Health Care Goes to Law School 2019

With the advent of managed care and the assortment of health care reform bills that have been voted out of Congress recently, healthcare is closing in on becoming an area of legal specialization. Some law schools now teach health law in a program format, with a series of courses available that cover various aspects of the subject. Upon completion of the requisite course hours and field work, the law student is awarded with a Certificate in Health Law to accompany his Juris Doctor on the office wall. Medical malpractice and insurance disputes have been stalwarts in the legal field for years. A newer area of legal conflict are bioethical issues which, at this point, are equally at home in the legislature as in court. Included in this area are matters such as genetic data privacy, gene- based alterations of agricultural and pharmaceutical products, and a number of medical therapies coming on line. These are public policy issues that are working their way into the courtroom. Related to these issues is the body of law that has grown around the Food and Drug Administration and, among other issues, their administration of drug development. .u3ca1a7059ce39148935e6cb2a7a50ff5 { padding:0px; margin: 0; padding-top:1em!important; padding-bottom:1em!important; width:100%; display: block; font-weight:bold; background-color:#eaeaea; border:0!important; border-left:4px solid #34495E!important; box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -o-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); text-decoration:none; } .u3ca1a7059ce39148935e6cb2a7a50ff5:active, .u3ca1a7059ce39148935e6cb2a7a50ff5:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; text-decoration:none; } .u3ca1a7059ce39148935e6cb2a7a50ff5 { transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; } .u3ca1a7059ce39148935e6cb2a7a50ff5 .ctaText { font-weight:bold; color:inherit; text-decoration:none; font-size: 16px; } .u3ca1a7059ce39148935e6cb2a7a50ff5 .post Title { color:#000000; text-decoration: underline!important; font-size: 16px; } .u3ca1a7059ce39148935e6cb2a7a50ff5:hover .postTitle { text-decoration: underline!important; } READ BSB 5 Ways to Earn a Bachelor of Science in Business in as Little as 12 MonthsIndividual rights are a legal healthcare issue when in comes to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Access to health care for the poor is a developing civil rights issue, with national advocacy groups in place and classes in law schools addressing the matter as a sole topic. The right to privacy for personal medical records has been a major political and legal concern. The passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) created an entire legal structure for the protection and personal control of an individuals medical records. But as with every protective measure there are exceptions, and those have led to a small but lively industry of HIPAA inspired lawsuits. Healthcare delivery and child welfare are occasionally conflicting issues that speak to parental rights and have been fought out in highly publicized trials. Withholding important medical educational information from children has also come before the courts. Public health is a major area of legal specialty, involving state and federal legislation, funding, regulation and healthcare as it relates to taxes. .u50223e76487ace9baeed62914c0c8f6c { padding:0px; margin: 0; padding-top:1em!important; padding-bottom:1em!important; width:100%; display: block; font-weight:bold; background-color:#eaeaea; border:0!important; border-left:4px solid #34495E!important; box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -o-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); text-decoration:none; } .u50223e76487ace9baeed62914c0c8f6c:active, .u50223e76487ace9baeed62914c0c8f6c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; text-decoration:none; } .u50223e76487ace9baeed62914c0c8f6c { transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; } .u50223e76487ace9baeed62914c0c8f6c .ctaText { font-weight:bold; color:inherit; text-decoration:none; font-size: 16px; } .u50223e76487ace9baeed62914c0c8f6c .post Title { color:#000000; text-decoration: underline!important; font-size: 16px; } .u50223e76487ace9baeed62914c0c8f6c:hover .postTitle { text-decoration: underline!important; } READ Prepare for Leadership Positions with a Criminal Justice Administration ProgramManaged care issues that are addressed in law school include health care financing, antitrust due to the consolidation of HMOs and equal access. Medicare and Medicaid rights are closely related to managed care, as is the issue of assumed risk for the medical personnel who work for the large and growing healthcare organizations. Fraud and system abuse have also become worthy of legal study since false insurance claims begin to emerge as a substantial problem, involving both patients and the medical community. At least one law school has an entire course dedicated to e-medicine. Among other things it covers the transmission of medical imaging and pharmaceutical practices: generally the issues are security, privacy and technology. Records transmission and claims transactions are points of discussion within the context of the internet as an active participant in the practice of medicine. Related ArticlesBSN Nursing Developmental Disabilities Nurses Care for the Physically and Mentally DisabledNebraska Colleges and Universities Pursuing Online and Campus Based Education in Nebraska, the Cornhusker StateAssociate Degree in Criminal Justice Online Graduates Have the Opportunity to Assist Inmates with Substance Abuse Issues in WisconsinDegree in Criminal Justice Use a Criminal Justice Background to Work as a ParalegalWant To Work As A Health Care ProviderHealth Care Consulting A Growing Demand .u763b9242d9673f4b155afc4de18a2d69 { padding:0px; margin: 0; padding-top:1em!important; padding-bottom:1em!important; width:100%; display: block; font-weight:bold; background-color:#eaeaea; border:0!important; border-left:4px solid #34495E!important; box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -o-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); text-decoration:none; } .u763b9242d9673f4b155a fc4de18a2d69:active, .u763b9242d9673f4b155afc4de18a2d69:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; text-decoration:none; } .u763b9242d9673f4b155afc4de18a2d69 { transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; } .u763b9242d9673f4b155afc4de18a2d69 .ctaText { font-weight:bold; color:inherit; text-decoration:none; font-size: 16px; } .u763b9242d9673f4b155afc4de18a2d69 .postTitle { color:#000000; text-decoration: underline!important; font-size: 16px; } .u763b9242d9673f4b155afc4de18a2d69:hover .postTitle { text-decoration: underline!important; } READ Alternative Health Care Schools

Social Problems Study Guide Essay - 2025 Words

1. Which of the following was once deemed criminal in China but is not anymore? a. Consuming Pork b. Making a Profit c. Birth Control d. All of the Above Answer: _____ 2. When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, Marquita says that she wants to be a lawmaker who determines what is legal and what is criminal. As such, Marquita wants to be involved in the: a. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy b. Recidivism Rate c. A Ponzi Scheme d. Political Process Answer: _____ 3. Despite opposition, the Supreme Court made abortion legal in the U.S. This illustrates the Courts: a. Deterrence b. Retribution c. Power d. Incapacitation Answer: _____ 4. Grace is graduating from college and she has†¦show more content†¦b. The more likely it is that he or she will be charged with subsequent violent crimes. c. The less likely it is that he or she will drop out of school. d. None of the Above Answer: _____ 18. Which of the following is true regarding rearrest among juvenile delinquents? a. Girls are more likely than boys to be rearrested. b. Girls are less likely than boys to be rearrested. c. Girls and boys are equally likely to be rearrested. d. None of the Above Answer: _____ 19. Bay Bays father was a pimp and his mother was a prostitute. As such, Bay Bay grew up in an environment where prostitution, drug use, robbery, assault and rape were seen as a normal part of life. This reflects: a. The Cosa Nostra b. Organized Crime c. A Delinquent Subculture d. A Ponzi Scheme Answer: _____ 20. Brittany works in the cashiers office on campus. She steals money from her job and thinks that she deserves the stolen money because she has not received a raise in 2 years. This illustrates a(n): a. Technique of Neutralization b. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy c. Criminal Enterprise d. Organized Crime Answer: _____ 21. Rashida is an accountant. She has been skimming money off of the payroll for the past 7 years. This is an example of a(n): a. Organized Crime b. White-Collar Crime c. Status Offense d. Property Crime Answer: _____ 22. Amir is a jewel thief who prides himself on his skill andShow MoreRelatedMy Philosophy of Education824 Words   |  4 Pagesof learning they will be capable of learning useful and meaningful knowledge for the endurance of their lives. Successfully educated students will have made the transition from having their learning experiences guided by a teacher to being able to guide themselves through the process of learning. Moreover, successfully educated students will not only have developed the competence to learn, but will also have developed the character necessary to learn. Because my philosophy of education is progressivismRead MoreHuman Services Professional Case Study Essay811 Words   |  4 PagesHuman Services Professional Case Study BSHS 355 September 16, 2014 Human Services Professional Case Study In this paper, the role of a social worker will be addressed. 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The K to 12 Program covers  KindergartenRead MoreJonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal949 Words   |  4 PagesOne important way in which the author engages the audience’s attention and tries to help his readers see deeper political, moral, and social truths and problems is through his use of irony. â€Å"A Modest Proposal† is a satire that is aimed at helping Swift’s contemporary readers to recognize how cold and calculating blunt rationalism is when used to address social problems such as poverty and overpopulation. In this short story the narrator is an ironic person. He is an ironic character because he appearsRead MoreStudy Habits1010 Words   |  5 PagesChapter 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND Responsible gaming is an attitude the students need if they were to engage into playing computer online games. Developing this attitude is not a personal choice alone, it required the participation of the society. 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Edward de Bonos Six Thinking Hats free essay sample

Thinking Hats Edward de Bono was born in Malta in 1933. He attended St Edwards College, Malta, during World War II and then the University of Malta where he qualified in medicine. He proceeded, as a Rhodes Scholar, to Christ Church, Oxford, where he gained an honours degree in psychology and physiology and then a D. Phil in medicine. He also holds a Ph. D from Cambridge and an MD from the University of Malta. He has held appointments at the universities of Oxford, London, Cambridge and Harvard. Dr Edward de Bono is one of the very few people in history who can be said to have had a major impact on the way we think. In many ways he could be said to be the best known thinker internationally. Six Thinking Hats Six Thinking Hats is a powerful technique that helps you look at important decisions from a number of different perspectives. We will write a custom essay sample on Edward de Bonos Six Thinking Hats or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It helps you make better decisions by pushing you to move outside your habitual ways of thinking. As such, it helps you understand the full complexity of a decision, and spot issues and opportunities which you might otherwise not notice. Each Thinking Hat is a different style of thinking. These are explained below: * White Hat: With this thinking hat, you focus on the data available. Look at the information you have, and see what you can learn from it. Look for gaps in your knowledge, and either try to fill them or take account of them. This is where you analyze past trends, and try to extrapolate from historical data. * Red Hat: Wearing the red hat, you look at the decision using intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. Also try to think how other people will react emotionally, and try to understand the intuitive responses of people who do not fully know your reasoning. Black Hat: When using black hat thinking, look at things pessimistically, cautiously and defensively. Try to see why ideas and approaches might not work. This is important because it highlights the weak points in a plan or course of action. It allows you to eliminate them, alter your approach, or prepare contingency plans to counter problems that arise. Black Hat thinking helps to make your plans tougher and more resilient. It can also help yo u to spot fatal flaws and risks before you embark on a course of action. Black Hat thinking is one of the real benefits of this technique, as many successful people get so used to thinking positively that often they cannot see problems in advance, leaving them under-prepared for difficulties. * Yellow Hat: The yellow hat helps you to think positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps you to see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it, and spot the opportunities that arise from it. Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going when everything looks gloomy and difficult. * Green Hat: The Green Hat stands for creativity. This is where you can develop creative solutions to a problem. It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little criticism of ideas. A whole range of creativity tools can help you here. * Blue Hat: The Blue Hat stands for process control. This is the hat worn by people chairing meetings. When running into difficulties because ideas are running dry, they may direct activity into Green Hat thinking. When contingency plans are needed, they will ask for Black Hat thinking, and so on.

