counselors can know when working outside their competence is through occurrence of burnout. This occurs when counselors feel overworked, have little self-care that results to reduced empathy and detachment from client. Generally, burnouts lead to low job satisfaction and sometimes increased absenteeism. To resolve the issues, counselors should carry regular self-assessment and seek counseling from colleagues. Counselors should consult and seek supervision from other professionals in the field of

Intercontinental Railway System - Amrak Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Intercontinental Railway System - Amrak - Essay Example As an intercontinental railway system, it serves New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Sacramento, Baltimore, Albany-Rensselaer, San Diego, New Haven, Wilmington, Nelwark, Seattle, Portland, Irvine, BWI Airport, Providence, Milwaukee, Emeryville, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Boston, and Bakersfield. Thus, it caters the needs of 30.2 million people in America. Owing the expediency and high demand of its services, the company invested for projects to enhance their services and sustain the railway network (Vromans, Dekker, & Kroon, 2006). With the magnitude of services accorded to the public, it facilitated the interconnection of cities populated with diverse and multicultural communities. Amrak became instrumental too in cultural exchanges, in bridging people-to-people relations and intercultural immersion via travels, tourism, migration, and opportunities in other states which drive the influx of people from one place to another point of destination (Gapinski & T uckman, 1978). Experts opined that the contribution of this railway in shaping socio-cultural development and economic expansion in North America is more appreciable than in Europe. The railway was partly author of industrialization as this was the major transportation of business sector to-and-fro the mainland. This compelled the company to coordinate with all states served for its security as a matter of policy and as measures for public welfare. Legal coordination and networking to all states was an indispensable corporate strategy to accord passenger’s security. As a business, the railway is also one of the leading companies that are dependent on the consumption of energy and thus, also confront the challenges in the utilization of oil and gas amid call for ecological protection and regulation of pollution emission. Although it contributed much for economic advancement because it raked high revenue but there is a need to reevaluate and optimize the company’s expend itures because it has oddly spent $ 3.95 billion in 2011 when it only earned $ 2.71 billion in its operation (Dunn et, al., 1997). Cash flows need to be regulated in such measure that will not devalue the services and sacrifice its operations amid escalating cost in the market. With these stark realities, the company remained subject to the corporation, transportation, insurance, and security policies of the states served and by United States of America. If the policies are not liberally construed to also assist the condition of the company, then unsupportive policies will negatively impact to Amtrak’s operational activities, thus, may constrain its business relations with its passengers and cargo customers. Perl and Dunn (1997) pointed that Amtrak, as a quasi-public and profit –oriented corporation had some internal flaws since it dissociated itself from America's private railroads and from trust-fund financial scheme that could subsidize public transport. Perl and Du nn (1997) criticized its over dependency on political patrons and labor union for protection against executive budget cuts, thus, bleeding its operational cost too much by running the railway system with expensive contracts and services against its revenue. Although the company has undertaken serious

Bus reservation Essay Example for Free

Bus reservation Essay The purpose of this report is to explain detailed description of Bus Reservation System. It will explain the aim of the project, the limitations of the system, interfaces of the system, what the project will do, what kind of future works may be done. 1. 2 Maintenance An accredited bus operator may demonstrate compliance with this requirement by: †¢ accessing manufacturer’s specifications and/or any other reference material deemed appropriate for the age, make and model of the buses in the accredited bus operator’s fleet †¢ developing and implementing service schedules 1. 3 Objectives This project is based on a scenario. In this scenario, customer wants to know bus services with their time and date when he decided to travel. He can do this by a phone call or going to agency. In both situations, he will meet the employee who work at the agency and get information about services, its departure time, departure date, destination time, suitable seats etc. If he decides to reserve a ticket, then employee will take some personnel information from customer and will reserve a seat that customer selected. Travelling is a large growing business in Turkey and other countries also. It becomes very difficult to keep bus services records and customer information. Our project will be useful in the Bus Reservation System. This project’s aim is to satisfy a facility to reserve seats, cancellation of seats and different types of enquiry like seat status, service enquiry and service time. 1. 4 Limitations This project has some limitations. Firstly, services are only between Laoag-Manila and Manila-Laoag. Secondly, each day there are three services for each direction at 9. 00 am, 1. 00 pm and 8. 00 pm. Thirdly, ticket can be reserved by an employee who works at the agency. Namely; customer cannot reserve a ticket. Finally, man and woman cannot seat side by side if they do not know each other. 1. 5 Problem Customers have to go to the counter to buy bus ticket or ask for bus schedule. Customers need to pay cash when they buy bus tickets and sometimes needs to queue up for hours to get bus tickets. Besides that, customers are also not allowed to buy bus tickets through telephone because the bus companys telephone line is always busy. II. Flowchart III. Screenshots This shows the title of our system which is the Reservation System. As we can see we put the name of the programmer. Then press any key to continue the program. This data shows to fix the first few errors or warnings, since they may be causing all the rest. A compiler warning indicates youve done something bad, but not something that will prevent the code from being compiled. You should fix whatever causes warnings since they often lead to other problems that will not be so easy to find. Compiler messages usually list the file and line number where a problem occurs. Nonetheless, errors often occur on the lines prior to what the error message lists. Especially check the line immediately preceding where the error message indicates. Finally, note that some compilers may choose to call something an error while others may just call it a warning or not complain at all. As we can see we have no warnings and errors. After the welcome form then system opens the login form. Here user has to enter valid user id and password. There are shown as below.. This shows the main menu where you can choose your reservation. This shows the different choices of bus, we have deluxe, air-conditioned bus and ordinary bus. You can also choose the time you want.

