Is the Earth large or small? Essay

Any information concerning the size of the earth is likely to refers to this aspect its description within the context of relativity. As one of the planets in the solar system, the earth is large relative to its planetary counterparts. It is the largest and most massive of the terrestrial planets (which include Mars, Venus, and Mercury) within the solar system. In addition, the earth is also denser than the other planets within its solar system. However, compared with the non-terrestrial planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune) the earth is very small. In comparison with the sun, the earth is tiny. The mass of the earth is 5. 9736 X 1024 kg. This, compared with the mass of the sun is 1. 99 X 1030 kg, which is 332,946 times that of the earth. On the size scales within the solar system, therefore, the earth might be considered medium sized. However, since the sun is quite miniscule compared to other stars and to the physical bodies within and beyond the galaxy, the sizes of the earth on a universal scale approaches the infinitesimal. 2. What are the major differences between parallels and meridians? Parallels or latitudes differ from meridians primarily in the directions in which they run. While parallels always run east-west, meridians run north-south in a way that allows each to cut (cross) each parallel at a different angle. This is because meridians all run through the axes of the earth, and this ensures that they all converge upon the poles. The parallels or latitudes run parallel to each other, and this ensures that they never meet each other in their journeys around the earth. One effect that this difference (in parallelism) has on the two types of lines is that while parallels are always equidistant from the equator and poles at every point on its circumference, meridians change their distances from each other the closer or further away they are from the poles. Therefore, at the equator, the distance between any two given meridian will always be greater than at any other latitude on the earth. 3. Why are vertical rays of the Sun never experienced poleward on the tropic lines? The sun’s vertical rays are experienced only between 23. 5oN and 23. 5oS primarily as a result of the tilt of the earth’s axis. This tilt measures 23. 5 degrees, so as the earth revolves around the sun, its poles tilt toward or away from the sun at this angle. During the summers (which alternate between opposing parts of the year in for the northern and southern hemispheres), the poles are tilted toward the sun. However, the angle this causes the earth to make with the sun ensures that the angles of the sun-rays hitting the earth are less than the 90 degrees which would constitute a direct hit. Because of this tilt, the rays of the sun are sometimes able to shine directly on such parts of the earth that always between the latitudes that remain in the direct path of the rays after the 23. 5o tilt. The further north or south of these latitudes one goes, the less of a direct contact the earth makes with the sun’s rays. In fact, the extreme of this is that very close to the poles at certain times of the year, the sun’s light is not seen at all. 4. On which day of the year do the vertical rays of the Sun strike the farthest north of the Equator? What is the latitude? Why? The days on which the sun’s vertical rays hit the earth at the angle farthest from the equator is approximately December 22. This is known as the Winter Solstice, and describes the time when the Northern Hemisphere experiences its shortest daytime period (or longest night-time period). The latitude at which this occurs is the 23. 5oN, which represents the latitude of the Tropic of Cancer. This occurs primarily because of the earth’s axial tilt, which is about 23 degrees toward or away from the sun. At the time of the Northern Hemisphere’s Winter Solstice, the earth is tilted away from the sun, yet the sun’s direction from the earth at that time compensates for that tilt so that its rays hit at the spot farthest north that is possible at any given time. This â€Å"spot† occurs at 23o north of the equator. 5. Explain the implications of the statement, ‘No map is totally accurate. ’ According to mapping standards held by the Unites States (and likely by other countries), maps have to maintain accuracy within a given scale. For example, for scales where one (1) inch on the map represents 24,000 inches on land (or sea), the inaccuracy level of the map should not exceed 1/50th of an inch in more than 10% of the points (USGS). These standards are based upon the premise or understanding that no map can be completely accurate. However, what this means is that at minute scales on the ground or sea, it becomes impossible to locate things with a large degree of accuracy. This can be seen more clearly when it is known that 1/50th of an inch on a 1:24,000 scale represents 40 feet (USGS). Therefore, in important expeditions that require map use, a user may expect to be ignorant concerning the exact location of a designated point within at least a 40-foot radius. 6. A globe can portray Earths surface more accurately than a map, but globes are rarely used. Why? Globes are more accurate than maps because, while the map distorts the latitude lines, the shapes of its landmasses and other features, these are kept in true to form on globes. However, globes are rarely used because of their three-dimensional natures that make them more difficult to navigate than two-dimensional maps. The shapes made by the intersection of parallels and meridians are also less like simple geometrical shapes. Because of the way in which the latitude lines are portrayed on maps (as vertical and parallel, thereby creating the illusion of squares) these are usually more suited to calculations done by the lay person or navigator. These parallel latitudes represent not real latitude lines but what has been termed loxodromes (also known as rhumb lines). These rhumb lines actually represent the constant bearing of a compass and calculations using these lines make it easier for navigators to determine the direction of their courses (Rosenberg). Maps are also more intuitively like humans view the surface of the earth. From our perspective, it does not appear to be a sphere, but a large expansive area. Therefore, maps accord more to our everyday experience and are easier for humans to translate. 7. Distinguish between GPS and GIS. Provide ways in which these tools can be useful to physical geographers. The Global Positioning System or GPS is a system that facilitates the location of objects or areas on or around the earth based on a group of satellites which have been launched into the earth’s orbit at about 11,000 miles (Corvallis). This differs from a GIS, which is a Geographical Information System—a database that holds the location of a large number of locations on the earth. The difference between the two lies in that while the GPS is the system for mapping an object, the GIS is the actual object that whose position is being mapped. The GPS system is of immense importance because of the level of accuracy it provides whether on the scales required by navigators or those required for geodesic positioning (ISSA). GIS allows geographers to be able to know, map, and locate specific regions or objects on the earths surface. It also allows them to chart paths from one location to the next by accurately calculating vectors that denote the relative distances and directions between given locations. The GPS continually expands the data available by embodying the technology that allows new places to be located and pin-pointed. Works Cited Corvallis. â€Å"Introdiction to the Global Positioning System for GIS or TRAVERSE. † CMTINC. com.Corvallis, OR: Corvallis Microtechnology Incorporated. http://www. cmtinc. com/gpsbook/index. htm ISSA. â€Å"The Global Information System. † The International Strategic Studies Association. 2004. http://128. 121. 186. 47/ISSA/gis/index. htm Rosenberg, Matt. T. â€Å"Peters Map vs. Mercator Map. † About Geography. New York: New York Times Company. http://geography. about. com/library/weekly/aa030201b. htm USGS. â€Å"Map Accuracy Standards. † United States Geographical Survey. Reston: U. S. Department of the Interior. 1999. http://erg. usgs. gov/isb/pubs/factsheets/fs17199. html

Better Off Alone Essay

In the bible God’s greatest servant is Job; â€Å"This man was innocent, upright, and God-fearing, and kept himself apart from evil† (66). Job did everything God requested, and yet Job was maliciously tested by his creator. Throughout the story of Job there were several accounts of Job expressing his misery that resulted from God’s cruel tests of faith. Reading the story of Job I came up with the question of, would Job be happier without the weight of God’s continuous misperception and unannounced tests? Yaweh strikes Job with a â€Å"test† and murders his sons, daughters, and animals to see if Job will still love him. Perhaps God didn’t have faith in Job instead of visa versa. Yaweh causes Job to be miserable and want to kill himself; in no way is this enjoyable, or worth proceeding to worship a deity. If God were to tell Job he is the one who permitted all of these deeds, Job would no longer follow this deity. God is lying to get what he wants from Job, I don’t believe Job would still appreciate a God that goes against what he orates. It’s as if a wife had gone behind her devoted partners back and had a secret accomplice to pursue her other in a â€Å"test† of fidelity; If she were to tell him â€Å"I tested you, and had another female pursue you to see if you would stay loyal to me†, He would be mad and most likely leave her for lack of trust. Just as Job should leave his â€Å"creator† in the dark as nothing and move on to be happy, instead of constantly trying to please a God that is never satisfied. Job is â€Å"innocent† and â€Å"kept himself apart from evil† (66) and he was also tested with God’s sinful acts of murder and pain. Job was more than true to God, he showed this by even filling his own son’s faithful void; â€Å"Job would send to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer whole burnt offerings, one for each† (66). First off Job was this great of a servant so therefor Job should have been treated better and shouldn’t have been tested. This didn’t happen; but if Job was questioned because he is known as God’s ultimate servant and he had to live up to high standards then feasibly, Job wouldn’t have to deal with an untrusting God if he never submitted. Yaweh speaks with the Accuser and even points out himself that Job is â€Å"like no one on earth†; â€Å"Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on earth: Innocent, upright, and God-fearing and kept himself apart from evil† (66). This is a repetitive sentence through the first section of the story; making a statement that Job has all of these reliable qualities for his God. Job is pious; even Yaweh speaks of this, right before he causes Job an enormous amount of pain. When Yaweh and the Accuser speak of challenging Job’s allegiance, Yaweh tells the Accuser â€Å"Everything he has is in your power, but do not harm his person† (67). Emotions are a part in one’s brain, and one’s brain is a part of the â€Å"person†. By killing his family and animals, this is creating the feeling of agony (harm) to his person. One can then notice God either doesn’t know what harm is or he is just so unpleasant he doesn’t care if he causes Job discomfort, he just wants to see the outcomes of such mischievous acts with Job’s irrevocable loyalty. This isn’t fair to Job, to be harmed for entertainment, what an unhappy life to live. In result of God’s first test of faith, Job unchanged, remains faithful. God figures, well that’s not enough, he then changes his statement to the Accuser and says â€Å"He is in your power, but see that you preserve his life† (67). Yaweh goes back on his words and then physically harms Job’s â€Å"person† and â€Å"smote(s) Job with sickening eruptions from the souls of his feet to the crown of his head† (67-68). Job wouldn’t need to prove devotion to God through anguish if he just had escaped from this unfortunate cruel God. The only reason Job is being chosen to be tested is because he is God’s ultimate servant. If he didn’t believe in God then he wouldn’t have been chosen because God would have already known he was not faithful. Nothing would happen to him if he said good bye to God because all of Job’s friends told him not to keep following God, and nothing cruel happened to them. Job would be happy not constantly being subjected by God’s insecurities. Just how miserable was Job? Job was enormously depressed which shows in this quote; â€Å"blot out the day when I was born† He wishes to not remember the day he was born, or wish it never happened. With his words of self-loathing it creates to the reader feelings of suicide and hate. It makes the reader feel almost apathetic towards Job, for not listening to his friends and also continuing to follow a horrendous god.