Robert Frost The Road Not Taken Essay Example

Robert Frost The Road Not Taken Paper English 102 Poetry Essay We all will hit a point in our lives where we have to make some decisions, some more than others, and Robert Frost alludes to this in a relatable way in his poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken†. Frost uses some great images to describe the situation the narrator is in. He also lets you visualize the thoughts and actions that the narrator is making. There are so many ways you can tell what Frost is saying in this poem by taking a close look into his many uses of symbolism. Frosts first use of symbolism in his poem is in the first two lines â€Å"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, / And sorry I could not travel both† (Frost, 555). The two roads are being referred as a time in the narrator’s life where he has to make an important decision, and he can only follow one path. Once he makes this decision in his life, it’s going to be the decision he lives with. You could say that this is his midlife crisis, and right now he’s deciding how he wants his life to be in the future. In in lines four and five he says â€Å"And looked down one as far as I could / To where it bent in the undergrowth† (Frost, 555). He doesn’t know where this decision will take him in life, he can only see so far into the future or so far into the road. We will write a custom essay sample on Robert Frost The Road Not Taken specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Robert Frost The Road Not Taken specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Robert Frost The Road Not Taken specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer By the second stanza you think the narrator has one path in mind, but in a split second he decides to take the other path. There was no premeditation to this decision, he had actually thought long and hard about the first path but took the risk and went with the road not taken. After he makes this quick judgment to take this road he starts to regret it a little by saying â€Å"Oh, I kept the first for another day! † (Frost, 555) He regrets his decision and now wishes to have a chance to follow the other path someday. So now that our speaker has walked away from one future and into another, hes pining for the one he passed up. He is planning to come back and take the other path another day† (Shmoop Editorial Team). He regrets his choice and wants to come back to the path he has passed up but he then realizes that fate is fate, and he must accept it in lines 14 and 15; â€Å"Yet knowing how way leads on to way, / I doubted if I should ever come back† (Frost, 555). I t’s not evident if the narrator is happy or displeased about the decision he has made. Frost starts the last stanza by saying â€Å"I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence† (Frost, 556). This sigh could be a peaceful and content sigh or it could be a disappointed sigh. Then Frost ends the stanza by saying â€Å"I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference† (Frost, 556) No matter what kind of sigh it was, in the end the decision he has made is the decision it will be. â€Å"He doesnt know if he took the road less traveled or not, really – both paths were covered with fresh leaves. But he thinks that, in the future, hes going to remember the path that he took as the one that was less traveled† (Shmoop Editorial Team). He’s going to remember his decision for the rest of his life, and no matter what he thinks of this decision it still has made a difference in his life and he will continuously remember it. We all have decisions in life to make, and we all come to that point in our life where we have to choose which road we want to follow. Follow your heart. Even if you contemplate the decision for a while, remember your heart is what you should follow. The decision to take one road may alter your life in a dramatic way, but at that point in time your decision was right for you. You may regret it a little, but in the end you will always remember why you ended up where you are. Shmoop Editorial Team. Dreams, Hopes, and Plans Quotes: The Road Not Taken Shmoop. com. Shmoop University, Inc. , 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 3 Nov. 2011. Frost, Robert. The Road Not Taken. Backpack Literature: And introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Kennedy, X. J. , Dana Gioia. New Jersey: Pearson, 2011. 555-556.

Research Paper Example

Research Paper Example Students are facing loads of problems in finding research paper examples nowadays.   With the rising load of homework and from time to time, amateur jobs, the learners cannot probably write example research papers themselves.   Some students do not have ability and some do not have the time to write these research paper examples all by themselves. They do not recognize in what way to write, and what points to actually put into writing the research paper. Many students try looking for free research paper examples online.   They sometimes copy these from books or websites, and they are charged for plagiarism.   Therefore, the following points are definitely going to help students looking for research paper examples, example research papers, research paper outline examples, download research paper, and free research paper examples. The following points will help you to differentiate real and fraud companies: 1. If the company is making too many promises, there is a good possibility that the company is forged.   Swindle research paper companies generally make many promises, the reason being that they do not fulfill them afterwards and no one can claim against them. 2. If the company is offering too much, or if it is making too many proposals, and is trying giving you false hopes, there are chances for the research paper writing company to be a fraud one, which is offering you too much for your research paper examples. 3. The company may be deception because many fraud companies assure to do incredibly large online research paper examples in a very short time, and no doubt get a lot of money in return. 4. If the company is not very willing to provide its phone number, address, or other contact information that can be used to trace it, it might be a fake company offering you research paper examples for a wee sum. 5. Fraud companies over the world have robbed more than millions of students, and they make sure that they cannot be tracked. A company reluctant to provide full information to its customer about its location has a good 80 % chance of being a fraud company. 6. If the company staff and employs directly talk to you, it means they are not afraid to disclose the true identity of company and employees.   If it does not, the company may be fraud.   Fraudulent companies normally are run by a few people, and mostly do not have a large number of employees.   Furthermore, if they do not talk to you directly, it means that they are trying to hide their identity. Many online research paper example providing companies are present online, but many of them can be hoax, fraud companies and you definitely dont want to be caught in their traps, and lose your money, your time, and even your reputation.   Neither does us.   That is why we provide you with all possible research paper example help, and give you the best research paper examples possible.   This is why we can easily guarantee that you will get good grades in class and will definitely impress your teacher or instructor.   Our custom research paper writing is of the finest quality and absolutely non-plagiarized. For more information on how to save you from these fake companies, you can contact us.   For any kind of information or online help about research paper examples, you can easily log on to our website and contact us for research paper help and further research writing assistance at CustomWritings.com.

Using a Timer in MS Office VBA Macros

Using a Timer in MS Office VBA Macros For those of us who have our minds deeply into VB.NET, the journey back to VB6 can be a confusing trip. Using a Timer in VB6 is like that. At the same time, adding timed processes to your code is not obvious to new users of VBA Macros. Timers For Newbies Coding a Word VBA macro to automatically time a test that was written in Word is a typical reason for using a timer. Another common reason is to see just how much time is being taken by different parts of your code so you can work on optimizing the slow sections. Sometimes, you might want to see if anything is happening in the application when the computer seems to be just sitting there idle, which can be a security problem. Timers can do that. Start a Timer You start a timer by coding an OnTime statement. This statement is implemented in Word and Excel, but it has different syntax depending on which one youre using.  The syntax for Word is: expression.OnTime(When, Name, Tolerance) The syntax for Excel looks like this: expression.OnTime(EarliestTime, Procedure, LatestTime, Schedule) Both have the first and second parameter in common. The second parameter is the name of another macro that runs when the time in the first parameter is reached. In effect, coding this statement is like creating an event subroutine in VB6 or VB.NET terms. The event is reaching the time in the first parameter. The event subroutine is the second parameter. This is  different from the way it is coded in VB6 or VB.NET. For one thing, the macro named in the second parameter can be in any code that is accessible. In a Word document, Microsoft recommends putting it in the Normal document template. If you put it in another module, Microsoft recommends using the full path: Project.Module.Macro. The expression is usually the Application object. The Word and Excel documentation states that the third parameter can cancel the execution of the event macro in case a dialog or some other process prevents it from running within a certain time. In Excel, you can schedule a new time in case that happens. Code the Time Event Macro This code in Word is for the administrator who wants to display a notification that the testing time has expired and print the result of the test. Public Sub TestOnTime()Debug.Print The alarm will go off in 10 seconds!Debug.Print (Before OnTime: Now)alertTime Now TimeValue(00:00:10)Application.OnTime alertTime, EventMacroDebug.Print (After OnTime: Now)End SubSub EventMacro()Debug.Print (Executing Event Macro: Now)End Sub This results in the following content in the immediate window: The alarm will go off in 10 seconds!Before OnTime: 12/25/2000 7:41:23 PMAfter OnTime: 12/25/2000 7:41:23 PMExecuting Event Macro: 2/27/2010 7:41:33 PM Option for Other Office Apps Other Office applications dont implement OnTime. For those, you have several choices. First, you can use the Timer function, which simply returns the number of seconds since midnight on your PC, and does your own math, or you can use Windows API calls. Using Windows API calls has the advantage of being more precise than Timer. Heres a routine suggested by Microsoft that does the trick: Private Declare Function getFrequency Lib kernel32 _Alias QueryPerformanceFrequency (cyFrequency As Currency) As LongPrivate Declare Function getTickCount Lib kernel32 _Alias QueryPerformanceCounter (cyTickCount As Currency) As LongSub TestTimeAPICalls()Dim dTime As DoubledTime MicroTimerDim StartTime As SingleStartTime TimerFor i 1 To 10000000Dim j As Doublej Sqr(i)NextDebug.Print (MicroTimer Time taken was: MicroTimer - dTime)End SubFunction MicroTimer() As Double Returns seconds.Dim cyTicks1 As CurrencyStatic cyFrequency As CurrencyMicroTimer 0 Get frequency.If cyFrequency 0 Then getFrequency cyFrequency Get ticks.getTickCount cyTicks1 SecondsIf cyFrequency Then MicroTimer cyTicks1 / cyFrequencyEnd Function

