Research Paper on Scrap Metal Trade in Jamaica

Introduction The scrap metal trade is a very controversial topic in Jamaica in recent times. Outside of registered dealers/traders, the industry has garnered interests from many others as it has become a way of life for providing quick income for households. Although the trade started out as a livelihood for these persons the paradigm has shifted and now stems more negatives than positives as unscrupulous persons has used it as an avenue to participate in illegal activities that resulted in the government (Dr.Christopher Tufton – Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce at the time) instituting an indefinite ban on the Scrap Metal trade in Jamaica in July of 2011. Jamaica has had a number of reported cases of theft of valuable equipment and infrastructure over the last four years amounting to approximately $1 billion (Barrett, 2011). It is for this reason many argue this industry is doing us more harm than good. Scrap Metal theft however is not exclusive to Jamaica; it is a global concern and has been for the past 10 years.Kooi (2010) articulates that the rise in Scrap metal theft is driven by offenders’ recognition that ample metal supplies remain unguarded and that the price of return remains historically high based on heavy international demand. The market conditions made unsecured metal susceptible to increased theft, while causing a boom in scrap metal exports that increased the scrap metal theft problem. It is evident that the scrap metal trade offered both positives and negatives to our country’s economy.It has provided job opportunities to many youths and has given them a sense of achievement as the income allows them to positively contribute to society and their families. It has also been the largest contributor in earnings to the export section â€Å"Crude Materials† for many years (STATIN, 2012). There has been some discourse from the new Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Andrew Hylton on reopening the tra de with tough new regulations. This is controversial as the industry is earning less than the losses associated with it.This research seeks to address the questions: 1) What is the public’s sentiment on this controversial issue being faced by our country? 2) How great an effect does legislation have on illegal trading of Scrap Metal presently? 3) Does the problem exist in enforcement of the legislation in place for the Scrap Metal Industry? 4) What punishment measures are in place presently and do they differ from what Jamaican people want in place for Scrap Metal Theft? Statement of the problem:There has been a tremendous level of theft of infrastructure reported from private companies being traded illegally. The focal point of this research is to explore the influence of legislation, enforcement (or lack thereof) of this legislation and punishment measures on illegal trading of Scrap Metal. Significance of the study: The contribution of the Scrap Metal trade to Jamaica†™s earnings is significant, however the losses from theft and illegal trading supersedes its gains. It’s been over a year since the ban was instituted on the Scrap Metal trade and many are still suffering.The placard of a protester (someone who used to have a livelihood from collecting scrap metal) in Riverton Meadows last November read â€Å"When we have no work our kids are robbed of their future† (Jamaica Observer, November 9 2011). It’s hard not to be concerned about the future of our children. But it is also hard to see the detriment this is causing our nation â€Å"Bridges? Water Pipes? Telephone cables? Railway lines? Gates? Road Signs? Not even the dead are spared as these worthless scavengers dig up graves in order to rob the coffins of metal handles. (Editorial – Jamaica Observer July 28 2011, para. 2). As a developing nation, we need to foster growth in all our sectors but at the same time we need to be operating in public interest and for t he good of the whole instead of only in the interest of particulars. Hence, in order to act in support of the livelihoods of our people and protect our infrastructure, while fostering growth within the Scrap Metal trade sector, it is adamant that studies like this are done to look at reducing illegal trading. Research Question:What protocol can be established to minimize illegal trading in the Scrap Metal Industry of Jamaica? General Research Objective: To determine the extent to which legislation, enforcement of the legislation and punishment measures may influence illegal trading of Scrap Metal in Jamaica. Other Objectives: * To generate a public poll on this controversial issue being faced by our country. * To investigate how great an effect legislation has on illegal trading of Scrap Metal. * To examine if the problem exists in enforcement of the legislation in place for the Scrap Metal Industry. To determine what punishment measures the Jamaican people want in place for Scrap M etal Theft. General Research Hypothesis: Better legislation, enforcement and punishment measures will have a strong negative impact on illegal trading of Scrap Metal in Jamaica. Sub Hypotheses: The higher the level of legislation put in place for Scrap Metal Dealers, the lower the level of illegal trading. The higher the level of enforcement of the legislation in place for the Scrap Metal Industry, the lower the level of illegal trading.The higher the level of punishment measures for Scrap Metal theft, the lower the level of illegal trading. Independent Variables Dependent Variable Illegal Trading Legislation Enforcement Punishment Measures Illegal Trading Legislation Enforcement Punishment Measures Literature Review This section contains a review of literature that is related to the concerns of this research paper as well as the conceptualisation of variables chosen.The literature will provide a layout and critical analyses of what has already been researched in relation to the Sc rap Metal Trade Industry here in Jamaica as well as abroad. It is our hope that the literature review will provide a broader perspective on this very pertinent issue being faced by our country today. According to the Ministry Paper Trade Regulations for the Scrap Metal Industry Italy experienced severe delays in the train system due to the theft of copper wires and a number of states across the United States have also been reporting theft of copper wires that support their commercial infrastructure.This paper further states that the Caribbean countries Dominican Republic and Guyana have also experienced increased criminal activities related to scrap metal industry whereby Guyana is considering banning the export of the product altogether in an effort to stop the damage that it is causing the country’s infrastructure and other productive sectors. In recent years however, the problem has been a growing concern in Jamaica. â€Å"Prior to 2003, the scrap metal trade in Jamaica w as more or less limited to a small domestic market and, consequently, the impact of scrap metal theft on other sectors was not significant†. CAPRI Policy Brief B122, January 2012 p. 4). However the article further stated that â€Å"A noticeable increase in scrap metal theft coincided with the sudden rise in scrap metal prices in 2003†, as there has been an increasing growth in the export market, increasing from US$13. 3 million in 2005 to US$99. 58 million in 2006. As a result, â€Å" an interim response to the issue an Order, entitled â€Å"The Trade (Prohibition of Export) (Scrap Metal) Order 2007† was gazetted on October 31, 2007 to temporarily prohibit all exports of scrap metal until trade regulations are introduced.The Order recognized shipments already â€Å"entered† for export into the Customs Department system up to October 30 th 2007. (Ministry Paper Trade Regulations for the Scrap Metal Industry) The Government has banned the multi-billion doll ar scrap metal trade. Dr. Christopher Tufton, the Minister of Industry, announced the ban at a press conference Tuesday afternoon in July of 2011. Dr. Tufton said the ban came against the background of the widespread theft of metals over the past three years as well as the warnings to scrap metal dealers to implement measures to curb the illegal activities in the trade.Jamaica and other countries to include different states in the United States of America recommended various policies to regulate the scrap metal trade and how to minimize illegal trading. The scrap metal trade in Jamaica does not require a copy of the seller identification be taken and kept on records by the purchasing of dealers. However the 2007 Wisconsin Act 64, requires scrap metal dealers to ask for identification and proof of ownership.The Act further stated that â€Å"seller and deliver of metals must provide motor vehicle operator license, current photograph identification which includes the person’s f ull name, current address, date of birth and identification number†. The Caribbean Policy Research Institution at the University of the West Indies in Mona also support this act in its â€Å"10 steps to Scrap Metal Solution† as policy 3 require that a â€Å"copy of the seller’s identification be taken and kept on record by the purchasing dealer†, and pointed out that this would ensure that a paper trail is created for transaction at the origin.Currently the Jamaica laws do not furnish a specific punishment for metal theft. However, the B. C. government is hoping to reduce metal theft, with new legislation that requires scrap metal dealers to report them to the police. Under the proposed law dealers will have to record the names and addresses of metal sellers and where the sellers got the material, and pass this information on to the police (Renzetti, London â€Å"The Globe and Mail†, July 2012). On the other hand responses in Kooi article recommende d Offering reward money for tips on metal thieves.This way Police, crime prevention organizations, or companies victimized by scrap metal theft can establish hotlines and offer reward money for tips about suspected scrap metal theft. (p 31) Methodology This section will present an overview of the methods that were employed in conducting this research. Research design, population and sampling as well as the instrumentation used for data collection will be the areas of discussion. Research Design Due to the nature of the research, descriptive research was undertaken.It is felt by the researchers that this type of research was the most suitable for the topic under scrutiny. Our research is descriptive in the fact that we merely wish to observe the public’s sentiment on the issue as well as the reasons for the downfall of the scrap metal trade industry in Jamaica. The researchers do not intend to change the way Scrap Metal is traded; instead we have sought to obtain a general ove rview on the extent to which legislation, enforcement of the legislation and punishment measures may influence illegal trading of Scrap Metal in Jamaica.Due to the short time frame that the research was done in, it took the characteristics of a cross sectional study which takes a snapshot of the population at a given time (August – September 2012). The researchers engaged in qualitative methods of gathering data, where questionnaires were administered, an interview was conducted and previous researches on the topic were utilized. Population & Sampling Non-probability sampling was applied to the research, specifically Judgemental/Purposive sampling.Due to our research topic, the population being looked at was residents of Kingston, Jamaica who were perceived to be informed on the topic. Within that population our target groups were members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, employees of the Ministry of National Security, Truckers/Collectors of Scrap Metal and general working p rofessionals (public sector workers, Physicians, Educators, members of the Research and Economic Programming Division of the Bank of Jamaica, Students and the Self-employed).Our proposed target sample size was 100 persons, however, after 100 questionnaires were administered, only 86 questionnaires were returned. Some respondents failed to answer all questions on the instrument therefore for those questions not answered, (e. g. Questions 4, 9, & 10-12) their sample size was reduced by three, four and three respectively. Instrumentation for Data Collection Due to the nature of the research topic, qualitative research in the forms of questionnaires and an interview was used to collect data. The questionnaire consisted of twelve questions of both open-ended and closed-ended response formats.There were only two open-ended response format questions (questions 1 and 9(partially) -please see appendix for a copy of the instrument). The closed-ended response format which the rest of instrumen t demonstrated provided fixed responses. These responses used mainly nominal ranking (e. g. Questions 1-6, 8-12) and also ordinal (e. g. Question 7). The questionnaire’s purpose was to adequately obtain the respondents’ opinions about the relationship between the independent and dependent variables outlined for this research.The combination of questions all addressed concepts such as the public’s opinion on the ban placed on the Scrap Metal Industry, where they thought the weakest link in the trade was, rules and regulations in place and punishment measures for Scrap Metal theft . An interview was conducted with a Mr. Derrick Mitchell on Wednesday, September 05, 2012. Mr. Mitchell is a licensed dealer in Clarendon and operates Mitchell’s Scrap metal. This interview consisted of open-ended questions which gave him ample freedom in his responses (please see appendix for a copy of the questions asked).In addition, electronic research as well as a thorough ov erview of this very current topic in the media was employed to aid in background information discussed in the literature review and throughout this paper. Findings and Discussion After giving some background to the topic of interest by reviewing relevant literature, providing the conceptualization and operational definitions of our variables, discussing how the sample was chosen and the instrumentation used to obtain data, this section will now look at our results from the interview conducted and questionnaires administered and returned. Interview ResultsHe stated that the government is responsible for closing down the trade and that there are poor regulations in the monitoring system. He also mentioned that the customs officers are not fully monitoring the containers as they often leave the container open over night that will attract the criminals to load on illegal metals or metals that they are not licensed to be traded. He mentioned that each dealer should have license that allo ws them to trade various types of metals but because of the theft if gets them into trouble as there containers will be found with metal that they should not be trading.Mr. Mitchell mentioned that if the customs officers were caring out there duties properly they would detect the illegal metals before export. He recommends that instead of having one central site ( as is being proposed in the new regulations by Minister Andrew Hylton) that the government look at setting up regional sites as this may be more feasible for the rural traders. Transporting metal to the central site for checking will quickly become a costly burden for traders. Survey Results & Findings There were one hundred questionnaires administered and eighty-six returned.Below are the results from the survey: Figure 1 below shows the public sentiment on the ban placed on the Industry which relates to question two of the questionnaire administered. It is evident why this issue is as controversial as it has been in rece nt times as the responses indicated almost a 50/50 split in opinion. 52% of respondents feel that the ban should not be lifted, while 48% feel it should be – one of this 48% exclaimed â€Å"We must recycle! Measures need to be put in place to protect the industry! †Figure 2 goes further to demonstrate how the public feels about the industry and who is to blame for the problems associated with it. This relates to question three of the questionnaire. Majority of the respondents believe the problem lies at the point of collection/scrap yards. Legislation Figure 3 relates to question eight of the questionnaire. It shows that 91% of the respondents think that Scrap Metal dealers should send a list of all metals purchased to the police in order to trace potentially stolen material. Figure 4 and 5 related to question eleven and twelve respectively.The answers to these questions were directly related. 81% of the respondents think the ban should remain on copper since it is a h igh target metal for theft, however that same 81% also believed that allowing select dealers only in the trade of copper was a smart alternative. Enforcement Figure 6 (relating to question six on the questionnaire) and Figure 7 (relating to question seven of the questionnaire) is showing that 93% of the public believe that rules and regulations need improving, and almost all respondents think there are â€Å"too little† measures in place currently.However, Punishment Measures Figure 8 shows the responses to question nine of the questionnaire. It alludes to how the public feels about Scrap Metal theft. Most respondents believed that being confined behind bars is the most appropriate punishment while at a close second was the punishment of paying a fine. This question also included an open-response format which allowed people to speak freely about their opinion on necessary punishment measures.Some of these responses included: â€Å"Entity suffering from the theft should be co mpensated to replace item†, â€Å"Person should provide labour (with stipend)to whomever was affected at the cost of the stolen metals†, â€Å"Standard meaningful fee for all, a thief is a thief – big or small! † and â€Å"Hard Labour Community service†. There were also suggestions of â€Å"Death Penalty† and â€Å"Life in Prison†, which indicate that people need the punishment measures for scrap metal theft to have some power of intimidation for these thieves.Conclusion (Answers to our sub research questions below) 1)What is the public’s sentiment on this controversial issue being faced by our country? 2)How great an effect does legislation have on illegal trading of Scrap Metal presently? 3)Does the problem exist in enforcement of the legislation in place for the Scrap Metal Industry? 4)What punishment measures are in place presently and do they differ from what Jamaican people want in place for Scrap Metal Theft?

