Deforestation Is A World Without Trees - 1486 Words

Could you imagine a world without trees? Deforestation is one of the leading causes of environmental catastrophes, loss of biodiversity, climate change and soil erosion. â€Å"Over half of the world’s rainforests have been destroyed in the last 10,000 years or so,† according to the World Wild Life Fund (WWF). The majority of this loss has happened in the last 50 years, occurring simultaneously with a massive increase in the human population. Deforestation is hurting our earth, and therefore, we must demand for stricter laws to prohibit and restrict companies and corporations from destroying large amounts of our earth’s rainforest before it is too late. Rainforests have been on earth before humans ever existed on our planet. It is home to thousands of species of plants and animals. Unfortunately because of deforestation, we are endangering the biodiversity in which these plants and animals take refuge. Deforestation is when large quantities of trees are axed down to clear an area of forest so the land can be used for other purposes. Writer Alina Bradford who contributed to the article on Deforestation: Facts, Causes Effects writes, â€Å"Deforestation occurs around the world, tropical rainforests are particularly targeted. NASA predicts that if current deforestation levels proceed, the world s rainforests may be completely absent in as little as 100 years.† Earth s forests are being cleared on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. According toShow MoreRelatedEffects Of Deforestation On The Environment1389 Words   |  6 PagesDeforestation is one of the many problems this world faces today. Many people are unaware of how harmful deforestation can be towards the environment and the animals that inhabit the area. Many people don’t even know what deforestation is and that it’s actually happening. To sum it all up, deforestation is the process of destroying forests by cutting them down or burning the trees down, destroying hundreds of acres in order to make more land available for other uses thinking that the benefits outweighRead MoreThe Harsh Reality Of Deforestation1354 Words   |  6 PagesThe Harsh Reality of Deforestation If you ask a random individual to describe a landscape to you, any landscape that they can imagine from anywhere in the world, the odds are that they will mention an environment with trees. This is almost inevitable as every type of biome harbors some kind of tree, except for one: the arctic. Through new forms of science, researchers were even able to calculate just how many trees were on the earth. According to this recent study â€Å"the answer is somewhere aroundRead MoreDeforestation : A Shocking 18 Million Acres Of Forest877 Words   |  4 Pagesare laid bare every year, that is the rough size of Panama. Deforestation is the process of destroying and eliminating a forest. The most common methods used to achieve deforestation are, burning of trees and clear cutting, these methods leave the land totally barren. Deforestation is done in order to use the land for housing, urbanization, cattle ranching, farming, making commercial items, such as, paper and furniture. Removal of trees does much harm to the soil and water supply. Forest soil isRead MoreDeforestation Is A Global Issue1630 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest is the cutting or burning down trees. Two main reasons the Amazon rainforest is being cleared is for raising cattle and growing crops (Figure 1). This is because the production of beef and soy has increased.1 The Amazon rainforest is located in countries throughout South America. The area this report will look at is Brazil, which is the largest country in the region. The majority of deforestation in the Amazon takes place in Brazil.2 There areRead MoreEssay on Reasons for the Expansion of Deforestation590 Words   |  3 PagesThere are many reasons for the expansion of deforestation. For instance agricultural activities, which are one of the major factors affecting deforestation because of the steadily increasing demand for food products, a large amount of trees are being cut down for cattle gazing. Logging contributes to all the wood base industries of paper, furniture, as well as a significant amount of wood supply. Wood is also used as fuel, therefore trees are cut for supplies, some examples of wood being used asRead MoreWhat Effect Does Deforestation Have On The World?1553 Words   |  7 PagesWhat effect does deforestation have on the world? Many people believe that deforestation has a negative impact on the world because it stops carbon dioxide in take (how trees take carbon dioxide from air to purify the oxygen), causes soil erosion and destroys habitats for many species, however many do not as it supplies jobs for thousands of people, it helps environments in particular places and frees land for grazing animals and houses. Firstly, it allows thousands of people to have jobs to earnRead MoreDeforestation : A Global Problem1624 Words   |  7 PagesInto? Deforestation around the world is a big issue and needs to be stopped. Deforestation is clearing the earth’s forest in order to make room for things like buildings roads and other man made structures. I chose to investigate more into the topic of deforestation as there is a constant need for more money and land, as it is destroying and causing huge amounts of damage. Throughout my argument I will be answering questions such as, what is deforestation, what are the pros and cons and what areRead MoreWhat ´s Deforestation?1049 Words   |  4 PagesDeforestation is defined in the dictionary as the â€Å"removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is converted to a non forest use.† Common examples of deforestation include turning forestland to farms, ranches, or for urban use such as malls and housing. Forests still cover about thirty percent of the world’s land area, but according to National Geographic, â€Å"swaths the size of Panama are lost each and every year.† The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred  years at the currentRead More The Controversy of Deforestation Essay1347 Words   |  6 Pagesparticular deforestation is becoming a highly ranked subject. From animals to the human race, the alacrity of trees that are cut down affects every individual in a variety of ways. Not only do people need to help the planet but they need to help themselves and further generations to come, such as children and grandchildren because these natural resources that are being taken away from society are as well shaping the future. For comprehensible reasons, forests use to make up the world, until manRead MoreLost Forests and Their Impact1221 Words   |  5 Pagesroughly the size of Panama, are cut down each year for human usage. Deforestation is the removal of forests or trees from an area on a massive scale. Since the dawn of human civilization, clearing up vast areas of forested land solely to serve human interests has been a necessary environmental evil. Most existing nations, cities, villages etc. were built on deforested land. Interestingly, in current times the rate of deforestation has continued to increase in many areas like the Amazon rainforest

We Talk About Love By George Saunders And Lance Olsen

In order to become the writer I aspired to be post-undergrad, I knew I needed to change some of my static habits. One of these conventions was consuming the same type of literature year after year and not allowing myself enough time to write. So I began taking recommendations from peers I respected and read works from writers I had met. Raymond Carver, Junot Dà ­az, Colum McCann, Anne Lamott, Sherman Alexi, Dorothea Brande, George Saunders and Lance Olsen are a handful of the writers I discovered. All have affected my own writing, but after reading many works from Carver, McCann and Dà ­az, I mostly saw the valued change they provided for my craft. After reading Carver s collection of short stories, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, I was very intrigued. Mostly because the uniqueness of Carver s writing was so immediate. It is simplified, but the ideas and meanings are complex. I became influenced by these implied messages and his work drove me to question literature an d what it’s meant to do. Stories have themes and certain arguments, but who says they need to make sense all of the time? Who says simplicity can’t breed complexity? Meanwhile, writers like McCann and Dà ­az oppose Carver and have also influenced my writing with their persistent styles and themes. Unlike Carver s short and simple sentence structure, their works feature long, beautiful prose that describes people, feelings, places and things in new ways. AlthoughShow MoreRelatedMarketing Management130471 Words   |  522 Pagesits most visible functional areas, such as advertising and product development. There probably is no one best way to define marketing, though whatever definition is used should have an orientation that focuses on satisfying customers. Therefore, we will define marketing as follows: Marketing consists of the strategies and tactics used to identify, create and maintain satisfying relationships with customers that result in value for both the customer and the marketer. Let s examine this definition

Importance of Information Security In E Commerce Free Sample

Question: Information security and buyer protection and the challenge of data protection are expanding in degree and trouble. While online businesses have since a long time ago expected to shield their clients' security and private data, changes in information transforming and plans of action present new dangers and new regulations. As part of your report, you are required to assess different protection and security issues experienced by customers and online businesses, including security strategies by which these issues are currently being addressed. Answer: Introduction Privacy and security in the realm of e commerce are the two critical factors of concern that determine the course of online business. E commerce security is considered to be a small part of the wider dimension of information security framework. There are two main areas of focus namely computer security including all kinds of internet thefts and data security that pertains to privacy issues of personal data (Udo, 2001). The security of e commerce is the highly visible form of security component affecting daily routine of the payment interactions and transactions. The thesis developed in the study would dwell deeper into the dynamic dimensions of e commerce security namely authenticity, confidentiality, non repudiation, integrity, privacy and availability (Ghosh, 1998). Hence, the realm of e commerce security is an essential requirement for all the managements and technical domains for effective transactions over the internet. The study would discuss about some of the pertinent securit y issues that are posing threat to the privacy of the customers. The security issues are also discussed with some technical jargon used. Another area of discussions would be the measures that can be taken to prevent this threat and risk over e commerce in the form of information security. The study would also discuss some of the major laws that support the cause of business management and online transactions. Threats to e commerce The main security crunches and the relevant issues pertain to verifying the identity of the person involved in business transactions and ensuring correct and timely delivery of messages without tampering. Networks at both the ends of customers and business vendors are at risk with hackers demanding ransoms to reveal credit card information (Ghosh, 2001). But the conflict of ease of use versus the security is heavier on the side of convenience. The virus attacks against the software Microsoft Outlook that there have been quick proliferation of these viruses and worms (Hassler, 2002) throughout the internet network. All the sites that are directly, or remotely associated with e commerce site must adequately arrange security services due to widespread attacks of Distributed Denial of Service. Code Red worm and NIMDA have successfully penetrated the system and have leaked sensitive security information (Awad, 2004) without the permission of the customers. Viruses and Trojan horse program s are main threats to the client server model of e commerce websites. Viruses are naturally disruptive but Trojan horse programs facilitate breaking into the system in addition to permit the attacks of data integrity. Therefore, Trojan horses are serious threats that remotely control some of the programs and are difficult to resolve. Spamming is another security threat that is sending of unconsolidated email threats (Belanger, 2002) and mailers to individuals leading to situations of email bombing. Hackers also place software agents to get into the system. The unauthorized access security measure is the illegal access into the system with active and passive modes. The passive mode is overhearing of some communication or overlooking some transactions while active mode refers to modification of the information or intended changes in the message. It also includes forms of masquerading that is to send messages in a fake form in the terms of spoofing. Hackers also take advantage of the o perating system security holes. Theft and fraud cases also overpower the e commerce world of online business. In technical terms, there are some other attacks such as smurf attacks (These are ICMP attacks where a large number of IP packets are send with fake source address quickly using up networks bandwidth and easing up breach to the required destination), teardrop attack (sending of distorted fragments with oversized and overlapping payloads along with a bug leading to improper handling of fragments and crashing them ultimately), phlashing (this is a form of permanent denial of service damaging the system to a greater extent that would require reinstallation of even the hardware and sometimes making it completely unusable) and brute force attacks (to defeat a cryptographic scheme), phishing attacks (it is a criminally fraudulent process to acquire sensitive information in e communication mainly targeting online auction sites, bank customers, service providers and online retailers ), social engineering (manipulating people by pretexting, phone phishing, baiting with Trojan horse, interactive voice recording) (Sindre, 2005). Social engineering is an open area of research nowadays with various mental models and motivations. The management of software is also another pertinent issue with the e commerce security guidelines and policies. There have to be balance among all the domains of data on e commerce websites and without the accomplishment of this equilibrium, e commerce security will remain as an issue of concern and a problem of all the times. There can be numerous measures that can be taken in order to mitigate the risks associated with the e commerce security and threats. Encryption in the form of public key or private key can be used to secure the arrangements in the process of transactions. An algorithm is a key for encoding and decoding the message (Ford, 2000). The process of key protects the contents of the message and the associated technology of digital signatures can prove the true identity of the authorized sender too. In other terms, it is a digitally signed certificate for electronic identification. There are certain laws in UK pertaining to electronic signatures like Electronic Communications Act of 2000. Digital signatures are replaced by electronic signatures and are validated by the government. This directive focuses over guidelines for use of electronic signatures, establish a legal criteria for the implementation of these signatures. UK Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act monitors the powers of the po lice authorities to intercept any kind of electronic message that is seeming to be dangerous. The police authorities may also demand for encryption keys if necessary (Thomson, 1998). The data Protection Act of 1998 gives out eight principles to control data either personal or of government use. The controls common for security of data and other information are information security policy document, reporting security credentials, business continuity management, allocation of information for security responsibility, and information for security of education and training (Alter, 2001). There are some other guidelines that can be followed by the customers to safeguard their online transactions and the pathway of e commerce. They must ensure that they are shopping at secure web sites having an https in the header indicating secure. The company can be researched prior to ordering the goods and the services. It is quite essential to read the privacy codes and security policies of the web site and look for a membership in web based program. The customers need to be aware about the presence of cookies on a website and can block them if desired and on the other hand they must be prepared about the behavioral marketing that is being adopted by various e commerce websites nowadays. The mode of payment via the means of credit card is the most secure one out of other means as it is protected under Fair Credit Billing Act (Joshi, 2001). The copies of the orders must be saved or printed for future correspondence purpose and the tracking information or the shipping facts must be paid attention to. In case there is any kind of merchant side cancellation, return or any kind of complaint handling, the policies of the websites must be checked. A single use card number can be used all the times in case of transactions and every time while handling the card number, virtual keypad should be used. Customers and business experts must understand the sales responsibility and should have a knowledge about the taxes that have to be paid online. The dynamic pricing strategies should also be used in the favor of online services requested by the users. The need of the hour is to protect the e commerce websites from the common mistakes done by the people handling them and the hackers who are having a keen eye over the whole network and the end points of the network. Conclusion E commerce industry hence is facing a challenging future in terms of risks and security threats. The criminals of internet and e commerce are becoming more sophisticated for the attacks and deceptions over the e commerce gateway. Awareness about all the potential risks and execution of multi layered protocols for security purpose and strong authentication for encryption and other preventive and corrective measures will ensure a bit of a compromise for the risks and safeguard the net for the future use of e commerce pathway. It is also essential to educate the consumers of e commerce website to dwell into the security architecture of the system. Orientation programs and training programs need to be conducted for the staff for enhancing the security awareness for the internet. Financial audit groups and IT services within the domain of e commerce (Siau, 2001) should form an alliance to implement security measures at business level. References 1. Udo, G. J. 2001, Privacy and security concerns as major barriers for e-commerce: a survey study, Information Management Computer Security, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 165-174.2. Ghosh, A. K. 1998, E-commerce security: weak links, best defenses, Wiley.3. Ghosh, A. K., Swaminatha, T. M. 2001, Software security and privacy risks in mobile e-commerce, Communications of the ACM, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 51-57.4. Hassler, V. 2002, Security Fundamentals for E-commerce, info, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 49-50.5. Awad, E. M. 2004, Electronic commerce: From vision to fulfillment.6. Belanger, F., Hiller, J. S., Smith, W. J. 2002, Trustworthiness in electronic commerce: the role of privacy, security, and site attributes, The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 245-270.7. Sindre, G., Opdahl, A. L. 2005, Eliciting security requirements with misuse cases, Requirements engineering, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 34-44.8. Ford, W., Baum, M. S. 2000, Secure electronic commerce: building the infrastruc ture for digital signatures and encryption, Prentice Hall PTR.9. Thomson, M. E., von Solms, R. 1998, Information security awareness: educating your users effectively, Information management computer security, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 167-173.10. Alter, S. 2001, Information systems: foundation of e-business, Prentice Hall PTR.11. Joshi, J. B., Aref, W. G., Ghafoor, A., Spafford, E. H. 2001, Security models for web-based applications, Communications of the ACM, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 38-44.12. Siau, K., Lim, E. P., Shen, Z. 2001, Mobile commerce: Promises, challenges and research agenda, Journal of Database Management (JDM), vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 4-13.