Price Waterhouse Coopers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Price Waterhouse Coopers - Essay Example It is also the perspective that individuals view their organization and its environment (Baligh 7-10). The objectives of the organization determine the different ways in which an organization can be structured (Fenez 4-6). PwC organization structure is structured in a way to determine the mode in which it operates and performs. Its organization structure lets this enormous company to express the allocation of the responsibilities for different functions and processes to different entities, which involve the branch,  department,  workgroup,  and individual (Fenez 4). The following structures show the organization structure of the company depending with country. ... erience Senior partner China & Hong Kong Senior partner Germany Senior partner United Kingdom Senior partner United States Director Technology Although success has prevailed failure in PWC, the company has in several occasions been on the lime light for its actions. For instance in 1990, Internal Revenue Service seized most of the assets of Willie Nelson who they claimed that he owned $32 million in back taxes. However, this was not the case since these were disallowable by IRS and on suing PWC Willie got a fat sum for damages. Nevertheless, PWC is one firm that provides services to like Academy of Motion Pictures arts and Sciences, which makes it the tabulator and certifier of votes for the Academy awards since 1934. An article Over Cutting Corporation Tax Rate by BBC, on 8 August 2011, quotes the PwC Company explaining the various implications of cutting Scotland’s rate of corporation tax being highly complex. The article features PwC Company giving the advisory role to the government and the entities involved. In this article, the company examines the various effects of cuts in Northern Ireland where a new rate of just 12.5% was proposed (BBC News). The comments by PwC followed similar comments echoed by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which argued that matching Northern Ireland's proposals could cost Scottish taxpayers about ?2.6bn a year a claim that was dismissed by the Scottish government. PwC mission statements and ideas were well communicated. The role communicated in this case was to give a sense of direction on where the country was headed to after it adjusted its corporation tax. The mission of the PwC Company is to provide intellectual expertise to the various agencies and individuals who need it (BBC News). In a second article by BBC News Company dated

What insight does the theory of internal colonialism offer into the Essay

What insight does the theory of internal colonialism offer into the processes which led to the formation of the United Kingdom - Essay Example In addition, religion, language, ethnicity or another cultural factor may have set this internal colony apart and the members left out of government and other political processes. When the colonial period ended, the term was used for regions where sovereign government exploited the economically backward and ethnically unique. This paper examines the notion of internal colonialism, and how it brought about the creation of the United Kingdom. 2. The effects subjugated on the culture and society of the colonized members. This is quite apart from a result of natural mixing with the group. The colonizing group initiates a strategy to transform, constrain or obliterate native values, orientations, and the old way of life. 3. Successful colonization necessitates a relationship where people of the colonized group allow themselves, without continuous revolt, to be governed and supervised by the colonizers with regards to their ethnic position. 4. The practice of racism. It is a feature of social domination and exploitation by one group over another who is viewed as inferior or different with regards to certain biological features. Such a group is controlled, and oppressed socially and physically by the superior group Theories of internal colonialism are diverse and numerous attempts have been made to put them into perspective. In an effort to explain them, Robert J. Hind says that the theories give many reasons, descriptions and inferences and falsely assume a great deal of harmony among both the natives and colonizers. There is also a tendency to reduce the intricate social organization to simple terms. These theories overlook the fact that for capitalism to expand, colonialism is a necessary evil. Rodolfo Stavenhagen says that a certain degree of social polarization combined with disproportionate development is necessary for capitalism to further itself. Thus, internal colonialism that prevails in a number of nations

American Home Products Corporation Essay Example for Free

American Home Products Corporation Essay American Home Product Corporation (AHP), a highly growing American company, has four business lines: prescription drugs, packaged drugs, food products, house wares and household products. Its policies include: -A tight financial control and maintained an aggressive capital structure policy. Make money for its stockholders and to maximize profits by minimizing cost. It has been able to finance internally its growth while paying a very high portion of its earning to its shareholders (60%). Currently, AHP seems to have no business risk but may face a certain risk in the long run. Based on the ratios shown on the attached sheet, AHP should not worry about business risk since its working capital is very healthy ($1472.8 million) and cash excess $233 million. The high ROA, high profit margin, low current-to-asset ratio and 49.71 collection days show that AHP can generate cash quickly, thus it can maintain current high growth rate. However, it’s decreasing annual sales growth from 14.1% in 1978 to 8.8% in 1981 (exhibit 1) shows that it faces future risk of losing market shares in all its business lines if it does not foresee competition and continues to focus on increasing stockholders’ value. AHP’s current financial performance is very good since it has high ROE (30.3), high quick ratio (42.68), low debt-to-equity ratio (0.09) and low debt-to-asset ratio (0.01). However, an analysis of different debt ratios shows that if AHP increases debt ratio, it will face a financial risk of increased debt-to-equity and debt-to-asset ratios. In other words, it will face solvency problems in long terms. AHP also face liquidity problems since the quick ratios decrease when the debt ratios increase. 2 The proposed mechanism follows a dual mechanism of leveraging:- (a) Increase the Debt Equity Ratio. (b) Buy back the shares. This also results in the following:- (i) Improves EPS as the amount gets shared by lesser number of shares. (ii)Improves Price / earnings ratio (iii) The excess capital gets utilized. (iv)Sends a +ve signal to the market and share prices likely to increase. (v) Improves Return on Equity ratio. The calculations enclosed indicate that the best option in accordance with the company stated policy would be to have Debt-Equity Ratio of 70%. Shareholders’ value increases when debt ratios increase. EPS increases from $3.18 to $3.49. The dividend payout ratio also increases from 0.597 to 0.602. Similarly, the dividend yield from 0.063 to 0.070. It means that the company can increase shareholders’ value by increasing debt ratios. However the following needs to be considered:- (i) The valued net worth of the firm which decreases may not convey the correct picture to the investor and thus negating the positive signals of buy back of shares. (ii) The firm has no strategy related to RD in new products and focuses on me-too products thus constituting a large business risk. (iii) The firm would reduce the cash to debt ratio substantially exposing itself to financial risk. The closest competitor has Debt – Equity Ratio of 30% which if taken as a benchmark gives a conservative method of deciding the proposed leveraging, however this does not maximize the shareholder value, but is in line with the strong conservatism philosophy of the firm. It also gives a better Return on Assets ratio and has a safer Debt to Cash ratio. Even though AHP has a very good current financial performance, it should change the financial policy to increase debt ratio at a certain level. To meet the goal of increasing shareholders’ value, AHP should not use its excess cash flow to repurchase its stocks because this is only a temporary solution and may generate serious financial problems in the long run. Instead, AHP should use this excess cash to invest in profitable projects to improve its current products and launch new products that meet current market demands. By doing so, AHP can minimize the business risk, prepare itself for competition and increase sales growth. On the other hands, AHP should increase debt ratio to a certain level that is suitable for its  business to increase shareholders’ value. Also it should continue to exercise tight monetary policies as earlier to pay off the debt in a disciplined manner This solution does not bring financial risk to AHP but enable it to minimize business risk. If AHP remains only concerned about how to increase shareholders’ value and ignores market threats, it might lose its business to its competitors.

Dyslexia Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Dyslexia Choosing a topic for my research project was quite easy. Dyslexia naturally presented itself, probably because I have a mild case myself. I thought of it as a good omen when typing the word â€Å"dyslexia† into an internet search engine, I spelled it â€Å"dsylexia†. Of course I was troubled when the computer reported zero matches, but I caught my mistake, and tried again, this time more successfully. My dyslexia is really very minor, and has not presented too much difficulty for me. I often reverse numbers, which is annoying when dealing with phone numbers, and I am a terrible speller, which may well be related to my dyslexia. However, people with severe cases are presented with a serious handicap, making reading, writing, listening and language comprehension difficult (1,2). Despite normal intelligence levels, dyslexics often feel stupid and have self-esteem problems, because of the difficulty they experience in reading and writing (1). Dyslexia was first described in 1896 by Pringle Morgan of Sussex, England, who described a 14 year old boy who â€Å"has always been a bright and intelligent boy, quick at games, and in no way inferior to others of his age. His great difficulty has been--and is now--his inability to learn to read.†(5) This was the first description of the disorder, which exposes the curious problem of intelligent, motivated people unable to learn basic reading skills. Dyslexia’s most diagnosable feature is a pronounced disparity between intelligence and scholastic success, particularly reading. Reading involves rapid association of symbols (letters and letter combinations) with the 44 phonemes ( the smallest unit of discernible sound) of the English language, which must in turn be assembled into... ... 1) http://www.dyslexiao nline.com/dyslexia.html#what From Dyslexia Online 2) http://www. ldonline.org/ld_indepth/reading/reading-4.html From Orton Dyslexia Society 3) http://www .ldonline.org/ld_indepth/reading/nih_report.html From Learning Disabilities Online 4) http://www.ldonline.o rg/ccld/ld/ldresearch.html From Learning Disabilities Online 5) http://www.sciam.com /1196issue/1196shaywitz.html From Scientific American Dyslexia article 6) http://www.dyslexia.com/ From Dyslexia.com an advocate site 7) http ://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/news/brain7_9_96.html From a review of an article published in Nature 8) http://www.merck.com/!!ucy831YlLucy831YlL/pubs/mmanual/html/iomhgeeg.htm From the Merck Manual 9) http://www.interdys.org/ articles.stm#content From the International Dyslexia Association Dyslexia Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers Dyslexia Choosing a topic for my research project was quite easy. Dyslexia naturally presented itself, probably because I have a mild case myself. I thought of it as a good omen when typing the word â€Å"dyslexia† into an internet search engine, I spelled it â€Å"dsylexia†. Of course I was troubled when the computer reported zero matches, but I caught my mistake, and tried again, this time more successfully. My dyslexia is really very minor, and has not presented too much difficulty for me. I often reverse numbers, which is annoying when dealing with phone numbers, and I am a terrible speller, which may well be related to my dyslexia. However, people with severe cases are presented with a serious handicap, making reading, writing, listening and language comprehension difficult (1,2). Despite normal intelligence levels, dyslexics often feel stupid and have self-esteem problems, because of the difficulty they experience in reading and writing (1). Dyslexia was first described in 1896 by Pringle Morgan of Sussex, England, who described a 14 year old boy who â€Å"has always been a bright and intelligent boy, quick at games, and in no way inferior to others of his age. His great difficulty has been--and is now--his inability to learn to read.†(5) This was the first description of the disorder, which exposes the curious problem of intelligent, motivated people unable to learn basic reading skills. Dyslexia’s most diagnosable feature is a pronounced disparity between intelligence and scholastic success, particularly reading. Reading involves rapid association of symbols (letters and letter combinations) with the 44 phonemes ( the smallest unit of discernible sound) of the English language, which must in turn be assembled into... ... 1) http://www.dyslexiao nline.com/dyslexia.html#what From Dyslexia Online 2) http://www. ldonline.org/ld_indepth/reading/reading-4.html From Orton Dyslexia Society 3) http://www .ldonline.org/ld_indepth/reading/nih_report.html From Learning Disabilities Online 4) http://www.ldonline.o rg/ccld/ld/ldresearch.html From Learning Disabilities Online 5) http://www.sciam.com /1196issue/1196shaywitz.html From Scientific American Dyslexia article 6) http://www.dyslexia.com/ From Dyslexia.com an advocate site 7) http ://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/news/brain7_9_96.html From a review of an article published in Nature 8) http://www.merck.com/!!ucy831YlLucy831YlL/pubs/mmanual/html/iomhgeeg.htm From the Merck Manual 9) http://www.interdys.org/ articles.stm#content From the International Dyslexia Association