The Main Product In Madonna Cultural Studies Essay

The Main Product In Madonna Cultural Studies Essay Madonna born on August 16, 1958 her name full name is Madonna Louise Ciccone. Born in the Bay City Michigan of America and later moved to New York in 1977 to pursue the career in modern dance. In early days she has performed as an artist in the famous breakfast club and emmy. She released her first debut album in 1983 (Madonna) which became great success. She has emerged as a singer, lyricist, actress, and dancer and as an entrepreneur. She has sold 300 million copies of her albums worldwide. She has been rewarded from gunnies books of world records as the bestselling female recording artist of all time. Background All in all Madonna has seen the life very closely, with all ups and downs in her early days. She formed her own band with her ex-boyfriend Steve bray and they moved together into music building, where they written new songs and developed strategies for future. Madonna had tried to contact many music directors, agents and record companies to give her chance. In 1981 there was a certain shift in her success image. Madonna rather than following the rock genre she started making dance music which was emerging in New York clubs. She has put great effort in making her image as a new fashion icon, where she has adopted funky jewellery, cloths and extras. Madonnas style was soon become the new fashion for most of the girls around the world. Madonna realised that the dance clubs and the DJs are the first step for her success. She accompany the DJs to play her songs in clubs and her frequent appearance with her friends in her glossy and funky dresses made people being her fan and friends. The first release was 12-inch which gained huge success in clubs and gained Madonna name and fame. In 1983 her first album was released which she named as Madonna. Most of the songs became famous and hit the US charts. This was just a start for Madonnas success during 1986 to 1990 Madonna has released 6 albums and many of the songs from those albums become the top hits. Marketing mix The marketing mix is one of the important frameworks to define the product or brand offering. It includes the basic four Ps which are named as product, price, place, promotion. Product The main product in Madonna case is Madonna herself. She was and she still is one of the most successful women in music. She made herself as the icon and ideal for the young generation. Basically Madonna was not only about music. She was more than that, she was a style diva, her cloths and fashion ideas were become famous and were adopted by most of the young generation girls. Such as her famous tag boy toy belts, funky apparels etc. basically her product strategy was based on market development and diversification and something new. Madonna has given a new name to fashion and her ideas of style were copied by millions. Price In early days Madonna has put her tracks in New York clubs to gain popularity, with the help of DJs. Later on when she became famous her album was sold instantly and 8million copies were gone from shelves. The price was affordable according to that time customers pocket. Madonnas target market has always been the young generation and teenagers who love rock and dance music. The price penetration strategies and Madonna image has worked well to gain her name and money. Place Madonna has made the whole world to want her. Her early days of performing started from America New York and she made New York as her starting point to win the world. She was one of the most demanded and listened artist of all times in west. She has gained the name and fame by producing herself as a global singer not to limit herself to America. Her shows and world tours were great success all around the world. She penetrated the market via her appearances in different countries. Madonna has left a huge impression on people mind. Promotion Madonna has described herself as the hardworking, ambitious and determined lady. She has worked hard on promotions; she has chosen the best people in the business to develop her global image. She has used the club DJs to promote her tracks in early days and later on the agents and organizers who has introduced her to the world of fame. Madonna has worked side by side with the show organizer to arrange her shows in which she has shown her management skills. Her promotion strategies were always according to the audience she is going to see. In different countries she has made appearance differently with diva and raunchy looks she has attracted many hearts. SWOT Analysis of Madonna Key stake holders of Madonna Madonna has many different kinds of stakeholders and at different levels. The main stake holders for Madonna are given below. Audience Customers Music directors Show organizers Agents Choreographers National and local authorities Media Crew Designers Madonnas strategy is always to try and adopt something new, rather than to stick into one success formula that risky attitude of her got her more success name and fame. One of her secret of success is her attitude toward trying and experimenting new things with her music and personality. Madonnas image has changed with every CD release, her brand essence remain constant. This is a major part of her appeal. overt sexuality female empowerment rebellion the celebration of success spiritual honesty Madonna embodies a freedom of spirit, material success and politico-sexual honesty which is seen by many as the apogee of feminism. PEST Analysis Porters five forces model Value chain analysis Madonnas value chain contains few very strong key factors, which start from the show organizers/music directors/producers. Then the operations in which the actual process starts to create value for customers. In which all stake holders such as (choreographers, designers hair stylists, dress designers and stage designers etc.) work together to make sure customers get what they paid for. Once the operations finish their part, then its time for marketing and promoting the event or the product. Marketing and promotions is very integral step in the value chain. The customers have to get aware of what they going to get and when and where. It could be done via using different methods of marketing communications. Once the marketing and promotions has done their part, its time for product to get into market and available at sellers and selling points. The last part in that case is service Madonna always tries to give the value to its customers money and provide the best and quality time to he r fans. All these factors help Madonna to get competitive advantage in her genre. People are loyal to Madonna and her talent. Madonna can use her name to make more profit via using the differentiation and diversification strategy which will help Madonna to get the new success. Madonna could possibly enter to other different categories such as apparel, clothing, makeup and jewellery sections where there is a huge female fan following is for Madonna which will get her good profits in long run. Strategic options analysis for Madonna Madonna is getting old; she is 52 year old the market penetration strategy will not be the viable options. As the existing market is aging and the demographics are changing, so penetrating market will not be able to bring the success which Madonna desire. Introducing new products in existing market may work out something but still for Madonna to introduce something new in existing market might not be a viable option as mentioned earlier that the existing market has changed drastically but still her strength is RD as she is very hard working does homework before doing something so there are chances of this strategy to work out. Madonna has still got opportunity to explore and get into new markets with her existing products; there is still the world which needs to be introduced with Madonna. With some innovation in her music and reinventing the tracks with new music videos will work out for her. With the help of technology Madonna can reinvent her music and make it available via internet to large amount of people across the world. Its more risky than market penetration but as Madonna personality is when there is risk there is reward. The best strategy for Madonna is to use the diversification strategy. In terms as Madonna has developed herself as the one of the most successful female artist of all time. In diversification Madonna could possibly introduce herself as the new brand persona, via using her personality and name in addition to collaborating with new brands. Madonna is at such stage where people admire her a lot, the introduction of new things and products under Madonna name would work out. She can possibly train new singers, introduce her own product lines such as cosmetics, jewellery and apparels with Madonna magic touch. Diversification is the most risky strategy as the market and customers are both new. There is more reward in this strategy as well, if successful Madonna can get a new status and place in society and can get a new kind of fame. Conclusion and recommendations Madonna has seen the life very closely and knows the value of life and money. Madonnas early days were hard and those hard days made her the strong lady, ambitious, determined. She believed that there was something in her and she worked on it and proved herself to be the one of the most successful lady of all time. The art of using people and understanding the changing trends made her successful. Now Madonna has reached the age and name and fame where, she dont need to be on front and use the same tactics which she has used during her early success days. The world has changed and emerged in something completely different way, the technology has made it possible to reach the customers across the world. For Madonna should focus on cashing her image now. By introducing her own line of cosmetics, apparels, jewellery etc. she still can be the style diva for new youth. Madonna could possible use old tactics but with reinventing them according to the new world demands and choices. Madonna c ould possibly work in production and introducing new singers and helping them develop in music industry with Madonna help. This could possibly keep Madonna in media eyes.

The Matrix - Finding Reality In The Matrix Essay -- essays research pa

Movies are wonderful things; they can inspire, spark debate, and even make you believe in what you are seeing. Virtual Reality is a creation of a highly interactive computer-based multimedia environment in which the user becomes a participant with the computer in a "virtually real" world. Movies and virtual reality can do the same thing: make you believe what is presented to you. Although there are several movies which use virtual reality in the plot, such as The Lawnmower Man, and Hackers, the one most prevalent to me is The Matrix. Although this movie contains many aspects of virtual reality, it stands out in my mind so much because it suggests that the world in which we live, is a virtual one. The Matrix has many different aspects of virtual reality and they are incorporated throughout the movie. Virtual reality is involved in this movie in one major way: it suggests that our world is merely a virtual reality program that was created in order to â€Å"control† humans and keep them from the â€Å"real world,† which has been taken over by artificial intelligence who harvest humans for power. The main character in the movie is Gary Anderson, affectionately known to the hacker-world as Neo. He is contacted by people who have escaped the Matrix, and through a series of adventures, joins them. At one point in the movie, Neo goes to a psychic to find out if he is the one person who can save the rest of us from the Matrix. While waiting to see the psychic, Neo encounters a boy, ...

Spontaneous Generation :: essays research papers

From the time of the Ancient Romans, through the Middle Ages, and until the late nineteenth century, it was generally accepted that life arose spontaneously from non-living matter. Such "spontaneous generation" appeared to occur primarily in decaying matter. For example, a seventeenth century idea for the spontaneous generation of mice required placing sweaty underwear and husks of wheat in an open-mouthed jar. Then, waiting for about 21 days, during which time it was said that the sweat from the underwear would penetrate the husks of wheat, changing them into mice. Although that idea may seem ridiculous today, that and other ideas like it were believed and accepted during that time, which was not too long ago. The first serious attack on the idea of spontaneous generation was made in 1668 by Francesco Redi, an Italian physician and poet. At that time, it was thought that maggots arose spontaneously in rotting meat. Redi believed that maggots developed from eggs laid by flies after observing that they had different developmental stages.. To test his hypothesis, he set out meat in a variety of flasks, some open to the air, some sealed completely, and others covered with gauze. As he had expected, maggots appeared only in the open flasks in which the flies could reach the meat and lay their eggs. This was one of the first examples of an experiment in which controls are used. In spite of his well-executed experiment, the belief in spontaneous generation remained strong, and even Redi continued to believe it occurred under some circumstances. The invention of the microscope encouraged this silly belief. Microscopes revealed a whole new world of organisms that appeared to arise spontaneously. It was quickly learned that to create "animalcules," as the organisms were called, you needed only to place hay in water and wait a few days before examining your new creations under the microscope. The debate over spontaneous generation continued for centuries. In 1745, John Needham, an English clergyman, proposed what he considered the definitive experiment. Everyone knew that boiling killed microorganisms, so he proposed to test whether or not microorganisms appeared spontaneously after boiling. He boiled chicken broth, put it into a flask, sealed it, and waited - sure enough, microorganisms grew. Needham claimed victory for spontaneous generation. An Italian priest, Lazzaro Spallanzani, was not convinced, and he suggested that perhaps the microorganisms had entered the broth from the air after the broth was boiled, but before it was sealed.

