Living Life to the Fullest essays

Living Life to the Fullest essays Giving up philosophy, exhorting the judges and declaring the truth to everyone whom Socrates meets is something he wouldnt sacrifice. He strongly stuck to his views, ideas and thoughts, which declared him as a strong independent person. Socrates believed that he should spend his whole life persuading people to give their first and greatest care to the improvement of an individuals soul. (XVII, 36) The author interpreted the soul as the building block of life; without believing in yourself as a person and sticking true to your views, you are simply no person at all. Throughout the Apology Socrates remains true to his way of life even though he is on trial for his life, and will probably be sentenced to death. We know nothing of death according to Socrates, and therefore it is irrational to fear it. (XX, 38) Fearing the unknown is a human instinct, but as human beings we have no idea what death is like; therefore its crazy to worry and stress on matters like such when enjoying life is the main priority. Socrates also states that his service to the God is more important than having the support of Athenians, money, or even a better lifestyle. The author does make it completely clear that Socrates never meant to impose his thoughts to anyone, but instead to simply enjoy the company of interesting people and the opportunity to learn from others thoughts and conversations. This passage really reached out and made me think about the meaning of life and being true to oneself. Once a person has found passion in life, as Socrates found in philosophy, it would be wrong to take into account the risk of life or death that such a passion might involve. A person should care more for being a good and upright person that being popular with the people. The novel tries to express that a person should care for the pursuit of knowledge over the pursuit of success and wealth. Without a doubt a perso ...

Presentation essays

Social Issue Research/Presentation essays Marijuana ( aka grass, pot, weed) is the common name for the crude drug made from the plant, Cannabis sativa. Over 400 chemicals are in marijuana, including the main mind altering ingredient, THC. The amount of THC in the marijuana determines how strong the effects will be. Factors of the strength of the marijuana is, the type of plant, weather, soil, and the time of harvest. Another form of marijuana is a joint. A joint is a cigarette made from the dried particles of the plant. Hashish or hash, is made by taking the flowers of the marijuana plant and the resin from the leaves and pressing it into cakes or slabs. Hash is usually stronger than regular marijuana, containing five to ten times as much THC. Pure THC is almost only available though research, so substances sold on the street claiming to be THC can turn out to be something else like PCP Not everyone uses marijuana just to get high. Marijuana can be used as medicine, helping cancer and AIDS patients gain appetite and relieve nausea. If marijuana was legal, the government would be able to enact standards of quality and purity of the drug. Eliminating the street drug which is often contaminated or extremely potent, causing disease and sometimes death for those who use it. But the most basic reason that marijuana should be legal is that there is no reason for it not to be. Individuals deserve the right to make choices for themselves. Last time i checked the government only have a right to limit those choices if the individual's actions endanger someone else. And this does not apply to marijuana, since the individual using it is doing it according to his or her free will. The second important reason that marijuana should be it that there is not good evidence that prohibition decreases drug use, in fact in some cases it might increase drug use. One unintended effect o f the prohibition of marijuana is the popularity of it in high schools. It is actually easier f...

Crime rate in Accra Ghana and its contributing factors Essay

Crime rate in Accra Ghana and its contributing factors - Essay Example The recent increase in horrendous crime in Accra present an issue of major concern demanding global attention because armed robberies, rapes, murders, and burglaries occur on daily basis now. The list of horrific atrocities committed by active criminals in Accra goes on and on and the societal structure is being deteriorated more and more, eventually. Both local citizens and expatriates are badly offended and affected by this phenomenal increase in crime rate, and no one can remain oblivious to this strengthening societal evil. The growing crime pattern largely depicts the devastated economic conditions that are prevalent in Accra. With the population of the Accra city recorded to be 4.5 million as of 2011, Accra represents the largest metropolitan assembly in Ghana. (Vanderpuije). Crime is a major challenge to the administrative team of Accra owing to the high density of population in the city. As the city of Accra is considered to be the hub of Ghana due to its massive population, this place has also become the hub of criminal activities as well. Urban growth has brought with itself the problems of low economic conditions, unemployment, lack of educational oppurtunities, and poor infrastructural state. (Adu-Mireku 153-168). The combination of giant population and poor economic state proves to be lethal for the suture potential of any place. This is because many facilities needed ferociously for the giant population are cancelled out by low economic state of a city. The case of Accra is just the same because more and more employment opportunities are demanded by the local citizens and in response to minimal employment opportunities, the youth promptly falls in the silken snare of crimes. Unemployment and lay-offs are terrifically common in Accra thus boosting the crime level. The present state in the capital is that the organized crime knows no boundaries and much of the crime is accentuated by poor socio-economic conditions. The incidence of burglary, which i s an ubiquitous crime, is highly distressing while the heads of the family are outside at the workplaces. The crime of car theft is so common in Accra that the police force has repeatedly issues warnings to the local citizens to have parts of their cars engraved in an order to make their cars more identifiable once stolen, which is highly common in Accra these days. This step has slightly reduced the rate of car theft because â€Å"the most up-to-date figures put car thefts in 2008 at 131 compared with 146 the previous year.† (Wanted in Africa). The demographic and gender makeup of any place is very necessary to scrutinize when discussing crime rate and its patterns. Age, race, gender, and marital status are the most important predictors for explaining crime trends, patterns, and its distribution in the society. According to (Ghana  Police  Headquarters, cited in Appiahene-Gyamfi 20), â€Å"Accra data showed a progressive concentration of crime among young males aged bet ween eighteenand  thirty-six  years.† Most of the criminals caught by the police force are single and appear to have little or no educational knowledge. They also do not have any employment records owing to their minimal education. Age differences are also highly related to the type of criminal activities performed. Car thefts and robbery incidents are more common among the younger age group in Accra and operating burglaries involving residential places of expatriates is more common among the middle age group. A study conducted between 2004 and 2005 by (Adjei et al. 594) reveals that the most

