The Social Contract and Its Impact on the Government Essay

The Social Contract and Its Impact on the Government The â€Å"Social Contract† was a theory written in the 17th and 18th century. This theory argued four important main points. These main points said that the state existed to serve the will of the people, that people were the only source of government power, that the people were free to withhold power of the government, but also had the ability to give power to the government, and finally it stated that the ideas in this document limited government, individual rights, and popular sovereignty. James Harrington, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke wrote this document. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were both very important men, and both had a tremendous influence on†¦show more content†¦The Articles of Confederation were the Nation’s first constitution, and was called the â€Å"firm league of friendship† among the 13 states. Although there was only good in mind when they were written, the Articles of Confederation had major problems. Sin ce the nation had just left the rule of the British, the people were reluctant to have a strong government, and this is why the Articles had very limited powers. For example, the Articles did not provide for a president or a national court system. It did, however, create a Congress that allowed each state to have one vote, but these powers were limited as well. They had the power to call for war, but could not make the states obey treaties of other nations or draft for soldiers. Congress also did not have the power to regulate any sort of trade, interstate or foreign. They also did not have the power to tax individuals or states as well. Due the lack of powers written in the Article of Confederation the document was soon considered to be a failure. One of the many reasons that the Articles of Confederation was not successful was because of the problems the nation faced at that time. Just a few of the hardships the people faced included the Stamp Act of 1765, Boston Massacre 1770, Bo ston Tea Party 1773, the Intolerable Acts 1774, Lexington and Concord 1775, and finally the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776. The framers thought that the Articles could help out theShow MoreRelatedJohn Locke And Rousseau s Impact On Western Political Development1593 Words   |  7 Pages2015 Locke and Rousseau The Enlightenment saw many great thinkers, but maybe no other individuals had a greater impact on Western political development than John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Locke and Rousseau, at the core of their arguments, believed that mankind creates a social contract within society. However, Rousseau and Locke differ in their exact view of the social contract, but both agree that some individual rights must be sacrificed for the good of mankind, and that before there wasRead MoreEssay On John Locke And Thomas Hobbes1076 Words   |  5 Pagesbig impact in history. Today, everyone recognizes natural rights and the modern system of government uses social contracts every day. Thomas Hobbes was born in 1588 in England. He was an Enlightenment philosopher, a scientist, and a historian. Hobbes was most popular for his political philosophies. In 1651, he wrote Leviathan, a book about politics. It talked about why he favored an absolute monarchy. 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(35 points) Following, numerous years of tension and issues, including unfair taxation, and unlawful restrictions, Great Britain and the colonies, underwent a revolution resulting in their separation. Through their new found freedom came the Declaration of Independence, a formal proclamation affirming the colonies to be  ¨Free and Independent States. ¨ The Declaration incorporates numerous ideas about government and people, many of which are foundRead MoreRole Of Unions During The United States899 Words   |  4 Pagesto create todays labor standards. These standards include minimum wage, social security, eight-hour workday and weekends, overtime pay, the American with Disabilities Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Unions help to ensure fairness in the workplace and to give a diverse workforce an equal voice. Wages and Work Hours According to Voos, â€Å"there is now a substantial body of research evidence on the economic impact of U.S. unions† (2009). Unions are not outdated; they continue to make progressRead MoreThomas Hobbes And John Locke1346 Words   |  6 PagesSocial Contracts Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two English political philosophers, who have had a lasting impact on modern political science. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke both spent much of their lives attempting to identify the best form of government. Locke and Hobbes were among the most prominent of theorists when it came to social contract and human rights. A Social Contract is an agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, areRead MoreThomas Hobbes And The Constitutional Struggle1114 Words   |  5 PagesHe remained in voluntary exile for 11 years. During that time he became a tutor for the Prince of Whales who was also exiled. Hobbes believed that without a social contract people would come to live in a state of nature. 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The Catcher in the Rye vs. Looking For Alaska - 1807 Words

Looking For Alaska vs. The Catcher in the Rye Many parallels can be drawn between the main protagonists in John Greens Looking for Alaska, and J.D. Salingers Catcher in the Rye. Although these two coming of age novels differ greatly in setting and in circumstance, many of the broader, more fundamental themes in each are actually quite similar. John Green was very much influenced by J.D. Salinger, and even admitted that Miles Pudge Halter in Looking For Alaska, was based largely off of Holden Caulfield, the main character in Catcher in the Rye. In reading the two books, this statement becomes less and less difficult to believe as we see ignorance, rebellion against authority, death, isolation, and eventually maturity, and†¦show more content†¦In a conversation with her after she passes, he says, You cant just make me different then leave. (†¦) Because I was fine before, Alaska. I was fine with just me and last words and school friends, and you cant just make me different and then die. (Looking For Alaska, p. 172). Its interesting that Miles seems to personify Alaska throughout the rest of the book after shes dead, much like Holden does in The Catcher in the Rye. Although the reader never meets Holdens little brother, Allie Caulfield, we sure do hear a lot about him throughout the book. He died of leukemia on July 18, 1946, when he was eleven and Holden was thirteen. He describes the dark memory to the reader by saying, I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the goddam windows in the garage. I dont blame them. I really dont. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist just for the hell of it. (The Catcher in the Rye, p. 50). Its clear that Holden and Miles have in common that they cant just move on when dealing with a death, but they have to heal and take their time to work it out. Holden and Miles both individually deal with isolation in their resp ective circumstances, Miles experiences it post Alaska Youngs sudden death, and Holden goes through it merely being on his own. Some time after Alaskas funeral, Miles speaks to Takumi for the

