Traditional and Nontraditional Family Structure Assignment

Traditional and Nontraditional Family Structure - Assignment Example Thus nontraditional family forms include single parenthood, singlehood, cohabitation, Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual- and- Transgender (GLBT) relationships and even polygamy (Grant, 2012). Inasmuch as single parenthood do existed even prior to the 20th century due deaths of spouses, by then, single parenthood was surrounded by a certain level of stigma (Grant, 2012). This is contrary to what is happening now; where single parenthood is considered more acceptable. Additionally, unlike in traditional family set up where single parenthood mainly resulted from death of a spouse, today divorce and woman’s decision to have a child alone are key drivers. For instance, Artificial Insemination has become an option to have a child while single. Cohabitation is also a form nontraditional family (Bornstein, 1991). This is where a housed is shared by unmarried couple. It is normally taken to be an alternative form of marriage which has continued to gain popularity in the U.S. Some couple cohabitate with a claim that they are testing their compatibility in marriage. Besides, families created and the relationship formed by GLBT, may also be considered as a structure in the nontraditional family set up. Unlike traditional structure where a family is mainly husband, wife and children, nontraditional structure presents more complicated structure including even people of the same gender. Nontraditional families’ influence on spots participation depends on the nature of the family and the nature of the stakeholders (Bornstein, 1991); influence may either be negative or positive based on that nature. For example, in a single-parenthood family, a child or children may be actively involved in sports or otherwise; the determining factor being the nature of the parent (Bornstein, 1991). If the parent supports child’s involvement in sports or even himself/herself participates, the participation will be raised, and vice versa

The Accuracy Of Sensory Information Essay Example for Free

The Accuracy Of Sensory Information Essay There are many reasons to believe the accuracy of sensory information. Here are three feel, see and smell. Feeling sends a message to your brain letting you know what something is. Just say you have been blind folded and an object (cake) has been placed in front of you. In feeling the object you would be able to tell the texture and what the object is. See provides you with accurate information about your surroundings. For instance, if you see individuals playing chess it is certain that they are actually playing. Another good example would be children playing kick ball, what you see is what it is. Smelling means that there could be danger but not in all cases. When there is a desirable smell that could sense that something is cooking or a fragrance. Now there is the type of smell that senses danger. For instance, the smell of smoke means something is on fire. Now I would describe the inaccuracy of sensory information. In the past we all have jumped to conclusions at some point and time. Just say there is a case where you walk in a room and everyone starts to look at you. There’s no doubt that they are looking at you but you sense that they may be talking about you. Now this could mean that you are just insecure and feel that everyone is against you. Your surroundings can determine the action of your sensual organs. Like going down a street and you notice that your car is the only one on the street. The first thing pops into mind is maybe this street is closed or everyone is in a building. If the street was closed it looks like there should be some type of signage. Regardless of the sensual organ we are using it’s not always accurate. This is why we shouldn’t be dependent on them. Nature and nurture is a very debatable topic. Research is still being conducted about the debate on nature and nurture. Nature is said to refer to the qualities of an individual. It has been proven that nature not nurture was responsible for intelligence. On the other hand the genes are nature as well which the physical and personality state is. The physical state consist of weight, eye and hair color. Personality state would be how the person is defined to self and others. On a more personal experience that is considered to be nurture. The way that you were raised or the relation to your childhood plays its role. One’s personal traits are predetermined by their genes. Now overall it’s due to life experiences that define that individual. In my view of nature and nurture I see it as not being stable. There is no doubt that both nature and nurture plays a part in whom we are. When it comes to nurture or otherwise known as environment, it has a higher impact on which we are as individuals. We as humans have brains that all receive a different message. The amount of education a person receives doesn’t tell exactly their level of intelligence. Now it does have some effects on beliefs, behavior and intelligence. Not the person as a whole does it has an effect on. It’s only human that we learn from each other. Being influenced or develop ways of thinking and acting coincides.

Imperialism :: essays research papers

‘Examine the Causes of European Imperialism After 1870’ European control and power over other nations was not a new ideal prior to 1870; in fact the process was in place as early as the 14th century. Disease and geography are only two of the factors that prevented European colonisation until the 19th century. Many factors led to the massive rise in imperialism after 1870, both internal and external. European imperialism stems from the capitalistic greed for cheap raw materials, advantageous markets, and good investments. These ideas motivated the search for new markets because Imperialists would rather invest in new markets rather than raise wages of domestic workers. Not only was the cheap production of goods a motivating factor, but the quest for markets to sell manufactured goods contributed as well. Going along with this greed was the drive to expand authority by land acquisition or economic and political control over other nations. The quest for economic domination and advantage Europeans often denied the capitalistic greed as a factor in the cause of imperialism and had other ways of defining the motivation. Many stated that Imperialism was the natural effect of the idea of ‘survival of the fittest.’ This is best represented by Rudyard Kipling in the book ‘White Man’s Burden,’ which describes the notion that European Imperialism was simply the natural way that stronger nations gained power and those unable to keep up would be taken over. The Industrial Revolution also played a huge role in European imperialism. European nations had ease dominating non-Europeans due, in part, to the power retained from industrialisation. The Industrial Revolution provided tools such as guns, railway systems, steamships, and others, making it easier to overcome nations with less technology.

Introduction to Special Education Essay

* students with exceptionalities exhibit differences in learning and behaviour that significantly affect their educational potential – they have exceptional needs that cannot be met by typical approaches to schooling * special education is constructed and delivered to suit the specific strengths and needs of students with exceptionalities The Modern History Of Special Education. * special types of educational services provided as far back as the 18th century * modern era of special education began in the 1960s during the civil rights movement (rejected existing practices of separately educating students who were different) * early forms of special education designed to reduce perceived threats to normal students History Of Special Education (Legislation Affecting Special Education) * some Canadian provinces enacted special education legislation as early as 1969 * 1975 – ground breaking legislation in U. S.  Education for All Handicapped Children Act. * least restrictive environment * individualized education program (IEP) * categories of exceptionality * 1978 – Javits Gifted & Talented Students Act brought number of identifiable categories to eleven * 1990 – Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) added traumatic brain injury and autism to create the thirteen categories used today * IDEA – â€Å"children with disabilities† instead of â€Å"disabled children† The No Child Left Behind Act: signed into law in 2002 * addresses four critical concerns. * accountability of educators for student academic achievement * flexibility of specialized funding implementation to maximize student achievement * option for parents to change child’s school if achievement is not at expected level * use of scientifically proven methods to have all children reading by end of grade three Is NCLB Making a Difference? Criticisms: * students with exceptionalities not exempt from district-wide or state-wide yearly achievement tests (law recently changed – flexibility option) * lack of available funding. * more emphasis placed on math and reading at the expense of other curricular topics To date, NCLB legislation has not significantly affected special education practices in Canada. How Is Special Education In Canada And The United States Similar? * basic practices follow the same conceptual models * major difference is way it is governed * U. S. operates under federally-mandated laws * each Canadian province and territory has own education legislation * most relevant federal law in Canada is Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Prevalence Of Students With Exceptionalities * vast majority of classrooms now include students with exceptionalities * statistics difficult to acquire in Canada * U. S. Department of Education (2002) * 8. 8% of all students have exceptionalities * 85% of these have mild disabilities * twice as many males as females Inclusionary Practices * until the mid 1980s, special education services delivered wholly or partially separated from regular classrooms * all Canadian provinces have currently adopted philosophy of inclusion. * students with exceptionalities are provided with appropriate educational programming in  appropriate environments * regular classroom is first placement option * Inclusionary Practices * inclusion better than integration or mainstreaming because it does not try to â€Å"fix the child† to suit the system * inclusion does not replace the term special education because it does not provide specific definitions for implementation * educators support inclusion but are concerned about its lack of procedures for implementation Non-Categorical Model. * data-based approach to instructional planning * does not rely on specific labels * proponents feel that labels frequently stigmatize, isolate, and stereotype individuals with exceptionalities * more concerned with functional educational services than outcomes of assessments Categorical Model * students’ needs and abilities are defined and then identified, classified, and categorized * most widely used and accepted approach. * allows educators to design effective educational interventions without over-generalizing the characteristics of specific categories to any one child * textbook emphasizes categorical model * teachers need to know the criteria used to identify students with exceptionalities and how the criteria varies across categories * allows teachers to readily notice problems that children may be having * eliminates confusion and frustration when teaching students with exceptionalities.

The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society

Response to â€Å"The Human Cost of an illiterate society† 1/30/2011 In â€Å"The Human cost of an illiterate society,† Jonathan Kozol attempts to convince his reader that illiteracy is extremely harmful to a society, and that it is the ultimate destruction of a human being’s life. He explains with great detail how being ignorant (unknown) at something so universal like being able to read the directions on a medicine label, can lead to a lifetime of hardship and long term agony.Kozol develops his reasoning by contributing meaningful but real world examples on how being illiterate is dangerous and fatal. For example He uses not being able to explain where you are if something fatal was to happen, and not being able to understand the dangers of a cigarettes label with a surgeons warning on it. After giving a plenty load of examples, he then brings the discussion back to his central argument on how being illiterate can be costly. When a person does not understand wh at they have wrongfully done it can be difficult to prosecute or judge that person.If he is not able to read then that person might not be aware that giving a child too much aspirin could result in overdose which can ultimately lead to death. The question that still remains is should that person be held accountable. According to today’s society the answer is still unknown but to protect the people of this society from that illiterate person, the answer is yes that person must be limited. What this ultimately means is that, he must be kept from society so that he won’t cause harm for his on ignorant habits.He will have to be watched, fed, and kept in an environment where he will always be stable. This top of living can cost a lot of money and this is the financial burden that cost a society so much money. In a way this is unfair because it is not this person’s fault that he can’t read, understand, and think critically. Illiterate people will always be in t he dark, and they will always struggle with trying to figure out the differences between what’s wrong and what’s right.

Free Essays on The Existence Of God

The argument of God’s existence has been going on from somewhere around early civilization. This argument has been raged between philosophers, scientists, and many others for centuries, but anyone making this argument clearly has little idea about what God really is. One thing I have noticed is that every philosopher argues for or against the definition of God given by Catholics/Christians. That is, God is a supreme spiritual being who is the creator of the universe, yet is everywhere, and can see everything; he is all knowing and forgiving. Plato definition of God is a craftsman that governs the universe. Aristotle’s version of God is not a personal being like we find in Christian tradition. His God performs no more acts of will or love than gravity. Aquinas’s God has inapprehensible divine essence, which is identical to his existence, and he directs all natural things to their end. Descartes God is an infinite perfect being that causes all effects including ideas. Hume on the other hand argues, that the cause of the finite world is unlimited, and only needs to be as great as it’s effect. Therefore, Hume does not believe there is enough evidence to conclude that there is a God. Throughout my life I have always questioned Catholicism, and what others take on as blind faith in God. We all know that someday we will die (physically), but we deny what may or may not happen to us after death. It’s far easier for humans to accept that we just die, or go to a safe place (heaven) than to question the existence of a superior being. Knowing all of this we still end up questioning the creation of humanity, the religious teachings provided by our parents, our church and our society. During this paper we will examine the many rational arguments for and against the existence of God. It is based on the views of some of the great philosophers of our world. COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS is that someone or something must h... Free Essays on The Existence Of God Free Essays on The Existence Of God The argument of God’s existence has been going on from somewhere around early civilization. This argument has been raged between philosophers, scientists, and many others for centuries, but anyone making this argument clearly has little idea about what God really is. One thing I have noticed is that every philosopher argues for or against the definition of God given by Catholics/Christians. That is, God is a supreme spiritual being who is the creator of the universe, yet is everywhere, and can see everything; he is all knowing and forgiving. Plato definition of God is a craftsman that governs the universe. Aristotle’s version of God is not a personal being like we find in Christian tradition. His God performs no more acts of will or love than gravity. Aquinas’s God has inapprehensible divine essence, which is identical to his existence, and he directs all natural things to their end. Descartes God is an infinite perfect being that causes all effects including ideas. Hume on the other hand argues, that the cause of the finite world is unlimited, and only needs to be as great as it’s effect. Therefore, Hume does not believe there is enough evidence to conclude that there is a God. Throughout my life I have always questioned Catholicism, and what others take on as blind faith in God. We all know that someday we will die (physically), but we deny what may or may not happen to us after death. It’s far easier for humans to accept that we just die, or go to a safe place (heaven) than to question the existence of a superior being. Knowing all of this we still end up questioning the creation of humanity, the religious teachings provided by our parents, our church and our society. During this paper we will examine the many rational arguments for and against the existence of God. It is based on the views of some of the great philosophers of our world. COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS is that someone or something must h...

