Quality Engineering And Management Systems Education Essay

SamplingA is that portion ofA statisticalA pattern concerned with the choice of an indifferent orA randomA subset of single observations within a population of persons intended to give some cognition about theA populationA of concern, particularly for the intents of doing anticipations based onA statistical illation. Sampling is an of import facet ofA informations collection.AL The three chief advantages of trying are that the cost is lower, informations aggregation is faster, and since the information set is smaller it is possible to guarantee homogeneousness and to better the truth and quality of the informations. EachA observationA mensurate one or more belongingss ( such as weight, location, colour ) of discernible organic structures distinguished as independent objects or persons. InA study sampling, study weights can be applied to the informations to set for theA sample design. Results fromA chance theoryA andA statistical theoryA are employed to steer pattern. Stipulating aA trying frame, aA setA of points or events possible to mensurate Stipulating aA trying methodA for choosing points or events from the frame Successful statistical pattern is based on focussed job definition. In trying, this includes specifying theA populationA from which our sample is drawn. A population can be defined as including all people or points with the characteristic one want to understand. Because there is really seldom adequate clip or money to garner information from everyone or everything in a population, the end becomes happening a representative sample ( or subset ) of that population. Although the population of involvement frequently consists of physical objects, sometimes we need to try over clip, infinite, or some combination of these dimensions. For case, an probe of supermarket staffing could analyze check-out procedure line length at assorted times, or a survey on endangered penguins might take to understand their use of assorted runing evidences over clip. For the clip dimension, the focal point may be on periods or distinct occasions.Sampling frameIn the most straightforward instance, such as the sentencing of a batch of stuff from production ( credence sampling by tonss ) , it is possible to place and mensurate every individual point in the population and to include any one of them in our sample. However, in the more general instance this is non possible. There is no manner to place all rats in the set of all rats. Not all frames explicitly list population elements. For illustration, a street map can be used as a frame for a door-to-door study ; although i t does n't demo single houses, we can choose streets from the map and so see all houses on those streets. The sampling frame must be representative of the population and this is a inquiry outside the range of statistical theory demanding the judgement of experts in the peculiar capable affair being studied. All the above frames omit some people who will vote at the following election and incorporate some people who will non ; some frames will incorporate multiple records for the same individual. Peoples non in the frame have no chance of being sampled. Statistical theory Tells us about the uncertainnesss in generalizing from a sample to the frame. In generalizing from frame to population, its function is motivational and implicative. A frame may besides supply extra ‘auxiliary information ‘ about its elements ; when this information is related to variables or groups of involvement, it may be used to better study design.Probability and non chance tryingAA chance samplingA strategy is one in which every unit in the population has a opportunity ( greater than zero ) of being selected in the sample, and this chance can be accurately determined. The combination of these traits makes it possible to bring forth indifferent estimations of population sums, by burdening sampled units harmonizing to their chance of choice. Probability trying includes: Simple Random Sampling, Systematic Sampling, and Stratified Sampling, Probability Proportional to Size Sampling, and Cluster or Multistage Sampling. These assorted ways of chance trying have two things in common: Every component has a known nonzero chance of being sampled and Involves random choice at some point. Nonprobability samplingA is any trying method where some elements of the population haveA noA opportunity of choice, or where the chance of choice ca n't be accurately determined. It involves the choice of elements based on premises sing the population of involvement, which forms the standard for choice. Hence, because the choice of elements is nonrandom, nonprobability sampling does non let the appraisal of trying mistakes. These conditions place bounds on how much information a sample can supply about the population. Information about the relationship between sample and population is limited, doing it hard to generalize from the sample to the population. Nonprobability Sampling includes: A Accidental Sampling, A Quota SamplingA andA Purposive Sampling. In add-on, nonresponse effects may turnA anyA chance design into a nonprobability design if the features of nonresponse are non good understood, since nonresponse efficaciously modifies each component ‘s chance of being sampled.Sampling methodsWithin any of the types of frame identified above, a assortment of trying methods can be employed, separately or in combination. Factors normally act uponing the pick between these designs include: Nature and quality of the frame Handiness