Book Report on Silent Spring Essay

In the book ‘Silent spring’ written by Rachael Carson we find a picture of Carson’s deep concept about the connection between nature’s equilibrium and the web of life that has been ruined by the uncontrolled use of insecticides which in turn affected the healthy livelihood of this earth’s creatures. Furthermore, she tells the readers of substitute techniques of achieving the same ends. The title of the book is enough to make us understand that it was a hint of a spring season with no bird songs painting our atmosphere meaning that all birds had vanished due to misuse of pesticides. The book starts with a story of a town in America. Carson explains the town as being very beautiful and lively where the spring time is the most pleasant time of the year. However, this perfect scenario is soon destroyed as Carson tells â€Å"On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh†. This town has never really existed. Rather, it just portrays the present as well as future of other numerous towns of this world. In order to stay alive we require taking from all portion of the environment to grant us with our essentials and hence, comes the interrelation between us and the environment. To indicate mainly it is us who have contaminated our own home, the earth. Carson clearly states â€Å"They should not be called ‘insecticides’, but ‘biocides’† as they are harmful for every life on this planet. According to her the chemicals are being used in the wrong way and by the wrong people. The third chapter of Carson’s book explains in details the elixirs of death that is, what these chemicals such as DDT and arsenic are and how they eventually gain the magical powers of causing death by spreading through the entire food chain of our ecosystem and giving rise to many fatal diseases like cancer. We all know how significant water – a resource- to us is. Then we should also know â€Å"It is not possible to add pesticides to water anywhere without threatening the purity of water everywhere†. Chemicals are washed from land to bodies of water which seep into ground water – the source of public water supplies. Once in the water, chemicals combine with other chemicals that have either been washed or deliberately dumped into the water. Ultimately no one can guess what the synergism will be in the coming days. Our life is greatly dependant on the ecology of the soil. Carson states â€Å"We must not only be concerned with what is happening to the soil; we must wonder to what extent insecticides are absorbed from contaminated soils and introduced into plant tissues.†. Without the tiniest life that sustains inside it, the whole biogeochemical cycles are changed. Even if plants that have grown in the contaminated soil are removed, the soil will stay contaminated and continue to set birth to new contaminated plants. In Chapter 6 we come to know how the green segment of our earth connects all lives. Carson’s main focus was on the devastating change on life of animals linked to the destruction of weed and sage. Rachel Carson clarifies that it is an unnecessary chaos to promote massive insecticides spraying operations because this results in efficient killing of non-targeted plants and animals and inefficient killing of insects and pests. She points out that adequate research is need ed before performing such campaigns. â€Å"The early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song.† The disappearance of the birds has been linked back to usage of insecticides again because birds are dependant on insects and worms for food. Alternative cheaper solutions are given by Carson in Chapter 8. â€Å"If we would divert to constructive research even a small fraction of the money spent each year on the development of ever more toxic sprays, we could find ways to use less dangerous materials and to keep poisons out of our waterways.† – Carson says this when mainly salmon fish and other aquatic animals are killed in mass numbers through spraying of DDT in an attempt to destroy certain spruce budworms in Miramichi River. She tries to get across the fact that the aerial spraying campaigns to kill the gypsy moth in the northern states and the fire ant in the southern states were very much damaging, ineffective and also expensive. This incident had a chain reaction resulting in crop failure, hurting wildlife and also cattle products (such as milk) and vegetables were found having DDT and thus unhealthy for human consumption. Carson lets us know that people are a victim to daily chemical poisoning in even minute doses. She goes into the very details of domestic appliances and necessities. Carson talks about many things that don’t seem to be much of a danger on a daily basis to a regular person. Things such as bug sprays, lotions, paints and varnishes, and even a pocket-sized insecticide dispenser are brought up to help demonstrate the everyday risks we encounter. â€Å"Only yesterday mankind lived in fear of the scourges of smallpox, cholera, and plague†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Today we are concerned with a different kind of hazard that lurks in our environment—a hazard we ourselves have introduced into our world as our modern way of life has evolved.† According to Carson we have given rise to a new range of health problems because the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and everything else in our environment is polluted. As a result the total ecology of our human body is badly affected. Then she starts her discussion about what a cell is, how the organelle mitochondria inside our cells functions to produce energy and ends chapter 13 by informing us that radiations, and chemical poisoning affects this metabolism resulting in mutations. â€Å"The battle of living things against cancer began so long ago that its origin is lost in time.† She says that cancer causing agents had already existed in the nature but not to the extent of causing cancer to the living organisms which the humans have already exceeded that particular level via the chemicals already discussed above. Chemical control proponents overlook two key facts of nature. First, nature applies the most effective control of insects. Second, insects have an explosive capacity to reproduce once they have adapted to chemical control methods. Carson goes on and talks about human attempts to break the balance of nature. She gives example of the coyote, the deer predators, and insects. She talks about how at first the idea seemed to work, but in the end there was some kind of backfire that made every effort pointless. She believes that if people would just sit back and study what happens when nature takes care of itself, many of our problems would be solved. Through the years of chemical spraying against insects, their species have ditched the weak and reproduced the strongest to become more powerful. Chemicals had to be altered every month to overcome the resistance. â€Å"We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost’s familiar poem, they are not equally fair†. In the last chapter Carson explains the alternate cheaper and effective methods to overcome the problems mentioned earlier. Carson says that biological controls are best of the two because they do not disrupt the equilibrium and system of nature. By using natural controls, such as predators, nothing in the environment is harmed. Rachel Carson has done a huge contribution to our plant, the Earth, by creating environmental movements. Without her, the condition of our Earth could have been worse. Still, we can see uses of chemicals in an uncontrolled way around us because many people are not aware. People are being selfish in this case. They think it is for their own good. But the reality is reverse because every living and non-living component of this planet is connected either directly or indirectly. Humans are harming themselves as well as their own community through their activities. A lot can be learned from this book. A small initiative can make a big change. It is a must for us to keep our home, the Earth healthy and let others lead their healthy life.

Sustainability in emerging economies - Simplified business plan (topic Essay

Sustainability in emerging economies - Simplified business plan (topic of your choice ) - Essay Example o work with Kenya locals to construct greenhouses that would ensure the country produce food that is sustainable to its population so that hunger can be averted. Attention is drawn to the fact that this country majorly depend on agricultural products as their basic point of the economy. Agriculture is the backbone of their survivals since it is the source of their daily food and comprise almost of 75% of their exports that earn foreign exchange that enables them to balance the trade deficits. But as studies shows, there has been a decline in a significant production. This significant decline is due to climate change and global warming. The two has led to extreme temperatures and excess heat that are unfavorable for food production. (Pearce, Barbier & Markandya (2013) shows that the production of food in these societies has an annual decreased from of up to 10% in the last decade. On the other hand, research by Barrett, Ilbery, Brown and Binns, (1999), shows that exports from these countries have fallen by 20% and the trend is likely to continue if not addressed. Thus, due to these demanding issues, the corporation has identified greenhouse c onstruction in these societies as the primary remedy for the situation. The establishment of the greenhouse will make the locals produce more than enough for their consumption against the extreme weather conditions. Hence, food security is ensured that will lower the poverty index to reduce by a greater percentage. Furthermore, production is expected to be in excess that can be used for exchange for other products from various societies. Hence, the balance of trade will be manageable that enhances growth in the economy creating sustainable development. The world institutions have proposed various heads that encourage the corporation to participate in the project developments. A report from World Bank shows that climate change is destroying the events gains that have been achieved over times hence companies and governments

