Blood Lab

Blood Lab Report Introduction A blood experiment was performed testing four different patients blood to find out their specific blood types. Blood types are categorized in four blood groups based upon the antigen ( proteins on the surface of blood cells that can cause a response from the immune system) (â€Å"Rh factor† 2006) on the surface of the red blood cell. The blood groups are A, B, AB and O, names which are broken down from the ABO blood group system. Although simulated blood was used for the experiment a standard blood typing outcome was still obtained. After conducting the experiment I was able to identify each patients blood type by comparing the antigens and antibodies found within the blood. Materials and Methods Simulated blood, plastic slides, and antiserum were the materials used to perform this experiment. In order to specify each patients blood type it was necessary to place two drops of the simulated blood in each well on the plastic slide labeled A, B, and Rh. After dropping the blood into the specified wells the appropriate antiserum was added to determine the blood type. The three antiserums A, B and Rh were placed accordingly to the matching blood type on the slide, a toothpick was used to mixed the the two together, if agglutination occurred a positive result was indicated. If all three wells on the slide were without agglutination the blood type of the specific individual was identified as O. By concluding which antigens are present in the blood I was also able to figure out which antibodies are present. The antibodies in the blood attack the foreign red blood cells by binding to them. For example type A blood has A antigens and B antibodies, the B antibodies are ready to attack or destroy B antigens (since those antigens would be foreign in this particular persons red blood cells). (â€Å"Blood typing,† 2001) Results The results of the experiment yielded four different blood types. Mr. Green’s blood type is AB+, Ms. Brown is O-, Mr. Smith is A+ and Mr. Jones has a B- blood type. The chart below depicts exactly how I came to these results†¦.. Individual Antigens Antibodies Donate Receive Outcome present present to: from: blood type: 1. Mr. Green A, B, Rh None AB+ universal AB+ . Ms. Brown None A, B, Rh universal O- O- 3. Mr. Smith A, Rh B A+, AB+ O+,O-,A+,A- A+ 4. Mr. Jones B A, Rh B+,B-,AB+,AB- O-,B- B- Discussion The first individual Mr. Green had antigens A, B and Rh present but no antibodies present thus concluding Mr. Green had AB+ type blood. AB+ blood can only be donated to those with the same blood type but can be recipient of any blood t ype (universal recipient). The second individual tested was Ms. Brown, her tests results indicated she had no antigens present on her blood which means she has antibodies A, B, and Rh in her blood. Ms. Brown’s blood type is O- making her a universal donor but can only be a recipient of O- blood during a transfusion. The third individual Mr. Smith had the presence of antigens A and Rh and antibodies B within his blood. Mr. Smith’s blood type is A+. People with A+ blood can only be a donor to people with A+ and AB+ blood, but can receive from blood types O+, O-, A+ and A-. The fourth and last individual tested was Mr. Jones his tests concluded he has B- type blood. Those results came from finding B antigens present as well antibodies A and Rh within his blood. Mr. Jones can donate blood to people with B+, B-, AB+ and AB- blood. He is however only to receive blood from people with O- and B- blood types. Although none of the individuals tested had an O+ blood type it is considered to be the most common blood type. ( American Red Cross) The testing was done very carefully and strategically but does not mean that the results could not yield from a possible error. Errors could have occurred from mixing to much antiserum with the respected blood types giving a false outcome. An error could also happen from not mixing serums well enough to get agglutination leading to the conclusion that the antigen was not present in the blood. According to all the data obtained I feel each individuals’ blood type was identified properly and carefully utilizing all materials and methods required. Answers from questions in lab book: Based on what has been observed I think the antiserum contain antibodies against specific antigens located within the simulated blood. The blood type considered to be the universal donor is O- and the universal recipient is AB+. I believe that not all people with Rh negative blood have the antibodies for Rh positive blood but, I do think that your body is able to produce them when needed. A perfect example is an Rh negative woman who becomes pregnant with an Rh positive baby. A woman body may produce antibodies in response to the Rh positive baby. â€Å"If a small amount of the baby's blood mixes with your blood, which often happens, your body may respond as if it were allergic to the baby. Your body may make antibodies to the Rh antigens in the baby's blood. This means you have become sensitized and your antibodies can cross the placenta and attack your baby's blood. They break down the fetus's red blood cells and produce anemia (the blood has a low number of red blood cells). This condition is called hemolytic disease or hemolytic anemia. It can become severe enough to cause serious illness, brain damage, or even death in the fetus or newborn. † (â€Å"Rh Factor† 2006). The game online helped to demonstrate, even more, how important it is to be precise when figuring out someone blood type. Giving the wrong blood type to a patient during a transfusion or even surgery could lead to their death. Works Cited.. American Red Cross, . Blood types. Retrieved from HYPERLINK â€Å"http://www. givelife2. org/aboutblood/bloodtypes. asp† http://www. ivelife2. org/ aboutblood/bloodtypes. asp (2001, December 3). Blood typing. Retrieved from HYPERLINK â€Å"http:/nobelprize. org/educational_games/medicine/landsteiner/readmore. html† http://nobelprize. org/ educational_games/medicine/landsteiner/readmore. html (2006, April). Rh factor: . Retrieved from HYPERLINK â€Å"http://www. americanpregnancy. org/pregnancycomplications/rhfactor. html† http: www. americanpregnancy. org/ pregnancycomplications/rhfactor. html VanPutte, Regan, Russo, . (2009). Seeley's essential of anatomy & physiology. New York, Ny: McGraw-Hill. Blood Lab Blood Lab Report Introduction A blood experiment was performed testing four different patients blood to find out their specific blood types. Blood types are categorized in four blood groups based upon the antigen ( proteins on the surface of blood cells that can cause a response from the immune system) (â€Å"Rh factor† 2006) on the surface of the red blood cell. The blood groups are A, B, AB and O, names which are broken down from the ABO blood group system. Although simulated blood was used for the experiment a standard blood typing outcome was still obtained. After conducting the experiment I was able to identify each patients blood type by comparing the antigens and antibodies found within the blood. Materials and Methods Simulated blood, plastic slides, and antiserum were the materials used to perform this experiment. In order to specify each patients blood type it was necessary to place two drops of the simulated blood in each well on the plastic slide labeled A, B, and Rh. After dropping the blood into the specified wells the appropriate antiserum was added to determine the blood type. The three antiserums A, B and Rh were placed accordingly to the matching blood type on the slide, a toothpick was used to mixed the the two together, if agglutination occurred a positive result was indicated. If all three wells on the slide were without agglutination the blood type of the specific individual was identified as O. By concluding which antigens are present in the blood I was also able to figure out which antibodies are present. The antibodies in the blood attack the foreign red blood cells by binding to them. For example type A blood has A antigens and B antibodies, the B antibodies are ready to attack or destroy B antigens (since those antigens would be foreign in this particular persons red blood cells). (â€Å"Blood typing,† 2001) Results The results of the experiment yielded four different blood types. Mr. Green’s blood type is AB+, Ms. Brown is O-, Mr. Smith is A+ and Mr. Jones has a B- blood type. The chart below depicts exactly how I came to these results†¦.. Individual Antigens Antibodies Donate Receive Outcome present present to: from: blood type: 1. Mr. Green A, B, Rh None AB+ universal AB+ . Ms. Brown None A, B, Rh universal O- O- 3. Mr. Smith A, Rh B A+, AB+ O+,O-,A+,A- A+ 4. Mr. Jones B A, Rh B+,B-,AB+,AB- O-,B- B- Discussion The first individual Mr. Green had antigens A, B and Rh present but no antibodies present thus concluding Mr. Green had AB+ type blood. AB+ blood can only be donated to those with the same blood type but can be recipient of any blood t ype (universal recipient). The second individual tested was Ms. Brown, her tests results indicated she had no antigens present on her blood which means she has antibodies A, B, and Rh in her blood. Ms. Brown’s blood type is O- making her a universal donor but can only be a recipient of O- blood during a transfusion. The third individual Mr. Smith had the presence of antigens A and Rh and antibodies B within his blood. Mr. Smith’s blood type is A+. People with A+ blood can only be a donor to people with A+ and AB+ blood, but can receive from blood types O+, O-, A+ and A-. The fourth and last individual tested was Mr. Jones his tests concluded he has B- type blood. Those results came from finding B antigens present as well antibodies A and Rh within his blood. Mr. Jones can donate blood to people with B+, B-, AB+ and AB- blood. He is however only to receive blood from people with O- and B- blood types. Although none of the individuals tested had an O+ blood type it is considered to be the most common blood type. ( American Red Cross) The testing was done very carefully and strategically but does not mean that the results could not yield from a possible error. Errors could have occurred from mixing to much antiserum with the respected blood types giving a false outcome. An error could also happen from not mixing serums well enough to get agglutination leading to the conclusion that the antigen was not present in the blood. According to all the data obtained I feel each individuals’ blood type was identified properly and carefully utilizing all materials and methods required. Answers from questions in lab book: Based on what has been observed I think the antiserum contain antibodies against specific antigens located within the simulated blood. The blood type considered to be the universal donor is O- and the universal recipient is AB+. I believe that not all people with Rh negative blood have the antibodies for Rh positive blood but, I do think that your body is able to produce them when needed. A perfect example is an Rh negative woman who becomes pregnant with an Rh positive baby. A woman body may produce antibodies in response to the Rh positive baby. â€Å"If a small amount of the baby's blood mixes with your blood, which often happens, your body may respond as if it were allergic to the baby. Your body may make antibodies to the Rh antigens in the baby's blood. This means you have become sensitized and your antibodies can cross the placenta and attack your baby's blood. They break down the fetus's red blood cells and produce anemia (the blood has a low number of red blood cells). This condition is called hemolytic disease or hemolytic anemia. It can become severe enough to cause serious illness, brain damage, or even death in the fetus or newborn. † (â€Å"Rh Factor† 2006). The game online helped to demonstrate, even more, how important it is to be precise when figuring out someone blood type. Giving the wrong blood type to a patient during a transfusion or even surgery could lead to their death. Works Cited.. American Red Cross, . Blood types. Retrieved from HYPERLINK â€Å"http://www. givelife2. org/aboutblood/bloodtypes. asp† http://www. ivelife2. org/ aboutblood/bloodtypes. asp (2001, December 3). Blood typing. Retrieved from HYPERLINK â€Å"http:/nobelprize. org/educational_games/medicine/landsteiner/readmore. html† http://nobelprize. org/ educational_games/medicine/landsteiner/readmore. html (2006, April). Rh factor: . Retrieved from HYPERLINK â€Å"http://www. americanpregnancy. org/pregnancycomplications/rhfactor. html† http: www. americanpregnancy. org/ pregnancycomplications/rhfactor. html VanPutte, Regan, Russo, . (2009). Seeley's essential of anatomy & physiology. New York, Ny: McGraw-Hill.