of subsidiary information about units on the frame Accuracy demands, and the demand to mensurate truth Whether detailed analysis of the sample is expected Cost/operational concernsSimple random tryingIn aA simple random sampleA ( ‘SRS ‘ ) of a given size, all such subsets of the frame are given an equal chance. Each component of the frame therefore has an equal chance of choice: the frame is non subdivided or partitioned. Furthermore, any givenA pairA of elements has the same opportunity of choice as any other such brace ( and likewise for three-base hits, and so on ) . This minimises prejudice and simplifies analysis of consequences. In peculiar, the discrepancy between single consequences within the sample is a good index of discrepancy in the overall population, which makes it comparatively easy to gauge the truth of consequences. However, SRS can be vulnerable to trying mistake because the entropy of the choice may ensue in a sample that does n't reflect the make-up of the population. For case, a simple random sample of 10 people from a given state willA on averageA produce five work forces and five adult females, but any given test is likely to overrepresent one sex and underrepresent the other.A SRS may besides be cumbrous and boring when trying from an remarkably big mark population. In some instances, research workers are interested in research inquiries specific to subgroups of the population. For illustration, research workers might be interested in analyzing whether cognitive ability as a forecaster of occupation public presentation is every bit applicable across racial groups. SRS can non suit the demands of research workers in this state of affairs because it does non supply subsamples of the population.Systematic samplingSystematic samplingA relies on set uping the mark population harmonizing to some telling strategy and so choosing elements at regular intervals through that ordered list. Systematic trying involves a random start and so returns with the choice of everyA kth component from so onwards. In this instance, A k= ( population size/sample size ) . It is of import that the starting point is non automatically the first in the list, but is alternatively indiscr iminately chosen from within the first to theA kth component in the list. Equally long as the get downing point isA randomized, systematic sampling is a type ofA chance trying. It is easy to implement and theA stratificationA induced can do it efficient, A ifA the variable by which the list is ordered is correlated with the variable of involvement. However, systematic sampling is particularly vulnerable to cyclicities in the list. If cyclicity is present and the period is a multiple or factor of the interval used, the sample is particularly likely to beA unrepresentative of the overall population, doing the strategy less accurate than simple random sampling. Another drawback of systematic sampling is that even in scenarios where it is more accurate than SRS, its theoretical belongingss make it hard toA quantifyA that truth. Systematic sampling is an EPS method, because all elements have the same chance of choice.Stratified samplingWhere the population embraces a figure of distinguishable classs, the frame can be organized by these classs into separate â€Å" strata. † Each stratum is so sampled as an independent sub-population, out of which single elements can be indiscriminately selected. There are several possible benefits to stratified sampling. First, spliting the population into distinguishable, independent strata can enable research workers to pull illations about specific subgroups that may be lost in a more generalised random sample. Second, using a graded sampling method can take to more efficient statistical estimations ( provided that strata are selected based upon relevancy to the standard in inquiry, alternatively of handiness of the samples ) . Even if a graded sampling attack does non take to increased statistical efficiency, such a maneuver will non ensue in less efficiency than would simple random sampling, provided that each stratum is relative to the group ‘s size in the population. Third, it is sometimes the instance that informations are more readily available for single, preexistent strata within a population than for the overall population ; in such instances, utilizing a graded sampling attack may be more convenient than aggregating informations across groups ( though this may potentially be at odds with the antecedently noted importance of using criterion-relevant strata ) . Finally, since each stratum is treated as an independent population, different trying attacks can be applied to different strata, potentially enabling research workers to utilize the attack best suited ( or most cost-efficient ) for each identified subgroup within the population.A graded sampling attack is most effectual when three conditions are metVariability within strata are minimized Variability between strata are maximized The variables upon which the population is stratified are strongly correlated with the coveted dependant variable.Advantages over other trying methodsFocuss on of import subpopulations and ignores irrelevant 1s. Allows usage of different trying techniques for different subpopulations. Improves the accuracy/efficiency of appraisal. Licenses greater reconciliation of statistical power of trials of differences between strata by trying equal Numberss from strata changing widely in size.DisadvantagesRequires choice of relevant stratification variables which can be hard. Is non utile when