The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz Essays - New Canadian Library

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz Duddy's obsession with land lies within his grandfather, Simcha. When Duddy was small, he spoke those unforgettable words to him, "A man without land is nobody." When it seemed as if nobody cared or respected him, Simcha did. Duddy did not receive the same kind of love from his father or uncle as Lennie did. When Duddy comes back from work at, he asks, "Why [Max] didn't answer any of [his] letters?" He replies he wasn't "one for letters." "But Duddy remembered that when Lennie had worked as a camp counsellor one summer his father had written every week. He had driven out to visit him twice."(pp. 104 & 105) Duddy did not have the same kind of affection and devotion Lennie and Max shared. The same situation came from his uncle, Benjy. At first sight, Benjy described him as having a "thin crafty face, the quick black eyes and the restlessness_the grain so shrewd and knowing, all made a bad impression on Uncle Benjy." (p. 61) Benjy supported Lennie, giving him money for his education. With the exception of Simcha, he had no other parental support which is the reason why Simcha words had such a great effect on him. Duddy gains what he had wanted in its acquisition, respect. Everyone except Simcha, Mr. MacPherson, and Uncle Benjy thought he was going to be a nobody. He wanted so much to prove them wrong and he has. We may say he has gained self assurance, restating the fact he was a somebody important. Since his days at Fletcher's Field High School, he ran a gang based on respect, not friendship. Things do not change when he becomes an adult. Virgil is just one of the people Duddy uses to get money for his land. He feels no grief for hurting his so called friends because he has never experienced true friendship. His purchasing of land would push him into higher step in society. What he gains is nothing compared to what he loses. Duddy has lost his innocence. No longer is he the pure and na?ve boy as before, but now a corrupt, immoral man. Duddy has chosen a life without conscience or goodness, beginning a life with no morals and corrupt "friends." He does not think twice to people he has hurt which displays the deterioration of his character. He has traded morality for destructive materialistic values. Simcha believed in him but now looks at him in shame for he knows the respect he will gain is shallow. The strangers who respect him look at his money, not at his heart. To Simcha, money is not everything. He has lived a life based on respect but for character, not riches. Simcha's words have impacted Duddy's life but not in the way he wanted, never like this in his darkest nightmares. There is no more respect towards Duddy in Simcha's eyes but in this twisted world, respect from the overall public. Duddy knows of Simcha disapproves of his actions but at the end, he does not care, he thinks everything will be all right. This is the kind of person he has turned out to be. Someone who does not understand what is wrong from right. His conscience feels nothing, not even for the person who truly supported him from the start. If this is how his mind works for someone he loves, it frightening to think how his treats someone he hates. He loses the meaning of respect and decency and gains a numbness to corruption. Simcha's ironic words gained Duddy land but made him a heartless criminal.

Finance Assignment Essays

Finance Assignment Essays Finance Assignment Essay Finance Assignment Essay 1 Question 1 (16 points) Carol Inc is considering the following three prices to charge customers for each of the candy packets they produce: i) $2. 20 ii) $2. 00 iii) $1. 70 The relevant data for decision-making is below: Fixed Costs = $1200 Variable Costs = $0. 50 per unit Calculate the following: a) The Breakeven Point for each price level b) Using price of $2. 20 what would be the new breakeven point if (1) fixed costs decreased to $1000 all else remaining the same, (2) Variable costs increased to $0. 75 all else remaining the same. Draw a graph to represent scenario (1) and (2) comparing with the original data for price of $2. 20. [Total of two graphs] Question 2 (12 points) Greater Manufacturing is evaluating two different operating structures which are described below. The firm has annual interest expense of $250, common shares outstanding of 1,000, and a tax rate of 40 percent. (a) For each operating structure, calculate (a1) EBIT and EPS at 10,000, 20,000, and 30,000 units. (a2) the degree of operating leverage (DOL) and degree of total leverage (DTL) using 20,000 units as a base sales level. a3) the operating breakeven point in units. (b) Which operating structure has greater operating leverage and business risk? (c) If Greater Manufacturing projects sales of 20,000 units, which operating structure is recommended? 2 Question 3 (14 points) Table 13. 1 a) Assuming a 40 percent tax rate, what is the financial breakeven point for each plan? (See Table 13. 1) b) What is the degree of financial leverage at a bas e level EBIT of $120,000 for both financing plans? The firm has a 40 percent tax rate. (See Table 13. ) c) What is the EPS under Financing Plan 1, if the firm projects EBIT of $200,000 and has a tax rate of 40 percent? (See Table 13. 1) d) At about what EBIT level should the financial manager be indifferent to either plan? (See Table 13. 1) e) Which plan has a higher degree of financial leverage and financial risk? (See Table 13. 1) Question 4 (12 points) A firm has had the indicated earnings per share over the last three years: (a) If the firms dividend policy was based on a constant payout ratio of 50 percent, determine the annual dividend for each year. b) If the firms dividend policy was based on a fixed dollar payout policy of 50 cents per share plus an extra dividend equal to 75 percent of earnings per share above $1. 00, determine the annual dividend for each year. Question 5 (12 points) Mongoose Company has released the following information. (a) What are Mongoose Companyâ⠂¬â„¢s current earnings per share? (b) What is Mongoose Company’s current P/E ratio? 3 (c) Mongoose Company wants to use half of its earnings either to pay shareholders dividends or to repurchase shares for inclusion in the firms employee stock ownership plan. : If the firm pays a cash dividend, what will be the dividend per share received by existing shareholders? (d) Instead of paying the cash dividend, what if the firm uses half of its earnings to pay $55 per share to repurchase the shares, what will be the firms new EPS? What should be the firms new share price? (e) Compare the impact of a stock dividend and stock repurchase on shareholder wealth. Question 6 (12 points) Farrah Inc. ’s accounts receivable totaled $451,000 on January 30, 2003. An aging summary of receivables at this date follows: The firm extends 30-day credit terms to all its credit customers. a) Prepare an aging schedule for Farrah Inc.. (b) Evaluate the firms collection performance. Question 7 (6 points) Penelope Production Plant uses 2,400 units of a product per year on a continuous basis. The product carrying costs are $60 per year and ordering costs are $250 per order. It takes 20 days to receive a shipment after an order is placed and the firm requires a safe ty stock of 8 days of usage in inventory. (a) Calculate the economic order quantity (round up to the nearest whole unit. (b) Calculate the total cost per year to order and carry this item. c) Their supplier has notified the company that if they increase their order quantity by 58 units they will give the company a discount. Calculate the dollar discount that the company will have to give Penelope Production Plant to result in a net benefit to the company. 4 Question 8 (6 points) Hubbards is analyzing the performance of its cash management. On average, the firm holds inventory 65 days, pays its suppliers in 35 days, and collects its receivables in 15 days. The firm has a current annual outlay of $1,960,000 on operating cycle investments. Hubbards currently pays 10 percent for its negotiated financing. Assume a 360 day year. ) (a) Calculate the firms cash conversion cycle. (b) Calculate the firms operating cycle. (c) Calculate the daily expenditure and the firms annual savings if the operating cycle is reduced by 15 days. Question 9 (14 points) Table 15. 2 The company earns 5 percent on current assets and 15 percent on fixed assets. The firms current liabilities cost 7 percent to maintain and the average annual cost of long-term funds is 20 percent. a) The firms initial net working capital is ________. [Numerical Answer] b) The firms initial annual profits on total assets are ________. Numerical Answer] c) If the firm was to shift $3,000 of current assets to fixed assets, the firms net working capital would ________, the annual profits on total assets would ________, and the risk of technical insolvency would ________, respectively. [Choose either the word increase or decrease for each blank] d) If the firm was to shift $7,000 of fixed assets to current assets, the firms net working capital would ________, the annual profits on total assets would ________, and the risk of not being able to meet current obligations would ________, respectively. Choose either the word increase or decrease for each blank] e) If the firm was to shift $2,000 of current liabilities to long-term funds, the firms net working capital would ________, the annual cost of financing would ________, and the risk of technical insolvency would ________, respectively. [Choose either the word increase or decrease for each blank] f) The firm would like to increase its current ratio. This goal would be accomplished most profitably by ________. 5 Question 10 (8 points) Batik is analyzing the credit terms of each of three suppliers, A, B, and C. a) Determine the approximate cost of giving up the cash discount. (b) Assuming the firm needs short-term financing, recommend whether or not the firm should give up the cash discount or borrow from the bank at 10 percent annual interest. Evaluate each supplier separately. Question 11 (6 points) Mahogany Company is in the process of negotiating a line of credit with two local banks. The prime rate is currently 8 percent. The terms follow: (a) Calculate the effective interest rate of both banks. (b) Recommend which banks line of credit Mahogany Company should accept. Question 12 (8 points) Sky Blue Inc. urchased a new machine on October 20th, 2003 for $1,000,000 on credit. The supplier has offered AA terms of 2/10, net 45. The current interest rate the bank is offering is 16 percent. (a) Compute the cost of giving up cash discount. (b) Should the firm take or give up the cash discount? (c) What is the effective rate of interest if the firm decides to take the cash discount by borrowing money on a discount basis? 6 Question 13 (10 points) Farm and Garden is considering obtaining funding through advances against receivables. Total annual credit sales are $600,000, terms are net 30 days, and payment is made on the average of 30 days. Hally National Bank will advance funds under a pledging arrangement for 13 percent annual interest. On average, 75 percent of credit sales will be accepted as collateral. Coder Financial offers factoring on a nonrecourse basis for a 1 percent factoring commission, charging 1. 5 percent per month on advances and requiring a 15 percent factors reserve. Under this plan, the firm would factor all accounts and close its credit and collections department, saving $10,000 per year. (a) What is the effective interest rate and the average amount of funds available under pledging and under factoring? b) Which plan do you recommend? Why? Question 14 (16 points) Richmond Co. is considering two capital structures. The key information follows. Assume a 40 percent tax rate and expected EBIT of $50,000. (a) Calculate two EBIT-EPS coordinates for each of the structures. (b) Indicate over what EBIT range, if any, each structure is preferred. Bonus Question (4 points) Maryland House has just sold an iss ue of 30-day commercial paper with a face value of $5,000,000. The firm has just received $4,958,000. What is the effective annual interest rate on the commercial paper? 7