Appraisal and Social-Cultural Factors Research Paper

Appraisal and Social-Cultural Factors - Research Paper Example A reading score that is two standard deviation below the mean implies that the student belongs to the bottom 3% of the grade sevens, implying that close to 97% of the grade sevens are ahead of her in the test. In what may be clearer terms, this means that if there are only 20 grade seven students, the student who scored two standard deviations from the mean in Reading means that she is about only as good as the slowest academic performer in 20 students. Make the students 100 instead of 20, a two standard deviation score below the mean score in reading means that she is about as good as third slowest academic performer in a reading if there only 100 grade seven students. These discussions are not very accurate, however, and were meant to impress important mental images of the situation. Table 1 refers to select portions of the normal curve. A test score that is two standard deviation from the mean imply a z-Score of -2.0 that is associated with -2.00. The numeral -2.00 follows through the intersection of the row of -2.0 in the z column and the column associated with .00 of the table. In turn, following protocols followed for the table of the normal curve, the numerals mentioned earlier are associated with the value of 0.0228 that gives area under the normal curve. The area of normal curve 0.0228 is associated with the probability associated with the lowest scorer with the score associated with two standard deviations below the mean. This means that more precisely the student we are discussing belong to bottom 2.28% of the grade sevens, following the association of 0.0228 with 2.28%. Meanwhile, a score of 115 given of 100 and standard deviation of 15 imply a z value of 1.15 following standard transformation formation protocols. In turn, the z-score of 1.15 is associated with the area 0.8749 under the normal curve based on Table 1. This means that the student we are

Economics light Essay Example for Free

Economics light Essay Q1. Mention the problem? The problem of that case study is the organizational conflict i.e. every functional manager is trying to get his own interest; therefore, the working climate became disturbed. In other words, it is possible to say that it is a communication issue. Q2.What did sales managers do? The problem of the sales manager lies in focusing on getting more customers more than thinking of getting more profitable orders. Q3. What did manufacturing managers do?  The problem with the manufacturing managers consists in disordering of work steps, light color orders and dark color orders, which in turn wastes time and money. Q4. State your opinion to solve the problem? SOLUTION 1. Sales manager: He should modify the pricing policy for rush orders in a way that enables the company to exceed its breakeven point and get at least its profitable processing .i.e. to make a special price for rush orders. 2. Manufacturing manager: He should review the cleaning process and try to implement a more cost reducing efficient method. 3. General manager: * He should consider introducing a new machine, one for light color and the other for dark color, hence, reducing the cost of getting a new machine will be covered by eliminating the cost of cleaning and cost of time wasted. * He should ensure that the 250 workforce are aware of that every workers effort and role is step in many pre and post steps. Hence the notion of teamwork will prevail. * Every worker should be aware of not only his own task but also the tasks of all his coworkers to get the value of his own role and appreciate it so self esteem will prevail. * As for , the functional managers, especially, the manufacturing and sales managers should be aware of their critical position and try to be farsighted to the long run  objectives not only the short run. They should get rid of their personal interests and vision. They should cooperate and try to implement an overall objective. Done by Abdulla Talal Alsada BH05501669 SBI((FF))

Essay --

I have grouped some past literature on the topic and investigations I will be pursuing. Economic growth and how conflict affects GDP per capita growth will be discussed theoretically and through previous empirical analyses. Observations will be made on the assumptions they reach and what they indicate for this paper. 2.1 Economic Growth I first look into the theory and previous studies on economic growth. The reason behind this is to get an idea of what model I will use and which variables to include in my regressions. There have been many empirical studies analysing possible variables which are significant to economic growth. Barro, QJE 1991 uses the neoclassical Solow model (Solow, 1956 and Mankiw et al., 1992) to test for the theory of convergence which states that countries with an initial lower GDP grow more rapidly. This makes economic sense as the country that has been involved in the conflict has a greater amount of growth potential. The country will simply need to recover its lost resources and will fulfil conditional convergence. The neoclassical theory states as a country reaches the steady state an increase in investment will result in diminishing returns on capital. Poor countries, which have lower capital and higher rates of return on capital, will pull alongside to the income levels of rich countries with faster growth rates. As for the variables tested, for 98 countries in the period 1960-1985, the growth rate of GDP per capita is positively related to initial human capital and negatively related to the initial level of real per capita GDP. Growth is inversely related to the share of government consumption in GDP. Growth rates are positively related to measures of political stability and inversely related to a... ...nds. As for the previous empirical studies according to Koubi, there are three different studies conducted on the topic. The existing empirical studies of the relationship between war and economic performance are one of three types: a) Those that study the unconditional relationship between war and economic growth. b) Those that examine the conditional relationship. And c) those that attempt to identify the mechanisms through which war affects economic growth (Koubi, 2002). My particular study focuses more on the first type as I am not particular examining the intensity, duration or severity of war, however focusing on a particular region and the different effects of civil war within the countries and interstate wars within the region. I will also observe previous studies of another topic that may become of interest as my paper progresses, the spill over effect.