Impact of Emerging Digital Technologies Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the challenges in Cyber Security for Business. Answer: Introduction Cyber security is a growing technology problem which need to be approached in a more technical way. It has be approached in a more dynamic way by all stakeholders because it is a global problem rather than an organizational level issue. Businesses have been faced with challenges of solving cyber security problems ranging from organizational compliance program to international standards compliance programs. In cyber security, privacy and data protection is of more concern and has to be enforced to make sure organizational data is not exposed to intruders who may end up sabotaging organizational systems (HASIB 2014, p. 112). The norm of just keeping organizational data is gone and organizations are investing heavily on security of their information since it has become a very valuable asset for any organization. Hacking has been of major concern and business have been compromised through various ways. To organizations that work online and most of its transactions are done through an onl ine system, security must be enforced to secure both organizational and customers data. Recently, credit card transactions have shot up with increases in online transaction and hackers have taken that privilege to compromise such transaction to steal from organizations and innocent customers. Customers have found themselves as a soft target since they are being billed fraudulent charges without their knowledge. Project objective The main objective of the paper is to address cyber security challenges that organizations have been facing. Important to note is that, such challenges might be considered at organizational level but they are mainly global oriented. After addressing security challenges, it will focus on how these challenges have been created and best alternatives in solving cyber security lapses. Project scope To address cyber security challenges, it will be important to focus on both international market and organizational level compliance programs which are meant to solve cyber security. Next, data protection and privacy of organization is very sensitive when addressing data breach and hacking. Lack of defined procedure and processes on how to solve cyber security issues has to be clearly outlined in order to help in creating awareness on what organizational level must implement to curb security problems. Literature Review Compliance Compliance is an act getting in line with what is required in order to be able to solve cyber security challenges that organizations and small business operators are facing in the market today (MINICK 2016, p. 57). This brings out aspect of laying down good foundation to facilitate business growth by meeting all core elements related to set compliance programs. Effective compliance structures are created by creating very high notch code of conduct to help in understanding the stipulated roles of conduct in organization and setting out required building blocks for compliance program. Important to note is that various security compliance programs are unique from each other and have various levels of attaining maturity. Security compliance maturity is mostly determined by level of risk each challenge is presenting to organizations in the market (SMITH COCKBURN 2014, p. 19). Compliance programs are mainly determined by code of ethics that are prescribed by a particular organization. Com pliance program set out to mitigate cyber security challenges might be set out in regard to organizational prescribed code of conduct, code of ethics in existence and above all rules and regulations that are set out by specific organizational management. Since compliance programs are set out in accordance with roles and responsibilities, it is good to be more aware of organizational ethical practices. When organization sets up compliance programs, it has to make sure its compliance program is more than making its employees follow rules. It has to be aimed at making organizational success a reality. Finally, according to SUBRAMANIAN (2008, p. 135), the tone in which this compliance program is passed to organizational employees and stakeholders is of values. The highest tone is very important since it defines success of the organization. According to ICGS3 et al (2015, p. 256), some of the compliance in cyber security are; IT Audit and compliance, IT policies and governance and IT risk assessment and management. A good example can be observed from Cisco and InfoSec Companies which have been working together in order to facilitate global business production by protecting organizational systems and data from either internal or external threats emanating from cyber security. Though a lot of compliance has been put on both hardware and software, the two Companies have taken very holistic approach in securing organizational data. Some of these approaches include; implementing market focused policies and processes that makes sure organizations comply with cyber security set policies and procedures (ADOMI 201, p. 10). This is done through creating policies that govern how organizations that use products from these companies such as hardware and software must follow if they have to benefit from their products. Next, these or ganizations have gone an extra mile to implement security in their infrastructure before distributing them to consumers. Further, DONALDSON et al (2015, p. 27) argues that, Cisco and InfoSec have been fostering security conscious culture with aim of reducing attacks and fostering good security in business. Finally, regarding organizational policies and procedure, these two companies have created processes and procedures to be followed when implementing security measures in their business by use of their products. This demonstrates that, compliance with requirements and specifications is very important as it helps in making sure challenges faced in cyber security are solved. Privacy and data protection Privacy of organizational data is of paramount and has to be kept as a secret asset for the subject organization (SCHU?NEMANN BAUMANN 2017, p. 5). In todays business, data has become one of most important asset since it is being used to make critical decision regarding organizational operations and next course of action in business activities. The main question that has been of concern is, why protect organizational data more than any other asset of the organization? This reason behind data privacy and protection is because of its value when accessed by competing firms. CYBERICS et al (2015, p.6) stipulates that, data offers competitive advantage in the market and if accessed by unauthorized people, it can be used to reveal organizational operational procedures which may later be used to plan competitive strategies against subject organization. This makes organizations make decisions that are more on protecting data rather than putting perimeter security against organizational data. In privacy terms, storing more sensitive information in one database may mean more harm if an attacker gains access to the system. A good example that many organizations have been facing is storing their customers credit card numbers together with their expiry date. This has been the norm but with increasing cyber security data breaches around the world, it has become a major concern because it has been realized that, when a hacker compromises the system, hefty fraudulent transactions can be done (MOORE 2017, p. 198). Further, connecting to websites using organizational computers by employees have been exposing organizational data in to risks because once they get connected to these websites, a lot of information is left. They may be used to collect very sensitive information which can be used to break into organizational data. The most issues of concern with organization is how to do away with cyber security challenges. Data security challenges can be addressed by organizations by limiting the number of people who have privileges to access areas such as server rooms and data centers (WONG 2013, p. 25). Having achieved this, it is important to put data security measures such as strong authentication and authorization measures against unauthorized users of the system. Most important of all aspect is implementing data encryption measures to secure data from its use even after attackers gain access into the system. Failing to encrypt data puts it at risk of being compromised for personal gain. Though it is a good measure, the main issue has been on technology required to implement such security measures. Hackers are more skilled and experienced since they are the same technocrats that organizations has been employing to safeguard organizational data (SOTTO 2016, p. 978). Due to wide experience of skills they p ossess, they have been learning various systems and their mode of operations then ditch organizations in order to get a good chance to compromise their of target system. Therefore, with so many lapses that exist in data privacy and protection of organizational data, it has become a great challenge to meet all requirements of securing organizational data from access by hackers from outside and access by unauthorized employees. KHURANA AGGARWAL (2013, p. 168) argues that, data security has become a topmost issue and organizations are investing heavily on security of their data more than ever. Managing third party data In todays technological market, organizations have been opting for third party services such as cloud computing services in order to reduce cost of managing data on their own (TURUK 2016, p. 89). Due to cost involved in managing data, going for a third becomes the alternative but the major issues is on integrity of data. Is the security of data guaranteed under third party? Taking an example of cloud services, organizational data is hosted remotely in the cloud without coming into conduct with hosting firm (LECLAIR 2013, p. 251). Organizational data can be accessed by employees remotely but without knowledge of where data is hosted. In such a scenario, organization employees is not aware of who has access to the data and what security lapses exist. In this case, organizational IT experts are aware on how data is managed rather than offering technical assistance to users. Though it is the responsibility of the hosting company to put in place all security parameters, it becomes a chall enge when companys hosting services spans to a large geographical area, especially worldwide. Imposing regulatory policies that span over the whole world by any technology company is very challenging because different jurisdictions have diverse rules. In this regard, security teams must be very vigilant to monitor and give priority to challenges facing cyber security. According to KHAJURIA (2017, p. 175), organizational security teams must make sure all security missions regarding organization are in line with its mission and vision of the firm. Lack of operational processes and procedures Cyber security lapses are emerging at an alarming rate and need to be considered in order to be able to come up long lasting solution. There has been increase in number of cyber security attacks ranging from small business to large organizations. In order to solve cyber security challenges, there is need to have clear defined procedures to on how security problems would be solved once they arise (MEHAN 2014, p. 316). It is very clear that, there is no prescribed procedure to use when solving cyber security problems when they occur. Due to lack of administrative right management, it has been difficult to come up with the right rules governing cyber security. RICHET (2015, p. 112) stipulates that, IT professionals should come with procedures to be followed when organizations are faced with data breach. A good example is can be deduced from Ransomeware attacker which occurred May of this year and affected many counties and large organizations. In such a scenario, there was a problem in solving this major security attacker which affected entire world. If there could be a well-defined procedure follow when organizations are faced with cyber security, it would be very easy to mitigate data security issues. The main challenge which has hindered development of cyber security procures is diverse nature of attackers and ever changing technology which need to be revised (SMITH 2014, p. 12). It would be very difficult to plan for cyber security mitigation plan where technology is growing so fast. Rapid technology growth With need for specialized cyber security trained personnel in ever growing technological businesses, data security continue to present itself in a dynamic way. Technology growth is coming up with more sophisticated needs and new skills is required to handle technological need (KAPLAN et al 2015, p. 49). Due to this demand, organizations are taking all measures to ensure they protect their data from being compromised by either unauthorized people. To cater for growing technology, they are taking their IT professionals for specialized training in order to equip them with needed skills which in turn would be used to safeguard organizational data from any kind of breach. Once these IT professionals are fully equipped with skills that is not very diverse in the market, they feel more equipped for the business. They fail to new their contractual terms with subject companies. To organization, this turns to be total tragedy since the very resourceful personnel in the organization has turned t be a very big threat after ditching out the company (RAJAGOPAL BEHL 2016, p. 50). At this point, the subject company is left dilemma of evaluating what is will happen to their most sensitive organizational assets, the data. The main challenge in this scenario is, does organization owe IT professionals ethical code of conduct once they resign? They have been equipped with very sophisticated skills owing to the factor that they will be very valuable to the organization. According to IEEE professional code of conduct, privacy of personal information is paramount and all IT professional must abide by the rule of law by keeping organizational mode of operations and sensitive data privacy (TRYFONAS 2017, p. 524). Though this is what is expected from them, once they leave the subject organization, they are ready and prepared to benefit from the acquired skills through hacking. Instead of being valuable assets in fighting cyber security, they turn to be threat in cyber security. Ethical hackers turn to be unethical hackers and start posing a lot of threats to organizations. Conclusion Cyber security has turned to be a global technological war and if not well fought it might technology into war against business. There is every need for organization to come up with compliance programs which would bring together all technical aspects that has to be fulfilled by businesses in terms of cyber security measures to be followed. Compliance is very important because cyber security risks cannot be one organizational goals. Privacy protection and data security must be done in regard to international set standards in order to make sure all aspects are met. Measures must be put in place to make sure all data is kept secure and safe. Breaches to privacy and security measures put by organization must be dealt with as a crime. Additionally, third party management must be well managed in order to make sure all privacy and security of data is at its topmost. With emerging technology on cloud computing, third party data management is of important but there are professional issues whi ch must be met regardless of where data is hosted. Consequently, there are no cyber security pre-defined procedures which can be followed when solving technological problems. This leaves cyber security to be an open problem which can be solved by approaching it in a personal way which in turn might pose risk to other businesses. Finally, technological growth which has been coupled with ethical hacking which later turn to unethical hacking menace to organizations. Bibliography ADOMI, E. E. (2010) Frameworks for ICT policy: government, social and legal issues. Hershey, Information Science Reference. CYBERICS (WORKSHOP), BE?CUE, A., CUPPENS-BOULAHIA, N., CUPPENS, F., KATSIKAS, S. K., LAMBRINOUDAKIS, C. (2016). Security of industrial control systems and cyber physical systems: first Workshop, CyberICS 2015 and First Workshop, WOS-CPS 2015 Vienna. DONALDSON, S. E., SIEGEL, S. G., WILLIAMS, C. K., ASLAM, A. (2015) Enterprise cybersecurity: how to build a successful cyberdefense program against advanced threats. HASIB, M. (2014) Cybersecurity leadership: powering the modern organization. ICGS3 (CONFERENCE), JAHANKHANI, H., CARLILE OF BERRIEW, AKHGAR, B., TAAL, A., HESSAMI, A. G., HOSSEINIAN-FAR, A. (2015) Global security, safety and sustainability: tomorrow's challenges of cyber security: 10th International Conference, ICGS3 2015, London, UK. KAPLAN, J. M., BAILEY, T., REZEK, C., O'HALLORAN, D., MARCUS, A. (2015) Beyond cybersecurity: protecting your digital business. KHAJURIA, S. (2017) Cybersecurity and privacy - bridging the gap. River Publishers. KHURANA, R., AGGARWAL, R. (2013) Interdisciplinary perspectives on business convergence, computing, and legality. LECLAIR, J. (2013). Protecting our future, volume 1: educating a cybersecurity workforce. Bookbaby. MEHAN, J. E. (2014) Cyberwar, cyberterror, cybercrime and cyberactivism: an in-depth guide to the role of standards in the cybersecurity environment. MINICK, B. (2016) Facing cyber threats head on: protecting yourself and your business. MOORE, M. (2017) Cybersecurity breaches and issues surrounding online threat protection. RAJAGOPAL, BEHL, R. (2016) Business analytics and cyber security management in organizations. Hershey, Business Science Reference. RICHET, J.-L. (2015) Cybersecurity policies and strategies for cyberwarfare prevention. SCHU?NEMANN, W. J., BAUMANN, M.-O. (2017) Privacy, data protection and cybersecurity in Europe. SMITH, P. A. C., COCKBURN, T. (2014) Impact of emerging digital technologies on leadership in global business. SMITH, R. (2014) CYBERCRIME - A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER THE CEO'S GUIDE TO CYBER SECURITY. [S.l.], LULU PRESS INC. SOTTO, L. J. (2016) Privacy and data security law deskbook. Wolters Kluwer Law Bus. SUBRAMANIAN, R. (2008) Computer security, privacy, and politics: current issues, challenges, and solutions. Hershey, IRM Press. TRYFONAS, T. (2017) Human aspects of information security, privacy and trust: 5th International Conference, HAS 2017, held as part of HCI International 2017, Vancouver, BC, Canada. TURUK, A. K. (2016) Resource Management and Efficiency in Cloud Computing Environments. Hershey, UNITED STATES, Information Science Reference. WONG, R. (2013) Data security breaches and privacy in Europe. London, Sp

Question 1 Essay Example

Question 1 Essay According to Hickling(2001), the Malaysian Government follows the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya which was established on Merdeka day, August 31, 1957 in setting up its administrative and policy making decisions. Malaysia practices parliamentary democracy and is ruled as a constitutional Monarchy with Yang di Pertuan Agong as the head of the country. Under the constitution, Malaysia as a federation is ruled as a Constitutional Monarchy with the appointment of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King or Supreme Sovereign) as the head of the country. The federal Constitution of Malaysia divides the authority of the federation into its Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary authority. As stated in My Government, executive Authority refers to the power to govern the country. The Yang Di-Pertuan Agong is the head of the Executive Authority. However, he acts on the advice of the Prime Minister who heads the Cabinet. Hence, the Prime Minister is the Chief Executive and the head of the Government. The Prime Minister, Cabinet and the government administrative machinery are given the task of carrying out executive functions. We will write a custom essay sample on Question 1 specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Question 1 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Question 1 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer According to Wu(1975), legislative authority is in the hands of the Parliament, which comprises the Senate, House of Representatives and the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong who heads the Legislative Council. The Legislative Council functions as a law maker and has the authority to raise taxes and authorise expenditure. As stated in the Federal Constitution by Chang(2006), the judiciary is given the authority to hear and determine criminal matters, interpret the legality of any legislative and executive acts and the Federal and State Constitutions. The Head of the Judiciary is the Lord President of the Federal Court, which is the highest court in Malaysia. The Malaysia society places a high value on business. One can always hear and see news about businesses and the market news everywhere on the media. The government of Malaysia endorses free market society where entrepreneurship is thoroughly encouraged alot. Another aspect of Malaysian government is that it follows Islamic rules as a main guidelines in any business.Any country that hopes to trade or do business in Malaysia must understand that Islam is not just a religion within the country, it is entrenched in all aspects of the country even those thought to be secular. A company may want to look into past research of other countries they have tackled with such a dominant religious counterpart in government or do an even more in-depth analysis in general on how to approach the governmental system of the country as a whole. Tackling the Malaysian government poses not only the regular difficulties associated with entering a country but presents an even more complicated issue in the se nse that the company must also cooperate with a long Islamic tradition as well. For example, when McDonald’s first came to Malaysia in 1982, they are restricted to sell foods that are branded as â€Å"Halal’ by Islamic law. This means that they can’t sell their famous hamburgers which were made of pork meat. Besides that they also have to follow strict food preparation methods as implemented by de current government when preparing food for example, chicken n cows must be slay and killed through the means of cutting the throat only. Question 2 According to Radcliffe(2011), trade barriers are regulations or policies that are established to both protect an economy and support an infant economy from international markets. Trade barriers are sometimes seen as a detriment to the economy because it limits trade. By doing this it forces people to buy locally which can encourage growth but may also drive up the cost of living. Trade barriers are divided into two sections. The first is called tariffs which directly tax a good entering a country. They can be charged to individual goods or on all goods. According to Business Press(2009), in Malaysia the average tariff on all goods has dropped from 8.56% to 8.4% between 2005 and 2008. The second type of trade barrier is a nontariff barrier. These can include subsidies, Loans and aids, Customs Valuation, Quotas, Standards and Labels, Administrative Delays and many others. Malaysia has used a great deal of these barriers to protect its automotive industry. Since free trade typically results in more profitable trade many of the trade association such as The World Trade Organization and the ASEAN have required a drop in automotive tariffs. According to Asian Trade(2009), they have dropped from 40% to 20% in 2005 and 5% in 2008. Malaysia’s Ministry of International trade and Industry has developed a system of approved permits (AP). These permits allow foreign automobiles to be imported and then distributed. The system of AP acts as a quota by restricting the number of vehicles allowed into Malaysia. The current cap is 10 percent of the market. Malaysia also has strict traffic regulation and noise standards that act as a non-tariff trade barrier, by not allowing foreign vehicles that do not fit the requirements into the country. Malaysia uses an industrial adjustment fund to provide for locally assembled vehicles. Components sourced from locally registered components manufacturing companies are eligible for tax reductions, raising concerns that this fund revives the local content program that had been abolished in 2004. Because of the small-scale operations of many foreign carmakers in Malaysia, they cannot source components locally, thus preventing them from benefiting from this fund.

myth of WWII essays

myth of WWII essays Michael C. C. Adams book, The Best War Ever: America and World War II, attempts to dispel the numerous misconceptions of the Second World War. As the title suggests, Americans came out of the war with a positive view of the preceding five turbulent years. This myth was born from several factors. Due to the overseas setting of both theaters of the war, intense government propaganda, Hollywoods glamorization, and widespread economic prosperity, Americans were largely sheltered form the brutal truth of World War II. Even to this day, the generation of World War II is viewed as being superior in morality and unity. The popular illusion held that there were no ethnic or gender problems, families were happy and united, and children worked hard in school and read a great number of books. (115) It was a golden era when all Americans set aside their differences and united for a common cause which everyone put above all other priorities. The United States Army was thought of as more advanced in fighting ability, weapons, and supposedly held to a higher standard of ethics on the front. Americans that did die, died in an antiseptic, clean, neat way . . . gloriously. (100) Soldiers werent blown apart into pieces, they died honorably and nobly. Many factors had to be in place for such a distorted myth to come about. The central one being that the entire war was fought on foreign land with the exception of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. With the conflicts on the other sides of the oceans, Americans would not witness the brutality, destruction, and suffering of civilians and soldiers alike. Only the United States was not both a destroyer and a victim of the destruction in the war. (73) The civilians of the United States, therefore, relied on other sources to shape their view of World War II. Ads implied that if you bought a war bond your sacrifice wa ...