Free Essays on Beatles Invasion

Beatles Invasion In 1964, the world’s greatest rock and roll band invaded the United States. They are known as The Beatles. The Beatles stormed the U.S. charts and proceeded to make music history and become famous worldwide.(Eder 1) The Beatles are the most famous musicians in the world, and 1964 was their invasion into the United States. The single, â€Å"I Want To Hold Your Hand,† was the Beatles’ first domestically released single.(Beatles 2) Capitol Records released it on an independent label.(Eder 3) Shortly after its release to the public on December 26, 1963, it was a number one request for many young teenagers on the radio, according to the Billboard Music Charts. It would only be two months after this that the Beatles would be appearing before a nation wide audience on The Ed Sullivan show.(Eder 3) The Ed Sullivan show appearance would not be the first, however. The Beatles drew seventy million viewers on their rookie performance.(Ebert 1) Ed, seeing the ratings they drew and crowd reaction that these four young men from Liverpool received, decided he would have them back on the show numerous times.(McCartney 214) After this appearance the Beatles’ record sales outsold the, thought to be, unbreakable numbers in the United Kingdom. One month later after this appearance, the Beatles would have the top five best selling slots on the United States music charts. The critics bashed the Beatles during their 1964 through 1970 career run. Most critics, when asked, said they were nothing more than just the â€Å"flavor of the week† and said that they should absorb all the fifteen minutes of fame they could absorb. During their early career run in 1964, the Beatles were characterized by a few things. The songs were mostly just simple chords played with backing vocals.(Loder 1) The lyrics also matched the simplicity in that they were about happy things. They had not reached the writing maturity they would later s... Free Essays on Beatles Invasion Free Essays on Beatles Invasion Beatles Invasion In 1964, the world’s greatest rock and roll band invaded the United States. They are known as The Beatles. The Beatles stormed the U.S. charts and proceeded to make music history and become famous worldwide.(Eder 1) The Beatles are the most famous musicians in the world, and 1964 was their invasion into the United States. The single, â€Å"I Want To Hold Your Hand,† was the Beatles’ first domestically released single.(Beatles 2) Capitol Records released it on an independent label.(Eder 3) Shortly after its release to the public on December 26, 1963, it was a number one request for many young teenagers on the radio, according to the Billboard Music Charts. It would only be two months after this that the Beatles would be appearing before a nation wide audience on The Ed Sullivan show.(Eder 3) The Ed Sullivan show appearance would not be the first, however. The Beatles drew seventy million viewers on their rookie performance.(Ebert 1) Ed, seeing the ratings they drew and crowd reaction that these four young men from Liverpool received, decided he would have them back on the show numerous times.(McCartney 214) After this appearance the Beatles’ record sales outsold the, thought to be, unbreakable numbers in the United Kingdom. One month later after this appearance, the Beatles would have the top five best selling slots on the United States music charts. The critics bashed the Beatles during their 1964 through 1970 career run. Most critics, when asked, said they were nothing more than just the â€Å"flavor of the week† and said that they should absorb all the fifteen minutes of fame they could absorb. During their early career run in 1964, the Beatles were characterized by a few things. The songs were mostly just simple chords played with backing vocals.(Loder 1) The lyrics also matched the simplicity in that they were about happy things. They had not reached the writing maturity they would later s...

Complete Listing of Retired Hurricane Names

Complete Listing of Retired Hurricane Names Anyone who watches the weather on TV has heard meteorologists  referring to tropical storms and hurricanes by peoples names, alternating male and female names, alphabetically. The names used each year for the storms in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean come from six lists of 21 names, established by the World  Meteorological  Society, that rotate in a cycle in a system that dates back to the 1950s, though the naming convention has evolved over time. For example, the six-year cycle of permanent lists began in 1979. Uncommon letters for first names, such as U, X, Y, Q, and Z, are skipped. Tropical Storm or a Hurricane? Hurricane season typically starts June 1 and ends Nov. 30. To become classified as a tropical storm, a tropical depression needs to graduate to having sustained winds of more than 39 miles per hour; after 79 mph, a storm becomes a hurricane. When there are more than 21 storms big enough to be named, like happened in 2005, Katrinas year, the Greek alphabet letters come into play for names.   When Are Names Retired? Usually, the six lists of names for tropical storms and hurricanes repeat. However, if there is an unusually large or damaging hurricane, the name is retired by the World Meteorological Organization’s hurricane committee because using it again could be considered insensitive and could also cause confusion. Then that name is replaced on its list with another short, distinctive name of the same letter as the name retired. The first hurricane name retired was Carol, a category 3 hurricane (up to 129 mph winds) at its worst when it hit landfall Aug. 31, 1954, in the Northeast. It caused more than 60 deaths and more than $460 million in damage. Storm surges in Providence, Rhode Island, reached 14.4 feet (4.4 m), and a quarter of the citys downtown ended up underneath 12 feet of water (3.7 m). Using the criteria of extensive damage and loss of life could lead Harvey, Irma, and Maria to be under consideration for retirement, after devastating Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico, among other areas, in 2017.   Retired Hurricane Names, Alphabetically Agnes (1972)Alicia (1983)Allen (1980)Allison (tropical storm, 2001)Andrew (1992)Anita (1977)Audrey (1957)Betsy (1965)Beulah (1967)Bob (1991)Camille (1969)Carla (1961)Carmen (1974)Carol (1954)Celia (1970)Cesar (1996)Charley (2004)Cleo (1964)Connie (1955)David (1979)Dean (2007)Dennis (2005)Diana (1990)Diane (1955)Donna (1960)Dora (1964)Edna (1968)Elena (1985)Eloise (1975)Erika (2015)Fabian (2003)Felix (2007)Fifi (1974)Flora (1963)Floyd (1999)Fran (1996)Frances (2004)Frederic (1979)Georges (1998)Gilbert (1988)Gloria (1985)Gustav (2008)Hattie (1961)Hazel (1954)Hilda (1964)Hortense (1996)Hugo (1989)Igor (2010)Ike (2008)Inez (1966)Ingrid (2013)Ione (1955)Irene (2011)Iris (2001)Isabel (2003)Isidore (2002)Ivan (2004)Janet (1955)Jeanne (2004)Joan (1988)Joaquin (2015)Juan (2003)Katrina (2005)Keith (2000)Klaus (1990)Lenny (1999)Lili (2002)Luis (1995)Marilyn (1995)Matthew (2016)Michelle (2001)Mitch (1998)Noel (2007)Opal (1995)Otto (2016)Paloma (2008)Rita (2005)Roxanne (1995)Sandy (2012)Stan (200 5) Tomas (2010)Wilma (2005)

Common law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Common law - Essay Example Wirral Utilities has dug a trench along the pavement and so as to prevent anybody falling in the trench, placed at one end a long handed hammer and at the other some picks and shovels. One end of the hammer lay on the pavement, and the other was hooked on to some railings. These precautions would have been sufficient for the public at large who used the pavement, but the claimant was special, in that he was blind. While walking to his work along the pavement as usual, he had a fall because he tripped over the end of the hammer lying on the pavement. Normal people would have seen the danger, but the claimant did not. He was himself not negligent. His white stick had passed over the hammer. As a result of the fall, he banged his head against the pavement. In the resultant injury, he became deaf and had to retire early from the job. The claimant has sued Wirral Utilities for the tort of negligence. The case is founded on four scenarios or likely turns of event. First is whether Wirral Utilities owed any duty of care to the public at large who utilized the pavement. The next question is whether Wirral utilities breached that duty owed to the claimant. It is the third point to be considered whether the damage to the claimant i.e. the injury caused to him arising from such negligence was foreseeable by a party in a position as Wirral utilities. Ultimately the essay will address the possible defences that Wirral utilities may have against the action brought by the claimant. People have rights in law apart from those arising out of contract. These rights can be enforced by the injured party. When these rights are infringed by somebody out of which the person is injured, and a damage results out of that injury, the party whose act or omission led to the tort is liable to the person aggrieved. Law imposes a duty upon everybody to take care that no one suffers as a result of his act or omission. Thus, in law, a person is duty bound to keep his dog on a

Smartphone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Smartphone - Essay Example The will be able to produce a cell that can retain charge for a long time and which is appealing to their consumers because of its light weight. The company will incur a cost of ?830,000 to make a slim durable cell. This will enable them to capture the Smartphone market before the Korean rivals. For MidlandsPhones to be able to achieve their targets, they will have to commit a lot of resources to accomplish this undertaking. The company has adequately planned for skilled directors and other staff members to execute the plan (Lewis, 200, p. 65). The aim of the MidlandsPhones Company is to launch their product before the December so that during the vacation, they can be able to make significant sales. Another target is to be the first company to enter into the market with a light and long lasting battery for a Smartphone (Sheila, 2008). Finally, the company will have to carry out thorough market research to ensure they have an adequate potential to meet customers’ requirements. As a result, the company has set aside a lot of resources to complete their project with the set time and achieve their objectives. Getting into the market earlier than before the entry of any other rival is crucial because it will help the MidlandsPhones Company to capture market share and strengthen their competitive potential. This company will also be able to raise enough funds to cover for expenses incurred during research. It will also help them to mitigate the anticipated decline in market growth in the year 2013 as a result of increasing rivalry. The MidlandsPhones Company has partnered with PowerDev Company to ensure the proposed plan has succeeded. They have formed a strong production and marketing team who will avail the product for sale after four months once the project commences. The MidlandsPhones will also be able to utilize the resources available for the project and work within the set time to ensure smooth running of the activities. This will assist them to avoid unnecessary delays which would otherwise result to stiff rivalry from other producers. Having experienced project team is of paramount importance because it will ensure efficiency of resource use and timely launching of the product. Question 2: Reasons for Venture Preparation and Appendices (a). Scope (appendix 1) The project staff should set the time period with which they will achieve their specific goals (Urquhart-Brown, 2008, p. 54). They should also establish qualified project workers which will ensure the set goals are achieved within specified time. In addition, they should utilize all the available resources effectively to ensure the plans are attained. The staff should set the means and frequency of disseminating of information within themselves and with the company’s management to ensure adequate coordination of the activities. The MidlandsPhones will launch the new Smartphone with light and durable battery towards the end of November 2012. To ensure this plan is ac hieved, the company has established a strong establishment staff headed by an experienced production and marketing manager who will direct the members during the entire project period. The project staff will work to ensure the product is ready for market starting on first December 2013. The staff will also mobilize all the available resources to ensure the company’s target is achieved. They will also ensure that the company’