Diagnostic Essay

Of all the things high school students complain about, being sleep deprived and tired ranks first as most problematic. The issue isn't that kids simply choose not to get enough sleep; it is that the majority genuinely cannot. Students are constantly being badgered by parents, doctors and school faculty to get at least eight hours of sleep, but with school starting as early as 7:20, that makes getting a decent amount of sleep an almost impossible task.Though there are numerous other reasons as to why students are lacking leap, the start time of school is ultimately the main contributor and leads to many severely negative results. A policy causing high schools to start at 8:30 instead would greatly improve the number of better rested students. Firstly, there are a plethora of other variables preventing students from adequate sleep. Such examples include an excruciating amount of homework, extra-curricular activities and striving to maintain the Triangle Of Health. These additional issu es make It even more difficult to get enough sleep.The large amount of homework sometimes has students staying up all hours of the night. Some might argue that if students manage their time efficiently they should be able to go to sleep at a reasonable hour, but even the most organized, intelligent students have trouble completing their huge quantity of homework by the time recommended getting to bed. Next, students are greatly encouraged to participate in after school activities, however, enough sleep is practically impossible to attain when most activities run until five and time is lost to complete work.Finally, students are educated in health class to maintain the Triangle of Health, a diagram representing three crucial elements to being an overall healthy person – physical, mental, and social health. So, students are trying to maintain each form of health by attempting to make time for friends and family, hobbies, at least a half hour of exercise, and stimulation of the mind through education. Overall, when students have these other things to worry about, the early start of school is really an issue when endeavoring to get enough sleep.Secondly, students' lack of sleep affects their overall performance in school, academically and physically. Inadequate sleep in adolescents, defined as less than nine hours per night, is a known problem and a major public health concern. Sleep is food for the brain. Without the nourishment of enough sleep one can look awful, feel moody, and perform badly. While it's true that delaying school would cause complications in bus runs and after school activities, there are many convincing reasons to do so. A study made by Dry.Kyle Hailstorm at the University of Minnesota, saw an improvement in attendance and enrollment rates, increased daytime alertness, and decreased student-reported depression in seven schools whose start time changed from 7:15 to 8:40. Other studies have shown less likelihood of experiencing depressed m oods, reduced possibility for tardiness, reduced absenteeism, better grades, reduced risk of drowsy driving, and reduced risk of metabolic and nutritional deficits associated with insufficient sleep, including obesity. Another doctor, Judy Owens, MD and sleep expert undertook studies as well.She found that there was a significant average increase in sleep duration on school nights of 45 minutes across all grades nine to 12 after the change in the school start time. Her report also showed a drastic decline in students who said they rarely or never got enough sleep. The pros more than surpass the cons when it comes to a delayed school start time. All in all, if a little time and effort was put into finding solutions to the few complications that might arise in school starting at 8:30 rather than 7:20, students overall health and academic performance would improve aromatically.If there is one thing students are lacking in their lives, it is most definitely sleep and unfortunately it is a major issue. With all the incredible benefits of suitable sleep and depressing negative effects of not enough, if given the option, students would most definitely choose to sleep rather than be working on hours of school work and staying at after school activities. But, when the start time of school is as early as 7:20, students will be continuing to be sleep deprived and performing the tiring ritual of complaining of lack of sleep. Diagnostic Essay English class that I will have to take I am excited; I come with a great expectation of leaving behind my bad writing experiences; although a kind of weakness opaque my writing strengths I am going to take full advantage of each and every concept learn during the English 1301 class. First of all, I come with a great expectation of leaving behind my writing experiences presented in my lasts English classes.The memory of the first official essay that I wrote in life is enormously disturbing. Do not remember err well the date but it is truly an experience that will always be impossible to forget. It all started when the professor assigned to each one of us a topic from which we had to develop an essay. I have to mention that the word â€Å"plagiarism† was not in my vocabulary, so I immediately went into the site of lazy people called â€Å"Wisped† and started to copy and paste all the useful information that I found.That way my worked was finished in less than 10 minutes. As well, it was no longer necessary to put attention to the professor essay explanation. Consequently, the teacher did not even take ten seconds o detect my cheat when she was grading my work. After a horrible F in my grade and after a great shame in front of everyone in my class, I realized that the lessons that the teacher had given during the class was going to help me write my essay and obviously what I did was wrong and it was considered â€Å"plagiarism†.Above all, the positive part of this bad writing experience is that promised that will never do it again, and that I was going to use every skill learned in each and every English class in order to be able to develop perfect essays without any plagiarism. On the other hand, especially in this class, a weakness opaque my writing retries; this is due to the fact that English is considered my second language. I come from Monterrey, Mexico and I moved 3 years ago to this country. My first language is Spanish.All my thoughts and ideas in my head are produced in Spanish and in a matter Of seconds I translate it into English. Of COUrse, that point that I see it as a weakness will only disappear if I give the double of the effort. However, through the pass of the years realized that one of my greatest virtues is my agility in the development themes, especially if the theme has to do with science or social problems. As a matter of fact, spent woo to three hours every day reading science magazines or books, and that has helped me when need to develop essays.That's exactly what will do in this English 1301 course; I am going to squeeze 100% each and every knowledge given by the teacher. Improving and enhancing the area of reading comprehension through the ‘Mercury Reader book As well as learning how to adequately answer each and every question used to complete the journals. My goal is to get into the nursing program. Come with the clearly idea that every lesson, every concept learned in this course dur ing this semester will have a positive impact on my future.