Reducing Juvenile delinquency Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reducing Juvenile delinquency - Research Paper Example To reduce juvenile delinquency, considerable attention should be accorded to the adolescents in order to create a suitable environment for their influence. This paper seeks to illustrate various aspects associated with juvenile delinquency and measures taken to reduce incidences. Juvenile delinquency illustrates a violation of the law committed by a child under the legal age, which surpasses parental control, and thus is subject to legal action. Such violations of the law are not punishable by death or life imprisonment, but dwell on rehabilitating the offenders to become law-abiding citizens. Institutions such as juvenile detention centers and courts assist in dispensation of legal interventions based on specified procedures in the legal system. Furthermore, a juvenile delinquent is an under aged person who has been found guilty of a crime, and is protected by the law as a minor; hence cannot bears no responsibility for the crime (Snyder and Sickmund, 2006). However, based on the na ture and seriousness of a crime, the age of criminal responsibility is reduced according to state laws, in this regard, the person cannot be tried as an adult. Negative behaviors among children and young adults contribute juvenile delinquency, which is known to cause widespread problems in society. In recent years, it is estimated that a high percentage of children and adolescents engage activities that are in violation of the law, this has contributed to drop in the average age of first arrests made among young people. This can be attributed to the common notion that juvenile offences are normative adolescent behaviors. However, repeated or chronic offenders are most likely to carry on with the trend away from adolescence and become more and more violent. At a tender age, delinquent behavior involves minor theft, but can evolve to violent acts involving the use of weapons as an individual nears the statutory age. Other delinquent behaviors include bullying, truancy, vandalism, assa ult, gangs, and sexual offences. It is for this reason that persons under the statutory age can be charged as adults depending on the severity of the crime. National statistics indicate an increase in the number of juvenile delinquency cases owing to numerous social factors within the society. Juvenile delinquency has its impacts on the victims as well as the society; damages incurred by the victim may be in the form of injury or loss of property, which results in loss productivity during that period. The victim may also incur medical expenses resulting from inflicted injuries during an attack. Psychological trauma is also common among victims and the society. Agnew suggests that when an individual is blocked from attaining a positive goal, it causes strain, which forces one to seek alternative modes of compensation (Agnew, 2005). Similarly, perpetrators of juvenile acts may experience low self-esteem and thus increase their activities to compensate for their loss. There are a numbe r of factors contributing to the heightened rates of delinquency in the society. Among the contributing factors are substance abuse, physical abuse and poverty. At a tender age, most adolescents have monetary access through allowance accorded to them as well as jobs from surrounding business premises. In this regard, drugs and alcohol can be procured with ease given the opportunity. Substance abuse impairs judgment, which may result in further violation of the

The Disquieting Effects of Global Warming Research Paper

The Disquieting Effects of Global Warming - Research Paper Example Studies conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2007) conclude that the mean global temperature near the earth’s surface experienced an increase of 0.74 + 0.18 degrees Celsius during a period of 100 years from 1905 to 2005. The IPCC has also projected that the global temperature will experience a further increase of 1.1 to 6.4 degrees Celsius through the twenty-first century. (2007) Owing to the rather obscure nature of changes taking place in the atmosphere, this phenomenon remains surrounded by controversy. A portion of the masses refuses to accept the magnitude of global warming and proclaim that the phenomenon is caused by completely natural sources like solar variations and volcanic eruptions. But some very alarming facts stated later will assure everyone of the damaging implications global warming has had on our planet. The IPCC blames the human race for a major part of global warming, â€Å" most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-twentieth century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic (man-made) greenhouse gas concentrations† Greenhouse gases are the gases present in the atmosphere even under normal conditions. These gases, which include (in order of their abundance) water vapour, carbon-di-oxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and CFC’s, are essential to bring about the Greenhouse effect. These gases capture the infrared radiations from the sun’s emission and retain it, thus warming the earth’s atmosphere. If it wasn’t for the greenhouse effect, the earth’s temperature would have been close to –19 degrees Celsius.

Global Positioning for Financial Services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Global Positioning for Financial Services - Essay Example In investment banking, investors were taxed on investment income but retail banking customers were taxed on savings (BROWN, 2007). The circular flow of income describes the reciprocal circulation of income between producers and consumers. The interdependent entities are producers, referred to as firms, and consumers referred to as households. These entities provide each other with factors, thus facilitating the flow of income. The firms produce and supply to consumers. The consumers intend to use the goods to meet their wants (RANDALL & MILLWOOD, 1983).Consumers’ expenditure is the income on the firms’ side. On the other hand, households provide the firms with factors of production and in return, they receive the reward which is income on their part. The structure for financial services regulation in the United Kingdom changed tremendously 1st April 2013. The then banking regulator, the Financial Services Authority was abolished and replaced with two institutions. First, the Financial Conduct Authority; mandated with watching the behavioral conduct, mainly regulating conduct related to the marketing of financial products. Secondly, the Prudential Regulation Authority; its mandate is to ensure the stability of financial services. The Bank of England was empowered to have direct supervision on the entire banking system through one of its part, Financial Policy committee (JOHNSON, 2000).

The Prince of the Marshes by Rory Stewart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Prince of the Marshes by Rory Stewart - Essay Example These cases are just a cause for great concern as they have claimed the greater number of casualties in the ongoing war in Iraqi. The most worrying part of the suicide bombings is that they can occur anywhere, even in protected areas. Just two days ago, a suicide bomber killed five people at the main reception area of the hotel where we are based. Fortunately, we had just retired to our respective rooms after a press conference and cocktail party with delegates from different regions representing various groups as a way of trying to find a workable solution to the war in Iraqi which has so far claimed close to a million people since it started a few years ago. Bombing of hotels, embassies as well as other official buildings is a regular occurrence here. These are targeted as they are in most cases suspected of accommodating enemies who are sponsoring war in that country. This has so far resulted in most foreign embassies being closed down as hundreds of people have been killed in these suicide bomb attacks. It is said that some areas outside Baghdad have been rendered impassable as a result of the high degree of destruction of infrastructure that was caused by the war. Most roads were destroyed and many areas are said to be full of landmines. In fact some areas are branded no go areas. Anyway, I am attending a one month workshop which seeks to establish feasibility studies of resuscitating the telecommunications infrastructure which was also not spared by the war. The main aim of the workshop is to try and see if the new information and communication technology can be improved as away of attracting investors in the war-torn country which is expected to be peaceful once again in the near future. I hope to gain a lot of experience from this workshop as we aim to design measures that would take a long way in attempting to put investment on the agenda in this troubled country. More importantly, I will also present my paper during the

Bio research paper-Glacier, shared by Canada & US Essay

Bio research paper-Glacier, shared by Canada & US - Essay Example Collision of cloud particles falls as snow and rain that accumulates on the peaks of St. Elias Mountains, Takashina Mountains among other ranges. The snowpacks melt in warm weather and proceeds into the rivers, canals, and coastline of the park. Glacier Bay National Park is known for its diverse plant species that readily help in replenishing nitrogen in the ecosystem. Flora consists of hemlock forest, sprus, willows, alder, dryas, and fireweed. Researchers indicate that the presence of moss, alder and dryas is the immediate evidence of an excellent nitrogen cycle in an ecosystem. The park nitrogen is improved by the ability of dryas and alders to add nitrogen directly from the air. These two plant species fix the collected nitrogen from the air into their rot nodules before dropping their leaves that serves in nitrogen addition to the soil. Fungi indigenous to the forest also help in the nitrogen cycle. Plants such as hemlock, willows, fireweed and sprus found in Glacier Bay National Park absorb CO2 during photosynthesis. These plants are the primary producers of carbon in the cycle. They release the absorbed CO2 into the atmosphere in the process of respiration. The aquatic plants found in rivers Alsek, Glacier Bay, Lynn Canal, and Dry Bay also absorb the dissolved carbon dioxide in these water bodies. They use the absorbed CO2 in photosynthesis. Human activities in the park such as constructing a road leading to Newmont Exploration minefield contributes to the carbon cycle because it leads to deforestation of the park. Tourists visiting the park use gasoline and petroleum in their cars. Burning petroleum releases carbon into the atmosphere. Differences in Glacier Bay National Park’s temperature, rainfall, and composition are an evidence of rich habitat for several native plant and animal species. Tree species vary with the altitude of the mountain ranges. The lowlands of Fairweather range are covered

Is it safe to use cell phone while driving Essay

Is it safe to use cell phone while driving - Essay Example The issue on the use of cell phones while driving has been controversial since people has different stands on the issue. Using of cell phones while driving has been made illegal in many countries even with varying reactions on the issue. This is after considering the number of accidents caused by drivers on cell phones while driving. Is it safe to use cell phones while driving? This paper will analyze different texts on their position on this issue. The essay shall focus on whether accidents have reduced after sensitization or not. The text will also include evidence from the analyzed articles on the effects of driving while on a cell phone. The article by Rosenbloom supports and the same time criticizes the use of cells while driving. The article highlights a study conducted on twenty three drivers on their effects on speed while using a cell phone (Rosenbloom 207). The study was conducted on 10 minutes into driving while using a cell phone and ten minutes while not using the cell phone. In an argument by Rosenbloom, drivers who engaged in short phone calls did not change their driving speed (207). However, drivers who took long on their cells, over 16 minutes, increased their driving speed (Rosenbloom, 207). The article asserts that other factors such as time spent on phone should be considered when citing the dangers of using cells while driving. In an argument by Constandache, Choudhury & Rhee it is possible to provide a driver with location as they drive through their phones (1). Comparing this article to the question on the safety of mobile use while driving, it is an obvious assumption the author believe in its safety since a driver will be well directed. Constandache, Choudhury & Rhee suggested the use of CompAcc as a way in which a driver could use their phones as a safety measure while driving in an unknown location (9). The authors tend to assert that driving in an unknown

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 18

Case study - Essay Example These areas are responsible for feeling and expressing your emotions, releasing hormones in stress conditions, for communication inside the brain and for the learning and memory purposes. Brain cells that are neurons use chemicals named neurotransmitters and these are responsible for communication in brain. Alcohol can cause a change in the activities of neurotransmitters and an imbalance takes place in their actions which inturn will result in seizures, sedation, depression, agitation and other disorders related to mood and behaviour. In 2003, Aaron M. White found that alcohol interferes with the brain ability to make new long term memories and for the ability to keep the fresh information active for limited period of time. Alcohol consumption in this case leads to memory impairment and as a consequence partial or complete blackouts occur. The end result will be periods of memory loss while drinking. Martin, Singleton & Hiller (2003) described Thiamine, also termed as Vitamin B1 to be one of the essential nutrients required by tissues of the body including brain. The enzymes that use thiamine need to function effectively or otherwise they will result affecting the neurotransmitters in the brain. The brain requires thiamine for its nerve cells (neurons); other cells in the nervous system also rely on thiamine. Thiamine deficiency makes the work of these enzymes slow considerably. As they are harmful for the brain cells, the most severe outcome can be in the form of brain damage. In 2008, Harrigan, Maguire & Laszlo Boros suggested that alcohol consuming patients are mostly found to report very low level of thiamine in their blood which mostly results in neuro-degeneration. This degeneration is linked with the brain area called cerebellum. Cerebellum is directly connected with alcohol addiction as alcohol makes a direct impact on it. But thiamine deficiency is found to place much more impact on cerebellum than alcohol can. 3.