Bvaria

Even after university studies, it is not always easy for refashions to stay up-to-date and at the same time trust their existing expertise. Professionals also have to be prepared to switch Jobs, get used to new working environments and stay flexible. And finally they have to deal with high expectations and the pressure to perform. Of course there are different programmer to choose from at EVIL Wakening, and one student is different from another. But many of you aspire to become professionals often in an international context, and you will come across the situation as described above. Nice you all. So what else do you have in common? You will ark with other people (colleagues, clients, commissioners) and you have to relate to them in one way or another. That means communication is central. English is crucial: you now need to learn to use spoken and written English, so that it becomes natural to you to work and learn in that language. You will need to act professionally, that means you need to show certain professional behaviors and a ‘grown-up' attitude. Other people need to rely on you and your sense of responsibility.You have to learn right (career) choices in life, and do things as well as you can without underperforming or overstretching yourself. This is why we try to prepare you for a professional career, so that you can be confident that upon graduation, you a have more than sufficient skills and knowledge, as well as the right attitude, to work in such changing environments, whilst keeping your head cool. So that, wherever you are and wherever you work, you are aware of the things that you still need to learn, but also of the things that you are good at and that you can rely on.And that whatever happens, you are prepared to find out and communicate with other people about what is needed. Whether you are working as an employee or perhaps later, in more senior position, managing others. In more formal terms, the goal of working on your competences F and G is therefore to develop students' abilities to communicate and collaborate professionally in an international context, and to engage in a process of developing themselves professionally. This is done through a combined programmer of Mentoring, Training and English sessions. In the first two terms of year 1, we take the first steps towards that goal. 1. 2 General Content The study unit is offered through a combined programmer of Mentoring, Training and English sessions. Mentoring: Topics Performance and study progress of student Professional orientation Wellbeing of student Description Monitoring of study progress and support of the individual student in relation to her/ his personal and professional behavior and development. The mentor (a staff member from the Course Programmer) supports professional orientation: at the end of term 2 in the choice of major.Training: Communication, feedback (inch. Peer assessment skills) Teamwork, Task process and team process, exercises) Refle ction Planning work and study skills Three training sessions per term in order to start understanding the above mentioned topics and begin to demonstrate skills and use tools that are practiced in the sessions. English: pre-test level 82 CHEF vocabulary acquisition listening and reading Academic Purposes Description Six sessions per term in which students first do a preliminary test.Students are instructed on vocabulary acquisition, and have the opportunity to write practice papers during the term targeted on specific purposes. Sessions further emphasize on writing skills. In addition, students practice text analysis & reading comprehension with (critical) analysis. Please note that for the English sessions there is a separate annual. 2. Competences and Learning objectives 2. 1 Competence and level This study unit develops two very related competences, which are offered for students of all Bachelor programmer of EVIL in a generic way.Competence F: To communicate in an international setting Competence F is a very broad competence encompassing spoken and written English, developing skills such as listening, presenting, interviewing, writing, working in teams effectively. It is focused on communication in the professional international setting and at times this also touches on interpersonal (life) communication skills too: egg fleeting, giving and receiving feedback, cross-cultural understanding. At higher levels the practice and understanding of similar qualities may be repeated but in more complex situations, or in a different role, egg as a manager, advisor etc.Competence G: To develop professional behavior Competence G is all about learning to adopt an attitude needed for a professional: taking responsibility, performing according to your abilities and qualities, being able to adapt to the circumstances, including handling cultural differences. This includes knowing yourself well with your strengths and weaknesses, acting upon those nakedness egg by setting l earning goals for yourself. Again, the focus is on qualities needed for a professional attitude but these qualities are never far from more general life qualities, egg setting priorities, making choices.It is obvious that professional behavior is often very much integrated with communication (so with competence F) and therefore the two competences are usually mentioned together. In the first year of studies these competences are offered at level 1: Please be reminded that for the English sessions there is a separate manual. 2. 2 Learning objectives The objectives for this study unit (terms 1 and 2 of year 1) are as follows: Students show knowledge and understanding of interpersonal professional communication, and of the importance developing these competencies for their studies at EVIL.Students show reflection skills focused on their teamwork experience and begin to use different instruments to study effectively, to communicate and develop professionally. Students begin to feel at e ase with using the English language on a daily basis and learn to use it correctly and independently in a professional and academic context both in verbal and written forms. Level of English is based on the Common European Framework of Reference (CHEF), year 1: Bal for reading, listening, 2. Professional role The relevance of what students learn in this study unit is that it gets them started in their studies and the way of studying and learning at EVIL. This includes how to get to grips with a task as a team. Besides teamwork, we also wish to train students in becoming reflective about the quality of their (team) work: how did it go? What was my role? What did others do? How could I do better next time? In many professional situations team work is a key feature of day to day work and by starting to do this early on, we intend to train students thoroughly.We use the same teams that work together on assignments for other study units. 3. Learning methods and Learning activities 3. 1 G eneral outline Generally speaking there are 3 methods of teaching and learning in the study unit Professional Behavior and Communication, and they complement each other. On Blackboard you will find an overview of different activities related to the first and second term of BBC under the name Timeline BBC. Mentoring: Mentoring means the monitoring of your study progress and supporting you as an individual student in relation to your personal and professional behavior and development.The mentor is usually a staff member from your Course Programmer and will also support you in your professional orientation, for example at the end of term 2 in the choice of major. In the mentoring time, you have individual meetings with your mentor. In several cases you have to prepare yourself for such meetings, for example by writing something in advance and by placing it on your own digital space on Blackboard. Usually your mentor will meet her or his group of mentoring students (10 students) all tog ether, in the first or second week of each term.After that, 2 individual meetings will be held each term and you and your mentor have to arrange for this. Training: Each term, three training sessions (of 3 hours each) are held. These trainings are interactive group sessions, where a lot of communication skills and certain tools are being practiced and discussed, and real-life situations are simulated. Your trainer is a specialized communication trainer and he or she will not be afraid to challenge you ND invite you to go Just a little further than what you normally do. Trainings are often fun but of course it is all about very serious and real competences to be developed.In several cases you have to prepare yourself for your training, for example by self-study (reading or writing something in advance) and bringing examples from your own experience to the training room, and/or by placing something you have written on your digital space on Blackboard. English: programmer of self-study as instructed in the separate manual. At the beginning of the first term students do a preliminary test. Students are instructed on vocabulary acquisition, and have the opportunity to write practice papers during the term targeted on specific purposes.Sessions further emphasize on writing skills. In addition, students practice text analysis & reading comprehension with (critical) analysis. Please be reminded that for English there is a separate manual. 3. 2 Supporting lessons Mentoring programmer Term 1 1 . Plenary introduction to BBC by the co-ordination: What is BBC, meaning of competences F Pathway of year 1 focusing on BBC Important tips (use of your digital space on Blackboard, prepare for your sessions) 2. Group meeting with your mentor: Getting to know your mentor and each other Submitting your c.v. and portrait 3.Two (2) individual meetings with mentor: Discuss progress and difficulties: study skills, team work Term 2 4. Study Abroad Event in week 1 5. Group meeting about c hoice of major and placement (with mentor or otherwise) 6. Two (2) individual meetings (or 3 very short ones) with mentor: Discuss results of first term, discuss reflective report written for assessment term 1 Discuss progress and difficulties: study skills, team work Training sessions 1 . Introduction to communication and Team work l: What is communication and why is it so important?What is the scope that we have in these trainings? What is Team work? The 3 aspects of team work: Product (or task), Task process, Team process. In this term we'll focus on Task process: the ‘hardware' of the collaboration process, or the procedures and steps involved. Practicing with task process (exercise in class). How to make sure to use this in your term team assignment? 2. Study skills: Discussing and practicing different skills: Planning, preparing, reading books, writing an action plan, summarizing, repeating, asking questions. Discussing experiences with teamwork during the term.Tips for improvement. 3. Reflection I and Practice for assessment: What is reflection and why should we reflect? Report. Practicing the procedure for the assessment. Term 4. Teamwork II: Looking back in plenary on Task process in 1st term. Lessons learnt Repeating 3 aspects of Team work, now focus on Team process: the ‘software' of collaboration. Exercise with team work, focusing on team process 5. Face to face communication skills: Discussing and practicing different skills: listening, summarizing, asking questions, rephrasing, non-verbal reactions.Feedback: rules of giving and receiving feedback, Shari window. 6. Preparing for a Personal Development Plan: Using a format for a PDP Formulating SMART: what is it, why is it important. Practicing the use of the format in a SMART way English sessions Be reminded that for English there is a separate manual, giving you all the details of the lessons and preparations needed. 3. 3 Assignments On Blackboard you will find an overview of differen t activities related to the first and second term of BBC under the name Timeline BBC.In this ‘Timeline' you also find products that we expect you to submit or upload on your digital space in Blackboard. In summary the assignments for mentoring and training (not including English) are as follows: Week 1 – Initial choice of major – for mentor, major co-ordination and programmer co- ordination. Week 2 – Submit your c.v. and portrait by uploading on your digital space on Blackboard – for mentor. Not marked Week 8/9 – Write reflective report for assessment. Exact deadline to be communicated by trainer. Upload on Blackboard – for assessor to be marked, also visible for mentor. Term 2End of week 8 – Write and submit Personal Development Plan including initial choice of major and an image of your ‘dreamed' first placement. Upload on Blackboard – for mentor, also visible for trainer. Not marked, but will be subsequently disc ussed with mentor at the beginning of term 3. In addition to the above, you are strongly advised to prepare for the individual mentoring meetings by thinking about how you are doing study-wise, what needs your special attention, what should be discussed with the mentor, This may also include writing down a number of points. 4. Examination 4. 1 General outlineFor this study unit, two partial examinations are organized, WAGE PAW (40%) and WAGE PAW (60%), together providing the final grade for this study unit. Together the two exams need to have a weighted average of 5,5 to pass the study unit (of 5 SEC). Examination in term 1 Type of assessment: team meeting (week 7 or 8), individual written paper (week 8/9) In week 7 or 8 a team meeting is organized for the team that worked together during term, under guidance of the trainer, in which a ‘peer assessment' is carried out, with a duration of 45 minutes total. Immediately before this team meeting, students get 30 minutes to prepare individually.The peer assessment discusses task process (procedures, road map, methods) and team process (task sharing, team meeting skills, communication skills). Afterwards, at home, students write an individual reflection paper (based on a format) about teamwork during the term and taking on board the feedback from peers. Paper is marked. The procedure of the peer assessment will be practiced during one of the training sessions. WAGE PAW â€Å"Writing a formal paper† Examination in term 2 Type of assessment: written exam The written assessment takes place in a computer room on a stand-alone computer, o students can only use Word.Students are allowed to bring dictionaries and grammar reference books, which are clean (no notes inside) and may be inspected by the supervisor. Students get a writing assignment at the start of the assessment and then write a paper (memo, letter, report, proposal, essay) of about 350 words in 120 minutes. Topic of the paper is only known in the exam room. Paper is assessed on English proficiency using criteria such as accuracy of grammar and vocabulary, mindfulness of organization and structure of paragraphs, and awareness of style and audience. 4. 2 Criteria and gradingWAGE PAW â€Å"Reflecting on team work† Bottom mark: 5 Weighing: 40% Marking criteria: Student is capable of writing a 750-1000 words reflective paper, in which the opinions of others are compared with those of self. Student uses the offered format for reflection. Student selects relevant situations and can formulate appropriate reflection questions about these situations. Student draws conclusions and lessons learnt. Weighing: 60% Students can write an accurate, formal paper Students start becoming aware of and are capable of applying basic rules of paragraphing and layouts of different types of professional and academic comments.Students start becoming aware of differences in formal and informal writing styles Students start increasing their corpus of active vocabulary in both writing and speaking. Together the two exams need to have a weighted average of 5,5 to pass the study unit (of 5 SEC). 4. 3 Resist A partial examination has to be retaken when the grade is lower than 5. When both partial exams are 5 or higher but the weighted average is lower than 5,5, the student can choose which exam to resist. Both partial examinations can be retaken in the term following the normal assessment moment.