there are no homogenous subgroups. Can be expensive to implement.Probability proportional to size samplingIn some instances the sample interior decorator has entree to an â€Å" subsidiary variable † or â€Å" size step † , believed to be correlated to the variable of involvement, for each component in the population. This information can be used to better truth in sample design. One option is to utilize the subsidiary variable as a footing for stratification, as discussed above. Another option is probability-proportional-to-size ( ‘PPS ‘ ) sampling, in which the choice chance for each component is set to be relative to its size step, up to a upper limit of 1. In a simple PPS design, these choice chances can so be used as the footing forA Poisson sampling. However, this has the drawbacks of variable sample size, and different parts of the population may still be over- or under-represented due to opportunity fluctuation in choices. To turn to this job, PPS may be combined with a systematic attack. The PPS attack can better truth for a given sample size by concentrating sample on big elements that have the greatest impact on population estimations. PPS sampling is normally used for studies of concerns, where component size varies greatly and subsidiary information is frequently available – for case, a study trying to mensurate the figure of guest-nights spent in hotels might utilize each hotel ‘s figure of suites as an subsidiary variable. In some instances, an older measuring of the variable of involvement can be used as an subsidiary variable when trying to bring forth more current estimations.Bunch tryingSometimes it is cheaper to ‘cluster ‘ the sample in some manner e.g. by choosing respondents from certain countries merely, or certain time-periods merely. ( About all samples are in some sense ‘clustered ‘ in clip – although this is seldom taken into history in the analysis. ) Cluster samplingA is an illustration of ‘two-stage trying ‘ or ‘multistage trying ‘ : in the first phase a sample of countries is chosen ; in the 2nd phase a sample of respondentsA withinA those countries is selected. This can cut down travel and other administrative costs. It besides means that one does non necessitate aA trying frameA naming all elements in the mark population. Alternatively, bunchs can be chosen from a cluster-level frame, with an element-level frame created merely for the selected bunchs. Cluster trying by and large increases the variableness of sample estimations above that of simple random sampling, depending on how the bunchs differ between themselves, as compared with the within-cluster fluctuation. However, some of the disadvantages of bunch trying are the trust of sample estimation preciseness on the existent bunchs chosen. If bunchs chosen are biased in a certain manner, illations drawn about population parametric quantities from these sample estimations will be far off from being accurate.Matched random tryingA method of delegating participants to groups in which brace of participants are foremost matched on some characteristic and so separately assigned indiscriminately to groups. The process for matched random sampling can be briefed with the following contexts, Two samples in which the members are clearly paired, or are matched explicitly by the research worker. For illustration, IQ measurings or braces of indistinguishable twins. Those samples in which the same property, or variable, is measured twice on each topic, under different fortunes. Normally called perennial steps. Examples include the times of a group of jocks for 1500m before and after a hebdomad of particular preparation ; the milk outputs of cattles before and after being fed a peculiar diet.Quota tryingInA quota sampling, the population is foremost segmented intoA reciprocally exclusiveA sub-groups, merely as inA stratified trying. Then judgement is used to choose the topics or units from each section based on a specified proportion. For illustration, an interviewer may be told to try 200 females and 300 males between the age of 45 and 60. It is this 2nd measure which makes the technique one of non-probability sampling. In quota trying the choice of the sample is non-random. For illustration interviewers might be tempted to interview those who look most helpful. The job is that these samples may be biased because non everyone gets a opportunity of choice. This random component is its greatest failing and quota versus chance has been a affair of contention for many old agesConvenience samplingConvenience samplingA is a type of nonprobability trying which involves the sample being drawn from that portion of the population which is close to manus. That is, a sample population selected because it is readily available and convenient. The research worker utilizing such a sample can non scientifically do generalisations about the entire population from this sample because it would non be representative plenty. For illustration, if the interviewer was to carry on such a study at a shopping centre early in the forenoon on a giv en twenty-four hours, the people that he/she could interview would be limited to those given there at that given clip, which would non stand for the positions of other members of society in such an country, if the study was to be conducted at different times of twenty-four hours and several times per hebdomad. This type of trying is most utile for pilot proving. Several of import considerations for research workers utilizing convenience samples include: Are there controls within the research design