Business Proposal for Mcdonalds Essay

McDonalds has always been a company that shares in the happiness of a child. Recently after taking my own children to McDonalds, I have found that there is not a breakfast option for children. McDonalds should add a happy meal option to the breakfast menu. Current demands by consumers are to add a happy meal option allowing parents to purchase child sized portions of breakfast items. This option could help McDonalds to increase profits by attracting more consumers. Shareholder reports show a quarterly cash dividend per share increase of 15% and annual dividend of $2.80 per share. Comparable sales grew 5.6%. Cash by operations increased $808 million to $7.2 billion. Return to shareholders $6.0 billion (McDonald’s.com, 2012). Elasticity of demand and the market structure for the company’s good or service. * Profit-maximizing quantity is figured by determining the elasticity of the product. * By dividing the change in quantity sold by the corresponding change in price, you get a coefficient that tells you how elastic or inelastic your product is – with coefficients between zero and one being inelastic and coefficients greater than one being elastic. * The elasticity of this particular product is determined by the individual instead of the population. Considering this fact, fast food is considered an elastic good. An elastic good is more of a luxury, and fast-food is not a requirement to survive. * An elastic good, the price must be set at a reasonably low level to increase the revenue. * McDonalds can use the formula of marginal cost = marginal revenue to determine its pricing. Demand is elastic when it is easily affected by the raising or lowering in the price of a product or service. * When McDonalds raises its prices, sales will decrease. Decreasing prices, McDonalds will see an increase in sales. * McDonalds has such a competitive market. To stay ahead of competitors, they have a lower price alternative from competitors. Therefore, pricing must be given a great deal of weight in your marketing strategy because other conditions exist. * The degree of elasticity will tell McDonalds how much they can raise prices before sales start to decline. Not everyone can afford to eat out all the time and people who do go out for breakfast are usually going to work or dropping children off at school. * Calculation Elasticity of Adding Happy Meal (Q2-Q1/Q1) Q1 – 20 Q2 – 23 total quantity demand increase total 15%. (P2-P1/P1) P1 – $6 P2 – $3 total price decreased by 5%. Divide percent change in quantity by price 15% divided by 5% = 3% elasticity. Company’s Strategies to Increase Revenue * Exploring the competition to see what the others are doing in terms of fast-food breakfasts and children. * Customer focusing strategies to see what other customers want in the children’s breakfast meals. This can be done through questionnaires and feedback surveys both in and out of the store. * Using proper training methods to ensure quality service to customers. * Proper introduction in promoting the new breakfast will ensure customers know about the new product. Define the Economic Theory and Show How You Can Determine the Profit-Maximizing Quantity. * Economic theory is a theory of commercial activities (such as the production and consumption of goods), (McConnell, Brue, & Flynn, 2009). * Determining the profit-maximizing quantity requires and understanding the economic concept of marginal analysis. Marginal analysis is the study of incremental changes in profit. The quantity that maximizes profit is where marginal profit shifts from positive to negative (eHow.com, 2013). How Could You Use the Concepts of Marginal Costs and Marginal Revenue to Maximize Profits? What Information Do You Need to Determine This? Without This Information, How Would You Make a Decision? * Determine the profit at each level of sales. As sales increase, account for labor costs, quantity discounts, increased shortage (loss, theft and breakage) and other variable costs. * Determine the marginal profit at each incremental increase in sales. Marginal profit is defined as the change in profit for each additional unit sold. * Determine the profit maximizing quantity. This is the point before marginal profit becomes negative. Why? It is likely that the more items sold, the higher variable costs are. Variable costs include labor, commissions, raw materials and shortage. In addition, when large quantities are sold to one party, a quantity discount is often given, resulting in lower per-unit revenue. * Determine where expenses could be lessened and revenue could be increased to optimize sales. Marginal analysis is not static (eHow.com, 2013). * $3@50 = $150, $3@70 = 250, $3@90 = $550, $3@110 = $500 -50 negative marginal profit. * Without this information, you are taking a guess on the decision causing potential risk. Pricing and Non-Pricing Strategies * Price is one of the essential elements of the four P’s of marketing, which include price, promotion, place and product. * Research should be conducted in a number of areas including the customer market, competition and the life cycle of the product. * By examining each of these areas, McDonalds can develop a pricing strategy for its products and services. * McDonalds must find a way to attract their customers. The children’s portions will be smaller than regular portion so the price will be less. * The non-pricing strategy will be the new menu marketing options. Using children’s television and radio stations will help in this strategy. What Are the Barriers to Entry For Your Chosen Product? Can You Create or Increase Barriers to Entry? If so, how? * Entry barriers are the result of competitive behavior by existing businesses within the marketplace. There is no limit to the barriers a particular business may face (eHow.com, 2013). * Barriers are McDonald’s competitors of the same market and right now the competition of a fast-food breakfast kid’s meal option is non-existent among the competition. * According to the current economic state of our country, credit borrowing from lenders will not be needed. * Costs of supplies will not be a barrier because the items are already a part of McDonald’s menu. Demand by customers will increase or decrease cost supplies during the implementation stages. * McDonald’s internal countries will also help to increase profits. * Choosing long-term goals for competitors following McDonalds will eventually cause competition barriers. Consistent analysis of current market conditions will help McDonalds to continue a profit growth. Are There Other Ways to Minimize Costs for the Company or Product? * Analyze labor costs. Offering flexible work schedules, recognition, additional benefits and ongoing training can help retain employees. * Reduce supply costs. Supplies have two major categories–product materials and office supplies. Check multiple sources to ensure lowest cost. Research the use of the supplies. * Reduce operating expenses. Review electricity expense. Ideas such as this can have multiple benefits, including boosting employee retention, saving on utilities. (eHow.com, 2013). Conclusion The above business proposal outline will help in defining what McDonalds would do when implementing the idea of adding a child’s happy meal to its menu. This proposal would help in achieving McDonald’s goals of quality food and customer service.

Making a killing

In an unfortunate event Blackwater guards killed three civilians of Baghdad who were mistaken as terrorists. What is in the scenario is the strong reaction of the new Iraqi government. The next 24 hours saw the process of deportment of the troop. It was reported that there was indiscriminate shooting and this is completely an unfathomable error. According to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki this was a complete criminal act. However there are many allegations against Blackwater and it is believed that they smuggle arms into Iraq. There is enough trouble in the region and it can well be stated that further problems can be avoided to restore peace in the region. (Scahill, 1) It can be remembered that each of the wars included major and minor battles.   They had varying and distinct reasons behind them.   Allies and foes were distinctly different in each case. Each of the wars had a level of analysis.   These levels were individual state, and system.   The levels of war analysis form a hierarchy.   The responsibilities of the hierarchy rely on the scale and nature of the operation. The individual level of analysis in war includes a basic idea of how human traits cause many of the social outcomes in historical instances, including war and peace. From the perspective of sociology it can be stated that there are variations of this idea as listed in a paper written by Wade L. Huntley, Ph.D. titled Causes of War and Paths to Peace written in May of 2004. Those variations include: basic human nature, varying features of human nature and both perception and misperception. His considerations behind this would include that in factoring basic human nature, people are basically aggressive, loving, greedy and fearful and so forth. People would be of all sorts of types, some aggressive, others peaceful, greedy or generous. Perception and misperception can result as bad decisions are made, especially in times of stress, which continually exemplifies the limits of human understanding of more than just human nature. The incident in Iraq, as depicted by Scahill is basically a view that was conducted from the US point of view the views or the sociological parameters of the residents of Iraq are fundamentally overlooked in the article. (King, 145-7) It can well be stated that some analysts argue that democracy in the Middle East will elevate Islamists, including radicals, who will use democratic institutions to gain power but then implement their autocratic agenda. Democracy can also lead to instability. In short, things may get worse before they get better, which may be bad news for the US. Many however believe that in the long run increased democratic governance or the break up of static autocracies will lead to a better outcome than the status quo even if the emerging governments initially oppose U.S. policies. Some furthermore argue that any type of somewhat democratic government would find more common ground with the U.S. than the existing ones even if rapprochement was gradual and difficult. But from the point of view of an Iraqi it can be stated that independence is all that is relevant and it can be mentioned that Scahill was unable to relate himself to this consequence. Traditional security policy emphasizes military means for reducing the risks of war and for prevailing if deterrence fails. Human security’s proponents, while not eschewing the use of force, have focused to a much greater degree on non-coercive approaches. These range from preventive diplomacy, conflict management and post–conflict peace building, to addressing the root causes of conflict by building state capacity and promoting equitable economic development.   The new dimensions of human security are well outlined by the United Nations Development Program in their Human Development Report of 1994. (Lamb, 288-9) Human Security has always been at issue in some format or another. You see it in the methods employed during peacetime and during war time. The methodology utilized might in fact be different from generation to generation, but the concept itself has hardly managed to evolve into something other than what its basics stem from. The pursuits of life and liberty, happiness and peace have been a part of the psyche of humanity since the beginnings of human existence and it would have been much better if the article had developed on these principals. Keeping in mind the developments in Iraq the only solution the USA is left with is one that most people connected to the White House consider absolute anathema. But the truth remains that a military ‘solution’ to the issue is no solution at all but rather a spiralling tunnel leading to a thousand other issues, all of which are far too dangerous to be contemplated. So what can USA do? Well, for starters it can seriously rethink some of its recent policies and shift its focus from military attack to some old fashioned diplomacy instead. But while that sounds simple enough for Washington it is a job unparalleled in its difficulty and, if present indications are anything to go by then, something that is hardly likely to happen and Scahill as a journalist must keep his position as humane and compassionate as possible in this context. Works Cited: Scahill, Jeremy; Making a Killing; The Nation; October 15, 2007 issue; September 27, 2007; retrieved on 24.11.2007 King, Herbert. Middle East Today Vol. IV Plymouth: HBT & Brooks Ltd. 2005 Lamb, Davis. Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata. Wellington

Household Economics and Class (responses) Assignment

Household Economics and Class (responses) - Assignment Example The working woman can easily do her maternity and baby care with much less struggle and depression. Feminine mystique was one time a big barrier in the improvement of class and income in the sense that many women were convinced to accept their position as it was. Now, most women have little to worry about when worrying about their places in the society. This proves to be a major breakthrough in the household economies since the woman can now serve in the capacity of the husband and can be a major force in the decision making process of the family. Friedan proposes that for the society to erode the feminine mystique even further, women should be exposed to an educational program that benefits the women satisfactorily. (Friedan 271) Women who initially were not free to discuss any issues far from their house, husbands and kids can now freely discuss other issues. The media can advise families on tips of â€Å"How to make your marriage happier† and books have since been published addressing similar issues. In comparison to the early and mid 18th century when any attempts by women to speak out were strongly discouraged by the experts, now, the women are free to dialogue. This proves that they have attracted attention and thus, respect. Respect comes with class. It is therefore true that household economies, income and class have changed with

Low power reduction Electrical Engineering Essay

Low power reduction Electrical Engineering - Essay Example However, the key low-power breakthrough was the invention of the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuit in 1963. Most integrated circuits, especially low-power ICs, use CMOS devices as their building blocks. The smaller the power dissipation of electronic systems, the lower the heat pumped into the rooms, the lower the electricity consumed and hence the lower the impact on global environment, the less the office noise (due to elimination of a fan from the desktop), and the less stringent the environment/office power delivery or heat removal requirements. The motivations for reducing power consumption differ from application to application. In the class of micro-powered battery-operated, portable applications, such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants, the goal is to keep the battery lifetime and weight reasonable and the packaging cost low. Power levels below 1-2 W, for instance, enable the use of inexpensive plastic packages. For high performance, portable computers, such as laptop and notebook computers, the goal is to reduce the power dissipation of the electronics portion of the system to a point, which is about half of the total power dissipation (including that of display and hard disk). Finally, for high performance, non battery operated systems, such as workstations, set-top computers and multimedia digital signal processors, the overall goal of power minimization is to reduce system cost (cooling, packaging and energy bill) while ensuring long-term device reliability. Driving Factors. A crucial driving factor is that excessive power consumption is becoming the limiting factor in integrating more transistors on a single chip or on a multiple-chip module. Unless power consumption is dramatically reduced, the resulting heat will limit the feasible packing and performance of VLSI circuits and systems. Consequently, there is also a clear financial advantage to reducing the power consumed in high performance systems. In addition to cost, there is the issue of reliability. High power systems often run hot, and high temperature tends to exacerbate several silicon failure mechanisms. Every 10-C increase in operating temperature roughly doubles a component's failure rate. In this context, peak power (maximum possible power dissipation) is a critical design factor as it determines the thermal and electrical limits of designs, impacts the system cost, size and weight, dictates specific battery type, component and system packaging and heat sinks, and aggravates the resistive and inductive voltage drop problems. It is therefore essential to have the peak power under control. Achieving low Resistance. [[ The low resistance is achieved through appropriate metallic films on the IC with copper being the preferred material because, other than silver, it has the lowest resistance of any metal. The capacitance issue is addressed through the use of insulators with lower dielectric constants than silicon dioxide, the material of choice in the past. The switch has non-zero "on" resistance, Ron, when it is closed and finite "off" resistance, R off, when it is open. This has important implications for low power operation, because R on leads to power dissipation in

Failure of the Strategic Systems Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Failure of the Strategic Systems - Article Example The financial world responded with uncertainty but they were reassured by the Federal Reserve Bank and the European Central Bank as both of them poured billions of dollars into the financial market. However, the crisis continued to grow as defaults occurred and interest rates were not raised to stem the growing credit market (Essen, 2008). Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan, and several other financial institutes were players that were heavily invested in these subprime loans and as their share prices went down, they looked for opportunities for someone to buy them out or for the government to bail them. In September of this year, the government announced that it would have to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in what is essentially a bailout of these companies (Kaletsky, 2008). The extent of the crisis was thus made clear to anyone who had any doubts about the situation. Even companies such as AIG made mistakes as they traded in derivates while the economic system was going through difficulties. In fact, the impact of the financial crisis has been felt across the world as nations such as India and Australia have started raising alarms concerning the banks operating in their territories which had financial links to the banks and financial institutes which have gone south (Kaletsky, 2008). The White House has responded with another $500 billion bailout package for the financial markets but analysts are still doubtful if it will save a worldwide economic meltdown (Essen, 2008). When examined in its entirety, it is easy to see that the problems were first created as banks decided to enter the subprime mortgage market which is strategically a very weak division. Had the banks been more strategically aware, they could have judged the economic boom to be short-lived and could have also considered the long-term impact.