Cholera: Shaping Social Attitudes and Science in Government Essay

Introduction During much of the 1800’s and the 1900’s Cholera was a disease which had many similar characteristics of the plague that affected Western civilization. Cholera had a profound affect on not only social and cultural attitudes, but religious ideas, medical thought, and the role of science in the government. Many historians, scientists, and doctors all have different views on how Cholera was spread, and where this execrable disease came from. How Cholera shaped social attitudes at that time, can still be seen in how social attitudes are shaped in modern day society. Cholera also shaped science in the government, and especially emphasized on sanitation, which can also be seen in modern day society. Without the epidemic of Cholera, how would life be different today? Would there be segregation of social classes? Would sanitation be important? Most likely, yes they would, but Cholera is an interesting case to study when looking at these questions. Social Thought During the Cholera Years Throughout the many years Cholera was prominent in many areas, social turmoil was at an all time high. Different social groups as well as social classes were experiencing feelings of distrust, anger, and fear. â€Å"†¦almost before cholera even appeared-Europeans and Americans had associated cholera with social class and economic background.†[1] Poor social classes were frightened that their traditional ways of life would be violated because there were many arguments made that Cholera was associated with the poor. For example, Rene Villerme believed that poverty was the cause of disease.[2] This led the poor social class to not be able to trust anyone. The poor especially did not have any trust in doctors. Their fear was that doctors were the agents of evoking something that could potentially hurt them. Because of their distrust and fear of doctors, the poor social class despised isolation hospitals. A quote that came from poor people in Manchester was â€Å"To the hospital, pull it to the ground.†[3] This quote clearly shows the resentment that the poor social class had towards hospitals. Threats, like the quote above, made doctors and hospitals feel that they were under attack. Next, the middle class feared Cholera as a social stability threat. They were fearful of the economy being disrupted as well as an increase of anger being provoked. Their fear was accurate considering that riots did break out in some areas. For example, in Russia, riots began to break out when there were many police enforcing isolation. [4] It is quite apparent that during the 1800’s and 1900’s when Cholera outbreaks were abundant, social attitudes were shaped in an overall negative way. Correlation of Social Thought Shaping Modern Society In modern society, most humans have encounters with many, many different people and social classes. Do you trust every person you have an encounter with? Of course not, especially if you have ever been hurt by someone you thought you could trust. That is how the poor social class felt when they were hurt by doctors. Today, trust is one of the fundamental parts to having a relationship with someone. With trust being a big issue to the poor social class during the Cholera outbreaks, it has had a part in the shaping of modern society issues of trust. When people today see that people during the 1800’s and 1900’s could not trust doctors, who are supposed to be there to help and save lives, then that gives the modern society the question of who can they trust? Today, you see a lot of trust issues between boyfriends/girlfriends, spouses, co-workers, politics, etc. There is a clear correlation of how trust in past events have shaped modern society, and possibly even made it worse. Next, anger is an issue in modern society, as well. Anger can turn into violence very easily. This was seen in the past with the riots that broke out during the years Cholera was prominent in society. Today, violence is a big issue as a whole in many different areas. Like the middle class feared anger during the 1800’s and 1900’s, it correlates with modern day people fearing anger and acts of violence. Cholera is just one of many components that has shaped social attitudes in modern day society. Although circumstances during the 1800’s and 1900’s are very different from modern society, it is clear that events from the past do have an affect in shaping social aspects of things in the future. Environmental Conditions During the Cholera Years Overall, during the years that Cholera was most prominent, the environment was revolting. The main reason for the environment being so bad was because of the lack of modern technology for sewage systems. Waste seemed to be spread everywhere; in soil, rivers, streets, etc. Water flushed toilets were not very prominent during this time. â€Å"Most human wastes found their way either into leaky cesspools or directly into street drains.† [5] The cesspools were not cleaned often enough to keep the area sanitary, which was one of the direct causes for the environment being so awful. Not only would human waste be spread throughout the environment, but trash and animal bodies, too. All of this horrible pollution would be the air that people during that time would breathe in, and it would also find its way into the water that they drank. Numerous cities were polluted with all of these foul things, and it was becoming a big problem. Along with the bad pollution, some cities were also ve ry overcrowded which would make matters much worse. Science in the Government During the Cholera Years During the1800’s and 1900’s, scientific research mainly focused on the emphasis of the cause and communication of Cholera, as well as what was the best way to treat it and stop the spreading of it. There was a central argument of miasma versus contagion, but it was clear that the majority associated Cholera as a miasmatic disease. For example, Erwin Ackerknech, believed pollution to be the foremost cause of disease for obvious reasons, and he was not the only one to believe that. John Snow focused on Cholera as being spread through water. Mainly, polluted water that contained fecal material.[6] Snow did numerous studies on Cholera being spread through water. In â€Å"On the Mode of Communication of Cholera†, Snow presents various different studies that examine the correlation between where people were receiving their water from and how many were diagnosed with Cholera depending on where their water was from. Snow presented his data in tables to show that more dea ths were prominent in areas with bad water supply. â€Å"This table shows that in the greater part of Southwark, which was supplied with worse water than any other part of the metropolis, the mortality from cholera was also much higher than anywhere else.† [7] This quote is just one of many examples that prove Snow’s theory that water was one of the main sources for the spread of Cholera. Another study that Snow conducted was on two districts in London that were very alike in social and economic compositions, but had different water supplies. His conclusion found that one of the districts suffered much more than the other with Cholera due to the water.[8] So, where does science in the government come into play? There was clearly a serious environmental problem, and who was going to make the initiative to think of something to help and propose it to the government for help? Edwin Chadwick was the answer. Chadwick was a known for how he improved public health through sanitization. Chadwick’s inquiry called The Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population, â€Å"was the greatest classic of the sanitation movement, and one that outsold well-known novels.† [9] Chadwick’s main focus was in the sewer and water systems. He wanted a system where fresh water only was pumped to people, and that waste, sewage, trash, etc. was disposed of the correct way without seeping public areas. Because of Chadwick’s Report, A Public Health Act was approved by the British Parliament. â€Å"The 1848 Act empowered local boards of health to enforce drainage, build sewers, compel the servicing of cesspools, pave and clean streets, deal with nuisances, inspect lodging houses and burial grounds, control the water supply, and raise local taxes to pay for it all.†[10] The above quote tells how the environment was soon being changed for the better now that Chadwick was able to make an impact on the government to do something. Cholera shaped the role of science in the government by emphasizing the importance of sanitation to the government, in which in return the government would act accordingly with the people’s best interest in mind. Shaping the Importance of Sanitization in Modern Society In modern society, sanitization is a major component of life. Everywhere you go, you are subject to germs, and more and more people are taking measures of sanitization to keep themselves healthy. One example of these measures is hand sanitizer. In modern society you find this everywhere; libraries, schools, hospitals, stores, etc. If it was not for the Cholera outbreak and Chadwick’s extensive emphasis of the importance of sanitation, how would modern society be today? Dirty? There is no knowing, but sanitation in the 1800’s and 1900’s definitely helped shape society today, for the better. Another example of the importance of sanitation today can be seen in restaurants. It does not matter what restaurant you go to, every one of them has a letter on the outside indicating the cleanliness of the establishment. Also, any doctor or dentist appointment that you go to, you will always notice that the doctor makes a point to was his/her hands before and after seeing a patient. Any tools used by the doctor or dentist are either brand new or well sanitized before they come in contact with their patients. There are numerous measures of sanitation in modern society today, whether government controlled, or peoples person preferences of how they like to stay sanitary. Health is a major component to modern society, and Chadwick’s Report during the Cholera outbreak helped illuminate the importance of sanitation to where it is still being used and made better in modern society. Conclusion In conclusion, it is apparent that Cholera had an effect on many different things in many different ways. Some are positive ways: development of sanitation, and some are negative ways: social attitudes of distrust and violence. These negative and positive effects of Cholera can still be seen in modern day society which shows that Cholera helped to shape social attitudes as well as the role of science in government. Where would modern day society be today if the outbreaks of Cholera never came about during the 1800’s and 1900’s? Social attitudes could easily be very different and sanitation may not be a serious factor in most peoples lives. Events of the past are one of the main responsibilities of how society is shaped today. Cholera will be forever remembered and known for its different effects on how society is shaped today. ———————– [1]J.N. Hayes, The Burdens of Disease: Epidemics and Human Response in Western History (New Brunswick, New Jersey and London: Rutgers University Press, 1998 and 2009), 140. [2]J.N. Hayes, The Burdens of Disease: Epidemics and Human Response in Western History (New Brunswick, New Jersey and London: Rutgers University Press, 1998 and 2009), 140. [3]J.N. Hayes, The Burdens of Disease: Epidemics and Human Response in Western History (New Brunswick, New Jersey and London: Rutgers University Press, 1998 and 2009), 140. [4]J.N. Hayes, The Burdens of Disease: Epidemics and Human Response in Western History (New Brunswick, New Jersey and London: Rutgers University Press, 1998 and 2009), 139. [5]J.N. Hayes, The Burdens of Disease: Epidemics and Human Response in Western History (New Brunswick, New Jersey and London: Rutgers University Press, 1998 and 2009), 143. [6]Professor Williams. â€Å"Lecture.† September 26, 2012. [7]John Snow, â€Å"On the Mode of Communication of Cholera.† (London: Churchill, 1855). 35. [8]J.N. Hayes, The Burdens of Disease: Epidemics and Human Response in Western History (New Brunswick, New Jersey and London: Rutgers University Press, 1998 and 2009), 147. [9]J.N. Hayes, The Burdens of Disease: Epidemics and Human Response in Western History (New Brunswick, New Jersey and London: Rutgers University Press, 1998 and 2009), 145. [10]J.N. Hayes, The Burdens of Disease: Epidemics and Human Response in Western History (New Brunswick, New Jersey and London: Rutgers University Press, 1998 and 2009), 146.