Facebook’s Stock? Essay

Social networking has played a prominent role in allowing users to connect with each other around the world over the past decades. Social network sites are used in order to improve intimate communication and build better relationships with family, old and new friends. Facebook in particular is one of the most popular social networking sites. It provides a wide range of connection methods for users to interact with those people that they care about and to update status or photos on the website. The website was established by Mark Zuckerberg and his college friends in February 2004. It is owned and operated by Facebook Inc. The company has continued to develop and increase potentiality over the last eight years (PrivCo, 2011). As of March, 2012, there were more than 900 million Facebook users, more than 125 billion friend connections and there were an average of 300 million photos uploaded each day on the website (Facebook’s S-1 Filing, 2012). In this sense, Facebook has become the largest social networking sites in the world. Additionally, when the company started trading stock to public on 18 May, 2012, it was also recorded as the third largest IPO in the history of the United States (Hammond, 2012). However, the stock price has been significantly falling since selling the stock to public. Although social networking is a growing market and the company plans to continue developing its productions and services, investors remain worried about the ability of the company and they have doubted that the stock will not be able to turn profit margins in both short-term and long-term period. Therefore, the stock of Facebook should not be invested in because it is overvalued and overpriced and the company might struggle with commercial revenue and be restricted in many areas. This paper will describe the stock market and Facebook’s situation before and after trading to the public and will also discuss the question of investment in the stock of the company. It will then anticipate the future of Facebook.

Tolerance and World Peace

Tolerance and World Peace What is the meaning of tolerance or world peace? Tolerance is the ability to the fundamental of other cultures without using individuals or own culture to compare others. World peace is the freedom, peace, and happiness between all nations and people. The two articles, â€Å"Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism† by Martha Nussbaum and â€Å"Don’t Forget the Little Plattons† by Michael McConnel, explains the tolerance and cultures. In my own understanding from the 2 articles, I think patriotism is opposite from the tolerance.However, the more patriotic the citizen is towards their own country, they will become less tolerant of other cultures. Nussbaum argues that all citizens should act cosmopolitanism to be sure there are truth, peace and justice in the world. Everyone should be able to â€Å"come together as a single body†1 (Nussbaum 1996, 10) to unite with other fellow human beings and not categorize each other into groups. This will lead to an increase of world peace. There is a quote when Nussbaum agree with this, â€Å"It is this community that is, fundamentally, the source of our moral obligations.With respect to the most basic moral values, such as justice, ‘We should regard all human beings as our fellow citizens and neighbors’. We should regard our deliberations as, first and foremost, deliberations about human problems of people in particular concrete situations, not problems growing out of a national identity that is altogether unlike that of others. â€Å" 2 (Nussbaum 1996, 7) This quote is referring to when the human that are living in the world today should observe being as a citizen for their country and neighbours within their community.When the citizen is devoting himself to the nation, it is most likely for the person to be more ignorant of the values and rights to be followed around the world. This is why there is no world peace because citizen would rather to focus on his or her own values and rights. There are other options for students as an advantage to be learning about other cultures and beliefs. â€Å"As students here grow up, is it sufficient for them to learn that they are above all citizens of the United States but that they ought to respect the basic human rights of citizens of India, Bolivia, Nigeria and Norway†¦Ã¢â‚¬  3 (Nussbaum 1996, 6)To bring changes to the tolerance level of nationalities is the students to be taught that they are the citizens of the world, not the citizen of their country. If the teachers in school taught the students more about other cultures from different countries this will build more tolerance education in the students. They would have better understanding of their beliefs and cultures and also others too. This will benefit a difference within the nationalities about tolerance.There are three arguments for the second concept of education from the Stoics that Nussbaum explain about tolerance and a bit of world p eace. Firstly, â€Å"they hold that they study of humanity as it is realized in the whole world is valuable for self-knowledge: we see ourselves more clearly when we see our ways in relation to those of other reasonable people. †4 (Nussbaum 1996, 8) I agree with him because we are here in this world for a reason, we are here to learn about the world as one society, world peace.World peace will make it easier for people to relate to others to expand more self-knowledge like self-actualization. Secondly, â€Å"†¦that we will be better table to solve our problems if we face them in this way. †5 (Nussbaum 1996, 8) This is true because looking in the past of the history from different politics has been cause from assassinations and wars. The best example is Hilter and his Nazi army when they try to take over Europe by killing people that are different such as being black, disable, Jews and more. We try to avoid these dangers by decreasing large groups in the world comm unity.Finally, they talk about that â€Å"†¦stance of the kosmou polites is intrinsically valuable, for it recognizes in people what is especially fundamental about them, most worthy of respect and acknowledgement†¦Ã¢â‚¬  6 (Nussbaum 1996, 8) If the world is seen as one society or entity, citizen will be tolerance about their cultural difference. They will focus more on what they would have in common. â€Å"These qualities may be less colourful than local or national traditions and identities†¦Ã¢â‚¬  7 (Nussbaum 1996, 8) We as individual still keep our culture, traditions, religion, and ethnicity even though the world is going to unite as one society.Even though the world comes together as world peace, it does not represent that we will not be able to undefined ourselves of whom we are. The point of this is to not separate each citizen from our community we are part of. But, we should hold the humanity that is part of it. This is how we should visualize ourselves as, â€Å"Our task as citizens of the world will be to draw the circles somehow toward the center. Making all human beings more like our fellow city-dwellers, and so on. We need to give up our special affections and identifications, whether ethnic or gender-based or religious.We need not think of them as superficial, and we may think for our identity as constituted partly by them. † 8 (Nussbaum 1996, 9) When I read Nussbaum’s article, I thought ‘ Isn’t Nussbaum being to self-centered? ’ But when I over read it again I understood her arguments and points she was pointing out relating to tolerance. On the other hand, McConnell’s article had also suitable points he wanted to argue about. With McConnell’s point, I agree to what he is explaining about tolerance that it does not come from the educational wise but it comes from home whereas family and older generation explain their own culture.Most of my point of view of different culture or belief did come from teaching in school when I took a World Religion course in grade 10. I learn a lot more about other beliefs and cultures more than usual. It was interesting because most culture have their own traditions that are practically the same traditions than other cultures. I also learn the ideas from my family and realtives. I do believe that the students should learn and understand the cultural teachings in school, so that they have a strong influence that could possibly change their perceptions. They key to moral education is to fuse the sentiments (especially love) to teaching of the good. We begin to do good because we love our preceptors (especially our parents); we want to please them and we want to be like them. We continue to do good because that is the kind of person we have grown up to be. † 9 (McConnel1996, 79) McConnell is trying to say in this quote is that tolerance start at home and than become more involving with the community. He also said that one could be part of the local community even though cosmopolitanism states that.But, it cannot be forgotten that the main purpose is to look at the world as a one society, world peace. Things will have to be accepted in some days where as it is possible that the communities maybe forgotten. To the conclusion, the 2 articles â€Å"Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism† by Martha Nussbaum and â€Å"Don’t Forget the Little Plattons† by Michael McConnel, had made excellent point of view of their own opinion about tolerance and cultures. I agree more of Nussbaum side because he stated that the world would be a better place if we all became more tolerant of other beliefs.This will help the world to have peace and as one culture. A way to change this is to change the teaching in school, whereas students can learn more about other cultures. However, the students’ opinions will change with the influence when the parent or relative tell the stories about their own culture. Another argument is the Stoics when the world was to get ride of smaller political groups that the war of dangers would be reduced. Both sides of these two arguments had made perfect sense points about the author’s opinion about tolerance and world peace.It is hard to select which to select as the best points, but in my opinion I liked Nassbaum points because she explained the benefits. On the other hand, McConnell explained the potentials. Nassbaum leaves me with better agreement on his article. Notes 1. Martha Nussbaum et al. , â€Å"Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism,† in For Love of Country: Debating the limits of patriotism, ed. Joshua Cohen (Boston: Beacon Press, 1996), 10. 2. Nussbaum, 7. 3. Nussbaum, 6. 4. Nussbaum, 8. 5. Nussbaum, 8. 6. Nussbaum, 8. 7. Nussbaum, 8. 8. Nussbaum, 9. 9.Micheal McConnell et al. , â€Å"Don’t Forget the Little Platoons,† in For Love of Country: Debating the limits of patriotism, ed. Joshua Cohen (Boston: Beacon Press, 199 6), 79. Works Cited McConnell, Michael. et al. â€Å"Don’t Forget the Little Platoons. † In For Love of Country: Debating the limits of patriotism, edited by Joshua Cohen, 78-84. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996. Nussbaum, Martha, et al. â€Å"Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism. † In For Love of Country: Debating the limits of patriotism, edited by Joshua Cohen, 2-17. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996.