Breaking Down The CompTIA Security+

Breaking Down The CompTIA Security+ Over the last decade or so, IT security has exploded as a field, both in terms of the complexity and breadth of the subject matter, and the opportunities available to security-focused IT professionals. Security has become an inherent part of everything in IT, from network management to web, application and database development. But even with the increased focus on security, there is still much work to be done in the field, and opportunities for security-minded IT professionals aren’t likely to decrease any time soon. The Importance of Certifications For those who are already in the IT security field, or are looking to enhance their career, there is a range of certifications and training options available for those who want to learn about IT security and demonstrate that knowledge to current and potential employers. However, a lot of the more advanced IT security certifications require a level of knowledge, experience, and commitment that might be outside of the range of many newer IT professionals. A good certification to demonstrate basic security knowledge is the CompTIA Security certification. Unlike other certifications, such as the CISSP  or the CISM, the Security doesn’t have any mandatory experience or prerequisites, though CompTIA does recommend that candidates have at least two years of experience with networking in general  and security in particular. CompTIA also suggests that Security candidates obtain the CompTIA Network certification, but they don’t require it. Even though the Security is more of an entry-level certification than others, it’s still a valuable certification in its own right. In fact, the Security is a mandated certification for the US Department of Defense  and is accredited by both the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Another benefit of the Security is that it’s vendor-neutral, instead choosing to focus on security topics and technologies in general, without limiting its focus to any one vendor and their approach. Topics Covered by the Security Examination The Security is basically a generalist certification – meaning that it evaluates a candidate’s knowledge across a range of knowledge domains, as opposed to focusing on any one area of IT. So, instead of maintaining a focus on application security only, say, the questions on the Security will cover a broader range of topics, aligned according to the six primary knowledge domain defined by CompTIA (the percentages next to each indicate the representation of that domain on the exam): Network Security (21%)Compliance and operational security (18%)Threats and vulnerabilities (21%)Application, Data, and Host Security (16%)Access control and identity management (13%)Cryptography (11%) The exam provides questions from all of the domains above, although it is somewhat weighted to give more emphasis on some areas. For example, you can expect more questions on network security as opposed to cryptography, for example. That said, you shouldn’t necessarily focus your studying on any one area, especially if it leads you to exclude any of the others. A good, broad knowledge of all the domains listed above remains the best way to be prepared for the test. The Exam There is only one exam required to earn the Security certification. That exam (exam SY0-301) is comprised of 100 questions and is provided over a 90-minute period. The grading scale is from 100 to 900, with a passing score of 750, or roughly 83% (although that’s just an estimate  because the scale changes somewhat over time). Next Steps In addition to the Security, CompTIA offers a more advanced certification, the CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP), providing a progressive certification path for those who want to continue their security career and studies. Like the Security, the CASP covers security knowledge across a number of knowledge domains, but the depth and complexity of the questions asked on the CASP exam exceed those of the Security.​ CompTIA also offers numerous certifications in other areas of IT as well, including networking, project management and systems administration. And, if security is your chosen field, you might consider other certifications such as the CISSP, CEH, or a vendor-based certification such as the Cisco CCNA Security  or Check Point Certified Security Administrator (CCSA), to extend and deepen your knowledge of security.

Facundo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Facundo - Essay Example The book discusses different themes and also outlines, in length, different important concepts based upon which the future of the Argentinean politics is to be defined. What is critical is the extensive coverage of the concept of nation in the book and how interlinked the ethnicity, culture and nation with each other. Facundo also discusses at length as to who shall be taken into consideration while building the nation and who are to be left out while deciding upon how the culture and politics of a nation to be explored and understood. It is also critical to note as to how the concepts of civilization as well as barbarianism has been actually pitted against each other in defining the overall concept of nation. (Ludmer, 2002) This paper will choose topic 1 of the assignment and will discuss and explore the concept of nation as discussed in Facundo besides discussing as to who he considers as unwanted and need to be left. This paper will also discuss and explore some of the contradictions in his arguments. One of the key parts of the overall arguments in Facundo is how the author has actually been able to relate the culture and geography. By presenting a historical analysis of the geography of Argentina as well as its culture, Sarmiento actually has been able to demonstrate as to how the interaction of geography and culture is important for defining what a nation is and what should be its future orientation. By presenting a historical analysis of the geography and the people, Facundo has been able to demonstrate as to who are the people who have been the cause of the problem for the nation in past. It is critical to note that Sarmiento updated Facundo in its different versions and editions hence actually outlining as to what is his vision for the nation. As such the overall contents of the book depended upon the circumstances prevailing at that time and Sarmiento seem to have driven lot of power and ideological ground

Training and assement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Training and assement - Essay Example Steps to take 1. Establish the scenario: gather background information needed, identify the target group, and determine training needs. 2. Research and identify two units of competency from a nationally-recognised qualification that address the training needs. Determine program outcomes based on these units. 3. Collaborate with others as needed to design, develop and review the learning program. 4. Evaluate and select available learning resources for content relevance and quality. 5. Document the learning program plan. Evidence to submit Please submit the following as proof that you have completed this project: RESULTS Assessor to complete shaded areas: S NYS 1. Cover page This training program was carried out to use training packages and accredited courses to meet client needs. The client organization was made up of workers of bakery shops at a cluster area in the city. Though the clients were not from one company, they were at a cluster place and so accessibility to them was not a problem. The job positions for these clients were mostly newly recruited bakers and their managers. There were however some of them who were mere apprentices at the job. The duties of the apprentices were to ensure the day to day upkeep of the companies, whiles learning to become qualified bakers. The newly recruited bakers were regular salaried workers whereas the managers supervised all activities at the various companies. Quite a lot of the clients possessed some of the required skills and knowledge. For instance there were a lot of them who could read and write, perform basic numeracy operations, have good interpersonal relations and could interpret the content of the whole course. An outstanding characteristic of the clients that may affect the learning program is the availability of time and the schedule of learning period. This is because their work is demanding and so they hardly make time for private learning. The overall aim of the training was to equip learners with manag erial skills. The decision to select this training issue was because most of the clients, after working for companies for some number of years left the companies to start their own business. Such clients need managerial skills to mange their own companies. Clients were assessed through written test, observation, answering of questionnaires and peer report. 1. Cover Paged Completed and Attached    2. Learning program plan Submit a typed workplace document (about 2 – 3 pages) that outlines the final (approved) version of the learning program. The 2 units of competence used were TAEDES402A and TAEDES401A. These learning programs were needed to equip me with the skills and knowledge to handle clients with diverse learning needs. My most immediate target learning group was a group of bakers who were to receive training in office management. Most of these clients had good knowledge of the skills and knowledge prescribed in the course content. Example interpersonal relations, goo d communication skills, ability to read and write and ability to work numeracy problems. The dimensions of the course undertaken were introduction to office management, basic management skills, human management, assert management and company growth. For

Juvenile fire setting Essay Example for Free

Juvenile fire setting Essay Findings indicate that of all victims of fires set by a child; about thirty four percent of the victims are children themselves. The leading cause of death in residential fires in the United States has been found to be playing with fire. Children are often engaged in games that involve playing with fire. These games are normally played in the bedroom where many things can easily catch fire. Older children on the other hand play with fire outside the home. The majority of these children are often under the false impression that they have the capacity to control the fires that they have set. A large percentage of children who set fire have no possession of fire safety education and are also not supervised by their parents. Statistics indicate that more than fifty percent of individuals arrested for arson in the United States are juveniles. About eighty thousand structure fires are caused by children who play with fire. From this, seven hundred and sixty deaths and more than three thousand five hundred injuries result. The annual estimates of damages from juvenile fire setting stand at 1. 2 billion dollars. It takes less than two minutes for an entire room to be set on fire by a flame from a single match. In only under five minutes, the entire house can be engulfed in flames. Over three hundred deaths and two thousand injuries result from juvenile arson and fires set by youth annually. Again, property damage resulting from these fires amount to over three hundred million dollars. Forty percent of deaths related to residential fire are caused by children playing with fire. Characteristic of fire setters Juvenile fire setters can be categorized into three groups according to age. The first category is made up of children aged less than seven years. The majority of fires caused by this category of children are mainly as a result of accident or curiosity. Some studies indicate that the childrens interest in fire begins before the age of three (Kolko Kadzin, 1999). Naturally, children are curious about fire even though there are various factors that determine whether a child actually sets fire or not. Such factors include the availability of fire supply and their exposure to fire. The majority of children under this category who set fire are not aware of the potential consequences. The second category is comprised of children between the age eight to twelve. Fire set by children within this category may also emanate from curiosity. However, it may also be the result of an underlying psychosocial conflict (Slavkin, 2000). Children under this category may be completely aware of the consequences of their actions and set fire as a strategy for attracting attention. They are likely to continue setting fire until their concerns become addressed or until their needs are met. The third category consists of adolescents aged between thirteen years and eighteen years. A major feature of these young people under this category is that they seem to possess a long history of playing with fire and fire starting behavior that had not been detected. Their fire setting actions may either be motivated by psychosocial conflict and turmoil or an intended criminal behavior. The history of such young people is characterized by behavior problems and school failure. They are highly vulnerable to peer influence. Another classification of juvenile fire setters lives out those that start fire out of curiosity. As such, it classifies intentional fire setters. The first group within this category is made up of those children who set fire as a way of seeking attention. The second category is made up of children who are motivated through delinquent activity. The final category is composed of juveniles who have severe emotional disturbances. Regardless of the mode of classification, what is apparent is that the older the child, the more hey experiment with more sophisticated materials. As children advance in age, their fire setting tend to be externally directed toward locations such as barns, garbage dumpsters, grasslands, schools and automobiles (Little, 1998). There exist various varieties of psychosocial, behavioral, conduct and aggression problems exuded by juvenile fire setters. Among these are a tendency of playing with matches or lighters, cruelty to animals, item burning and extreme enthusiasm and curiosity about fire (Foerger, 1999). The potential for setting fire becomes high when these factors are combined with the circumstance, the ease at which matches and lighters can be obtained and a general misunderstanding about the consequences of fire. Juvenile fire setters may possess a number of characteristics. These children tend to be curious about fire and do not understand the dangers associated with fire. In some cases, these children may be experiencing some changes in the family life such as death, divorce or separation. They may also have a history of behavioral problems and poor peer relationship. Parental involvement Families are often reluctant in responding to what they normally take to be a one time occurrence. Families in most cases tend to ignore the seriousness of the behavior. Every child who has engaged in fire play or fire setting tendencies requires intervention. Children need to be educated on the dangers of playing with fire by their parents so that they may stop the behavior. The most important thing that parents need to do is to take notice of their children. Parents also need to talk to their children about the dangers of fire. They also must set a good example as the majority of children learn about the use of fire from their parents. If the parents are reckless with fire, the child is likely to handle fire carelessly. Access to matches and lighters should also be restricted. The only way to ensure that children do not access them is by keeping them safely. Problems are likely to occur when children begin to handle fire in ways that are dangerous. Parents should therefore seek appropriate help before any serious problem occur. Professional guidance is more appropriate as threats and punishments are in most cases ineffective. Without any form of intervention, fire setting cannot stop. The past decade has witnessed the establishment of various programs in numerous jurisdictions across the United States to address concerns about juvenile fire setting. These programs primarily fall under the fire service. Their aim is to prevent the recurrence of fire setting by identifying, evaluating and treating the juvenile fire setter. Early programs were mainly designed by local mental health professionals and personnel in the fire service. Based on models developed by the United States Fire Administration, various programs have been established. Apart from the fire department, juvenile fire setter programs obtain referrals from the police departments, mental health agencies, social service agencies, schools and parents. A working relationship exists between the programs and a number of these major community agencies. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the United States Fire Administration, in seeing the need for increased knowledge on how the problem of juvenile fire setting can be minimized, funded an initiative known as the National Juvenile Fire setter/Arson Control and Prevention (NJF/ACP) Program which ran from 1987 through 1993. Possible solutions The most appropriate solutions to children with fire setting behavior are those focused on brief therapy (Little, 1998). The solution focused on brief therapy was developed as a family counseling theory. The therapy is made up of sessions with the first session being the most important. It employs â€Å"solution talk† to change cognitions from negative focus on weakness and problems to the positive attitudes of expressing optimism and strength. This may in particular satisfy the powerful need of juvenile fire setters for security and love. The problem can also be solved through fire safety education, collaboration with the community agencies and empathy training. These methods can especially be used by school counselors to bring about positive changes for juveniles with fire setting behaviors and the general society. Current trends It has been noted that during the winter months, there is always an increased rate of child fire injuries and deaths. The distribution of injuries and deaths are even throughout the week. Deaths and injuries also seem to take place between 8 P. M and 8 A. M. (Kolko, 2002). The majority of child fares are residential with more than ninety percent of such fires resulting in injuries and death. Fires often originate from the bedroom. Arson still continues to be a major United States problem.