Financial Inclusion Essay

Role of Government in financial inclusion Abstract:- This research paper contains the full information about the financial inclusion of the world’s economic. In this research paper we describe the financial inclusion basic meaning, definitions, scope & significance. Now we move towards the second phase which include role of government & role of banks in financial inclusion. we also include the reforms that has been done by the government and the other government organizations . We also include the main article that has been given by the different ministers about financial inclusion & its reform. Financial Inclusion Meaning: Financial inclusion is a policy adopted by many countries to include more people in the financial set up of the country. It aims at tackling poverty and deprivation in the country. In simple terms financial inclusion refers to making the finance or the financial/banking sector more accessible to people. For example: Debit cards, internet banking and direct debit facilities are now common, convenient and cheap ways of paying for goods and services. Yet there are still people who are excluded from using these services. People who are losing out as they are unable to take advantage of the benefits offered by the range of financial products available. In developing and poor countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Afgan etc there are many people who do not even have a bank account or who are unable to take advantage of the loans and deposit benefits offered by banks due to various reasons like lack of knowledge, fear, lack of proximity etc. Today, personal debt is at a record igh and borrowing without a bank account means using high interest lenders. Many of the people in this position live in our poorest communities and find themselves without choice or access to basic financial services, making it even more difficult to find routes out of poverty. Defination: Financial Inclusion is the delivery of banking services at affordable costs to vast sections of disadvantaged and low income groups. Unrestrained access to public goods and servic es is the sine qua non of an open and efficient society. It is argued that as banking services are in the nature of public good, it is essential that availability of banking and payment services to the entire population without discrimination is the prime objective of public policy. The term Financial Inclusion has gained importance since the early 2000s, and is a result of findings about Financial Exclusion and its direct correlation to poverty. Financial Inclusion is now a common objective for many central banks among the developing nations. Financial Inclusion in India The Reserve Bank of India setup a commission (Khan Commission) in 2004 to look into Financial Inclusion and the recommendations of the commission were incorporated into the Mid-term review of the policy (2005-06). In the report RBI exhorted the banks with a view of achieving greater Financial Inclusion to make available a basic â€Å"no-frills† banking account. In India, Financial Inclusion first featured in 2005, when it was introduced, that, too, from a pilot project in UT of Pondicherry, by K C Chakraborthy, the chairman of Indian Bank. Mangalam Village became the first village in India where all households were provided banking facilities. In addition to this KYC (Know your Customer) norms were relaxed for people intending to open accounts with annual deposits of less than Rs. 50, 000. General Credit Cards (GCC) were issued to the poor and the disadvantaged with a view to help them access easy credit. In January 2006, the Reserve Bank permitted commercial banks to make use of the services of non-governmental organizations (NGOs/SHGs), micro-finance institutions and other civil society organizations as intermediaries for providing financial and banking ervices. These intermediaries could be used as business facilitators (BF) or business correspondents (BC) by commercial banks. The bank asked the commercial banks in different regions to start a 100% Financial Inclusion campaign on a pilot basis. As a result of the campaign states or U. T. s like Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala have announced 100% financial in clusion in all their districts. Reserve Bank of India’s vision for 2020 is to open nearly 600 million new customers’ accounts and service them through a variety of channels by leveraging on IT. However, illiteracy and the low income savings and lack of bank branches in rural areas continue to be a road block to financial inclusion in many states. Apart from this there are certain in Current model which is followed. There is inadequate legal and financial structure. India being a mostly agrarian economy hardly has schemes which lend for agriculture. Along with Microfinance we need to focus on Micro insurance too. The scope of financial inclusion The scope of financial inclusion can be expanded in two ways. ) through state-driven intervention by way of statutory enactments ( for instance the US example, the Community Reinvestment Act and making it a statutory right to have bank account in France). b) through voluntary effort by the banking community itself for evolving various strategies to bring within the ambit of the banking sector the large strata of society. When bankers do not give the desired attention to certain areas, the regulators have to step in to remedy the situ ation. This is the reason why the Reserve Bank of India is placing a lot of emphasis on financial inclusion. In India the focus of the financial inclusion at present is confined to ensuring a bare minimum access to a savings bank account without frills, to all. Internationally, the financial exclusion has been viewed in a much wider perspective. Having a current account / savings account on its own, is not regarded as an accurate indicator of financial inclusion. There could be multiple levels of financial inclusion and exclusion. At one extreme, it is possible to identify the ‘super-included’, i. e. , those customers who are actively and persistently courted by the financial ervices industry, and who have at their disposal a wide range of financial services and products. At the other extreme, we may have the financially excluded, who are denied access to even the most basic of financial products. In between are those who use the banking services only for deposits and withdrawals of money. But these persons may have only restricted access to the financial system, and may not en joy the flexibility of access offered to more affluent customers. Steps towards financial inclusion