Disaster Recovery Planning in Banking Sector Essay

On September 11, 2001, the terrorist attack destroyed the World Trade Center in New York, which was the most highly concentrated financial area. This attack not only destroyed the twin towers, but also ruined the financial system. Banks located in the World Trade Center went through an unprecedented disaster. The company’s back-up facilities which were too close to the primary facilities were disrupted as the primary facilities. Single points of failure in perceived diverse routing resulted in failed back-up communications systems. Because of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, there is significant increased focus on the disaster recovery plan. (Robert Bronner, 1997) According to Robert Bronner, banks were among the earliest adopters of information technology in the business world. The widely use of information technology in the bank system forced a new industry – the disaster recovery industry. Disaster recovery plan is an important part of bank business continuity plan. It is a processes or set of procedures that help firms prepare for disruptive events. The goal of the plan is recover and protect a business IT facilities, such as the network, document management system, and core system, in the disruptive events. Those events include both natural disaster such as earthquake and man-made disasters such as power outage. It is impossible that a bank can always avoid disasters, so the disaster recovery plan plays an important role after a bank suffer a disaster. With a careful plan will effetely help the bank to minimize downtime and data loss to ensure some level of organizational stability and an orderly recovery after a disaster will prevail. The Automated Clearinghouse Association was formed by 7 Philadelphia-based banks in the mid-1970s for the sole purpose focus on how to manage bank’s data recovery when bank’s computer systems go down. This group started the disaster recovery industry in 1987 by SunGard Recovery Services. The Important of Disaster Recovery Plan The disaster recovery plan is important to the bank, because the benefits it can obtained from the drafting of a disaster recovery plan. The basic benefits of a disaster recovery plan include (â€Å"disaster recovery plan†): (1) Providing a sense of security (2) Minimizing risk of delays (3) Guaranteeing the reliability of standby systems (4) Providing a standard for testing the plan (5) Minimizing decision-making during a disaster (6) Reducing potential legal liabilities (7) Lowering unnecessarily stressful work environment Disaster recovery plan is a critical proactive approach to banks. Because the objective of the disaster recovery plan is protect the bank do minimize loss during the disaster, planning is vital to the disaster recovery plan. The type of disaster recovery plan can be variety, but all of them should follow three basic measures (1) preventive measures, (2) detective measures, and (3) corrective measures. The purpose of the first measures is to prevent a disaster from occurring. This measure is focus on identify and reduce risks. Preventive aimed to stop a disaster before happening. These measure try to identify the risks before it happens and reduce the happen ratio. To achieve the prevention purpose, the measures may include keeping data backed up and off site, using surge protectors, installing generators and conducting routine inspections. Detective measures are used to find the presence of any unwanted events among the IT infrastructure. They focus on the unfound new potential threa ts. These measures include installing fire alarms, using up-to-date antivirus software, holding employee training sessions, and installing server and network monitoring software. The system which is focus on restores a system after a disaster or otherwise unwanted event takes place is corrective measures. There measures may include keeping critical documents in the Disaster Recovery Plan or securing proper insurance policies, after a â€Å"lessons learned† brainstorming session. (â€Å"Disaster recovery plan†) Banking industry certainly needs the Disaster Recovery Plan. The research shows that among 170 disasters recoveries, 45 were for banks in the last 10 years. (Robert Bronner, 1997) In 2012, hurricane Sandy highlights  the bank’s need for disaster recovery planning. Sandy struck the East Coast of Manhattan, where is the location of Wall Street. Many banks’ headquarter located on the East Coast, such as Citi and Bank of American, were flooded under water. The financial markets in New York City were closed for at least two days cause loss of millions of dollars. Disasters are unexpected and costly, so the planning is critical for the bank to reduce loss from disasters. Disaster recovery is of particular importance for the banks than other businesses because the huge demand of services during times of community disaster. The average bank is multi-plat formed, with multiple locations and varied operations and computer applications. For example, Chase Bank has over 19,500 ATMS and 5,600 branches across the country. Mergers and acquisitions make the bank facing a more complicated situation. Mergers and acquisitions have caused banks to endure more different kinds of applications. Basically, banks run 20 to 30 critical applications simultaneously. When organizations merger or are acquired, a bank may run 40 to 60, double than before, critical application at the same time. Furthermore, because the bank’s global expanding, the banks operations become more decentralized that expands their reach beyond the back office into satellite locations. Last, banks are still relying heavily on paper. For example, the bank often needs the copy for its customers’ copy of ID. If a bank suffers a disaster, what would happen to these decentralized operations and manifold applications? What happens to the many paper transactions in branches that have not entered the central system? As soon as the disaster happened, no matter its man-made or natural, despite of its local or nation, it can disrupt critical business operations significantly for weeks and sometimes months. Thorough preparation can shorten recovery time dramatically and keep banking operations ongoing. (Robert Bronner, 1997) The planning methodology According to Geoffrey H. Wold of the Disaster Recovery Planning Process, 1997, an integrated plan should include 10 steps 1. Obtain Top Management Commitment Top management in the bank must support and involved when developing  a disaster recovery plan. Managements have the responsibility to supervise the plan developing process and confirm the final disaster recovery planning is effective within the bank. The process of developing the plan should include enough time and adequate material resources. Resources could include both financial considerations and the effort of all personnel involved. This process requires the bank to hire educated managers who has knowledge about disaster recovery. If the top manager doesn’t know about disaster recovery, the final disaster recovery plan, which has the participation of the top manager, can be poor. 2. Establishing a planning committee After the draft of the disaster recovery plan is finished, the bank need to build a planning committee. The function of the planning committee is overseeing the development and implementation of the disaster recovery plan. The planning should consider all functional areas of the organization and effect represent them. The committee members should include the operations manager and the data processing manager. The employee is the first thing the bank should think about when develops a disaster recovery plan. What employee most concern about? The safety of families and personal property. As long as those two areas are safe, the employee can focus on the safety of the employer and its customers’ property. So when the management making the disaster recovery plans, they should include essentials such as shelter, medical insurance, pension, as well as counseling and information on the disaster recovery plan. The committee should ensure the final disaster recovery plan include a plan to ensure the safety of the employee’s family and property. 3. Perform a risk assessment Risk analysis and business impact analysis are important parts of planning committee. They should contain the range of possible disasters for natural, technical, and human threats. The committee should analysis every functional area of the organization’s potential consequence and influence associated with different disaster scenarios. Furthermore, the safety of critical document and vital records should be evaluated, too. For example, fire always be considered the greatest threat to an organization, so many  banks buy the fire insurance. However, even the flood is infrequently, it still has a chance to happen. One of the reasons the Sandy cost huge loss is many banks located at Wall Street don’t have bought insurance for flood. The disaster recovery plan should consider the â€Å"worst case† situation. 4. Establish priorities for processing and operations Critical needs are the necessary equipment and procedures used to recover the daily operations of a department, such as main facility or computer center when it suffered a disaster. The critical needs for each department within a bank should evaluate the areas include: functional operations, key personnel, information, processing systems, service, documentation, vital records, policies and procedures. Analysis the processing and operations to decide the maximum amount need f time each department of bank can operate without each critical system. To determining the critical needs for a department, the bank can document all the functions performed by every departments. As soon as the primary functions have been determined, the operations and processes should be ranked in the order of essential, important, and non-essential. (Robert Bronner, 1997) Location is the first critical consideration of a recovery plan. A bank’s recovery plan should include geographically independent relocations sites for every work group. (Robert Bronner, 1997) The consideration of the location include whether it is easy to access to other facilities, Data center professionals may work in an urban area and be more willing to travel or relocate. The recovery locations should be planned both for the data center environment and satellite locations. 5. Determine Recovery Strategies The researched and evaluated processing alternatives are the most practical alternatives for processing. In order to make an effective recovery strategy, the bank must consider facilities, hardware, software, communications, data files, customer services, user operations, MIS, End-user systems, and other processing operations of the organization. Furthermore, the bank should consider its computer function. Hot sites, warm sites, cold sites, reciprocal agreements, tow data center, consortium arrangement, and vendor supplied equipment are the alternatives for  evaluation of the computer function. The third elements should be prepared is the written agreements for the specific recovery. The example of special considerations include: contract duration, termination conditions, testing, costs, special security procedures, notification of system changes, hours of operation, and specific hardware and other equipment required for processing. 6. Perform Data Collection The basic data collected for disaster recovery plan includes backup position listing, critical telephone numbers, communications inventory, distribution register, variety types of inventory, master call list and vendor list, notification checklist, software and data files backup/retention schedules, temporary location specifications, and materials and documentation. That information are helpful to develop pre0formatted forms to facilitate the data gathering process. According to Robert F Bronne of the banking industry and disaster recovery plan, 1997: the inside data central is no longer enough for the bank, with the expansion of bank, the bank needs the data beyond the inside data center. The remote of the working group of the remote locations should be part of the entire disaster recovery plan. The equipment and system in the remote locations should be accounted in the recovery plan. What is more, business recovery move advance to restoring and recreating business process. For example, the â€Å"quick ship† type of program that allows them to ship personal computers and related equipment to a designated recovery site within 48 hours of the declared disaster. 7. Organize and document a written plan The disaster plan should be written in a standard form. The plan should include an outline of the plan’s contents. The managements should review and approve the outline. Then, the procedures and the documentation should be written in the plan based on the standard format. It is helpful to create a consistent format and allows for continuing maintenance of the disaster recovery plan. The plan should be used before, during, and after a disaster. It should include methods for maintaining and updating the plan to reflect any significant internal, external or systems changes and structured  using a team approach. 8. Develop testing criteria and procedures After a disaster plan is created, it should be tested and evaluated on a regular basis. The tests will provide the organization with the assurance that all necessary steps are included in the plan. Furthermore, it helps to determining the feasibility and compatibility of backup facilities and procedures, identifying areas in the plan that need modification, providing training to the team managers and team members, demonstrating the ability of the organization to recover, and providing motivation for maintaining and updating the disaster recovery plan. 9. Test the Plan After testing criteria have been completed, the bank should test the disaster recovery plan. A good bank’s recovery plan doesn’t means it works well in the reality. The test will provide additional information about the continuing steps, reasonable adjustment to the original plan. Each functional department of bank should be tested. The bank’s size and rate of organizational change decide the frequency of testing. Usually, small banks have low frequency of testing; they may do testing once per year. Larger banks have high frequency; they perform exercises two or three times a year or stretch an annual test over several days. There are four main types of tests: checklist test, simulation test, parallel tests, and full interruption tests. The actual disaster is a true test to bank. It is similar to simulation tests, but more authentic than the simulation tests. Banks should document recovery efforts, evaluate results, and refine plans accordingly carefully. 10. Approve the plan. The last step of making disaster recovery plan is approving the plan. After the written and tested, the plan should be approved by top-management. The top management has responsibility to establishing policies and comprehensive contingency planning. Also, the management should reviewing and approving the contingency plan annually and writes a review paper for the plan. If the information is come from a service bureau,  management should evaluate the adequacy of contingency plans for its service bureau and ensure that its contingency plan is compatible with its service bureau’s plan. Conclusion With the expansion of financial industry, banks become more sophisticated technology users; the disaster recovery plan will play a more important role in the banking sector. The bank’s disaster recovery plan can help the bank to mining the lost due to an unexpected disaster and recover the bank back to use as soon as possible, but it acquired the bank to plan a disaster recovery plan system and effectively before the disaster happens. An effective disaster plan is made under the strict requirement in operate in planning, assessment, writing, and testing process. Nobody can estimate when the disaster will come, the disaster recovery plan is both a prevention method and insurance to decreasing the potential exposures and recover the organization for the bank. Work Cites 1. Bronner, Robert F. â€Å"Banking Industry and Disaster Recovery Planning.† Banking Industry and Disaster Recovery Planning. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. . 2. â€Å"Disaster Recovery Plan.† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 June 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. . 3. Wold, Geoffrey H. â€Å"Disaster Recovery Planning Process Part 1 of 3.† Disaster Recovery Planning Process Part 1 of 3. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. .