Learning Organizations & Effectiveness Research Paper

Learning Organizations & Effectiveness - Research Paper Example However, this does not come easily as there are important aspects that come with learning and which organizations must conform to in order to effectively adapt the learning. In this regard, it is paramount for organizations to clearly define their visions and mission statements which act as guiding principles. With statements clearly stipulated, strategic plan with a clear learning strategy should lay a foundation for effectiveness of organizational learning. Characteristics of an ideal learning organization and their observable behaviors Learning strategy: It is argued that for any organization to thrive, learning is necessary. However, learning has to be strategized in order to achieve desired objectives. Therefore, learning strategy constitutes characteristics of an ideal learning organization. Organizations are expected to endorse both learning innovation as specific goals, and learning strategy (Denton, 2002). One of the strategies is the ability for the organization to learn fa ster than other competing organizations. This is the surest way to maintain competitive advantage. To achieve this, organizations need to put learning at the top of the list of priorities (Buckler, 1996). Once learning strategy has been adopted by an organization, it is apparent that this becomes a habit, which becomes an everyday occurrence. Flexible structure: After setting learning strategies, it is vital for ideal organizations to streamline a structure that would foster learning within the organization. To affect this, organizations need to create teamwork by the formation of small, core workforce (Yang, Watkins, and Marsick, 2004). Actually, a flexible structure should dispose of traditional operations like rigid job descriptions. In fact, it is believed that flexible structure encourages cross-functional cooperation which enables organizations improve the organization’s operations. Organizations that use flexibility structure tend to reduce bureaucracy and restrictive job descriptions. Blame-free culture: It is believed that learning organization should provide an ideal climate, through which learning is prioritized and valued (Denton, 2002). When mistakes are identified, they need to be viewed as a chance to learn and perk up. In fact, it is argued that learning organizations that uphold blame-free characteristic encourage employees to experiment, and in the process, they learn from the experience and become innovative. For organizations that practice blame-free culture, learning becomes automatic. Vision: The concept of a learning organization goes hand in hand with shared vision. A shared vision is needed to overcome authoritative forces that hold up the preservation of the status quo (Denton, 2002). Besides, learning cannot occur without stipulating specific objectives of the learning. Shared vision gives an overview of organization’s commitment to achieving its objectives. An organization with a clear vision would tend to establish ov erarching goals, which forms the basis of encouraging the workforce to speak in one voice. Knowledge creation and transfer: It is apparent that in a learning organization, the concept of creation of new knowledge forms the foundation of development. Knowledge may come from several directions ranging from within the organization and outside the organization (Yang, Watkins, a

What is jurisprudence all about Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

What is jurisprudence all about - Essay Example He is a legal positivist because he considers laws to be disconnected from morality itself and more in line with a system of social guidelines which come with punishments for violations. Thus the viewpoint taken of jurisprudence by him is one of the analytical side where jurisprudence is taken as the philosophy which guides rules in a society that are in turn made into the laws of the society. In effect, Jurisprudence is based on primary rules which actually define acceptable and unacceptable conduct in a social system and secondary rules which tell law officials how to use the primary rules. There are further subdivisions of secondary rules which include the rules of adjudication, the rules of change, and the rules of recognition. In these, the rules of adjudication show ways in which the jurisprudence governs the resolution of legal disputes. The rules of change govern how laws can be altered while the rules of recognition allow rules to be considered valid or invalid. In terms of jurisprudence as it connects with the rules that form the laws in society, it can be debated if morality should be made a part of the equation and there are those who suggest that morality is an important element when it comes to making or altering laws. However, considering that Hart takes morality out of the equation, it could make jurisprudence more dynamic as the norms of society may change much faster than the moral standards of a given social order. Ronald Dworkin is perhaps more important of these two legal thinkers since his contributions to the field of law extend far beyond jurisprudence alone. He also works with the philosophy of law and political ideology debates where his opinions have been widely accepted and opposed as well (Burgess-Jackson, 1998). With regard to jurisprudence, his leading theory is the theory of integrity as it applies to the philosophy of law and the participants in the legal system. An understanding of this

Bullying and Cyber Bullying Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Bullying and Cyber Bullying - Research Paper Example It is quite possible that a number of parents remain unaware about the fact that their child is being bullied at school or in the neighborhood; as many children might not complain about being bullied. In other cases, where children do complain about being bullied, their parents, caregivers, or school teachers might not take such complaints seriously. Thus, it is important that parents should take interest in whatever is going on in the school lives of their children, so that if they detect any disturbing signs in them, they can address the issue instantly. Keeping in view the rapidly growing rates of bullying in school, it is imperative for the teachers and the parents not to ignore the complaints of children regarding bullying. â€Å"Use of the three criteria of intention, repetitiveness, and imbalance of power for classification of behaviour as bullying seems now to be well accepted among both researchers and practitioners (e.g. Smith & Brain, 2000)† (Jimerson 11). When children interact with each other, they act and respond according to their individual behaviors. In general, they can either show normal or hyper active, or sensitive, or aggressive behaviors, depending upon the type of situation they find themselves in. Bullying is such type of behavior that has three distinct qualities: intention, repetitiveness and imbalance of power. Bullying is definitely not an unintentional behavior. A bully intentionally hurts the other child by identifying his/her weakness or sensitivity. It is normal for children to fight or quarrel during playtime. Normally, their quarrels are resolved within no time and they start playing again. But in a situation where one child is intentionally hurting the other, then they both might be gradually adopting the roles of a bully and the bullied, respectively. Their quarrels would not settle on their own but would

What is jurisprudence all about Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

What is jurisprudence all about - Essay Example He is a legal positivist because he considers laws to be disconnected from morality itself and more in line with a system of social guidelines which come with punishments for violations. Thus the viewpoint taken of jurisprudence by him is one of the analytical side where jurisprudence is taken as the philosophy which guides rules in a society that are in turn made into the laws of the society. In effect, Jurisprudence is based on primary rules which actually define acceptable and unacceptable conduct in a social system and secondary rules which tell law officials how to use the primary rules. There are further subdivisions of secondary rules which include the rules of adjudication, the rules of change, and the rules of recognition. In these, the rules of adjudication show ways in which the jurisprudence governs the resolution of legal disputes. The rules of change govern how laws can be altered while the rules of recognition allow rules to be considered valid or invalid. In terms of jurisprudence as it connects with the rules that form the laws in society, it can be debated if morality should be made a part of the equation and there are those who suggest that morality is an important element when it comes to making or altering laws. However, considering that Hart takes morality out of the equation, it could make jurisprudence more dynamic as the norms of society may change much faster than the moral standards of a given social order. Ronald Dworkin is perhaps more important of these two legal thinkers since his contributions to the field of law extend far beyond jurisprudence alone. He also works with the philosophy of law and political ideology debates where his opinions have been widely accepted and opposed as well (Burgess-Jackson, 1998). With regard to jurisprudence, his leading theory is the theory of integrity as it applies to the philosophy of law and the participants in the legal system. An understanding of this

American History Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

American History - Assignment Example Foreigners had to obey the rules; otherwise they were banned from ports. At the same time this situation created disagreements between the mother country and colonies of West Indies and North America. English men simply perceived colonies as a commodity, a valuable resource for their own prosperity and the colonists wished to pursue their own economic interests. 3. Why did England and France go to war with each other in the late 1600's and late 1700's? Sequence of wars between England and France represented their struggle for control over the American colonies. American territories gave vast economic benefits for the mother country: trade and farming was mounting there. Therefore England and France were interested in expanding their presence on American soil. All but one war (so called French and Indian War) started on the European territory and then moved to colonies. 4. Why were the Mid-Atlantic colonies so appealing to new colonists? Why did many colonists move to those colonies? The colonies of Mid-Atlantic were famous for its diversity, multiculturalism and significant economic growth. Therefore this pluralistic society attracted many new colonists; people saw more opportunities to earn money there. Immigrants from Ireland were looking for freer trade opportunities, less rent expenses and religious freedom.

Orange County Essay Example for Free

Orange County Essay After California passed a proposition limiting revenue generated from local property taxes, pressure was put on local governments to raise enough money to fund services. Orange County, like many others in the US, attempted to raise revenue without increasing taxes. Their treasurer, Robert L. Citron, decided to get involved with a high risk high reward product. He chose to invest in derivatives and gamble with public money. Because interest rates were low at the time, Citrons portfolio was returning at an average rate of 8. 52%. This was 5% higher than what the state of California was earning. Orange County was enjoying the benefits of their treasures investments. In 1994, 35% of the countys revenue was from the portfolios returns. The county continued to increase earnings and therefore no one looked into Citrons practices. He did inform the Board of Supervisors that the value of the county’s portfolio depended on interest rates remaining stable or decreasing. So when interest rates rose, the value of the portfolio diminished, eventually leading to bankruptcy. In December 1994, Orange County announced a loss of $1. 6 billion, the most significant loss recorded by a local government investment pool. This also displayed the negative side of the high risk investments made by Citron who was gambling with a $7. 5 billion portfolio made up of players such as cities, school, water works, and regional transportation. [1] There were many factors that led to the bankruptcy of Orange County. A Board of Supervisors member stated that there was a lack of oversight (not an accountable system) and failure of disclosure to investors. Citron also never met with the investment oversight committee that did exist, and as treasurer he had control over Orange County and their trust. Many have questioned if Citron was ever qualified to hold his position in office. Some even blame the state government. Originally they used to fund local governments, but when they started taking back they were taking $6. 5 million more than they were giving them. Before the county declared bankruptcy, an investor; First Boston, was selling its collateral because they saw that the countys portfolio was declining. This was a hint that problems were around the corner because soon many investors would realize this and pull out. In response, bankruptcy was declared so that the funds would freeze and banks would not be able to liquidate the collateral. Another responsible party was Merrill Lynch, the countys financial advisor. The purpose they serve is to protect the interests of the county. They did warn Citron about the volatility of the investments however they still bought him the same funds and underwrote a bond issue for $600 million. The warning was only sent to Citron and not to the Board of Supervisors. A lawsuit was filed in 1995 against Merrill Lynch by Orange County. [2] Besides the power he held over the county, another reason for the bankruptcy was Citrons use of leveraging. As a leveraged fund, it could borrow money to increase its securities portfolio. Citron was able to leverage $7. 57 billion into $20. 5 billion. In essence, when the investment produces a high return rate, the stockholders will have a very high rate of return. On the other hand, if the investment produces a low return rate, the stockholders will have a very low return. They also used longer term maturities which makes it more sensitive to changing interest rates. So there is a high leverage risk as well as interest rate risk. [3] Duration is interest rate sensitivity and because Citrons portfolio depended on interest rates it is a good measure. Because the portfolio used median term maturities over short term maturities to increase their return, the duration increased. In December 1994 the duration was 2. 74 years. With the leverage ratio at 2. 73, the actual portfolio duration was 7. 4 (2. 74*2. 73). When the interest rates rose in 1994, the estimated loss using duration was $1. 85 million, a little more than the actual amount. interest rates went up about 3. 5 and 5 year bond yield was 5%) VaR could also have been used to find some risks of the portfolio. VaR is a statistical technique used to measure and quantify the level of financial risk within a firm or investment portfolio over a specific time frame. Value at risk is used by risk managers in order to measure and control the level of risk which the firm undertakes. The risk managers job is to ensure that risks are not taken beyond the level at which the firm can absorb the losses of a probable worst outcome. investopedia definition) The portfolio was sensitive to interest rates so a change in the rate can be used in 3 simulation methods and the only impactive factor. Using a historical simulation approach, the VaR equals $1. 24 billion. This is lower then the actual value but it is also using past prices to determine the future. In the delta normal method VaR is calculated as $1. 21 billion. This is a little less accurate then the historical method. The best way in theory to calculate Var would be using the Monte Carlo Simulation. However in this situation it treats the portfolio as one asset and equals about $1 billion. Because none of these prove to be reliable enough, a exponentially weighted moving average can be used to improve the accuracy of VaR. What it does it give more weight to recent data then older data. [4] As a result of the bankruptcy many unfortunate consequences arose. Of course there was the $1. 6 billion in debt that needed to be re-payed to investors. Additionally the lawsuit against Merrill Lynch was draining funds from the community with no promising chance of recovery. The once perfect rating that Orange County held was now downgraded to a default rating by Standard Poor. There were also many political consequences regarding the county and county officials. If the risk of the portfolio was taken into consideration by the appropriate parties, the entire situation could have been avoided. Unfortunately the power to stop Citron was in the hands of Merrill Lynch who did not take the appropriate action. The County also failed to monitor and assess the deal which puts several more people at blame for the bankruptcy.