Watch movie and answer question Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Watch movie and answer question - Assignment Example In respect to the current food policies, they are entitled to food stamps. The food stamps are vouchers that can only be used to buy food. However, they are not endowed as the requirements stipulated. The amounts provided are insufficient to cater for their food needs and sometimes they go without food. Notable is a significant difference between what the individuals are entitled to and what they get. The gap is the primary cause of hunger for Rosie and Barbie. It is a bit difficult to identify individuals who suffer from hunger in America. This is associated with the fact that many have access to food, although not on a routine basis, but they do have a meal quite often. With such access, they do not look malnourished, which is usually an indicator of hunger. People have been depending on charitable food programs which have been forthcoming over time. Thus, they are not malnourished and becomes hard to pinpoint such people. I tend to disagree with Sen. This is simply because the famine that is being experienced in the United States has taken a different form from the traditional known form which was lack of food. The current famine being experiences in the spiraling of food prices to levels such that many cannot afford to buy. Also, poverty levels are on a high, thus even with food in stalls; people cannot afford it. The challenge of hunger is solvable. It requires the United States to make the provision of healthy and nutritious food a priority and also educate the masses on healthy eating behavior. On the long run, every citizen in the country will not only have access to food, but it will be available at low prices. Therefore, the government should implement and adopt policies that are geared towards bringing down the cost of food, making healthy and nutritious food available to all and providing food to those who cannot afford

Development of Phoneme Perception Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Development of Phoneme Perception - Essay Example It is possible that there could be listeners whose discrimination patterns nearly manifest the phonetic system of their corresponding native language(s). In relation to this, Maye, Werker and Gerken (2002) demonstrated that there are possibilities by which infants may lose their ability to distinguish certain foreign language contrasts according to their sensitivity to the dispersal of sounds in the language input. When a child becomes aware that spoken words are comprised with sounds, he or she is described to have achieved "phonological awareness." The phonological awareness can exist in the form of awareness of rhyme, awareness of syllables, awareness of the onsets of words, etc. Phoneme awareness is essential to the process of learning to read; and explicitly teaching phoneme awareness facilitates reading acquisition, in the later stage of childhood. Research have shown that reading failure is linked to deficiency of phoneme awareness. It is important therefore, that early childhood teachers should be active in phoneme manipulation; demonstrate knowledge on the spoken words as it made up of phonemes which can be rearranged to make different words. Added cognitive benefits for young children that are at the same time exposed to more than one language is that they may have greater neural activity as well as denser tissue in the fragile areas of the brain which are related to many functions like memory, association, attention, and language than those who are monolingual learners. These variables are connected with long-term and positive cognitive outcomes (Bialystok 2001, Kovelman, Baker, Mechelli et al., 2004; & Petitto, 2006). Investigation on Performance on Native-languageStudies on the performance on native language is not new. Kuhl, et al. (2004) have conducted experiments on this topic. They compared and contrasted the 6-8 and 10-12 months Mandarin learning infants and American infants' listening to their respective native-language. The participants of the study were the 17 American infants whose mean age is 6-8 months (ten boys; seven girls) and 19 American infants whose mean age is 10-12 months (ten boys; nine girls). The two groups were recruited via the database of an Infant Studies Subject Pool ISSP based in University of Washington. There was same inclusion and exclusion criteria in the selection of the subjects. As part of the procedures, computer synthesized tokens in English were utilized and created using a male voice. The voice were matched in all acoustic details aside from the temporal features in the event of the initial portion of the consonants. The amplitude elevation time was 30 ms lo wer than the frication period to generate more natural-sounding conversation for English speakers. Also, the duration of the vowel reached 245 Your Name 3 minutes. The procedure and apparatus were just the same to that used to investigate perceptual development among infants' speech differentiation on native and non-native contrasts. Results/Findings The English and Mandarin-learning infants manifested

Analysis of Georgia O'Keeffe's Abstraction Blue Essay

Analysis of Georgia O'Keeffe's Abstraction Blue - Essay Example ury and made her presence felt in the artistic world through the magic blend of colors which made her works live across ages.(Decker Judy, 2004) The ‘Abstraction Blue’ was painted in 1927 and proved true to the lucidity and purity her pictures had in general. She grew up in Virginia and had her primary painting education from Chicago. (AHA, 2007).Though she was initially a follower of the abstracted, urban style of art, later her works critically followed the abstract expressionist movement. (AHA, 2007).The ‘Abstraction Blue’ also belonged to the abstract expressionist movement of art and has served as an ideal example of the style. Well belonging to the characteristics of the art movement, this work tried to explore the newer concepts and techniques in oil painting (Moffat Charles, 2008) The variation of darkness in the background proved to be a factor differentiating it with other works with similar themes. The background when blended with the strangeness of the outlook provided uniqueness and newness in the depiction which is a differential factor of the abstract expressionist movement .This made sure that it won’t miss the attention of the viewer. In totality the painting appeared to me as a pretty one paying justice to the artistic value and serving the viewer’s expectation at the fullest. The title of the work ‘Abstraction Blue’ well goes with the concept that the picture depicts. First of all it very well matches with the artistic movement it represents. Considering the role of blueness in the painting, no alternates may fit into the aptness of the current title. The effort of the artist to convey the focused subject and the depth of the elements in the subject are effectively extended to the viewer. The feeling carried by the viewer from the title well matches with what the picture tries to say. The painting represents a very close depictive view of a flower. It represents a zoomed out of focus view of the cross section of a flower. The

The Thirty Years War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Thirty Years War - Essay Example Later, the war turned into a rather general conflict involving France and the Hapsburg poweri. As mentioned earlier, the war was spread in phases over the period from the year 1618 to 1648. Initially, there was a treaty called Peace of Augsburg signed in 1555 which brought temporary peace in regards to religious competition in the state of Germany. However, the treaty only recognized the Lutherans and Roman Catholic. Despite this, the Cal-vines had made gains in a number of states and consequently began to demand recognition of their rights and acceptance of their ways of life. In 1617, Ferdinand of Styria was the king of the Bohemian Kingdom and was an ardent supporter of numerous Catholic missions. This did not go well with the Calvinists because they feared that under Ferdinand rule they would be oppressed and their rights would not be recognized. The Calvinists went ahead and threw two Catholics from a building, seventy feet tall, as a show of their dissatisfaction with the king. Fortunately, the two Catholics just sustained minor injuries as they fell on a pile of manure. But this action led to the Catholics invading Bohemia which was a Calvinist strong hold. The conflict resulted into war ending with Catholics winning and Calvinists losing and sustaining heavy and multiple casualties1. Another significant period of the war was between 1625 and 1629 in Denmark where the Protestants went into battle with the Catholics. During this phase, the war claimed many casualties and a significant destruction of property from both sides. In the end, the Catholics claimed victory and installed their king who continued the unpopular policies directed towards oppressing non-Catholics. This alarmed those Christians who viewed this as sheer absurdity and ways of oppressing fellow man. As a result, the Protestants cooperated came together all over Europe with an aim of championing their rights and revolting against the dominant Catholic majority ii. The entire period of the thirty years war was characterized by many religious conflicts in many European countries and empires. However, the saddest thing was that, besides causing psychological harm, it also claimed many lives and led to massive destruction of property and infrastructure. Therefore, the war considerably affected the lives of many Europeans. According to statistics, it reduced the population of German states by about 25% with the male population being reduced to half. The destruction was also aided by diseases and famines in different regions all over Europe. It was hard to feed the masses as there was no time to cultivate hence significantly reducing the food supplies. Diseases were also hard to treat as there were no properly organized supplies of medicine and medical personnel. Furthermore, the hostility between different groups resulted in blocking of supply routes as rivals did all they could to cut supply to opposing sides. The destruction was also catalyzed by the expulsion of oppos ing religious groups from the regions where they were the minority. For instance, Protestants were expelled from Czech land; an action which reduced the population of the land by a third. The destruction was quite severe that the regions that were hard hit by the war took centuries to recover. Despite the thirty years war largely being religious inclined, it also involved political supremacy and conquest. This is because many rulers looked forward to taking advantage of the weakened regions to conquered them and spread their dominance.

Interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 7

Interview - Essay Example The other similarity in the cultures of both countries is the mish-mash cultural diversity, where American culture comprises of cultural practices from different nationalities and ethnic groups, since America is an immigrant country, while the Kenyan culture comprises of a mixture of tribal cultures and cultures from different nationalities too. Nevertheless, while the American language culture is characterized by English as the predominant language, the Kenyan language culture is multilingual, comprising of 42 different spoken languages, in addition to English and Swahili which are the official Kenyan languages. The youth culture is another notable area that both the USA and Kenya shares a similarity. Despite the fact that Kenya is by way, too far to develop its economy to the level of the American economy, the advancement in education and technology in Kenya has been great especially in the last two decades. Consequently, the youths in Kenya are able to access the social media and other globally interactive platforms where the people share information and cultures internationally. As a result, the Kenyan youths have adapted a high percentage of the western culture, and most especially the American culture, such that the American youths are likely to feel at home while in Kenya. However, there are many aspects in which the culture of the USA and that of Kenya vary. Firstly, the family culture in the USA and in Kenya are very different, considering the fact that in USA, the family unit is basically the nuclear family, with the extended family not often living together. On the other hand, the Kenyan culture comprises of the extended family living together in the same homestead. Additionally, the family cultures in both countries vary in size, with the size of the nuclear family in Kenya being relatively bigger than that in the USA, having on average 2-4 children and 4-7 children respectively.

ICE Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ICE Paper - Essay Example ty in Facebook continues to increase after the guarantee that Facebook is on the lookout for security lapses and always striving to enhance privacy controls. The fact that Facebook works with other security experts to ensure that its privacy controls are updated is proof that the company puts the privacy of its users in the forefront. In the article Our Commitment to the Facebook Community, Zuckerberg says, â€Å"We also work with regulators, advocates and experts to inform our privacy practices and policies† (Tow 1). Consequently, Facebook pursues new privacy monitoring standards as reviewed by the industry players. There are also agreements that Facebook participates in which create frameworks on how internet services company ought to approach security concerns in the U.S and other countries around the globe. It shows that Facebook recognizes the need to keep alert as the internet is prone to changes that may make privacy controls at one time outdated. There is a need to lia ise with other industry players and experts so as to identify the privacy loopholes and devise ways to handle them appropriate. In the end, the biggest beneficiaries are the users as their privacy concerns are taken care of. Facebook has the privacy concerns of its users every time. It conducts security and privacy access checks every day to enhance the experience of the users. Zuckerberg asserts, â€Å"We do privacy access checks literally tens of billions of times each day to ensure were enforcing that only the people you want see your content. These privacy principles are written very deeply into our code† (Tow 1). It is the concern of the user that the material he or she posts be only accessible to intended people. There emerge loopholes that hackers explore to access materials that users want to keep private. The privacy checks are meant to identify these loopholes and acts immediately to seal them. Facebook conducts the checks on a daily basis to handle any emerging problems as early as

Greenwashing In The Hotel Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Greenwashing In The Hotel Industry - Essay Example More than 33% of all food products that were launched in 2008 claimed to be natural according to a research by Dara O’Rourke, of the University of California Environmental policy, and a professor and founder of GoodGuide website that monitored consumer products and their eco friendliness (Cohen & Aaron, 2010). However the research found that more than 98% of foods that claimed to be natural in the US supermarkets and other hospitality institutions were found to be false regarding their Eco friendliness tags, while 22% of products had green claims with no inherent meaning. Many eco-friendly tags are aimed at saving money rather than environmental sustainability Miller, Melillo and Solman (2006) asserted that no matter how genuine hotels are, it would be very unlikely for the hotels to adhere to eco-labelling if there we nonprofits to be enjoyed. However, in a number of hotels, in order to capture this perception and create a positive public goodwill, some hotels have initiated programs that require contribution of certain sum of money to charity. For example, some hotel have elaborate signs that tell guests that reusing of towels will save money that will be donated to charity or to environmental bodies (Gallicano, 2011). As Gallicano explains, such hotel establishments undertake to carry out such gimmicks because many guests and customers do not have any knowledge regarding the internal working of the organization and their sustainable business practices. Therefore as more companies adopt green campaigns, consumers are getting more confused with the real meaning of â€Å"green ,â€Å" with branding experts finding it difficult to issue certification in green marketing due to increased... The blog reported on the green practice of reputable establishments such as the Fairmont Hotels, Kempton Hotels and Restaurants, Starwood’s, and Marriot Hotels, all which have been granted the LEED certification. The best practice that was unidentifiable from this campaign was that each hotel mentioned contributed 1% of their revenue to the local environmentalist groups, but did not have any elaborate development regarding the hotel’s undertaking to ensure environmental sustainability as would be expected under the LEED certification (Jessica, 2008). A blogger reviewing and sharing news regarding Proximity in North Carolina, which had received a LEED Gold certification and claimed to be using 36% less energy than other hotels, and 30% less water also put the reliability of such figures into question, judging from customer responses from the hotel services. Most hotels in order to hoodwink customers have huge insistencies in their eco sustainability practices. Some hotel s may meet the requirements of eco friendliness on one part only to perform very unsustainably in others (Gallicano, 2011). Moreover, some hotel establishments have undertaken to produce remarkable and well-designed websites that narrate of the measures that have been taken to meet eco-friendly practices in attempts that would amount to rating themselves on how best they meet such sustainable criteria, which does not give a holistic picture regarding their operations and real sustainable practices undertaken by the organizations.