Coyote Blue Chapter 1~2

Part 1 Epiphany CHAPTER 1 Life Will Find You Santa Barbara, California While magic powder was sprinkled on the sidewalk outside, Samuel Hunter moved around his office like a machine, firing out phone calls, checking computer printouts, and barking orders to his secretary. It was how he began every business day: running in machine mode until he left for his first sales appointment and put on the right persona for the prospect. People who knew Sam found him hardworking, intelligent, and even likable, which is exactly what he wanted them to find. He was confident and successful in business, but he wore his success with a humility that put people at ease. He was tall, lean, and quick with a smile, and people said he was as comfortable in a Savile Row suit before a boardroom of businessmen as he was lounging in jeans at Santa Barbara's wharf, trading stories and lies with the fishermen. In fact, the apparent ease with which Sam mastered his environment was the single disturbing quality people noticed in him. How was it that a guy could play so many roles so well, and never seem uncomfortable or out of place? Something was missing. It wasn't that he was a bad guy, it was just that you could never get close to him, you never got a feel for who he really was, which is exactly how Sam wanted it. He thought a show of desire, of passion, of anger even, would give him away, so he suppressed these emotions until he no longer felt them. His life was steady, level, and safe. So it happened that on an autumn-soft sunny day, not two weeks after his thirty-fifth birthday, some twenty years after he had run away from home, Samuel Hunter stepped out of his office onto the sidewalk and was poleaxed by desire. He saw a girl loading groceries into an old Datsun Z that was parked at the curb, and to the core of his being, Sam wanted her. Later he would recall the details of her appearance – a line of muscle on a tan thigh, cutoff jeans, the undercurve of a breast showing below the half shirt, yellow hair tied up haphazardly, tendrils escaping to brush high cheekbones and wide brown eyes – but her effect on him now was like a long, oily saxophone note that started somewhere in that lizard part of the brain where the libido resides and resonated down his body to the tendons in his groin and back into his stomach to form a knot that nearly doubled him over. â€Å"You want her?† The question came from beside him, a man's voice that startled him a bit, but not enough for him to tear his eyes from the girl. The question came again. â€Å"You want her?† Already off balance, Sam turned toward the voice, then stepped back in surprise. A young Indian man dressed in black buckskins fringed with red feathers sat on the sidewalk by the office door. While Sam tried to regain mental ground, the Indian dazzled a grin and pulled a long dagger from his belt. â€Å"If you want her, go get her,† he said. Then he flipped the dagger across the sidewalk into the front tire of the girl's car. There was a thud and a high squealing hiss as the air escaped the tire. â€Å"What was that?† the girl said. She slammed the hatchback and moved to the front of the car. Sam, in a panic, looked for the Indian, who had disappeared, and then for the knife, which had vanished as well. He turned and looked through the glass door into his outer office, but the Indian wasn't there either. â€Å"I can't believe I manifested this,† the girl said, staring at the flattened tire. â€Å"I've done it again. I've manifested failure.† Sam's confusion blossomed. â€Å"What are you talking about?† The girl turned and looked at him for the first time, studied him for a second, then said, â€Å"Every time I get a job I manifest some kind of tragedy that ruins my chances of keeping it.† â€Å"But it's just a flat tire. You can't manifest a flat tire. I saw the guy that did this. It was†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Sam stopped himself. The Indian in black had triggered his fears of being found out, of going to prison. He didn't want to relive the shock. â€Å"It was probably some glass you picked up. You can't avoid that sort of thing.† â€Å"Why would I manifest glass in my tire?† The question was in earnest; she searched Sam's face for an answer. If he had one, he lost it in her eyes. He couldn't get a grip on how to react to any of this. He said, â€Å"The Indian-â€Å" â€Å"Do you have a phone?† she interrupted. â€Å"I have to call work and tell them I'll be late. I don't have a spare.† â€Å"I can give you a ride,† Sam said, feeling stupidly proud of himself for being able to speak at all. â€Å"I was just leaving for an appointment. My car's around the corner.† â€Å"Would you do that? I have to go all the way to upper State Street.† Sam looked at his watch, out of habit only; he'd have driven her to Alaska if she had asked. â€Å"No problem,† he said. â€Å"Follow me.† The girl grabbed a bundle of clothes from the Datsun and Sam led her around the corner to his Mercedes. He opened the door for her and tried not to watch her get in. Whenever he looked at her his mind went blank and he had to thrash around looking for what to do next. As he got in the car he caught a glimpse of her brown legs against the black leather seat and forgot for a moment where the ignition slot was. He stared at the dashboard and tried to calm himself, even as he was thinking, This is an accident waiting to happen. The girl said, â€Å"Do you think that the Germans make such good cars to atone for the Holocaust?† â€Å"What?† He started to look at her, but instead turned his attention to the road. â€Å"No, I don't think so. Why do you ask?† â€Å"It doesn't matter, I guess. I just thought it might bother them. I have a leather jacket that I can't wear anymore because when I have it on I have to drive miles out of my way to avoid going by cow pastures. Not that the cows would want it back – zippers are hard for them – but they have such beautiful eyes, it makes me feel bad. These seats are leather, aren't they?