Problem with Evil Existence of God

Today the news is filled with coverage on various natural catastrophes and other related causalities that people face daily. Anyone can look into their lives or even their neighbors and see the presence of misfortune that surrounds our world. This problem has brought up the issue of God’s existence in religious philosophical discussions. For centuries, many have tried to dismiss the existence of God on the basis of the existence of evil. Let’s consider where God has been placed in people’s lives throughout our history. For the Greeks and Romans gods were thought to personify wisdom, war, and other actions that human beings took (Spitzer 5). As knowledge continued to progress god was thought to live in heaven, beyond the realm of the planets. He was believed to have created life thousands of years ago. Soon as human knowledge progressed even further we’ve learned about the Big Bang, DNA, and evolution (Spitzer 14). It seems that the more humans know, the further back God gets pushed. Often, it appears as if humans use God as a placeholder for the unknown, but as we learn more, he gets redefined. Philosophers question whether or not there can be a wholly good God that would create such a world where evil exists. This pursuit is known as the problem of evil. â€Å"According to the ‘problem of evil’, the extent of evils in the world seems to conflict with the existence of an omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipotent God. Theodicy is a study where theists are able to get together and make their arguments disclosing information on the compatibility between God and evil. This seems to be one of the most perplexing problems theists have to face. In today's world, there are many differing opinions as to whether a God exists or not. This obviously has been an issue of great controversy because many people worship different gods or no god at all. I will define theodicy; discuss the conflict between an omniscient God and the existence of evil, and touch on free will and how it plays into natural and moral evil. Theodicy is the branch of theology that defends God's goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil (dictionary. com). Theodicy is a term hat comes from the Greek words theos meaning God and dike meaning righteous. The basic form of theodicy involves these assumptions that God is all good and powerful therefore he is all knowing and that the universe was made by God and does it exist in a contingent relationship to God. Also the assumption of the existence of evil and why. (Mackie 150) This suggests that if God is all good and powerful he would choose to eliminate such evils. In the case of God being all good but not all powerful he may be unable to intervene in the evils of this world. Or if God was just all powerful and not all good one must assume he has a malicious side to him to allow all this evil. Assuming that God is all these things both powerful and good if the universe doesn’t exist in a contingent relationship to God then he has little to do with the evil. With this being said still leaves the question â€Å"why does evil exist†? The basic approaches to theodicy can be said to take three forms: logical/deductive, evidential/inductive, and existential. The logical problem of evil is a deductive one. If God is said to be all good, all powerful, and all knowing why should evil exist. Is it rational to believe in the existence of God? This is Mackie’s formulation of the problem God exists, is all good, all knowing, and all powerful. Such a being has no limits to its ability. A good being will always eliminate all the evil that it can. Evil exists, so God must not (Theodicy Overview). You can agree with the first two statements, but one might argue the third statement by making the point that a good being will always eliminate all the evil that it can unless it has good reason to allow that evil. Therefore, a modified version of Mackie’s argument looks like this: â€Å"If God exists, then there is no evil, unless there is a reason that would justify Him in permitting it. Evil exists. There is no reason that would justify God to permit evil. So, God does not exist (Theodicy Overview). † The intention behind this argument is to show that God is justified in permitting evil. The evidential problem of evil admits that God and the existence of evil are logically compatible, the concept of good and bad are known to go together. Considering the amount or various kinds of evil in the world conclude as vidence against the existence of God. This approach argues that because of the large amounts of evil in the world and the existence of unjustified evil the belief in God is not plausible. We assume that God would refuse to allow such evils to exist that fail in appearance to have any good purpose. Here are examples of these objections. â€Å"It seems that God could have eliminated more evil in the world and still accomplished the divine purposes (Matson 145). † â€Å"Is such a God who does things this way worthy of worship, and therefore, plausible (Matson 145)? With little evidence it’s hard to prove or disprove if something exists. Dealing with a being such as God we may not always be able to understand his reasoning for allowing such evils and will not always see his greater purpose for his divine moral teachings. The existential approach often referred to as the religious approach to the problem of evil is the concept of why the suffering is happening to a certain individual and why at this time or place in this individual’s life. Theodicy is now seen as practical more concerned with providing answers for those who suffer in specific circumst ances. It is often that the existential approach turns from asking why God would allow such evils to happen to instead how one can go to God in search for him to help relieve them of their problems and find ways to make suffering and evil more tolerable. The focus is on how believers should respond to God during their tribulations for example turning to faith, testimony, and worship. This is an overview on theodicy and introduces some of the main concepts that sets its foundation. Now the conflict between an omniscient God and the existence of evil seems to get very complicated. God is referred to be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent simultaneously. If God is omnipotent this means he has power over anything and everything. If God is omniscient this means he is aware of all things that occur and if he is omnibenevolent this means he is wholly good. It would seem rational to believe that an omnibenevolent God would be of nature to relieve suffering wherever it is happening (Swinburne 67). An omniscient God would know when people are suffering, how they are suffering, and how that suffering may be relieved. An omnipotent God has the power to alleviate those who are suffering from their sufferings. So why does God allow evil to exist? Maybe God allows evil to exist because it is necessary for some greater good. For example, when a parent gives a child bad tasting medicine or has the child undergo painful surgery. From the child’s perspective they would feel as if they were being punished for something or enduring a form of evil. When this isn’t the case at all the parent is only looking out for the child’s best interest (Swinburne 100). The child shows ignorance of the parent’s reasoning for forcing him/her to undergo the temporary pain and so the child finds this treatment unjust when in actuality it isn’t. Perhaps we can use the metaphor of the child's perception of his parent's action to God and our perception of his creation of evil. â€Å"For we cannot deny that some good the child's mind cannot even conceive may justify the parents in permitting the child to suffer. And by analogy, won't the same be true of God in relation to us as his children (Theodicy Overview)? † This can conclude that we are sometimes unable to see the bigger picture of God’s purpose when it comes to human suffering. God may be teaching us the secrets behind the moral code. Like what is just and in just. We are being taught moral responsibilities and moral traits to help us reach a greater good that God possibly has in store for our lives. Some still argue that this isn’t the case at all. There are still many evils that don’t necessarily seem to produce any good or help in the counter-balance between good and evil. One incident that comes to mind is the Holocaust. It was a horrific period of time in our history where genocide occurred. It is hard to believe that an all-powerful and all-knowing God would become powerless in preventing the nightmare in Auschwitz. Also if God is omnibenevolent we would ponder on the question how can he let something so malice take place on innocent lives? Is it reasonable to believe that all evils can be explained to where they occur to result in a greater good and that we are somehow unable to always make sense of why such and such thing are happening? It is possible that a massacre shooting at a school resulting in the death of many young lives may serve to promote a greater good, but it doesn’t seem likely. Now there is a distinction between the good parent and the good God. In such cases where a child is undergoing pain which they are incapable of understanding the parent is there to reassure them of their love and give them useful insight on better understanding their situation and what it is their going through. There are numerous people who go through prolonged suffering who are consciously unaware of God’s presence. Going back to the incidents that occurred in Auschwitz it is unlikely that the majority of prisoners felt God’s love and reassurance. They most likely felt abandoned and un-loved. Many would have to question where was God during this time and what type of parent does this make him. It appears that God acted like a negligent parent with a cold heart. With that being said we can make the assumption that God doesn’t exist or the good-parent analogy fails. This argument that God allows evil to exist to show us the greater good seems to be implausible due to the fact that such horrendous evils fail to show the greater good they are meant to produce. There are two basic forms of evil which are natural and moral. Natural evil is when the world experiences suffering caused by disease, earthquakes, floods, crashes, and so on. Moral evil is when someone chooses to act ill-mannered based on human will. Now natural evil can’t be prevented and is easily misunderstood to why God allows such natural disasters to occur. Where moral evil is based upon each individual and their code of ethics, how they differentiate right from wrong. Some argue that God punishes people based on their actions because we have the ability to choose what’s good and what’s bad. This is where the free-will defense can cover moral evil, but it fails to cover natural evil. It is believed that God created man to possess free-will allowing him the freedom of choice. With the freedom of choice there becomes conflict when you have to make the decision between right and wrong. The fact that we have been taught to know what is right should benefit us when it comes to making the better decision, but that isn’t always the case. Due to the various temptations we have in our society many of us continue to fall short of the moral code. If God has made men such that in their free choices they sometimes prefer what is good and sometimes what is evil, why could he not have made men such that they always freely choose the good (Mackie 164)? † It is easy to assume that such a being as God would want his creation to be wholly good like him, but this isn’t the case at all. Some argue that if God was to have created us to always freely choose good we wouldnâ €™t be entirely entitled to freedom. If we were being forced to choose one way or the other we wouldn’t be choosing freely. Without the ability to choose what is wrong we would no longer have to worry about greed, lust, violence, and other evils because they would no longer be a choice of ours. â€Å"We would be free from temptations and only have innocent inclinations, and so could not exemplify the moral value of resisting and overcoming temptations to do wrong (Mackie 165). † In conclusion, I do believe in the rationality behind the existence of God. Just because there is a problem with evil and a disagreement to why God would allow such evils to exist I feel there is a greater purpose behind Gods plan. The evils that are apparent in our society today teaches us the value of morals and the importance in having them. We are able to step outside ourselves and our heart goes out to those we see suffering from deprivation all around the world. The idea of God being omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent while there is an existence of evil seems to be problematic unless you can believe in the fact that it is possible we are incapable of comprehending all it is God is trying to teach us. For God to be unwilling to remove the devastation in this world there would have to be good reasoning behind all of this. To believe in God you are exercising your ability to have faith in a higher power. You are choosing to believe in something that has yet to be proven into existence. Faith is known to be very important to God and it is through the trials and tribulations you turn your faith towards God in search of comfort and understanding. I do believe that during the hard times God waits for us to turn to him and trust in him that he has the ability to mitigate all our problems. It is necessary to experience or witness evils in the world because it is a way for us to build our faith and come into a closer connection with God. By God creating us having free-will this allows us to choose from what is good and what is evil. We are able to establish morals and learn the virtues of life. The great thing about this is that these lessons only come if we choose to learn them. It is our choice what we allow to dictate our lives. I believe if we are ever going to be able to see or comprehend what God’s divine purpose is for allowing such evils to exist we need to become more like him. Abiding by the laws of God is an option , a choice that he has left up to us.