The Yoruba Rites of Passage Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Yoruba Rites of Passage - Term Paper Example The Yoruba is considered as one of the largest ethnic communities in Africa having a population of approximately 30 million people (Johnson 16). The community is mostly found in countries such as Nigeria, Benin and Togo, though it is possible to find that there are some who have migrated to other countries such as the US and other destinations for immigrants. These subgroups are 20 in number and are as a result of the fact that the community had 20 kingdoms, each led by an independent king and when the kingdoms were dissolved, the communities continued to recognize themselves in that scope. Much of the economic activities conducted by this community mainly involve farming (Akintoye 29). However, due to industrialization and subsequent rapid urbanization, some of the members have migrated to urban areas in search of formal employment, but it is observed that even in these areas, the Yoruba people still engage in crop production though in a minimal scale. As with any other community in Africa and the world in general, the Yoruba’s have their own unique culture which is greatly respected and strictly followed by the members. This is despite the fact that the community is surrounded by diversity, especially in religious dimension, which has the capacity to influence and assimilate these people thereby resulting to abandonment of traditional practices (Ambibola 22). This paper will examine the Yoruba’s culture in the context of rites of passage, i.e. traditional practices conducted in defining moments such as birth, marriage and eventually, death. Birth The birth of a child is an event that is received with great joy and happiness as it involves the introduction of a new life to the world. It facilitates the continuation of a family lineage and the existence of a community, which may otherwise become extinct in the absence of new births to compensate lost lives. The Yoruba people are no different from other communities in recognizing the importance of new births. This may be the reason why every newborn child must undergo two major processes that include welcoming and naming which are celebrated in two different occasions. In these occasions, tradition demands that parties be held and in this case, Iko Omo and Isomo Loruko are the two words that are used to refer to the welcoming and the naming parties respectively (Akintoye 41). In both Iko Omo and Isomo Loruko, the family must ensure that proper planning is done as these are considered to be the most important and probably defining moments for the child’s future. Depending on the financial capability of the family, it is a requirement that food be in plenty and to achieve this, most of the people opt to slaughter a cow or a goat. Buying of new clothes is also a component of these celebrations as family members must look smart and presentable in an effort to signify their status and also to symbolize their joy for the arrival of the new born (Lawal and Sadiku 22). It may be observable that buying of new clothes during important occasions such as Christmas. It is a common practice in most of the societies and this may be interpreted to signify their celebratory mood. It is also common for parents and the family of the newborn to hire celebrities such as musicians to entertain the crowd with music. Also, when these celebrations are in progress, traffic along the streets near the venue of the celebrations may be disrupted as a result of people blocking the roads while singing and dancing such that anyone familiar with the Yoruba culture would definitely tell what is

Hawaii Weddings Essay Example for Free

Hawaii Weddings Essay Wedding Style in Hawaii Like most of the rest of the world weddings, in Hawaii symbolizes tradition and cultural elements in a colorful and beautiful place intended to bring fortune, luck and happiness to couples who are going to be for the rest of their lives together. Hawaiian brides, traditionally wear a Hawaiian dress called holoku. A holoku is a wedding dress with flowers and in her hair as well. Men usually wear a white shirt, white pants and a colorful sash. Casual foot wear is permitted, unless if the wedding is inside a house, footwear may be avoided. Another Hawaiian symbol for wedding eremony is the leis. Leis are a traditional flower garlands worn around the neck. Two main leis made of fragrant flowers and green leaves are especially made for the groom and bride. These main leis represent the peoples relationship with nature as a traditional aspect. The brides lei have white Jasmine and the grooms lei have Lima. Also, both the mother-in-laws wear especially made leis which have an abundance of jasmine. The weddings are announced by three blows ofa conch shell in a consecutive manner. This conch shell represents the summoning of God to support the ceremony. Fireworks also are part of the weddings symbolizing the pushing of evil away. The performance of dance called pandango is required, its also performed in many weddings and its often called the money dance, encircling the couples with a strong of taped money. Cultures around the world has affected Hawaiian weddings as well, as one of the influences is the wedding cake. Hawaiian wedding cakes are usually made of wheat flour, symbolizing the beginning of a new relationship together. This relationship is further strengthened by sharing the knife for cake cutting and presenting the first slice to each other.

An Analysis Of Proposed E Commerce Strategy Commerce Essay

An Analysis Of Proposed E Commerce Strategy Commerce Essay The rapid enhancement in the field of technology has necessitated businesses to consider the implication of technology in performing their business activities. The technological development along with the need for pursuing higher growth by way of internationalizing the business activities in international markets is highly in demand for the businesses to stay in the market. The higher level of competition has fostered businesses to make use of digital technology in their operational activities in effectively meeting their customers need. Most of the businesses are indulging in e-commerce practices in effectively performing their operations across boundaries. E-commerce is an important medium of presenting the business offerings to customers, as it involves the usage of technology that aids businesses in reaching wider markets easily. E-business is considered as new mantra for businesses in the modern world as it not only facilitates the development of business activities worldwide bu t also allows them to advertise their products and services in a more effective and efficient manner (Plant 2000). This report is aimed at performing a preliminary analysis of the proposed e-commerce strategy for ABC organization which has been to expand its reach to international markets and serve a wide range of customers globally. The organization presently deals in electronic products that cater to the needs of electronic items for a large number of customers. ABC organization is in immense need of expanding its operation in the international markets particularly because of increasing competition from the local competitors in Australia. As a result, the e-commerce strategy in the form of achieving expansion in the international market would allow ABC to cope up with the intense level of competition and achieve sustainable growth. The strategy of ABC is to develop a website through which it can be possible to offer its products and services in the international markets. In performing the preliminary analysis of the e-commerce strategy, this report makes an evaluation of the environmental analysis through the application of important marketing tools such as porters competitive forces analysis. Apart from this, the report will also include an assessment of the potential of e-commerce strategy in meeting its strategic goals and objectives. The role of website in satisfying its key stakeholders along with the major risks that ABC has to face in expanding its business in the international market will also be critically assessed in this report. Environmental Analysis of the Proposed E-Commerce Presence The assessment of the ABC organization implies that it is currently based in Australia and company is planning to expand in the international market. For instance, the target market as decided by the company for expansion is Indian market. This is because; the Indian market is growing one for the electronics products which can offer large opportunities for higher growth of the organization. Thus, the proposed e-commerce presence of the company can be identified as the Indian market through the integration of technology in its existing operations. A complete environmental analysis of the proposed e-commerce presence of the company has been performed below: Value proposition of the e-commerce strategy: The proposed e-commerce strategy of expanding to Indian market by ABC for its electronic products through website would likely to provider higher value to its target customers. The major benefit to customers from its expansion to international markets in India is the accessibility to a wider range of electronic gadgets offered by the company. The company specializes in providing higher quality electronics product at reasonable rates and as a result, it becomes a better opportunity for the customers to avail the extra benefits offered by the company. The e-commerce strategy will not only be effective in delivering value to its customers in the Indian markets in terms of making a wide variety of electronics products for Indian customers, but it would also enable the organization to outperform the competition easily and sustain its business effectively. Further, it will be a new experience for the customers in the Indian markets as the e-commerce strategy by ABC organization will enable them to have access to wide range of electronics products. Another important feature of electronics product by ABC that will create value for its customers is the faster delivery of products to the customers after the order is placed. This will be made possible through an effective supply chain management (Currie 2004). Core competencies that can be enhanced through e-commerce presence: The e-commerce presence will help ABC organization in enhancing its core competency of quality electronics product at reasonable prices because the volume of sales would automatically increase from expansion to Indian market which will allow the company to attain economies of scale. The ultimate efficiency can be achieved in terms of reduced cost of products which can easily be transferred to final consumers for the purpose of value creation for them. Core competencies are usually critical to an organization and an improvement over the core competency leads to the attainment of competitive advantage. In case of ABC, the e-commerce presence in the international market allows an opportunity to enable the development of core competency of enhancing the supply chain management functions of the organization, as it aimed at ensuring quicker delivery of electronics products to its international customers (Epstein 2004). Market analysis and trends of expanding to Indian markets: In case of the given proposed e-commerce strategy of expansion of electronics business of ABC organization to Indian market through website, it becomes essential to perform a market analysis of such market so that better expansion and ultimately, improved growth can be achieved from such strategy. Market analysis implies the analysis of all the major factors present in the proposed market so that necessary strategies can be developed and the potential for success in such market can also be identified (Doole and Lowe 2008). The market of India for the proposed e-commerce strategy is considered to be effective as the trends and statistics shows that the internet users are growing at a rapid pace in the Indian market. For instance, the statistics shows that India accounts for 2% of the e-commerce in the Asia pacific region, but the increasing population and literacy rate in the country has increased the number of users base for such e-commerce from $2.1 billion in 2008 and is expected to increase $6 billion by 2011 (Where Does e-Commerce Stand in India 2011). Despite having the payment challenges, the market for e-commerce is expanding at a rapid pace in India. For instance, the facts shows that India has the number of people transacting online in India will likely to increase to 39 million by 2015. With respect to e-commerce market in India, the estimated online transaction will improve and there is expected a growth to $24 billion by 2015 from the current state of $6.3 billion (Indian e-commerce Market Estimated to Grow to $24 billion by 2015 from the Current $6.3 billion 2011). This signifies that the e-commerce activities will be performed at a rapid pace in such markets which will provide opportunities to the e-commerce dealers in achieving higher growth (Charman-Anderson 2011). This shows an increasing trend for e-commerce related practices in the country which would be highly beneficial for the proposed e-commerce strategy of ABC organization. Overall, the market analysis and trends for e-commerce in Indian markets shows a positive trend which would likely benefit the traders who performs their business activities over internet. E-commerce strategy evaluation through Porters five forces model: The porters five forces model is highly useful in performing an analysis of the overall industry. The five forces model includes the assessment of the industry from five different points that would be highly beneficial in the given case of making an assessment of the proposed e-commerce strategy of expanding to Indian markets for electronics products by ABC organization (Turban, 2010). An evaluation using the important five forces model for electronics industry in India is performed as follows: Â · Bargaining power of buyers: Buyers are those who purchases thee products and services offered by the company. The buyer power is considered to be large when there are few dominant buyers in the industry. In case of e-commerce for electronics products, the buyers are considered to be the final consumers as there are no such major buyers that account for larger sales of electronics products in India. This implies a lower buyer power for electronics products in India which will benefit the proposed e-commerce strategy of ABC organization. Â · Bargaining power of suppliers: Supplier power is considered to be moderate in the sense that there are various online suppliers of electronics products in India such as LG electronics, Samsung, Nokia, E-bay and many more. As there is no one major players accounting for most of the supplies for electronics product, the supplier power is considered to be moderate (Singh and Anand 2010). Â · Threat of rivalry among existing firms: As far as the threats of rivalry among existing firms, it is considered to be higher because of the presence of large number of suppliers of online electronics product in India. Apart from major e-commerce dealers for electronics products such as e-bay, Amazon etc and various global companies such as Samsung, Sony, Microsoft etc, the Indian market comprises of large number of local retailers that provides cheap electronic gadgets at reasonable rates and thereby intensifies the level of competition. Â · Threat of substitutes: In case of electronics industry in India, the threat of substitutes is considered to be lower because the substitute product for electronics is not available. Consumers have to purchase the electronics products as the need for such electronics product cannot be satisfied through any other product alternative. Â · Threat of new entrants: Although the threat of new entrant is higher because of existence of large numbers of electronic dealers in the country and also higher infrastructure cost, but by way of considering electronic medium of doing business, the threat of new entrants can be eroded. For instance, the proposed e-commerce strategy of ABC organization will not likely to face the problem of new entrants. Overall, the porters five forces analysis for electronics products in India shows the availability of large number of suppliers which intensifies the competition and as a result, ABC organization need to consider the development of effective strategies for its expansion to such markets. Strategic Goals and Objectives of ABC The proposed expansion to Indian markets through the development of website will be helpful in addressing a wide range of strategic objectives and goals of the organization. For instance, the major strategic goal is to pursue expansion to international markets so that higher growth can be achieved. Further, such international expansion also allows the opportunity for sustenance of the organization as ABC is facing the problem of intense competition in its local market in Australia from a large number of local players. Thus, the main strategic goal of ABC can be considered as achieving international expansion that can effectively be possible through its website, as the website will be designed in a manner that would be highly suited to Indian customers. In pursuing the strategic goals of international expansion, the major objectives of ABC will be: Â · To offer wider range of electronics products to its customers in Indian markets so as to allow them a choice to make a selection. Â · To offer quality products at reasonable prices so that customer can be attracted initially and a strong brand reputation can finally be developed. Â · To present the information about its offerings in its website in a manner that attracts its customer at the first instance. The attainment of all these objectives will help in the successful accomplishment of the strategic goals of achieving higher growth in the e-commerce electronics industry in India. Key Stakeholders need from website Different stakeholders have different needs from the e-commerce website. For instance, the key stakeholder i.e. customer want the availability of large number of electronics products at cheaper rates and this could easily be fulfilled through the website of the company, as it allows the company to display entire information of all its offerings and as expanding in the form of e-commerce is not highly costly for the company, the wants of customers of availing electronic products at cheaper rates can also be achieved. In addition to customer, the investors want higher return on their invested fund which can be achieved through success in the business expansion of organization through its website. The satisfaction of its key stakeholder i.e. the customer would lead to the attainment of key goals of the website of the company which has been to provide wider access to customers for electronics in India. By way of performing a rigorous marketing of website, a better reach with the customer can be established through website and thereby, a better fit between the goals of the website and the organization can ultimately be possible. E-commerce business model There are large numbers of e-commerce models that are available to businesses in performing the expansion of their business activities in international markets. In case of ABC organization, the business models that will be used for its e-commerce website is Business to Consumer model (B2C). As per the B2C model, the target of businesses is to sell its offerings to individual customers through its website. The B2C model is an important model of e-commerce that is being implemented using the web. As in case of ABC organization, the strategic goals of the organization has been to perform international expansion and to focus on the consumers for electronics in Indian markets, it can be effectively facilitated through the B2C model of e-commerce. There are various such examples that have effectively used such B2C model in achieving success globally such as Amazon, Walmart, BestBuy.com etc. B2C is internet only stores that provides offerings to its customers through internet only and as id entified, there lies an important opportunity for e-commerce in the Indian markets, and the strategic goal of achieving higher growth can be possible through the consideration of such B2C e-commerce model (Morley and Parker 2009). Potential risks from e-commerce strategy From the proposed e-commerce strategy of the organization, there are various potential risks that company has to face and thereby required to make effective considerations for all of them. For instance, the major risk is the risk of failure of such strategy because of existence of higher level of suppliers in the electronics industry in the Indian market. Secondly, the increasing threats from hackers also lead to security risks to the organization, and as a result, effective planning is essential in order to effectively deal the security issues from the e-commerce strategy. The third major risk from the e-commerce strategy to ABC organization is the lack of experience of dealing with international customers. As the company has its operation in the Australian markets presently, the lack of international experience would cause severe problems in dealing with the customers internationally. The e-commerce strategy would also pose the risk of currency exchange, as dealing with customers i n India would require ABC to make necessary arrangements for performing is operation in Indian currency. As a result, the fluctuations in the exchange rates would increase the risk of the organization and it might be possible that company has to bear losses. All these are the major threats to ABC organization from its e-commerce business strategy of expanding to Indian markets through its website.