one flew over the cuckoos nest1 essays

one flew over the cuckoos nest1 essays The imagination is the readers most important tool on the path to enjoying a good book. One can only hinder their enjoyment of the story by disregarding the vivid images created by the mind. Nothing can compare to a landscape so exquisite that it would make a cinematographer jealous, or a prison so cold that you can see the inmates hot breath. However, some authors offer help for those who are creatively impaired. In One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, the author, Ken Kesey builds such an effective tone, that the shifts in the attitudes of the characters can be detected. In the first half of the novel, Kesey uses a wonderful device to show oppression that makes the reader feel as if they themselves are going insane. Bromden describes it best. Shes got the fog machine switched on...and the more I think about how nothing can be helped, the faster the fog rolls in, (Kesey 101). This fog is not literally there, but instead appears when Kesey wants to create an atmosphere that is disparaging. This dark tone is also emphasized through Bromdens nightmares. In one of the dreams, the hospital turns into a hot industrial factory where the noise of cold, hard, unyielding machinery is almost deafening, (78-82). During the dream, one of the old Chronics, Blastic, is Hung on a hook and sent away into the machines. The strange thing is that he actually does die. Bromdens dream is actually a metaphor for the quick disposal of those who do not survive the nurses treatment. It is as if she does not want any evidence that her patients are not recovering. So , the effect the reader is left with is one representative of how unceremoniously a death is dealt with in the hospital. Death and despair also come in the form of shock treatments. A patient was usually given a quick, yet mind-blowing zap for unruly behavior. When Bromden observes the outburst of another chronic, he actually thin...

Introduction to accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Introduction to accounting - Essay Example The workforce of the enterprise amounts to 150,000 employees. Sainsbury has 525 supermarkets, 303 convenience stores and one bank. Its market share of 16% is the largest in the industry. â€Å"The Sainsburys brand is built upon a heritage of providing customers with healthy, safe, fresh and tasty food† (Jsainsbury, 2010). This year the company celebrated its 140th birthday. The business priorities of the company are: a) Great food at fair price; b) Accelerating the growth of complimentary non-food ranges; c) Reaching more customers through additional channels; d) Growing supermarket space; e) Active property management (Jsainsbury, 2010). The common stocks of the company are traded in the London Stock Exchange. Information concerning the prices of the stock from April 7, 2010 to April 14, 2010 is illustrated in Appendix B. The company utilized the straight line method to depreciate its assets. Inventories are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value. The company’s Chairman is David Tyler.The chief executive officer (CEO) is Justin King, while the chief financial officer (CFO) is Darren Shapland. Mike Coope serves as the Trading Director. The company Chairman started his position on October 1, 2009 replacing Phillip Hampton. He has extensive experience working at the managerial executive level at Experian Group, Burberry plc, and Logica plc. He is currently 56 years of age. J Sainsbury generated total sales of 18,911 million pounds in fiscal year 2009. In comparison with 2008 the firm was able to increase its revenues by 6%. Despite the fact that the company achieved higher revenues its bottom line was not as good as in 2008. In 2009 Sainsbury’s obtained a net income of 289 million pounds. In 2008 its net income was 329 million pounds. About 68% of the decrease in net income was due to higher income taxes. The total assets of the enterprise in 2009 were 10,033 million pounds.

The Netflix Approach to Compensation. Case Study Analysis from a Essay

The Netflix Approach to Compensation. Case Study Analysis from a managing people for competitive advantage perspective - Essay Example The Netflix employed compensation programs that enable them to retain employees. The founder of the organization, Reed Hastings discovered that compensation program is one of the significant management practices that will enable them to retain their employees. Thus, he introduced compensation programs of paying workers cash salaries. This was a significant idea behind the successful organizational performance. Thus, Hastings introduced varied compensation programs with different main components as indicated below; The Netflix compensation policy allowed employees to make their own decisions on compensation system in every year. This system allowed employees to allocate and divide their basic salary with the total compensation as they wished. For instance, an employee earning 200 000 dollars was allowed to divide the salary; thus taking some cash amount and leaving others as a remaining stock. This compensation policy offered employees opportunities for altering their allocation for every year. Therefore, by the year 2009, about 500 employees have already joined the program and non- exempt employees working in the shipping centers were too paid in cash basis per hourly manner. The company makes option grants in a monthly basis with one-twelfth of the total annual allocation, which are granted and priced in the first day of every month. For instance, an employee who earns 24,000 dollars receives a total cash of 2000 dollars in the first day of every month. The company employs the formula of calculating the monthly allocation. This is through dividing the monthly allocation with the stock price. This is through multiplying by 25 percent to get the total number of shares. The aim of using this formula is to offer employees a generous pricing of 50% discount. This will enable the expected value of employees to increase by a certain amount of value. For instance, an

How far do you agree with Dr Johnson Essay Example for Free

How far do you agree with Dr Johnson Essay Samuel Johnson, or Dr Johnson as he was sometimes referred as, was a great English author who made enduring contributions to English literature. Being such a distinguished and renowned author, his views on literature were and still are today, stern and well-known. However, I have views both agreeing with and opposing Dr Johnsons view that Miltons work lacks human interest. Firstly, human interest strictly speaking, is about everyday people just like us, being able to relate to a story, and possibly learn something from it and put it into practise in our own lives. The epic poem Paradise Lost concerns the Christian story of the Fall of Man, while dealing with more present topics such a marriage and politics. Miltons purpose, as stated in book I, is to justify the ways of God to men. This is a good base to start my argument on, which is that I do not agree with Dr Johnson, and believe that Miltons work does hold human interest. By involving politics and marriage into his works, this is surely of human interest, as people will be curious and inquisitive about how things worked back then, and it is therefore of human interest if people want to learn about it. Milton states the purpose of his epic poem, and it is obvious that he intended Paradise Lost to educate people about God. If anything, Paradise Lost holds universal human interest. The event in the poem concern the whole of the human race, as the single event of disobeying God and plucking a single apple has moulded the destiny of the world, and it should surely be of interest to anyone who is born into this world. People must be, and generally are, curious about how their world evolved and how it reached the state of where it is now. If people are curious about this and eager to be educated on this topic, then they may read Miltons work to learn about these events, and consequently are showing signs of human interest. Looking more in depth into Christianity, Christians believe that due to the event of Eve picking the apple, all humans are born with sin, and it is whether people choose to act on it or not that defines us. However, a big factor to consider is whether people actually believe in God or not. Atheists wouldnt take any notice of this argument, let alone and interest of Miltons epic poem Paradise Lost. This is my argument agreeing with Dr Johnson and saying that Miltons work does lack human interest. To an atheist, they would take absolutely no interest in the Fall of Man, and wouldnt believe anything about God and heaven. Also being literal about it, for anyone, let alone an atheist, it is hard to relate to an event that happened such a long time ago, and we only know to be true from a book and lots of believers. How do we even know that this happened? How do we even know God exists? These are all questions that are very important when answering this question. Many different theological issues are presented in the epic poem, such as fate, the introduction of sin and death into the world, as well as the nature of angels, heaven, hell and Satan. However, sin and death cannot be ignored, even by atheists, as these two issues are both around us and will happen to us in our lives. So, this means that people are able to relate to these issues in Miltons works, and therefore showing signs of human interest. Also, nowadays, we are not scared of disobeying something that will have as huge of a consequence as picking the apple did. Anything that we do today is not going to have an huge impact on the world, affecting all of its inhabitants and the world itself. So, in this sense, it is hard to relate to Miltons work, and it can be said that it does lack human interest. Another literal relation that we can have with Paradise Lost is the consequences of picking the fruit relating to God, not just the event itself. Not only did God show his mercy and temperance in their punishments, but he also displayed his love and compassion through the Son, Jesus Christ. Atheist or not, everyone learns about Christ and the Fall and it is whether you chose to believe it or not which is what makes people an atheist. In this sense, Paradise Lost does not lack human interest as it can always be related to and people are always taught about it, even if it was in the classroom and compulsory, or by their parents. The knowledge of Jesus Christ and the garden of Eden is general knowledge, and therefore must be of human interest. Also, the hard work that men and women have to endure, and the pain of giving birth for a woman are all consequences of Eve picking the apple off the tree and disobeying Gods only rule. And therefore, as we all experience hard work, and the majority of women experience child birth, we can all relate to this in some way or another. So, having analysed and read through this epic poem, I am going to disagree with Dr Johnson that Miltons work lacks human interest. I think that everyone can relate to Miltons work in one way or another. You could say, that if you were not able to relate to his work, then you havent related to the story of Creation and havent learnt about God or Christ. Also, you do not need to believe in all of the Creation stories and the Garden of Eden to have related to Miltons work. Above all, Milton is a fantastically talented writer, and that alone is a reason as to why Miltons work does contain human interest. Bibliography and Webography: The Bible The Complete English Poems John Milton www. wikepedia. org www. sparknotes. com.

This Really Sucks :: essays research papers

C.G.Jung's comment, "The unconscious mind of man sees correctly even when the conscious reason is blind and impotent", is indicative to Margaret Atwood's book The Edible Woman. We see how the unconscious affects a woman mind unknowingly. The mind and body have an inter connection. They work with each other even though the conscious mind may not know it. Atwood's main character, Marian McAlpin, was ordinary. After she graduated college she started her simplistic job. Her relationships with people, friends, and her boyfriend, were purely surface. She began feeling crippled by the mundaneness of her already mapped out life. She feared the thought of being the annoying old lady in the basement. She feared living a married life with children, miserable like Carla. She feared the very thought of the "pension plan" for it symbolized the future. A future she hadn't began to question until she met Duncan. We see a shift of characteristics between Duncan and Marian. Her job is to chew up words to make it easier for people to read and understand and then test these people with her revisions. Duncan, however, treats the test as a psychological evaluation ex amplifying that one should think and question what is simplistic. This is what Marian begins to do. She needed to escape the thoughts that resided in her unconscious mind. She feared being pinned down. We get images of this through out the book. Her thoughts of cannibalism represents her fear of consumption. Destruction. Peter erupts these feelings inside her. His proposal of marriage charged her with such irrational fear that her physical self started to react to her unconscious self. Her inability of eating animals was a major symbol of her not wanted to pin down life. This transgressed to not being able to eat vegetables, because they too seemed life like to her. One can argue that she was only able to eat pasta and beans because they are starchy and stiff. They fill her but do not pose as a threat to her for they aren't needed to live and aren't life like. She begins to act neurotic, like Duncan. We get a glimpse of his unconscious mind with his obsession of ironing things. His unconscious mind needs to straighten out and un-wrinkle. He controls this. He feels comfort in p ressing out the most wrinkled items. Another interesting character in the book is Marian's roommate Ainsley.

Moving Towards a Global Community Essay

With Communism finally thought of as discredited, the US believed that it could finally assume sole dominance of global political and economic affairs. The US was wrong, as Communism was replaced with a new foe – terrorism. The 1990s saw the emergence of Islamic terrorist groups, all of which have a single-minded goal to destroy the US. These terrorist organizations justify their actions by arguing that it is their duty as good Muslims to wage a war against all enemies of Islam (Halliday, 2003). Roots of the â€Å"Jihad† Most Islamic terrorist organizations came from Third World countries, where poverty and government corruption are rampant. Furthermore, majority of the countries from which these terrorist groups originated are governed by pro-US regimes. In exchange for unlimited access to the raw materials of their respective countries, the US would grant them political, economic and military assistance. The aforementioned scenario is conducive to the rise of Islamic terrorist organizations. Impoverished and desperate, many Muslims from the Third World find solace from these groups, who offer them overly simplistic explanations for their destitute state. Leaders of Islamic terrorist organizations usually brainwash neophytes into believing that the US is responsible for the political, economic and social ills in their country. Thus, as good Muslims, they must fight the US even at the cost of their very lives. The US, on the other hand, would protect itself by calling on lackey regimes to â€Å"fight terrorism† by crushing these groups, often at the expense of civil rights and liberties of their constituents (Palmer and Palmer, 2004). References Halliday, F. (2003). Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics in the Middle East (2nd ed. ). London: I. B. Tauris. Palmer, M. , & Palmer, P. (2004). At the Heart of Terror: Islam, Jihadists, and America’s War on Terrorism. New York: Rowman and Littlefield.