or experiment which can function to decrease the impact of a non-random, convenience sample whereby guaranting the consequences will be more representative of the population? Is at that place good ground to believe that a peculiar convenience sample would or should react or act otherwise than a random sample from the same population? Is the inquiry being asked by the research 1 that can adequately be answered utilizing a convenience sample?Panel samplingPanel samplingA is the method of first choosing a group of participants through a random trying method and so inquiring that group for the same information once more several times over a period of clip. Therefore, each participant is given the same study or interview at two or more clip points ; each period of informations aggregation is called a â€Å" moving ridge † . This trying methodological analysis is frequently chosen for big graduated table or nation-wide surveies in order to estimate alterations in the population with respect to any figure of variables from chronic unwellness to occupation emphasis to weekly nutrient outgos. Panel sampling can besides be used to inform research workers about within-person wellness alterations due to age or aid explicate alterations in uninterrupted dependent variables such as bridal interaction. There have been se veral proposed methods of analysing panel sample informations, including MANOVA, growing curves, and structural equation patterning with lagged effects.Replacement of selected unitsSampling strategies may beA without replacementA orA with replacing. For illustration, if we catch fish, mensurate them, and instantly return them to the H2O before go oning with the sample, this is a WR design, because we might stop up catching and mensurating the same fish more than one time. However, if we do non return the fish to the H2O ( e.g. if we eat the fish ) , this becomes a WOR design.FormulasWhere the frame and population are indistinguishable, statistical theory outputs exact recommendations onA sample size. However, where it is non straightforward to specify a frame representative of the population, it is more of import to understand theA cause systemA of which the population are results and to guarantee that all beginnings of fluctuation are embraced in the frame. Large Numberss of observ ations are of no value if major beginnings of fluctuation are neglected in the survey. In other words, it is taking a sample group that matches the study class and is easy to study. Research Information Technology, Learning, and Performance JournalA that provides an account of Cochran ‘s expression. A treatment and illustration of sample size expressions, including the expression for seting the sample size for smaller populations, is included. A tabular array is provided that can be used to choose the sample size for a research job based on three alpha degrees and a set mistake rate.Stairss for utilizing sample size tabular arraiesContend the consequence size of involvement, I ± , and I? . Check sample size tabular array Choose the tabular array matching to the selected I ± Locate the row matching to the coveted power Locate the column matching to the estimated consequence size The intersection of the column and row is the minimal sample size required.Sampling and informations aggregationGood informations aggregation involves: Following the defined sampling procedure Keeping the information in clip order Noting remarks and other contextual events Recording non-responses Most sampling books and documents written by non-statisticians focused merely in the informations aggregation facet, which is merely a little though of import portion of the sampling procedure.Mistakes in researchThere are ever mistakes in a research. By trying, the entire mistakes can be classified into trying mistakes and non-sampling mistakes.Sampling mistakeSampling mistakes are caused by trying design. It includes: ( 1 ) A Selection mistake: Incorrect choice chances are used. ( 2 ) A Estimation mistake: Biased parametric quantity estimation because of the elements in these samples.Non-sampling mistakeNon-sampling mistakes are caused by the errors in informations processing. It includes: ( 1 ) A Overcoverage: Inclusion of informations from exterior of the population. ( 2 ) A Undercoverage: Sampling frame does non include elements in the population. ( 3 ) A Measurement mistake: The respondents misunderstand the inquiry. ( 4 ) A Processing mistake: Mistakes in informations cryptography. In many state of affairss the sample fraction may be varied by stratum and informations will hold to be weighted to right stand for the population. Thus for illustration, a simple random sample of persons in the United Kingdom might include some in distant Scots islands who would be extraordinarily expensive to try. A cheaper method would be to utilize a graded sample with urban and rural strata. The rural sample could be under-represented in the sample, but weighted up suitably in the analysis to counterbalance. More by and large, informations should normally be weighted if the sample design does non give each person an equal opportunity of being selected. For case, when families have equal choice chances but one individual is interviewed from within each family, this gives people from big families a smaller opportunity of being interviewed. This can be accounted for utilizing study weights. Similarly, families with more than one telephone line have a greater opportunity of being selected in a random figure dialing sample, and weights can set for this.