Comparison of Tsar and Communist Rule

Comparison of Tsar and Communist Rule Tsarist rule in the years 1856 to 1917 and Communist rule to the death of Lenin and the death of Stalin both depended on high degrees of central power and control by the state. The similarities between the two forms of government were therefore much greater than were the differences. How far do you agree with this judgement? Both Imperial and Soviet Russia have a long and well documented history of autocratic rule. However, Russian autocracy in its various forms has been far from consistent in either its organisation or outlook. It is this inconsistency in structure and policy which has given rise to differing schools of thought. On the one hand is the view that the fleeting and unfulfilled promises of both the liberalist-socialist February Revolution and Bolshevik October Revolution of 1917 witnessed nothing other than a transition from one form of despotism to another. On the other hand lies the theory that the Revolutions of 1917 caused the destruction of the Russian feudal system, empowering the masses to invest their authority in a democratically elected central representative form of government, at least in appearance if not in essence. In order to examine the two forms of government and their attributes, this essay uses a comparative approach in its discussion of the absolute monarchism of Tsars A lexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II, and to the proletarian dictatorships of Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin. It will introduce the organisational structure of the monarchical and republican forms of government, and present a snapshot of Russian society in both cases. It will then analyse the similarities and differences of state control over various facets of society, and summarise these arguments in a logical conclusion. At the time of the accession to power of Tsar Alexander II in 1855, the Russian Empire was a hereditary absolute monarchy ruled by the Romanov dynasty. The Tsar promulgated and enforced laws personally, albeit acting on the counsel of trusted advisers. The Tsar also controlled the official state religion of Orthodox Christianity through the Holy Synod. Through his personally appointed counsellors, the Tsar wielded absolute power over most national institutions, including the military, the judiciary and the press. Subjects of the empire were segregated into different social classes on various rungs of the feudal ladder, from the nobility down through the clergy, merchants, cossacks and peasants. The majority of peasants were classed as serfs common labourers bound to the land, with no political representation. Imperial Russia had a proportionately larger population than its European counterparts of Great Power status, and the majority of its peasant population eked out a meagre exist ence below the poverty line. The Russian economy was based on a primitive form of agriculture, and as such economic growth was sluggish, lagging way behind the rapidly industrialising West, with which Russia was unable to compete financially. State intervention in industry tended to be more frequent than elsewhere in Europe, though in certain sectors it developed with private initiative, often foreign capital. In any case, due to the late onset of industrialisation, Russia remained largely agricultural until well into the twentieth century. Certain aspects of state control were relinquished in the latter half of the nineteenth century, particularly during the reforms of the 1850s and 1860s, in the areas of government, education and the judiciary. In 1861 Alexander II announced the emancipation of around 20 million serfs. Local commissions controlled by the landowning gentry gave rise to emancipation by giving land and certain privileges to the serfs, though stopping short of freedom per se. Very few former serfs moved outside their village commune, and they were required to make redemption payments to the government over a period of almost fifty years. Landowners were compensated in the form of government bonds. Local government was reformed shortly afterwards in 1864, whereby the European part of Russia was reorganised into different regions and districts in a devolution exercise. Local government became fully responsible for health, education and transport, signifying a move away from centralised power. In the same year, judicial reforms took place in most urban centres. The major change was the introduction of juries into the courtroom. The judiciary functioned fairly well, though the government lacked the financial clout to enforce the measures, meaning that local peasant justice remained relatively unaffected, with little interference from the central government. State control remained fairly strong in the military, marked by the government’s desire to effect the transition from a large standing army to a reserve army, made possible through the training of the newly emancipated serfs. In other areas, the State bank was founded in 1866, all school officials remained nominally subordinate to the Ministry of Education, and censorship laws were relaxed in the 1860s. Soviet Russia presents a more modern, if not altogether different, concept of state control. In February 1917, a Provisional Government of liberal socialists ousted the autocracy with the intention of establishing a democratic form of government in a war-ravaged society. At the same time, the radical Bolsheviks representing the working classes called for nationwide socialist revolution, and eventually seized power from the Provisional Government in November of the same year. Only after a long and bloody fratricidal war did the Bolsheviks consolidate power and establish a one-party Communist state, which officially came into being in December 1922. The Soviet government initially attempted to centralise the economy through Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP). Threatening encirclement from capitalist powers, Lenin stressed the importance of rapid industrialisation through direct state control, as dictated by Marxist doctrine. However, these efforts did not come to fruition, and some private enterprise was permitted to coexist with the heavily nationalised industrial sector. Yet following Stalin’s accession to power in 1928, the state assumed control of all existing businesses and initiated intensive programmes of industrialisation in the form of three pre-War five-year plans. In agriculture, the state seized peasants’ property to establish collective farms. The plan proved hugely unpopular and caused much hardship. Millions of common labourers starved to death or were murdered during periods of forced collectivisation. Social unrest continued well into the 1930s as Stalin embarked on a purge of his own party. This gave rise to a campaign of terror not dissimilar to that witnessed in Revolutionary France, leading to the imprisonment and/or execution of anyone who was suspected of being an opponent of the Communist regime. Literally millions of citizens were expunged from all sections of society. However, there were certain advantages of this rigorous state control. Stalin’s industrialisation programme required that workers be adequately educated. This led to an increase in the number of schools. More importantly, for the first time women were given equal status in education and employment as men, marking an improvement in household income and family life. Universal access to health care gradually became readily available, increasing the standard of living and life expectancy. Engineers, architects and medical personnel were sent abroad to learn new technologies, and exchange programmes enabled foreign input into the expanding Soviet knowledge base. The outbreak of the Second World War served only to intensify the Stalinist system of state control. Forced labour rapidly accelerated Soviet industrial output, allowing the USSR to outstrip Nazi Germany’s initial advance, while conscription swelled the ranks of the Red Army, enabling the military to push back the eastward thrust of the German army in the winter of 1941-42. The post-War era saw no reduction in this trend as the Soviet government sought to rebuild the infrastructure decimated by war and roll out its policy of extreme levels of state control over the countries of Eastern Europe placed in its sphere of influence in the post-War settlement. It was not until the death of Stalin in 1953 and the accession to power of Nikita Khrushchev that repressive controls over government and society were eased. So how do the two forms of pre-Revolutionary monarchical and post-Revolutionary republican autocracy compare? Let us first examine the political ideologies on which the two forms of state centrism were founded. The initially obvious assessment is that they were almost as far apart on the political spectrum as is possible, from the ultra-conservative monarchical despotism of Imperial Russia to the extreme left-wing one-party Communism of the Soviet Union. The monarchical despotism of the Tsars was concentrated in the person of the Emperor alone. He functioned as both Head of State and Head of Government, and was responsible for all branches of government. The serf majority of the population had no political rights or representation, and only the most fortunate amongst the nobility and intelligentsia had sufficient status to make their views heard. Admittedly, given the vast expanse of Russia and its poor transport and communication links under the Tsars, logistics would always dictate that imperial power was unlikely to filter down to every citizen from the Baltic to the Pacific. However, individual liberties remained severely restricted, if not non-existent. On the other hand, Soviet Russia was a proletarian dictatorship in pursuit of the ideal of world revolution. The Bolshevik effort in the civil war was founded on the belief that only a coherent and secretive organisation could overthrow the government. Following the revolution, this belief was transposed to the machinery of government, in that only this kind of organisation could resist foreign and domestic enemies. According to Marxist-Leninist doctrine, this revolutionary esprit could only be achieved through the efforts of a Communist party which assumes the role of revolutionary vanguard, achieving its aims through a disciplined organisation known as democratic centralism, where party officials discuss proposals but do not question decisions once they have been made. Similarly, the electorate were simply expected to approve of the laws enacted and policies pursued by the party they had voted into power. Any form of dissent, either expressed or implied, was punished in the most se vere manner. Let us now turn to the practicalities of state control. As noted previously, levels of state control in Imperial Russia witnessed a marked decline throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. Admittedly, continued state control and supervision, heavy financial obligations, and communal regulation of peasant affairs made life in the countryside seem not entirely different from that prior to the emancipation. The gentry still filled high posts in the army and bureaucracy and occupied a dominant position in the new institutions created by the reforms; and government officials viewed independent actions on the part of Russian society with much the same suspicion and distrust that they had previously. However, the reforms made a genuine difference, in the sense that the granting of personal liberty to the peasants freed them from total dependence on the landowning gentry, and it encouraged social mobility. The educated minority of the lower classes of society were able to engage in education and banking. This new direction in government policy gave Russian life new dimensions and possibilities of social and economic development. Either way, this revolution from above certainly marked a watershed in Russian history, and fuelled the embryonic Revolutionary movement in its build-up to the events of 1917. A measure of the success of the reforms is that the government survived them unscathed, unlike those of Gorbachev in the 1980s. The immediate post-Revolutionary period witnessed conditions which were not dissimilar. Lenin’s Communist government faced the immediate challenges of severe economic recession and working class hostility. Alienated by the brutalities of civil war and famine, peasants, urban workers and many soldiers demanded the creation of a more democratic socialist government. The Politburo were unwilling to compromise, maintaining a one-party state and demanding total discipline and unity within the party. Economically, however, direct methods of mobilisation were abandoned, allowing a revival of private trade on a small scale. These changes paved the way for the NEP, which in turn led to an increase in agricultural and industrial production. Critics of the NEP complained that flourishing markets in agricultural produce benefited a revived class of rural entrepreneurs as opposed to the urban proletariat. They insisted that the government find the resources to invest in industrial growth t o counter this trend. Unable to secure these resources, the government became increasingly unpopular amongst the peasantry, who still made up over 80 per cent of the population. Following Lenin’s death and Stalin’s consolidation of power, the government dealt with this crisis by experimenting with the direct, coercive mobilisation of resources from the countryside. This collectivisation marked the end of market relations in the countryside, meaning the government could determine what happened to rural produce and where the profits were invested. By 1934 the government had successfully taken control of the huge human and material resources of the countryside. The collectivisation of these resources were subsequently diverted to the towns in Stalin’s intense programme of industrialisation. Only a hugely powerful centralised state was capable of such a programme, and it is no accident that it was managed by a highly coercive and autocratic state system. Building on a long tradition of Russian autocracy, Stalin created a modernised autocracy in which his authority grew to the point where he no longer depended on the party, but established a unique system of personal rule. The atmosphere of crisis created by collectivisation and party purges generated a crucible of paranoia which strengthened the leadership by making any form of opposition look like treachery. However, despite this severity, the Communist government enjoyed much popular support, and many ordinary citizens accepted the patriotic promises of Stalinist propaganda. In conclusion, it would appear that while the ideologies on which Imperial and Soviet Russia were founded lay at opposite ends of the political spectrum, the machinery of government operated in much the same way in both cases. It is difficult to assess which form of government was more autocratic, and it would be unwise to assume that the political currents at the beginning of the period in question form a valid basis for comparison with those at the end. However, it is safe to assert that the two forms of autocracy were as intense as they were efficiently managed. There were certainly huge differences in the ultimate aims and objectives of the two forms of government. While Imperial Russia strove to secure the succession of the Romanov dynasty through maintaining the hereditary monarchy, Soviet Russia sought to achieve world revolution in pursuit of the Communist ideal. However, the similarities in the intensity of state control appear more striking than these ideological difference s. While the concentration of government dominance appeared greater under Communism, especially during the Stalinist era, the state in both cases to all intents and purposes retained almost full control over agriculture, industry, the military, education and the judiciary. In this respect, the similarities seem to be greater than the differences. It is not without a certain sense of irony that such state control was nominally approved by the electorate in Soviet Russia, in spite of the hardships it often caused. Bibliography David Christian, Imperial Soviet Russia – Power, Privilege the Challenge of Modernity (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997) Terence Emmons, The Russian Landed Gentry and the Peasant Emancipation of 1861 (Cambridge: CUP, 1967) J. N. Westwood, Endurance and Endeavour, Russian History 1812-1992 (London: OUP, 1973) Edward C. Thaden, Russia Since 1801: The Making of a New Society (New York: Wiley, 1971) US Library of Congress, Federal Research Division Country Studies Series (Russia), http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html