Practical Demonkeeping Chapter 29-30

29 RIVERA Right in the middle of the interrogation Detective Sergeant Alphonse Rivera had a vision. He saw himself behind the counter at Seven-Eleven, bagging microwave burritos and pumping Slush-Puppies. It was obvious that the suspect, Robert Masterson, was telling the truth. What was worse was that he not only didn't have any connection with the marijuana Rivera's men had found in the trailer, but he didn't have the slightest idea where The Breeze had gone. The deputy district attorney, an officious little weasel who was only putting time in at the D.A.'s office until his fangs were sharp enough for private practice, had made the state's position on the case clear and simple: â€Å"You're fucked, Rivera. Cut him loose.† Rivera was clinging to a single, micro-thin strand of hope: the second suitcase, the one that Masterson had made such a big deal about back at the trailer. It lay open on Rivera's desk. A jumble of notebook paper, cocktail napkins, matchbook covers, old business cards, and candy wrappers stared out of the suitcase at him. On each one was written a name, an address, and a date. The dates were obviously bogus, as they went back to the 1920s. Rivera had riffled through the mess a dozen times without making any sort of connection. Deputy Perez approached Rivera's desk. He was doing his best to affect an attitude of sympathy, without much success. Everything he had said that morning had carried with it a sideways smirk. Twain had put it succinctly: â€Å"Never underestimate the number of people who would love to see you fail.† â€Å"Find anything yet?† Perez asked. The smirk was there. Rivera looked up from the papers, took out a cigarette, and lit it. A long stream of smoke came out with his sigh. â€Å"I can't see how any of this connects with The Breeze. The addresses are spread all over the country. The dates run too far back to be real.† â€Å"Maybe it's a list of connections The Breeze was planning to dump the pot on,† Perez suggested. â€Å"You know the Feds estimate that more than ten percent of the drugs in this country move through the postal system.† â€Å"What about the dates?† â€Å"Some kind of code, maybe. Did the handwriting check out?† Rivera had sent Perez back to the trailer to find a sample of The Breeze's handwriting. He had returned with a list of engine parts for a Ford truck. â€Å"No match,† Rivera said. â€Å"Maybe the list was written by his connection.† Rivera blew a blast of smoke in Perez's face. â€Å"Think about it, dipshit. I was his connection.† â€Å"Well, someone blew your cover, and The Breeze ran.† â€Å"Why didn't he take the pot?† â€Å"I don't know, Sergeant. I'm just a uniformed deputy. This sounds like detective work to me.† Perez had stopped trying to hide his smirk. â€Å"I'd take it to the Spider if I were you.† That made a consensus. Everyone who had seen or heard about the suitcase had suggested that Rivera take it to the Spider. He sat back in his chair and finished his cigarette, enjoying his last few moments of peace before the inevitable confrontation with the Spider. After a few long drags he stubbed the cigarette in the ashtray on his desk, gathered the papers into the suitcase, closed it, and started down the steps into the bowels of the station and the Spider's lair. Throughout his life Rivera had known half a dozen men nicknamed Spider. Most were tall men with angular features and the wiry agility that one associates with a wolf spider. Chief Technical Sergeant Irving Nailsworth was the exception. Nailsworth stood five feet nine inches tall and weighed over three hundred pounds. When he sat before his consoles in the main computer room of the San Junipero Sheriff Department, he was locked into a matrix that extended not only throughout the county but to every state capital in the nation, as well as to the main computer banks at the FBI and the Justice Department in Washington. The matrix was the Spider's web and he lorded over it like a fat black widow. As Rivera opened the steel door that led into the computer room, he was hit with a blast of cold, dry air. Nailsworth insisted the computers functioned better in this environment, so the department had installed a special climate control and filtration system to accommodate him. Rivera entered and, suppressing a shudder, closed the door behind him. The computer room was dark except for the soft green glow of a dozen computer screens. The Spider sat in the middle of a horseshoe of keyboards and screens, his huge buttocks spilling over the sides of a tiny typist's chair. Beside him a steel typing table was covered with junk food in various stages of distress, mostly cupcakes covered with marshmallow and pink coconut. While Rivera watched, the Spider peeled the marshmallow cap off a cupcake and popped it in his mouth. He threw the chocolate-cake insides into a wastebasket atop a pile of crumpled tractor-feed paper. Because of the sedentary nature of the Spider's job, the department had excused him from the minimum physical fitness standards set for field officers. The department had also created the position of chief technical sergeant in order to feed the Spider's ego and keep him happily clicking away at the keyboards. The Spider had never gone on patrol, never arrested a suspect, never even qualified on the shooting range, yet after only four years with the department, Nailsworth effectively held the same rank that Rivera had attained in fifteen years on the street. It was criminal. The Spider looked up. His eyes were sunk so far into his fat face that Rivera could see only a beady green glow. â€Å"You smell of smoke,† the Spider said. â€Å"You can't smoke in here.† â€Å"I'm not here to smoke, I need some help.† The Spider checked the data spooling across his screens, then turned his full attention to Rivera. Bits of pink coconut phosphoresced on the front of his uniform. â€Å"You've been working up in Pine Cove, haven't you?† â€Å"A narcotics sting.† Rivera held up the suitcase. â€Å"We found this. It's full of names and addresses, but I can't make any connections. I thought you might†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No problem,† the Spider said. â€Å"The Nailgun will find an opening where there was none.† The Spider had given himself the nickname â€Å"Nailgun.† No one called him the Spider to his face, and no one called him Nailgun unless they needed something. â€Å"Yeah,† Rivera said, â€Å"I thought it needed some of the Nailgun's wizardry.† The Spider swept the junk food from the top of the typing table into the wastebasket and patted the top of the table. â€Å"Let's see what you have.† Rivera placed the suitcase on the table and opened it. The Spider immediately began to shuffle through the papers, picking up a piece here or there, reading it, and throwing it back into the pile. â€Å"This is a mess.† â€Å"That's why I'm here.† â€Å"I'll need to put this into the system to make any sense of it. I can't use a scanner on handwritten material. You'll have to read it to me while I input.† The Spider turned to one of his keyboards and began typing. â€Å"Give me a second to set up a data base format.† As far as Rivera was concerned, the Spider could be speaking Swahili. Despite himself, Rivera admired the man's efficiency and expertise. His fat fingers were a blur on the keyboard. After thirty seconds of furious typing the Spider paused. â€Å"Okay, read me the names, addresses, and dates, in that order.† â€Å"So you need me to sort them out?† â€Å"No. The machine will do that.† Rivera began to read the names and addresses from each slip of paper, deliberately pausing so as not to get ahead of the Spider's typing. â€Å"Faster, Rivera. You won't get ahead of me.† Rivera read faster, throwing each paper on the floor as he finished with it. â€Å"Faster,† the Spider demanded. â€Å"I can't go any faster. At this speed if I mispronounce a name, I could lose control and get a serious tongue injury.† For the first time since Rivera had known him the Spider laughed. â€Å"Take a break, Rivera. I get so used to working with machines that I forget people have limitations.† â€Å"What's going on here?† Rivera said. â€Å"Is the Nailgun losing his sarcastic edge?† The Spider looked embarrassed. â€Å"No. I wanted to ask you about something.† Rivera was shocked. The Spider was almost omniscient, or so he pretended. This was a day for firsts. â€Å"What do you need?† he said. The Spider blushed. Rivera had never seen that much flaccid flesh change color. He imagined that it put an incredible strain on the Spider's heart. â€Å"You've been working in Pine Cove, right?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Have you ever run into a girl up there named Roxanne?† Rivera thought for a moment, then said no. â€Å"Are you sure?† The Spider's voice had taken on a tone of desperation. â€Å"It's probably a nickname. She works at the Rooms-R-Us Motel. I've run the name against Social Security records, credit reports, everything. I can't seem to find her. There are over ten thousand women in California with the name Roxanne, but none of them check out.† â€Å"Why don't you just drive up to Pine Cove and meet her?† The Spider's color deepened. â€Å"I couldn't do that.† â€Å"Why not? What's the deal with this woman, anyway? Does it have to do with a case?† â€Å"No, it's†¦ it's a personal thing. We're in love.