The DIM Lighting Co. Case Analysis Form Essay

I. Problems: Macro: 1. The DIM Lighting Co. has had a decline of 15% in profit margins over the past year. 2. This subsidiary is part of a large corporation and operates as a profit center. 3. The company wants to stay competitive and profitable in today’s economy. New technologies are being developed by the competitors. Micro: 1. The proposed research project is considered â€Å"high risk† by members of management. Corporate is supportive of the idea but not ready to commit to the amount of money needed. 2. The initial investment for the â€Å"Light of the Future† is $1.2 million per year for the next two years with an additional $500,000 to begin production. 3. Money is needed for new equipment for current product which has an immediate payback. 4. Management is not confident in the financial figures provided by the accounting department. 5. The company needs to stay competitive while keeping up with current production. II. Causes 1. The company has had a 15% decline in profit margins over the past year. 2. The company is trying to develop new products while keeping up with current production. 3. The new â€Å"Light of the Future† is considered a risky investment and management is worried about the amount of money needed to develop new product. 4. The company is also concerned on the amount of time required before payback on new product is feasible. 5. The management team is not confident in the financial figures presented at the meeting. III. Alternatives 1. The management team needs to feel confident in the financial numbers presented by accounting. Without the confidence, an accurate decision cannot be made. Accounting needs to review and resubmit numbers to management team. 2. Also company needs total support and capital from corporate. A feasibility review of the project and its financial investment  is needed before proceeding. 3. Research and Development may need to look at other potential projects that will have the same profitability but requires smaller investment and quicker payback period. IV. Recommendations 1. Review current financial records to gain confidence in numbers. 2. Review by R&D to see if any reductions can be made without sacrificing product quality and profitability. 3. R&D to research additional potential products for future production. 4. Insure that current production is meeting current customer requirements. Also look for cost savings in current production to offset 15% decline. 5. Once these items are completed, decision made and presented to corporate for support and capital for investment.