How smart are sheep? Essay

How Smart Are Sheep by Barbara Drake is about the intelligence of sheep and the studies that have been conducted to prove that sheep can feel different emotions and recognize dogs and humans as their enemies. Evolution has re-wired the sheep brain to know to hate and stay away from humans and dogs. Brain activity research in sheep has shown that sheep see dogs and humans as more alike than comparing the human and the dog to themselves. Drake explains that â€Å"Of course, fro ma distance, if a human being gets down on all fours, there is little uncertainty and the sheep’s brain may start sending ‘possible other sheep’ signals until the sheep gets close enough to realize its mistake† (247). Research has also found that sheep have emotions. They have been known to feel and display moods of fear and happiness. For example: when sheep see an approaching human they will start to feel fearful or if an approaching human is carrying a bag of grains for them to eat then they will start to feel happy because they know that they are about to eat. Drake believes that people who believe that animals do not have feelings or emotions are just trying to find an excuse not to feel bad about the horrible things that we do to animals to be able to harvest their bodies for food. â€Å"If a creature has no feelings, it can feel no pain,† Drake explains is the common clichà © phrase that humans use to make themselves feel better about the harmful things we do to animals as a society (248). The feeling of happiness sheep feel when a human is bringing them food is not because of the human, but it is that the human is bringing them. Bummer lambs, which cannot be brought up by their mothers, are bottle-fed and are most commonly known to display happy emotions when their bottles are being brought to them. The bummer lambs start to become hostile and resentful when it’s human starts to wean it from its bottle. Drake has â€Å"seen weaned bummers use a resentful kind of body language that can only be called sulking† (248). This kind of behavior is the beginning of the behavior that has naturally been wired into their brains to dislike humans. Other research shows that sheep produce more excitable brainwaves when being shown a picture of horned sheep. If a sheep is shown a picture of a sheep upside down it will not recognize the sheep because, usually, sheep are only recognizable on all fours. Drake states, â€Å"In fact, a sheep on its back is liable to be in trouble† (249). Sheep have been categorized as stupid because of their  strong herding instincts. Entire herds of sheep have been known to walk off of cliffs just because their leader went off first. Sheep were tested below the intelligence level of horses and cattle when presented a bucket of feed that was covered in in a black cloth. It took the sheep more than several tries to figure out that the cloth has to be removed to retrieve the food. Another test showed that in single-trial learning, sheep knew how to recognize a plant they shouldn’t eat after only eating it once. Lambs also learn this by example from their mothers. Sheep also know to go into their pens at night and how to sort themselves into the ram and ewe sides of the pen. Drake encountered an eight-month old lamb that was lost and was trying to find its way home. Not sure where the lamb belonged, Drake sold the lamb to some people who lived on the other side of town. A few weeks later the lamb had gone missing. The lamb had panicked and jumped the fence because it had been left all alone in the pen by itself. â€Å"This time when the new owners returned the lamb to their farm, they made sure there were a couple of ewes waiting for them in the pen,† Drake explained, concerning the lamb that had escaped (251).

Before Exams 7 Helpful Memory Improvement Tecniques

Before Exams 7 Helpful Memory Improvement Tecniques Exams often cause a lot of anxiety to students because of the amount of information theyre expected to master in a short time. If youre afraid your memory will fail you during your tests, dont worry. There are several ways you can boost your memory and retention before test day. Here are some great practices that will improve your memory: Get Your Zs While pulling an all-nighter to cram the night before an exam may seem like a good idea, allowing you extra hours of studying, it can actually have a negative effect on your exam outcome. Thats because sleep is an important part of brain function. Your brain actually synthesizes the information it learned during sleep. Sleep also aids in memory formation, allowing you to recall information later. Without these hours of rest and rejuvenation, the brains cognitive abilities are inhibited. Its much more effective for you to get a good nights sleep than to push through until dawn looking over information you may not be able to remember anyway. If you have no choice and need to study at night, at least find out how to study for a test the night before without harming your he Diet Give yourself some healthy brain food before an exam. Dont skip any meals. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and omega 3 fatty acids. Some high-power brain foods are: Broccoli and cauliflower Walnuts Chickpeas Red meat Blueberries Olive oil Salmon Avocado Eggs Exercise Getting a bit of exercise before a test is a great way to increase the blood and oxygen flow to the brain. A quick run or bicycle ride in the morning or some jumping jacks, yoga or calisthenics should be enough to get your heart rate up and your blood pumping. Physical exercise is also a great way to boost your mood and overall sense of well-being an ideal state of mind and body to be in before you take your exam. Association A lot of exam studying is memorization, but, unfortunately, memorization is short term, meaning youll likely forget the information soon after you take the test. Learning how to make associations can help you to retain the information for longer. For example, you could make up Acronyms or letter associations for certain concepts such as Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally which stands for the order of operations for mathematical problems (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction). Creating a rhyme could also help you remember important names or dates (In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue). More tips on memorizing you can find in our post on how to develop photographic memory. Visualization Visualization is a powerful technique that can be used for all subjects. If youre studying for a History exam, try to imagine the events as they take place. If youve watched a documentary or film about the events, try to incorporate those images into your memory. For a Biology exam, recall the slides of the different specimen you studied. Visualize their movements and behaviors and apply that to the concepts you learned in class. For a math exam, you can visualize equations in their most simple forms and use that to apply to more complicated equations on the exam. Also, you should try the technique of building mind palace (like Sherlock, you know?). Divide and conquer Dont study for all of your exams all at once. Instead, focus on one at a time. By taking one subject and reviewing your notes and using some of the techniques mentioned above, youre creating a specific compartment in your brain for you to recall that information. Mixing all of the information up will cause some confusing cross-referencing when its time to take the exams. See your studying through from start to finish on one subject, allowing some time to review your notes before the big test. Relaxation Probably the worst thing you can do to your exam performance is stress out. A little adrenaline is natural, but going into a downward spiral of negative thinking, anxiety and even hyperventilation will only make things worse. Stress causes your blood vessels to constrict, inhibiting the flow of blood and oxygen throughout the body, including to the brain. Without these necessary elements, the brains function also gets reduced. If you have a tendency to stress out before a big test or exam, try taking some time right before the test to relax. Find a quiet spot, or put on some headphones and listen to some soothing music. Take several long, deep breaths. Search for any tension in your body and see if youre able to relax those tense areas. When the time comes to start the exam, maintain that relaxed state of mind and if you feel yourself tensing up, take deep breaths and remember to relax.

Free sample - Reflection Paper. translation missing

Reflection Paper. Reflection PaperIntroduction Hinduism and Christianity are religions that have existed in the world for a very long time now. Each of the religions have many followers depending on the area of presence Hinduism is a religion that is commonly known as Sanatana Dharma meaning eternal religion and Varnasramadharma which emphasizes the fulfillment of duties and responsibilities that are prescribed by both the class and the stage that one is in. It is the perennial faith for the Hindus. It is one of the oldest among the religions that are practiced in the world and still is today amidst the dharma faith. This paper discusses the distinctive aspects, similarities and differences of the two religions. Discussion Hinduism is characterized and comprised of a diverse array of beliefs, scriptures and practice system. It originated from the ancient Vedic culture back in 2000 BC. It is estimated to be the third world largest religion in the world having about 940 million people. 96 percent of these people reside in Indian subcontinent. If the yoga followers are included the religion carries about 1.05 billion people in the whole world (Dogra and Dogra, 2003). It has neither traceable founder nor a date when it originated. The authors and the dates of the sacred texts of the Hinduism religion are unknown. Hinduism is not a homogenous organized religion. Most of its followers are committed followers of Shiva whom they look at as the only true God. Others refer in ward to the divine self that is called atman. Most of its followers identify the existence of Brahman as the unifying factor and the reality responsible for all that lives.   Hinduism religion is thought to have its name originating from the Persian word Hindu which means river. It was used by outsiders to refer to people of the Indus river valley. Hindu practice distinguishes itself from other religions by encouraging its followers to be tolerant to other people with different beliefs. This is because the religion posits that temporal systems cannot assert solitary understanding of one transcendental truth (Hawley and Narayanan, 2006). The followers respect the Brahmans and the Vedas while some others consider only one of the two authorities. The religious life of its followers is devoted to God or gods, meditation and duties of the family life. The first sacred writings of Hinduism were mostly about the ritual sacrifices to numerous gods who acted as representatives of the forces of nature. After the development of the Vedanta philosophy, new belief and custom systems came up from Hinduism forming Buddhism and Jainism. The Hinduism tolerance to diversity in belief made it acceptable to many persons in the west as an alternative to most the religion in the west. Although Hinduism got a relatively few converts from the west, its thought and practice influenced the west indirectly as seen in the development of new religions such as the hare Krishna and new age. Indian beliefs and practices such as the chakra and the yoga system were incorporated in books that covered health and spiritual issues. The Hindu followers worship in the temple. Christianity has been defined as a monotheistic set of values and practices that are primarily based on the Old Testament and the wisdom of Jesus Christ as brought out in the New Testament.The Christian religion is monotheistic in nature. It has its belief in one God who created the entire earth and all that is in it.   Different groups of people that support Christianity place different weight on the three issues but they all put their beliefs in them. The Christian religion is divided into two groups; the Catholics and the Protestants. Christians believe in the holy trinity that is comprised of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The followers of the Christian faith believe that the three are contained in one God almighty. Followers of the Christian religion worship in the church. Christians consider that man was created in the likeness of God. Those human beings are both physical and spiritual beings who are rational, are able to establish relationships with one another and are capable of making wise decisions (Bainton, 2000). Christianity bases its belief on Jesus Christ. That he is the son of God who was sent to the world to come and save the human kind from sin and their inequities to the righteousness and love of God. That he descended died, resurrected and ascended in to heaven where God is. It emphasizes on the free conscience of a free person in a free community. Christianity is not just bout morality. It is about repentance and the relationship with Jesus Christ as man`s savior. The three most significant features of Christianity encompass the axial role of human freedom of serving their God. People are allowed to make willingly their choices about servitude. Secondly, that man should devout things that belong to God to Him. This is clearly shown in Ceaser`s story in the bible.   That all things that belong to God Should be given unto Him. Thirdly, the recognition that man often does what he is not supposed to do and do not do the things that he is supposed to do. This is manifested as sins that are supposed to be repented for so that God may have mercy and forgive the sinners. What should be clear is the unity of humanity as reality and persistence of differences without which permanent and deep unity and affection could not be there. Hinduism and Christianity share some form of similarity. The goals that are brought out from the two religions are alike. This touches more on issues of after life, heaven, and the goodness that people should display. Both the two religions encourage people to do good while on earth so that after their death they may go to heaven. It however they engage in bad deeds they will go to hell where there is suffering.   The believers of the two religions are supposed to be perfect on their spiritual lives. This is seen in Hinduism Moksha and Christianity`s heaven.   Christianity teaches about the teachings of Jesus Christ regarding the goodness as a means of measuring right and wrong. This is the same with Hinduism teachings on karma. The two religions both teach about soul and sin cleansing with emphasis on water. Christianity has its belief in the holy trinity that is encompass of God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit. Hinduism has a similar belief in the role and responsibility of its many gods.   Hinduism has three primary gods that some Hindus believe work as one in Brahman. Most Hindus believe that all gods and goddesses work as absolute reality referred to as Clemmons. In Christian churches there is always water at every entrance to bless persons with the love of God and to be cleansed before getting into the church. In Hinduism worshippers cleanse in communal baths before getting to the temples for prayer. Hinduism talks about Maya and atman which corresponds to Christianity concepts of grace and sin. These aspects are linked to the relationship of Christians with the coming of Jesus Christ to the world and Brahman on the part of Hindus. Despite having similarities, Hinduism and Christianity have differences. Hinduism recognizes Christianity as a valid religion with the same goal like its own. Hinduism considers all other religions as different ways that lead to the same end unlike Christianity that does not consider any other religion as valid. This is brought clearly through the teachings of Jesus Christ that state that no one will enter in heaven except through him, the way, truth and life. The eventual Hinduism ideal is mysticism which is basically a matter of intellect, consciousness and intuitiveness. Christianity on the other hand encourages sanctity which has to do with God`s will and love (Caldwell, 2010).   Eastern religions Hinduism being one of them are understandable from within only by the few people who share the understanding which makes Hinduism esoteric. It has many levels of truth comprising of sacred cows, reincarnation and monism. Western religions, Christianity being a party are exoteric, democratic and open to everyone. Hinduism is a religion that is evolving. It has no known founder unlike Christianity that has Jesus Christ as its central entity. Hinduism has no exact time that it started or was founded. Hindus believe that everything is part of God whether right or wrong and thus to them God is manifested in both good and evil. Christians on their side consider that God did not create evil but instead gave man   a free will to exercise what he feels good for himself but with a price to pay. Conclusion Hinduism as an eastern religion and Christianity as a western religion have distinctive features that make them stands out from each other. The two religions have some similarities that link them together as well as differences that clearly separate them. Even though they have differences and similarities, Hinduism exists in the west just like Christianity exists in the east. It is only that they are minimally established in those areas. The two religions have existed in the world for over two thousand years and will still be there in the coming years. References Dogra, R. C. Dogra, U. (2003). Let's Know Hinduism: the Oldest Religion of Infinite Adaptability and Diversity. 2nd ed. Kuala Lumpur: Star Publications. Hawley, S. J. Narayanan, V. (2006). The Life of Hinduism. California: University of California Press. Bainton, H.R. (2000). Christianity. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Caldwell, R. (2010). Christianity and Hinduism. New York: BiblioLife.