Comparison: John Donne and William Shakespeare

Comparison: John Donne and William Shakespeare In light of Shakespeare’s 450th anniversary a comment has been questioned about his sonnets relevance in today’s time. Many students arguing and questioning why it is relevant for Elizabethan sonnets to be studied in today’s literature. The question of how Shakespeare relates in todays times is always been asked and through this reflective essay I will demonstrate how and why it is relevant. I will be discussing in a number of paragraphs why it relates in todays time through the understanding of the theme, structure and the poetic techniques through the use of John Donne’s Holy Sonnet 10 and Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18. The themes of the poems draw on ideas of different types of power, including the power of religion and the power of the written word. Donne captures the power of belief flawlessly in his metaphors and personification of death. By Donne highlighting a person’s fear of death and playing on the idea a person’s soul can survive death; through this he successfully creates a powerful theme and a paradox of immortality. This theme can be seen throughout his poem for instance line 8: ‘rest their bones and soul’s delivery’. Donne’s theme s plays on the ideas of the role of death in a normal life. He portrays it as the way to break free from the troubles that accompany one lifetime. Donne may seem to be mocking or attacking death but he is in fact not but instead he opposes the normal idea that death is horrible which can be seen in line 2 â€Å"Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so.† These themes in sonnet 10 still relates to today’s time for many reason. Firstly, throughout the sonnet Donne gives the idea of life after death, or the fact that you will ‘break free’ after you die. These lines help relate to many religions that are still around in todays time. The thought of life after death has been a ‘hot topic’ in today’s time as it was in Donne’s time. This belief of your soul’s eternal life helps relate to countless people, since just like me people are afraid of death and believe in an eternal life after death. Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare focuses on the power of the written word and how the poem itself makes love eternal. In sonnet 18 Shakespeare emphasizes the idea that, when envisioned in a poem, love never dies: â€Å"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee† (lines 13 and 14). This sonnet relates to todays times, as many people including myself believe that love never dies. In the movie â€Å"The Noteb ook† the theme â€Å"love never dies† demonstrates itself well throughout it. With the idea of the two characters being in love from such a young age proves to me that love never dies which relates sonnet 18 in todays time through the use of movies. Both Donne and Shakespeare wrote and both used many necessary techniques of this form of poetry. Both poems consist with the use of quatrains and a couplet in a 14 line sonnet. In Donne’s Holy Sonnet 10 he used a rhyming scheme that is similar to a Petrarchan sonnet which is made up of 14 lines and a rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme will usually goes ABBAABBA which is then usually followed by CDCDCD. However, in sonnet 10 Donne finishes it slightly differently. The sonnets last six lines are made up of CDDCAA and if you look carefully you can notice some different things happening. In line 13 the word â€Å"swell’st,† which rhythms with previous words â€Å"dwell† and â€Å"well.† Donne has just placed an extra rhyme which is known to be a bit strange. Donne has structured his poem in a way that would require you to pronounce certain words to make them rhyme. For instance you would have to pronounce the words form â€Å"eternally† and â€Å"di e† to â€Å"eternal-lie† just to make it rhyme. This can relate in today’s time through the use of music. For instance, a famous rapper named Eminem was able to rhyme the word orange to a number of other things that didn’t spell the way of a rhyme but instead through the use of the pronunciation a rhyme was made just like Donne in sonnet 10. Rap is great example of how these sonnets still relate to todays time as they both use the structure of rhyme. If you were to think of music in today’s time you would be able to notice that most artists would consist of a certain structure to their music to keep it flowing especially rhyming. The Holy Sonnet 10 also used the iambic pentameter to help assist with emphasizing particular words which are important. These especially occur at the beginning or ends of the sonnets lines. Sonnet 18 has structured their sonnet with the use of rhetorical questions. For instance, the first line of sonnet 18 â€Å"Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?† This line has used rhetorical question to improve the exaggerative language and comparisons which create the story and are common in most poetry. The rhyming in sonnet 18 contains an ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme. Voltas are also evident in sonnet 18as the author uses end stop lines to help enhance the system of control which helps strengthen the story. Shakespeare’s sonnet 18 successfully uses Iambic pentameter to create a feeling of obviousness as well as a peaceful sense. This structure is evident in today’s time. Just like Donne’s sonnet 10 the use of rhyme in music helps tell me that the structure of sonnets is still relevant to this day. There are a number of poetic techniques that can be found in Donne’s sonnet 10. Donne’s poem often uses alliteration to support in rhythm and rhyme which can be seen in line 4 and 6; â€Å"much pleasure then from thee much more must flow (line 6). Donne’s sonnet uses conceits throughout the sonnet as it proclaims that sleep and death are similar. The sonnet also uses personification of death to help express to the reader that death is not the end, and expectantly the reader will relate to it which then increases the theme of eternal life. The sonnet then uses an wide paradox about eternity as Donne submits that death does not kill but only puts you to sleep, this paradox helps improve and highlight the intended theme and story of the poem which is eternal life. These poetic techniques can still be seen in today’s times. For example in many children books the use of alliteration to help rhyme words can be seen. This can be seen in a famous author Dr Seuss who specialised in alliteration to ensure his poems would rhyme. This helps me realise that poetic techniques are still relevant today and are used to help develop young children’s brains. Shakespeare’s sonnet uses various amounts of poetic techniques. Firstly the use of alliteration can be seen in lines 7; â€Å"And ever fair from fair sometimes declines†. Which helps keep a sense of rhythm and rhyme in Shakespeare’s sonnet. Just like Donne’s poem Shakespeare also uses conceits in his sonnet which can be seen when he compares a person to a summer’s day. Shakespeare also uses hyperboles throughout his poem which helps exaggerate and highlight the comparisons of his friend or lover to nature. Shakespeare’s 450th anniversary has raised many question of why it is still relevant in today’s time. In this reflective essay I have discussed why it is still relevant in today’s time through the use of theme, structure and poetic techniques. I have discussed how themes are still relevant in today’s time through the use of movies and how structure and poetic techniques can be seen in music and books. I believe it is still relevant in today’s time through all the present day things that require and use these ancient techniques. Life: A Fusion Of Pleasure And Pain Life: A Fusion Of Pleasure And Pain A mixture of happiness and sorrow; a beautiful blending of light and dark. Human existence is comprised of an interweaving web of joy and despair; a web from which we cannot escape. Many of the works that we have read in class reflect on this fusion that we call life. Maurice Blanchot adequately summarizes the essence of human existence as quoted from The Infinite Conversation: The man of the world lives in nuance and by degrees, he lives in a mixture of light and shadow, in confused enchantment or irresolute mediocrity: in the middle. Tragic man lives in the extreme tension between contraries, going from a yes and no confusedly merged back to a yes and a no that are clear and clearly preserved in their opposition. He does not see man as a passable mixture of middling qualities and honest failings, but as an endurable meeting of extreme grandeur and extreme destitution, an incongruous nothingness in which the two infinities collide.1 Essentially, ambivalence defines our life: the tragic world. Humans are unique in the fact that we can be wounded, not merely in the physical sense, but in the reality that someone or something can shatter our integrity. Georges Bataille states that man differs from animal in that he is able to experience certain sensations that wound him and melt him to the core. 2 This undeniable reality is what makes us susceptible to the ambivalence of life; the certainty that emotional suffering can be inflicted onto us by others. In Madame Edwarda, Georges Bataille ironically refers to the prostitutes vagina as a wound; 3 inferring the fusion of pleasure and pain for the narrator. At first glance, one might think that her wound should bring nothing but sexual pleasure to the narrator, however her wound ultimately causes him emotional distress in many ways. Madame Edwarda identifies herself as God, drawing the narrator further into her seductive hypnotism. By presenting the concept of God in the form of an attractive, yet tainted prostitute, Bataille addresses the sacreds irresistible nature, with her mixture of attraction and terror. As Madame Edwarda is standing under the Porte Saint-Denis, the narrator is watching from a distance (as she is losing her mind.) He soon accepts the fact that She had not lied, that She was GOD. 4 This scene could also be viewed as Madame Edwarda playing the role of God and guarding the gates of heaven. The narrators clear apprehension when approaching her hints at his fear of entering into Purgatory and receiving his Final Judgment. Underneath the arch, he is consumed with emptiness and accepts any suffering that he might endure. The narrator lusts for her secret 5 so much that he would tolerate any amount of pain to receive answers and obtain the truth. These frightened, yet hopeful emotions that the narrator experiences are caused by Madame Edwarda and her wound; the same character who had previously provided him with incredible sexual pleasure. It can therefore be said that Madame Edwarda symbolizes our ambivalent life: an opposing balance of pain and pleasure. Sigmund Freud also explores the idea of human life as a fusion of happiness and sorrow in his essay called The Uncanny. Uncanny is the English translation of the German word unheimlich, which is the main focus of this essay. Freud provides the definition of unheimlich in 8 different languages, thoroughly demonstrating the contradictory meaning of the word. He summarizes these descriptions stating: the word heimlich is not unambiguous, but belongs to two sets of ideason one hand it means what is familiar and agreeable, and on the other, what is concealed and kept out of sight [..uncomfortable]. 6 Investigating this definition further, it is simple to see how an uncanny experience can evoke both pleasure and pain. A pleasant experience is one that is familiar and agreeable, and humans strive to keep painful experience out of sight and out of mind [a function of the pleasure principle]. Since the uncanny is that which is unfamiliar on the grounds that it is too familiar, it is fair to say that an uncanny experience evokes both pain [in the eeriness of the given situation] and pleasure [feelings of familiarity and homeyness] to whoever is experiencing it. Freud believed that the ego employs defense mechanisms when threatened, including the repression of painful memories deep into the unconscious mind. The uncanny is basically a defense mechanism that unconsciously reminds us of our own id, our forbidden and thus repressed impulses that are kept out of sight because our super-ego perceives them to be threatening. 7 The reemergence of these repressed memories are those experiences which we deem as uncanny. Freud further describes the idea of the uncanny as a defense mechanism by stating: ..[the] uncanny is in reality nothing new or alien, but something which is familiar and old-established in the mind and which has become alienated from it only through the process of repression. 8 As suggested by this quote, the uncanny is an example of a situation in which the pleasure principle cannot adequately cope because it is fails to keep repressed impulses out of our conscious. This quote also relates back to Freuds theory of human drives which were discussed in another Freudian work that we studied called Beyond the Pleasure Principle. In this essay, Freud reevaluates his prior theoretical beliefs regarding his theory of human drives. Previously, he had proposed that the human psyche could be divided into three parts: the id, the superego, and the ego. He defined the id as the impulsive portion that operates on the pleasure principle; the superego as the moral component; and the ego as the rational balance between the superego and the id. Freud suggests that the pleasure principle is deficient because of the general compulsion to repeat. This compulsion to repeat un-pleasurable experiences explains why traumatic nightmares occur in dreams.9 He argues that the unconscious repeats undesirable experiences in order to desensitize the body. Using this thought process, Freud proposed his new theory, stating that humans are driven by two conflicting central desires: the life drive and the death drive. The life drive is concerned with preserving life by seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. Contrastingly, the death drive is the instinctual desire in all living things to return to a lower state that existed before we were born. Freud reasons that all living organisms want to be dead because theoretically we were all dead before we were alive. He explains how human drives consist of a balance between pleasure [life drive] and pain [death drive] when he states: It is plain that most of what is revived by the repetition-compulsion cannot but bring discomfort to the ego, for it promotes the bringing to light of the activities of repressed impulses; but that is a discomfort we have already taken into account and without subversion of the pleasure-principle, since it is pain in respect of one system and at the same time satisfaction for the other. 10 As summarized by this quote, every experience or stimulus that we encounter is providing satisfaction for one drive while simultaneously inducing discomfort on the other. Thus reiterating the belief that our life consists of an intricate blending of pain and pleasure. On page 24 of Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud states further comments on this theory by saying that the repetition-compulsion [death drive] and direct pleasurable satisfaction [life drive] seem to be inextricably intertwined. As indicated by this quote, it is impossible to have one impulse without the other because they exist concurrently. Freud firmly believed that the life and death drives of our mind are locked in an eternal battle; thereby insinuating that our human existence is comprised of a mixture of pain and pleasure. In his preface to Madame Edwarda, Georges Bataille nicely sums up this common theme seen throughout various works we have studied: A combination of both conditions [pleasure and pain] leads us to entertain a picture of mankind as is ought to be, and in that picture man appears at no less great a remove from extreme pleasure as from extreme pain.. 11 It is easy to recognize the ambivalent nature of our existence. Pain and pleasure intertwine in unpredictable relations throughout the discourse of this human lifetime. One could not exist without the presence of the other. This fusion of pleasure and pain is referred to as life. Notes 1. Maurice Blanchot, The Infinite Conversation. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999), 99 2. Georges Bataille, Madame Edwarda. (New York: Marion Boyars, 2003),140 3. Bataille, 150 4. Bataille, 152 5. Bataille, 153 6. Sigmund Freud, The Uncanny. 224-25 7. Wikipedia. The Uncanny. Last modified October 21, 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny 8. Freud, 241 9. Wikipedia. Sigmund Freud. Last modified October 23, 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud 10. Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle. (Mansfield Centre: Martino Publishing, 2010), 20 11. Bataille, 137 Agriculture industry: Development of country Agriculture industry: Development of country Agriculture is a very important industry to every country; most countries start with agriculture before further economic development. Agriculture as it provides the resources for; the basis basic of human beingshomo sapient livelihoods, environmental protection, economic activities and further developments. In most countries, agriculture has been at the fore front of economic development. Agriculture seems to have begun around 10,000 BC in China As (Ali, 2009) Shamsavari stated in his lecture notes of Agriculture and Economic Development page 1, especially in China, agriculture has a long history of supporting human life and dynasties growth. To discuss the contribution of the agriculture industry towards development of a developing countryLEDC, we first have tlo clarify the definition of agriculture. Therefore, in the essay, the first paragraph will be used to explain the industry, its components and its features to give a whole picture of the concept of agriculture. This will be followed by the industrys major contributions to the developments of China such as surplus of food, reproduction of food, greater division of labour and its influences to economic development; problems that arise, such as Urban Bias will be examined after that; prospect of Chinas agriculture industry will also be discussed and followed by a summary of the essay in the last paragraph. Different from the early stage of production systems, agriculture alloweds humans to grow food before they needed it, instead of hunting and searching for it only when they are were hungry. Agriculture composes of farming and growing crops, like wheat, millet and rice; keeping animals, such as chickens, sheep and cattle; Fishing, which provides seafood; logging, providinges wood for furniture, paper and construction and finally;; Growing flowers and plants for household consumption, such as gardening and festival related purposes. Agriculture is the second of the three stages of production systems, it has two main features: surplus of food and reproduction of food of social. Both of them contribute to the development of a country and will be discussed later in specific to the Chinas development. As mentioned before, agriculture has two main features of providing surplus of food and reproduction of crops for future. Agriculture helps humans to create food which is more thanbeyond their needs. A surplus of food released some of the workers from the agriculture industry into other sectors, such as manufacturing, industrial and intellectual activities. In China, the surplus of food from agriculture made her become one of the early civilization countries. Some inventions such as gunpowder, compass, paper and printing had been achieved and improvements of farming technology had been made during civilization. People in China started to use iron tools and cows to help farming. Before that, tools were made of wood or stone and human labour iswas required to pull ploughs. After the invention of iron tools, cows are were replaced to work with iron ploughs and enlarge farming spaces in a shorter period of time. The surplus of food from agriculture not only feeds all the workers in China, it even provides seeds or baby animals for reproduction of food. People in the country no longer hunt and search for food only when they are hungry, instead they stock food and plan for their future by delaying their consumption of it, such as keeping baby animals instead of eating them straight away so that they can reproduce and more can be consumed later. A greater division of labour was another result of the agriculture industry. The increase of in division of labour is vital for the further increases of in productivity, and thus it becomes a basis for modern development. Contributions brought by agriculture to the economic development including include three aspectsadvances: agriculture as an economic activities activity or an industry, as a livelihood and as a provider of environmental services according to the World Bank of 2008. The agriculture industry helps to enlarge the consumption market by making people become consumers for goods. Farmers, fishermen and butchers do not just consume their own product to survive,survive; they also have demand on for other goods, which makes them becomemakes them a consumer of in the market and have contribution a contributor to the industriesy development. For example, a Chinese lady working as a raw silk washing lady would like to buy food and cosmetics in the market as welltoo. Besides consumption, they are suppliers for those industries at the same time. Farmers supply raw materials, textiles and food; fishermen supply seafood; butchers supply meat and leather for industries to function. Agriculture also ac ted as a basis for providing factors of production to different industries, these input factors included labour, land and capital. For example, around 100 to 200 AD, Chinese people started an industry to produce ceramics. Llike other industries, to get workers to work in the industryobtain workers, China needs needed to have a surplus of food in order to allow some workers from the agriculture agriculture industry to join the ceramics industry, (known aswhich is the labour). To start their production, they needed a piece of land for the manufacturing process to take place. By cutting down forest, land could be used to develop an industry. According to Irving Fisher, capital refers to any productive asset capable of generating a stream of future services or income. Kilns and clay are both the capital of the industry.Apart from domestic industries, agriculture also supported trade between China and the rest of the world. Export of agriculture products brought foreign exchange into Chi na and allowed her to spend on imports, international trades with other countries fasten speed up Chinas economic and technology growth.Lots of people in the world depends on agriculture as a livelihood, not only producing food for survive, but also acted as a security base. Recently, many people in Guangdong province returned to their farming industry after they lost their job in exports field during the financial crisis in 2008. The Aagriculture industry can also be good for the environment in a few ways: it helped to create varieties of produce and the economic prosperity that brought by the agriculture also helps to save the endangered animals, like the giant pandas in China. 40 giant pandas were reserved in China in 2006 due to increase in knowledge and resources in saving pandas. Urban Bias is a theory by Michael Lipton in 1977. The theory brought up the idea of that the agriculture industry had relatively less influence and received less resourcesfewer resources when the leading group of that country is deciding policies to improve peoplepeoples welfare. The reason behind behind this is the lack of knowledge to the industry of the leading power. Normally, leaders in of a country lived in urban areas which wereis far away from the rural areasplace that where agriculture took place. Due to insufficient contact with the industry, when leaders have to decide country matters like resource allocation, tax payment and people welfare, they tends to pay put less attention on the agriculture industry. Inefficiency in allocating resources and widen ther income gaps between the rich and the poor are the results of urban bias. According to figure 1 in the appendix, countries public spending on agriculture industry and the industries share of their GDP are not directly an d proportionally related. And according to figure 9.1,Todaro and Smith (2009, p, 434), it explained that urban bias can widen the world divergence between the rich and the poor. Agriculture industry in China is expected to be more efficient in two ways: little labour capital involved and an increase in output due to efficient use of machinery. According to figure 9.1, the diagram showed that as a country develops, less human labour will be involved in the industry as the GDP per capita rises. Figure 9.2, a diagram showing cereal yields by different countries in the world, using cereal as an example and explaining the output from developed countries are more than that of developing countries. According to many economists, China will take over United States and become the next strongest economy in the near future. If the prediction of these economists is correct, China will soon become a developed country and hence their product yield from agriculture will increase significantly as illustrated in figure 9.2. Agriculture is vital to the development of most of the countries, especially to China. The influences of agriculturiale industry to on Chinas development are not just economically, but also on Chinese morale, principles of Chinese medicines and Chinas politics, etc. Even though it has lots of contributions to the countrys development, problems aroused should not be ignored. The history of China had shown us the importance of agriculture as well as the destructiveness from the problems aroused.