Quality Managment and Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Quality Managment and Control - Essay Example How the company implemented quality management In fact, the company, at first, tried to analyze how its customers evaluate their products. To the utter surprise of the company, the customers were only partially satisfied. As illustrated in Champman and Hall (1991, p. 160), when the company probed further into the issue, it was found that there were problems regarding packaging, installation, labeling, and integration with other products; and these findings created a wave of shock in the company, and as a result, various strategies were developed in the plant. At first, the company set up a steering committee that consisted of all the senior management. As a part of it, a strategy was set up by the company that was to be implemented from below was started. This strategy clearly identified what each employee had to do to achieve the company goals. As a part of it, the company introduced ‘Just-in-time’, a strategy for quality management, was introduced in the year 1984 (ibi d). It started with providing education to all the employees. Once they found the program effective among the employees, it was spread to the IBM suppliers. As a part of it, senior managements of supplier chains were provided extensive classes. It was followed by supplier certification program which is based on BS5750 that covered everything ranging from process qualification, project management and statistical techniques (ibid). Following this, in 1985, the company introduced the techniques known as ‘process quality management’ and ‘departmental purpose analysis’ (DPA) (ibid). DPA aimed at finding and eliminating the non-value-added services conducted by a department. From the analysis, it became evident that some... This paper approves that the company views itself as a knowledge company and hence skills and knowledge are very vital for the company. So, the quality control of the company starts from the moment it decides to select employees. According to the company, a global supply chain with thousands of partners faces increased risks of waste, inefficiency, environment impact, and cost. So, it becomes necessary to continuously improve business performance and sustainability and this should reach the supply chains. The inability in this step can lead to higher use of energy, and other natural resources resulting in severe environmental damage. In addition, there will be problems like poor quality products and services, safety concerns, and poor labor practices. This will result in the detachment of stakeholders like customers, shareholders, partners and employees. IBM has developed extensive guidelines ensuring quality in its supplier operations. This essay makes a conclusion that in total, it becomes evident that the company introduced quality management and control measures as early as 1980s and the measures adopted by IBM were in no way inferior to the strategies of other companies. In fact, the company holds a proven record of effective quality management and control that ranges from senior management to sub-contractors. Furthermore, it is evident that adopting Six Sigma in their quality control will further sharpen their strategies and will make it flawless and more effective.

Write about childhood and adolescence and your classmate sharing their Essay

Write about childhood and adolescence and your classmate sharing their story - Essay Example All those years that I have passed gave me some bitterness because with the passage of time, I lost many people who were close to me. I have heard people saying that the transformation from childhood to teenage or adolescence appears very charming and attractive because as adolescents, people get a chance to enjoy more liberty, empowerment and independence, however, this was not the case with me. My mother was there to take care of me as a single parent, so she appeared more domineering and controlling giving very less liberty to me considering me wrong most of the times. Therefore, turning a teenager was a sad experience for me. I was dislocated, having less confidence and enjoying very little liberty. My mother has good income so she allows getting anything with money, but she is not accommodative as a friend due to which, I really feel that I have nobody close to me to whom I can share everything that I feel. This has dragged me to seclusion and lonesomeness. As a teenager, when I started realizing everything around me, I turned to my raw self for assistance, as there was no loving experienced guidance for me, just strict controlling cautions from my mother. I wanted to have friends with whom I could hang out and have fun, but I was never allowed. I was just allowed to study and that was all. Therefore, I consider my childhood better than my adolescence. One of my classmates shared her experience of turning to adulthood with me. She informed me that as a child, she enjoyed the care of her father and mother who cared for all her siblings along with her. However, when she grew young and got married, she had to undergo extreme pressure from her family. She was supposed to take care of her parents, her siblings and also her children. As a young person, she was under immense pressure and she was very upset. She was not ready to let go of her parents as she regarded them not as her parents, but her children for whom, she