Free Narrative Essays - Surfing the Crowd :: Personal Narrative Essay Example

Surfing the Crowd In my mind it was my biggest act of courage. It was far from a heroic deed, but I overcame all my anxieties for an adrenaline rush that can still be felt through my memories. Closing my eyes and thinking back to that hot, summer night I can still hear the sweet riffs of punk rock in its purest form. The drummer was on fire. The bassist was pure power. And the front-man had turned everyone in the crowd, including myself, into pure energy. My music had wrapped itself around and around inside of me. It took away my inhibitions and filled me with a new confidence. I had the power to do anything, if only for that one set. I wanted to be on top of the world! From the moment that thought had entered my head, I knew that I could make that aspiration come true. The answer was to crowd surf. It was something I had never done before; getting up over everyone's heads and letting them push you towards the stage. Though at that moment I felt almost immortal, pangs of nervousness balled up in my stomach. Would I make it all the way to the front? What if I fell? But the biggest question I asked myself was should I do something that I have never done before? Once I let my thoughts return to the music, I knew what lie ahead of me. I tapped the nearest "big guy" on the shoulder and pointed towards the ceiling; the universal signal on the concert floor. He nodded, grabbed my foot, and pushed me on top of the crowd. Once I was up there was no turning back. Soon strong hands were surfing me towards the stage. I had the best view in the house and reveled in the moment. I was fueled by an adrenaline rush that was only heightened by the fusion of the music and the energy of the crowd.

Affirmation of Adulthood in John Updikes A&P Essay -- A&P Essays

Affirmation of Adulthood in Updike’s A&P  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Researching John Updike’s story, "A&P", I found many readers agreed that the main character Sammy is viewed as a hero or martyr for quitting his job at an A&P store in a northern beach town. I did, however, find that critics disagreed on why Sammy quit. Initially it appears that Sammy quits his job to impress girls who were reprimanded for wearing bathing suits in the A&P.   Sammy did not ultimately quit his job to be the hero for three girls who happened to walk into this A&P. This is not just a story about a nineteen-year-old guy trying to impress a group of girls by quitting his job, but it is also a story describing in detail the day this nineteen-year-old realizes that sometimes, in the transition from boyhood to adulthood, one must take a stand and ultimately follow through with this affirmation of adulthood. From the beginning of the story Updike "uses Sammy’s youth and unromantic descriptive powers" to show his immaturity and apparent boyish nature (Uphaus 373). We see this in the opening line of the story: "In walks three girls in nothing but bathing suits" (Updike 1026). Even the voice of Sammy is very "familiar and colloquial" (Uphaus 373). Much of the information that Sammy relays about the three girls is sexually descriptive in a nineteen-year-old boy’s way: "and a sweet broad looking can [rear] with those two crescents of white under it, where the sun never seems to hit" (Updike 1026). It is apparent that Sammy looks at the three girls who happen to walk into the A&P only as objects of lust or possibly boyish desire. Thus, on the surface it is easy to take this story as that of a boy who would do something like quit his job to "impress" these girls. It is even ... ...omach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter" (Updike 1030). This was the day that Sammy grew up. Works Cited Greiner, Donald J. Short Story Criticism. Vol. 13 Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1991. 398-399. Updike, John. "A&P." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.1026-1030. Uphaus, Suzanne Henning. Short Story Criticism. Vol. 13 Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1991. 372-373. Works Consulted Coffman, Kelly. "A Turning Point." Ode To Friendship & Other Essays. Ed. Connie Bellamy. Virginia Beach, 1997. 190-191. Hatcher, Nathan. "Sammy’s Motive." Ode To Friendship . Ed. Connie Bellamy. Virginia Beach 1997. 188-189. Luscher, Robert M. John Updike: A Study of the Short Fiction. New York: Twayne, 1993. Uphaus, Suzanne. John Updike. N Y: Frederick Ungar, 1986.   

Edgar Allen Poe for Biography :: essays research papers fc

Edgar Allen Poe for Biography   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Edgar Allen Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts. Around this time was the Louisiana Purchase and the ending of importation of slaves. His parents were traveling actors but at a very early age his father deserted his family and his mother died in 1811. So Poe became a ward of John Allen who was a wealthy Richmond merchant. The Allan family lived in the United Kingdom from 1815 to 1820 before returning to Richmond. Poe and Allen’s relationship suffered tremendously making Poe having to make some hard decisions for his future.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After they returned to Richmond, Poe attended the University of Virginia in 1926. Soon after he acquired gambling debts that John Allen refused to pay leading Poe to withdraw from the University. When in 1927 he was enlisted into the Military his first book was published. The title was â€Å"Tamerlane and Other Poems†. Poe published his second volume of poems, both collections show influence from Lord Byron. In 1830, Poe entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he excelled in the study of languages. He received help from American novelist John P. Kennedy in winning an editorial post with the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. For the Messenger, Poe contributed reviews, original or revised poems and stories, and two installments of The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. Poe worked as an editor and contributor to magazines in several cities, including Richmond, Virginia; New York City; and Philadelphia. He unsuccessfully tried to fo und and edit his own magazine, which would have granted him financial security and artistic control in what he considered a hostile literary marketplace. But Poe's later rediscovery by the French poets Charles Baudelaire, Stephane Mallarme, and Paul Valery helped restore his reputation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Poe married in his thirteen year old cousin in 1936, Virginia Clemm. When Virginia died in 1947, Poe then sank into poor health and his literary productivity declined. In 1849, Poe became engaged to marry the widowed Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton, his boyhood sweetheart.