The Israeli and Turkish Relationship Essay -- Diplomacy

Relationship between Turkey and Israel has been characterized with times of cooperation but also tension. It is a story that provides for interesting political episodes. Its history includes important trade and political interests bringing both sides’ benefits and, more recently, a rapid fall in their wide-ranging cooperation, bringing many disagreements which are yet to be resolved. Turkey was the first country with a prevailing Muslim population that recognized the independence that the state of Israel declared in1948. Thereafter, â€Å"after several decades of discreet relations, the Israeli-Arab peace process made public bilateral Israeli-Turkish ties more acceptable to Turks, who are predominantly Muslim and sympathetic to the Palestinians† (Migdalovitz). This initial fruitful level of cooperation among the two countries, however, experienced a downturn only a decade later. In 1991, Turkey sent its first ambassador to Israel since recalling his predecessor during the Suez crisis of 1956. And, in the intervening years, Turkey was represented in Israel by lower level diplomats. Moreover, the two regional neighbors cemented closer ties in part due to their common view of Syria, which at the time supported the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) insurgency in Turkey, with several military agreements and a free trade agreement in 1996.† Thus, the relations between Turkey and Israel blossomed with Israeli arms sales to Turkey, regular military exercises, the exchange of high-level official visits, and booming trade and tourism. Additionally, Israel modernized U.S.-made fighter planes, tanks, and helicopters for Turkey, and Turkey purchased Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles (Migdalovitz). Later on, these measures were accompanied and ... ...elebritychoice/tonybenn.shtml>. Inbar, Efraim. "The Deterioration in Israeli-Turkish Relations and its International Ramifications." 2011. Migdalovitz, Carol. Turkey: Selected Foreign Policy Issues. 28 11 2010. . Paul Rivlin, Yitzhak Gal. Israel’s Trade Relations with Turkey: an update. 1 May 2011. . Shaoul, Jean. Growing tensions between Turkey and Israel. 12 September 2011. . Turkone, Mumtazer. Where are Turkish-Israeli relations heading? 25 September 2011. . Weekly, Turkish. Turkish PM Erdogan to visit Israel, Palestine. April 30 2005. .