Critically evaluate the above statement. Justify your answer with real Essay

Critically evaluate the above statement. Justify your answer with real life examples - Essay Example On the same token, creativity is the need for being fresh, novel and absolutely unique so that the complex stimulation comes about of age in the most apt manner. Innovation brings out the best within a phenomenon. It highlights the significant aspects that could be exploited in essence to make use of the opportunity areas and thus a new tangent is found altogether. Innovation is extremely useful, at often times it has been known as the best thing that could possibly be found. It is important to define innovation as well. It is a new way of doing a thing or a manner under which new stuff that has been made successful (Ortt, 2008). This innovation aspect might just refer to the incremental and revolutionary changes and amendments that come about within the thinking, products, processes and different realms of an organization. What can be understood from the above statement by Davila et al (2006) is the fact that creativity and innovation are different yet have some features which make the two of these look similar. Creativity is a much desired proposition, more so on the part of the people who believe in its magic. Creativity is all about communicating ideas, values, beliefs and opinions, though in differential settings, ways and means. Creativity is indeed the magic that binds people in wholly different mannerisms and it asks of them to appreciate the creative talent that a person has demonstrated for that matter. Therefore it is a very important element of bringing sanity within the ranks of different work avenues (Fredberg, 2009). Within the fields of culture and business, creativity has its most say. This is because these two areas depict the need for having creativity and thus manifest the exact basis of success in the most apt manner possible. It also goes to show that creativity will rule the roost of the cultural and business quarters if the desire is there to succeed. Within the cultural contexts, creativity comes of age when the people are relying a gre at deal on the people to people interactions. It means that their associations, linkages and relationships are being justified in such a manner that success will eventually shape up in the most appropriate way. It would not be wrong to state here that creativity under the aegis of culture would manifest success, harmony and development for all the right reasons. It would also dictate the basis of finding out the exact details which will embody cultural bonding amongst the people, making them realize as to how they can effectively counter the movements which are happening against the cultural norms (Amabile, 1996). It can also reinforce the message that the cultural awakenings are delivering on the same count nonetheless. As innovation is a deeply inherent trait and characteristic, it has got a huge role to play within the technological realms and thus make its point get across in the time and age of today. Deeply ingrained cultural meanings and depictions have stood the test of time and thus a number of definitions and explanations of both creativity and in

Book The Body Silent by Robert Murphy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Book The Body Silent by Robert Murphy - Essay Example Throughout his book, he embarks on research among the disabled. The question remains is this truly participant observations Can you distinguish an emic and an etic point of view in the narrative Murphy writes both as an anthropologist and as a quadriplegic: "the kind of culture the handicapped American must face is just as much a part of the environs of his disability as his wheelchair. It hardly needs saying the disabled, individually and as a group, contravene all the values of youth, virility, activity, and physical beauty that American's cherish, however little most individuals may realize them. Most handicapped people sense that others resent them for this reason: "We are subverters of the American ideal, just as the poor are betrayers of the American dream. And to the extent that we depart from the ideal, we become ugly and repulsive to the able-bodied" (Perring 2002) Disabled persons account for seeable memories that those with "normal bodies" of society are part of the disabled suffering world, they reside in a non-existent paradise and they too can be stricken at any given time. Murphy writes: The violinist Itzhak Perlman, who suffers from the aftereffects of polio , says that when he is pushed up to an airline counter in a wheelchair, the clerk commonly asks his attendant, "Where is he going" Murphy was a professor of anthropology at Columbia University when he became progressively paralyzed by an inoperable spinal cord tumor. Throughout his book, he provides accounts of his personal experience and case studies of others in society who are dealing with disabilities everyday. "Disability is defined by society and given meaning by culture; it is a social malady" (Murphy 1987, 4). As he writes The Body Silent he is virtually quadriplegic, hitting the keys of his computer with the eraser end of a pencil held in place by a 'universal cuff' wrapped around his palm. He is still traveling to Columbia to teach his classes. Murphy applies the metaphor of an anthropological field trip to his experience: "This book was conceived in the realization that my long illness with a disease of the spinal cord has been a kind of extended anthropological field trip, for through it I have sojourned in a social world no less strange to me at first than those of the Amazon forests. And since it is the duty of all anthropologists to report on their travels . . . this is my accounting" (ix). Drawing not only on his own experience but also on research for which he received funding, Murphy instructs his audience in the metaphysics of his situation, and in the social as well as physical challenges of disability. Murphy took on his physical deterioration with eyes-open determination, a refusal to accept social limitations, and reliance on the essence of his selfhood--his mind. His account is a highly informative study of the physical negotiation of paraplegia and quadriplegia, and of attitudes and assumptions harbored toward those who are physically "other." Murphy became a pioneer for rights of the handicapped and spearheaded the initiative at Columbia to provide wheelchair access and other aids. Peter Graham (1997) classified Murphy's narrative classification of "metapathography." According to Graham, metapathographies are "not

Independent Commission on Banking reforms and Basel III Essay

Independent Commission on Banking reforms and Basel III - Essay Example Basel III contain set of reforms that were developed by the Basel Committee created for banking supervision so as to strengthen supervision, regulation, and management of risk in the banking sector (Angelini, 2011). Basel 3 aims to discover the ability of the banking sector to absorb shock that is experienced from economic and financial stress and improve governance and risk management. In addition, the reform measures aim to strengthen the bank's disclosures and transparency. These reforms targeted the micro-prudential or rather bank level regulation that is entrusted with raising the resilience of personal banking institutions to stress periods. In addition, Basel 3 targets the micro-prudential institution risk that can be experienced across the banking sector and amplification of those risks over time. Basel 3 analyzes it objectives into three essential parts that include capital reform, liquidity reform and other elements that are related to the financial system. The capital refo rms include quantity and quality of capital, leverage ratio, the introduction of buffers for a capital observation, complete risk coverage and a counter-cyclical capital buffer. The liquidity reforms include the long (Net Stable Funding ratio) and short-term (Liquidity Coverage ratio) ratios.   The independent Commission on Banking, on the other hand, came out with a final report that contained their recommendation on the reforms to promote competition and stability in the banking sector in the United Kingdom.

Rethinking Altruism Essay Example for Free

Rethinking Altruism Essay In answering the question of whether altruism exists or not, C. Daniel Batson together with his colleagues believe that altruism does exist. On the other hand, Robert B. Cialdini and his colleagues argue that there no such thing as genuine altruism, let alone altruism as we commonly it. Those propose that altruism exists suggest that human beings are oftentimes inclined to help other individuals out of genuine altruism primarily because of our empathy towards others. On the other hand, those who argue that there is no such thing as altruism tell us that it is not enough for people to simply have empathy to help others, especially those who are in dire need of help. More to empathy, Cialdini and his colleagues suggest that people sometimes help other individuals in order gain something in return—and that â€Å"something† is making the self feel better after doing the presumed altruistic deed. In the end, it signifies that at the bottom of altruism rests the inclination to satisfy ourselves such as our conscience through charitable decisions or actions. The concept of empathy—or the act of immersing into another person’s perspective and experiencing compassion along the way—is at the heart of the position of Batson and his colleagues. That is, people can be altruistic if they are able to empathize with those they help. Conversely, the lack of empathy can hardly push people to become altruists at some point in time. I think it is possible for people to empathize or to put their feet into the shoes of others, so to speak. Sometimes people may want to share the burdens of others and, after a while, they end up helping them anyway. The certainty of whether helping these people is an altruistic deed depends on whether or not those who empathized and helped expected something in return or anything at all. This leads us to the other side of the debate, namely the argument that empathy is never enough as people may help others so that they will feel better or be removed of any form of guilt or a heavy conscience. Cialdini and his colleagues propose that empathy is never sufficient in motivating people to help others. In effect, they are suggesting that our efforts to feel the suffering of others as if it was our own and to resolve the problem of other people without expecting anything in return cannot be maintained. Rather, it is the nature of human beings to do something because they are expecting something in return. I think that is true in so far as my experiences are concerned. I have personally experienced situations wherein I felt that I needed to help other people including my friends and my relatives. I tried to help them to the best of my abilities not out of altruism but out of one basic reason: I did not want to feel guilty if I am not able to help them at the end of the day. Although my conscience is pricked each time I am compelled by my sentiments to help them, my conscience is exactly the reason why I push myself to offer my assistance. I did not want to have a heavy conscience for not being able to be of any help. From that, I can say that I was not really being altruistic. Rather, I was seeking to evade a moral failure to help much as I was seeking to avoid keeping a heavy conscience. On the other hand, Batson and his colleagues maintain that there are times when people become altruistic in their deeds. Because of our empathy towards others, we are inclined to help others without expecting anything in return. I think that is partly true in times when our friends or our close relatives are the ones who need our help. We hardly refrain from helping them essentially because they are dear to us. As for strangers seeking our help, perhaps that is an entirely different matter. I think we are less inclined to help strangers because we barely have any idea about their identity unlike our friends and close relatives. I think that this disparity will only reaffirm the position that empathy is never sufficient and that human beings are generally far from being altruists. Since we are more inclined to provide our help to our friends and close relatives than to strangers, I think it is only safe to assume that the reason why we help them is because of our â€Å"ties† or relationship with them. The lack of an apparent connection with others does not strongly encourage us to be unselfish individuals who could only care about the welfare of others and whose personal welfare only comes secondary. I find it difficult to see myself empathizing with strangers because I barely know who they are. I may be able to relate to their experience or suffering but that is just it. Conversely, I am unable to completely empathize with them because I do not have a close association with them. Because we do not have any strings attached, so to speak, I am not inclined to help strangers. More importantly, I think that people are not genuinely altruists. On the contrary, people are still human beings who seek to preserve their own welfare whether or not other people will benefit from such an attempt. The main reason why we help others even though it might lead to our own suffering is that we seek to avoid carrying the burden of a heavy conscience or of the thought of not being able to help someone when they needed help the most. We can hardly stand seeing a person who is drowning because we fear our conscience will come to haunt us and deprive us of peace of mind. We can hardly stand watching someone be mugged to demise by street criminals because we fear that the same thing might happen to us with no one to help us. In other words, we want to help others because we expect something in return, be it in the form of the same help when we experience the same things or in the form of a conscience that is light. Reference Nier, J. (2007). Does True Altruism Exist? In Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Social Psychology (2nd ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Limitations of the current system :: Computer Science