Review intermediate macroecon

How do we measure standard of living Measuring the standard of living in a country is to use real national income per capita. This is found that dividing real national income (GAP or GNP) by the total population. 2. How can European unemployment be reduced? Central bank should decrease interest rates, and allow for an increase in demand, and unemployment would decrease. They need to be less protective, to eliminate these labor market rigidities, and to adopt US style labor market institutions 3. What are the benefits of the Euro?No more changes in the relative price of currencies for European firms to worry about, no more need to change currencies when crossing borders. 4. What has contributed to the high economic growth of China? A. The first Is high accumulation of capital. The Investment rate exceeds 40% of output, a high number. Compared to US which Is 17%. More capital means higher productivity and higher output. B. The second is rapid technological progress. By making Chinese f irms work with and learn from foreign firms, the productivity of the Chinese firms has increase dramatically. Chapter 2 1.What Is GAP, value added approach A measure of aggregate output in the national income accounts (The market value of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the US) VALUE ADDED: Sales – Intermediate goods Intermediate GOOD: is a good used in production of another good. Some goods can be both final goods and intermediate goods. (EX: Final: Potatoes sold directly to consumers/ Intermediate: Potatoes used to produce potato chips) 2. Nominal and Real GAP Nominal: sum of quantities of final goods produced times their current price. Nominal GAP increases over time for 2 reasons: a.Production of most goods increase ever time. B. Prices of most goods also increase over time. Real: Sum of quantities of final goods times constant (rather than current prices) 3. GAP Deflator: the ratio of nominal GAP to real GAP in year t ICP: The cost of a given list of goods and services consumed by a typical urban dweller Inflation: A sustained rise in the general level of prices Inflation rate: The rate at which the price level increase over time. 4. Labor Force and Discourage workers Labor Force: The sum of those employed and those unemployed Discourage Workers: A person who has given up looking for employment. . Unemployment rate and Labor force participation rate Unemployment rate: The ratio of the number of unemployed to the labor force Labor Force Participation rate: The ratio of the labor force to the total population of working age (non-institutional civilian population) Chapter 3 1. MAC, multiplier (CLC): The effect on consumption of an additional dollar of disposable income 2. Consumption function A function that relates consumption to its determinants 3. Determination of output in Goods Market 4. Keynesian cross 5. What shifts the Z line 6. Determinants of Investment 7. Shifts of the IS curve

john adams book critique essays

john adams book critique essays McCullough, David (2001). John Adams. Simon and Schuster. John Adams was an interesting outlook on the life of John Adams. It displayed his life in a most memorable way that gives the reader a true account of John Adams life and trials he had to overcome to make the United States what it is today. In reading this, we understand about the barriers our fore fathers had to rise above as well as the consequences they overcame for their freedom. Being born to a rich mother and a Deacon father on October 30, 1735 at his familys farm in Braintree, Massachusetts. Adams took to reading and writing early in life. He recorded daily everything that happened in a journal, which ended up being more than a four-volume autobiography. He loved his familys farm in Braintree, and visited there often as an adult. Harvard College was where Adams attended and it took several years to decide what career he wanted to follow. He chose to become a teacher in Worcester right after he graduated. Adams soon learned that the teachers life was not the life for him. His new job put him around many influential people that persuaded him to study law. After Adams was admitted to the Suffolk County Bar, he thought of himself as a fair and thoughtful lawyer. Boston was sinking into rebellion by the 1760s. The British Parliament began to pass taxes intended for the French and Indian War. The book talked about a series of measures taken to create an increasingly hostile environment in the Massachusetts port city. It seemed that people depended on Adams and his ability to draft their complaints even after he defended the troops that opened fire in the Boston Massacre. Adams was elected to serve at the First Continental Congress. Its no surprise that he impressed his fellow delegates. He nominated George Washington to command a new Continental Army. Adams traveled overseas to gain alliance with France and asked for assist...

Whaling May Result in Weals

Whaling May Result in Weals Whaling May Result in Weals Whaling May Result in Weals By Maeve Maddox Commenting on the Whelps are Puppies post, Anthony Patterson, MD had this to add to our vocabulary for talking about raised places on the skin: Regarding whelps your article is of course quite correct. Â  However, in medical school, I was taught it was an inappropriate substitution for wheal which is a more or less round and evanescent elevation of the skinwith the emphasis on evanscent as it is a sign of urticaria [hives] (Tabors Medical Dictionary). In writing the post I failed to mention the familiar word weal; the medical term wheal is new to me. Apparently both weal and wheal are related to wale and whale (in the sense of whipping or beating). Wale comes from an Old English word meaning ridge, as in The knight rode over the ridge. Later it came to mean ridge made on flesh by a lash. In the 13th century the wooden platform made to hold mounted guns was called the gonne walle (gunwale). In the 16th century the word wale came to be used in the manufacture of textiles to describe the ridges in a fabric like corduroy. Weal, in the sense of a raised mark on skin is documented from 1821 as an alteration of wale. (NOTE: The word weal has other meanings which are worthy of a post to themselves.) wheal, a mark made on the skin by a whip is documented from 1808. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, wheal is probably an alteration of wale, possibly by confusion with weal welt, and obsolete wheal pimple, pustule (1440), from O.E. verb hwelian to form pus, bring to a head. As pointed out by our reader, in modern medical use a wheal is a flat, usually circular, hard elevation of the skin, especially that which is characteristic of urticaria. According to the OED, the wheal is so called because it resembles the wheal raised on the skin by a blow. The earliest example in the OED of the verb to whale in the sense of beating severely is documented from 1790: 1790 Grose, Provincial Glossary: whale, to beat with a horsewhip or pliant stick. 1801 G. Hanger, Life: Whaleing [sic] a gentleman is but a vulgar revenge. 1884 Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn: He used to always whale me when he was sober and could get his hands on me. The OED also has an entry for wale as a verb meaning to mark (the flesh) with wales or weals and gives this example from 1634: O my blessed Saviour, was it not enough that thy sacred body was stripped of thy garments, and waled with bloudy stripes? A dark side to this etymological foray is that the evolution of these words took place in times when whipping was such a regular event that most people had seen what it does to a persons back. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:30 Religious Terms You Should Know50 Diminutive Suffixes (and a Cute Little Prefix)Educational vs. Educative