† â€Å"Vinyl,† Sam said. â€Å"A new kind of vinyl.† He could smell her scent, a mix of jasmine and citrus, and it was making driving as difficult as following her conversation. He turned the air-conditioning on full and concentrated on timing the lights. â€Å"I wish I had calf eyes – those long lashes.† She pulled down the visor and looked in the vanity mirror, then bent over until her head was almost at the steering wheel and looked at Sam. He glanced at her and felt his breath catch in his throat as she smiled. She said, â€Å"You have golden eyes. That's unusual for someone with such dark skin. Are you an Arab?† â€Å"No, I'm†¦ I don't know. I'm a mongrel, I guess.† â€Å"I never met a Mongrel before. I hear they were great horsemen, though. My mother used to read me that poem: ‘In Xanadu did Kublai Khan a stately pleasure dome decree†¦. I don't remember the rest. Someone told me that the Mongrels were like the bikers of their time.† â€Å"Who told you that?† â€Å"This person who's a biker.† â€Å"Person?† Sam knew there was some reality to grab on to somewhere, a position from which he could regain control, if only he could get a straight answer. â€Å"Do you know where the Tangerine Tree Cafe is on upper State? That's where I work.† â€Å"Just tell me a block or so before we get to it.† Even after twenty years Sam found it impossible to distinguish one area of Santa Barbara from another. Everything was the same: white stucco with red tile roofs. The city had been partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1925, and since then the city planners had required all commercial buildings to be built in the Spanish-Moorish style – they even dictated the shade of white that buildings were painted. The result was a beautifully consistent city with almost no distinctive landmarks. Sam usually spotted his destination just as he passed it. â€Å"That was it back there,† the girl said. Sam pulled the car to the curb. â€Å"I'll go around the block.† She opened the car door. â€Å"That's okay, I can jump out here.† â€Å"No! I don't mind, really.† He didn't want her to go. Not yet. But she was out of the car in an instant. She bent back in and offered her hand to shake. â€Å"Thanks a lot. I work until four. I'll need a ride back to my car. See ya.† And she was gone, leaving Sam with his hand still extended and the image of her cleavage burned onto his retinas. He sat for a moment, trying to catch his breath, feeling disoriented, grateful, and a little relieved, as if he had looked up just in time to slam on the brakes and avoid a collision. He took his cigarettes from his jacket and shook one out of the pack, but when he reached for the lighter he noticed the bundle of clothes still lying on the seat. He grabbed the clothes, got out of the car, and headed down the street to the cafe. The doors to the cafe were the big, heavy, hand-carved, pseudo-Spanish iron-banded variety common to almost all Santa Barbara restaurants, but once through them the decor was strictly Fifties Diner. Sam approached a gray-haired woman in a waitress uniform who was manning the cash register at the head of the long counter. He didn't see the girl. â€Å"Excuse me,† he said. â€Å"The girl that just came in here – the blonde – she left these in my car.† The woman looked him up and down and seemed surprised at his appearance. â€Å"Calliope?† she said, incredulously. Sam checked his tie for spots, his fly for altitude. â€Å"I don't know her name. I just gave her a ride to work. She had a flat tire.† â€Å"Oh.† The woman seemed relieved. â€Å"You didn't look like her type. She went to the back to change. I guess she won't get far without these.† The woman took the clothes from him. â€Å"Did you want to speak to her?† she asked. â€Å"No, I guess not. I guess I'll let her get to work.† â€Å"It's no problem, that other guy is waiting for her too.† The woman nodded down the counter. Sam followed her gaze to where the Indian was sitting, smoking a cigarette and blowing the smoke in four directions with each drag. He looked up at Sam and grinned. Sam backed away from the counter and through the doors, tripping on the step down to the sidewalk, almost falling, but catching himself on the wrought-iron railing. He leaned on the railing feeling as if he had just taken a hard shot to the jaw. He shook his head and tried to find some sort of order to what was happening. It could be some kind of setup; the girl and the Indian in it together. But how could they know who he was? How did the Indian get to the cafe so fast? And if it was blackmail, if they knew about the killing, then why be so sneaky about it? As he climbed back into the Mercedes he tried to shake off the feeling of foreboding that was creeping over him like a night fog. He'd just met the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and shortly he would see her again. He had come to her rescue; what better first impression? Even if he hadn't planned it. The Indian was a coincidence. Life was good, right? He started the car and put it into gear only to realize that he couldn't remember where he was going. There had been an appointment when he left the office. He drove several blocks trying to remember the appointment and who he was going to be when he got there. Finally he gave up and pressed the autodialer on his cellular phone. As the phone beeped through the numbers to his office it hit him: the source of his discomfort. The Indian had had golden eyes. In the time it took for his secretary to answer, twenty years of his life, of denial and deception, was pulled away in a stinging black undertow, leaving him feeling helpless and afraid. CHAPTER 2 Montana Medicine Drunk Crow Country, Montana Black Cloud Follows thundered across the dawn silence of a frost-glazed Little Bighorn basin, out of Crow Agency, under Highway 90, and into the gravel parking lot of Wiley's Food and Gas. A 77 ocher-colored Olds Cutlass rattletrap diesel, Black