† â€Å"But you've never met her?† â€Å"Well, yes, sort of – we talk by modem every night. Last night she didn't log on. I'm worried about her.† â€Å"Nailsworth, are you telling me that you are having a love affair with a woman by computer?† â€Å"It's more than an affair.† â€Å"What do you want me to do?† â€Å"Well, if you could just check on her. See if she's all right. But she can't know I sent you. You mustn't tell her I sent you.† â€Å"Nailsworth, I'm an undercover cop. Being sneaky is what I do for a living.† â€Å"Then you'll do it?† â€Å"If you can find something in these names that will bail me out, I'll do it.† â€Å"Thanks, Rivera.† â€Å"Let's finish this.† Rivera picked up a matchbook and read the name and address. The Spider typed the information, but as Rivera began to read the next name, he heard the Spider pause on the keyboard. â€Å"Is something wrong?† Rivera asked. â€Å"Just one more thing,† Nailsworth said. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Could you find out if she's modeming someone else?† â€Å"Santa Maria, Nailsworth! You are a real person.† Three hours later Rivera was sitting at his desk waiting for a call from the Spider. While he was in the computer room, someone had left a dog-eared paperback on his desk. Its title was You Can Have a Career in Private Investigation. Rivera suspected Perez. He had thrown the book in the wastebasket. Now, with his only suspect back out on the street and nothing forthcoming from the Spider, Rivera considered fishing the book out of the trash. The phone rang, and Rivera ripped it from its cradle. â€Å"Rivera,† he said. â€Å"Rivera, it's the Nailgun.† â€Å"Did you find something?† Rivera fumbled for a cigarette from the pack on his desk. He found it impossible to talk on the phone without smoking. â€Å"I think I have a connection, but it doesn't work out.† â€Å"Don't be cryptic, Nailsworth. I need something.† â€Å"Well, first I ran the names through the Social Security computer. Most of them are deceased. Then I noticed that they were all vets.† â€Å"Vietnam?† â€Å"World War One.† â€Å"You're kidding.† â€Å"No. They were all World War One vets, and all of them had a first or middle initial E. I should have caught that before I even input it. I tried to run a correlation program on that and came up with nothing. Then I ran the addresses to see if there was a geographical connection.† â€Å"Anything there?† â€Å"No. For a minute I thought you'd found someone's research project on World War One, but just to be sure, I ran the file through the new data bank set up by the Justice Department in Washington. They use it to find criminal patterns where there aren't any. In effect it makes the random logical. They use it to track serial killers and psychopaths.† â€Å"And you found nothing?† â€Å"Not exactly. The files at the Justice Department only go back thirty years, so that eliminated about half of the names on your list. But the other ones rang the bell.† â€Å"Nailsworth, please try to get to the point.† â€Å"In each of the cities listed in your file there was at least one unexplained disappearance around the date listed – not the vets; other people. You can eliminate the large cities as coincidence, but hundreds of these disappearances were in small towns.† â€Å"People disappear in small towns too. They run away to the city. They drown. You can't call that a connection.† â€Å"I thought you'd say that, so I ran a probability program to get the odds on all of this being coincidence.† â€Å"So?† Rivera was getting tired of Nailsworth's dramatics. â€Å"So the odds of someone having a file of the dates and locations of unexplained disappearances over the last thirty years and it being a coincidence is ten to the power of fifty against.† â€Å"Which means what?† â€Å"Which means, about the same odds as you'd have of dragging the wreck of the Titanic out of a trout stream with a fly rod. Which means, Rivera, you have a serious problem.† â€Å"Are you telling me that this suitcase belongs to a serial killer?† â€Å"A very old serial killer. Most serial killers don't even start until their thirties. If we assume that this one was cooperative enough to start when the Justice Department's files start, thirty years ago, he'd be over sixty now.† â€Å"Do you think it goes farther back?† â€Å"I picked some dates and locations randomly, going back as far as 1925. I called the libraries in the towns and had them check the newspapers for stories of disappearances. It checked out. Your man could be in his nineties. Or it could be a son carrying on his father's work.† â€Å"That's impossible. There must be another explanation. Come on, Nailsworth, I need a bailout here. I can't pursue an investigation of a geriatric serial killer.† â€Å"Well, it could be an elaborate research project that someone is doing on missing persons, but that doesn't explain the World War One vets, and it doesn't explain why the researcher would write the information on matchbook covers and business cards from places that have been out of business for years.† â€Å"I don't understand.† Rivera felt as if he were stuck in the Spider's web and was waiting to be eaten. â€Å"It appears that the notes themselves were written as far back as fifty years ago. I could send them to the lab to confirm it if you want.† â€Å"No. Don't do that.† Rivera didn't want it confirmed. He wanted it to go away. â€Å"Nailsworth, isn't possible that the computer is making some impossible connections? I mean, it's programmed to find patterns – maybe it went overboard and made this one up?† â€Å"You know the odds, Sergeant. The computer can't make anything up; it can only interpret what's put into it. If I were you, I'd pull my suspect out of holding and find out where he got the suitcase.† â€Å"I cut him loose. The D.A. said I didn't have enough to charge him.† â€Å"Find him,† Nailsworth said. Rivera resented the authoritarian tone in Nailsworth's voice, but he let it go. â€Å"I'm going now.† â€Å"One more thing.† â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"One of your addresses was in Pine Cove. You want it?† â€Å"Of course.† Nailsworth read the name and address to Rivera, who wrote it down on a memo pad. â€Å"There was no date on this one, Sergeant. Your killer might still be in the area. If you get him, it would be the bailout you're looking for.† â€Å"It's too fantastic.† â€Å"And don't forget to check on Roxanne for me, okay?† The Spider hung up. 30 JENNY Jenny had arrived at work a half hour late expecting to find Howard waiting behind the counter to reprimand her in his own erudite way. Strangely enough, she didn't care. Even more strange was the fact that Howard had not shown up at the cafe all morning. Considering that she had drunk two bottles of wine, eaten a heavy Italian meal and everything in the refrigerator, and stayed up all night making love, she should have been tired, but she wasn't. She felt wonderful, full of humor and energy, and not a little excited. When she thought of her night with Travis, she grinned and shivered. There should be guilt, she thought. She was, technically, a married woman. Technically, she was having an illicit affair. But she had never been very technically minded. Instead of guilt she felt happy and eager to do it all again. From the moment she got to work she began counting the hours until she got off after the lunch shift. She was at one hour and counting when the cook announced that there was a call for her in the office. She quickly refilled her customer's coffee cups and headed to the back. If it was Robert, she would just act like nothing had happened. She wasn't exactly in love with someone else as he suspected. It was†¦ it didn't matter what it was. She didn't have to explain anything. If it was Travis – she hoped it was Travis. She picked up the phone. â€Å"Hello.† â€Å"Jenny?† It was a woman's voice. â€Å"It's Rachel. Look, I'm having a special ritual this afternoon at the caves. I need you to be there.† Jennifer did not want to go to a ritual. â€Å"I don't know, Rachel, I have plans after work.† â€Å"Jennifer, this is the most important thing we've ever done, and I need you to be there. What time do you get off?† â€Å"I'm off at two, but I need to go home and change first.† â€Å"No, don't do that. Come as you are – it's really important.† â€Å"But I really†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Please, Jenny. It will only take a few minutes.† Jennifer had never heard Rachel sound so adamant. Maybe it really was important. â€Å"Okay. I guess I can make it. Do you need me to call any of the others?† â€Å"No. I'll do it. You just be at the caves as soon as you can after two.† â€Å"Okay, fine, I'll be there.† â€Å"And Jenny† – Rachel's voice had lowered an octave – â€Å"don't tell anyone where you are going.† Rachel hung up. Jennifer immediately dialed her home phone and got the answering machine. â€Å"Travis, if you're there, pick up.† She waited. He was probably still sleeping. â€Å"I'm going to be a little late. I'll be home later this afternoon.† She almost said, â€Å"I love you,† but decided not to. She pushed the thought out of her mind. â€Å"Bye,† she said, and hung up. Now, if she could only avoid Robert until she could think of a way to destroy his hope for their reconciliation. Returning to the floor of the cafe, she realized that somewhere along the way her feeling of well-being had vanished and she felt very tired.