Intro to the Humanities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intro to the Humanities - Essay Example The music of this era was very expressive, and melody became the central feature. Composers even used melody to display nationalism. This became a motivating force in the late Romantic period, as composers used rudiments of folk music to express their cultural identity. The romantic generation saw Beethoven as their ideal of a heroic artiste, a man who first devoted the Eroica Symphony to Consul Bonaparte as a champion of freedom and then dared Emperor Napoleon by striking him out from the dedication of the Symphony In the Romantic period, the virtuoso performances gained great popularity. Extraordinarily gifted performers - pianists, violinists, and singers all became extremely popular. Franz Liszt personified all of the great ambitions of the Romantic era, and several of its contradictions. In his early career, he was an extravagant virtuoso, an architect of new and adventurous music. Later, he became a priest, wrote sacred music, and championed the music of a new generation. As a virtuoso pianist, he filled his piano music with unbelievable technical demands, and represents the ultimate in nineteenth century virtuosity. George Gordon, Lord Byron was an Anglo-Scottish bard and a leading figure in Romanticism. Among Lord Byrons best-known works are the narrative poems Childe Harolds Pilgrimage and Don Juan. He was considered as one of the greatest European poets and remains widely read even today. Lord Byrons fame was due not only on his works but also on his life, which was marked by extravagant living, plentiful love affairs, debts, separation, and charges of incest and sodomy.The Byronic hero first created in Childe Harolds Pilgrimage is an idealized, but flawed, character exemplified in the life and writings of Lord Byron .Thomas B. Macauley defined the Byronic hero as, â€Å"proud moody, cynical with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart implacable in revenge yet capable of deep and

Political Socialization Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Political Socialization - Thesis Example In addition, information from mass media becomes the basis of their political attitudes (Janda et al. 106). Mass media influence public opinion through priming, agenda setting, and framing of news (Harris and Tichenor 267). Wolfsfeld reiterated that agenda setting delves into the relationship between public agenda and media agenda. Meanwhile, priming explores the consequences or effects of modifying public agenda (104). Geer et al. noted that framing reflects medias ability to change the publics perception or view on an issue through presenting it in a certain manner (232). Mass media serve as the influential agents of political socialization (qtd. in Bardes, Shelley, and Schmidt 193). This paper explains how mass media shape individual beliefs, attitudes, and values relating to the political system of the U.S through agenda setting, priming and framing. The first section explores how agenda setting influences the political views of the public as well as their perceptions of policy and campaigns while section two concentrates on the influence of priming on the evaluation of political leaders, voter turnout and partisanship. Lastly, section three outlines the influence of framing on public perceptions, mobilization, and how people think about the issues. Agenda-setting is based on the proposition that media influenced public agenda through choosing particular topics for news coverage. This consequently determines which issues are perceived by the public as important (Bryant and Oliver 229). The decision of journalists, on which issues or events to cover, significantly matters as there are numerous stories available on a day to day basis. In addition, politicians attempt to convince media to highlight some stories and ignore others (Geer et al. 231). Donald Shaw and Maxwell McCombs concentrated on agenda setting in media coverage during 1968 presidential campaign and the study showed that voters put importance to issues in a manner that

Self-Advertising Monologue Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Self-Advertising Monologue - Assignment Example I count myself fortunate that I already have a range of skills suitable to the workplace. On the computer I have experience with AutoCAD, MATLAB as well as all four functions of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and Access databases). My UNIX technical skills include the use of the drill press and soldering iron and I am fluent in Arabic and the English language. I already have some experience in the workforce. In Kuwait I worked as a trainer for three months at a Kuwait oil company and I have also worked as a trainer in the Kuwait power plant. That experience taught me some valuable work ethics – such as being reliable, turning up on time, meeting deadlines, following instructions and working as part of a team. I was really proud that I could take some of the skills I already had and apply them to a â€Å"real life† situation. It is my intention to obtain an internship position in the field of Mechanical Engineering. I believe that my skills and experience would be a valuable asset to any organization and I am keen to learn new skills to compliment those I already have. I have a career plan and am focused on acquiring as much experience and new knowledge as possible so that on my graduation, my skills will be useful to the engineering industry in Kuwait. So why should you hire me? I can offer a lot of useful skills and solid work ethics that would be of use to your organization. I understand the need to work hard and I see my working as a means of learning new skills. I have excellent computer skills. Through my studies and past work experience I understand the need to meet deadlines and to remain focused on my tasks. I will never be late for work and if you give me a chance I will ensure that you are pleased that you did. My main aim in life is to graduate with a good degree and work for a company that not only appreciates my skills but is one that is also going to provide me with the

Japanese Culture and Society Essay Example for Free

Japanese Culture and Society Essay Japan is country having a strong economic power, and good income levels and the citizen’s standard of living are one of the highest in the world. Japan’s fruitful economy is a result of fine consumer goods exports which were developed with the latest technologies that Japan has to offer. Another factor which made Japan rise would be its well-rounded culture. One of the noticeable factors of Japan’s culture would be its education. Education is a stabilizing factor in a person’s life and a country. Education is one important factor in creating a strong country. The adult literacy rate in Japan is exceeding 99 percent which makes Japan to be one of the top nations in the whole world in terms of educational achievement. School education in Japan begins before grade one in preschool. It is free and a compulsory need for elementary and junior high school education. In Japan, more than 99 percent of elementary school-aged children are going to their respective school which is an astonishing statistic for a nation. Their high school are composed of two divisions which are junior and senior high school which is composed of three years each. An estimate of one third of the senior high school students continues their education to college. Their admission to different high schools and university are based on difficult entrance exams. There is much competition in getting a high position in the entrance exams because most of Japan’s well paying jobs admit employees of the graduates of high quality universities. Approximately, 1 percent of elementary schools and 5 percent of junior high schools are private establishments or are not owned by the government. An estimated of 25 percent of high schools are privately owned. There are no biases between public and private schools in Japan, entrances to elite universities are not based on the status of a student’s school. In the year 1998, it was evident that there were 604 four-year college universities and 588 two-year junior colleges were in Japan. Some of the elite and prominent universities in Japan include the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, and Keio University in Tokyo. The early beginnings of education in Japan were sourced in the ideas and teachings from ancient China. In the 16th and 17th centuries, European travellers also affected the Japanese school education. From the years1640 to 1868, during Japan’s era of separation under the Tokugawa shoguns, Buddhist temple called terakoya served as the schools of the country. The temples took accountability for the country’s education and made astounding developments in raising the literacy levels among the population of the country. In the year 1867, it was assumed that there were more than 14,000 temple schools all over Japan. In the year 1872, the new Meiji regime created a ministry of education and a thorough educational code that integrated widespread primary education. During this period, Japan looked at other nations such as Europe and North America for effective educational models. As the Japanese regime expanded during the late 1930s and early 1940s, education of the country became a factor for nationalistic and militaristic needs. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, the educational system of the country was refurbished because of some concerns. Changes incorporated the current grade structure that states that the elementary school is six years and junior and senior high school are composed of 3 years each; there was also the implementation of a guarantee of equal access to free, public education. The changes included a finish to the teaching of nationalistic ideology. Reforms also sought to encourage students’ self-expression and increase flexibility in curriculum and classroom procedures. Nonetheless some critics still deem that education in Japan is extensively rigorous, preferring memorization of facts at the outlay of imaginative expression, and geared to encouraging social conventionality. Education in Japan is taken seriously and is a big attribute to the development of the country. Education is shown as factor in a youth’s life, it a vital block to a Japanese citizen’s structure and identity. Japan, as of any country, has its own social problems, this includes youth deviance. In Japan, there are also youth problems such as young people smoking, drinking alcohol, reading pornographic magazines and staying out late. These activities in some other countries are now accepted as ordinary youth culture. But one of the data radically shows that youths that participate in these appalling youth culture are mostly participated by lower high school students. (Yoder) The higher high school students do not involve themselves in these said youth culture unlike the lower high school students. (Yoder) Higher high school students spend most of their time in schooling. There are more occupied with academic and non academic matters such as aiming for high grades to get to an elite university and honing their skills in different sports and talents. It is a fact that when a Japanese student gets older, he becomes more mature and focuses his priorities more in his education than in awful youth activities. Education in Japan offers a complete picture of young people and a reasonable understanding of their lives. Most of the labelled delinquents in the youth of Japan are those who do not participate much in school or are not guided by their parents and guardians. (Yoder) Japan has made schooling as guidance for its youth. The country has successfully installed the importance of education to their youth and the youth responds accordingly to it. If it weren’t for their proper education, Japan’s youth wouldn’t have anything to guide it. The effect of education to the youth in Japan is great because the country focused a great deal on education and allocated much funds for it. Even though most of Japan is comprised of public schools, the public schools still have the same quality of education as of other private schools in other countries. (Yoder) This wonderful trait makes Japan’s education a wonderful asset to a Japanese person. Another evidence on how much education affects Japan would be the effect of deaf education. Until the mid-1970s, deaf citizens of Japan receive few legal privileges and little social acknowledgment. (Nakamura) By the law, they were categorized as minors or as mentally deficient, not capable of acquiring a drivers licenses or even sign contracts and wills. Many deaf people in the country worked at establishments that offer basic tasks or were frequently unemployed, and schools for the deaf initiate a complicated regimen of speech reading and oral speech approaches rather than signing. (Nakamura) After several decades, activism became the ears of deaf men and women which are now essentially acknowledged within mainstream of Japanese society.