Limitations of the current system The current system is slow in terms of processing tasks. When a lot of customers are present it is very time consuming to look for individual products because of the large stock room. This means fewer sales transactions are completed so overall there is less profit being made. The customer filing cabinet is taking up a lot id space which can be used for a lot of other things which is un-efficient. Also when a customer comes searching for the customer details is very time consuming and sometimes the details are overlooked so new ones are made causing reputation. If a staff report is created to see who has sold most products can be done by the current system, but it can be very time consuming to go through every invoice. This means that these types of reports are not done despite the ability to do them no one does. The advantage of doing such a report would be to see who doesn’t sell as much so more motivation can be given. The current system also limits the functions you can do because when stock runs out it is hard to find out until sales rep comes looking for the product. This means that they have automatically just lost out on a sale. These are the limitations which with my system shouldn’t occur. New system The new system will enable the users to process tasks quicker and with greater easy. Meaning the new system will have a whole new stock control database. This will definitely improve the time taken to search for a specific product which will mean more customers are attended too. With the aid of security different levels of system uses can be introduced which would mean company information like employee details can be stored on the database. This will also be a good feature because it will mean when a sales transaction is made it will be recorded so if errors arise in human error with sales transactions the system can check to see who carried out the sales transaction. Using the new system more better results and charts can be produced to give a better prospectus of the company finance and how much profit is being made. Also this can lead to queries being performed to see which items sell the most so a larger variety can be introduced or the items that don’t sell that well can be re checked to see why people are not buying them. With the new system it will be easier to do sales transactions because the sales rep doesn’t have to worry about saving the transaction,