Learning to Cook: Awakening Queer Tastes :: Sexuality Homosexuality Essays

Learning to Cook: Awakening Queer Tastes The initial stages of vegetarian desire are characterized by what may be termed 'epicuriosity' on the part of the food consumer -- an inclination towards food pleasures beyond the meat-centred menus favoured by North Americans -- but often, the transition to a vegan or vegetarian diet is made difficult by the centrality of omnivorism within popular culture. From frozen TV dinners to foie gras, meat's accessibility as a convenient pre-packaged commodity means that animal products are the accepted norm. And, since popular adherence to the principles of omnivorist consumption culture dictates that the rejection of meat-eating be viewed as a cultural transgression, the choice to adopt a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle is often met with hostility (not surprising given that aggression and defensiveness seem to be standard responses to the suggestion of difference within western social orders). However, this hostility is especially evident towards young vegetarians for whom the choice to adop t an alternate diet is interpreted as an affront to the 'compulsory carnivorism' that is the social and parental expectation of the adolescent. Therefore, the challenge facing the bold vegetarian is one of articulating her appetites to a meat-oriented populace. Queer Subjectivities in formation A similar obstacle faces the adolescent subjects in Leontine Sagan's Machden in Uniform and Sadie Benning's Me and Rubyfruit, who are forced to express their sexual identities and desires from positions defined as marginal in relation to the normative paradigm of heterosexuality. What these characters are faced with is the supremacy of one model of sexuality that pathologizes all other forms of sexual preference as deviance. The importance of these films is that not only do they represent characters whose expressed desires destabilize dominant expectations of adolescent sexuality but that further, by performing such challenges they offer the potential to contest the very system of socialized heterocentrism which impedes the acceptance of queer sexualities. In Machden in Uniform we are offered a peek into the bourgeoning of such illicit desires amongst a group of girls sharing a dormitory at a German boarding school. The girls are represented as exploring a number of erotic fantasies -- some revolving around male film stars but others centred around their teacher, Fraulein von Bernburg. Within the closed environment of the school, the expression of any type of desire is considered a sinful indulgence but it is the expression of homosexual affection that is the least tolerated transgression.

Disagreements Between Experts in Natural Sciences

What are disagreements? Often an image of an argument between friends or spouses is associated with this word. However, this is very stereotypical because the word can have many interpretations. Disagreements occur in forms other than between individuals. For example, the argument between religion and atheism is a disagreement between two schools of thoughts, and the conflict between the scientist and the public on global warming is a disagreement between two communities of people. These disagreements sometimes narrow our perspective on the issue at hand.It prevents us to see the world with an open-mind to try and work through the conflict. Although this is true, can disagreements aid the pursuit of knowledge? To what extend does disagreements in natural and human sciences aid the pursuit of knowledge? In what ways are the pursuits of knowledge different in human and natural sciences? Human sciences study and interpret experiences, activities, constructs, and artifacts associated wit h humans. While natural science gives us insight into the world with the lack of the â€Å"human factor†.Although the human science is generally known to be less â€Å"scientific†, due to the fact that not all variables can be controlled, it is by no means the lesser of the two areas of knowledge. But because of this added â€Å"human factor†, the results from human science experiments normally have a larger deviation from the mean. This means more trials and larger sample sizes are required to overcome this disadvantage. Is there a difference between the disagreements in human and natural sciences? Some theories in human sciences are asserted without a way to disprove it.An example of a theory that is not able to be falsified is Freud’s theory on the ego-superego-id structure of human behavior. Any story could be made up about a patient to explain their psychological problems through the basis of ego, superego, and id, but it does not prove the cause of the disorder. Human science theories in general posit some facts about the internal behavior of an individual based on their outward behavior, and then predict future actions on the basis of the internal facts. We have now disproved Freudian psychology, because it is highly unlikely.But have we really disproved it? The fact that ego, superego, and id do not relate to anything definite prevents scientists to study each individually, thus there is no way to prove or disprove the theory. These unfalsifiable theories lead to a list of theories that could be true, but could not be proven true or false. This prevents the elimination of wrong theories; instead we mark them as â€Å"unlikely†. How do we know which theory to accept as the truth? Thus, a disagreement between two theories in the human sciences can never be resolved with hard evidence.It is rather resolved by weighing the likeliness of the prospect, a very unscientific way to gain support. This is the reason it is harder to reach the truth through the process used by the human sciences. However, this does not mean knowledge cannot be gained from disagreements in human sciences. In fact, it is easy to gain knowledge of trends in observed data, but it is extremely hard to reach the right conclusion based off the data. Theories in natural sciences are known for their falsifiability.They are created to encompass the evidences already present, instead of inferring evidences based on the theories as mentioned in some cases in the human sciences. When there is a disagreement between two theories in the natural science, although there is not always a definite â€Å"winner†, there are always definite â€Å"losers†. If the theory can give an explanation for all of the evidence then it wins a temporary victory. I say temporary because new evidences can emerge that the old theory does not encompass. This is the way to falsify a theory.For example, Newton’s law of gravitation was supplanted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity when it failed explain the motion of extremely small and extremely large objects. It is when none of the theories provide an explanation for the evidences that we can continue the pursuit of knowledge. Science makes progress precisely because there are disagreements. Without these internal conflicts, science does not renew its basis, and is cold and dead. Just because during the disagreement a theory came out as the â€Å"loser†, does not mean the theory is discarded forever.A â€Å"loser† can undergo small modifications to provide an improved fit to the evidence. Theories might be defeated now but later come out as the new winner. As a scientifically minded individual, I understand that I should not always trust the current paradigms in science. I learned that just a century ago we did not believe that we could land on the moon. Looking back at it now, this belief was absurd. We landed on the moon only sixty-six years after the Wright Brothers. This is the reason as a student I enjoy intentionally creating disagreements when it comes to scientific concepts.These healthy competitions between scientific ideas are what weeds out the weak hypotheses from the strong ones. In the long run, this ability to falsify is what leads humans to discover knowledge and uncover the truth. So in the case of natural science, disagreement leads to a truth to the best of the knowledge at the time. Disagreements in science do not only occur in the form of conflicts between theories. Scientists often produce controversial discoveries that the general public do not want to accept. Why is it in our human nature to resist change?Most of the time change leads to knowledge, but it is almost like we are trying to protect ourselves from the facts. For example, there are many people out there that deny global warming. This is due to the fact that the media puts the spotlight on the controversial scientists that are mostly con fined to non-participants in global climate science. Since their theories are often not published in the scientific journals, they resort to the media to gain support for their ideas. Their poorly evidential theories gain support from the public because most of them trust these â€Å"experts†.I know I stated before that we should never regard anything as impossible, but this is absurd because the theories are asserted without evidence. People are against putting funds to resolve this â€Å"fake† problem, thus prohibits the pursuit of knowledge. Can we ever assert anything without evidence in science? According to the scientific method, an inductive method, any statements must start with observations and evidences in nature. Based on the scientific method, nothing can be asserted without evidence. But the scientific method is only exclusively used in a perfect world, or when you are in elementary school through high school.In the real world of science many researchers d o not follow the scientific method to a tee. They are able to assert a falsifiable statement instead of a hypothesis before their research, and during their research will try to disprove their statement. Although I believe this opens the results to a lot of conformational bias, it is widely used in the scientific community. Disagreements in science do not only occur in the professional field. Many students seek the pursuit of knowledge through classroom discussions. In biology class this year, we were talking about telomeres. I asked Mr.Creighton â€Å"If we age because our cells chop off the ends of our DNA after each replication, how can we produce sperm and eggs which create a baby with young DNA? † This question led to a whole class discussion on the theories of aging. Although there were many disagreements, at the end of the class period, I found myself to have a better understand of the process of aging and cellular division. If the whole class decided that the cutting of telomere was the only theory to the process of aging, then there would not have been arguments, and I would not have gained any new knowledge.Disagreements come in many forms. From verbal arguments to all-out war, disagreements permeate our society. Most of the time they are known to reverse the pursuit of knowledge because it closes the participant’s mind to further ideas, but disagreements in science are different. Scientists understand that their ideas improve with the criticism of their peers, and that is the only way science can advance. However, this does not mean that all disagreements in science promote the pursuits of knowledge, because there are certainly different forms of disagreements in science.Disagreements in humans sciences tend to create a deadlock because none of the ideas can be disproved. The deadlock can be only solved through â€Å"popularity† contests. This can be easily demonstrated in politics. Politicians claim that their policies are the best for the United States. Since there are no ways to disprove them, they are selected mostly depending how they are viewed by the public. Disagreements can occur between two scientists and their theories or ideas, this is constructive because it allows mutual aid to improve their hypotheses. But some disagreements in science can be unconstructive.This is especially true when the public is misinformed and actively prevent the pursuit of knowledge. The public has a need to know the truth. I believe people have to be able to think for themselves and be able to identify pseudo-science from real science. They have to able to identify demagogues from people who are trying to create a better future. Does science have an absolute truth? I do not think so. Science is not a religion, but an instrument for people who want to discover the world through an organized fashion. I appreciate its willingness to entertain disagreements to pursue knowledge.