Significance of HRM in the travel and tourism sector

Significance of HRM in the travel and tourism sector The purpose of this report is to evaluate the significance of IHRM for the companies within the travel and tourism sector. The report will address this issue with reference to the case of the British Airways Lpc (BA) one of the largest international airlines. The report will begin by outlining the brief overview of BA, its market and current global position. Besides, the significance of culture change within the company will be identified. Furthermore, the hard and soft models of HRM will be critically analysed in the process. The report also will discuss the staffing issues such as recruitment, selection, and training and development for the planned global expansion. The ways in which these issues may need to change will be illustrated through the strategic evaluation. In addition, all figures will be justified and referenced to the appendix. Moreover, the report will outline the appropriate conclusions and recommendations. Company overview, its markets and current global position British Airways Plc (BA) was created in the 1974s after merger between BEA (British European Airways) and BOAC (British Overseas Corporation) (Air flights, 2010). BA is the United Kingdoms major international airline with two main hubs located in Gatwick and Heathrow airports, and the fifth worlds top airline. BA is a recognized brand within airline industry and the success could attribute to its constant global flight expansion and mergers with other global airlines. The merger between Iberia and BA (International Airlines Group) in 2010 is expected to create the third largest European carrier (see Appendix 1). In addition, the merger with AA (American Airlines) in 2008 will expand the company globally on transatlantic flights. These mergers will make stronger the global position of the new company with strong market capitalisation and will be able to complete with rivals such as Lufthansa and KLM-Air France (See Appendix 2) (Datamonitor, 2009; Euromonitor, 2010). BA is a global leader with a network of 550 destinations internationally via code-sharing relationships serves nearly 95 million passengers a year, using 441 airports in 86 countries and approximately 1,000 planes and a world air share of 2.9% (See Appendix 3) (Brave New Talent, 2008-2010; Wikipedia, 2010). BA operates mostly in the EU and US and employs 40,627 people (Datamonitor, 2009). In addition, BA is a part of Oneworld alliance, which serves some 819 destinations worldwide and enables to compete more successfully around the world with other global alliances (Wikipedia, 2010). Since privatisation in 1987, BA has had a sharp success in income and achieved financial independence, while other European airlines were dependent on state support and their US counterparts resorted to bankruptcy protection (Ledwidge, 2007 and BBC, no date). Despite the BAs HR hard times (appendix) and recent global economic recession in 2008/2009 with the global GDP decline from 5.1% in 2007 to 3.1% in 2008 , BA had a net profit of  £8 billion in 2009/2010 that is an increase of 2.7% over FY2008/2009, which improves its stable geographic increase (Datamonitor, 2010). Besides, BA is the worlds first airline to establish a carbon-offset scheme in 2005 to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and to introduce online boarding passes in 2004 (British Airways, no date and AccessMyLibrary, 2007). Despite BA calls itself as The Worlds Favourite Airline it strives to become the worlds most responsible airline (GreenAir, 2007-2010 and Street, 1994). Cultural change and HRM models Culture is very powerful; it influences people and it is vital for managers to understand the employees: what they believe, its customs and traditions, life style and values, beliefs and morals, to understand how people react, and their expectations in the company after the employment. Legge (2005) identifies culture as a set of shared meanings, or taken-for-granted assumptions. According to Alzira and Easerby-Smith (1993), BA was arrogant before its privatization in 1987. BA believed the customers did not know what they wanted. The managers did not involve the staff in decisions, as they wanted to have distance from staff. The priority was safety of aircrafts and technical skills. Even the competition and profitability were not the main idea. The BA organisational culture was bureaucratic, strict, and formal. Thus, the careers developed slowly. Besides, the cost-leadership strategy is applied that leads BA to cut costs through a hard HRM approach and use staff as any other business resource. The staff is being used as cheaply as possible. In contrast, Ledwin (2007) argues that since 1976 till nowadays it was a big cultural change for BA, where the product-centric approach has started to shape into customer-centric approach and the hard model started to adopt the elements of soft developmental humanism or Harvard model, where the core idea are human assets. The differentation strategy would reach the competitve advantage and try to avoid less prone to disruptions and PR blunders. Moreover, it would present a very effective framework for completely integrating HR with the business strategy (Ledwin, 2007). To improve the organisational performance and to achieve the employee commitment BA promoted the motivational culture change programmes in the 1980s.However, its argued if these programmes were successful or not as according to Hopfl (1992, cited in Legge, 2005), these programmes engaged the mind but left hearts untouched. Despite the HR difficulties during the last five years (See Appendix 4), the company has achieved a respect from its employees in a way that helps the company fence the strike actions. In June 2009, BA told its 42,377 staff to work without pay for a month or take unpaid leave to reduce costs. Almost 6,000 non-cabin crew staff helped during the days of industrial action helped the company to run anoperation (Euromonitor, 2010 and Anglotopia, 2010). Staffing approaches BA can apply one of the three staffing approaches (Dowling et al., 2008): Ethnocentric:- The main idea is to manage staff from the home country (PCNs). The company can apply this approach to all its foreign operations, where the staff holds central jobs, and subsidiaries and headquarters follow the home country resource management practice. Polycentric/Regiocentric:- The idea is to develop HR management practices locally. Geocentric/Global:- The purpose is to manage the employees on a worldwide basis, where the company employs staff from diverse countries. 4.1. Ethnocentric and polycentric approaches BA uses mainly the ethnocentric approach: it controls all its operations from London (the locations of the head office) as it understands local culture, the economy language and avoids relocation costs. Regarding to BA job applications, the key management positions are filled by parent company personnel, where the priorities are given to UK nationals. Besides, it hires host country nationals in foreign countries instead of transferring its domestic staff to work. Depend on the staff role, a polycentric or geocentric approach can be recommended. The polycentric approach would be ideal for BA to employ front line staff and cabin crew. The company should consider the cultural as the core competence and hire more people who speak other languages than English and think differently. Along with the cultural change BA needs to ensure the employees understand their role within the marketing progress and overall marketing orientation within the organization. The best staffing approach to hire key management people and pilots is geocentric approach, where the company strives to reach the global expansion by combining the best from headquarters and the subsidiaries. Also, the nationality is ignored in favor of ability. BA could promote promote diversity, inclusion, and equality of opportunity in employment regardless of sex, marital or civil partnership status, gender reassignment, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief, political affiliation and age (British Airways, no date). Staffing issues The organisations stage of growth characterises with the integration of business strategy with HRM policies such as training development, appraisal and recruitment and selection. Recruitment is mailny linked to proactive attitude of employees, where training and development has to do with formal or informal education, enabling the staff to know inside out of the organisational mission and its products, thus leading to the quality service. 5.1Recruitment and selection Effectiveness in recruitment and selection is vital as it avoids poor work performance, unacceptable conduct, internal disagreement, low morale and job satisfaction and dysfunctional labour turnover. In addition, luck of management quality and teamwork, and employee motivation and communication can lead to loss of customers, loss of organisation, and loss of life. Recruitment seeks to attract best technical professional talent and then manage rapid internal labour market movements (Legge, 2005:142). BA also tends to attract the most talented people, then assess and appoint a suitable candidate (Appelbaum and Brenda, 2002; Pilbeam and Corbridge, 2006). For example, the pilots employment issues had been based just on flying and technical skills before 1987. Nowadays, BA considers the pilots can work well in a crew situation. Interpersonal skills are appearing as crucial achievement factors for pilot performance and safety. In addition, it cares about quality frontline people as well. G ood (1999, cited by Appelbaum and Brenda, 2002), stresses the point that the single most reliable predictor of overall excellence is the ability to attract and hold on to talented employees. The success is dependent upon the ongoing hard work, attitudes, and dedication of its staff. Thus, to expand globally and to achieve the companys long-term success BA should look not only at education related skills but also at staff attitude within the company, as skills can be trained but attitudes cannot be changed (Milmo, 2010 and Horn and Barkin, 1998). 5.2Appraisal, training, development The globalisation of markets leads to emergence of multinational companies, operating on a worldwide basis. Good training enables the employees to perform their current and future roles effectively as, both organisations and their employees benefit (Beardwell and Claydon, 2006). To achieve a high value added services the staff should be well educated, trained, and committed. To increase competence and go high-class with high quality the company should consider the staff as the most valued resource and do investment in the core workforce. The accent is to include employee loyalty and reliance, internal labour market structures with promotion ladders and skill training. The individualistic approach should be applied to reach the quality and competitive advantage (Legge, 2005). If the quality of service depends on the quality of the employee, the company should look on the society and organisations commitment to developing skills appropriate to a national economic policy and organisational corporate objectives (Legge, 2005). BA committed to customer care programmes and has had many motivational staff programmes for both existing and newly recruited staff since 1987, that at very least heightened employee awareness of quality issues. The programmes such as Putting the Customer First,Putting People First, Customer First teams, Managing People First, A Day in the Life, To be the Best and Winning for Customers . In addition, to promote the values of customer services BA launched the re-educative online-learning programs for cabin crew how to teach in-flight sales system. Besides, BA tried to develop a self-direct learning that motivates and develops its staff not only professionally but personally (Ledwidge, 2007). Conclusion The report began with a brief nature of British Airways, overview of its markets and current global position. It analysed the cultural change within the company and evaluated the HRM models. BA has had a big cultural change since 1987, where the company changed the product-centric approach to a customer-centric approach. The hard model need to adopt elements from the soft developmental humanism model, where the company would realize the importance of integrating HR policies with business objectives involving treating employees as valued assets, as the success depends on securing commitment from people, not controlling them. It should keep adopting the soft model to avoid losses of customers and the bankruptcy and to keep its brand. Over the past decade or so, British Airways has evolved from a loss making, state-owned national carrier into a customer focused, publicly listed and consistently profitable airline. However, cultural change and nowadays change require modification in top management values to make the change successful. To improve the organisational performance and keep the company expand globally BA need to keep these recent changes. Furthermore, the report addresses the issue of staffing approaches such as ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric approaches. Despite BA uses the ethnocentric approach, the recommendation are to develop polycentric approach for front line and cabin crew and apply a geocentric approach for pilots and key management staff. The final parts of the report examined the staffing issues such as recruitment and selection, appraisal, training and development. BA should look not only at education related skills but also at staff attitude within the company, as skills can be trained but attitudes cannot be changed. In addition, BA should motivate and develop its staff not only professionally but personally by creating the training centres where staff could learn the sense of humour, ability to work with others and friendliness. Moreover, the new industrial relations backgrounds should be developed as no-strike clauses, acceptance of flexible working, its support for direct employee involvement, staff status and employee development Recommendations According to the mentioned above issues, there is more research should be done regarding to staffing approaches and staffing issues to help expand company globally. The need of change should be analyzed and evaluated deeper. HRM Michigan and Harvard models issues should be more critically discussed. Word count: 2193 word

Effect of Nursing on Stress Levels of Cancer Patients

Effect of Nursing on Stress Levels of Cancer Patients Does good nursing management can influence the nursing care to reduce stress, anxiety and difficult behaviour in cancer patients as compare to ineffective management plan to achieve better therapeutic outcomes? Search terms that can be used for relevant literature will be nursing management plans for patients with cancer, stress, anxiety, good nurse patient relationship, and challenging behaviours. The research is to explore and summarize the literature based on the published information such as journals, articles, books. The purpose of this review is to identify best practice evidence that examining the cancer patients. The literature review will give direction to plan the study and understand the outcomes. (Burns Grove 2009). The difficult patient behaviour versus good nursing strategies based on the research question (Emold et al 2011). Inclusion criteria included the all publications based on the difficult patient behaviour and good nursing management plans to reduce stress and anxiety in patients. The strength of evidence was based on the hierarchy of evidence with randomised controlled trial and meta-analysis being considered the best evidence as the primary source if available. Other research and levels of evidence was included where evidence was not that much strong. The literature review was undertaken using electronic data bases and catalogues such as CINAHL, science direst, PubMed, for the period of 2007 and 2014. Using the original question the key phrases ‘difficult patient behaviour in oncology’ and good nursing management strategies, stress and anxiety pain, and some psychological factors those can lead to negative outcomes on patients health outcomes and nurses attitude. These search terms highlighted the number of articles on different types of cancer patients then advanced search engine w as used to narrow my search to find out the good sourced information. Going through the abstracts of each of the articles were considered the relevance and quality. Exclusion criteria includes the key words and points those will not be covered in research such as good communication strategies, challenging behaviour and comparison between effective and ineffective management plans. The good literature review and databases mostly covered the qualitative and quantitative criteria based on the clinical question and case scenario. Develop a summary table based on your 15 selected studies (500 words). Based on your summary table, provide a synthesis of the key findings and conclusions in relation to your PICO question (250 words). Support your summary from relevant literature (use in text referencing) Good nursing management plans is one of the most effective and appropriate option for the hospitalised cancer patients. Various research studies have been conducted and analysed the difference between effective and ineffective nursing care plans. Therefore, Evidence from a variety of resources indicate that staff communication, family support, working environment those factors positively influence the patient prognosis according to Rosenzweig et al 2011; Kvale 2007; Karvien et al 2013; Emold et al 2011. However, patients diagnosed with cancer causes significant distress such as mentally and physically strains to themselves and family members (Emold et al 2011). Therefore good communication skill, availability of continued support, involvement of families required to overcome these difficult emotions (Kvale 2007 Vilet et al 2013). Karvinen et al. (2013) Whitaker et al. (2009) identified the relationship between stress, anxiety, intrusive thoughts and compliance to medical care. Cer tain psychological factors such as feelings of hopelessness, physical and mental strains affect the nursing care and patient’s prognosis (Remmers et al 2010). Different intervention strategies have also been discussed in literature such as mindfulness, self-efficacy, emotional support has the beneficial effects to the general health of patients according to Tsang et al. (2012). There are certain factors those influenced the nursing care such as workload, emotional exhaustion, and decision making skills among staff may lead to negative response and affect the patient’s well-being (McCormack et al 2011). However, the literature lacks some efficacy based on the good intervention strategies for staff to overcome the difficult patient’s behaviour. Overall effective nursing management can be structured to enhance physical, psychological, and emotional wellbeing that assists in promoting positive behaviour and good health outcomes among cancer patients.