The Twilight Saga 5: Midnight Sun 14. Plans

Coasting down the sweeping drive, I was reveling in the scent that was still lingering in the car. When I pulled up to the garage I saw Jasper and Emmett fooling around and wrestling outside. Instead of leaving the vehicle I took another breath. The aroma was intoxicating. Jasper turned to stare at me after he was immersed immediately in undulations of love, like a sponge absorbing water. My intense love was flowing through me as if there were blood flowing through my veins again. Each second, Jasper was being saturated in my bliss. He shook his head in absolute fascination at my involvement with the human girl that was swiftly taking over my existence. I rolled my eyes at him, ignoring his preconceived notions. He turned back to Emmett, grabbing his wrist and swinging him over his shoulder while Emmett landed with a loud thud on the ground. â€Å"I'm going to get you for that,† Emmett grabbed at Jaspers ankle, bringing him down to the ground, another loud thud issued through the small clearing. They both jumped up and began beating on each other. Watching the pair of them brawl was always amusing to me because Jasper would use moves that Emmett had never imagined before and Emmett would ultimately be defeated. Though he was tremendously sturdy, Jasper had familiarity in fighting particularly strong vampires. Their grappling continued while Jasper attempted to throw Emmett down, which eventually worked, but fighting with Emmett reminded me of a human trying to wrestle a piano up the stairs. Dammit! Where does he come up with those moves?Emmett rumbled. Jasper was chuckling in a patronizing tone at Emmett's indistinct muttering. I couldn't help but snicker right along with him. He's in a better mood. â€Å"Hey, wanna wrestle, bro?†Emmet smiled at the thought. â€Å"Emmett,† I tried to stifle my chuckle. â€Å"You know that you will just get angry because I will hear what move you are going to make!† I said in good spirits. Whatever, Edward! Emmett replied sarcastically. His lip curved up in a menacing way and in the next instant he visualized tackling me. He flashed towards me, and in that second I bounded up and on his back, ready for the attack. A few choice curse words exited his mouth. Snickering, I leapt off his back and continued walking towards the house, Jasper's loud guffaws continued echoing through the forest. â€Å"It's so unfair, you know?† Emmett complained. I am beginning to see why Alice likes this human girl so much, Edward is not brooding anymore, Jasper hit Emmett with a small pine tree. Thwack. â€Å"Ahhhh,† Emmett shouted while running full force toward Jasper like a train going full speed. Thwack. Emmett laid on the ground, giving up. Jasper chuckled. I threw them a quick smile over my shoulder before entering the house. â€Å"I bet he won't bring her back,† Jasper said to Emmett, knowing I could still hear. I grimaced. â€Å"What's on the table?† Emmett chuckled. â€Å"I won't use my abilities during our next three football games,† Jasper said, grinning. â€Å"Yeah, no more warm fuzzy feelings about how precious the pig skin football is!† Emmett agreed. â€Å"And if you lose, Emmett?† Jasper continued. â€Å"I won't say another word about that incident in Alaska†¦you remember, don't you?† Emmett retorted with a smile in his voice. â€Å"You're on!† Jasper exclaimed. This was apparently the second bet Jasper had made today, though I never understood why he would bet against Alice. I continued to be in better spirits regardless of the banter between Emmett and Jasper and no doubt it was due to the exceptionally delicate girl, Bella. I saw Alice and Rosalie working on their fashion line when I walked inside and they both looked up. Rosalie was finally starting to rein in most of her frustrations. Alice flitted toward me. Can I meet Bella now? Please! I just found the perfect dress for her to wear. Seriously, have you seen the girl's wardrobe? She needs help! Alice's vision of Bella and her, arms around each other's waist, once more flickered in her mind. There was something new there, though, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. â€Å"Alice, please, not now,† I pleaded. Her bottom lip puckered out and she frowned. â€Å"I'm sorry, Alice. I just don't think I am ready.† Or I'm not willing to share her when I just so recently obtained her, I thought dubiously. It will happen, Edward. I love her and you can't keep her to yourself forever!Alice's lower lip was still protruding. She marched away from me and began working with Rosalie again. Pig,Rosalie snapped. At least her thoughts were becoming less insulting. When I entered my room I placed a classical CD in the player, trying to drive my thoughts away from the brown-eyed girl that was always at the forefront of my mind. Instead of listening to the intricate workings of the master piece I was listening to all I could think about is how Bella's heart sounded strangely like the melody flowing from the violin in the background, or how her voice sounded like some musical ballad that no instrument would ever be able to duplicate. Or how the rhythm of her pulse was perfectly harmonious with her very soul. An hour had elapsed and no matter how relentlessly I tried, all I could imagine was her magnificent bouquet, her blushing cheeks or her continuous, melody like heart pumping her soul with life. I was in dispute with myself about going to see her. Each grueling minute was passing at a snail's pace as I sat on my couch, yearning to be close to her. It wasn't long before I lost my internal argument, though; I sprang out my window and proceeded in the direction of Bella's. There he goes again, Emmett saw me through the window. When I arrived outside her house, Billy and Jacob Black were still there. I began searching their thoughts, hoping I hadn't missed something important. Jacob's thoughts were very irritating. He couldn't keep his eyes off Bella but his thoughts were not like Mike's; he put Bella on a pedestal in his mind and respected her. Regardless, I was still not happy about the way he fantasized her. The Blacks were about to depart and I was able to listen in on them with no difficulty, easily probing their minds for information, secretly unlocking more of Bella's thoughts by spying on her. Here I was, being the vampire stalker again, like a falcon searching for prey. â€Å"Are you and your friends coming back to the beach soon?† Jacob asked, excited. I really hope so†¦I think Bella likes me. Man, she is so good-looking! â€Å"I'm not sure,† Bella sidestepped Jacob's question. Dang, I hope she comes to the reservation soon. I had a good time with her last time she was there. I think she likes me, too. She was flirting with me†¦ I think.Jacob was picturing them strolling on the beach together. I clenched my teeth tight enough to cut steel, I was so annoyed. Yes, I was undeniably aggravated. Abruptly my mood was lightened when I saw how Bella was trying to flirt with Jacob in his memory. I suddenly couldn't suppress a laugh that came through my still clenched teeth when I saw how Bella was attempting to flirt. She truly had no idea what she did to the males around her, how her light flick of her lashes brought some boys to their knees, begging to go out with her. Unexpectedly, I felt sorry for the child. It couldn't possibly be his fault that she was entirely unaware to her exquisiteness. â€Å"That was fun, Charlie,† Billy said, though his thoughts were elsewhere. I can't believe I didn't get the opportunity to tell Charlie about Edward! Next time†¦ So, Billy did recognize me earlier. He probably weaved an intricate thread of lies into Bella's head. His recollection of his histories was more involved than I realized, but still, his opinions are based solely on half-truths. â€Å"Come up for the next game,† Charlie encouraged. â€Å"Sure, sure,† Billy said. â€Å"We'll be here. Have a good night.† He suddenly looked at Bella. I'm going to have a talk with her about this Cullen business. â€Å"You take care, Bella,† he added gravely. Billy had every right to be concerned about Bella. She was hanging around a vampire†¦ for fun; what's more perilous than that? And not just any vampire; the one who hungered after her blood above all others of his kind. Though Bella's mind is cut off to my extraordinary gift, one thing was still certain: she was absolutely unique. â€Å"Thanks,† she mumbled and then looked away. She didn't look incredibly pleased with Billy and without thinking about it, once again I tried to penetrate the solid wall surrounding her thoughts. Nothing, silence. So, instead, I was now observing Bella via Charlie's mind which was quite tedious at times considering his thoughts were sometimes non-existent and his human eyes were weak. I saw the back of Bella's head through his cloudy human vision as she began walking towards the stairs. Charlie hurriedly called out to her. â€Å"Wait, Bella.† She jerked slightly and turned around warily. She had a severe look on her face, or maybe it was a look of guilt†¦shame? Hum, I really hope I hadn't missed anything for the short period of time that I was gone. What could she possibly be feeling guilty about? Again, I was chastising myself for not just giving up my hopeless effort to stay away from her. There was something I missed and now I was regretting my absence. â€Å"I didn't get a chance to talk to you tonight. How was your day?† Charlie inquired. â€Å"Good,† Bella said, still hesitating on the stairs. It looked like she was in deep thought and once again I was perturbed by the lack of thoughts emitting from her. What could possibly be going through that curious mind of hers? I tried to probe her mind once more, just to check, before I reached the silent and impenetrable barrier that was always there. â€Å"My badminton team won all four games,† she said dubiously. I immediately remembered her hitting the net, herself, and Mike in one swing. Now that I knew she was all right, I laughed loudly. The poor girl really was the clumsiest creature I had ever known. She seriously had the grace of a drunk sailor playing golf. â€Å"Wow, I didn't know you could play badminton!† Charlie exclaimed. Four games? Wow. I'm impressed. I laughed even louder at the fact that he thought she was the reason why the team won. Charlie was truly taken aback and had every right to be according to her statement. â€Å"Well, actually I can't, but my partner is really good,† she admitted with chagrin. Oh. I should have known better. â€Å"Who is it?† he insisted. â€Å"Um†¦Ã¢â‚¬  she hesitated. â€Å"†¦Mike Newton.† Jealousy ripped at me. This new emotion was masterfully working its way into my daily routine and continuing to aggravate me. She didn't like him, it was obvious, yet every time they talked or I had to listen to his every fantasy, the little green monster grew to another size. â€Å"Oh yeah ?C you said you were friends with the Newton kid. Nice family. Why didn't you ask him to the dance this weekend?† Charlie was smiling now and his thoughts were wistful. There it was again, the now larger green monster tugging at my heart, making me want to bring my previous ‘torture Mike' fantasies to reality. Blow torches came to mind. â€Å"Dad!† Bella groaned, snapping me out of my unhealthy fantasy. â€Å"He's kind of dating my friend Jessica. Besides, you know I can't dance.† â€Å"Oh, yeah,† Charlie muttered, disappointed. â€Å"So I guess it's good you'll be gone Saturday†¦ I've made plans to go fishing with the guys from the station. The weather's supposed to be real warm. But if you wanted to put your trip off till someone could go with you, I'd stay home. I know I leave you here alone too much.† â€Å"Dad, you're doing a great job.† Bella smiled at him and I saw a sign of relief in her eyes. What was she so relieved about? Why wasn't she telling him she would be with me that day? Even if we weren't going to Seattle, as long as he knew she was with me†¦I'd have to bring her back. If she doesn't†¦No. Stop there. â€Å"I've never minded being alone ?C I'm too much like you.† She winked at him, a sign of trust. She went upstairs after that and I could hear her preparing for bed. As soon as she was asleep I would be in her room again, watching over her as her vampire protector. Bella slept very peacefully that night. I was sitting in my usual spot and taking pleasure in the delectable fragrance that was now engrained in my mind forever. Each breath sent flames down my throat, but it was somewhat pleasurable, too. I was hoping that with each painful gulp of air I would eventually become immune to her scent. Deep down, I was still mildly worried that I wouldn't stay in control for long when I had her alone in the far away meadow. I took in another breath and it was like swallowing daggers, but it was almost a good pain, a sweet pain. After several hours, the scent started to feel less agonizing and much sweeter. I was grateful that it was becoming easier to be around her. If I were to be away from her for any period of time I would be afraid I would have to start all over again. I sighed. I was just giving myself excuses to never leave her. Tonight, I ventured towards her pile of books. Along with Shakespeare there were other classics. Her copy of Wuthering Heights was torn to pieces. Going through the small pile next to her bed, I learned that she still had several surprises up her sleeves. She was, undoubtedly, the most original and unordinary teenager I had ever met. When dawn broke across the night sky, I decided I needed to leave before Charlie woke up. Darting through the misty forest, I was whizzing past trees at a lethal speed. The air from the night was moving rapidly past me and my throat was still burning from her magnificent fragrance. I was thinking about hunting prior to Saturday so that I would be prepared before I was with her in the meadow†¦ alone. Me and her delicate soul alone ?C no thoughts, no nosy vampires – just me and her in the riveting meadow. The monster was too tightly bound and needed a release. Just a small ounce of prevention ?C inadequate though I knew it would be. When I arrived at home Alice was waiting for me, already in on the plan. Let's go this afternoon!She beamed at me. Her eyes were twinkling and she couldn't suppress her radiant smile. I soon saw why she wanted to go hunting with me so badly. Her vision was clear; she would be introduced to Bella today. Even though the meeting would be quick and last a few seconds, she was elated. â€Å"Is that the only reason you want to go hunting with me?† I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Of course not, silly! I don't want you to hurt her, Edward. Hunting before you see Bella is a great idea. You could use my company, too. I can tell it bothers you that you don't have the greatest self-control, and I am used to it with Jasper. I understand. â€Å"Okay, but you better be good! Don't thrust yourself on Bella. I don't want to scare her off.† I paused for a moment before adding, â€Å"even though she probably needs a good dose of fear.† I frowned. Alice just grinned widely and scampered off into the house as she sang joyfully in her mind about meeting her new best friend. â€Å"I mean it!† I shouted. I washed up, jumped into my Volvo and hurried back to Bella's, pulling into the driveway as soon as Charlie was gone. Bella ran out of the house quickly, and this time she didn't hesitate before she got into the car eagerly. Her hair was shiny and smelled like strawberries, a strong whiff of it hit me as she shut the car door. As soon as the door was shut, her aroma swam around my nose. I was beginning to enjoy her scent, embracing it instead of cringing away from it. No mistakes. As soon as I saw her smiling face and recognized that she was pleased to see me, too, I couldn't help but smile back at her, it was an automatic response. â€Å"How did you sleep?† I asked. I knew she slept well. I kept watch over her all night. She didn't even speak. It must have been a dreamless night for her. â€Å"Fine, how was your night?† She smiled wider. â€Å"Pleasant.† I was thinking about how Bella had another suitor she didn't want, Jacob Black. She said yes to me. I couldn't help but feel euphoric. She looked at me and her eyes were so warm and inviting. Her hot, delicious breath surrounded me and I just wanted to tell her how much I loved her. Couldn't she tell? It must be obviously splayed across my face. I took in the air between us. Mouth-watering; there were no other words to describe it. â€Å"Can I ask what you did?† she inquired with a smirk. She wanted to know what I was doing last night. Did she really care what I did, or was she just being polite? No, she did think about me. She even thinks that her feelings for me overshadow my own. She couldn't comprehend the mere complexity of my love for her. She didn't realize how lucky I really was. â€Å"No, today is still mine,† I said. She looked at me in disbelief and kitten outrage. Today I had a brand new list of questions to ask her. I asked her about Renee, her hobbies, and what the two of them did in their free time together. I wanted to know about her grandparents, even her school friends. Every thought I unlocked was like opening a door to a new world. During our lunch break together, I remembered I wanted to know more about her past relationships; or not, actually, but I still had to know her complete story. My lips moved and freed the question before I gave them permission to do so. She looked embarrassed and I watched as her face went from her lovely white and slowly began to flush pink. The flood of blood up to her face made me bite down on my cheek. Her flush was utterly stunning, and delectable. My surprise kept the monster at bay as the realization of the fact that she had never chosen anyone before me hit. Were we dating? Is that what this is called?It was hard to believe that she didn't have someone in the past. Every male she has come across has had to mentally remind themselves to put their tongues back in their mouths. They flock to her. Did she say no to every one of them, even before me? She said yes to me, I reminded myself. â€Å"So, you never met anyone you wanted?† I asked. â€Å"Not in Phoenix,† she answered, blushing again. What are you thinking? My lips pressed together into a hard line. I watched her across the cafeteria table as she took a bite of her bagel. Human food did look utterly disgusting. What does Edward see in Bella? She isn't even pretty, Jessica glared at her. I wanted to shield Bella from her thoughts, but at that moment I remembered my hunting trip. â€Å"I should have let you drive yourself today.† â€Å"Why?† she demanded. She looked confused. â€Å"I'm leaving with Alice after lunch,† I said She blinked, â€Å"Oh.† She looked disappointed and then said, â€Å"That's okay; it's not that far of a walk.† What? She couldn't be serious. After all this time did she not think of me as a gentleman? I would never make her walk. I was frowning. â€Å"I'm not going to make you walk home. We'll go get your truck and leave it here for you.† â€Å"I don't have my key with me,† she sighed. â€Å"I really don't mind walking.† She looked upset then. What are you thinking now? This was getting exasperating. I shook my head. I know where the key is, Edward, Alice's thoughts chimed in. â€Å"Your truck will be here, and the key will be in the ignition ?C unless you're afraid someone might steal it.† I laughed. Who would want to steal that truck? If someone did I would hunt them down. â€Å"All right,† she agreed. She pursed her lips like she was thinking hard and I could almost see a hint of a challenge. I smirked at the thought. Having a psychic as a little sister had its advantages. â€Å"So where are you going?† she asked casually. â€Å"Hunting,† I answered grimly. â€Å"If I'm going to be alone with you tomorrow, I'm going to take whatever precautions I can.† Run, Bella, run! Stay, Bella, stay, I was pleading silently. I had to give Bella the choice. It had to be her choice, always. â€Å"You can always cancel, you know.† She looked down and I was frustrated because I couldn't see her face. â€Å"No,† she whispered and looked up at me again. â€Å"I can't.† She can't? I sighed mentally and realized that I couldn't cancel either. â€Å"Perhaps you're right.† She changed the subject, â€Å"What time will I see you tomorrow?† she asked. She looked upset. Had I said something to upset her? Exasperating, not knowing her thoughts was purely frustrating. Did some god send this wonderful creature here to drive me mad? Hoping I hadn't upset her I answered, â€Å"That depends†¦ it's Saturday, don't you want to sleep in?† I offered. â€Å"No!† she answered quickly. I almost felt my heart restart after 80 years of being still. She didn't want to sleep in because she wanted to be with me. I tried my best to suppress a smile so she wouldn't be able to tell how pleased this actually made me. â€Å"The same time as usual, then,† I decided. Then I wondered about Charlie. She didn't tell him that she was going with me, I speculated how she was going to explain me showing up at her house, â€Å"Will Charlie be there?