Evaluation of Science and Technology Policies Essay

Evaluation of Science and Technology Policies - Essay Example A number of measures, called performance indicators are usually invented in order to simplify the evaluation process and make it more easily readable by non-expert groups (e.g. investors). "Simply put, performance indicators are measures that describe how well a programme is achieving its objectives Indicators are usually quantitative measures but may also be qualitative observations. They define how performance will be measured along a scale or dimension" (USAID Center for Development Information and Evaluation, 1996). The question that is raised in this essay can be formulated as follows: is it possible to rely on performance indicators without evaluation itself, and what will be the consequences To answer that question, the essay clarifies at first a concept of evaluation, its development in research policy, its relations with performance indicators (PI), limitations of PI, and finally demonstrates with the help of two examples that the substitution of evaluation with merely PI wi ll lead to the decline of investor-funded science itself. Let us at first get acquainted with the concept of evaluation answering a simple question: what is the evaluation and why do we need it in research Generally the evaluation can be defined as follows: Evaluation is the systematic acquisition and assessment of information to provide useful feedback about some object" (Trochim, 2002). So, in other words, evaluation provides the interested parties with the feedback, which will be useful, i.e. will help in the decision-making process. This leads us to the answer on the second part of the expressed question: evaluation is needed in research to make the funding policy more effective. If the evaluation processes provide the correct feedback about the usefulness of candidate scientific projects then the most 'useful' projects will receive funding, which will lead to the development of 'useful' science. The word 'useful' is placed in quotation marks advisedly, as it is also an important question: what science can be called useful However, thi s question leaves out of the scope of this essay. Initially, evaluation can be divided into two types: formative and summative. Whereas formative evaluation examine the delivery of the project or technology, the quality of its implementation, and the assessment of the organizational context, personnel, procedures, inputs, and so on, the summative evaluation analyses the effects of the project, determining its overall impact (Trochim, 2002). Each of these types benefits from the use of performance indicators, because to determine both the implementation and the impact a number o measures have to be devised. Development of evaluation It is evident that the evaluation process itself constantly endures changes. To put it differently, the accent of evaluation changes in accordance with the current research evaluation policy. "In most European countries an "evaluation culture" in science, technology and innovation policies has evolved since the 1980s, including the ex post evaluation of research programmes and other policy initiatives, the evaluation of R&D centres and universities, and the evaluation of R&D funding agencies. (Kuhlmann, 2000)" Rip characterises the changes of R&D evaluation through the use of triangular metric with accountability, strategic change,

Aviation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Aviation - Case Study Example Most people avoid the airport if they have urgent business. The reason for these delays has been blamed on the capacity of the airport visa vie the growing demand. Possible revenue has been lost by the airport due to the delay. The problem has been identified and, therefore, measures to curb the problem should be developed. The airport has a potential market and, therefore, investment for redesigning of the terminal and ground access (runway) will be recouped faster. Expansion of the terminal will enhance the speed of security check and other services requisite for the passenger. Ground access give the chance for planes to land and take-off, and this delays plane from landing and departing, extra runways should be constructed for take-off and landing off planes. If the two elements are taken into account ALICE Spring Airport will be more efficient and more passengers will be lured into the airport. Passengers are always time conscious and will choose an airport where processes will be

Albert Einstein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Albert Einstein - Essay Example This only showed that Einstein's determination and intelligence that he was able to make his disadvantage an advantage for him to succeed. His never-say-die attitude should be imitated by individuals who want to succeed despite of difficulties in some aspects of their lives. Another is Einstein is a versatile contributor to human existence, with different contributions on different fields of study. Although he is more known in the study of quantum mechanics in Physics, Einstein also has other gained spotlight in other areas like Religion, Philosophy, Politics, etc. The reason could be because of his gaining popularity which made him an important person to be consulted or be heard on several issues involving social sciences like Philosophy and Politics. Einstein knowledge in science made him invent things and technologies that are useful although some had produced harmful impacts on the human race like the nuclear weapons. Einstein is also notable for his contributions on the field of Mathematics particularly in Geometry. Einstein could have contributed more if he had been employed earlier which according to R. Archer (2005), took Einstein two years before being employed. His contributions also made him earn prestigious awards that only notable persons can attain.

The Gospel Of St. Paul Essay Example for Free

The Gospel Of St. Paul Essay The Apostle of the Gentiles as Saint Paul is revered as, is a persecutor of the followers of Christ, of Christians. It was on his way to Damascus that Jesus Christ revealed Himself to Saul (the Jewish name of Paul). It is in Chapter 22 of the Book of Acts that the incident was narrated when Jesus Christ asked Paul as to why Paul is persecuting the Lord. Hence, the Lord Jesus commanded Paul to go to Ananias where Paul got the message that the Lord has chosen him to spread his Word and declare His name to all pagans and Kings and nations. This revelation that brought about the conversion of Paul is due to the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ to have dwelt in Paul. Paul awakened to the distinction of the life he wishes and is destined to pursue as a Christian compared to his life as a Jew. Being born with the spirit of Jesus Christ at that instance and thenon caused the Word of God to dwell in him It was immediately clear to Paul who is Jesus Christ and how he will communicate to the whole world about him. It is a paramount teaching and admonition of Saint Paul that mankind should listen to the spirit, as he wrote his First Letters to the Thessalonians (Chapter 5 Verse 13). Paul thus was fully empowered and authorized to spread the Word of God and the Knowledge of God. â€Å"Paul sees himself as a charismatic. Consequently his proclamation rests on the power of the spirit and is accompanied by signs and wonders. He was given the grace of the apostolic office. Through this he has special authority that he can exercise with regard to the church, even if he makes only reluctant use of it. † After the conversion and baptism of Paul in Damascus he went to Arabia to prepare for his mission. He returned to Damascus and started preaching which enraged the Jews. Feeling the threat of such anger, Paul visited Peter and the other apostles in Jerusalem. It was Barnabas who introduced Paul to Peter and the other apostles, declaring that Jesus Christ revealed himself to Paul and spoken to him and that Paul had already preached in the named of Jesus Christ. So when Peter and Paul met together with James, Paul learned from them everything about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peter narrated how the event happened and proven as Jesus Christ revealed himself as alive and risen from the dead to hundreds of people So, together with the 12 apostles and the witnesses to Christ’s resurrection, Paul considers his enlightenment as a way of tradition which he relays to those he converts to follow Jesus Christ. â€Å"Tradition was a living and growing thing in the first-century church: the tradition which Paul delivered was fuller than what he received, for he was able to amplify the record of appearances of the risen Lord with his personal testimony. † Peter and the rest of the apostles were wary about Paul as he was known to be a persecutor of Christians. Yet, they all felt and believed that they are indeed being made to be united for the mission that is to declare the Word of God. Paul and the apostles met with the Council of Jerusalem where they encountered the profound issue of the Mosaic Law – the commandments of God has handed down to Moses. One of the mandates that the Jews standby firm is that salvation will only be attained after circumcision in the manner of Moses. The law must be strictly adhered to and the people of Jerusalem believes no other means to heaven. â€Å"The law had a special relationship with Israel, particularly to protect and discipline Israel in the period from Moses to Christ. But that was a temporary role. It should not be assumed, however, that this is the only function of the law and therefore that the coming of Christ means the abolition of the law† Yet, Paul heard how Peter has explained that belief and living by the Word of God in the way Jesus Christ has taught and exemplified and lived and died for is the true message of salvation. It is in such faith, Peter and the apostles thus attested that God’s miracles and wonders that they have seen and done were made possible. It is to adhere to the Word of God and at the same time avoiding all sins of idolatry and lusts. Paul was further enlightened on what Jesus Christ gospels and teachings are geared to. That God is a forgiving and all knowing God. His Divine Plan for mankind is to live in peace and love amongst each other and to revere His Divinity as one and absolute. And as Paul went about his ministry to propagate the faith in such accord, he was known for the solidity of his thoughts, the fluidity of his message and the sanctity of his feelings for mankind. â€Å"Paul’s theology of God was no abstract speculation but sustained and informed by his own experience in conversion and mission and prayer. It is the integration of intellectual rigour, missionary and pastoral effectiveness, and personal experience which makes his speech about God so compelling. † Paul’s teaching about the goodness of God as exemplified in giving to the world His Only Son by dying on the cross. Yet he expounded on the lesson that death from this life is a transition to another, better life. Paul achieved the realization as he painstakingly preached that Jesus Christ proved that it is in dying that man is born to eternal life. â€Å"The power of Christianity inspired by this faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is hard for us now to realize. Eighteen centuries have intervened between our selves and the living witnesses of the resurrection. But then they were living. And yet there were difficulties which Paul had to encounter, and many of them. It was not plain or easy work. † Thus, the preaching method of Paul ventured on showing and demonstrating the goodness he experienced in his vision of Jesus Christ. His change and his commitment to the Lord were all gifted to him. Jesus Christ became the only basis of his interpretation of the goodness of God; what a true relationship to God is all about. It is because as Paul explained in his Letter to the Galatians in Chapter 1, Verses 12 to 16, his enlightenment and conversion and mission do not come from man but from Jesus Christ. â€Å"The connotation of communicated knowledge is reinforced by the fact that, strictly speaking, what is revealed in v. 12 is the ‘good news’ whereas the purpose of the revelation in v. 16 is ‘to preach good news’. In Paul’s case, conversion and call to ministry are inseparable† Bibliography: Abbott, Lyman. The Life and Letters of Paul the Apostle Boston and New York Houghton, Mifflin and Company The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1898 Becker, Jurgen; Dean, O. C. ; Soards, Marion L. Paul: Apostle of the Gentiles Westminster John Knox Press, 1993 Bruce, Frederick Fyvie. Paul, Apostle of the Heart Set Free Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000 Dunn, James D. G. The Theology of Paul the Apostle Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2006 O’Connor, Jerome Murphy- Paul: A Critical Life Oxford University, 1997 The Holy Bible. King James Version New York: American Bible Society, 1999 New York: Bartleby. com, 2000