Satyam Computer Services Essay Example for Free

Satyam Computer Services Essay In early 2009 the chairman of Satyam Computer Services admitted publicly to a fraud taking place in the company. Satyam reported in the financial statements billions of dollars in profits and cash assets that never existed. The public auditor’s responsible for auditing the financial statements of Satyam Computer Services at the time was PW India, an affiliate of Pricewaterhouse Coopers. The Securities and Exchange Commission determined that Satyam was able to commit the financial statement fraud due to the negligence of the audit team. The audit team tasked with auditing the records of Satyam failed to confirm cash balances in bank accounts which were grossly over represented. Later it was determined that the more than one billion dollars Satyam claimed to have was actually no more than sixty-six million. During the audits of Satyam Computer Services, the audit team at PW India never sought confirmations for the cash balances that management asserted which is a clear violation of auditing standards. The SEC, during the investigation, determined that many audit teams in PW India accepted cash confirmations directly from the management of their clients and almost never questioned the reliability of the confirmations received. It was also revealed that sometimes the banks would send statements directly to the auditors even though they weren’t directed to do so. Even though the bank statements showed different balances then those given to the auditors by management, the audit team never questioned the differences in amount. Procedures, for reviewing audits, were put into place to assure that all audits are completed with the highest degree of professional care. The Satyam audit team was warned by a partner from a different Pricewaterhouse Coopers firm that their cash confirmation procedures were deficient, but nothing was done to correct the deficiency. Due to this deficiency the Satyam fraud was not uncovered. As a result Satyam Computer Services was fined 10 million dollars by the SEC for fraud and PW India was fined 7. million dollars by the SEC and PCAOB. The critical issue in this case is that PWC India did not act in accordance with PCAOB or AICPA standards and codes of professional conduct. The critical factors are as follows: * The auditors did not act with due professional care. * The auditors did not appropriately assess the risks of material misstatements. * The audit team did not exercise professional skepticism. * The auditors did not act with integrity or in the best interest of the users of the financial statements. Due professional care, as required by the PCAOB, require the auditors to maintain professional knowledge and skill at the level required to ensure that clients receive competent professional service and to act in accordance with professional standards. This is the most vital part of the audit process to make certain that the audit will be handled with, ultimately, the users of the financial statements best interest in mind. PWC India, in their audit of Satyam, had completely disregarded this fundamental requirement of auditors. By relying on the confirmations given to them by management, the auditors did not provide the users of the financial statements with the skill and professionalism they are trusted with. As a result, they completely missed an obvious fraud taking place at Satyam and if the executive of Satyam hadn’t admitted to the fraud PWC India’s controls would have never caught the overstatement. Another relevant issue here is that the audit team did not appropriately assess the risks of material misstatements which resulted in the fraud. Before an audit, in the planning stage, the audit team should have identified accounts, transactions, and disclosures that could affect the financial statements significantly if they were materially misstated. The auditors at PWC India did not properly identify that the risk that the assertions of management about the cash accounts would result in a high risk of material misstatement. Cash accounts regardless of industry should require a special attention during an audit. The professional judgment of the auditors was lacking in the audit of Satyam’s cash balances. When evaluating the risks of certain accounts the auditors should have asked themselves whether there is a risk of fraud, whether there is subjectivity in measuring the financial information, and whether there is any unusual balances in the accounts. The answer to these questions should have all been yes in this case and there is no reason why they shouldn’t have properly confirmed the cash balances. One of the many requirements of an auditor is to exercise professional skepticism. The auditor must take what’s given to him with a ‘grain of salt’ and also question and confirm the existence, occurrence, and accuracy of account balances. In the audit of Satyam, the auditors acted with no professional skepticism whatsoever. If the auditors are not doing their due diligence, the audit risk will rise due to the increase in detection risk. Management took advantage of the fact that the auditors procedures of detecting material misstatements were lacking. This article’s relevance to the auditing profession is enormous. From here, auditors should learn to not take anything for granted and to always question what is put in front of you, unless it is from a completely objective source. The auditors at PWC India did not follow the basic requirements of an audit engagement which resulted in a major fraud. Even when the banks sent account confirmations directly to the auditors, despite not being requested to do so, the auditors still did not question the discrepancies. The gross negligence in this case should be an example to all auditors; do not take anything for granted. The quality control review also failed in this case. Auditors need to heed the advice of the review team. Here, the audit team ignored the recommendations of the review team to confirm cash balances with the banks. Quality control reviews are very significant to an engagement and auditors should not take recommendations without due consideration.