Cloud Follows stopped, coughed, belched, and engulfed itself in a greasy black cloud of exhaust. When the cloud moved on, wafting like a portable eclipse through the golden poplar and ash trees on the Little Bighorn's banks, Adeline Eats stood by the Cutlass twisting the baling wire that held the driver's door shut. Adeline's blue-black hair was layered large and lacquered into a flip. A hot-pink parka over her flannel shirt and overalls added a Michelin Man concentric-circle symmetry to her oval shape. As the Cutlass chugged and bucked – the thing that refused to die – Adeline lit a Salem 100, took a deep drag, then delivered a vicious red Reebok kick to Black Cloud Follows's fender. â€Å"Stop it,† she said. Obediently, the car fell silent and Adeline gave the fender an affectionate pat. This old car had been indirectly responsible for getting her a husband, six children, and a job. She couldn't bring herself to be mean to it for long. Walking around to unlock the back door, she noticed something lying in a tuft of frost-covered buffalo grass: something also frost covered, that looked very much like a body. If he's dead, she reasoned, he can wait until I've made some coffee. If he ain't, he'll probably want some. She let herself into the store and waddled around turning on lights and unlocking doors, then started the coffee and went out to unlock the laundromat, another of the cinder-block buildings in the Wiley's Food and Gas complex, which also included an eight-room motel. Crunching back through the grass, she looked at the body again, which hadn't moved. But for the frost, Old Man Wiley would have been out at dawn setting gopher traps all over the grounds and would have taken care of the body problem. He would have also given Adeline no end of shit about Black Cloud Follows, which he had been doing for fifteen years. It had been Wiley, a white man, who had named the car in the first place. It was not the Crow way to name cars or animals, but Wiley missed no chance to get in a dig at the people from whom he made his living. Maybe, Adeline thought, a morning of peace was worth dealing with a body. When the coffee was finished, she filled two large Styrofoam cups (one for her and one for the body) and poured a generous amount of sugar in each. The body had long braids, so she assumed he was Crow and would probably take sugar if he was alive. If he was dead Adeline would drink his, and she definitely wanted sugar. Back in the buffalo days, the Cheyenne prophet Sweet Medicine had seen a vision of men with hair on their faces who would come bringing a white sand that was poison to Indians. The prophecy had come true, the white sand was sugar, and Adeline blamed the white man for poisoning her right up to two hundred pounds. She took the coffee, butt-bumped through the back door, and crunched through the grass to where the body lay. He was facedown and his Levi jacket and jeans were crystalline blue with frost. Adeline nudged him in the ribs with her foot. â€Å"You froze?† she asked. â€Å"Nope,† the body said into the ground; a little dust came up with the steam. â€Å"You hurt?† â€Å"Nope.† More dust. â€Å"Drunk?† â€Å"Yep.† â€Å"You want coffee?† Adeline sat one of the cups by his head. The body – she was still thinking of him as the body – rolled over and she recognized him as Pokey Medicine Wing, the liar. Creaking, Pokey sat up and tried to pick up the coffee, but couldn't seem to get his frozen hand to work. Adeline picked up the cup and handed it to him. â€Å"I thought you was dead, Pokey.† â€Å"I might have been. Just had me a medicine dream.† As he raised the cup to his lips the shakes set in and he had to bite the edge of the cup to steady it. â€Å"I died twice before, you know†¦.† Adeline ignored the lie and pointed to one of his braids, which had fallen into his coffee cup. Pokey pulled the braid out and wiped the beaded band around it on his jacket. â€Å"Good coffee,† he said. Adeline shook a Salem out of her pack and offered it to him. â€Å"Thanks,† he said. â€Å"You gotta offer a prayer after a medicine dream.† Adeline lit his cigarette with a Bic lighter. â€Å"I'm a Christian now,† she said. She really hoped he wouldn't use the cigarette to carry a prayer. She'd only been a Christian for a few weeks and the old ways made her a little uncomfortable. Besides, Pokey was probably lying through his tooth – he had only one – about the medicine dream. Pokey squinted up at her and grinned, but did not pray. â€Å"I saw my brother Frank's boy, the one with the yellow eyes who threw that cop off the dam. You remember?† Adeline nodded. She really didn't want to hear this. â€Å"Maybe you should tell a medicine man.† â€Å"I am a medicine man,† Pokey said. â€Å"Just no one believes me. I don't need no one else to tell me about my visions. I saw that boy with Old Man Coyote, and there was a shade with 'em that looked like Death.† â€Å"I got to go to work now,† Adeline said. â€Å"I need to find that boy and warn him,† Pokey said. â€Å"That boy's been gone for twenty years. He's probably dead. You was just dreaming.† Pokey was a liar and Adeline knew that there was no reason that she should let his ravings bother her, but they did. â€Å"If you're okay, I got to go to work.† â€Å"You don't believe in medicine, then?† â€Å"Mr. Wiley will be coming in soon. I got to open the store,† Adeline said. She turned and started back toward the store. â€Å"Is that a screech owl?† Pokey shouted after her. Adeline dropped her coffee, fell into a crouch, and scanned the sky in a panic. In the old tradition the screech owl was the worst of omens; vengeful ghosts lived in screech owls; seeing or hearing one was like hearing the sound of your own death. Adeline was terrified. Pokey grinned at her. â€Å"I guess not. It must just be a hawk.† Adeline recovered and stomped into the store, praying to Jesus to forgive Pokey for his sins, but adding to her prayer a request for Jesus to beat the shit out of Pokey if He had the time.