Growing Up †Lord of the Flies Essay

Growing up is a time of great change. Challenges and difficulties arise for individuals which changes them. This statement has been explored on many levels and can be related to many forms of writing and film. In the novel â€Å"Lord of the Flies† by William Golding, the characters are exposed to intense hardship and difficulties. The pressure of being stranded on a deserted island with no means of getting off conflicts with the boys’ knowledge of moral conduct and leadership. Ralph who is a prime example of the vulnerability of children to lurking dangers displays a good sense of leadership and civilized intelligence. He puts his knowledge and skills into practice in all the scenarios he faces. Jack, another character in â€Å"Lord of the Flies† depicts the story of a greedy boy lusting for more and more power. His inhumane behaviour lands everyone in a place where a wrong move can mean the difference between life and death. The film â€Å"Whale Rider† directed by Niki Caro tells the anecdote about a girl named Paikea, after a great legend known to the Maori people. This movie relays the complications of a young girl who tries to be accepted by her grandfather, Koro. Koro, a former leader of the people searches to find the new leader to carryout the duties and traditions he passes on. This person has to be of a strong, dominant, first-born male genre. Ralph is an important individual to the story. He plays the role of a smart, well-adjusted, strategic, natural leader. Through the expedition he faces a journey of self-discovery. Ralph’s relationship with the other boys started off well as he was voted chief. â€Å"Lets have a vote†. Ralph later experienced greater difficulties as the group began to break away because they had other priorities. â€Å"I was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!† Soon the group was down to two: Piggy (a great thinker) and Ralph, however the group became even smaller following the killing of Piggy. This act shows how the absence of law and ethics alters the ways in which a person at a critical age of adolescence behaves and thinks. The fact that there is no adult supervision gives the boys’ the message of no limits in what they do. As the saying goes â€Å"if you cant beat them, join them† this is what happened with the group. Finding that survival in Ralph’s group was much more tougher than that of Jack’s group they decided to join him, leaving Ralph to fend on his own. Jack is a character of high power and control. This helps to understand knowing that he was in charge of the choir/ hunters. â€Å"I ought to be chief,† said Jack with simple arrogance, â€Å"because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.† As an adolescent Jack has already developed an excessive sense of authority. His position in this story can be related to government and politics. He demonstrates the wanting for being on top and draws in people to taking his side and turning them against his competitors. This is a sign of both maturity and childs play. The way in which he uses his power is against the principles of society. The stress of being on a deserted island â€Å"messes† with Jack’s line of thoughts and therefore affects his decision-making. Paikea is a strong-willed, spiritual, self-conscious girl. She illustrates how her determination and belief helped in resolving her crisis. At birth Paikea’s mother and twin brother passed away. She grew up with her grandparents whilst her father travelled the world. As her grandfather searched for the next leader of the Maori people, Paikea secretly learns the teaching of her grandfather to the boys in which he trains to become the next chief. As females were not allowed to participate in such rituals she finds herself in a situation where she feels her grandfather doesn’t want her, â€Å"Why doesn’t he want me?† By sticking by her grandfather after all he put her through, Paikea shows how her love towards Koro remained strong throughout. As an adolescent she becomes aware of her legacy and her role in the tribe. Koro is a man of great strength, power, ability and faith, â€Å"when you extend your tongue you are saying to your enemy I am going to eat you.† In the film Koro goes in search for a new leader of the Maori people however does not realise that the answer to his problems is right in front of his face. He suggests that Paikea is an omen â€Å"When she was born that’s when things started going wrong for us.† After a series of events involving a pod of whales being beached, Koro comes to realise that Paikea was the next whale rider and he accepts her for who she is. As a leader, Koro did not realise the support that Paikea needed during her time of adolescence, as he wasn’t just a leader to her but also her grandfather. Through close observation of the characters and how they were portrayed in each story it is easy to assume that adolescence is a time of great change, not just physically but also mentally and socially. As seen with Ralph and Jack, there are many differentials as well as similarities between each other because everybody has their own techniques in handling situations and the way they react to such complications like being stranded on a deserted island. In â€Å"Lord of the Flies†, William Golding presents his characters as flies, the lord symbolises the leader and as adolescents the children have a position in their life whether they want to lead or follow. Ralph shows a determination for maintaining civilization on the island he exhibits a good sense of maturity, unlike Jack who displays himself as someone who just wants to be head of the pack for the sake of being the superior one. In â€Å"Whale Rider†, Paikea reveals a spiritual side of her; she is seen as mystical and unpredictable. During her time as an adolescent she faces a world of exploration, knowledge and realisation.

Prophet Essays - Christian Eschatology, Purgatory, Prophecy

Prophet Essays - Christian Eschatology, Purgatory, Prophecy Prophet The Prophet Period 4 Patrick Coleman In the prophet it does not tell you how to live, but it tells you how life works. I do not agree with everything that is said, but as a whole I like the message the book sends. I have taken my five favorite chapters, and broken them down for this report. Eating and Drinking- I think he is saying that we do not have to become vegetarians, but we must never take more than we need. I think this applies well to average killing of meat, but when he says we should be sorrowful and apologize to an apple that we bite is where I do not agree. Giving- This is one of the few chapters I totally agreed with. My favorite quote came from this chapter, You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. And then they speak of how the average man does not know how the poor person feels until they have been poor themselves. Crime and Punishment- He takes an interesting stance on punishment by suggesting a sort of purgatory. He says that, And for that wrong committed must you knock and wait a while unheeded at the gate of the blessed. He also says the form of a punishment is living with the crime you did. That you will feel sorrow for what you have done. Death- He says that death is the same as life. They are one, like the river and sea are one. This is the last chapter, because I think it is the hardest for us to understand. And I do not think that we can ever understand death, as we are living. Though, we should not be afraid of it.

How to File Loud TV Commercial Complaints

How to File Loud TV Commercial Complaints If you, like many if not most people, had visions of the government really cracking down on TV stations and cable companies that broadcast annoyingly loud commercials after enactment of the CALM Act, you had a wrong vision. The fact is that the FCC has placed most of the burden for enforcement of the law squarely on TV viewers. The much-desired TV commercial volume control law - the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act - is now in effect, but you can bet your eardrums there will be violations. Heres when and how to report CALM Act violations. Taking full effect on December 13, 2012, the CALM Act requires TV stations, cable operators, satellite TV operators, and other pay-TV providers to limit a commercials average volume to that of the programming that it accompanies. It May Not be a Violation The CALM Act is enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the FCC does provide a simple way to report violations. However, the FCC also advises that not all loud commercials are violations. According to the FCC), while the overall or average volume of the commercial should be no louder than the regular programming, it may still have louder and quieter moments. As a result, says the FCC, some commercials may sound too loud to some viewers, but still comply with the law. Basically, if all or most of the commercial sounds louder to you that the regular program, report it. Broadcasters who fail to comply with the CALM Act regulations face significant financial penalties imposed by the FCC. How to Report a CALM Act Violation The easiest way to file a loud commercial complaint is by using the FCCs online complaint form at www.fcc.gov/complaints. To use the form, click on the Complaint Type button Broadcast (TV and Radio), Cable, and Satellite Issues, and then click on the Category button Loud Commercials. This will take you to the Form 2000G - Loud Commercial Complaint form. Fill out the form and click on Complete the form to submit your complaint to the FCC. The Loud Commercial Complaint form asks for information, including the date and time you saw the commercial, the name of the program you were watching and which TV station or pay-TV provider transmitted the commercial. Its a lot of information, but it is necessary to help the FCC correctly identify the offending commercial from among the tens-of-thousands of commercials aired every day. Complaints can also be filed by fax to 1-866-418-0232 or by filling out a 2000G - Loud Commercial Complaint form (.pdf) and mailing it to: The Federal Communications CommissionConsumer and Governmental Affairs BureauConsumer Inquiries and Complaints Division445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554 If you need assistance in filing your complaint, you may contact the FCCs Consumer Call Center by calling 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) (voice) or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) (TTY).

Retail Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Retail Law - Essay Example The UK law is applicable when selling or leasing goods or services, that are used by individual consumers, family or the household uses. Retailers are prohibited from applying dishonesty, misrepresentations or falsified operations and practices. This act ensures that goods and services sold to the customer are in good condition. On the other hand this act ensures that the retailers make sure that they receive goods from manufacturers or wholesales in good condition for them to sale to the end user. The laws in UK calls for the retail business person to affix a sign to the products sold or put a sign in a place which it can be easily be read by the buyer before he/she can purchase the product. The sign placed should be able to give details of return policy of the seller. If the seller fails to place a sign then, the consumer should be given 20 days in which he/she can return the purchase item and be fully refunded or credited back on his/her credit card. In case a buyer had paid using a cheque, then a seller may delay refunding the money for 10 days to allow the cheque to clear. This law do not apply to products which are outdated. Post season or reduced for sale clearance. It also does not cover special order purchases or buying that involves selling or leasing motor vehicles. This acts the consumer by giving him/her a chance to return items that malfunction back to retailers hence, not losing out. As, for the retailer it ensures that he/she also returns back the same goods to the manufacturer or wholesaler, he/she also do not lose out. (Department of Trade Industry, 2005) Bait and switch advertising This law is not used when the retailer clearly indicates that there are a few items that are available, in such a case then the advert must indicate the number of items offered for sale. The act protects the customer from buying an item based on an advert which is false. Thus ensures that goods advertised are same as sold. To the retailer this is good because he will only advertise what he exactly has. Recording credit card numbers on checks In this law the retailer can request the buyer or the customer to show his/her credit card and then the retailer can record the card insurer and the expiring date. In case a buyer refuses to show his/her card, the retailer then can reject to accept the check. This law does not apply when a retailer has accepted to cash checks as an after sale service for issuer's cardholders in case the issuer of the credit card has accepted to assure payment for its cardholder's checks, or if the buyer having the card do accepts his/her credit card numbers to be recorded on the check. This is a very important act that protects the consumer from fraudulent retailers who can use the consumer credit card number to obtain money with fraudulent. However, for the retailer it will also save him/her from customers who may want to get goods or service with fraudulent means for example, using expired credit card. Sale of goods by description This act defines the rights of the consumer to presume goods to "conform to contract" and the consumer can look for redress if the goods bought are found not to conform to the

This is speech class Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

This is speech class - Assignment Example For example the organization, punctuation and rhythm of the speech, there is merit to be found. The phrasing, pauses and iterations were so conceived as fitting to an oral presentation. In this regard the speech worked well with the large audience at the Capitol Hill. One can witness members of the audience hooting, nodding or clapping in approval during pauses in the speech. The repetitive usage of the phrase â€Å"We, the People...† added a sense of gravity to the delivery, as these were the same words with which the Preamble to the constitution begins. It thus invoked a sense of history and continuity from the time of the Declaration of Independence. When one searches the speech for significant policy measures that would benefit the majority of the population there were hardly any. Platitude after platitude forms a tired old pattern. Allusions to ‘unity’, ‘racial equality’, ‘destiny’, ‘security’, ‘bipartisanship’, etc flow fluidly from the President’s tongue. There was nothing concrete to suggest if any of these sentiments will translate into constructive policy measure for the people. Seen in this view the speech can be termed as uninspiring. Although the tenor of President’s voice was serious and its effect on the audience somewhat dramatic, there is little of substance to the entire 20 minute long address to the nation. President Obama covers foreign and domestic affairs without going into specifics. For instance he says that every child in America should have equal opportunity of success. But, whether this means greater infusion of funds for the public education system and an overall reduction in tuition fee is anybody’s guess. Likewise, Obama talked about creating a conducive environment for businesses. Taken as such it is a benign idea; but if he was implying huge bailouts for corporations out of tax-payer money then it is a bad deal for citizens. The President’s equivocations

Decision Modelling and Decision Analysis--JOB SELECTION Essay

Decision Modelling and Decision Analysis--JOB SELECTION - Essay Example A research on the job location revealed the most expensive and least expensive cities. Probability scores in the range of 1-10 were used to rank the various alternatives on criteria. Final scores of the product of weights and probability scores helped to reach the conclusion that American Systems Developers provides the best opportunity to Claire. Table of Contents S.No. Topic Page No. 1 Introduction 3 2 Problem statement 3 3 Goal statement 3 4 Background 3 5 Main criteria for job selection 4 6 Various alternatives available 5 7 Linking interests and alternatives 6 8 Methodology 7 9 Assumptions 8 10 Results 9 11 Conclusion 10 Introduction Claire Dale has job offers from five different companies. Each company has different salary structure to offer and a different job profile. Some are offering a job requiring a lot of travel while others are offering single location jobs. Claire also needs to look at the location where she will be working from so that she is able to balance her profe ssional and personal life. She has a number of criteria which she has to look at before deciding which job has the potential to offer her maximum job satisfaction as well as compensate her financially and allow her to pursue her personal interests. Problem statement The candidate has been presented with five job offers. She is unable to decide which is best for her. Goal statement Selecting the right job offer which helps to satisfy the financial, professional and personal expectations of Claire. Background In real life situations, it sometimes become very difficult to decide which options to choose from when there are many criteria for deciding upon an option. MCDA techniques help us in deciding the best possible option in a scientific and methodological way. MCDA has a number of techniques to help in zeroing on an alternative and they all follow â€Å"similar steps of organization and decision matrix construction† (Linkov et al. 2006). However, each differs in the way it an alyses the data. Some of the commonly used approaches are MAUT (Multi-Attribute Utility Theory), MAVT (Multi-Attribute Value Theory, AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) and Outranking. The first three approaches are grouped under optimization approaches. For example, MAUT tries to provide a numerical criterion to evaluate the various alternatives. It gives scores to the various criteria to show the merits of each. The final scores can be seen by summing up the individual scores. Similarly, AHP tries to judge alternatives based on their scores and chooses the one with the highest score. It compares pairs. Outranking is a technique assumes that one alternative has more dominance over the other (Linkov et al. 2006). This technique does not assume that one alternative can be identified. It compares two or more alternatives at a time and tries to find out the â€Å"extent to which one can be preferred over the other† (Linkov et al. 2006). This method looks at favoring an alternativ e that performs best on maximum number of criteria. Thus, the weaknesses that one criterion has are compensated by the advantages that are there in the other criteria. Main criteria for selecting the job After a discussion with Claire and the project team, following criteria were identified which would impact her, the most (in order of importance, first one being the most important) once she decides on a particular offer: 1. Financial –