Interactive Television Connection And Coverage In Malaysia Media Essay

Interactive Television Connection And Coverage In Malaysia Media Essay Television industry is emerging into new era in providing the better services to the customers. With the built around two-way interactive technologies, the digital television (DTV) infrastructure opens up new history in communication system. The two totally different worlds which were barely connected television and the Internet are now combining into an entirely new entity: which is interactive television. There are two specific terms which are commonly used to define the advanced television environment: interactive television and enhanced television. Throughout the whole text, we will use the term interactive television (ITV) to describe anything that allows a customer engages with the system by a remote control or keyboard usage in order to access the newest and advanced services. Also, interactive television (generally as ITV) defines as numerous number of techniques that allows the consumers to interact with the television contents. General purposes can be categorized into the following: On-line chatting and do emailing Stock market data, this includes personal investment portfolio performance in real time Ability to select the desired movies for viewing purposes at home News story selection and archive Enhanced sports scores and statistics on selective basis Purchase everything by on-line real-time, this includes groceries to software to electrical appliances without leaving house A continuum from low interactivity (TV whether on/off, volume, changing channels) to moderate scale (movies-on-demand without changing channels) till high scale interactivity, for instances program viewer affects the show that being watched are represented by interactive television. It was obviously shown in any kind of real-time voting on the screen, in which viewers vote to make decisions that will subsequently affects how the shows continues. TELEVISON PROVIDER IN MALAYSIA There are numerous number of subscription providers available, with the different numbers of channels, special communication techniques for instance, program guide (EPG), high-definition (HD), video on demand (VOD), interactive television via the red button and coverage across Malaysia. These services are basically received by set-top boxes. However, households viewing TV from internet in Malaysia are not monitored and tracked by the government. Figure 1: Service providers in Malaysia MALAYIA TELEVISION CONTECTION AND COVERAGE Driven by rapid change in delivery and content platforms, the Malaysian television market grows tremendously. Malaysians were largely depend on free to air (FTA) broadcasts without any significant cable infrastructure and relatively limited broadband access, until ASTRO TV service was introduced in 1996 back then. Satellite pay television is therefore concentrate in expanding its addition content and programming options. The pay media boasts until more than 100 channel beamed to some 2m consumers. Even through there are tremendous growth in pay-media, FTA channels (which offered via satellite too) stay as the most popular stations in Malaysia market. According to 2007 Nielsen survey, 9.3% of respondents watched one out of six FTS channels the previous day. Government-owned Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) owns TV1 and TV2 while Media Prima works on the four channels remaining. Right after MiTV made an unsuccessful attempt to emerge the market by using wireless internet protocol over ultra high frequency (UHF), it is retooling for new mobile broadband delivery system after the winning a 3G licence recently. The Government has also initiated several test programs for digital television broadcasts and by 2015, plans to phase out analogue transmissions as whole. Trial broadcasts were undergoing, and this involves a thousand households in Klang Valley from September 2006 till February 2007. Trial of digital transmissions received positive feedback from the consumers, this is according to Deputy Minister of Information, Chia Kwang Chye. More than 60 percent said that the quality of signal transmitted scaled from good to very good, more than 88 percent thought that the picture quality improved, and more than 70 percent said that sound quality was better. As part of the three years reconstructing process, RTM is assumed to be totally digitization by 2012. Every ho usehold in Malaysia, when once equipped with the necessary equipment(set top box or known as iDTV set), is expected to receive more than 19 channels, which seven of them fall under RTM and others for private broadcasters such as Media Prima which owns TV3, ntv7, 8TV and TV9. Besides simulating TV1 and TV2, RTM is also test-airing RTMi, Arena and Muzik Aktif on digital platform, by transmitting at UHF channel 44, modulated at 64QAM. Figure 2: Digital TV set-top box HISTORY OF INTERACTIVE TELEVISION IN MALAYSIA In Malaysia, development of technology received considerable attention during the Mahathir Era from the year of 1982 till 2003. In order to transform Malaysia into a fully developed country by early of the year 2020, Vision 2020 was developed. Due to this, a mega project known as the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) was launched in 1996. In conjunction with this mega project, Malaysias satellite television was first introduced in 1996, which is ASTRO. ASTRO utilized Direct to User Service (D.T.U) and is broadcast as high powered KU Band transmission using the transponder of the MEASAT. Currently, the subscription based service is currently operating from Bukit Jalil. This service can be received by utilizing a fixed 60 cm diameter dish antenna and a decoder. Signals are encoded and encrypted prior to transmission, in order to form a conditional access subscriber service, and therefore allow the access only for subscribers with decoder and authorized smartcard. Figure 3: Astro logo (1996-2003) Figure 4: Both old (bottom) and new (top) Astro satellite dish or mini-dish. INTERACTIVE SERVICES BY PROVIDERS IN MALAYSIA ASTRO has then initiated more sophisticated viewing experience for the customers. This is known as interactive and multimedia services through the convergence and divergence of the existing old and new media technologies. Recently, there are various interactive TV and multimedia services that include games, video on demand (pay preview), chatting, stock link, Short Messaging System (SMS), internet banking and icon download which were not available previously. Short Messaging System (SMS) through television programs is one of the most successful interactive services that were achieved thus far in Malaysia television industry. SMS technology was utilized by ASTRO in the year of 2003 as the introduction of Akademi Fantasia, a local musical program that copied from Mexico. Maxis was chosen as the sole service provider for the interactive activity via the program. Maxis, Malaysias leading Telecommunications Company, which also partly owned by ASTRO. Throughout Akademi Fantasia, for the first time ever television audiences were allowed to send in their votes to decide on the winner of the competition. In year of 2000, interactive SMS technology was become a joint venture project between Microsoft and ASTRO. Microsoft had made an equity investment in ASTRO in order to helping and developing interactive internet and content in ASTRO. This has proven a critical success as it attracted more audience to tune-in into their channel. This was shown as in the first season of Akademi Fantasia in 2003, it was raked in RM 2.5 million profits through the votes made by audience. Figure 5: SMS transactions of interactive service by ASTRO This trend has also influenced other television stations in Malaysia, such as RTM, TV 3, 8tv, ntv7, and tv9 to use interactive technology to attract more viewers, and therefore increasing revenue. Since then, both imported and locally produced television programs, utilized SMS interactive activities, for instances, reality TV shows, musicals, dramas, and even local television news. There is also live radio broadcast, with kind of live, in-studio programming, coupled with an on-screen chat room that the users could interact with via SMS. To top it off also, there is a large chunk of screen for mobile ringtones and wallpapers. In mobile content, with the burgeoning penetration of new generation of mobile phone, there is more demand for better entertainment content drives the growth of it. ASTRO provides customers new experience with the streaming of 2.5G video and the launch of 3G services. Besides CNBC and HITZ.TV, when 3G launches, ASTRO offers CNN, Cartoon Network, highlights of hit shows as well as exclusive English Premier League matches to mobile handsets. In addition, STK WAP technology provides a platform for SMS content and services for example cinema information and movie bookings, other info-on-demand and gaming. This service generated 36 million SMS transactions in 2004. Mobile games on TV debuted on ASTRO @PLAY in March 2004, was the first initiative in Malaysia. This therefore made great contribution to SMS activity through games while @15 and HIT. TV, which is the SMS-TV chat channels contributed strongly to the ITV business, with roughly around 8.3 million chat messages chalked for the year. TV 9 is a free-to-air private owned television station in Malaysia, which is owned fully by Media Prima Berhad. Interactive television feature is introduced by TV9, which allows audiences to interact and communicate via Short Messaging System (SMS) while music video displaying. The element is available from 11 am until noon and from midnight till 1 in the morning. This is consequently in the year of 2004, TV9 announced its strategic partnershio with WAP Portal Sdn Bhd and Mobileway-Inphomatch, the leading provider of global mobile messaging interoperability and added value for mobile information services, in subsequently to deliver interactive mobile applications for its new SMS-MMS segment, known as Mobile9. The project is launched on 15 August 2007, where audiences can involve themselves in interactive activities on Mobile9, for instances like chatting, contests, downloading via SMS, polling and sharing their MMS pictures while watching TV programs. Channel 9 is continuously explor ing the best alternative to make sure that the right customer experience for our products and services. We want to offer customers the best services which are relevant, exciting and will definitely enhance their lifestyle, said by Encik Abdul Aziz Hamdan, the Chief Executive Officer, Channel 9. Broadcasting of TV9 under (Ultra High) Frequency. The UHF channel is 42 in Klang Valley, and with weaker transmission at 33 in certain area of Klang valley. TV9 is available on Malaysia satellite provider ASTRO via Channel 119. The third subscription based TV station in Malaysia, FineTV, utilizes an a- la- carte approach, which is a total interactive approach (video-on-demand), allows viewers to design their own television program or scheduling. Recently, FineTV is offering 18 television channels from serial drama, reality tv show, education, music video, game show, sports and cartoon are available upon viewers selection or request. RED BUTTON TECHNOLOGY BY ASTRO Interactive advertising can be done available via one-way or broadcast television, in the form of either red or green button advertising. For more inner explanation, red button advertising will be relied more on content delivered via broadcast, by pressing the red button on the remote control by the customers, they are able to find out more specific advert. Satellite service Sky in United Kingdom and ASTRO in Malaysia provides the service of Red Button Advertising. Meantime, green button advertising enables viewers to book advert by using remote control, this is followed by the viewing of a clip inside the broadcast stream, in order to record them on their PVR. With that expanded advert (which could be the program length), is then able to be viewed by the consumer with full leisure. Furthermore, the interactive Red Button is another first product in Malaysia market also, was launched in June 2004 with over 10,000 hours of extended programming introduced over subsequent months. Import ant features of its activity included live vote updates for AF over Astro Ria and ASTRO @15 channels, ITV advertising for Coca Cola and DHL, distribution of mobile downloads and Summer Olympics. In May 2005 also, ASTRO launched their broadband portal, ASTRO. Tv, starting off with two channels on demand and favourite content: Akademi Fantasia 3 and English soccer, over the internet. With paying certain amount of subscription fee, a broadband users can watch live concert via webcast, enhanced video feed on AF3 daily developments, archived materials and auditions from earlier AF seasons. Besides, another separated GoalTv for sport channel, also provides streaming of trivia, commentary, analysis and matches on the top English soccer teams in order to delight the avid sports fan. The Star featured that in order to accommodate more live BPL coverage, a new sport channel, which is known that Astro SuperSport 3 (Ch 817) had been introduced. Due to this features, subscribers are able to watch al least eight live matches per week. And for a limited period also, iPhone users are able to download Astros B. player application to watch games for free. Lister. M et. al (2003:20) defined that interactive means more powerful sense of consumer engagement with media text, individualized media usage, a more independent relation for the source of knowledge and greater user choice in selection. Video on demand concept was initiated by ASTRO which allows customers to make selection from its pay per view package that consists of blockbuster and sporting events. Mitv also provides similar mode, where Mitv is the second subscription based television. The concept is known as Affordable Transaction, offers video on demand, games-on-demand, e-learning-on-demand and music-on-demand for its subscribers. CONCLUSION There does not need much explanation why ITV is gaining momentum and will continue its trend as new technologies take control. This is due to the backbone for ITV growth comes from both the market strength of the Internet. In addition to that , with the rapid growth of digital video technology that took place in the cable, satellite, and terrestrial broadcasting industries, the world is now prepare for the creation of an ITV segment which meet the requirement of tests of sound economic principles. This is therefore introduced to mass customer market to a whole new range of opportunities. Interactive television in Malaysia depends on the implementation of digital terrestrial television. Despite RTMs trial was a success, there is an uncertainty in the growth of the digital terrestrial television transition, significantly after the end of Abdullah Badawis tenure as Prime Minister.