A Place to Go - Original Writing :: Papers

A Place to Go - Original Writing Night after night I had passed the strange location. I began to recognize it and became aware of every detail. I found the building light in the same way. My eyes became attracted, addicted to this place, every eve it beckoned me to return. Simply gazing on it seemed to provide a relaxation, it warmed me. My body became accustomed to its feeling and presence; I found it, almost difficult to leave it. Despite this I had to carry on, they where close behind me now. This was not the first time that I had passed the building and approached it with curiosity. I had wandered here before. This building seemed of some overwhelming significance, when near I felt pathetic and feeble, this building, mansion or 'castle' seemed to posses some great inhuman power far beyond my conceivable imagination. As previously I waited and rested near to the building, my back lay vertical against the huge wall, again this unbelievable feeling of nostalgia, anomalous refreshment and suspicion passed through the very material of my being. It happened suddenly. I was unrepentant, almost unaware of this 'attack' I was about to undergo. I felt a hard thud to my right, this failed to affect me, and I was dazed and confused by the sheer marvel of this magic place. The second warning was more obvious and harder to ignore. A hand was placed on my shoulder. The way in which it touched me was indescribable, there was no feeling or emotion in this being I was now contemplating. I pondered its nature for a while, until the hand did seem to posses a feeling, an emotion; the hand now gripped my shoulder with intensity, a feeling of urgency and aggression showered over me. I was now left with now choice but to confront this creature. I slowly turned my head. I could see, in the corner of my eye a man. A tall man. A big man. An old man and an interesting man. This aggression and urgency flourished and eventually disappeared,

The Miracle of Feeding the 5000 Essay -- Scripture Analysis

The first thing that one needs to understand is the true meaning of the miracles Jesus performed, even though the Devil does not want us to understand the meaning. He loves when we speculate and question. In the Bible, miracles are often referred to as â€Å"signs.† Miracles are acts that only God can be responsible for, usually above and beyond natural laws. Baker’s Dictionary of the Bible defines a miracle as â€Å"Synthesizing the root connotations of these terms, we may define a miracle biblically as an observable phenomenon effected by the direct operation of God’s power, an arresting deviation from the ordinary sequences of nature, a deviation calculated to elicit faith-begetting awe, a divine inbreaking which authenticates a revelational agent.† They occur to show the power behind the hands of God. Jesus Christ himself was a miracle, starting with His unusual birth and ending with His great sacrifice, His Resurrection. His life was like no other, miraculous in every way. Wikipedia states that â€Å"many conservative religious believers hold that in the absence of a plausible, parsimonious scientific theory, the best explanation for these events is that they were performed by a supernatural being, and cite this as evidence for the existence of a god or gods.† There are many different ideas and opinions for a miracles definition, but most all define them as beneficial. Faith is the only way a person can truly believe in these extraordinary events that took place in the four gospels of the bible; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Jesus was one of God’s most important miracle workers who time and time again showed how miraculous the Lord can be. There were many different miracles in the bible that Jesus performed throughout Hi... ...h and dying for the sins of His followers, human beings today would not have much hope for an ever-lasting life in Paradise. Works Cited Ackroyd, P.R., A.R. Leaney, and J.W. Packer, eds. Cambridge Bible Commentary Mark. 1965. Print. Bliss, George R. Luke. Ed. Alvah Hovey. Vol. II. Philadelphia, 1881. Print. Broadus, John A. Matthew. Ed. Alvoh Hovey. Vol. I. Philadelphia, 1886. Print. Clarke, W. N. Mark. Ed. Alvah Hovey. Vol. II. Philadelphia, 1881. Print. Everett F. Harrison, editor-in-chief, Baker’s Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1960, pg. 356. Hovey, Alvoh. John. Ed. Alvoh Hovey. Vol. III. Philadelphia, 1885. Print. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle Kraft, Dave. 3 Lessons from Jesus Feeding the 5,000. Http://theresurgence.com/2011/01/16/3-lessons-from-jesus-feeding-the-5-000. 16 Jan. 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

Math Checkup Unit

Circle the letter of your answer(s) and explain your choice(s). B. D. The slope is a. Point-slope form b. Slope-intercept form 5. What is the slope off line that is perpendicular to [pick]? Show your work. Answer: A line perpendicular to Hopi]x would have a slope that's the reciprocal of the slope to Hopi]x. So the answer is [pick]. 6. Write the equation off line passing through (0,6) and parallel to the line [pick]. Arctic]x+6 7.Which of the following tables of values could have been generated by a linear function? How do you know? I-I II 1-5 1-7 1-9 1-11 110 115 Table A is a linear function, since it has an even distribution in both its x and y values. Table B is NOT a linear function, since it doesn't have an even distribution in its y values. Table C is a linear function, since it has an even distribution in both its x and y values. 8. For each table in #7 that could have been generated by a linear function, calculate the slope of the line produced by that function. The rise over run formula [pick] shows the slope of a function table.Table A has a slope of -2. Table C has a slope of O. 9. The cost of hosting a dinner in a particular restaurant is given by y = 18. Xx + 250, where x is the number of people at the dinner and y is dollars. What is the slope of this function? What does it mean in the context of the problem? The slope is 18. 5. It meaner that each person that attends costs $18. 50. 10. The cost of hosting a dinner in a particular restaurant is given by y = 18. Xx + 250, where x is the number of people at the dinner and y is dollars. What is the y- intercept of this function? What does it mean in the context of the problem?The y-intercept is 250. This meaner that you must pay $250 BEFORE you pay for each guest's meal. 1 1 . Write the equation of the line that is parallel to the x-axis and goes through the 12. Does the point (2,6) lie on the line that connects (IA) and (03)? Explain. The equation for the slope of (1 A) and (03) is rug+3. Just plug (2,6) into the equation: 6=2+3? NO. So, no. (2,6) does not lie in the line that connects (1 A) and (03). 13. Which of the following pairs of lines are perpendicular? How do you know? Perpendicular? A. [pick and [pick] No. Their slopes are NOT negative reciprocals. B. [pick] and [pick] Yes.Their slopes are negative reciprocals. And [pick] No. Their slopes are NOT negative reciprocals. C. [pick] 14. Jeremy uses the linear function G = ah + 50 to represent the grade, G (in points out of 100), that he can earn on an exam as a function of h, the number of hours he spends studying for the exam. A. Identify the slope and y-intercept of Jersey's function and explain what they mean in the context of the problem. The slope is 12 and the y-intercept is 50. This meaner that Jersey's score, if he didn't study, would be 50. However, for every hour he studies, his score will go up 12 points. . If Jeremy spends 3 hours studying for the exam, what grade does he expect to earn? Show your work. Jeremy can expect to earn 86 points on the test if he studies for 3 hours. C. How many hours should Jeremy study if he wants to earn a perfect score on the exam? Show your work. 100= +50 ah h = 4 hours, 10 minutes. – up, where p is the price in dollars of the product and D is the number of products that can be sold at that price. A. What does the slope of this function mean in the context of the problem? The slope shows that for each dollar the price increases, two less items will be sold. . What price should be set in order to sell 75 items? Show your work. UP = 25 p = $12. 50 The price should be set as $12. 50 to sell 75 items. 75 = 100 16. Temperature may be given in degrees Celsius or in degrees Fahrenheit. The freezing point of water is 32(F or O(C. The boiling point of water is 212(F or OHIO(C. A. Write the equation of a line that shows the relationship between degrees Fahrenheit and degrees Celsius. B. What is the temperature in Fahrenheit when it is ICC? C. What is the temp erature in Celsius when it is OFF? 6. 1 Celsius 17.Write at least three different expressions that mean â€Å"slope. † 62. 6 Fahrenheit 18. In order to write the equation off line, what two pieces of information do you need? (Hint: there may be more than one answer to this question. ) You must know both the slope and y-intercept to write the equation of a line. The number of soccer balls produced. A. What is the slope of this equation and what does it represent in the context of the problem? The slope is 7, and that meaner each soccer ball costs $7. B. What is the y-intercept of this equation and what does it represent in the intent of the problem?

Literary Merit Essay Hamlet

William Shakespeare’s plays have long been regarded as works of literary merit due to their complexity and thematic depth, as well as their universal appeal and ability to stand the test of time. One of Shakespeare’s most renowned plays, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, subsequently referred to as Hamlet, is an ideal example as it satisfies the requirements of literary works of merit. Complexity is a characteristic of literary merit found in Shakespeare’s works, and most evidently, in his characters. Hamlet, for example, is considered to be the epitome of complex characters, as he displays many layers throughout the play.It’s obvious that this tragic character is indecisive and unsure at times, including when he contemplates suicide, in his relationship with women, and when to kill his uncle, King Claudius. For example, in Act Two, Scene Two, Polonius, advisor to Claudius, reads aloud a love letter written by Hamlet to Ophelia, his supposed love i nterest. In this letter, Hamlet declares his love for Ophelia, and tells her never to doubt his love. However, when talking personally to Ophelia in the next act, Hamlet tells her that he never loved her.Yet, at Ophelia’s funeral in the final act of the play, Hamlet tells the attendees that he had more love for Ophelia than does forty thousand brothers for each other. This happens to be one of many examples of Hamlet’s complexity, mostly due to his â€Å"feigning† of madness throughout the vast majority of the play. This characteristic of complex characters is one reason why Shakespeare’s works are considered to be of literary merit. Another characteristic of literary merit that Shakespeare’s works display is thematic depth, especially in Hamlet. A major theme in this tragedy is that of revenge, which can be seen frequently throughout the play.There is the obvious plot of revenge in the play as Hamlet tries to avenge Claudius of King Hamlet’ s death. There exist two other plots as Laertes attempts to avenge Polonius’ and Ophelia’s deaths, as well as Prince Fortinbras avenging his father’s death. A thematic depth is composed as these three separate scenarios are woven together, calling the value and necessity of revenge into question. Another prominent theme in Hamlet is death. From the appearance of the dead King Hamlet’s ghost in the opening scene to the carnage of the final scene, the knowledge of life and the mystery of death are examined.Hamlet’s â€Å"to be or not to be† soliloquy is a perfect illustration as he ponders over the idea of suicide. Because Shakespeare is able to bring up discussion and call certain ideas into question with such themes, his works are thematically deeper, making them of literary merit. Despite having been composed over four hundred years ago, William Shakespeare’s plays have stood the test of time and have proven valuable in many academic fields, other than English. The cause of this is Shakespeare’s ability to provide insight into the human condition, as well as his ability to include universal themes in his plays, so as to gain more appeal.Shakespeare’s plays explore ideas that are prevalent in the human condition, such as vengeance, romance, and jealousy, which creates universal appeal and paves the way for the analysis of the human condition in the sub-fields of humanities: psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc. In the case of Sigmund Freud, the founding father of psychoanalysis, his The Interpretation of Dreams, explores the foundation of Hamlet on the Oedipus Tyrannus (Oedipus Rex). Freud explains that Hamlet’s hesitation at avenging his uncle is due to the repression of his subconscious desires.Another example of this cross-curricular analysis of Shakespeare’s works can be seen in Laura Bohannan’s essay, â€Å"Shakespeare in the Bush,† in which Bohannan attempts to tell the story of Hamlet to a group of Nigerian villagers. This essay, along with Hamlet is used by students of both anthropology and linguistics as a way of understanding the effects of perspective on one’s perception and expectations. Therefore, because Shakespeare’s works have stood the test of time, and continue to be valued in many academic fields, his works are of literary merit.Ultimately, William Shakespeare’s works, specifically Hamlet, have all demonstrated their literary merit because of their complexity and thematic depth, along with their value and ability to stand the test of time. Works Cited Bohannan, Laura. Shakespeare in the Bush. Print. Freud, Sigmund, A. A. Brill, Daniel T. O'Hara, and Gina Masucci MacKenzie. The Interpretation of Dreams. New York: Barnes ; Noble Classics, 2005. Print. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince Of Denmark. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York, NY, USA: Washington Square, 1992. Print.