Angels Demons Chapter 42-45

42 Cardinal Mortati was sweating now in his black robe. Not only was the Sistine Chapel starting to feel like a sauna, but conclave was scheduled to begin in twenty minutes, and there was still no word on the four missing cardinals. In their absence, the initial whispers of confusion among the other cardinals had turned to outspoken anxiety. Mortati could not imagine where the truant men could be. With the camerlegno perhaps? He knew the camerlegno had held the traditional private tea for the four preferiti earlier that afternoon, but that had been hours ago. Were they ill? Something they ate? Mortati doubted it. Even on the verge of death the preferiti would be here. It was once in a lifetime, usually never, that a cardinal had the chance to be elected Supreme Pontiff, and by Vatican Law the cardinal had to be inside the Sistine Chapel when the vote took place. Otherwise, he was ineligible. Although there were four preferiti, few cardinals had any doubt who the next Pope would be. The past fifteen days had seen a blizzard of faxes and phone calls discussing potential candidates. As was the custom, four names had been chosen as preferiti, each of them fulfilling the unspoken requisites for becoming Pope: Multilingual in Italian, Spanish, and English. No skeletons in his closet. Between sixty-five and eighty years old. As usual, one of the preferiti had risen above the others as the man the college proposed to elect. Tonight that man was Cardinal Aldo Baggia from Milan. Baggia's untainted record of service, combined with unparalleled language skills and the ability to communicate the essence of spirituality, had made him the clear favorite. So where the devil is he? Mortati wondered. Mortati was particularly unnerved by the missing cardinals because the task of supervising this conclave had fallen to him. A week ago, the College of Cardinals had unanimously chosen Mortati for the office known as The Great Elector – the conclave's internal master of ceremonies. Even though the camerlegno was the church's ranking official, the camerlegno was only a priest and had little familiarity with the complex election process, so one cardinal was selected to oversee the ceremony from within the Sistine Chapel. Cardinals often joked that being appointed The Great Elector was the cruelest honor in Christendom. The appointment made one ineligible as a candidate during the election, and it also required one spend many days prior to conclave poring over the pages of the Universi Dominici Gregis reviewing the subtleties of conclave's arcane rituals to ensure the election was properly administered. Mortati held no grudge, though. He knew he was the logical choice. Not only was he the senior cardinal, but he had also been a confidant of the late Pope, a fact that elevated his esteem. Although Mortati was technically still within the legal age window for election, he was getting a bit old to be a serious candidate. At seventy-nine years old he had crossed the unspoken threshold beyond which the college no longer trusted one's health to withstand the rigorous schedule of the papacy. A Pope usually worked fourteen-hour days, seven days a week, and died of exhaustion in an average of 6.3 years. The inside joke was that accepting the papacy was a cardinal's â€Å"fastest route to heaven.† Mortati, many believed, could have been Pope in his younger days had he not been so broad-minded. When it came to pursuing the papacy, there was a Holy Trinity – Conservative. Conservative. Conservative. Mortati had always found it pleasantly ironic that the late Pope, God rest his soul, had revealed himself as surprisingly liberal once he had taken office. Perhaps sensing the modern world progressing away from the church, the Pope had made overtures, softening the church's position on the sciences, even donating money to selective scientific causes. Sadly, it had been political suicide. Conservative Catholics declared the Pope â€Å"senile,† while scientific purists accused him of trying to spread the church's influence where it did not belong. â€Å"So where are they?† Mortati turned. One of the cardinals was tapping him nervously on the shoulder. â€Å"You know where they are, don't you?† Mortati tried not to show too much concern. â€Å"Perhaps still with the camerlegno.† â€Å"At this hour? That would be highly unorthodox!† The cardinal frowned mistrustingly. â€Å"Perhaps the camerlegno lost track of time?† Mortati sincerely doubted it, but he said nothing. He was well aware that most cardinals did not much care for the camerlegno, feeling he was too young to serve the Pope so closely. Mortati suspected much of the cardinals' dislike was jealousy, and Mortati actually admired the young man, secretly applauding the late Pope's selection for chamberlain. Mortati saw only conviction when he looked in the camerlegno's eyes, and unlike many of the cardinals, the camerlegno put church and faith before petty politics. He was truly a man of God. Throughout his tenure, the camerlegno's steadfast devotion had become legendary. Many attributed it to the miraculous event in his childhood†¦ an event that would have left a permanent impression on any man's heart. The miracle and wonder of it, Mortati thought, often wishing his own childhood had presented an event that fostered that kind of doubtless faith. Unfortunately for the church, Mortati knew, the camerlegno would never become Pope in his elder years. Attaining the papacy required a certain amount of political ambition, something the young camerlegno apparently lacked; he had refused his Pope's offers for higher clerical stations many times, saying he preferred to serve the church as a simple man. â€Å"What next?† The cardinal tapped Mortati, waiting. Mortati looked up. â€Å"I'm sorry?† â€Å"They're late! What shall we do?† â€Å"What can we do?† Mortati replied. â€Å"We wait. And have faith.† Looking entirely unsatisfied with Mortati's response, the cardinal shrunk back into the shadows. Mortati stood a moment, dabbing his temples and trying to clear his mind. Indeed, what shall we do? He gazed past the altar up to Michelangelo's renowned fresco, â€Å"The Last Judgment.† The painting did nothing to soothe his anxiety. It was a horrifying, fifty-foot-tall depiction of Jesus Christ separating mankind into the righteous and sinners, casting the sinners into hell. There was flayed flesh, burning bodies, and even one of Michelangelo's rivals sitting in hell wearing ass's ears. Guy de Maupassant had once written that the painting looked like something painted for a carnival wrestling booth by an ignorant coal heaver. Cardinal Mortati had to agree. 43 Langdon stood motionless at the Pope's bulletproof window and gazed down at the bustle of media trailers in St. Peter's Square. The eerie phone conversation had left him feeling turgid†¦ distended somehow. Not himself. The Illuminati, like a serpent from the forgotten depths of history, had risen and wrapped themselves around an ancient foe. No demands. No negotiation. Just retribution. Demonically simple. Squeezing. A revenge 400 years in the making. It seemed that after centuries of persecution, science had bitten back. The camerlegno stood at his desk, staring blankly at the phone. Olivetti was the first to break the silence. â€Å"Carlo,† he said, using the camerlegno's first name and sounding more like a weary friend than an officer. â€Å"For twenty-six years, I have sworn my life to the protection of this office. It seems tonight I am dishonored.† The camerlegno shook his head. â€Å"You and I serve God in different capacities, but service always brings honor.† â€Å"These events†¦ I can't imagine how†¦ this situation†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Olivetti looked overwhelmed. â€Å"You realize we have only one possible course of action. I have a responsibility for the safety of the College of Cardinals.† â€Å"I fear that responsibility was mine, signore.† â€Å"Then your men will oversee the immediate evacuation.† â€Å"Signore?† â€Å"Other options can be exercised later – a search for this device, a manhunt for the missing cardinals and their captors. But first the cardinals must be taken to safety. The sanctity of human life weighs above all. Those men are the foundation of this church.† â€Å"You suggest we cancel conclave right now?† â€Å"Do I have a choice?† â€Å"What about your charge to bring a new Pope?† The young chamberlain sighed and turned to the window, his eyes drifting out onto the sprawl of Rome below. â€Å"His Holiness once told me that a Pope is a man torn between two worlds†¦ the real world and the divine. He warned that any church that ignored reality would not survive to enjoy the divine.† His voice sounded suddenly wise for its years. â€Å"The real world is upon us tonight. We would be vain to ignore it. Pride and precedent cannot overshadow reason.† Olivetti nodded, looking impressed. â€Å"I have underestimated you, signore.† The camerlegno did not seem to hear. His gaze was distant on the window. â€Å"I will speak openly, signore. The real world is my world. I immerse myself in its ugliness every day such that others are unencumbered to seek something more pure. Let me advise you on the present situation. It is what I am trained for. Your instincts, though worthy†¦ could be disastrous.† The camerlegno turned. Olivetti sighed. â€Å"The evacuation of the College of Cardinals from the Sistine Chapel is the worst possible thing you could do right now.† The camerlegno did not look indignant, only at a loss. â€Å"What do you suggest?† â€Å"Say nothing to the cardinals. Seal conclave. It will buy us time to try other options.† The camerlegno looked troubled. â€Å"Are you suggesting I lock the entire College of Cardinals on top of a time bomb?† â€Å"Yes, signore. For now. Later, if need be, we can arrange evacuation.† The camerlegno shook his head. â€Å"Postponing the ceremony before it starts is grounds alone for an inquiry, but after the doors are sealed nothing intervenes. Conclave procedure obligates – â€Å" â€Å"Real world, signore. You're in it tonight. Listen closely.† Olivetti spoke now with the efficient rattle of a field officer. â€Å"Marching one hundred sixty-five cardinals unprepared and unprotected into Rome would be reckless. It would cause confusion and panic in some very old men, and frankly, one fatal stroke this month is enough.† One fatal stroke. The commander's words recalled the headlines Langdon had read over dinner with some students in the Harvard Commons: Pope suffers stroke. Dies in sleep. â€Å"In addition,† Olivetti said, â€Å"the Sistine Chapel is a fortress. Although we don't advertise the fact, the structure is heavily reinforced and can repel any attack short of missiles. As preparation we searched every inch of the chapel this afternoon, scanning for bugs and other surveillance equipment. The chapel is clean, a safe haven, and I am confident the antimatter is not inside. There is no safer place those men can be right now. We can always discuss emergency evacuation later if it comes to that.† Langdon was impressed. Olivetti's cold, smart logic reminded him of Kohler. â€Å"Commander,† Vittoria said, her voice tense, â€Å"there are other concerns. Nobody has ever created this much antimatter. The blast radius, I can only estimate. Some of surrounding Rome may be in danger. If the canister is in one of your central buildings or underground, the effect outside these walls may be minimal, but if the canister is near the perimeter†¦ in this building for example†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She glanced warily out the window at the crowd in St. Peter's Square. â€Å"I am well aware of my responsibilities to the outside world,† Olivetti replied, â€Å"and it makes this situation no more grave. The protection of this sanctuary has been my sole charge for over two decades. I have no intention of allowing this weapon to detonate.† Camerlegno Ventresca looked up. â€Å"You think you can find it?† â€Å"Let me discuss our options with some of my surveillance specialists. There is a possibility, if we kill power to Vatican City, that we can eliminate the background RF and create a clean enough environment to get a reading on that canister's magnetic field.† Vittoria looked surprised, and then impressed. â€Å"You want to black out Vatican City?† â€Å"Possibly. I don't yet know if it's possible, but it is one option I want to explore.† â€Å"The cardinals would certainly wonder what happened,† Vittoria remarked. Olivetti shook his head. â€Å"Conclaves are held by candlelight. The cardinals would never know. After conclave is sealed, I could pull all except a few of my perimeter guards and begin a search. A hundred men could cover a lot of ground in five hours.† â€Å"Four hours,† Vittoria corrected. â€Å"I need to fly the canister back to CERN. Detonation is unavoidable without recharging the batteries.† â€Å"There's no way to recharge here?† Vittoria shook her head. â€Å"The interface is complex. I'd have brought it if I could.† â€Å"Four hours then,† Olivetti said, frowning. â€Å"Still time enough. Panic serves no one. Signore, you have ten minutes. Go to the chapel, seal conclave. Give my men some time to do their job. As we get closer to the critical hour, we will make the critical decisions.† Langdon wondered how close to â€Å"the critical hour† Olivetti would let things get. The camerlegno looked troubled. â€Å"But the college will ask about the preferiti†¦ especially about Baggia†¦ where they are.† â€Å"Then you will have to think of something, signore. Tell them you served the four cardinals something at tea that disagreed with them.† The camerlegno looked riled. â€Å"Stand on the altar of the Sistine Chapel and lie to the College of Cardinals?† â€Å"For their own safety. Una bugia veniale. A white lie. Your job will be to keep the peace.† Olivetti headed for the door. â€Å"Now if you will excuse me, I need to get started.† â€Å"Comandante,† the camerlegno urged, â€Å"we cannot simply turn our backs on missing cardinals.