Understanding Of The Diversity Of Family Sociology Essay

Understanding Of The Diversity Of Family Sociology Essay The key family types are Nuclear, Extended, Reconstituted and Lone parent. These are the family types that exist in contemporary Britain. The basic premise is that the family structure depends upon social and economical circumstances as such family definition is open to cultural interpretation, norms and values. Whilst the family is adaptable-over the last Three hundred years in Britain, the family has changed and adapted, as we have moved from an agricultural society to industrial society. Sociologist George Peter Murdoch who defined the universal Family concept stated: The nuclear family is a universal human social grouping. Either as the sole prevailing form of the family or as the basic unit from which more complex forms compounded, it exists as a distinct and strongly functional group in every society The concept of the pre industrial extended family is somewhat of a misrepresentation when you consider death rates of working class families. The extended family is referred to as vertical extensions; Aunts, uncles, cousins and siblings -grandparents, children, and grandchildren who all live together, are referred to horizontal extensions the sexual relationships, and are monogamous within the extended and nuclear family. Polygamous relationships do exist within extended family, although this is predominately within specific cultures and religions. Examples being in the Moslem faith the act of polygamy are still practised; further more there are Christian sects such as the latter Day Saints who still practise polygamy, although such relationships are not legal within the European or American laws. The extended family can also be viewed as that of an extension to the nuclear family thru the inclusion of elders, such as grandparents, as many loan parents are female and they may well life or near their mothers, creating a matriarchal family extended unit. Extended reconstructed family, is considered to be when two opposite sex, or same sex adults with dependent children, either marry or cohabitate: thereby forming a reconstructed family over wise known as step families. Therefore it is not surprising that the most rapidly growing family type is that of the Reconstructed / stepfamily. Statistically most children stay with their mothers when their parents either divorce or separate so most children in a reconstructed family have step fathers this brings in to question the social as opposed to the biological care and nurture. It is quite common in British contemporary society for cohabitation of unmarried parents. The average is 31% of all parents as quoted (http://www.esrcsociet ytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/PO/releases/2004/june/stepfamilies.aspx) In contemporary society British society today Lone parenting is still predominately female orientated, however not exclusively as there has been a steady rise in men taking on the role of lone parenting estimates are that an average 11% of lone parents are now men. Attitudes in society have changed towards the lone parents. Nonetheless they are still passively ostracised from main stream society, by the media and government: as being less able, and a drain on society this is a view most commonly associated with conservatism as such in todays society the conservatives plan to introduce a tax that benefits the traditional stereo typical nuclear family which will effectively penalise both cohabiters and lone parents. www.telegraph.co.uk//conservative//Tories-5-billion-tax-breaks-for-married-couples-benefit-rich-most.html therefore in reality stigma still exists for lone parents. Single mothers were not socially acceptable in pre industrialised Britain, nor early industrialised any off spring were sent to childrens homes. There are notorious examples of how the mother and children were often treated, and can be found in Irelands History of Catholic unmarried mothers (http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/reviews/r0000523.shtml. Functionalists believed in a theory that the nuclear family is a positive social institution. Their view point is one of conservatism, which asserts it meets the needs of a contemporary industrial society. Functionalist emphasise that the ideal family type in modern society, is that of a traditional nuclear family. Their view of the nuclear family comprises of a worker husband and stay at home wife and 2.4 children. US sociologists have developed this approach, in particular Murdock, Parsons and Goode. The functional perspective on the family identifies a number of functions families will characteristically carry out: reproduction, socialisation, nurture, family hierarchy and family emotional support. Talcott Parson was a leading American sociologist in the 1950s who believed that the family was structured on the stabilisation of the adult family members and the socialisation of children. Based on a series of complex social structures and roles that needed to be adhered to achieve maximum family, social and cultural gratification -The social system consists of three systems a personality system, a cultural system and a physical environment to which the individual and society must adjust. Parsons model of key systems and sub systems further developed to define four functional prerequisites these are adaptation, to a physical environment, goal attainment, the ability to manage one self and resources to achieve its goals and obtain gratification, integration, the ability to form skills and ways to deal with differences and finally latency to achieve comparative stability. Each system consequently develops four specialist subsystems to be able to meet these mental and physical requir ements. There four systems are cultural, social, personality and biological- these systems are further broken down to four subsystems, these being (in hierarchical order) the socialisation system, the institutions of social control and integration, the political system goal attainment and the economic system adaptation. The feminist view on family is diverse, as the feminist school of thought has many layers from the liberal to the radical each having very different perspectives on family and the impact of family on woman, family and society. In general all feminists have been critical of the effects of family life on women however these views are dramatically different if not diametrically opposed. Liberal feminists reject the concept that family lives are reflections of the economic structure of society. They believe that the cultural and social aspects of male/female inequality are central to an understanding of the feminist issues. It is fair to say that most feminists believe that the family unit oppresses women and keeps men in power. This is based on the belief that society is patriarchical (male dominated) Patriarchy is defined as the combination of ideologies, cultural practices and systems which keep men in power. The three types of feminism liberal, Radical and Marxist aim to challenge patriarchy in different ways: Liberal feminists believe that the family is in essence institutionalised sexism, because its supports the mainstream culture which is also sexist. They advocate change through legislation and education. Jennifer Somerville a Liberal feminist http://soc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/31/4/673 asserts that the Radical and Marxist feminist have failed to take in to the account the changes in society that have enabled woman to enter the work force as equals to men, nor the social changes that removed the restrictions on females, such as child care, and the running of the home have changed. Men in society today, are far more likely be involved in the care and nurturing of their respective children and many men now enjoy the shared responsibility of caring for the child and home. The man is no longer elevated to the head of the house; as such equality in the home and family is being achieved. The Radical Feminist Kate Millett (Sexual Politics, 1971 argued that Sociology examines the status quo, calls it phenomena, and pretends to take no stand on it, thereby avoiding the necessity to comment on the invidious character of the relationship between the sex groups it studies. Yet by slow degrees of converting statistic to fact, function to prescription, bias to biology (or some other indeterminate) it comes to ratify and rationalise what has been socially enjoined or imposed into what is and ought to be. And through its pose of objectivity, it gains a special efficacy in reinforcing stereotypesFunctionalists, like other reactionaries, are out to save the family. Radical feminists view the family and men as the enemy within, which is both insidious and damaging to woman. Radical feminists believe that patriarchy is the central starting place of division in society. Essentially men exploit women as husbands, partners, sons and brothers. This manipulative relationship is reflect ed in the family; in which women do all the work for the benefit of men thus reinforcing the capitalist bourgeois ideology. Men are viewed as the enemy by radical feminists who have created a divide within the feminist ranks, as they believe that no female should be dominated or controlled, and the only way to achieve this, is to not participate in any sexual relationship with men. Valerie Bryson (1992) who bases her feminist philosophy as Marxist, argues all radical feminists see the oppression of women as the most fundamental and universal form of domination whilst this view is polarised within radical feminist thinking, it cannot be seen as definitive or even based in the feminist combined ideology. The Marxist feminist perspective argues that the principle source of division in society is class therefore the exploitation of women is indispensable to the continuation of capitalism The family produces and nurtures the next generation of workers at no cost obvious cost to the capitalists system woman doing housework is an unpaid role, which benefits the capitalist, woman were also viewed as cheap labour, before the equality laws were originally implemented in Britain in 19 75 which has gone thru many iterations, and the latest sexual equality act http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/equalityimpactassessment.pdf was published in 2007. The earliest view of the family developed from a Marxist perspective is contained in Friedrich Engelss The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (Engels, 1972, first Published 1884) Engels stated that: The monogamous bourgeois nuclear family developed to help solve the problem of the inheritance of private property men needed to know who their children were in order to pass on their property to their heirs .The family is therefore designed to control women and protect property Freindrich Engles views the nuclear family as a creation of capitalism, specifically designed as patriachical, its primary purpose is to ensure and perpetuate male domination and power through the male only inheritance of land and property It therefore served the interests of capitalism to keep woman economically and socially of less value to society than men. The Marxist feminist view the tasks carried out by woman as reaffirming male dominance therefore house work, child care, cooking and emotional support are seen as detrimental to woman. Women also provide the sexual and emotional support to the husband or partner, in doing so the role is seen as one of submission to the hierarchy of the male head of family. Christine Delphy and Diana Leonard described the everyday situation of family as familiar exploitation however every example could be seen as simply supportive and part of a loving relationship. Todays family in contemporary Britain is made up of different family groups, cultures, ethnicity, class and economic status. There are more isolated nuclear families, which have either migrated to Britain, or moved geographically within Britain families who will have their own norms and values, based on cultural, religious, class or economics which they will bring with them, and incorporate in to their new life. Lone parents who work, as well as mothers from the traditional nuclear families who work, as a financial necessity or a career option. Same sex parents, who now have the same marriage and parenting rights as heterosexual parents. More people live together before marriage, children born outside marriage; all of these are now norms and values socially and culturally. Family and the definition of whats constitutes family and who actually benefits from the family has not changed. We create life and then teach our children. Families provide the care and nurturing essential to th e learning of who we are, and where we form, what has changed is the is open to personal need and interpretation. Essentially the choices of how family is defined are to fluid in their nature and to diverse, to be able to any other than a personal preference of how to live. Nor should government or society be so prescriptive and controlling to impose. In reviewing the different family types, mainly all have positives and negatives however when reviewing Murdochs assertion that every society had a form of the nuclear family , this was incorrect, as both Nayar and Kibbutz proved that the function of family can be performed equally in a society other than the western defined confines of the nuclear family structure. Different cultures, values and norms, create variations of family and also place different importance on the family status in society. In todays society we have many variations of family, same sex families, same sex lone parents, and same sex adoption. As such the traditional term of family is used incorrectly as an outdated social ideal. The world has changed and the attitudes to parenting specifically in Britain have changed. There have been several significant social developments which have brought about changes in social norms and values. The supporters of the nuclear family believe the benefits of the nuclear family are its conservative core norms, and values which underpin the moral, wellbeing of society. They also consider anything else as a failed form of the nuclear family. The traditional roles of men as the breadwinner, and woman as the happy and fulfilled house wife, staying at home, looking after the children is the theme they most project. The Media use this image of happy family relationship, between all ages groups, every day in concepts and products, actively promoting the nuclear family as the social aspiration to happiness, success and fulfilment- the paradox is that in reality many mothers and fathers in todays society, have no choice, because it not a financially viable option, as they would not be able to house or support their selves or their child/children with just one salary. Moreover the woman may be the chief breadwinner, and the husband would then have to embrace role reversal in the nuclear f amily and be a stay at home dad there has been an increase in men staying at home to fulfil the role of house husband, however it is still predominately a female responsibility to care for or arrange alternative care, for children in the nuclear family. The pre industrialised class and economic status had a significant effect on who lived or died an example being if the family was wealthy a land owner, they may well have a more favourable environment in which to increase their chances of survival, although they were still affected by such diseases as the Black Death (Yesinia pestis ) which over a period of two years killed between 30-40% of the entire population of England in both 1348 and 1605. Twice as many poor children died as rich children; the poor in the country were at the mercy of poor harvests, bad weather famine and infections. Also fatalities were higher in the towns where sanitation and overcrowding in poor areas encouraged the spread of the virus. Given that the pre industrial pre-plague population of England was in the range of 5-6 million people, fatalities may well have exceeded or reached as high as 2 million. Urbanisation or isolation neither could supply the basic needs of the poor, so its unlikely that any chi ld surviving the age of sixteen had an extended family, due to the circumstances that they were born in too. Their functionalist view of the family is ideological and unrealistic, as it does not represent a reality of ever changing family, cultural, economical and demographic factors of life and work If nothing else the functionalist view can be seen as a plausible aspiration for some conservative idealists it is however not a viable option for all family types. Equally from a Marxist perspective, the fact that its wrapped in gender and equality issues and that the feminists have such diverse diametrically viewpoints yet have also provided the vehicle for such positives changes in womens rights and social equality, it has to be held up as the champion of woman, yet also recognised as having done its job. Over the last 100 years in England, woman from all classes, ethnicity and culture have gained the right to vote; in the last 50 years working class woman gained entry to university, the right to divorce, and the right to birth control. These changes have impacted society to its very cor e; challenging the definition of the nuclear family and the society it fits into. Religion is slower to change its views on the Nuclear and industrial vision of the nuclear family: for instance where the Catholic Church is politically, ideologically and (possibly) economically powerful, the promotion of marriage, and the ban on contraception have significant consequences for the family, in terms of such things as: size, domestic violence, traditional male/female roles. This ensures the women are still disenfranchised and that emancipation of woman still exists in contemporary modern society. In todays society family is a hot topic. In last 60 years, there has been significant social and cultural change. There is however multiple issues as the pace of change has not be controlled or understood before being implemented. In conclusion its difficult to blithely wrap family in to one perspective, the reality is that there is no ideal family unit and common sense, pragmatism, social, cultural and economical factors must all be taken in to consideration. The western capitalist perspective of the nuclear family, extended family, same sex family or lone parent, do not necessarily translate to other cultures or societies. Equally the views of the feminists do not agree on female equality, or the emancipation and disenfranchisement of woman in todays society. Young girls and boys nurtured by their parents will determine the values and norms relating to their roles in latter life. Woman do have self determination in Britain today this provides the choices necessary on how they live their lives, be that in a nuclear family, in a same sex relationship or as a lone parent. If is impossible to make a definitive choice, as what benefits to the family as a whole, is to provide equal partnership, respect for both genders and a secure loving environment- in saying that domestic violence, drugs alcohol could all present as negatives. The liberal feminist stance resonant as the most pragmatic and balanced view whilst the radicals and Marxist feminist views are polarised in a gender war.