Psychoanalytical Approach Essay Example for Free

Psychoanalytical Approach Essay ?1. Psychoanalytical Criticism ?2. Psychoanalytical criticism is a type ofcriticism that uses theories of psychology to analyze literature. It focuses on theauthor’s state of mind or the state of the mind of fictional characters. ?3. Sigmund FreudPsychoanalytical criticism originated in the workof Sigmund Freud. Freud’s theories areconcerned with the nature of the unconsciousmind. According to Freud, the human mindconsists of three parts: the id, the ego andsuperego. ? The id is source of our instinctual and physical desires. ? The superego is the part of the psyche that has internalized the norms and mores of society. ? The ego is keeps mediating between the demands of the id and the superego. It is rational, logical, and conscious. ?4. Repression? We often repress what the id encourages us to think and do because the ego and superego tell us not to think and do, therefore forcing these unacceptable wishes into the unconscious. All of us have repressed wishes and fears.? Repressed desires emerge in disguised forms: dreams and language (slips). They emerge in symbolic form that require  analysis to reveal their meaning.? Many elements of psychology that Freud described appear in literary works. ?5. Freudian Literary Criticism? Freudian critics try to understand how the operations of repression structure or inform the work They pay close attention to unconscious motives and feelings, whether these be those of the author, or of the characters depicted in the work.? They demonstrate the presence in the literary work of classic psychoanalytic symptoms or conditions. ?6. Carl Gustav Jung and Jungian literary Criticism? Jung developed the theory of the collective unconscious, a collection of shared unconscious memories dating back to the origins of human experience and manifested in dreams, myths, and literature.? A great work of literature is not a disguised expression of repressed wishes, but a manifestation of the desires one held by the whole human race, and now repressed because of the advent of civilization.? Jungian analysis of literature tries to discover the images in a work of literature that a permanent and universal significance. ?7. Harold Bloom and the anxiety of InfluenceThe most important contemporary psychological criticis Harold Bloom. Bloom uses the Freudian concept ofrepression to apply it to literary history in general. Nopoet creates in isolation from his predecessors. In TheAnxiety of Influence, he argues that poetsunconsciously misread the poems of their greatpredecessors. The new poems are essentiallyrewritings of poems by a father-figure predecessor. Poets keep struggling to free themselves from thisinfluence of father-figure poets.

The Godfather Essay -- essays research papers

The Godfather is the story of a Mafia family. It follows the rise of Michael Corleone within the family. Michael was once a war hero and did not want to be involved in the family business. When his father is shot though, Michael takes revenge on the people who did it and becomes a part of the Mafia lifestyle. When his older brother is murdered, Michael ascends to become the boss of the family, and proves to be more ruthless than his father and brother combined. The scene that I am analyzing is one where Michael is becoming his nephew’s godfather at his baptism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Godfather is a traditionally edited movie. This particular scene however uses Eisenstein’s method of montage editing. Francis Ford Coppola uses hard cutting in order to show a stark contrast in the main character Michael Corleone. The scene begins with a shot of Michael’s godson. In the Catholic religion, a newborn baby is born with original sin. At the moment of its baptism, it is the most pure thing on earth; it has no sin. The godfather is the baby’s guardian into life. The scene cuts to all the different assassins Michael has deployed to take out his enemies. It cuts back to the baptism and the priest asks Michael if he believes in god, Jesus, and the church. Michael replies yes. The scene cuts back to the assassins. The voice of the priest is heard giving the ceremony as the assassins prepare to kill. The scene cuts back to Michael and the priest asks Michael if he rejects Satan ...

The Age of Faith Dbq

The Age of Faith The Middle Ages are commonly remembered for King Arthur tales, violent crusades, widespread illiteracy and the bubonic plague. Yet so much more is worthy of remembrance. The philosophers of â€Å"The Age of Reason† called the Middle Ages the â€Å"Age of Faith†. The Middle Ages were steeped in reason, logic, and natural philosophy. The Middle Ages is usually defined as the period between the fall of the last Roman emperor in the West (476 A. D. ) and the fall of Constantinople to the Turks (1453) or the discovery of America (1492). During the Middle Ages, the Church was almost as powerful as the government itself. The Age of Faith is the time in which the Church called for the first Crusade, philosophy flourished in the midst of chaos, and the Church expanded and gained more power. In Pope Urban II’s Call for the First Crusade Pope Urban is calling for Christians to fight in the name of God. The reason being that in the Middle East the Turks and Arabs were persecuting the Christians. The invaders killed and captured the Christians, and destroyed the churches. The Call for the Crusade was a result of a request sent by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos to Pope Urban in 1095. The Emperor asked of the Pope for aid against further invasions. In return for fighting in the Crusade, the Pope promised all who died, by land or by sea, or against the pagans, would have immediate remission of his sins. The remission of sin was a driving factor and provided any God-fearing man who had committed sins with an irresistible way out of eternal damnation in hell. Medieval philosophy is the philosophy of Western Europe from about ad 400–1400, roughly the period between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance. In Medieval Europe by H. C Davis, the accomplishments of the Middle Ages are called to mind. Its culture, specifically the philosophy, flourished even though there were a number of negative factors influencing them. Christianity was an important stimulus to philosophical activity. Its ideas and doctrines constituted a rich source of philosophical provocation. Medieval philosophy, therefore, took root in an intellectual world sustained by the Church and infused with Christianity’s texts and ideas. At the time, he Church was the most powerful influence, almost more so than the government. The government and the Church were almost as one in the same. And that was evident in the philosophies that stemmed from that perspective. The Church was at its peak of power in all of its history. It was that that inspired all the philosophers of that time to reflect and define the world with that mindset; the Church was center of everything in life. In Europe during the Middle Ages the only r ecognized religion was Christianity, in the form of the Catholic religion. The lives of the Medieval people of the Middle Ages was dominated by the church. From birth to death, whether you were a peasant, a serf, a noble a lord or a King – life was dominated by the church. The lives of many Medieval people were dedicated to the Catholic church and religion. In The Monastic Vows of Brother Gerald, Gerald is promising when he becomes a monk to, in a sense give up his life. When you undertake the vow to become a monk, you give up your family and worldly possessions in return for a live of purity, chastity, and poverty. The Truce of God outlines the church’s attempt to decrease the amount of sins that are being committed and restore the peace slowly through a form of a peace decree. This is just one example of the church demonstrating its new power. With its own laws, lands and taxes the Catholic church was a very powerful institution which had its own laws and lands. The Catholic Church also imposed taxes. In addition to collecting taxes, the Church also accepted gifts of all kinds from individuals who wanted special favors or wanted to be certain of a place in heaven. The power of the Catholic Church grew with its wealth. The Catholic Church was then able to influence the kings and rulers of Europe. Opposition to the Catholic Church would result in excommunication. This meant that the person who was excommunicated could not attend any church services, or receives the sacraments and would go straight to hell when they died. The Church was at its height of secular power during the Middle Ages, or the Age of Faith. The church was integrated into every part of Medieval life. In every way that it could, the church would make sure to make its power and influence known of. The Medieval church was corrupt, we can conclude nowadays but it was unknown to its followers then. The church used its power to keep its believers in fear and easier to bend to the church’s will. They accepted bribes and favors to reserve and promise you your seat and place in heaven. But, overall the church in the Middle Ages helped protect its holy land, expanded philosophy and contributed new knowledge on a variety of subjects, all the while ensuring its power as a secular leader. This, the extent of the church’s power, is why the Middle Ages are the Age of Faith.