† Her eyes grew tight and she said, â€Å"No, he's fishing tomorrow.† She seemed enormously pleased about something. I thought about taking her and never bringing her back. Stop! That fantasy, above all the rest, should be the one I would will myself to never think. Didn't she want me to bring her back? I was feeling frustrated and my voice came out a little sharper then I meant, â€Å"And if you don't come home, what will he think?† She looked at me like she was prepared to answer this question, â€Å"I have no idea, he knows I've been meaning to do the laundry. Maybe he'll think I fell in the washer.† She was tempting me to seize her and run for it! I scowled at her and she attempted to be angry by scowling back. Just like always, she was just a vicious kitten. She scowled at me for a few more moments and then her expression changed. She looked thoughtful. What was she thinking now? â€Å"What are you hunting tonight?† she inquired like she was asking me to pass the salt. It was so causal, like she was asking about the weather or what was on TV. â€Å"Whatever we find in the park. We aren't going far.† I mused. â€Å"Why are you going with Alice?† she asked with obvious curiosity. I considered this for a moment. She talked about my clandestine existence like it was normal. I mulled things over; how to tell her that it was Alice that was going because most of my family members were†¦ un-approving of my newly found obsession with a human girl. â€Å"She is the most†¦ supportive.† I frowned, thinking about her visions of vampire Bella. You know it is because I am your favorite sister. Alice thought. Great, she was listening. Bella looked up at me with her beautiful chocolate eyes, â€Å"And the others?† she asked apprehensively, â€Å"What are they?† Pissed off that is what we are. Rosalie thought. Emmet looked at Rosalie then and followed her stare. I try to rein her in bro, but she is feisty. That's Rosalie for ya. Emmett thought. I wrinkled my brow and replied the best way I could without hurting her feelings, â€Å"Incredulous, for the most part.† I watched her gaze go from my face to over her shoulder. I watched my family with disbelief. They were staring off in different directions, acting like they weren't listening. I couldn't be so lucky. â€Å"They don't like me,† she guessed. She wouldn't think that Edward if you would introduce us. You know Bella and I are going to be best friends. You know how much I love her. Alice mused. â€Å"That's not it,† I disagreed. Liar, Rosalie thought. â€Å"They don't understand why I can't leave you alone.† I said. Damn right I can't understand. She's a human. Rosalie thought with disgust. It's true bro, I can't really understand the appeal, but if it makes you happy then I got your back. Emmett contemplated. â€Å"Neither do I, for that matter.† Bella added on top of the already massive amounts of thoughts coming from my family over this conversation. I couldn't accept that she would consider something like that. Didn't she know that her beauty was one of a kind, inside and out? I've never meet a being quite like her before. I shook my head and rolled my eyes towards the ceiling, partially for her answer, and partially answering my family's thoughts. I looked back at Bella, â€Å"I told you ?C you don't see yourself clearly at all. You're not like anyone I've ever known. You fascinate me.† She glared at me with her furious kitten face again. I smiled at her face, â€Å"Having the advantages I do,† I mused, touching my forehead, â€Å"I have a better than average grasp of human nature. People are predictable. But you†¦ you never do what I expect. You always take me by surprise.† She looked away then, and back at my family. She looked†¦ embarrassed? Upset? I couldn't tell, â€Å"That part is easy enough to explain,† I added. I wished she would look my direction, â€Å"But there's more†¦ and it's not so easy to put into words-â€Å" What the hell are you thinking of saying to her, Edward? Rosalie then turned and glared at Bella. What is so special about this girl? Huh? I don't see it. She is so breakable and human. You just keep her around because she smells like the greatest snack you'll ever have! Rosalie continued to give Bella a fierce look. If you take a bite out of her this will hurt our whole family, you know that! I had it with her and I snarled under my breath. Whatever, nitwit. Rosalie turned her head then. Bella looked back at me then and I was relieved to see her face. She looked†¦ frightened? Was that possible? Did Bella even know what fear was? I was going to have to give Rosalie a good scolding later. â€Å"I'm sorry about that. She's just worried. You see†¦ it's dangerous for more than just me if, after spending so much time with you so publicly†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I didn't want to finish my sentence. I was hoping she wouldn't ask to hear the rest, but of course, she would want to know. â€Å"If?† â€Å"If this ends†¦ badly.† I put my head in my hands and tried to push the thought out of my head. Maybe she will finally see that this is serious. That I could†¦ gulp†¦ kill her at any moment. I could breathe her delectable scent in and one day the monster might break free from the darkness I put him in and decide to taste the delicious blood that I could see pulsing on her neck. I heard her drop her hand on the table. I kept trying to push those thoughts away, but then I took in a large gulp of her rich aroma. Instantly the monster reared up. I heard Bella's shaky voice then, â€Å"And you have to leave now?† The monster retreated then. â€Å"Yes,† wait, she wasn't†¦. scared? She still didn't want me to leave? I relaxed and couldn't help but look delighted, â€Å"It's probably for the best. We still have fifteen minutes of that wretched movie left to endure in Biology ?C I don't think I could take any more.† Bella gave me a look like she completely understood what I meant, she must have been feeling the same way about the dull movie, not like I was watching it anyways. It's time to meet Bella! Yay! Alice trilled in her mind. I could see the back of my head from her vision as she skipped over to the table. â€Å"Alice,† I said. â€Å"Edward,† she answered, and added, this is where you introduce us, in her thoughts. â€Å"Alice, Bella ?C Bella, Alice,† I introduced them, hoping that Alice won't start bugging me every five minutes about hanging out with her. I only barely obtained Bella, and I didn't want Alice to take all her time away from me. â€Å"Hello, Bella,† Alice smiled, â€Å"It's nice to finally meet you.† Once again I saw a vision of her and Bella arm in arm, smiling at each other, Bella's eyes bright, crimson red. I shot a dark look at her. â€Å"Hi, Alice,† Bella whispered shyly. â€Å"Are you ready?† Alice asked me. I didn't want to leave Bella, but I was more than happy to remove Alice from her, â€Å"Nearly, I'll meet you at the car.† I met Bella, yay. Edward, you know this means that we get to start hanging out right? Alice beamed. I glanced at Bella and as she watched Alice dance away. â€Å"Should I say ‘have fun,' or is that the wrong sentiment?† she asked, looking back at me. Her expression showed a painful emotion, like me leaving her for a short moment in time would cause her great pain. She was so nonchalant about talking about my world that I couldn't help but grin. â€Å"No, ‘have fun,' works as well as anything.† I said. â€Å"Have fun, then† she said, I could tell there was an edge to her voice. Was she going to miss me while I was away? Being separated from her was overwhelmingly painful, was she feeling this way too? She couldn't possibly grasp the concept of the kind of love I felt for her. â€Å"I'll try,† I continued to smile at her, â€Å"And you try to be safe, please.† â€Å"Safe in Forks ?C what a challenge.† â€Å"For you it is a challenge.† I hoped that she remembered my last request about her safety; that she stays out of the woods. â€Å"Promise.† I begged. If she put herself in harm's way or was hurt in any way because I wasn't there to protect her†¦ it would shattered my cold, silent, heart into pieces. â€Å"I promise to try to be safe,† she mused, â€Å"I'll do the laundry tonight ?C that ought to be fraught with peril.† If that were all she was going to do this evening, she should be safe. I remembered her incident in gym from the other day and grasped the concept that no matter what Bella was doing, there was always an opportunity for her to injure herself. The thought merely brought on an internal chuckle, though, and I teased, â€Å"Don't fall in.† â€Å"I'll do my best† she mocked. I stood then, wishing I didn't have to leave. Bella got up too. â€Å"I'll see you tomorrow,† she sighed. I was suddenly absorbed by my desires again. Maybe if I just lightly gripped her around the waist, I would only have to concentrate on the amount of pressure I used. No mistakes, I scolded myself. I suppressed a sigh. â€Å"It seems like a long time to you, doesn't it?† I asked. She nodded with a sullen expression. She was continually saying yes to me. â€Å"I'll be there in the morning,† I promised. The infatuation I had over touching her was winning my inner dispute. I longed to hold her in my arms, to be engulfed in her warmth. I was craving her touch, too. My body was burning with the yearning to possess her and before I knew it I had reached over and touched her face, lightly touching her cheekbone. Her scent was lingering between us and I took air in my lungs slowly, as if to make the burning and aching of my throat a more pleasurable experience. It wasn't, it was only a burning pain and I knew if I didn't turn away now I wouldn't stop at her face. I'd grab at her waist and bring my lips to hers. No mistakes, I yelled internally. I turned on my heel and strode swiftly from the room, even though my mind was begging me to turn around and take the girl into my arms and†¦ stop there! When I arrived at the car Alice was sitting on the hood, â€Å"You know, Carlisle could help you turn her,† Alice mused. I glared at her. â€Å"I will not take her life Alice!† â€Å"Sure fooled me, I thought I was going to have to drag you out of the lunch room with the visions that were flashing in my mind,† Alice said, â€Å"Now I'm super thirsty after all the imagines I saw,† she faux pouted. â€Å"Like I said, I won't end her life,† I eyed her evenly. â€Å"Like I said,† she mocked, â€Å"you should ask Carlisle. If you aren't biting her because you are afraid you will end her life, then why? To keep her human?† she looked at me in aversion, â€Å"but you know†¦ Carlisle won't kill her.† Alice continued. â€Å"Alice, Bella will not be turned into a vampire, the first one who tries will suffer the consequences!† I growled. â€Å"Okay, okay. Just a thought, Edward,† she looked unhappy. Alice got into the Volvo and we drove to Bella's. She'll be fine, you know? Her night looks extremely uneventful. She really needs to get out more†¦ Alice thought. â€Å"I know, being away from her just makes me extremely anxious,† I explained. â€Å"I know,† she trilled. We arrived at Bella's shortly. You'll find the key in her blue jeans downstairs in a blue laundry basket, Alice thought, figured I would save you some time. You would have found it eventually, of course, but this way you get out of there quicker. â€Å"Thanks, Alice,† I said, glad our little spat was patched up, or at least put behind us. â€Å"You're Welcome!† Alice said while she jumped in the driver's side of the Volvo and drove off towards our house. I was lurking inside Bella's house and found her truck key quickly. Her lingering scent was ever present throughout the house. I was breathing in deeper than I ever had before around the seductive scent, only because she wasn't here in the house. I was in no danger of hurting her when she wasn't here, I contemplated. So I took in another gulp of her perfume before I left the house, which I know I would regret later when I was hunting. I drove her truck back to the school; her aroma was stronger in here than in her house. I tried to distract my mind by musing over all the things I could upgrade on her truck before Bella got out of school. If Rosalie and I were on better terms I would have her do some work under the hood. This truck couldn't possibly be that safe. I grabbed a piece of paper out of my backpack and decided to write a note to Bella. I have a keep sake from her, she deserves to have one from me, too. I thought of what to write while I was driving (more like snail crawling) back to the school. I decided simple was safer. When I parked the truck I left the key in the ignition and wrote â€Å"Be Safe† on the white piece of paper. I left it in her seat. I checked to make sure there was no one looking and I speed off through the forest and back home. Alice was waiting on the doorstep for me. â€Å"Are you ready?† She trilled. â€Å"Yes, let's go.† We sprinted through the forest in silence for several miles. I knew it was safe to hunt when the only thoughts I heard were Alice's. She was thinking about what she was going to pick out for Rosalie to wear tomorrow, whether green and pink or black and pink would look better on her new design for a shirt, and which shoe would look better with Esme's pants, open toed or not. Her thoughts wondered every which fashionable way possible, and I was grateful. I didn't want her to bring Bella up. She had so many visions and images in her mind when it came to Bella, and I would never be ready to see some of those visions come to light. Her mind suddenly shifted to our purpose. She stopped suddenly and her eyes went blank. I saw flashes of a large animal in her thoughts but they were flashing and changing so rapidly I was unable to ascertain what she was seeing. Her eyes focused on me now; there is a bear 5 miles from here. Go north and follow the river, you will run into him in 8.2 miles. Alice smiled at me. â€Å"You know, Emmett will be jealous if I tell him you helped me catch a grizzly.† I grinned. â€Å"I know, but you need carnivore blood to help you out with tomorrow.† She smirked. â€Å"Meet you back here in 30?† I asked. You've got it! She was gone before she finished her thought. I ran north until I hit the river and followed it. I was letting the monster out of the cage, disengaging my ever flimsy hold on my growing thirst. The monster had been begging for release more than normal lately and I finally let my animal instincts take over. I thought of Bella's blood, and I was instantly ravenous. I came across a bear exactly 8.2 miles from my starting location. Alice really did have an amazing gift. The monster reared up and I let out a menacing growl. The bear stood on its hind legs and growled back unimpressively. I leapt towards the beast and quenched my thirst. I was right, Bella's scent and blood even made the bear's blood dull to the point of being dissatisfying. Bears were much more delicious then the deer I usually ate, but I had been exceedingly gluttonous with feeding since I met Bella, making my meals less than appetizing. When the animal was dry of its blood I pushed the carcass off me and breathed in the cold night air. I rejoined with Alice shortly after. â€Å"Are you going to Bella's tonight?† she asked. â€Å"Of course, Alice, why?† I stared at her suspiciously. â€Å"Oh, well, Jasper and Emmett have been missing you like crazy, I think I might have even seen Emmett pout the other night when you left so early,† she chortled. I didn't respond. I know that I had been spending an abundance of my time with Bella, but didn't they understand? They hardly leave their other half. That is what Bella had become though, my other half. â€Å"Please, Edward†¦ please,† she begged. I couldn't stand to see my little sister beg like this. I did owe my family a plenitude of my time after everything I had been putting them through lately. â€Å"Okay Alice, but just for the earlier hours of the evening,† I gave in. During the evening Jasper, Emmet, Alice and myself decided that we were going to play cards. With the many talents my family members have, you would think that playing cards would be ludicrous. Jasper would be feeling the triumph or failure emitting from a card player, Alice would see future moves that you were going to make, and I could hear their thoughts. We didn't play games where we had to use our brains though. The card games we played were strictly speed based. With our vampire speed we tore through every deck of cards. Jasper and Emmet loved to gamble, and our games wouldn't be the same without a bet. Because of their constant opposition, Esme made us move our game outside before Emmett broke anymore furniture. Rosalie was still fuming about the situation with Bella, but even she couldn't hold herself up in the garage anymore and came to play. After 79 decks of cards, 2 broken tables, 1 broken vase, 1 ripped shirt (Jaspers), and 3 trees knocked down, we decided that we had ca used enough destruction. I did get pleasure from the time spent during the evening with my siblings. My regular moping had abruptly wilted away after I came back from Denali. I could tell that my family was enjoying the new Edward, the less mummy-like Edward. Something told me they didn't want the sulky one back again, which just gave me another excuse to stay with Bella. Time passed slowly, even with the fun I was having with my family. I looked at the clock and noticed it was 10pm. I quickly stood up, ready to leave and watch Bella sleep. Emmett looked up at me and gave me a pleading look. Come on bro, we are about to play some serious football. Jasper and I have come up with some new rules; you have to catch the ball with your elbows only. Come on, it will be hilarious! Emmett begged. Plus I have a bet that†¦ he continued, but I interrupted him. â€Å"Emmett, I'm sorry†¦ maybe another time. It makes me uneasy to be away from her, you understand, right?† Emmett scoffed and I grinned, â€Å"I knew you would understand!† When I arrived at Bella's, she was already asleep. Any normal teenager would have been out with friends, going on a date, or shopping†¦ but not my Bella. When I finally climbed through her window, I heard music playing. I was instantly intrigued. It was Chopin's Nocturnes. Once again, we shared a common interest. I knew this CD well. As I stepped closer to her, the scent that had almost taken me the first time we met entered my lungs and I felt like succumbing to the monster inside. She turned over once, and I heard her sigh my name. The clawing monster was instantly diminished. She didn't move much after that, and she even lightly snored. I sat in the rocking chair breathing her scent in deeply. I was fighting all of my cravings tonight. She looked absolutely beautiful with her hair splayed across her face and pillow. Her pink cheeks lightly flushed. How long was I going to be able to suppress my growing desires to touch her? I knew that our trip to the meadow would either be our breaking or making point. Would she leave alive, or would she leave a vampire? I won't end her life, I promised myself. Tomorrow, of all the days I had spent with Bella, would be the one day I would not be allowed to make a mistake. I repeated, no mistakes, to myself for good measure. I suppressed a sigh. I honestly don't know if I will ever really leave her alone, but I would like to think that after tomorrow, I will have a plan. When it started to get light outside I decided to leave, realizing Charlie would be up soon to go fishing. I was leaning over Bella, taking in her scent one last time before I left, and suddenly my hand was at her face lightly caressing. I pulled away immediately and flew out the window. I decided that before I took Bella to the meadow, I needed to see Alice. Her visions were versatile lately. My future was a mystery and I wanted reassurance that Bella would come home to Charlie alive and unharmed. I knew what my decisions would be, but these new cravings were taking over. How many times had I reached out and touched Bella, not even realizing it until my hand was warming from her skin. Alice greeted me at the door, â€Å"Edward, I know you are worried, let me show you what I see. There was one outcome where you bite Bella and she becomes a vampire, hum†¦ but that one has become distant and fuzzy. This clearer vision shows you and Bella laying in the meadow, and my last vision shows you bringing her home safely.† Alice showed me mentally. I had a lump in my throat as I tried to thrust the first vision from my mind. That lump continued to grow as I began panicking. I didn't know how to ask, but I had to ask for her help. Before I could request her help, Alice answered, â€Å"I will be close by Edward. I won't let anything happen to Bella.† I love her too, doesn't he realize this! â€Å"Thanks, Alice.† I whispered. I swiftly rose up the stairs to prepare myself for our new journey together.