Eve kept Essays

Eve kept Essays Eve kept Essay Eve kept Essay There are a lot of things in my room but if my house was on fire, and I was allowed to save 3 things, aside from my dogs and my laptop, they would be these things. The first thing I would save is a stuffed bear that was given to me when I was a baby by my grandmother. Apparently I would throw tantrums when I was not being carried by someone so when my parents would put me to sleep in my crib they would put the ear on my back to trick my into thinking I was being touched and eventually I would fall asleep. The second thing I would save is my high school diploma. Obviously it isnt a very unique thing to have considering millions of people get one when they graduate but It took 12 years to earn that little piece of paper so for that reason it means a lot to me. Lastly, I would save a pair of glasses that were owned by my grandfather who passed away when I was about 8. He asked me to hold them for him before right before he passed and Eve kept them ever since. Magic BAG There are a lot of things in my room but if my house was on fire, and I was allowed to save 3 things, aside from my dogs and my laptop, they would be these things. The first thing I would save is a stuffed bear that was given to me when I was a baby by my grandmother. Apparently I would throw tantrums when I was not being carried by before right before he passed and Eve kept them ever since.

How the Qin Dynasty Unified Ancient China

How the Qin Dynasty Unified Ancient China The Qin dynasty surfaced during China’s Warring States period. This era spanned 250 years- 475 B.C. to 221 B.C. During the Warring States period, the city-state kingdoms of ancient China’s Spring and Autumn period consolidated into larger territories. The feudal states fought each other for power during this era characterized by advances in military technology as well as education, thanks to the influences of Confucian philosophers. The Qin dynasty came to prominence as the new imperial dynasty (221-206/207 B.C.) after conquering rival kingdoms and when its first emperor, the absolute monarch Qin Shi Huang (Shi Huangdi or Shih Huang-ti) unified China. The Qin Empire, also known as Chin, is likely where the name China originates. The Qin dynasty’s government was Legalist, a doctrine developed by Han Fei (d. 233 B.C.) [source: Chinese History (Mark Bender at Ohio State University)]. That held the power of the state and its monarchs interests paramount. This policy led to a strain on the treasury and, ultimately, the end of the Qin dynasty. The Qin Empire has been described as creating a police state with the government holding absolute power. Private weapons were confiscated. Nobles were transported to the capital. But the Qin Dynasty also ushered in new ideas and inventions. It standardized weights, measures, coinage- the bronze round coin with a square hole in the center- writing and chariot axle widths. Writing was standardized to permit bureaucrats throughout the land to read documents. It may have been during the Qin Dynasty or late Han Dynasty that the zoetrope was invented. Using conscripted farm labor, the Great Wall (868 km) was built to keep out northern invaders. Emperor Qin Shi Huang sought immortality through a variety of elixirs. Ironically, some of these elixirs may have contributed to his death in 210 B.C. Upon his death, the emperor had ruled for 37 years. His tomb, close to the city of Xi’an, included an army of more than 6,000 life-size terracotta soldiers (or servants) to protect (or serve) him. The first Chinese emperor’s tomb remained undiscovered for 2,000 after years his death. Farmers unearthed the soldiers as they dug a well near Xi’an in 1974. â€Å"So far, archaeologists have uncovered a 20-square-mile compound, including some 8,000 terracotta soldiers, along with numerous horses and chariots, a pyramid mound marking the emperor’s tomb, remains of a palace, offices, storehouses, and stables,† according to the History Channel. â€Å"In addition to the large pit containing the 6,000 soldiers, a second pit was found with cavalry and infantry units and a third containing high-ranking officers and chariots. A fourth pit remained empty, suggesting that the burial pit was left unfinished at the time the emperor died.† Qin Shi Huang’s son would replace him, but the Han Dynasty overthrew and replaced the new emperor in 206 B.C. Pronunciation of Qin Chin Also Known As Chin Examples The Qin dynasty is known for the terracotta army put in the emperor’s tomb to serve him in the afterlife. Sources: Minnesota State University Qin DynastySarah Milledge Nelson, Brian M. Fagan, Adam Kessler, Julie M. Segraves China The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Brian M. Fagan, ed., Oxford University Press 1996.Cultural China: Kaleidoscope Science and InventionHistory Channel: The Terra Cotta Army