Paris Miki :: Business Marketing

Capitalization  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5.91075 yen (as of March 2001) Sales  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  79.36 billion yen (term ended March 2001) Employees  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  4,639 (as of March 2001) Outline of Operations  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A specialized eyewear chain handling mainly glasses and related products. Outlets in Japan and overseas include suburban retailers, tenant shops, and "built-in" shops. Strengths †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Technologically advanced †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  #1 in Japan and #3 globally †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Extremely well known in Japan for its all retails that pursue of individual customer satisfaction and needs, from beginning to end †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "Web-mimir" service that allows customers to seek out their ideal eyewear via the Internet, and then actually try the glasses on at the nearest shop †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Industry leader in innovation Weaknesses †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Maintenance issues for their eyewear system †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Turnover as a result of technology †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Customization takes longer Opportunities †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Expand to the US and elsewhere †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Internet customers globally †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Increasing senior population in Japan †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The increase in computer/video usage leading to bad vision Threats †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lasik surgery †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Higher priced eyewear †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Designer eyewear not available through them †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Competitors Paris Miki sells to everyone that can access the web or go into a store. Paris Miki places great emphasis on the concept of "brick & click." "Brick" refers to real outlets, while "click" refers to a computer mouse; that is, Internet operations. The emphasis is on how to establish a link between real shops and e-commerce---in other words, between the real world and the "network world." In the not-too-distant future, we may very well see the day when customers can receive exactly the same services at Internet shops as they do at actual retail outlets. The degree of rivalry can be seen through their suppliers. Paris Miki developed its own in-house applications, while NIC and the NEC Group was responsible for the development and modification of driver modules for the various peripheral devices, thus completing the construction of a Linux system with connections to widely varied peripherals. These suppliers could be lured away to competitors if the price is right. This can create problems with buyers as well due to the fact that it could take longer to receive your glasses due to the customization in their lenses. New entrants into the internet sales force are continually sprouting up because of the allure of not having to have the overhead of a storefront. This could raise the competition that could possibly do things cheaper and more efficiently.

Lessons from Walden Two Essay -- Thoreau Walden Two Essays

Lessons from Walden Two Walden Two is a novel about a fictional community in present day America. The community is a Utopia of the highest standards: the people are happy and content, there is a minimum of hurtful emotions and activities, and everyone is healthy and prosperous. It is a stark contrast with the world we are living in today. So why don't we change our society to match that of Walden Two, solving all of our nation's many problems? For one thing, we do not know if a society patterned after Walden Two will work. Walden Two is a work of fiction; such a society has never been attempted. However, even if such a society has been proven to work perfectly, our society is not prepared for such a radical change. It is human nature to resist change. Trying to immediately convert our society to Walden Two would be disastrous, even chaotic. What we can do, however, is take apart Walden Two; find the aspects that are most needed in our society today and work towards applying them. By working toward these, we become closer to the good society, even if we never fully reach it. One of the most hazardous aspects of our society is that we are a consumer society. People are driven to spend money; the advertising industry has become a very successful and profitable industry by effectively convincing people to spend money. Many people have more money and possessions than they will ever need, while many more people will never have enough. People are driven to make as much money as possible so they can belong to a higher social class. None of these problems exist in Walden Two; they are solved mostly by behavioral engineering. There are no social classes in Walden Two. Everyone is equal (socially and financially), and the... ... child will draw his or her own conclusion that listening to advertising is a very poor way to make choices. Then, as the child grows up, he or she will see for his or herself proof of this idea - it does not need to be shown to the child explicitly. The example of advertising is just one example of how a new learning system (which is a form of behavioral engineering) can be used to eliminate the problem of a consumer society. There is no reason why the same method can be used to solve all sorts of problems, for example: distribution of wealth, environmental problems, and desire for power. This is a very radical change; however, it is a lot less radical than the society proposed in Walden Two. Social change does not happen overnight; changing the learning system will take a lot of work, but it is the first step in the right direction for changing our society.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark Essay -- Education Educa

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark Miss Brodie fails to be a good teacher because she teaches on her own accord, gives her students wrong impressions, and displays unprofessional behavior towards her staff and pupils. As a schoolteacher in Edinburgh during the 1930’s there were many rules and regulations that teachers had to adhere to in order to successfully feed the minds of their young pupils. Schoolteachers had more of a responsibility during this period than today because school was the only source of information and education that people could receive. Due to this fact, the government set strict policies and curriculums (and still do) that teachers must follow so that students could grow up to become well round individuals. Miss Brodie seemed to side step, insult or simply ignore some of the curriculum that was given, and teach her students on her own conditions. An example of this is when Miss Brodie is telling the girls that she and Miss MacKay have a radical difference in their principals of education. Miss Brodie has told Miss MacKay that the girls will be equipped with the necessary information needed to pass the end of term exams. After she says this to the headmistress, Miss Br odie says to the girls:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I trust you girls to work hard and try to scrape through (the exams), even if you learn the stuff and forget it the next day. This statement is telling the girls that she does not believe in the required curriculum and she wouldn’t care if they have forgot it after their exams. She only wants the girls to study of these exams so that she can have an excuse to boast to Miss MacKay, seeing the girls do well in them is not her primary concern. Another example of Miss Brodie teaching on her own accord was her lesson under the Elm tree where she told her students about her holiday in Egypt. It is evident that Miss Brodie is pretending to teach her students but trying to make it quit believable for all who look upon her shaded class when she says to her students: Hold up your books, prop them up in you hands, in case of any intruders, we are doing out history lesson†¦our poetry†¦English grammar. Although Miss Brodie’s lessons were somewhat educational and her students learnt new concepts and ideas, the schools during that time would not allow â€Å"freestyle teaching† because it made the students too reprehensive. By sett... ...f lust with Mr. Lloyd only creates a poor image for the students to have of her. Miss Brodie’s hostility toward Miss MacKay also demonstrates her inability to maintain a professional manner. She is constantly telling her students indirectly the she does not like Miss MacKay through various tactics. When Miss Brodie lashes out to Miss Mackay for trying to make her resign, she makes matters worse for herself because is only creates more tension and frustration between the two teachers. Miss Brodie unprofessional manner and inability to maintain her lust gives good reason for why she is a poor teacher. As a person, Miss Brodie does have many positive qualities that she seems to have used in the classroom. Her students did take interest in her teaching, but only because they were so different from what they were used to. Miss Brodie was a very smart and well-traveled woman, which was another positive aspect that she brought to her classroom. However her inability to teach the given curriculum, giving her students wrong impressions, and her numerous affairs and arguments with the staff leads one to believe that even though Miss Brodie was in her prime, she was still a poor teacher.