Twilight 14. MIND OVER MATTER

14. MIND OVER MATTER He could drive well, when he kept the speed reasonable, I had to admit. Like so many things, it seemed to be effortless to him. He barely looked at the road, yet the tires never deviated so much as a centimeter from the center of the lane. He drove one-handed, holding my hand on the seat. Sometimes he gazed into the setting sun, sometimes he glanced at me – my face, my hair blowing out the open window, our hands twined together. He had turned the radio to an oldies station, and he sang along with a song I'd never heard. He knew every line. â€Å"You like fifties music?† I asked. â€Å"Music in the fifties was good. Much better than the sixties, or the seventies, ugh!† He shuddered. â€Å"The eighties were bearable.† â€Å"Are you ever going to tell me how old you are?† I asked, tentative, not wanting to upset his buoyant humor. â€Å"Does it matter much?† His smile, to my relief, remained unclouded. â€Å"No, but I still wonder†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I grimaced. â€Å"There's nothing like an unsolved mystery to keep you up at night.† â€Å"I wonder if it will upset you,† he reflected to himself. He gazed into the sun; the minutes passed. â€Å"Try me,† I finally said. He sighed, and then looked into my eyes, seeming to forget the road completely for a time. Whatever he saw there must have encouraged him. He looked into the sun – the light of the setting orb glittered off his skin in ruby-tinged sparkles – and spoke. â€Å"I was born in Chicago in 1901.† He paused and glanced at me from the corner of his eyes. My face was carefully unsurprised, patient for the rest. He smiled a tiny smile and continued. â€Å"Carlisle found me in a hospital in the summer of 1918. I was seventeen, and dying of the Spanish influenza.† He heard my intake of breath, though it was barely audible to my own ears. He looked down into my eyes again. â€Å"I don't remember it well – it was a very long time ago, and human memories fade.† He was lost in his thoughts for a short time before he went on. â€Å"I do remember how it felt, when Carlisle saved me. It's not an easy thing, not something you could forget.† â€Å"Your parents?† â€Å"They had already died from the disease. I was alone. That was why he chose me. In all the chaos of the epidemic, no one would ever realize I was gone.† â€Å"How did he†¦ save you?† A few seconds passed before he answered. He seemed to choose his words carefully. â€Å"It was difficult. Not many of us have the restraint necessary to accomplish it. But Carlisle has always been the most humane, the most compassionate of us†¦ I don't think you could find his equal throughout all of history.† He paused. â€Å"For me, it was merely very, very painful.† I could tell from the set of his lips, he would say no more on this subject. I suppressed my curiosity, though it was far from idle. There were many things I needed to think through on this particular issue, things that were only beginning to occur to me. No doubt his quick mind had already comprehended every aspect that eluded me. His soft voice interrupted my thoughts. â€Å"He acted from loneliness. That's usually the reason behind the choice. I was the first in Carlisle's family, though he found Esme soon after. She fell from a cliff. They brought her straight to the hospital morgue, though, somehow, her heart was still beating.† â€Å"So you must be dying, then, to become†¦Ã¢â‚¬  We never said the word, and I couldn't frame it now. â€Å"No, that's just Carlisle. He would never do that to someone who had another choice.† The respect in his voice was profound whenever he spoke of his father figure. â€Å"It is easier he says, though,† he continued, â€Å"if the blood is weak.† He looked at the now-dark road, and I could feel the subject closing again. â€Å"And Emmett and Rosalie?† â€Å"Carlisle brought Rosalie to our family next. I didn't realize till much later that he was hoping she would be to me what Esme was to him – he was careful with his thoughts around me.† He rolled his eyes. â€Å"But she was never more than a sister. It was only two years later that she found Emmett. She was hunting – we were in Appalachia at the time – and found a bear about to finish him off. She carried him back to Carlisle, more than a hundred miles, afraid she wouldn't be able to do it herself. I'm only beginning to guess how difficult that journey was for her.† He threw a pointed glance in my direction, and raised our hands, still folded together, to brush my cheek with the back of his hand. â€Å"But she made it,† I encouraged, looking away from the unbearable beauty of his eyes. â€Å"Yes,† he murmured. â€Å"She saw something in his face that made her strong enough. And they've been together ever since. Sometimes they live separately from us, as a married couple. But the younger we pretend to be, the longer we can stay in any given place. Forks seemed perfect, so we all enrolled in high school.† He laughed. â€Å"I suppose we'll have to go to their wedding in a few years, again.† â€Å"Alice and Jasper?† â€Å"Alice and Jasper are two very rare creatures. They both developed a conscience, as we refer to it, with no outside guidance. Jasper belonged to another†¦ family, a very different kind of family. He became depressed, and he wandered on his own. Alice found him. Like me, she has certain gifts above and beyond the norm for our kind.† â€Å"Really?† I interrupted, fascinated. â€Å"But you said you were the only one who could hear people's thoughts.† â€Å"That's true. She knows other things. She sees things – things that might happen, things that are coming. But it's very subjective. The future isn't set in stone. Things change.† His jaw set when he said that, and his eyes darted to my face and away so quickly that I wasn't sure if I only imagined it. â€Å"What kinds of things does she see?† â€Å"She saw Jasper and knew that he was looking for her before he knew it himself. She saw Carlisle and our family, and they came together to find us. She's most sensitive to non-humans. She always sees, for example, when another group of our kind is coming near. And any threat they may pose.† â€Å"Are there a lot of†¦ your kind?† I was surprised. How many of them could walk among us undetected? â€Å"No, not many. But most won't settle in any one place. Only those like us, who've given up hunting you people† – a sly glance in my direction – â€Å"can live together with humans for any length of time. We've only found one other family like ours, in a small village in Alaska. We lived together for a time, but there were so many of us that we became too noticeable. Those of us who live†¦ differently tend to band together.† â€Å"And the others?† â€Å"Nomads, for the most part. We've all lived that way at times. It gets tedious, like anything else. But we run across the others now and then, because most of us prefer the North.† â€Å"Why is that?† We were parked in front of my house now, and he'd turned off the truck. It was very quiet and dark; there was no moon. The porch light was off so I knew my father wasn't home yet. â€Å"Did you have your eyes open this afternoon?† he teased. â€Å"Do you think I could walk down the street in the sunlight without causing traffic accidents? There's a reason why we chose the Olympic Peninsula, one of the most sunless places in the world. It's nice to be able to go outside in the day. You wouldn't believe how tired you can get of nighttime in eighty-odd years.† â€Å"So that's where the legends came from?† â€Å"Probably.† â€Å"And Alice came from another family, like Jasper?† â€Å"No, and that is a mystery. Alice doesn't remember her human life at all. And she doesn't know who created her. She awoke alone. Whoever made her walked away, and none of us understand why, or how, he could. If she hadn't had that other sense, if she hadn't seen Jasper and Carlisle and known that she would someday become one of us, she probably would have turned into a total savage.† There was so much to think through, so much I still wanted to ask. But, to my great embarrassment, my stomach growled. I'd been so intrigued, I hadn't even noticed I was hungry. I realized now that I was ravenous. â€Å"I'm sorry, I'm keeping you from dinner.† â€Å"I'm fine, really.† â€Å"I've never spent much time around anyone who eats food. I forget.† â€Å"I want to stay with you.† It was easier to say in the darkness, knowing as I spoke how my voice would betray me, my hopeless addiction to him. â€Å"Can't I come in?† he asked. â€Å"Would you like to?† I couldn't picture it, this godlike creature sitting in my father's shabby kitchen chair. â€Å"Yes, if it's all right.† I heard the door close quietly, and almost simultaneously he was outside my door, opening it for me. â€Å"Very human,† I complimented him. â€Å"It's definitely resurfacing.† He walked beside me in the night, so quietly I had to peek at him constantly to be sure he was still there. In the darkness he looked much more normal. Still pale, still dreamlike in his beauty, but no longer the fantastic sparkling creature of our sunlit afternoon. He reached the door ahead of me and opened it for me. I paused halfway through the frame. â€Å"The door was unlocked?† â€Å"No, I used the key from under the eave.† I stepped inside, flicked on the porch light, and turned to look at him with my eyebrows raised. I was sure I'd never used that key in front of him. â€Å"I was curious about you.† â€Å"You spied on me?† But somehow I couldn't infuse my voice with the proper outrage. I was flattered. He was unrepentant. â€Å"What else is there to do at night?† I let it go for the moment and went down the hall to the kitchen. He was there before me, needing no guide. He sat in the very chair I'd tried to picture him in. His beauty lit up the kitchen. It was a moment before I could look away. I concentrated on getting my dinner, taking last night's lasagna from the fridge, placing a square on a plate, heating it in the microwave. It revolved, filling the kitchen with the smell of tomatoes and oregano. I didn't take my eyes from the plate of food as I spoke. â€Å"How often?† I asked casually. â€Å"Hmmm?† He sounded as if I had pulled him from some other train of thought. I still didn't turn around. â€Å"How often did you come here?† â€Å"I come here almost every night.† I whirled, stunned. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"You're interesting when you sleep.† He spoke matter-of-factly. â€Å"You talk.† â€Å"No!† I gasped, heat flooding my face all the way to my hairline. I gripped the kitchen counter for support. I knew I talked in my sleep, of course; my mother teased me about it. I hadn't thought it was something I needed to worry about here, though. His expression shifted instantly to chagrin. â€Å"Are you very angry with me?† â€Å"That depends!† I felt and sounded like I'd had the breath knocked out of me. He waited. â€Å"On?† he urged. â€Å"What you heard!† I wailed. Instantly, silently, he was at my side, taking my hands carefully in his. â€Å"Don't be upset!† he pleaded. He dropped his face to the level of my eyes, holding my gaze. I was embarrassed. I tried to look away. â€Å"You miss your mother,† he whispered. â€Å"You worry about her. And when it rains, the sound makes you restless. You used to talk about home a lot, but it's less often now. Once you said, ‘It's too green.'† He laughed softly, hoping, I could see, not to offend me further. â€Å"Anything else?† I demanded. He knew what I was getting at. â€Å"You did say my name,† he admitted. I sighed in defeat. â€Å"A lot?† â€Å"How much do you mean by ‘a lot,' exactly?† â€Å"Oh no!† I hung my head. He pulled me against his chest, softly, naturally. â€Å"Don't be self-conscious,† he whispered in my ear. â€Å"If I could dream at all, it would be about you. And I'm not ashamed of it.† Then we both heard the sound of tires on the brick driveway, saw the headlights flash through the front windows, down the hall to us. I stiffened in his arms. â€Å"Should your father know I'm here?† he asked. â€Å"I'm not sure†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I tried to think it through quickly. â€Å"Another time then†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And I was alone. â€Å"Edward!