Storm Over Everest (May 13, 2008) short essay ethical system analysis

Storm Over Everest (May 13, 2008) short ethical system analysis - Essay Example A team was hired to be a guide in an expedition in one of the highest mountains on earth. Near the summit, passed the mountain’s death zone, one of the clients passed out. Everyone in the team is too weak to carry the client; they are almost running out of time, and a storm is already on its way. In addition to the weak client, the most experienced leader and the weakest climber is also in their weakest state, and is already showing signs of High Altitude Cardio Edema (HACE). The team only has one injection of Dexamethasone (Dex), which will slightly help only one of the three weak people to ease his or her pain. Each person in the team is left with one tank of oxygen, which is only good for four hours; however, the steep descend will take the team six hours. It is up to a member to decide to stay with the client or continue to descend. In the Kantian perspective or in ethical formalism, good will is the only thing that is good. Good actions done out of good will, whatever the results may be is a moral act, and whatever you do wrong, even with a good result is still not moral (Pollock, 2012). In the scenario above, the other members must continue to descend to camp. You should stay with the client who had passed out in order to look after him or her. The Dex must also be injected to the client who had passed out because he needs it the most. In the utilitarian perspective, an act must consider the whole and not just an individual. In this system, it is allowed to harm a person or a small part of the whole for the goodness and benefit of the remaining or bigger parts (Pollock, 2012). In the scenario above, if the utilitarianism ethics is used, the client who had passed out and the weakest climber must be left behind by the team for a lesser burden on the other members. This action will allow the others to descend faster and will also be able to maximize their oxygens. The Dex will also be injected to the most

Critical evaluation of the impact of the global financial crisis on Coursework

Critical evaluation of the impact of the global financial crisis on worker migration - Coursework Example 21-23). In addition, millions of jobs were lost by people, many lost their life time savings and earnings, and many dreams shuttered. These impacts of global financial crisis make my topic important and interesting to study. Everyone wants to know how worker migration was affected, the implication, and probably the causes of the financial crisis. That is what my study is seeking to achieve. Aims and objectives of the study The aim of this study is to critically evaluate the impacts of global financial crisis on the worker migration. In order to achieve this, the following objectives will be met by the study: 1. To identify the effects of global financial crisis on worker migration 2. To identify factors that caused the global financial crisis 3. To determine the implications of global financial crisis on the world economy and the job market 4. To assess and evaluate the rationale of the global financial crisis Literature review Financial crisis is a situation in which the values of f inancial assets or institutions falls rapidly; it can also be applied widely to various situations in which some financial assets all over sudden lose a very big part of their nominal value. Many financial crises are associated with banking panics- a situation where by a bank suffers a sudden rush of withdrawals by depositors and many recessions coincided with the panics. There are other situations that can also be termed as financial crises; stock market crashes- a sudden dramatic turn down of prices of stock in a significant stock market cross section that leads to a significant loss of paper wealth. Therefore global financial crisis means a worldwide period of economic difficulty experienced by consumers and markets. It is a difficult business environment where by potential consumers reduces their purchase of goods and services until the economic situation improves (Morris 2008, p. 24-25). The global financial crisis expressively impacted on the world leading to worker migration. United States of America is basically in control of the world and financial crisis that took place due to the decline in moral values specifically the economic and political power (Longstaff 2008, p. 19-20). In the second half of 2008, the financial markets of the United States, and ultimately all main financial markets of the world, were distraught by the repercussions of the unethical practices of lending carried out by the major lending institutions. The unethical loans were conducted at the height of the bubble real estate in the U.S. Aggressive and destructive lenders engaged in sub-prime mortgage loans (Cooper 2008, p. 17-19). These were extremely high risk mortgages and most of them were found in the violation of the standards of traditional underwriting practice for the industry. Ethics and prudence were ignored and greed dominated the ethical judgment among nationwide mortgage lenders. This problem was entirely aggravated by leveraging and packaging of such loans by the fi nancial companies of the Wall Street. Workers began a massive migration in search of greener pasture. They could no longer afford the cost of living (Cassidy 2009, p. 30-33). Global financial crisis occurred in the US in the year 2007 and spread to a number of other advanced economies through a combination of direct exposure to subprime assets which led to gradual loss of confidence in a number of asset classes and the drying up of wholesale