The Ramifications of Green Political Thought :: essays research papers

The Ramifications of Green Political Thought According to Andrew Dobson The fundamental concept Andrew Dobson brings out in his novel Green Political Thought, is the revolutionary im-plications of ecologism. Dobson describes ecology as â€Å"deep green thinking.† He asserts that ecologism is a distinctive political ideology, which is separate from environmentalism, just as liberal-ism, conservatism, and socialism are kept separate from one another. He further maintains that what sets ecologism apart from other ideologies is "its focus on the relation-ship between human beings and the non-human natural world." Dobson further states that the purpose of green con-sumerism is to distinguish â€Å"need from want.† The laborious role of a true green society becomes the ability to formu-late strategies that define and reestablish the relation-ships between production and consumption. Without limits to our consumption, catastrophic consequences are inevita-ble for the environment and those who inhabit it. Such af-ter-affects of technological misuse include global warming, deforestation, pesticide poisoning, ozone depletion, acid rain, and species loss. Hence, solutions to remedy these by-products of limited consumption are the basis for con-troversy among people in present day society. Moreover, if the theories of modern ecology and sus-tainability (or lack there of) hold true, the ramifications of this ideology become global. Dobson creatively illus-trates in his book that there are not any simple solutions to correcting the shadowy future that industrialism is be-stowing upon us. The author further emphasizes two criti-cal features in relation to ecology and sustainability. The first is that technological solutions will not bring fourth infinite materials in a finite system. Secondly, the exponential growth of industrialism promises that Earth’s resources are unsustainable in lieu of the growing population. With that having been said, the challenge of the ecological movement is to convince the consensus that change is prudent. The heart of the debate of limited con-sumption involves the tradeoffs required to achieve sus-tainable development. For now, the majority of society would rather leave the grievances of repoliticalization and social change for the f uture generations to deal with, rather than conserving today, in order to plan for tomor-row. Here, I mean conserving in the sense of not merely â€Å"cutting back,† but actually re-thinking the technological processes utilized to achieve the luxuries that we as a so-ciety have become so accustomed to. However, if society resolved to save the world today, the most valued promise of achieving sustainable develop-ment would lie in the following grass-roots efforts which involve: satisfying basic needs, optimum use and protection of the environment, and empowerment of groups and communi-ties.