Public finance

The researcher by introduction which includes background to the problem, Statement of the problem, Research questions, Objective of the study, Significance of the study, and the scope and limitation of the study. In the second chapter there is literature review, both theoretical and empirical literature review in which there are some terms defined with relevant theories. The third chapter explains about now the study wick be conducted and techniques that will be used in conducting the research study The third chapter shows and explains the schedule of activities, references and bibliography.The fourth chapter give much details of the research topic by answering the research questions both specific and general research questions. It gives a detailed information gathered during the research period so as to give the real situation of the Ministry in relation to the research topic. The last fifth chapter gives the conclusion and recommendation of the researcher in the research area in re lation to the research topic whether the Ministry conduct the situation satisfactory and if there are some added criteria in order to improve the situation in the research area.CPSP: Certified Procurement and Supplies Professional. MTB: Ministerial Tender Board NBMM: National Board for Materials Management PPA : Public Procurement Act IAA: Institute of Accountancy Arusha Head of Department HOD. PMU. Procurement Management Unit NGO: Non Governmental Organization . United States of America USA' CICA. Competition in Contracting Act : Member of the Parliament MP The Ministry of Infrastructure Development (MID) Head Office is located at the City Centre in Dar-es-salaam at llala Municipal, Pamba Road (Tancot House).The name was officially launched in 1995 and was formerly known as Ministry of works. The ew ministry is the combination of the former Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Communication ; Transportation. It is headed by the Minister Hon. Mr. Andrew Chenge (MP), assisted by Hon . Dr. Maua Daftari (MP) and Dr. Makongoro Mahanga as Deputy Ministers. The ministry of Infrastructures Development is split into two Divisions, namely: 1. Transport Division 2.Communication Division After the introduction of PMS in the year 2003,the ministry adopted a new vision and mission, the proposed functions and structures has put into the new vision, mission and objectives of the ministry. The overall responsibilities of MolD is to structure the transport and communication Infrastructure that is well maintained, providing safe and efficient environment that is friendly and affordable to all parts of Tanzania and one that integrates all modes of transport and communication system economically.Vision of the Ministry: The vision of the ministry is to have efficient and cost effective domestic and international communication and Transport meteorology service to all segments of the population and sectors of National economy with maximum safety and minimum environmental Degradation . Mission of the Ministry: The mission of the Ministry is to have safe, effective and efficient transport and communication and meteorological infrastructures and operations which best meet the socio-Economic needs by improving levels of services at lower costs in a manner which support Government strategies for economically and environment sustainability.Objectives of the Ministry: In order to fulfill the above vision and mission of the sector, the ministry has got the following objectives: To facilitate the provision of adequate, affordable and efficient transport and communication and meteorology infrastructure and services with aximum safety and minimum environment degradation. To ensure a conducive environment for investment in the sector. To improve revenue collection from transport, communication and meteorology service rendered by the sector.To harmonize transport, communication and meteorology standards to those of regional and international groups in which Tanzania is a me mber. To improve services and reduce HIV/AID Intection. Functions of the Ministry. The general function of the Ministry of Communications and Transport are: To initiate and coordinate polices, objectives and strategies on road, railway, pipeline, arine, air transport, posts and Telecommunications. Oversee and co-ordinate performance standards. Monitor and evaluate overall performance contracts.To commercialize and privatize the parastatals in the transport and communication sector The organizational structure of the MolD In order to achieve the objectives, the ministry implements the objectives using five specialized departments at the Head quarter, three regulatory and three Executive agencies: Specialized Departments at the Head Quarters: Department of Administration and Personnel Department of Transport and Communication Department of Accounts and Finance Central Transport Licensing Authority.Regulatory Bodies: Tanzania Civil aviation Authority Tanzania Communication Regulatory A uthority Surface and Marine Regulatory Authority Executive Agencies: Tanzania Airport authority Tanzania Government Flight Agency Tanzania Meteorological Agency. 1. 1 Background to the study Tendering is the method of procurement where by Suppliers, Contractors, and Consultants are invited by procuring entity to compete each other in submitting priced tenders for goods, works, or services (PPA 2004).It is the most popular method recommended by the Act due to its openness, transparency, efficient, and Economy. The history of Procurement Legislation in Tanzania of which tendering found its origin can be traced as far back to 1961 when the Exchequer and Audit Ordinance No. 21 of 1961 was enacted as a Legal mechanism for the purpose of controlling the Public Procurement and Supplies activities. Five years later i. e. 1965 the financial Order part Ill (Stores Regulation 5th Edition 1965) was enacted by the parliament as the guideline to the public Fund by Government officials.Due to the weakness of the old legislation, there was a number of studies carried out in the Country funded by the World Bank to review the Public Procurement System hich eventually found that there was a need for more effective legislation to govern Procurement in the Public Sector to repeal and replace the Exchequer ; Audit Ordinance of 1961, and consequently, Public Procurement Act No. 21 of 2001 came into the e ttect to cater tor the detlciencies ot the old legislations. The enactment of PPA 2001 was only part of the on going Public Procurement reforms.These reforms resulted into the enactment of the PPA 2004 which repealed PPA 2001. The enactment of PPA 2004 was aimed at addressing the deficiencies of the old legislation(s), by enforcing the best practices and professional standards of inancial Management and control of Public properties and resources It is because of this important historical background that TENDERING as a Procurement Method is accorded Importance by the Act due to its o penness, efficiency, economy, and as far as Public Expenditure is concerned.Good practice of tendering reduces total transaction costs and produce timely result, and efficiency use of resources, Poor practice of tendering led to waste and delays and often the cause of allegation of corruption and inefficiency (MasanJa 2004). It follows that the Public Sector particularly the Ministry of Infrastructure Development hould realize the values for money procurement and tendering, among other methods, it must be done in accordance to the existing procedures. 1. 2 Statement of the problem The service oriented organization has a core interest to attain vision and mission.Public Sector in Tanzania, Ministry of Infrastructure Development being one of it, is there to deliver better services to the society, in other hand it spent about 80% of the National Budget on the procurement of goods, Services and works. On realization of this truth the Government has enacted the procurement laws as the gu ide to ensure roper utilization of Pubic Funds. One feature of procurement laws is open/unrestricted tendering characterized by fairness, transparency, and economy.The procedure requires some steps to be accomplished before the contract for delivering of goods, services or execution of work is awarded to the prospective bidder. Open tendering is the most popular procurement method envisage by the Public Procurement Act No. 3 of 2004. It follow that the role of effective open tendering procedures and regulation is to ensure that the system is operated in such away that it reduces the transaction costs, fficiency use of the resources available, efficiency utilization of the time required, and ensure that the system is understood and can be handled by the concerned parties properly.This will Justify the proper use of Public Fund and the attainment of Entitys objectives. The efficiency and adequacies of tendering procedures and quality performance is the end result realization. This is to say that if open tendering is adhered and administrated according to the laid down effective procedures and regulation the end result will be quality of goods, works and services delivered. 1. 3 Research Questions 1. 3. 1 General Question Is open Tendering as a procurement method in Public Sector e 71 32 Specitlc Questions O Are the people involved in procurement?I. e. members, the knowledge of Public Procurement Act 2004? Ministerial Tender Board PMIJ member and HOD have O Are the procedures and Regulation as directed by PPA for open tendering adhered by tender board members or tender evaluation committee or the PMIJ? O Are the tender documents prepared using standard tendering documents as issued by PPRA ? O Can lack of training and understanding of PPA 2004 and their respective regulations contribute to the ineffectiveness of tendering as procurement method? . 4 Study Objectives 1. 4. General Objective The general objective of the study is to evaluate factors that affect the e ffectiveness of open tendering as procurement method in Public Sector. 1. 4. 2 Specific Objectives OTO find out whether the procedures and regulations used for open tendering in the Public Sector are inline with PPA requirements OTO evaluate whether those people i. e. PMU, CTB,;HOD are well involved in the procurement and have the knowledge of the PPA and Regulations. OTO find out whether the lack of procurement capacity in Public Sector contributes to the ineffectiveness of open tendering.OTO check out hether tender documents are prepared according to Standard Tendering Documents and other guidelines (if any) issued by PPRA. 1. 5 Significance of the Study This study has shown clearly problems involved in tendering process including as well as factors hindering proper adhering procedures in Public Sectors. The study may attract the government, donors and NGOs on the need to build Procurement Capacity in the Public Sectors in Tanzania. On the other hand, this study has further served as guidelines for the future reference for those intending to study on procurement laws notably in the area of tendering transactions. . Scope and Limitation of the study his study has been conducted at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development Head Office, which is located in Dar-es-salaam City at llala Municipal. The study has based specifically on such areas as Procurement and Purchasing section, Tendering section and Supplies section. The study has examined the factors affecting the effectiveness of open tendering as procurement method in the Public sector. The coverage included system of procurement in tendering process, tendering documents and prospective laws applied.During the research period the researcher expected the following limitations: O On the Job training took a lot of time for researcher to do other work which has no relation with the researcher topic so time for research has beeen limited to acquire the required data through interviews and questionnaires. (J Som e ot the employees that the researcher managed to nave spot interview they became reluctant to give what is real practiced in the organization in fear that the information collected can be presented to the management and investigation can be made to the concerned staff.Successful Tender â€Å"Means a tender selected by the procuring entity as; offering the lowest evaluated cost in case the method of procurement used was competitive tendering or being the most responsive to the needs of procuring entity if the procurement method used as competitive quotations, single sources procurement, competitive selection or where goods or services are of minor value†. Supplier â€Å"Means company, corporation organization, partnership, or individual person supplying goods, or services, hiring equipment or providing transport services and who is according to the contract is a potential party with the procuring entity' Tender â€Å"Means offer, proposal or quotation made by a supplier, co ntractor, or consultant in response to a request drawn by a procuring entity' Works â€Å"All works associated with the construction, reconstruction, demolition, repair or enovation of a building structure, road or airfield†.Lowest Evaluated Costs ‘Means the priced offered by supplier, contractor or consultant that is found to be the lowest after consideration of all relevant factors and the calculation of any weighing for these factors, provided that such factors have been specified in the tender document†. 2. 3 Theoretical basic of the study. Mhilu (2006) in his paper presented during the 21st NBMM Professional Annual Conference contended that an open tendering is the preferred way to promote open and effective competition. He however agreed on the need to bring a balance etween tendering cost and the benefit received, he further enumerated circumstances where open tendering may not be the preferable method to include if; O There is Justification for single sour ce or emergence procurement or OThe cost of an open tendering exceed direct savings that might be enjoyed or OThere are other benefits foregone by using another procurement method.The World Bank guideline (1999) maintained that the objective of tendering is to attain both the classical and contemporary procurement objectives that include transparent and all aspects contributing towards proper administration of tender, hese are proper goods, works and services of right price, through authorization and in a transparent manner. The guideline further continue that, competitive bidding or tendering is the most effective method in attaining the above mentioned objective when properly administered. i Open Tender This is tendering process which is done through open advertisement through widely circulated media such as newspapers of wide circulation. Through the advertisement a procuring entity states its requirements through specification and terms of purchase. Potential suppliers / Contrac tors & Consultants respond to the