† I hissed. I heard a ghostly chuckle, then nothing else. My father's key turned in the door. â€Å"Bella?† he called. It had bothered me before; who else would it be? Suddenly he didn't seem so far off base. â€Å"In here.† I hoped he couldn't hear the hysterical edge to my voice. I grabbed my dinner from the microwave and sat at the table as he walked in. His footsteps sounded so noisy after my day with Edward. â€Å"Can you get me some of that? I'm bushed.† He stepped on the heels of his boots to take them off, holding the back of Edward's chair for support. I took my food with me, scarfing it down as I got his dinner. It burned my tongue. I filled two glasses with milk while his lasagna was heating, and gulped mine to put out the fire. As I set the glass down, I noticed the milk trembling and realized my hand was shaking. Charlie sat in the chair, and the contrast between him and its former occupant was comical. â€Å"Thanks,† he said as I placed his food on the table. â€Å"How was your day?† I asked. The words were rushed; I was dying to escape to my room. â€Å"Good. The fish were biting†¦ how about you? Did you get everything done that you wanted to?† â€Å"Not really – it was too nice out to stay indoors.† I took another big bite. â€Å"It was a nice day,† he agreed. What an understatement, I thought to myself. Finished with the last bite of lasagna, I lifted my glass and chugged the remains of my milk. Charlie surprised me by being observant. â€Å"In a hurry?† â€Å"Yeah, I'm tired. I'm going to bed early.† â€Å"You look kinda keyed up,† he noted. Why, oh why, did this have to be his night to pay attention? â€Å"Do I?† was all I could manage in response. I quickly scrubbed my dishes clean in the sink, and placed them upside down on a dish towel to dry. â€Å"It's Saturday,† he mused. I didn't respond. â€Å"No plans tonight?† he asked suddenly. â€Å"No, Dad, I just want to get some sleep.† â€Å"None of the boys in town your type, eh?† He was suspicious, but trying to play it cool. â€Å"No, none of the boys have caught my eye yet.† I was careful not to over-emphasize the word boys in my quest to be truthful with Charlie. â€Å"I thought maybe that Mike Newton†¦ you said he was friendly.† â€Å"He's Just a friend, Dad.† â€Å"Well, you're too good for them all, anyway. Wait till you get to college to start looking.† Every father's dream, that his daughter will be out of the house before the hormones kick in. â€Å"Sounds like a good idea to me,† I agreed as I headed up the stairs. â€Å"‘Night, honey,† he called after me. No doubt he would be listening carefully all evening, waiting for me to try to sneak out. â€Å"See you in the morning, Dad.† See you creeping into my room tonight at midnight to check on me. I worked to make my tread sound slow and tired as I walked up the stairs to my room. I shut the door loud enough for him to hear, and then sprinted on my tiptoes to the window. I threw it open and leaned out into the night. My eyes scanned the darkness, the impenetrable shadows of the trees. â€Å"Edward?† I whispered, feeling completely idiotic. The quiet, laughing response came from behind me. â€Å"Yes?† I whirled, one hand flying to my throat in surprise. He lay, smiling hugely, across my bed, his hands behind his head, his feet dangling off the end, the picture of ease. â€Å"Oh!† I breathed, sinking unsteadily to the floor. â€Å"I'm sorry.† He pressed his lips together, trying to hide his amusement. â€Å"Just give me a minute to restart my heart.† He sat up slowly, so as not to startle me again. Then he leaned forward and reached out with his long arms to pick me up, gripping the tops of my arms like I was a toddler. He sat me on the bed beside him. â€Å"Why don't you sit with me,† he suggested, putting a cold hand on mine. â€Å"How's the heart?† â€Å"You tell me – I'm sure you hear it better than I do.† I felt his quiet laughter shake the bed. We sat there for a moment in silence, both listening to my heartbeat slow. I thought about having Edward in my room, with my father in the house. â€Å"Can I have a minute to be human?† I asked. â€Å"Certainly.† He gestured with one hand that I should proceed. â€Å"Stay,† I said, trying to look severe. â€Å"Yes, ma'am.† And he made a show of becoming a statue on the edge of my bed. I hopped up, grabbing my pajamas from off the floor, my bag of toiletries off the desk. I left the light off and slipped out, closing the door. I could hear the sound from the TV rising up the stairs. I banged the bathroom door loudly, so Charlie wouldn't come up to bother me. I meant to hurry. I brushed my teeth fiercely, trying to be thorough and speedy, removing all traces of lasagna. But the hot water of the shower couldn't be rushed. It unknotted the muscles in my back, calmed my pulse. The familiar smell of my shampoo made me feel like I might be the same person I had been this morning. I tried not to think of Edward, sitting in my room, waiting, because then I had to start all over with the calming process. Finally, I couldn't delay anymore. I shut off the water, toweling hastily, rushing again. I pulled on my holey t-shirt and gray sweatpants. Too late to regret not packing the Victoria's Secret silk pajamas my mother got me two birthdays ago, which still had the tags on them in a drawer somewhere back home. I rubbed the towel through my hair again, and then yanked the brush through it quickly. I threw the towel in the hamper, flung my brush and toothpaste into my bag. Then I dashed down the stairs so Charlie could see that I was in my pajamas, with wet hair. â€Å"‘Night, Dad.† â€Å"‘Night, Bella.† He did look startled by my appearance. Maybe that would keep him from checking on me tonight. I took the stairs two at a time, trying to be quiet, and flew into my room, closing the door tightly behind me. Edward hadn't moved a fraction of an inch, a carving of Adonis perched on my faded quilt. I smiled, and his lips twitched, the statue coming to life. His eyes appraised me, taking in the damp hair, the tattered shirt. He raised one eyebrow. â€Å"Nice.† I grimaced. â€Å"No, it looks good on you.† â€Å"Thanks,† I whispered. I went back to his side, sitting cross-legged beside him. I looked at the lines in the wooden floor. â€Å"What was all that for?† â€Å"Charlie thinks I'm sneaking out.† â€Å"Oh.† He contemplated that. â€Å"Why?† As if he couldn't know Charlie's mind much more clearly than I could guess. â€Å"Apparently, I look a little overexcited.† He lifted my chin, examining my face. â€Å"You look very warm, actually.† He bent his face slowly to mine, laying his cool cheek against my skin. I held perfectly still. â€Å"Mmmmmm†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he breathed. It was very difficult, while he was touching me, to frame a coherent question. It took me a minute of scattered concentration to begin. â€Å"It seems to be†¦ much easier for you, now, to be close to me.† â€Å"Does it seem that way to you?† he murmured, his nose gliding to the corner of my jaw. I felt his hand, lighter than a moth's wing, brushing my damp hair back, so that his lips could touch the hollow beneath my ear. â€Å"Much, much easier,† I said, trying to exhale. â€Å"Hmm.† â€Å"So I was wondering†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I began again, but his fingers were slowly tracing my collarbone, and I lost my train of thought. â€Å"Yes?† he breathed. â€Å"Why is that,† my voice shook, embarrassing me, â€Å"do you think?† I felt the tremor of his breath on my neck as he laughed. â€Å"Mind over matter.† I pulled back; as I moved, he froze – and I could no longer hear the sound of his breathing. We stared cautiously at each other for a moment, and then, as his clenched jaw gradually relaxed, his expression became puzzled. â€Å"Did I do something wrong?† â€Å"No – the opposite. You're driving me crazy,† I explained. He considered that briefly, and when he spoke, he sounded pleased. â€Å"Really?† A triumphant smile slowly lit his face. â€Å"Would you like a round of applause?† I asked sarcastically. He grinned. â€Å"I'm just pleasantly surprised,† he clarified. â€Å"In the last hundred years or so,† his voice was teasing, â€Å"I never imagined anything like this. I didn't believe I would ever find someone I wanted to be with†¦ in another way than my brothers and sisters. And then to find, even though it's all new to me, that I'm good at it†¦ at being with you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You're good at everything,† I pointed out. He shrugged, allowing that, and we both laughed in whispers. â€Å"But how can it be so easy now?† I pressed. â€Å"This afternoon†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It's not easy,† he sighed. â€Å"But this afternoon, I was still†¦ undecided. I am sorry about that, it was unforgivable for me to behave so.† â€Å"Not unforgivable,† I disagreed. â€Å"Thank you.† He smiled. â€Å"You see,† he continued, looking down now, â€Å"I wasn't sure if I was strong enough†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He picked up one of my hands and pressed it lightly to his face. â€Å"And while there was still that possibility that I might be†¦ overcome† – he breathed in the scent at my wrist – â€Å"I was†¦ susceptible. Until I made up my mind that I was strong enough, that there was no possibility at all that I would†¦ that I ever could†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I'd never seen him struggle so hard for words. It was so†¦ human. â€Å"So there's no possibility now?† â€Å"Mind over matter,† he repeated, smiling, his teeth bright even in the darkness. â€Å"Wow, that was easy,† I said. He threw back his head and laughed, quietly as a whisper, but still exuberantly. â€Å"Easy for you!† he amended, touching my nose with his fingertip. And then his face was abruptly serious. â€Å"I'm trying,† he whispered, his voice pained. â€Å"If it gets to be†¦ too much, I'm fairly sure I'll be able to leave.† I scowled. I didn't like the talk of leaving. â€Å"And it will be harder tomorrow,† he continued. â€Å"I've had the scent of you in my head all day, and I've grown amazingly desensitized. If I'm away from you for any length of time, I'll have to start over again. Not quite from scratch, though, I think.† â€Å"Don't go away, then,† I responded, unable to hide the longing in my voice. â€Å"That suits me,† he replied, his face relaxing into a gentle smile. â€Å"Bring on the shackles – I'm your prisoner.† But his long hands formed manacles around my wrists as he spoke. He laughed his quiet, musical laugh. He'd laughed more tonight than I'd ever heard in all the time I'd spent with him. â€Å"You seem more†¦ optimistic than usual,† I observed. â€Å"I haven't seen you like this before.† â€Å"Isn't it supposed to be like this?† He smiled. â€Å"The glory of first love, and all that. It's incredible, isn't it, the difference between reading about something, seeing it in the pictures, and experiencing it?† â€Å"Very different,† I agreed. â€Å"More forceful than I'd imagined.† â€Å"For example† – his words flowed swiftly now, I had to concentrate to catch it all – â€Å"the emotion of jealousy. I've read about it a hundred thousand times, seen actors portray it in a thousand different plays and movies. I believed I understood that one pretty clearly. But it shocked me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He grimaced. â€Å"Do you remember the day that Mike asked you to the dance?† I nodded, though I remembered that day for a different reason. â€Å"The day you started talking to me again.