The Stupidest Angel Chapter 6

Chapter 6 BE OF GOOD CHEER; THEY MIGHT HAVE PUT A TREE UP YOUR BUM The Archangel Raziel found, after some consideration, that he did not care for being run over by a Swedish automobile. As far as things  «dirtside » went, he liked Snickers bars, barbecued pork ribs, and pinochle; he also enjoyed Spider-Man, Days of Our Lives, and Star Wars (although the concept of fictional film eluded the angel and he thought they were all documentaries); and you just couldn't beat raining fire on the Egyptians or smiting the bejeezus out of some Philistines with lightning bolts (Raziel was good with weather), but overall, he could do without missions to Earth, humans and their machines in general, and (now) Volvo station wagons in particular. His broken bones had knit nicely and the deep gouges in his skin were filling in even as he came upon the chapel, but all things considered, he could go a very long time not being run over by a Volvo again and feel just dandy about it. He brushed at the all-weather radial tire print that ran up the front of his black duster and across his angelic face. Licking his lips, he tasted vulcanized rubber, thinking that it wouldn't be bad with hot sauce or perhaps chocolate sprinkles. (There is little variety of flavors in heaven, and an abundance of bland white cake has been served to the heavenly host over the eons, so Raziel had fallen in the habit of tasting things while dirtside, just for the contrast. Once, in the third century B.C., he had consumed the better part of a bucket of camel urine before his friend the Archangel Zoe slapped it out of his hand and informed him that it was, despite the piquant bouquet, nasty.) This wasn't his first Nativity mission. No, in fact, he had been given the assignment of the very first Nativity mission, and due to having stopped on the way to play some pinochle, he'd shown up ten years late, announcing to the prepubescent Son himself that he â€Å"would find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.† Embarrassing? Well, yes. And now, some two thousand years later, he was on another Nativity mission, and he was sure now that he'd found the child, that this one was going to go much more smoothly (for one thing, there were no shepherds to frighten – he'd felt bad about that back then). No, come Christmas Eve the mission would be accomplished, he'd grab a plate of ribs and head back to heaven lickety-split. But first he needed to find the site for the miracle. There were two sheriff's cruisers and an ambulance outside the Barker house when Theo arrived. â€Å"Crowe, where the hell have you been?† the sheriff's deputy was yelling before Theo was even out of the Volvo. The deputy was the second-shift commander; Joe Metz was his name. He had a linebacker frame that he augmented with weight lifting and marathon beer drinking. Theo had encountered him a dozen times in as many years. Their relationship had gone from a mild disregard to an open disrespect – which was pretty much Theo's relationship with everyone in the San Junipero County Sheriff's Department. â€Å"I saw the suspect and made pursuit. I lost him in the woods about a mile east of here.† Theo decided he wasn't going to mention what he'd actually seen. His credibility was thin enough with the sheriff's department. â€Å"Why didn't you call it in? We should have units all over the area.† â€Å"I did. You do.† â€Å"I didn't hear the call go in.† â€Å"I called it in on my cell. My radio's broken.† â€Å"Why don't I know about it?† Theo raised his eyebrows as if to say, Perhaps because you're a big no-necked dumb-ass. At least that's what he hoped the gesture said. Metz looked at the radio on his belt, then turned to disguise his action as he turned a switch. Immediately the voice of the dispatcher came on, calling out for the shift commander. Metz keyed the mike clipped to the epaulet of his uniform shirt and identified himself. Theo stood by, trying not to smile as the dispatcher reported the entire situation again. Theo wasn't worried about the two units that were headed to the woods up by the chapel. He was sure they weren't going to find anyone. Whoever the guy in black was, he had a way of disappearing, and Theo didn't even want to think of the means by which he did it. Theo had gone back to the chapel, where he'd caught a glimpse of the blond man moving through the woods before he was gone again. Theo had called home to make sure that Molly was okay. She was. â€Å"Can I talk to the kid?† Theo asked. â€Å"When the EMTs are done looking at him,† Metz said. â€Å"The mother's on the way. She was out to dinner with the boyfriend in San Junipero. Kid seems okay, just real shaken up, some bruises on his arms where the suspect picked him up, but no other injuries I could see. Kid couldn't say what the guy wanted. There's no property missing.† â€Å"You get a description?† â€Å"The kid keeps giving us names of characters from video games for comparison. What do we know from ‘Mung-fu, the Vanquished'? You get a good look at him?† â€Å"Yeah,† Theo said, forcing a lump out of his throat, â€Å"I'd say Mung-fu is pretty accurate.† â€Å"Don't fuck with me, Crowe.† â€Å"Caucasian, long blond hair, blue eyes, clean-shaven, six foot two, one-eighty, wearing a black duster that goes to the ground. I didn't see his shoes. Dispatch has it all.† Theo kept thinking of the deep gouges in the blond guy's cheeks. He had started to think of him as the â€Å"ghost-bot.† Video games – right. Metz nodded. â€Å"Dispatch says he's on foot. How'd you lose him?† â€Å"The woods are thick up there.† Metz was looking at Theo's belt. â€Å"Where's your weapon, Crowe?† â€Å"I left it in the car. Didn't want to scare the kid.† Without a word, Metz stepped over to Theo's Volvo and opened the passenger-side door. â€Å"Where?† â€Å"Pardon?† â€Å"Where in your unlocked car is your weapon?† Theo felt the last of his energy flow out of him. He just wasn't good at confrontation. â€Å"It's at my house.† Metz smiled now like the bartender had just announced pitchers all around, on the house. â€Å"You know, you might be the perfect guy to go after this suspect, Theo.† Theo hated it when the sheriffs called him by his first name. â€Å"Why's that, Joseph?† â€Å"The kid said he thought the guy might be retarded.† â€Å"I don't get it,† Theo said, trying not to grin. Metz walked away shaking his head. He climbed into his cruiser, then as he was backing past Theo, the passenger window whirred down. â€Å"Write up a report, Crowe. And we need to get a description of this guy to the local schools.† â€Å"It's Christmas break.† â€Å"Dammit, Crowe, they'll be going back to school sometime, won't they?† â€Å"So you don't think your guys will catch him, then?† Without another word Metz whirred up the window and whipped the cruiser out of the driveway as if he'd just received an urgent call. Theo smiled as he walked up to the house. Despite the excitement and terror and outright weirdness of evening, he suddenly felt good. Molly was safe, the kid was safe, the Christmas tree was up at the chapel, and there was just no rush that compared to safely and successfully fucking with a pompous cop. He paused on the top step and considered for a moment that perhaps, after fifteen years in law enforcement himself, he really should have matured past that particular pleasure. Nah. â€Å"Did you ever shoot anybody?† asked Joshua Barker. He was sitting on a bar stool at the kitchen counter. A man in a gray uniform was fussing medical over him. â€Å"No, I'm an EMT,† said the EMT. He ripped the blood-pressure cuff off Josh's arm. â€Å"We help people, we don't shoot them.† â€Å"Did you ever put that blood-pressure thing around someone's neck and pump it till their eyes bugged out?† The EMT looked at Theophilus Crowe, who had just entered the Barkers' kitchen. Theo frowned appropriately. Josh turned his attention to the lanky constable, noting that he had a badge clipped to his belt but no gun. â€Å"You ever shoot anybody?† â€Å"Sure,† Theo said. Josh was impressed. He'd seen Theo around town, and his mom always said hi to him, but he never thought he actually did anything. Not anything cool, anyway. â€Å"None of these guys ever shot anyone.† Josh gestured to the two deputies and the two EMTs stationed around the small kitchen, giving them a look that said the wussies! with the full disdain his soft seven-year-old features could muster. â€Å"You kill the guy?† he asked Theo. â€Å"Yep.† Josh didn't really know where to go now. If he stopped asking questions, he knew that Theo would start asking questions, just like the sheriffs had, and he didn't want to answer any more questions. The blond man had told him not to tell anyone. The sheriff said that the blond man couldn't hurt him, but the sheriff didn't know what Josh knew. â€Å"Your mom is on the way, Josh,† Theo said. â€Å"She'll be here in a few minutes.† â€Å"I know. I talked to her.† To the EMTs and deputies, Theo said, â€Å"Guys, can I talk to Josh alone a minute?† â€Å"We're done here,† the lead medic said, leaving immediately. Both the deputies were young and eager to be asked to do something, even if it was to leave the room. â€Å"We'll be outside writing this up,† said the last one out. â€Å"Sergeant Metz told us to stay until the mother got home.† â€Å"Thanks, guys,† Theo said, surprised at their congeniality. They must not have been on the department long enough to learn to look down on him for being a town constable, an archaic and redundant job, if you asked most area cops. Once they were gone he turned to Josh. â€Å"So tell me about the man who was here.† â€Å"I told those other police.† â€Å"I know. But you need to tell me. What happened. Even the weird stuff you didn't tell them.† Josh didn't like the way Theo seemed to be ready to believe anything. He wasn't being too nice, or talking baby talk like the others. â€Å"There wasn't any weird stuff. I told them.† Josh nodded as he spoke, hoping he'd look more convincing. â€Å"None of that bad touch stuff. I know about that. None of that.† â€Å"I don't mean that kind of stuff, Josh. I mean weird stuff you didn't tell them because it's unbelievable.† Josh really didn't know what to say now. He considered crying, did a test sniffle just to see if he could get things flowing. Theo reached out and took his chin, lifted it so Josh had to look him in the eye. Why did adults do that? Now he'd ask something that would be really hard to lie about. â€Å"What was he doing here, Josh?† Josh shook his head, mostly to get out of Theo's grip, to get away from that adult lie-detector look. â€Å"I don't know. He just came in and grabbed me and then he left.† â€Å"Why did he leave?† â€Å"I don't know, I don't know. I'm just a kid. Because he's crazy or something. Or maybe he's retarded. That's how he talks.† â€Å"I know,† Theo said. â€Å"You do?† He did? Theo leaned in close. â€Å"I saw him, Josh. I talked to him. I know he wasn't like a normal guy.† Josh felt like he'd just taken his first deep breath since he left Sam's house. He didn't like keeping secrets – sneaking home and lying about it would have been enough, but witnessing the murder of Santa, and then that strange blond guy showing up. But if Theo already knew about the blond guy†¦ â€Å"So, so, you saw him glow?† â€Å"Glow? Shit!† Theo stood up and spun around as if he'd been hit in the forehead with a paintball. â€Å"He glowed, too? Shit!† The tall man was moving like a grasshopper locked in a running microwave. Not that Josh would know what that was like, because that would be a cruel thing to do and he would never do something like that, but, you know, someone told him about it once. â€Å"So he glowed?† Theo asked, like he was trying to get this straight. â€Å"No, I didn't mean that.† Josh needed to back out of this. Theo was trippin'. He'd had enough of adults trippin' for one night. Soon his mom would come home to find a bunch of cops in her house and the trip to beat all trips would start. â€Å"I mean he was really mad. You know, like glowing mad.† â€Å"That's not what you meant.† â€Å"It isn't?† â€Å"He really glowed, didn't he?† â€Å"Well, not constantly. Like, for a little while. Then he just stared at me.† â€Å"Why did he leave, Josh?† â€Å"He said he had what he needed now.† â€Å"What was that? What did he take?† â€Å"I don't know.† Josh was beginning to worry about the constable. He looked like he might hurl any second. â€Å"You're sure you want to go with the glowing thing, Constable Crowe? I could be wrong. I'm a kid. We make notoriously unreliable witnesses.† â€Å"Where'd you hear that?† â€Å"CSI.† â€Å"Those guys know everything.† â€Å"They have the coolest stuff.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Theo wistfully. â€Å"You don't get to use cool cop stuff like that, huh?† â€Å"Nope.† Theo was sounding really sad now. â€Å"But you shot a guy, right?† Josh said cheerfully, trying to raise Theo's spirits. â€Å"I was lying. I'm sorry, Josh. I'd better go. Your mom will be home soon. You just tell her everything. She'll look out for you. The deputies will stay with you until she gets here. See ya, kiddo.† Theo ruffled his hair and started out of the kitchen. Josh didn't want to tell her. And he didn't want Theo to go. â€Å"There's something else.† Theo turned and looked back at him. â€Å"Okay, Josh, I'll stick around – ; â€Å"Someone killed Santa Claus tonight,† Josh blurted out. â€Å"Childhood ends too soon, doesn't it, son?† Theo said, putting his hand on Josh's shoulder. If Josh had had a gun, he'd have shot him, but being an unarmed kid, he decided that of all of these adults, the goofy constable might just be the one who would believe what he had seen happen to Santa. The two deputies had come into the house with Josh's mother, Emily Barker. Theo waited until she had hugged most of the breath out of her son, then reassured her that everything was okay and made a quick escape. As he came down the porch steps, he saw something yellow shining by the front tire of his Volvo. He looked back to make sure that neither of the deputies was looking out, then he crouched before the front tire and reached up into the wheel well and pulled out a hank of yellow hair that had caught in the black vinyl dent molding. He quickly shoved it into his shirt pocket and climbed into the car, feeling the hair throbbing against his chest like a living thing. The Warrior Babe of the Outland admitted that she was powerless without her medication and that her life had become unmanageable. Molly checked off the step in Theo's little blue Narcotics Anonymous book. â€Å"Powerless,† she muttered to herself, remembering the time when mutants had chained her to a rock in the den of the behemo-badger in Outland Steel: Kendra's Revenge. If not for the intervention of Selkirk, the rogue sand pirate, her entrails would even now be curing on the salt stalagmites of the badger's cave. â€Å"That would sting, huh?† said the Narrator. â€Å"Shut up, that didn't really happen.† Did it? She remembered it like it did. The Narrator was a problem. The problem, really. If it had just been a little erratic behavior, she might have been able to wing it until the first of the month and go back on her meds without Theo noticing, but when the Narrator showed up, she knew she needed help. She turned to the Narcotics Anonymous book that had been Theo's constant companion when he was battling his pot habit. He talked about working the steps all the time, and how he couldn't have done it without them. She needed to do something to reinforce the rapidly blurring line between Molly Michon, party planner, cookie baker, the retired actress, and Kendra, mutant slayer, head breaker, the warrior temptress. â€Å"‘Step two, † she read. â€Å"‘Come to believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity. † She thought for a moment and looked out the front window of the cabin for the lights from Theo's car. She really hoped she could get through all twelve steps before he got home. â€Å"Nigoth the Worm God shall be my higher power,† she declared, snatching her broken broadsword from the coffee table and waving it in defiance at the Sony Wega TV that mocked her darkly from the corner. â€Å"In Nigoth's name shall I sally forth, and woe unto any mutant or sand pirate that crosses my path, for his life shall be sacrificed and his bloody balls shall decorate the totem tree of my lodge.† â€Å"And the wicked shall cower before the grandeur of your dirt-striped and well-shaped thighs,† said the Narrator, with robust enthusiasm. â€Å"Goes without saying,† Molly said. â€Å"Okay, step three. ‘Turn your life over to God as you understand Him. â€Å" â€Å"Nigoth requires a sacrifice,† cried the Narrator. â€Å"A limb! Cut it from your body and impale it still twitching upon the worm god's fiery purple horn.† Molly shook her head to rattle the Narrator around a little. â€Å"Dude,† she said. Molly seldom  «duded » anyone. Theo had picked up the word on his patrol of Pine Cove's skateboard park and now used it generally to express incredulity at the audacity of someone's statement or behavior – the correct inflection on the word would convey Doood, please, you've got to be joking or hallucinating, or both, to even suggest such a thing. (Lately Theo had been doing some testing on â€Å"Yo, dat's wack, yo.† But Molly had forbade its use outside of the house, for, as she pointed out, there is little more off-putting than the sound of hip-hop vernacular coming out of the mouth of a white, fortysomething, goony bird of a man. â€Å"Albatross of a man, yo,† Theo had corrected.) Thusly duded, the Narrator bid devotion down. â€Å"A finger, then! The severed finger of a Warrior Babe – â€Å" â€Å"Not a chance,† Molly said. ‘A lock of hair! Nigoth requires – â€Å" â€Å"I was thinking I'd light a candle to symbolize that I'm turning myself over to my higher power.† And to illustrate her sincerity, she took a disposable lighter off the coffee table and lit one of the scented candles she kept on a tray at the table's center. â€Å"A snotty Kleenex, then!† tried the Narrator. But Molly had moved on to step four in the book. â€Å"‘Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself. I have no idea what that means.† â€Å"Well, I'll be fucked in the ear by a blind spider monkey if I get it,† said the Narrator. Molly decided not even to acknowledge the Narrator on that one. After all, if the steps worked like she hoped they would, the Narrator was not going to be around for much longer. She dug into the little blue book in search of clarification. Upon further reading, it appeared that you were supposed to make a list of all the things wrong with your character. â€Å"Put down that you're fucking nuts,† said the Narrator. â€Å"Got it,† Molly said. Then she noticed that the book recommended making a list of resentments. She wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to do with them, but in fifteen minutes she had filled three pages with all variety of resentments, including both parents, the IRS, algebra, premature ejaculators, good housekeepers, French automobiles, Italian luggage, lawyers, CD packaging, IQ tests, and the fucktard who wrote the â€Å"Caution, pastry may be hot when heated† warning on the Pop-Tarts box. She paused for a breather and was reading ahead to step five when headlights swept across the yard and raked the front of the cabin. Theo was home. † ‘Step five, † Molly read. â€Å"‘Confess to our higher power and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. â€Å" As Theo came through the door, Molly, her broken broadsword in hand, spun from the cinnamon candle of Nigoth the Worm God and said, â€Å"I confess! I did not file taxes for the years ninety-five through two thousand, I have eaten the radioactive flesh of mutants, and I resent the hell out of you for not having to squat when you pee. â€Å"Hi, honey,† Theo said. â€Å"Shut up, grommet,† said the Warrior Babe. â€Å"So I guess I'm not going to get my Volvo washed?† â€Å"Quiet! I'm confessing over here, ingrate.† â€Å"That's the spirit!† said the Narrator.