The Blue Sword CHAPTER TWO

Harry and Lady Amelia took their leave, and the older woman closed the breakfast-room doors with a sigh. Harry smiled. Lady Amelia turned back to her in time to see the smile, and returned it ruefully. â€Å"Very well. We will leave the men to do their uncomfortable waiting alone. I am going to visit Mrs. McDonald, you are going to go riding with Beth and Cassie and bring them back here for luncheon.† â€Å"Perhaps under the circumstances – † began Harry, but Lady Amelia shook her head. â€Å"I see no reason why you should not. If he is here, those girls have very pretty manners, and are just whom I would invite if we were to give a formal dinner. And – † here her smile broadened and became as mischievous as a girl's – â€Å"if he has brought his thousand best men, we shall be terribly short of women, and you know how I dislike an unbalanced table. I shall have to invite Mrs. McDonald as well. Have a pleasant ride, dear.† Harry changed into her riding-clothes, mounted her placid pony, already bridled and saddled and held for her by one of the Residency's many servants, and rode off in a thoughtful mood toward her meeting with her two friends. She wondered first what and how much she should tell Cassie and Beth; and, second, found herself hoping that this Corlath would stay at least long enough for her to see him. Would a witch-king look any different than any other man? The sun was already hot. She pushed her hat back long enough for a cautious squint at the sky. It was more dun-colored than blue, as if it, like everything else near Istan, were faded by the fierceness of its sun. It looked as hard as a curved shell overhead, and brittle, as if a thrown lance might pierce it. The placid pony shuffled along, ears flopping, and she stared out over the sands. The woods to the west of her father's house were old, hundreds of years old, tangled with vine and creeper. Ancient trees had died and, not having room to fall, crumbled where they stood. No landlord had thought the old forest worth clearing and the land put to use; but it had made a wonderful jungle for herself and Dickie as children, to be bandits in, and hunt dragons through. Its twisted shadows had always been welcome to her; when she grew older she liked the feeling of great age that the forest gave her, of age and of a vast complicated life that had nothing to do with her and that she need no t try to decipher. The desert, with the black sharp-edged mountains around it, was as different from what she was accustomed to as any landscape could be; yet she found after only a few weeks in Istan that she was falling by degrees in love with it: with the harsh sand, the hot sun, the merciless gritty winds. And she found that the desert lured her as her own green land never had – but what discovery it lured her toward she could not say. It was an even greater shock to realize that she was no longer homesick. She missed her occupation; and even more she missed her father. She had left so soon after the funeral that it was difficult to believe that he was dead, that he was not still riding around his estate in his shabby coat, waiting for her to return. Then she found that she remembered her parents together again; as if her mother had died recently, or her father five years ago – or as if the difference, which had been so important, no longer mattered. She didn't dream of honeysuckle and lilac. She remembered them with affection, but she looked across the swirled sand and small obstinate clumps of brush and was content with where she was. A small voice whispered to her that she didn't even want to go Home again. She wanted to cross the desert and climb into the mountains in the east, the mountains no Homelander had ever climbed. She often speculated about how other people saw the land here. Her brother never mentioned it one way or another. She was accustomed to hearing the other young people refer to â€Å"that hateful desert† and â€Å"the dreadful sun.† Beth and Cassie didn't; they had lived in one part or another of Daria for most of their lives – â€Å"except the three years our mother took us Home, to acquire polish, she said† – and to both of them, Darian sun and Darian weather, whether it be on the fertile red earth of the south, with the eternal fight against the jungle to keep the fields clear, or the cool humid plateaus of the orange plantations, or the hot sand of the northeast Border, were simply things that were there, were part of their home, to be accepted and adjusted to. Harry had asked them how they liked the Homeland, and they had had to pause and think about it. â€Å"It was very different,† Cassie said at last, and Beth nodded. Cassie started to say something else, stopped, and shrugged. â€Å"Very different,† she repeated. â€Å"Did you like it?† pursued Harry. â€Å"Of course,† said Cassie, surprised. â€Å"We've liked all the places we've lived,† said Beth, â€Å"once we made some friends.† â€Å"I liked the snow in the north,† offered Cassie, â€Å"and the fur cloaks we had to wear there in the winter.† Harry gave it up. The older people at the station seemed to put up with the land around them as they would put up with any other disadvantage of their chosen occupation. Darian service, civilian and military, bred stoicism in all those who didn't give up and go Home after the first few years. The Greenoughs' making-the-best-of-it attitude was almost as tangible as mosquito netting. Harry had once won an admission from Mr. Peterson, Cassie and Beth's father. There were several people to dinner at the Residency that evening, among them the Petersons. Mr. Peterson had been seated across from her at dinner, and had not appeared to pay any attention to the conversation on the other side of the table. But later in the evening he appeared at her side. She was surprised; he spoke rarely enough at social gatherings, and was notorious around the station for avoiding young unattached ladies, including his daughters' friends. They sat in silence at first; Harry wondered if she should say anything, and if so, what. She was still wondering when he said: â€Å"I couldn't help hearing some of what that young chap next to you was saying at dinner.† He stopped again, but this time she waited patiently for him to continue and did not try to prompt him. â€Å"I wouldn't pay too much attention, if I were you.† The young chap in question had been telling her about the hateful desert and the dreadful sun. He was a subaltern at the fort, had been there for two years and was looking forward to his escape in two more. The subaltern had continued: â€Å"But I wouldn't want you to think we have no change of seasons here. We do: we have winter. It rains steadily for three months, and everything gets moldy, including you.† Mr. Peterson said: â€Å"I rather like it here. There are those of us who do.† He then stood up and wandered away. She had not spoken a word to him. But she remembered what he said later as she realized that she too was becoming one of those who liked it here. She pondered who else might belong to their select club. It was a game, and she amused herself with it when she ran out of polite conversation. She took mental note of all those who did not complain of the heat, the wind, the unequal rainfall; and then tried to separate those like herself who actually enjoyed being scratchy with blown sand and headachy from glare, from those like Cassie and Beth who were merely cheerfully adaptable. Harry at last settled on Colonel Dedham as the most likely member of her club, and began to consider if there was any way to broach the subject with him. She thought that perhaps there was a club rule that read, Thou shalt not speak. But her chance came at last, less than a fortnight before Corlath's messenger arrived at the Residency at four a.m. It was at another small dinner party at the Greenoughs'. When the gentlemen brought themselves and an appalling reek of Sir Charles' finest cigars into the drawing-room to join the ladies, Colonel Dedham came across the room and tossed himself down on the window-seat beside Harry. She had been looking out at the mysterious white pools the moon poured across the desert. â€Å"Open the window a bit,† he said, â€Å"and let some of this smoke out. I can see poor Amelia being brave.† â€Å"Cigars should be like onions,† she said, unfastening the catch and pushing back the pane. â€Å"Either the whole company does, or the whole company does not.† Dedham laughed. â€Å"Poor Melly! She would spoil many a party, I fear. Have you ever smoked a cigar?† She smiled, with a glint in her pale eyes, and he reflected that some of the young men had labeled her cold and humorless. â€Å"Yes, I have: that is how I know. My father was used to giving dinners for his hunting friends, and I would be the only woman there. I was not going to eat in my room, like a punished child, and I liked to stay and listen to the stories they told. They permitted themselves to become accustomed to my presence, because I could ride and shoot respectably. But the smoke, after a few hours, would become unbearable.† â€Å"So your father – ?† prompted Dedham. â€Å"No, not my father; he taught me to shoot, against his better judgment, but he drew the line at teaching me to smoke. It was one of his friends – Richard's godfather, in fact. He gave me a handful of cigars at the end of one of these very thick evenings and told me to smoke them, slowly and carefully, somewhere that I could be sick in private. And the next time the cigars went around the table, I was to take one for myself – and he'd help me stand up to my father. It was the only way to survive. He was right.† â€Å"I shall have to tell Charles,† said Dedham, grinning. â€Å"He is always delighted to find another cigar-lover.† Her gaze had wandered again to the moonlight, but now she turned back. â€Å"No, thank you, Colonel. I am not that. It was the stories that made it worth it. I only appreciate smoke when I'm seeing things in it.† â€Å"I know what you mean, but you must promise not to tell Charles that,† he replied. â€Å"And for heaven's sake call me Jack. Three months is quite long enough to be called Colonel more often than business demands.† â€Å"Mmm,† she said. â€Å"Cassie and Beth do it very nicely. Say ‘Jack.' â€Å" â€Å"Jack,† she said. â€Å"There, you see? And for your next lesson I will walk across the room and ask you to say it again, and you will see how quickly I turn around and say ‘Yes?' â€Å" She laughed. It was hard to remember that Dedham was a few years older than Sir Charles; the latter was portly and dignified and white-haired. Dedham was lean and brown, and what hair he had left was iron grey. Sir Charles was polite and kind; Dedham talked to one like a friend. â€Å"I see you staring out of the windows often, at our Darian wilds. Do you see yew hedges and ivy-grown oak and, um, cattle and sheep in green pastures?† She looked down at her lap, a little uneasily, because she had not thought she was noticed; but here was her chance. She looked up. â€Å"No. I see our Darian wilds.† He smiled a little at the â€Å"our.† â€Å"You're settling in, then? Resigned to too much sun all of the time – except for when there is too much rain? But you haven't seen our winter yet.† â€Å"No – no, I haven't. But I'm not resigned.† She paused, surprised at how hard it was to say aloud, and her club's first law floated across her mind. â€Å"I like it. I'm not sure why, but I like it here.† The smile disappeared and he looked at her thoughtfully. â€Å"Do you?† He turned and looked out of the window himself. â€Å"There aren't many of us who do. I'm one – you must have guessed that I love the desert. This desert. Even in winter, and the three weeks of jungle after the rain stops and before the sun gets a good hold again. Quite a lot of my griping about being the oldest colonel still active is noise only; I know that if they promoted me they'd almost certainly promote me away from here – to one of the more civilized parts of this uncivilized land. Most of Daria is not like this, you know.† He paused. â€Å"I don't suppose that means very much to you.† â€Å"But it does.† He frowned a little, studying her face. â€Å"I don't know whether to say you're very fortunate or very unfortunate. We're strangers here, you know – even I, who've been here forty years. This desert is a little piece of the old Damar. It's not even really under our jurisdiction.† He smiled wryly. â€Å"Not only can we not understand it, we are not able to administer it.† He nodded toward the window. â€Å"And the mountains beyond. They stand there, looking at you, and you know you'll never climb them. No Homelander ever has – at least to return to tell the tale.† She nodded. â€Å"It is not a comfortable passion.† He chuckled. â€Å"No; not a comfortable passion.† â€Å"Is that why no one ever mentions it? One hears enough for the other side.† â€Å"God! Don't I know it. ‘Only four hundred and ninety-six days till I get out of this sand pit.' Yes, I suppose so. It's a strange country, especially this corner of it, and if it gets too much in your blood it makes you strange too. And you don't really want to call attention to it.† She recalled that conversation as she rode; and now she saw Cassie and Beth jogging toward her. She was thinking again of Corlath, and trying to recall what little she knew of the Free Hillfolk. Jack had been reluctant to talk about them, and his evasiveness led her to believe that he knew quite a lot about them, because he was always open about saying he didn't know something. He was trying to spare her, perhaps, from her uncomfortable passion. Oh, glory, she thought, and with a quick leap her curiosity transformed itself into excitement: I do hope he's there when we get back. The question of what to tell her friends died painlessly. As soon as their ponies came abreast Beth said: â€Å"Is he here yet?† Harry was expecting a good-morning-and-how-are-you and for a moment didn't know who was meant. â€Å"Corlath,† said Cassie. â€Å"Jack came to our house to see Daddy before breakfast, told him to go up to the Residency, that they would need him there.† Mr. Peterson and Jack Dedham were the only people in the station who knew Hill-speech even passably fluently. Most Darians who had much contact with Homelanders learned Homelander. Harry had picked up a few Darian words, but only a few; no Homelander had thought to write a Darian grammar for general use, and when she inquired further was told that there was no need for her to learn it. The only person who encouraged her, and who had taught her the words she did know, was Jack Dedham, and he had not the time to spare for more. Sir Charles was reasonably articulate in Darian speech, but uncomfortable about it. He felt a responsible commissioner should know the language of those he oversees, but it made him no happier to fulfill his own expectations. He kept an interpreter near at hand. â€Å"Corlath,† breathed Beth, as if the name were a charm. â€Å"Daddy says that the Hillfolk have never liked us much – â€Å" â€Å"We've always known that,† put in Cassie. † – so he'll probably slip in and out again and we'll never even see him.† â€Å"I've permission to invite you to lunch,† said Harry. â€Å"If he's there at all, we'll see him.† â€Å"Oh, how wonderful!† said Beth. â€Å"Surely even he won't have finished his business before lunch. Let's not ride far; we should see something when he comes, and then we'll know when to ride back. It's very tiresome to have a real king come to visit and not even have an excuse to meet him.† â€Å"Do you know anything of the Free Hillfolk?† said Harry. They rode at an angle away from the Residency, where they could keep an eye on it over their shoulders. â€Å"I don't. No one will tell me anything.† They both laughed. â€Å"The Hillfolk are the best-kept secret in Daria,† said Cassie. â€Å"I mean, we know they exist. Some of them come here – to the station, I mean – for the spring Fair.† Harry looked at her. â€Å"Oh, surely Lady Amelia has told you about our pair,† Cassie said. â€Å"After three months of the rains we come out of hiding and work off our foul temper by holding a Fair – â€Å" † – where we sell to each other all the ridiculous little bags and bonnets and dolls and footstools that we've made during the rains to keep from going mad because we couldn't go out,† Beth continued. â€Å"Yes, most of it is nonsense. But everyone is very gay for the first two or three weeks after the rain stops. The weather is cool enough – the only time all year you can go out even at midday; and there're green things growing up from the ground, and everything you own is spread on the roofs and hanging from the windowsills, and they're green too,† Cassie added with a grimace. â€Å"We decorate the streets and the square with paper flowers and real flowers, and banners and ribbons, and the whole town looks like it's on holiday, with the dresses and blankets hanging out everywhere. We do have real flowers here – besides the eternal pimchie – although nothing like what you're used to at Home, I daresay. Everything grows tremendously for two weeks, so for the third week, Fair week, everything is green and blossoming – even the desert, if you can believe it.