† Olivetti stopped in the doorway. â€Å"Baggia and the others are currently outside our sphere of influence. We must let them go†¦ for the good of the whole. The military calls it triage.† â€Å"Don't you mean abandonment?† His voice hardened. â€Å"If there were any way, signore†¦ any way in heaven to locate those four cardinals, I would lay down my life to do it. And yet†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He pointed across the room at the window where the early evening sun glinted off an endless sea of Roman rooftops. â€Å"Searching a city of five million is not within my power. I will not waste precious time to appease my conscience in a futile exercise. I'm sorry.† Vittoria spoke suddenly. â€Å"But if we caught the killer, couldn't you make him talk?† Olivetti frowned at her. â€Å"Soldiers cannot afford to be saints, Ms. Vetra. Believe me, I empathize with your personal incentive to catch this man.† â€Å"It's not only personal,† she said. â€Å"The killer knows where the antimatter is†¦ and the missing cardinals. If we could somehow find him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Play into their hands?† Olivetti said. â€Å"Believe me, removing all protection from Vatican City in order to stake out hundreds of churches is what the Illuminati hope we will do†¦ wasting precious time and manpower when we should be searching†¦ or worse yet, leaving the Vatican Bank totally unprotected. Not to mention the remaining cardinals.† The point hit home. â€Å"How about the Roman Police?† the camerlegno asked. â€Å"We could alert citywide enforcement of the crisis. Enlist their help in finding the cardinals' captor.† â€Å"Another mistake,† Olivetti said. â€Å"You know how the Roman Carbonieri feel about us. We'd get a half-hearted effort of a few men in exchange for their selling our crisis to the global media. Exactly what our enemies want. We'll have to deal with the media soon enough as it is.† I will make your cardinals media luminaries, Langdon thought, recalling the killer's words. The first cardinal's body appears at eight o'clock. Then one every hour. The press will love it. The camerlegno was talking again, a trace of anger in his voice. â€Å"Commander, we cannot in good conscience do nothing about the missing cardinals!† Olivetti looked the camerlegno dead in the eye. â€Å"The prayer of St. Francis, signore. Do you recall it?† The young priest spoke the single line with pain in his voice. â€Å"God, grant me strength to accept those things I cannot change.† â€Å"Trust me,† Olivetti said. â€Å"This is one of those things.† Then he was gone. 44 The central office of the British Broadcast Corporation (BBC) is in London just west of Piccadilly Circus. The switchboard phone rang, and a junior content editor picked up. â€Å"BBC,† she said, stubbing out her Dunhill cigarette. The voice on the line was raspy, with a Mid-East accent. â€Å"I have a breaking story your network might be interested in.† The editor took out a pen and a standard Lead Sheet. â€Å"Regarding?† â€Å"The papal election.† She frowned wearily. The BBC had run a preliminary story yesterday to mediocre response. The public, it seemed, had little interest in Vatican City. â€Å"What's the angle?† â€Å"Do you have a TV reporter in Rome covering the election?† â€Å"I believe so.† â€Å"I need to speak to him directly.† â€Å"I'm sorry, but I cannot give you that number without some idea – â€Å" â€Å"There is a threat to the conclave. That is all I can tell you.† The editor took notes. â€Å"Your name?† â€Å"My name is immaterial.† The editor was not surprised. â€Å"And you have proof of this claim?† â€Å"I do.† â€Å"I would be happy to take the information, but it is not our policy to give out our reporters' numbers unless – â€Å" â€Å"I understand. I will call another network. Thank you for your time. Good-b – â€Å" â€Å"Just a moment,† she said. â€Å"Can you hold?† The editor put the caller on hold and stretched her neck. The art of screening out potential crank calls was by no means a perfect science, but this caller had just passed the BBC's two tacit tests for authenticity of a phone source. He had refused to give his name, and he was eager to get off the phone. Hacks and glory hounds usually whined and pleaded. Fortunately for her, reporters lived in eternal fear of missing the big story, so they seldom chastised her for passing along the occasional delusional psychotic. Wasting five minutes of a reporter's time was forgivable. Missing a headline was not. Yawning, she looked at her computer and typed in the keywords â€Å"Vatican City.† When she saw the name of the field reporter covering the papal election, she chuckled to herself. He was a new guy the BBC had just brought up from some trashy London tabloid to handle some of the BBC's more mundane coverage. Editorial had obviously started him at the bottom rung. He was probably bored out of his mind, waiting all night to record his live ten-second video spot. He would most likely be grateful for a break in the monotony. The BBC content editor copied down the reporter's satellite extension in Vatican City. Then, lighting another cigarette, she gave the anonymous caller the reporter's number. 45 â€Å"It won't work,† Vittoria said, pacing the Pope's office. She looked up at the camerlegno. â€Å"Even if a Swiss Guard team can filter electronic interference, they will have to be practically on top of the canister before they detect any signal. And that's if the canister is even accessible†¦ unenclosed by other barriers. What if it's buried in a metal box somewhere on your grounds? Or up in a metal ventilating duct. There's no way they'll trace it. And what if the Swiss Guards have been infiltrated? Who's to say the search will be clean?† The camerlegno looked drained. â€Å"What are you proposing, Ms. Vetra?† Vittoria felt flustered. Isn't it obvious? â€Å"I am proposing, sir, that you take other precautions immediately. We can hope against all hope that the commander's search is successful. At the same time, look out the window. Do you see those people? Those buildings across the piazza? Those media vans? The tourists? They are quite possibly within range of the blast. You need to act now.† The camerlegno nodded vacantly. Vittoria felt frustrated. Olivetti had convinced everyone there was plenty of time. But Vittoria knew if news of the Vatican predicament leaked out, the entire area could fill with onlookers in a matter of minutes. She had seen it once outside the Swiss Parliament building. During a hostage situation involving a bomb, thousands had congregated outside the building to witness the outcome. Despite police warnings that they were in danger, the crowd packed in closer and closer. Nothing captured human interest like human tragedy. â€Å"Signore,† Vittoria urged, â€Å"the man who killed my father is out there somewhere. Every cell in this body wants to run from here and hunt him down. But I am standing in your office†¦ because I have a responsibility to you. To you and others. Lives are in danger, signore. Do you hear me?† The camerlegno did not answer. Vittoria could hear her own heart racing. Why couldn't the Swiss Guard trace that damn caller? The Illuminati assassin is the key! He knows where the antimatter is†¦ hell, he knows where the cardinals are! Catch the killer, and everything is solved. Vittoria sensed she was starting to come unhinged, an alien distress she recalled only faintly from childhood, the orphanage years, frustration with no tools to handle it. You have tools, she told herself, you always have tools. But it was no use. Her thoughts intruded, strangling her. She was a researcher and problem solver. But this was a problem with no solution. What data do you require? What do you want? She told herself to breathe deeply, but for the first time in her life, she could not. She was suffocating. Langdon's head ached, and he felt like he was skirting the edges of rationality. He watched Vittoria and the camerlegno, but his vision was blurred by hideous images: explosions, press swarming, cameras rolling, four branded humans. Shaitan†¦ Lucifer†¦ Bringer of light†¦ Satan†¦ He shook the fiendish images from his mind. Calculated terrorism, he reminded himself, grasping at reality. Planned chaos. He thought back to a Radcliffe seminar he had once audited while researching praetorian symbolism. He had never seen terrorists the same way since. â€Å"Terrorism,† the professor had lectured, â€Å"has a singular goal. What is it?† â€Å"Killing innocent people?† a student ventured. â€Å"Incorrect. Death is only a byproduct of terrorism.† â€Å"A show of strength?† â€Å"No. A weaker persuasion does not exist.† â€Å"To cause terror?† â€Å"Concisely put. Quite simply, the goal of terrorism is to create terror and fear. Fear undermines faith in the establishment. It weakens the enemy from within†¦ causing unrest in the masses. Write this down. Terrorism is not an expression of rage. Terrorism is a political weapon. Remove a government's faà §ade of infallibility, and you remove its people's faith.† Loss of faith†¦ Is that what this was all about? Langdon wondered how Christians of the world would react to cardinals being laid out like mutilated dogs. If the faith of a canonized priest did not protect him from the evils of Satan, what hope was there for the rest of us? Langdon's head was pounding louder now†¦ tiny voices playing tug of war. Faith does not protect you. Medicine and airbags†¦ those are things that protect you. God does not protect you. Intelligence protects you. Enlightenment. Put your faith in something with tangible results. How long has it been since someone walked on water? Modern miracles belong to science†¦ computers, vaccines, space stations†¦ even the divine miracle of creation. Matter from nothing†¦ in a lab. Who needs God? No! Science is God. The killer's voice resonated in Langdon's mind. Midnight†¦ mathematical progression of death†¦ sacrifici vergini nell' altare di scienza.† Then suddenly, like a crowd dispersed by a single gunshot, the voices were gone. Robert Langdon bolted to his feet. His chair fell backward and crashed on the marble floor. Vittoria and the camerlegno jumped. â€Å"I missed it,† Langdon whispered, spellbound. â€Å"It was right in front of me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Missed what?† Vittoria demanded. Langdon turned to the priest. â€Å"Father, for three years I have petitioned this office for access to the Vatican Archives. I have been denied seven times.† â€Å"Mr. Langdon, I am sorry, but this hardly seems the moment to raise such complaints.† â€Å"I need access immediately. The four missing cardinals. I may be able to figure out where they're going to be killed.† Vittoria stared, looking certain she had misunderstood. The camerlegno looked troubled, as if he were the brunt of a cruel joke. â€Å"You expect me to believe this information is in our archives?† â€Å"I can't promise I can locate it in time, but if you let me in†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Mr. Langdon, I am due in the Sistine Chapel in four minutes. The archives are across Vatican City.† â€Å"You're serious aren't you?† Vittoria interrupted, staring deep into Langdon's eyes, seeming to sense his earnestness. â€Å"Hardly a joking time,† Langdon said. â€Å"Father,† Vittoria said, turning to the camerlegno, â€Å"if there's a chance†¦ any at all of finding where these killings are going to happen, we could stake out the locations and – â€Å" â€Å"But the archives?† the camerlegno insisted. â€Å"How could they possibly contain any clue?† â€Å"Explaining it,† Langdon said, â€Å"will take longer than you've got. But if I'm right, we can use the information to catch the Hassassin.† The camerlegno looked as though he wanted to believe but somehow could not. â€Å"Christianity's most sacred codices are in that archive. Treasures I myself am not privileged enough to see.† â€Å"I am aware of that.† â€Å"Access is permitted only by written decree of the curator and the Board of Vatican Librarians.† â€Å"Or,† Langdon declared, â€Å"by papal mandate. It says so in every rejection letter your curator ever sent me.† The camerlegno nodded. â€Å"Not to be rude,† Langdon urged, â€Å"but if I'm not mistaken a papal mandate comes from this office. As far as I can tell, tonight you hold the trust of his station. Considering the circumstances†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The camerlegno pulled a pocket watch from his cassock and looked at it. â€Å"Mr. Langdon, I am prepared to give my life tonight, quite literally, to save this church.† Langdon sensed nothing but truth in the man's eyes. â€Å"This document,† the camerlegno said, â€Å"do you truly believe it is here? And that it can help us locate these four churches?† â€Å"I would not have made countless solicitations for access if I were not convinced. Italy is a bit far to come on a lark when you make a teacher's salary. The document you have is an ancient – â€Å" â€Å"Please,† the camerlegno interrupted. â€Å"Forgive me. My mind cannot process any more details at the moment. Do you know where the secret archives are located?† Langdon felt a rush of excitement. â€Å"Just behind the Santa Ana Gate.† â€Å"Impressive. Most scholars believe it is through the secret door behind St. Peter's Throne.† â€Å"No. That would be the Archivio della Reverenda di Fabbrica di S. Pietro. A common misconception.† â€Å"A librarian docent accompanies every entrant at all times. Tonight, the docents are gone. What you are requesting is carte blanche access. Not even our cardinals enter alone.† â€Å"I will treat your treasures with the utmost respect and care. Your librarians will find not a trace that I was there.† Overhead the bells of St. Peter's began to toll. The camerlegno checked his pocket watch. â€Å"I must go.† He paused a taut moment and looked up at Langdon. â€Å"I will have a Swiss Guard meet you at the archives. I am giving you my trust, Mr. Langdon. Go now.† Langdon was speechless. The young priest now seemed to possess an eerie poise. Reaching over, he squeezed Langdon's shoulder with surprising strength. â€Å"I want you to find what you are looking for. And find it quickly.†