A Dirty Job Chapter 7

7 THANATOAST While Charlie's Beta Male imagination may have often turned him toward timidity and even paranoia, when it came to accepting the unacceptable it served him like Kevlar toilet paper – bulletproof, if a tad disagreeable in application. The inability to believe the unbelievable would not be his downfall. Charlie Asher would never be a bug splattered on the smoky windscreen of dull imagination. He knew that all the things that had happened to him in the last day were outside of the limits of possibility for most people, and since his only corroborating witness was a man who believed himself to be the Emperor of San Francisco, Charlie knew he would never be able to convince anyone that he had been pursued and attacked by giant foulmouthed ravens and then declared the tour guide to the undiscovered country by a sultry oracle in fuck-me pumps. Not even Jane would give him that kind of quarter. Only one person would have, could have, and for the ten-thousandth time he felt Rachel's absence collapsing in his chest like a miniature black hole. Thus, Sophie became his co-conspirator. The tiny kid, dressed in Elmo overalls and baby Doc Martens (courtesy of Aunt Jane), was propped up in her car seat on the breakfast bar next to the goldfish bowl. (Charlie had bought her six big goldfish about the time she'd started to notice moving objects. A girl needs pets. He'd named them after TV lawyers. Currently Matlock was tracking Perry Mason, trying to eat a long strand of fish doo that was trailing out of Perry's poop chute.) Sophie was starting to show some of her mother's dark hair, and if Charlie saw it right, the same expression of bemused affection toward him (plus a drool slick). â€Å"So I am Death,† Charlie said as he tried to construct a tuna-fish sandwich. â€Å"Daddy is Death, sweetie.† He checked the toast, not trusting the pop-up mechanism because the toaster people sometimes just liked to fuck with you. â€Å"Death,† Charlie said as the can opener slipped and he barked his bandaged hand on the counter. â€Å"Dammit!† Sophie gurgled and let loose a happy baby burble, which Charlie took to mean Do tell, Daddy? Please go on, pray tell. â€Å"I can't even leave the house for fear of someone dropping dead at my feet. I'm Death, honey. Sure, you laugh now, but you'll never get into a good preschool with a father who puts people down for their dirt nap.† Sophie blew a spit bubble of sympathy. Charlie popped the toast up manually. It was a little rare, but if he pushed it down again it would burn, unless he watched it every second and popped it up manually again. So now he'd probably be infected with some rare and debilitating undercooked toast pathogen. Mad toast disease! Fucking toaster people. â€Å"This is the toast of Death, young lady.† He showed her the toast. â€Å"Death's toast.† He put the toast on the counter and went back to attacking the tuna can. â€Å"Maybe she was speaking figuratively? I mean, maybe the redhead just meant that I was, you know, deadly boring.† Of course that didn't really explain all the other weird stuff that had been happening. â€Å"You think?† he asked Sophie. He looked for an answer and the kid was wearing that Rachelesque smart-ass grin (minus teeth). She was enjoying his torment, and strangely enough, he felt better knowing that. The can opener slipped again, spurting tuna juice on his shirt and sending his toast scooting to the floor, and now there was fuzz on it. Fuzz on his toast! Fuzz on the toast of Death. What the hell good was it to be the Lord of the Underworld if there was fuzz on your underdone toast. â€Å"Fuck!† He snatched the toast from the floor and sent it sailing by Sophie into the living room. The baby followed it with her eyes, then looked back at her father with a delighted squeal, as if saying, Do it again, Daddy. Do it again! Charlie picked her up out of the car seat and held her tight, smelling her sour-sweet baby smell, his tears squeezing out onto her overalls. He could do this if Rachel was here, but he couldn't, he wouldn't, without her. He just wouldn't go out. That was the solution. The only way to keep the people of San Francisco safe was to stay in his apartment. So for the next four days he stayed in the apartment with Sophie, sending Mrs. Ling from upstairs out for groceries. (And he was accumulating a fairly large collection of vegetables for which he had no name nor any idea of how to prepare, as Mrs. Ling, regardless of what he put on the list, always did her shopping in the markets of Chinatown.) And after two days, when a new name appeared on the message pad next to his bed, Charlie responded by hiding the message pad under the phone book in a kitchen drawer. It was on day five that he saw the shadow of a raven against the roof entrance of the building across the street. At first he wasn't sure whether it was a giant raven, or just a normal-sized raven projecting a shadow, but when he realized that it was noon and any normal shadow would be cast straight down, the tiny raven of denial vanished in a wisp. He pulled the blinds on that side of the apartment and sat in the locked bedroom with Sophie, a box of Pampers, a basket of produce, a six-pack each of baby formula and orange soda, and hid out until the phone rang. â€Å"What do you think you're doing?† said a very deep man's voice on the other end of the line. â€Å"Are you insane?† Charlie was taken aback; from the caller ID, he'd expected a wrong number. â€Å"I'm eating this thing I think is either a melon or a squash.† He looked at the green thing, which tasted like a melon but looked more like a squash, with spikes. (Mrs. Ling had called it â€Å"shut-up-and-eat-it-good-for-you.†) The man said, â€Å"You're screwing up. You have a job to do. Do what the book says or everything that means anything to you will be taken away. I mean it.† â€Å"What book? Who is this?† Charlie asked. He thought the voice sounded familiar, and it immediately sent him into alarm mode for some reason. â€Å"I can't tell you that, I'm sorry,† said the man. â€Å"I really am.† â€Å"I've got caller ID, you nit. I know where you're calling from.† â€Å"Oops,† said the man. â€Å"You should have thought of that. What kind of ominous power of darkness do you think you are if you don't even block caller ID?† The little readout on the phone said Fresh Music and a number. Charlie called the number back but no one answered. He ran to the kitchen, dug the phone book out of the drawer, and looked up Fresh Music. It was a record store off upper Market in the Castro district. The phone rang again and he grabbed the handset off the counter so violently he nearly chipped a tooth in answering. â€Å"You merciless bastard!† Charlie screamed into the phone. â€Å"Do you have any idea what I've been going through, you heartless monster!† â€Å"Well, fuck you, Asher!† Lily said. â€Å"Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I don't have feelings.† And she hung up. Charlie called back. â€Å"Asher's Secondhand,† Lily answered, â€Å"family-owned by bourgeoisie douche waffles for over thirty years.† â€Å"Lily, I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else. What did you call about?† â€Å"Moi?† Lily said. â€Å"Je me fous de ta gueule, espce de gaufre de douche.† â€Å"Lily, stop speaking French. I said I was sorry.† â€Å"There's a cop down here to see you,† she said. Charlie had Sophie strapped to his chest like a terrorist baby bomb when he came down the back steps. She had just gotten to the point where she could hold up her head, so he had strapped her in face-out so she could look around. The way her arms and legs waved around as Charlie walked, she looked as if she was skydiving and using a skinny nerd as a parachute. The cop stood at the counter opposite Lily, looking like a cognac ad in an Italian-cut double-breasted suit in indigo raw silk with a buff linen shirt and yellow tie. He was about fifty, Hispanic, lean, with sharp facial features and the aspect of a predatory bird. His hair was combed straight back and the gray streaks at the temples made it appear that he was moving toward you even when he stood still. â€Å"Inspector Alphonse Rivera,† the cop said, extending his hand. â€Å"Thanks for coming down. The young lady said you were working last Monday night.† Monday. The day he'd battled the ravens back in the alley, the day the pale redhead had come into the store. â€Å"You don't have to tell him anything, Asher,† Lily said, obviously renewing her loyalty in spite of his douche wafflosity. â€Å"Thanks, Lily, why don't you take a break and go see how things are going in the abyss.† She grumbled, then got something out of the drawer under the register, presumably her cigarettes, and retreated out the back door. â€Å"Why isn't that kid in school?† Rivera asked. â€Å"She's special,† Charlie said. â€Å"You know, homeschooled.† â€Å"That what makes her so cheerful?† â€Å"She's studying the Existentialists this month. Asked for a study day last week to kill an Arab on the beach.† Rivera smiled and Charlie relaxed a little. He produced a photograph from his breast pocket and held it out to Charlie. Sophie made as if to grab it. The photograph was of an older gentleman in his Sunday best standing on the steps of a church. Charlie recognized the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, which was just a few blocks away on Washington Square. â€Å"Did you see this man Monday night? He was wearing a charcoal overcoat and a hat that night.† â€Å"No, I'm sorry. I didn't,† Charlie said. And he hadn't. â€Å"I was here in the store until about ten. We had a few customers, but not this fellow.† â€Å"Are you sure? His name is James O'Malley. He isn't well. Cancer. His wife said he went out for a walk about dusk Monday night and he never came back.† â€Å"No, I'm sorry,† Charlie said. â€Å"Did you ask the cable-car operator?† â€Å"Already talked to the guys working this line that night. We think he may have collapsed somewhere and we haven't found him. It doesn't look good after this long.† Charlie nodded, trying to look thoughtful. He was so relieved that the cop wasn't here about anything connected with him that he was almost giddy. â€Å"Maybe you should ask the Emperor – you know him, right? He sees more of the nooks and crannies of the city than most of us.† Rivera cringed at the mention of the Emperor, but then relaxed into another smile. â€Å"That's a good idea, Mr. Asher. I'll see if I can track him down.† He handed Charlie a card. â€Å"If you remember anything, give me a call, would you?† â€Å"I will. Uh, Inspector,† Charlie said, and Rivera paused a few steps from the counter, â€Å"isn't this sort of a routine case for an inspector to be investigating?† â€Å"Yes, normally uniform personnel would handle something like this, but it may relate to something else I'm working on, so you get me instead.† â€Å"Oh, okay,† Charlie said. â€Å"Beautiful suit, by the way. Couldn't help noticing. It's my business.† â€Å"Thanks,† Rivera said, looking at his sleeves, a little wistful. â€Å"I had a short run of good fortune a while back.† â€Å"Good for you,† Charlie said. â€Å"It passed,† Rivera said. â€Å"Cute baby. You two take care, huh?† And he was out the door. Charlie turned to go back upstairs and nearly ran into Lily. She had her arms crossed under the â€Å"Hell Is Other People† logo on her T-shirt and was looking even more judgmental than usual. â€Å"So, Asher, you have something you want to tell me?† â€Å"Lily, I don't have time for – â€Å" She held out the silver cigarette case that the redhead had given him. It was still glowing red. Sophie was reaching for it. â€Å"What?† Charlie said. Could Lily see it? Was she picking up on the weird glow? Lily opened the case and pushed it into Charlie's face. â€Å"Read the engraving.† James O'Malley, read the ornate script. Charlie took a step back. â€Å"Lily, I can't – I don't know anything about that old man. Look, I have to get Mrs. Ling to watch Sophie and get over to the Castro. I'll explain later, okay? I promise.† She thought about it for a second, staring at him accusingly, like she'd caught him feeding Froot Loops to her bte noire, and then relented. â€Å"Go,† she said.