† â€Å"Then of course the sun kills everything again. That's the fourth week. And you know what it's like here the rest of the time.† â€Å"Yes, but the Fair – everyone comes to the Fair. The Hillfolk too, a few of them, although never anyone very special. Certainly never the king. And it's not all the bead purses that our sort has been making in despair. There are always some really lovely things, mostly that the Darians themselves have made. Even the servants aren't expected to do as much, you know, during the rains. After the first few weeks you're far too cross yourself to give many orders to anyone else.† â€Å"But mostly the best things come up from the south. It's only Way up here that the weather's so ridiculous, but the south knows about our Fair, and the merchants know that when we break out of winter prison we're so mad with our freedom that we're fit to buy anything, so they come up in force.† â€Å"There are Fairs, or celebrations of spring of one kind or another, all around here, but ours is the biggest.† â€Å"Well,† said Beth, â€Å"we've the biggest in things to buy and so forth; and we're the only Homelander station up here. But there're quite a number of Darian villages around here, and they take spring very seriously. Lots of singing and dancing, and that kind of thing. And they tell the most beautiful stories, if you can find someone to translate into Homelander. Which isn't often.† â€Å"We have singing and dancing too,† said Cassie. â€Å"Yes, I know,† said Beth slowly; â€Å"but it's not the same. Our dancing is just working it off, after being inside for so long. Theirs means something.† Harry looked at her curiously. â€Å"You mean asking the gods for a good year – that kind of thing?† â€Å"I suppose so,† said Beth. â€Å"I'm not quite sure.† â€Å"No one will talk about anything really Darian to Homelanders,† said Cassie. â€Å"You must have noticed it.† â€Å"Yes – but I'm new here.† â€Å"You're always new here if you're a Homelander,† said Cassie. â€Å"It's different in the south. But we're on the Border here, and everyone is very aware that Freemen live in those Hills you see out your windows every day. The Darians that do work for you, or with you, are very anxious to prove how Homelander they really are, and loyal to all things Homelander, so they won't talk; and the others won't for the opposite reasons.† â€Å"You're beginning to sound like Daddy,† said Beth. â€Å"We've heard him say it all often enough,† Cassie responded. â€Å"But the Hillfolk,† said Harry. â€Å"Yes. The one thing I suppose we all have in common is a joy in those three short weeks of spring. So a few Hillfolk come to our Fair.† â€Å"They don't act very happy, though,† said Beth. â€Å"They come in those long robes they always wear – over their faces too, so you can't see if they're smiling or frowning; and some of them with those funny patched sashes around their waists. But they do come, and they stay several days – they have the grandest horses you've ever seen. They pitch camp outside the station, and they always set guards, quite openly, as if we weren't to be trusted – â€Å" â€Å"Maybe we aren't,† murmured Cassie. † – but they never sell their horses. They bring the most gorgeous tapestries, though, and embroidered sashes – much nicer than the cut-up ones they wear themselves. These they sell. They stalk around the edge of the big central square, the old marketplace, carrying all this vivid stuff, while the rest of us are laughing and talking and running around. It's a bit eerie.† â€Å"No it's not,† said Cassie. â€Å"You listen to the stories too much.† Beth blushed. After a pause she said, â€Å"Do you see anything at the Residency?† â€Å"No,† said Harry. â€Å"What stories?† There was another pause while Cassie looked at Beth and Beth looked at her pony's mane. â€Å"My fault,† said Cassie presently. â€Å"We're not supposed to talk about them. Daddy gets really annoyed if he catches us. The stories are mostly about magic. Corlath and his people are supposed to be rotten with it, even in this day and age, and Corlath himself is supposed to be more than a little mad.† â€Å"Magic?† said Harry, remembering what Dedham had said earlier. â€Å"Mad?† He hadn't said anything about madness. â€Å"How?† They both shrugged. â€Å"We've never managed to find out,† said Cassie. â€Å"And we can usually wring what we want to know out of Daddy eventually,† said Beth, â€Å"so it must be something pretty dreadful.† Cassie laughed. â€Å"You read too many novels, Beth. It's just as likely that Daddy won't talk about it because he refuses to admit it might be real – the magic, I mean. Jack Dedham believes it – he and Daddy argue about it sometimes, when they don't think anyone else is around. The madness, if that's what it is, is tied up somehow in the king's strength – in return for having power beyond mortal men or some such, he has to pay a price of some kind of mad fits.† â€Å"Who reads too many novels?† said Beth, and Cassie grinned. â€Å"It does rather catch the imagination,† she said, and Beth nodded. â€Å"No wonder you're so eager to set eyes on him,† said Harry. â€Å"Yes. I know it's silly of me, but I feel maybe it'll show somehow. He'll be eight feet tall and have a third eye in the middle of his forehead,† said Beth. â€Å"Heavens,† said Harry. â€Å"I hope not,† said Cassie. â€Å"Well, you know how the legends go,† said Beth. â€Å"No, not really,† said her sister repressively. â€Å"Even when Daddy is willing to translate some, you can tell by the pauses that he's leaving a lot out.† â€Å"Yes, but even so,† persisted Beth. â€Å"The old kings and queens were supposed to be taller than mortal – â€Å" â€Å"The Darians are mostly shorter than we are, at least the ones we see,† interrupted Cassie. â€Å"A king could look quite ordinary to us and be very tall for them.† † – and you can tell the royal blood by something about the eyes.† There was another pause. Harry said, â€Å"Something?† Again they both shrugged. â€Å"Something,† said Beth. â€Å"That's one of the things Daddy always leaves out. Like the madness.† â€Å"You're hoping he'll froth at the mouth,† said Cassie. Beth threw a peevish look at her sister. â€Å"No. I'll settle for the third eye.† This conversation had taken them well away from the outlying houses of the station, and the dust kicked up by their ponies' feet was giving up even the pretense of being anything other than desert sand. A silence fell; Cassie suggested a canter, which was duly accomplished. The sun was hot enough that when they pulled up again, after only a few minutes, the ponies' shoulders were dark with sweat. Harry sent another of her long looks across the desert, and had to squint against the shivering light. â€Å"Do you think we might turn back now?† Beth asked wistfully, shading her eyes with an elegantly white-gloved hand. Harry grinned. â€Å"We can spend the rest of the morning in my sitting-room, if you like. It overlooks the front door, you know.† Beth gave her a grateful look, Cassie chuckled; but they all three turned their ponies' heads with dispatch and sent them jogging homeward as quickly as the heat would allow. By the time they reached the suggestion of shade offered by the thin determined trees marking the outskirts of the station proper, Harry was hot and slightly headachy, and cross with herself for rushing back for no reason. Nothing could have escaped their notice; the Residency stood a little apart from the rest of the station, in its own grounds, and the road that ended at its front door had been under their eyes for the entire ride. They had been gone only a little over an hour. Harry considered suggesting that they meet again after another hour, time enough to change and have a bath; in her present condition she didn't feel like meeting any kings, mad or otherwise. But she stole a glance at Beth and saw how anxious she was not to miss anything; and she thought, Oh well, I can wash my face at least, and we can all have some cold lemonade, and watch the front door in comfort. The horses walked slowly up the street to the Residency. Cassie pulled off her hat and fanned herself with it. Harry shut her eyes for a moment. An execrable habit, she told the insides of her eyelids. What if this fat sleepy fourposter with ears and a tail should bolt, or shy suddenly? What if the sky should fall? responded the insides of her eyelids. The fourposter stopped dead in the road and raised its head a few inches just as Beth said in a strangled whisper: â€Å"Look.† Harry and Cassie looked. They had come nearly to the end of the road; what was left was the broad circle in front of the Residency, suitable for turning carriages in, or forming up half a regiment. Off to one side, where the tall house cast a little shade, seven horses and one man stood. The horses stood in a little semicircle around the man, who sat cross-legged near the wall of the house. They stood quietly, stamping a foot now and then, and occasionally one would put out its nose to touch the man; and he would stroke its cheek a moment, and it would raise its head again. The first thing Harry noticed was the beauty of these animals; not a one was less than sixteen hands high, with long clean legs and tails that nearly touched the ground. Three were chestnuts, their coats shining even in the dusty shadow; one grey, one dark bay, one golden dun; but the finest horse stood farthest from three fat ponies standing foolishly in the carriage drive. He was a blood bay, red as fire, with b lack legs and tail; he stood aloof from the other horses and ignored the man at his feet. He stared back at the newcomers as if it were his land he stood on, and they intruders. As the other horses slowly swung their heads around to see what their leader was looking at, Harry noticed something else: they wore no bridles. â€Å"He's here,† said Cassie flatly. Beth drew a deep breath. â€Å"How?† she said. â€Å"Look at those horses,† said Harry, and the longing in her voice was so clear that even she heard it. Cassie looked away from the impossible sight of seven horses that had made their way invisibly across a bleak desert right in front of three people who were looking for them, and smiled with sympathy at her friend. â€Å"Haven't you ever seen a Hill horse before? They're supposed to be the finest in Daria.† â€Å"And they never sell them,† said Harry, remembering. Cassie nodded, although Harry's eyes never left the horses. â€Å"Jack Dedham would give an arm even to ride one once.† â€Å"No bridles,† said Harry. â€Å"No stirrups, either,† said Cassie, and Harry saw that this was true. They wore saddles that were little more than padded skins, cut and elegantly rolled; and she could see the gleam of embroidery on girths and pommels. Not a horse moved from its place in the semicircle, although all now, with the man, watched the three ponies and their riders. â€Å"Horses,† said Beth disgustedly. â€Å"Don't you understand what they mean? They mean that he's here already, and we never noticed a thing. If that's not magic, what is?† She prodded her pony forward again. Cassie and Harry followed slowly and stopped before the steps. Three stable boys appeared, ready to take the ponies back to the stable behind the house. Harry's feet had only just touched the ground – the boy hovering anxiously to one side, since he had learned through bitter experience that this Homelander did not wish to be assisted while dismounting – when there was a commotion at the entrance to the house. Harry turned around in time to see the heavy door thrown violently open, so that its hinges protested; and out strode a man dressed in loose white robes, with a scarlet sash around his waist. Several more figures darted out in his wake, and collected around him where he paused on the verandah. He was the axis of a nervous wheel, moving his head slowly to examine the lesser people who turned around him and squeaked at him without daring to come too near. With a shock Harry recognized four of these small mortals: Sir Charles and Mr. Peterson, Jack Dedham and her own brother, Richard. The man in white was tall, though no taller than Richard or Sir Charles. But there was a quivering in the air around him, like the hea t haze over the desert, shed from his white sleeves, cast off by the shadows of his scarlet sash. These who stood near him looked small and pale and vague, while this man was so bright he hurt the eyes. More men came quietly out behind the Homelanders and stood a little to one side, but they kept their eyes on their king. He could be no one else. This must be Corlath. Harry took a deep breath. He didn't look insane or inhuman. He did look uncooperative. He shook his head and frowned at something someone said, and Sir Charles looked very unhappy. Corlath shrugged, and made a sweeping movement with his arms, like a man coming out of a forest gratefully into the sunlight. He took a long step forward to the edge of the verandah. Then Dedham took two quick steps toward him and spoke to him, a few words only, urgently; and Corlath turned again, as it seemed unwillingly, and looked back. Dedham held out his hand, palm down and fingers spread; and so they stood for a long minute. Corlath dropped his eyes to the hand stretched toward him, then looked into the face of its owner. Harry, watching, held her breath without knowing why. With a nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach she saw a look of terrible strain cross Dedham's face as the Hill-king held his gaze; and the outstretched hand trembled very slightly. Corlath slowly reached out his own hand and touched the back of Dedham's wrist with two fingers; the hand dropped to Dedham's side once more, but as if it were heavy as stone, and the man slumped in relief like a murderer reprieved at the scaffold. The look of strain slid off his face to be replaced by one of great weariness. Corlath swung around again, and set his foot on the top stair, and no one moved to stop him. Five men in the loose robes of the Hillfolk separated themselves from the verandah shadows and made to follow. Harry found she could not take her eyes off the king, but from the corners of her eyes she noticed that the other men too wore vivid sashes: gold and orange and green and blue and purple. There was nothing to indicate the king but the glitter of his presence. Harry stood only a few feet from the bottom step, holding her pony's bridle. Cassie and Beth were somewhere behind her, and the stable boy stood frozen a few steps from her elbow. Corlath still had not noticed them, and Harry stared, fascinated, as he came nearer. There seemed a roaring in the air that beat on her eardrums and pressed against her eyeballs till she blinked. Then he looked up abruptly, as if from some unfathomable depth of thought, and saw her: their eyes met. The man's eyes were yellow as gold, the hot liquid gold in a smelter's furnace. Harry found it suddenly difficult to breathe, and understood the expression on Dedham's face; she almost staggered. Her hand tightened on the bridle, and the pony dropped its head and mouthed the bit uncomfortably. The heat was incredible. It was as though a thousand desert suns beat down on her. Magic? she thought from inside the thunder. Is this what magic is? I come from a cold country, where the witches live in cool green forests. What am I doing here? She saw the anger the man was holding in check; the anger stared at her through the yellow eyes, and swept through the glistening white robes. Then it was over. He looked away; he came down the last steps and past her as if she did not exist; and she cowered out of his way so that no corner of his white sleeve should touch her. The man with the horses emerged from the shade, riding one of the chestnuts; and the six others went up to their riders and nuz zled them. The blood bay reached the king first, and greeted him with a low whinny. Corlath mounted with an easy leap Harry could not even follow with her eyes, although she could see anger informing the set of his legs against the great stallion's sides. The horse felt it too; without moving, all its muscles were suddenly taut, and its stillness was the quiet before battle. The other men mounted. Corlath never looked at them, but the red stallion plunged forward at a gallop, and the other men followed; and the sound the horses' hooves made on the hard earth suddenly reminded Harry how unnaturally silent everyone had been since Dedham's last words. The inaudible thunder faded with the sight of the colored sashes and the bright flanks of the Hill horses. Harry woke up to who she was, and where; Sir Charles and Jack and Mr. Peterson looked their normal size again, and she had a raging headache.