Case Summary Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Case Summary - Term Paper Example At this wake, it is disputable to fix the clash between legal and logical spheres of the case that relates to the right of a person to perceived sexuality. This case takes into consideration the implication of the verdict on the social spectrum of the transsexual with regards to his/her legal rights as a spouse especially in immigration apart from considering this as an issue of an individual’s intellectual right to choose a life of his desired sexuality. A large majority of the people are able to identify the gender of a person from the secondary sexual indicators on his anatomical frame such as the body hair, breasts, voice or the size of the body. Exploration of the body’s primary gender detective indications like the DNA structure where the chromosome pattern reads XX for female and XY for male is necessary only for the forensic information on issues related to investigations absolutely legal. The issue arises on the conflict between the biological sex of a person and his psychological sex, which drives him on the transsexual way. Procedural history of the issues taken at the courts of law in various prominent countries exemplifies the legal disadvantages of undergoing a treatment aimed at changing the biological sex in pursuit of obtaining the psychological sex. WHO considers the case of transsexual surgeries as Gender Identity Disorder (GID), (which is red with provisions of Gender Dysphoria in UK). However, the term is different from a conglomerate appearance disparity resulting in identification of the gender of a person by appearance inflicted by cross-dressing, transgender behavior or distinguished congenital conditions. Hormonal treatments targeting the sexuality alteration of individuals are scanned and monitored by the government of Hong Kong with several programs to deal with the GID issue. As the hospitals are surgically equipped with provisions for transsexual surgeries, they discharge the

Global disaster Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Global disaster - Research Paper Example Ultimately, the paper draws a conclusion on why drought is important, the effects of ignoring it, and the need for future research to address this global disaster. Scientists agree that drought is hazardous to the environment and relates to the scarcity of water in the earth surface. Apparently, the globe is encountering alarming water levels in MENA that define global drought. As such, drought is a global disaster subject to its adverse effects on the environment and global population especially in the developing nations (Pozzi et al. 776). The 2012 National Drought Forum report asserts that drought is the third most dominant global disaster after floods and earthquakes. Drought has been a prevalent global disaster for almost three decades subject to the magnitude and frequency of its motivation factors. It is inherently difficult to understand and define drought since its effects vary from one region to another. Different nations have distinct ways of defining drought. Generally, drought emanates from the lack of precipitation in a given area for a long time (The National Drought Mitigation Center 1). We can only define drought in seasons and shortage of water supply in the environment. Humans consider drought with reference to precipitation where we assess the level of dryness and the duration of a dry season. The consideration relates to meteorological drought that applies to a specific region as defined by varying precipitation levels (Saddleback Educational Publishing 17). Hydrological drought is another form of drought and relates to how decreasing precipitation influences stream flow, soil moisture, reservoir and lake levels, and groundwater recharge (Saddleback Educational Publishing 17). Moreover, we have agricultural drought that relates to a situation where the level of water supply cannot meet agricultural water demands (Saddleback Educational Publishing 17). There are various ways that drought can occur. Numerous scientists have

Anorexia Nervosa in Today's Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Anorexia Nervosa in Today's Society - Essay Example Although Anorexia Nervosa mostly affects female population aged 15 - 30, girls under 15 and women above 30 can suffer from this disorder as well. Thus, the oldest patient reported was a woman of 68 without any prior history of eating disorders (Dally, 1984). Anorexia affects certain share of male population: estimated 10 to 15 percent of people with anorexia are men. The highest occurrence of anorexia among males is reported in the age group of young adolescents from 7 to 14 years: nearly 25 percent of anorexia cases in this age group are boys (Herman-Giddens et al, 1997). Experts identify two types of Anorexia Nervosa: food restricting type, and binge eating (purging). The most common characteristic of the restricting type is substantial reduction in calories intake (normally to 300 to 700 kcal per day) and intensive physical over-exercising. By contrast, in the binging type intake of calories may be either small or as high as several thousand followed by purging - self-induced or pharmacologically conditioned vomiting (Yager & Andersen, 2005: 1481). Health complications resulting from either type of this eating disorder affect practically all biological systems of human organism. Anorexia Nervosa poses a number of threats in terms of mental and physiological health. Similarly to other eating disorders Anorexia Nervosa frequently co-occur with depression, substance abuse and anxiety disorders (APAWGED, 2000). Physiologically Anorexia Nervosa causes a wide range of health complications some of which - cardiovascular conditions and kidney failure - are life