† â€Å"I was surprised by the flare of resentment, almost fury, that I felt – I didn't recognize what it was at first. I was even more aggravated than usual that I couldn't know what you were thinking, why you refused him. Was it simply for your friend's sake? Was there someone else? I knew I had no right to care either way. I tried not to care. â€Å"And then the line started forming,† he chuckled. I scowled in the darkness. â€Å"I waited, unreasonably anxious to hear what you would say to them, to watch your expressions. I couldn't deny the relief I felt, watching the annoyance on your face. But I couldn't be sure. â€Å"That was the first night I came here. I wrestled all night, while watching you sleep, with the chasm between what I knew was right, moral, ethical, and what I wanted. I knew that if I continued to ignore you as I should, or if I left for a few years, till you were gone, that someday you would say yes to Mike, or someone like him. It made me angry. â€Å"And then,† he whispered, â€Å"as you were sleeping, you said my name. You spoke so clearly, at first I thought you'd woken. But you rolled over restlessly and mumbled my name once more, and sighed. The feeling that coursed through me then was unnerving, staggering. And I knew I couldn't ignore you any longer.† He was silent for a moment, probably listening to the suddenly uneven pounding of my heart. â€Å"But jealousy†¦ it's a strange thing. So much more powerful than I would have thought. And irrational! Just now, when Charlie asked you about that vile Mike Newton†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He shook his head angrily. â€Å"I should have known you'd be listening,† I groaned. â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"That made you feel jealous, though, really?† â€Å"I'm new at this; you're resurrecting the human in me, and everything feels stronger because it's fresh.† â€Å"But honestly,† I teased, â€Å"for that to bother you, after I have to hear that Rosalie – Rosalie, the incarnation of pure beauty, Rosalie – was meant for you. Emmett or no Emmett, how can I compete with that?† â€Å"There's no competition.† His teeth gleamed. He drew my trapped hands around his back, holding me to his chest. I kept as still as I could, even breathing with caution. â€Å"I know there's no competition,† I mumbled into his cold skin. â€Å"That's the problem.† â€Å"Of course Rosalie is beautiful in her way, but even if she wasn't like a sister to me, even if Emmett didn't belong with her, she could never have one tenth, no, one hundredth of the attraction you hold for me.† He was serious now, thoughtful. â€Å"For almost ninety years I've walked among my kind, and yours†¦ all the time thinking I was complete in myself, not realizing what I was seeking. And not finding anything, because you weren't alive yet.† â€Å"It hardly seems fair,† I whispered, my face still resting on his chest, listening to his breath come and go. â€Å"I haven't had to wait at all. Why should I get off so easily?† â€Å"You're right,† he agreed with amusement. â€Å"I should make this harder for you, definitely.† He freed one of his hands, released my wrist, only to gather it carefully into his other hand. He stroked my wet hair softly, from the top of my head to my waist. â€Å"You only have to risk your life every second you spend with me, that's surely not much. You only have to turn your back on nature, on humanity†¦ what's that worth?† â€Å"Very little – I don't feel deprived of anything.† â€Å"Not yet.† And his voice was abruptly full of ancient grief. I tried to pull back, to look in his face, but his hand locked my wrists in an unbreakable hold. â€Å"What -† I started to ask, when his body became alert. I froze, but he suddenly released my hands, and disappeared. I narrowly avoided falling on my face. â€Å"Lie down!† he hissed. I couldn't tell where he spoke from in the darkness. I rolled under my quilt, balling up on my side, the way I usually slept. I heard the door crack open, as Charlie peeked in to make sure I was where I was supposed to be. I breathed evenly, exaggerating the movement. A long minute passed. I listened, not sure if I'd heard the door close. Then Edward's cool arm was around me, under the covers, his lips at my ear. â€Å"You are a terrible actress – I'd say that career path is out for you.† â€Å"Darn it,† I muttered. My heart was crashing in my chest. He hummed a melody I didn't recognize; it sounded like a lullaby. He paused. â€Å"Should I sing you to sleep?† â€Å"Right,† I laughed. â€Å"Like I could sleep with you here!† â€Å"You do it all the time,† he reminded me. â€Å"But I didn't know you were here,† I replied icily. â€Å"So if you don't want to sleep†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he suggested, ignoring my tone. My breath caught. â€Å"If I don't want to sleep†¦ ?† He chuckled. â€Å"What do you want to do then?† I couldn't answer at first. â€Å"I'm not sure,† I finally said. â€Å"Tell me when you decide.† I could feel his cool breath on my neck, feel his nose sliding along my jaw, inhaling. â€Å"I thought you were desensitized.† â€Å"Just because I'm resisting the wine doesn't mean I can't appreciate the bouquet,† he whispered. â€Å"You have a very floral smell, like lavender†¦ or freesia,† he noted. â€Å"It's mouthwatering.† â€Å"Yeah, it's an off day when I don't get somebody telling me how edible I smell.† He chuckled, and then sighed. â€Å"I've decided what I want to do,† I told him. â€Å"I want to hear more about you.† â€Å"Ask me anything.† I sifted through my questions for the most vital. â€Å"Why do you do it?† I said. â€Å"I still don't understand how you can work so hard to resist what you†¦ are. Please don't misunderstand, of course I'm glad that you do. I just don't see why you would bother in the first place.† He hesitated before answering. â€Å"That's a good question, and you are not the first one to ask it. The others – the majority of our kind who are quite content with our lot – they, too, wonder at how we live. But you see, just because we've been†¦ dealt a certain hand†¦ it doesn't mean that we can't choose to rise above – to conquer the boundaries of a destiny that none of us wanted. To try to retain whatever essential humanity we can.† I lay unmoving, locked in awed silence. â€Å"Did you fall asleep?† he whispered after a few minutes. â€Å"No.† â€Å"Is that all you were curious about?† I rolled my eyes. â€Å"Not quite.† â€Å"What else do you want to know?† â€Å"Why can you read minds – why only you? And Alice, seeing the future†¦ why does that happen?† I felt him shrug in the darkness. â€Å"We don't really know. Carlisle has a theory†¦ he believes that we all bring something of our strongest human traits with us into the next life, where they are intensified – like our minds, and our senses. He thinks that I must have already been very sensitive to the thoughts of those around me. And that Alice had some precognition, wherever she was.† â€Å"What did he bring into the next life, and the others?† â€Å"Carlisle brought his compassion. Esme brought her ability to love passionately. Emmett brought his strength, Rosalie her†¦ tenacity. Or you could call it pigheadedness.† he chuckled. â€Å"Jasper is very interesting. He was quite charismatic in his first life, able to influence those around him to see things his way. Now he is able to manipulate the emotions of those around him – calm down a room of angry people, for example, or excite a lethargic crowd, conversely. It's a very subtle gift.† I considered the impossibilities he described, trying to take it in. He waited patiently while I thought. â€Å"So where did it all start? I mean, Carlisle changed you, and then someone must have changed him, and so on†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Well, where did you come from? Evolution? Creation? Couldn't we have evolved in the same way as other species, predator and prey? Or, if you don't believe that all this world could have just happened on its own, which is hard for me to accept myself, is it so hard to believe that the same force that created the delicate angelfish with the shark, the baby seal and the killer whale, could create both our kinds together?† â€Å"Let me get this straight – I'm the baby seal, right?† â€Å"Right.† He laughed, and something touched my hair – his lips? I wanted to turn toward him, to see if it was really his lips against my hair. But I had to be good; I didn't want to make this any harder for him than it already was. â€Å"Are you ready to sleep?† he asked, interrupting the short silence. â€Å"Or do you have any more questions?† â€Å"Only a million or two.† â€Å"We have tomorrow, and the next day, and the next†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he reminded me. I smiled, euphoric at the thought. â€Å"Are you sure you won't vanish in the morning?† I wanted this to be certain. â€Å"You are mythical, after all.† â€Å"I won't leave you.† His voice had the seal of a promise in it. â€Å"One more, then, tonight†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And I blushed. The darkness was no help – I'm sure he could feel the sudden warmth under my skin. â€Å"What is it?† â€Å"No, forget it. I changed my mind.† â€Å"Bella, you can ask me anything.† I didn't answer, and he groaned. â€Å"I keep thinking it will get less frustrating, not hearing your thoughts. But it just gets worse and worse.† â€Å"I'm glad you can't read my thoughts. It's bad enough that you eavesdrop on my sleep-talking.† â€Å"Please?† His voice was so persuasive, so impossible to resist. I shook my head. â€Å"If you don't tell me, I'll just assume it's something much worse than it is,† he threatened darkly. â€Å"Please?† Again, that pleading voice. â€Å"Well,† I began, glad that he couldn't see my face. â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"You said that Rosalie and Emmett will get married soon†¦ Is that†¦ marriage†¦ the same as it is for humans?† He laughed in earnest now, understanding. â€Å"Is that what you're getting at?† I fidgeted, unable to answer. â€Å"Yes, I suppose it is much the same,† he said. â€Å"I told you, most of those human desires are there, just hidden behind more powerful desires.† â€Å"Oh,† was all I could say. â€Å"Was there a purpose behind your curiosity?† â€Å"Well, I did wonder†¦ about you and me†¦ someday†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He was instantly serious, I could tell by the sudden stillness of his body. I froze, too, reacting automatically. â€Å"I don't think that†¦ that†¦ would be possible for us.† â€Å"Because it would be too hard for you, if I were that†¦ close?† â€Å"That's certainly a problem. But that's not what I was thinking of. It's just that you are so soft, so fragile. I have to mind my actions every moment that we're together so that I don't hurt you. I could kill you quite easily, Bella, simply by accident.† His voice had become just a soft murmur. He moved his icy palm to rest it against my cheek. â€Å"If I was too hasty†¦ if for one second I wasn't paying enough attention, I could reach out, meaning to touch your face, and crush your skull by mistake. You don't realize how incredibly breakable you are. I can never, never afford to lose any kind of control when I'm with you.† He waited for me to respond, growing anxious when I didn't. â€Å"Are you scared?† he asked. I waited for a minute to answer, so the words would be true. â€Å"No. I'm fine.† He seemed to deliberate for a moment. â€Å"I'm curious now, though,† he said, his voice light again. â€Å"Have you ever†¦ ?† He trailed off suggestively. â€Å"Of course not.† I flushed. â€Å"I told you I've never felt like this about anyone before, not even close.† â€Å"I know. It's just that I know other people's thoughts. I know love and lust don't always keep the same company.† â€Å"They do for me. Now, anyway, that they exist for me at all,† I sighed. â€Å"That's nice. We have that one thing in common, at least.† He sounded satisfied. â€Å"Your human instincts†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I began. He waited. â€Å"Well, do you find me attractive, in that way, at all?† He laughed and lightly rumpled my nearly dry hair. â€Å"I may not be a human, but I am a man,† he assured me. I yawned involuntarily. â€Å"I've answered your questions, now you should sleep,† he insisted. â€Å"I'm not sure if I can.† â€Å"Do you want me to leave?† â€Å"No!† I said too loudly. He laughed, and then began to hum that same, unfamiliar lullaby; the voice of an archangel, soft in my ear. More tired than I realized, exhausted from the long day of mental and emotional stress like I'd never felt before, I drifted to sleep in his cold arms.