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 30~31

Thirty Theo â€Å"Listen,† Theo said, cocking his ear toward the cave mouth. â€Å"Vehicles. The SWAT team is here.† Molly glanced to the back of the cave. From the light of the colors Steve was flashing she could see that the pilgrims had surrounded the Sea Beast and were stroking his scales. She turned back to Theo. â€Å"You've got to stop the helicopters. Call them and stop it.† â€Å"Molly, it's not the news helicopters that will hurt him, or us. It's those guys who just pulled up.† Theo peeked out the mouth of the cave and saw two four-wheel-drives parking down on the marine terrace, about a hun-dred yards from the cave mouth. Of course, he thought, they still think they need cover. Molly brandished her broadsword, holding it only inches from Theo's stomach. â€Å"If he's hurt, I'll never forgive you, Theo Crowe. I'll track you down to the ends of the earth and kill you like the radioactive scum that you are.† â€Å"That Kendra or Molly talking?† â€Å"I mean it,† she screamed, almost hysterical now. Steve roared from the back of the cave. â€Å"Don't go nuts on me, Molly. I'm doing my best. But the only thing your pal seems likely to do is eat me. He doesn't seemed real motivated by anything else.† Molly slumped to her knees and hung her head as if someone had sucked the energy out of her through a valve in her boot. Theo fought the urge to comfort her, afraid that if he even touched her shoulder the Sea Beast might attack him. Then it hit him. He flipped open his cell phone and dialed the Head of the Slug. Mavis Mavis Sand had spent a lifetime making mistakes and learning from them, and that perspective made her feel as if she knew what was good for people better than they knew themselves. Consequently, Mavis was a meddler. Most of the time she was content to use information as her tool of choice and rumor as her means of delivery. What someone knew – and when they knew it – controlled what they did. (The Spider, pulling digital strings from his basement web, had exactly the same philosophy.) Today she'd had a heap of problems dumped on her, none of them directly hers, and she had been pondering them all morning without much luck in coming up with a way to manipulate the information to solve them. Then the call came from Theo, and it all clicked: Theo was right, they could use the monster's instincts to get them out of the cave, but if she played the mix right, she could solve a couple of other problems as well. She put down the phone and Catfish said, â€Å"Who that?† â€Å"It was Theo.† â€Å"That ol' dragon ain't et him yet? Boy must be livin a charmed life.† Mavis leaned over the bar, close to Catfish, took his hand in hers, and began squeezing. â€Å"Sweetie, put on your friendly persuasion hat. I need you to run down to the pharmacy and pick up something for me.† â€Å"Yes, ma'am,† Catfish said, wincing as the bones in his fingers compressed under her grip. When the Bluesman was gone, Mavis made a quick phone call, then went to the back room and dug through boxes and filling cabinets until she came up with what she was looking for: a small black box attached to a long cord with a cigarette lighter plug on the end. â€Å"Don't worry, Theo,† she said to herself. â€Å"I put my life in the hands of machinery a long time ago, and I'm doing just fine.† She giggled and it came out sounding like the starter cranking on a fuel dry Ford. Catfish A Bluesman hates to be told what to do. Authority rankles him, inspires his rebellion, and plays to his need to self-destruct. A Bluesman doesn't take to having a boss unless he's on a chain gang (for the chain gang boss ranks below only a mean old woman and a sweet young thing in the hier-archy of the Blues Muse, followed closely by bad liquor, a dead dog, and the Man). Catfish had a boss who was a mean old woman: a distinct and disconcerting turn of the Blues screw that might have driven a lesser Bluesman to shoot hisself, get shot, get hold of some bad liquor, or bust up his guitar and take a job down to the mill. But Catfish hadn't taken nigh unto eighty trips around that cruel, cruel sun without gaining some per-spective, so he would go to the pharmacy as he was told. He would talk to the fish-fucking white boy with the combed-over hair that waved in the air like the sprung lid on a bean can. And when he was done, he would pick up his pay from the mean old woman who was holding it hostage and he would get his wrinkly Black ass out of this town and go nurse his heartbreak on the moving trap that was, is, and always shall be the road. So Catfish strolled a rolling Delta moonwalk of a stroll (redolent of sas-safras and jive) into Pine Cove Drug and Gift, and the four blue-haired chicken women behind the counter nearly tumbled over each other trying to get to the back room. Imagine it: a person of the Dark persuasion in their midst. What if he should ask for a vial of Afro-Sheen or some other ethnic-ally oriented product with which they were totally unfamiliar? Why, the smoke alarms would melt, screaming like dying witches, when their col-lective minds steamed to a stop. Do we look like thrill-seekers? Wasn't it enough that we had to put up that sign reading NO HABLA ESPANOL and acknowledge the existence of thirty percent of the population, even in the negative? No, we shall err on the side of safety, thank you, and in lieu of sand in which to bury our heads, we shall head into the back room. Winston Krauss, who was counting fake Zolofts behind his glass wall, looked up and saw Catfish coming down the aisle toward the counter and immediately regretted that he hadn't installed bulletproof glass. Still, Winston was a man of the world, and you don't indulge the fantasy of molesting dolphins without becoming familiar with the ways of people of color, for that is who dolphins prefer to hang out with, when they aren't hanging out with the Cousteaus, or so it appeared on the Discovery Channel. He stepped out of his booth and met Catfish as he reached the counter. â€Å"Good day, me brother-mon, ye,† Winston said in his best island dialect. â€Å"What can I be gettin for ye?† And there was that welcoming smile, only a dreadlock and a white sand beach short of a travel poster. Catfish squinted, removed his fedora, ran a hand over his shining scalp, stepped back, turned his head to the side and studied the pharmacist for a moment, then said, â€Å"I will slap the shit out of you. You know that?† â€Å"Sorry,† Winston said, coughing somewhat, as if trying to dislodge the errant Jamaican from his throat. â€Å"What can I do for you, sir?† â€Å"Mavis down to the Slug sent me up to ax you somethin.† â€Å"I'm familiar with her medical records,† Winston said, â€Å"You can have her call me if she has a question.† â€Å"Yeah, she don't want to call you. She want you to come down to see her.† Winston adjusted his bolo tie. â€Å"I'm sorry, but you'll have to have her call me. I can't leave the store.† Catfish nodded. â€Å"That what she thought you'd say. She say to ax you if she can have a big jar of them sugar pills you selling instead medicine.† Winston glanced at the back room where his staff was huddled like Anne Frank and family, peering out through the crack in the door. â€Å"Tell her I'll be right over,† Winston said. â€Å"She said to wait and come with you.† Winston was visibly sweating now; oily beads rose on his scalp. â€Å"Let me tell the staff where I'll be.† â€Å"Hurry up, Flipper. I ain't got all day,† Catfish said. Winston Krauss shuddered, hitched up his double knits, and waddled around the counter. â€Å"Ladies, I'll be back in few minutes,† he called over his shoulder. Catfish leaned over the counter to where he could see the row of eyes peering out of the crack and said, â€Å"I be back in a few minutes my own self, ladies. I needs some medicine what can help me with this huge black dick I have to carry around. The weight of it like to break my back.† There was a collective intake of breath so abrupt that the drop in pressure sprung the barometer on the wall and made Catfish's ears pop. Winston Krauss turned and scowled at Catfish. â€Å"Was that really necessary?† â€Å"Man's got to look after his reputation,† Catfish said. The Sheriff Burton had them cover him while he moved down through the rocks and across the marine terrace to the Blazers. He found Sheridan crouched behind the fender, his M-16 trained on the cave entrance. â€Å"Rough morning, Sheriff?† Sheridan said, showing a hint of a smile at Burton's disheveled suit. Burton looked around at the other team members, who were all staring through rifle scopes at the cave entrance. â€Å"So we only have five?† â€Å"Morales is coaching Pee-Wee Football today. The others are on regular duty. We couldn't pull them off.† Burton scowled. â€Å"As far as I know, they only have the one weapon, but it's a fully automatic AK. I want two men on either side of the cave mouth, one down in that crevice where I was pinned down can deliver the gas, followed by concussion grenades. I'll stay here with a sniper rifle to take out anyone who gets past the entry crew. Shoot anything that moves. Let's go, five minutes. On my mark.† â€Å"No gas,† Sheridan said. â€Å"What?† â€Å"No gas and no concussion. You wanted us here without checking in. That stuff is kept in the locker at County Justice. We just have the body armor and our own personal weapons.† Burton looked around at the other men again. â€Å"You guys all have your own personal M-16s, but no grenades?† â€Å"Yes, sir.† â€Å"So I have a standoff? I had a standoff before, Sheridan. A standoff doesn't do me any good. Come with me.† He pushed a fresh clip into his 9 mm. and turned to the others. â€Å"Cover us.† Burton led the SWAT commander to a spot in the rocks just below the cave mouth. â€Å"Crowe?† Burton called. â€Å"You've had enough time to consider my offer!† â€Å"Offer?† Sheridan asked. Burton shushed him. â€Å"I haven't decided yet!† Theo shouted. â€Å"We've got thirty people in here to discuss it with and they're not being cooperative.† Sheridan looked at Burton. â€Å"Thirty people? We can't shoot thirty people. I'm not shooting any thirty people.† â€Å"Five minutes, Crowe,† Burton said. â€Å"Then you have no more options.† â€Å"What's the offer?† Sheridan whispered to the sheriff. â€Å"Don't worry about it. I'm just trying to get the subject separated from the hostages so we can take him out.† â€Å"Then we'd better have a description of the suspect, don't you think?† â€Å"He's the one in handcuffs,† Burton said. â€Å"Well, aren't you the fucking hero?† Sheridan shot back. Skinner Skinner watched from the front seat of the Mercedes as the Food Guy was loaded into the back of the Suburban with the cage in it. The Bad Guys hadn't even left the windows cracked. How would the Food Guy breathe? He wouldn't be able to sit in the front seat and put his head out the window either. Skinner was sad for the Food Guy. He crawled in the backseat of the Mercedes and lay down to nap away his anxiety. The Head of the Slug The first thing Catfish saw when he came through the doors of the Head of the Slug was Estelle standing at the bar, and he could feel the crust peeling off his heart like old paint. Her hair was down. Brushed out, it hung to her waist. She was wearing a pair of pink overalls that had been splattered with paint over a man's white T-shirt – his T-shirt, he realized. She looked to him like what he always thought home was supposed to look like, but as a Bluesman, he was bound by tradition to be cool. â€Å"Hey, girl, what you doin' here?† â€Å"I called her,† Mavis said. â€Å"This is your driver.† â€Å"What I need a driver for?† â€Å"I'll tell you.† Estelle took his hand and led him to a booth in the corner. Winston Krauss came through the door a second later and Mavis waved him over to the bar. â€Å"Son, I'm about to make you the happiest man in the whole world.† â€Å"You are? Why?† â€Å"Because I like to see people get what they want. And I have what you want.† â€Å"You do?† Mavis stepped up to the bar and in low, conspiratorial tones, began telling Winston Krauss the most titillating, outrageously erotic tale that she had ever told, trying the whole time to remember that the man she was talking to wanted to have sex with marine animals. Over in the corner booth, Catfish's modicum of cool had melted. Estelle was smiling, even as tears welled up in her eyes. â€Å"I wouldn't ask you to do it if I thought it would put you in danger. Really.† â€Å"I know that,† Catfish said, a gentleness in his voice that he usually reserved for kittens and traffic cops. â€Å"It just that I been runnin from this my whole life.† â€Å"I don't think so,† Estelle said. â€Å"I think you've been running to this.† Catfish grinned. â€Å"You gonna take them old Blues off me for good, ain't you?† â€Å"You know it.† â€Å"Then let's go.† Catfish stood up and turned to where Mavis and Winston stood. â€Å"We ready? Y'all ready?† He noticed that the front of Winston's trousers had become overly tight. â€Å"Yeah, you ready. You sick, but you ready.† Mavis nodded, a slight mechanical ratcheting noise coming from her neck, â€Å"Take the second turn out, not the first,† Mavis said to Estelle. â€Å"From there it hugs the coast, so there's no hills.† â€Å"I have to go get my mask and fins,† wailed Winston. Thirty-one Molly â€Å"Has it been five minutes yet?† Molly was sitting cross-legged, her sword held across her knees. Theo jumped as if he'd been poked with an ice pick, then checked his watch. He crouched by the cave mouth, listening for the sound of either salvation or death. â€Å"About a minute left. Where the hell are they? Molly, maybe you should find some cover.† â€Å"What cover?† She looked around the cave. It was an open chamber; the only cover would be the darkness in the back of the chamber. â€Å"Get behind Steve.† â€Å"No,† Molly said. â€Å"I won't do that.† She heard a voice come from the back of her mind. â€Å"Get to cover, you daffy broad. What, do you have a death wish?† â€Å"I have abandonment issues. I'm not going to turn around and abandon someone else,† Molly said. â€Å"What?† Theo said. â€Å"I wasn't talking to you.† â€Å"Fine, die. What do I care?† said the narrator. â€Å"Bastard,† Molly said. â€Å"What?† said Theo. â€Å"Not you!† â€Å"Molly, how did you get those guys to come out and drag me into the cave before?† â€Å"I just told them to.† â€Å"Well, take their clothes back to them and tell them to get dressed.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Just do it. And tell them to hang on to Steve's sides and not let go, no matter what he does.† â€Å"Now who's nuts?† â€Å"Molly, please, I'm trying to save him.† The Sheriff Burton checked his watch. â€Å"That's it. Get into position. We're going in.† Sergeant Sheridan wasn't so sure. â€Å"They have thirty hostages and we don't have any recon of their positions and we don't have a full team. You want to take this guy out with thirty witnesses?† â€Å"Goddamn it, Sheridan, get your men in position. We go on my signal.† â€Å"Sheriff Burton.† Theo's voice from the cave. â€Å"What?† â€Å"I'll take your offer,† Theo said. â€Å"Give me five more minutes and I'll come out. We can all leave together. The others will come out after you're gone.† â€Å"You just want him anyway, right?† Sheridan said. â€Å"He's the only one that can hurt the operation.† Burton turned it over in his mind. He'd been determined to take out the constable and the woman, but now he had to rethink things. If he could get Crowe away from the others, he could dispose of him with no witnesses. Burton's cell phone rang. He flipped it open. â€Å"Burton,† he said. â€Å"You shouldn't have made disparaging comments about my weight, Sheriff,† the Spider said. â€Å"Nailsworth, you piece of sh – † The line went dead. Suddenly the sound of a wailing Blues guitar came screaming over the marine terrace. Burton and the SWAT team turned to see an old white station wagon driving along the edge of the terrace, next to where it dropped to the beach. An inhuman roar rose up out of the cave, and when Burton looked back to the cave all he saw was a huge reptilian face coming at him. Winston Krauss Winston sat in the back of the station wagon, steadying the Marshall amplifier that was screaming out the notes from Catfish's Stratocaster. The amp was plugged into Mavis's black box and a cord ran over the seats into the cigarette lighter, next to where Catfish was playing. After the first few notes, Winston's hearing had shut down due to temporary deafness, but he didn't care. He could hardly believe his luck. Mavis had promised him the biggest sexual thrill of his life, and he had doubted her. But now he saw it. It was the most gorgeous creature he'd ever seen. Steve The feelings of self-pity, jealousy, and heartbreak were new to him, but the response that welled up in him when he heard the sound of his enemy was more deeply imprinted on his lizard brain and it displaced all the newer feelings with rage and the imperative to attack. He stormed out of the cave with pilgrims hanging on his back by the ridge of armored plates that ran down his spine. Two layers of protective covering slid over his eyes, shortening his vision, but it was the sound that guided him anyway, the sound that carried the strongest association with the enemy. He flashed bright crimson and yellow as he charged over the rocks, kicking aside the vehicles and shedding pilgrims as he made his way to his enemy at the shore. Theo Molly stood in the cave entrance, screaming for Steve to stop. Theo grabbed her around the waist and pulled her away just as the Sea Beast, dangling pilgrims, charged past them. She elbowed Theo in the forehead, stunning him for a second, and she made for the cave entrance. Theo caught her outside on the rocks and held her. â€Å"No!† Theo wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms to her side, and lifted her off the ground, then held her kicking as he braced for gunfire. But none came. Burton was climbing to his feet just below them, focused on the Sea Beast as it passed. â€Å"Shoot that thing! Shoot it! Shoot it!† The SWAT commander had rolled out of the way and come up with his weapon ready, but with people hanging all over the beast, he didn't know where to shoot, so instead let his weapon fall to his side as he stared in amazement. Burton drew a pistol and began running after the Sea Beast. Below, two of the SWAT team had already broken into a run from behind the Blazers just as the Sea Beast bowled them over. The other two were pinned underneath one of the crushed vehicles. As they fell, each pil grim jumped to his feet and ran after the Sea Beast, who was making a beeline across the grassy terrace toward the white station wagon. Theo watched as the car stopped, Blues slide notes still screaming out of the back, and Estelle Boyet crawled out of the driver's seat and ran around to the back. The guitar playing stopped for a second as the passenger side opened, and out stepped Catfish Jefferson, holding a Fender Stratocaster. â€Å"Let me go!† Molly screamed. â€Å"I've got to save him! I've got to save him!† Theo yanked her back toward the cave. When he was able to look again, someone he didn't immediately recognize had crawled out of the station wagon, and Catfish handed him the guitar. Sheriff Burton was running after the Sea Beast, waving his weapon around, trying to get an angle to shoot without hitting one of the pilgrims. He stopped, dropped to one knee, steadied his aim, and fired. The Sea Beast roared and whipped around, throwing the last of the pilgrims into a tumble in the grass. Molly whipped her head back into Theo's chin at the same time she drove a heel into his knee. Theo let go of her and she rushed over the rocks and down toward the monster. Catfish Estelle had brought the car right to the edge of the drop-off to the rocky beach. Catfish looked at the surf beating on the rocks below, then at his guitar cords coiled in the front seat, then at the rocks again. They just might be long enough. But the dragon was going to get to them before he could find out. â€Å"Hurry!† Estelle shouted. Catfish stood mesmerized by the charging monster, not a hundred yards away. â€Å"Go,† he said weakly, â€Å"get yourself out of here.† â€Å"No!† said Winston Krauss. â€Å"You promised.† There was a gunshot and the Sea Beast whipped around in his tracks, bringing Catfish to his senses. â€Å"Let's go,† he said to Winston. Then he looked at Estelle over the top of the car and winked. â€Å"You go on. This ain't your time.† Catfish played a few notes on the Stratocaster and then ambled after Winston to the surf. The pharmacist ran into the water up to his knees, then turned around. Catfish was having trouble climbing over the rocks to the water while keeping the guitar cord from catching. â€Å"That's far enough,† Catfish said. He walked into the surf and stood next to Winston, keeping the guitar high to keep any spray off of it. â€Å"Give it,† Winston demanded. â€Å"You ain't got a lick a sense, do you?† â€Å"Give it,† Winston repeated. Catfish played four bars of â€Å"Green Onions† on the Strat, the notes still blaring out of the amp in the station wagon, then draped the strap around Winston's neck and handed him a guitar pick. â€Å"Have fun,† Catfish said. â€Å"Oh, I will,† Winston said, a lascivious grin crossing his face. â€Å"You know I will.† â€Å"Play!† Catfish said as he turned and ran up the beach. He saw Estelle already making her way away down the shore away from the commotion. Behind him, the sour, rattling notes began to emanate from the amp in the station wagon as gunshots filled the air. Molly The sheriff fired three more times as he backed away from the Sea Beast, missing not only the monster but the entire North American continent. Molly threw herself sideways from a full run into the back of Burton's knees and cut his legs out from under him. She came up in a crouch, putting herself between Burton and the Sea Beast. The sheriff thought he heard the song â€Å"Green Onions† and shook his head to clear a hallucination. The Sea Beast roared again and the sheriff vaulted into a crouch, ready to fire, but instead of a sea monster in front of him, he saw a woman in a leather bikini. He looked over his shoulder and watched the Sea Beast snap up the white station wagon in its jaws and toss it aside. The guitar sounds stopped and the Sea Beast slid over the bluff to the beach. Seeing that the danger was gone, he trained his sights on the woman. People were streaming by him on either side after the monster, wailing like a crowd of banshees. Molly looked over her shoulder and saw Steve going into the water, then turned back to Burton. â€Å"Go ahead, you prick. I don't care.† â€Å"You got it,† Burton said. Winston Krauss He was just beating on the guitar strings now, but it didn't matter. The amplifier wasn't working anymore and this beautiful creature was coming to him. Winston was so turned on he thought he'd explode. She was coming to him, his dream lover, and he yanked the guitar from around his neck, ready to receive her. â€Å"Oh, come on, baby. Come to papa,† he said. The Sea Beast charged into the water, throwing spray fifty feet in the air, then snapped his jaws over Winston, severing the pharmacist's body into two sleazy pieces. The Sea Beast swallowed Winston's legs and roared, then snapped up the remaining piece and dove under the sea. The Sheriff â€Å"I don't think so, Sheriff,† Sheridan said. Burton looked over his shoulder without taking the gun off Molly. Sheridan had his M-16 trained on the sheriff's back. â€Å"Don't fuck with me, Sheridan. You're in this with me.† â€Å"I'm not in this. Lower your weapon, sir.† Burton lowered the pistol and turned toward Sheridan. Molly started to leap forward and the SWAT commander pointed the M-16 at her. â€Å"Right there,† he said. She stopped. The pilgrims were all standing at the shore now, wailing as they looked out. Molly gestured in that direction and Sheridan nodded. She ran toward the shoreline. â€Å"What now?† Burton asked. â€Å"I don't know,† said Sheridan, â€Å"but no one has been shot here, and I have a feeling that there's going to be a lot of attention around this event, so no one is going to get shot.† â€Å"You wimp.† â€Å"Whatever,† Sheridan said. â€Å"Hey, Burton!† Theo Crowe was running down the hill toward them. â€Å"You hear that?† When they looked up, Theo ducked behind one of the wrecked Blazers and pointed toward the southern sky. â€Å"Film at eleven.† Burton could hear them now: helicopters. He looked to the south and saw the two dots coming over the horizon. Two of the SWAT team members were topping the next hill. They had started running when the monster first came out of the cave. The other two were still pinned under one of the overturned Blazers. He turned back to Sheridan. The big cop was watching the approaching helicopters. â€Å"Game over,† Sheridan said. â€Å"Guess it's time to start thinking about my deal with the D.A.† Burton shot him in the face, then broke for the far side of the rocks to his Eldorado before the others had time to figure out what had happened. Theo Theo came up behind Molly and touched her lightly on the shoulder. When she turned, he could see tears streaming down her cheeks. Then she re-turned to staring out to sea with the others. She said, â€Å"All I ever wanted is to feel special. To feel like something set me apart.† Theo put his arm around her. â€Å"Everyone wants that.† â€Å"But I had it, Theo. More by having Steve in my life than when I was making movies. These people felt it, but not like me.† The two helicopters were coming in close now and Theo had to speak right into her ear to be heard over the thumping blades. â€Å"No one's like you.† There was a stirring in the water just past the surf line, and something was rising in the kelp bed. Theo could see the purple gill trees standing out on the Sea Beast's neck. He was heading toward shore. Theo tried to pull Molly closer, but she broke loose from him, jumped off the bluff, and ran into the surf, scooping up two baseball-sized rocks as she went. Theo went after her and was halfway across the beach when she turned and looked at him with eyes filled with such pleading and desperation that it stopped him in his tracks. The helicopters were hovering only a hundred feet over the beach now. The wash from the blades kicked up sand in the faces of the onlookers. As the Sea Beast approached shore, only his eyes and gills above the water, Molly threw one of the stones. â€Å"No, go away! Go!† The second stone hit the Sea Beast's eye, and he stopped. â€Å"Don't come back!† Molly screamed. Slowly the Sea Beast sank below the surface. The Sheriff The speedometer on the Eldorado was approaching sixty when Burton topped the last hill before the cattle guard. He had to get to the airport and use the open ticket in his briefcase to join his money in the Caymans before anyone could figure out where he had gone. He'd planned for this all along, knowing he might have to make a run for it at some point, but what he hadn't planned was that there would be two Suburbans and a Mercedes parked just over the top of the hill. Before he could stop himself, he hit the brakes and wrenched the wheel to the left. The tires dug into the pasture and sent the Eldorado up on two wheels, then over. There was none of the slowing of time or compression of events that often happens in accidents. He saw light and dark, felt his body being beaten around the Caddy, and then the crash of smashing metal and breaking glass. Then there was a pause. He lay on the ceiling of the overturned Eldorado, peppered with pieces of safety glass, trying to feel if any of his limbs were broken. He seemed okay, he could feel his feet, and it didn't hurt when he breathed. But he smelled gas. It was enough to remind him to move. He grabbed the briefcase with his escape kit and slithered out the broken back window to find the Eldorado half-perched, half-smashed over the front of a white Suburban. He climbed to his feet and ran to the truck. It was locked. Sheridan, you prick, you would lock your truck, he thought. He didn't notice the people handcuffed inside the K-9 cage in the back. The Mercedes was his last chance. He ran around it and yanked opened the driver's side door. The keys were in the ignition. He climbed in and took a deep breath. He had to calm down now. No more mistakes, he told himself. He started the Mercedes and was turning to back it down the hill when the dog hit him.