threatening. However, despite the awareness of the risks associated with anorexia, it is on the rise these days, and a number of laymen and experts even believe that anorexia has already become a norm in modern society. A brief inquiry into the etiology of this eating disorder reveals the reasons for such seemingly strange point of view. MAIN DISCUSSION The cause of Anorexia Nervosa isn't fully understood at present. Possible causes of this eating disorder are: destructive influence of family and society, genetic (inherited) factors, brain dysfunction, neurotransmitter levels imbalances, etc. Yet, none of these factors has been proved to be the key determinant of developing Anorexia as well as no specific life experiences are linked to onset of this eating disorder. Several recent twin studies suggest that Anorexia Nervosa is more than other eating disorders associated with a genetic predisposition (Paris, 1999). Many recent studies associate the risk of developing Anorexia Nervosa with media influence. Evidences and arguments provided by these studies deserve particular attention: media influence may be one of the central factors in extremely high incidence of Anorexia Nervosa among female adolescents. Absolute majority of anorexia nervosa incidents occur in female population: according to estimations of American Psychiatric Association

Earnings per share for xyz Company Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Earnings per share for xyz Company - Term Paper Example They normally give Earning per share a certain distinction among the financial ratios. Earnings per share are considered very important in a business since it allows the investors to know how much the business earned in their stock share investment. In other words, EPS shows how much in terms of net income did the business earned for each stock share owned. Basic EPS Ratio The essential EPS is given by the equation; EPS = Net Income / Total number of stock share (Wiley, 2013). For example, in the following income statement, the company’s $32.47 million net income is divided by the 8.5 million shares of stock it owns to get the $3.82 EPS. Income statement for the year 2010 Sales revenue $457,000 Cost of goods sold expense $298,750 Gross Margin $158,250 Sales, Administration and general expense 102, 680 Earnings before interest and income tax $55,570 Interest expense 6,250 Earnings before income tax $49,320 Income tax expense 16,850 Net income $32,470 Basic earnings per share $3 ,82 Diluted earnings per share $3,61 EPS = 32.47million/8.5million = $3.82 For the stakeholders of businesses whose shares are publicly traded, EPS becomes extraordinarily important. The stakeholders therefore need to pay close attention to the market price per share. In such cases, the stakeholders would prefer their net income to be communicated to them in terms of per share so that they can be able to compare it with the market price of the stock per share (Bryan, 2011). Unlike publicly owned companies, the stock shares of privately owned companies are not traded actively. This is because they do not have to report their EPS according to the GAAP. This exemption is explained by the fact that their stockholders do not focus on per share values but are instead interested in the business’s net income. The Diluted EPS Ratio The XYZ Company could be listed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) given the assumption that its shares are traded at $70 per share. Well known as the B ig Board, requires that requires that the market capital which includes the total of the shares issued and the outstanding shares, should be at the least, $100 million and the number of shares available for trading should be at least 1.1 million. The Company’s market capital is $595 million with the 8.5 million shares trading at $70 per share and this is well above the NYSE’s minimum. By the end of the year, this company has 8.5 million shares just outstanding. This number refers to the number of stock shares that have been issues and are now owned by its stakeholders. Therefore, the Earnings per share is $3.82 as has been computed. Nevertheless, a complication sets in when the business is committed to issuing additional capital stock shares in the future for stock options granted to the executives by the company, and it has funds borrowed on the basis of debt instruments. This particularly gives the lenders the right to convert the debt into its capital stock. Followi ng that, the business may have to issue 500,000 additional capital stock shares in the future under terms of its management options as well as its convertible debts. When we divide the net income by the number of the outstanding shares plus the additional shares that could be issued in the future, the following EPS computation emerges; $32.47million net income ? 9million capital stock shares issued and potentially issuable = $3.61 EPS This second computation, as can be seen, has higher number of stock shares and is therefore referred to as diluted earnings per share. The term diluted is used to refer to thinned out or spread over a large number of shares. That notwithstanding, the

Accounting II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Accounting II - Essay Example This form of company typically have unlimited life and ease of ownership transferability in addition to owners limited liability. Examples of such companies are Microsoft and HP (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2008). The accounting treatment of partnership takes company as an entity which is separate from partners’ personal affairs (Horngren, Bamber, & Harrison, 2005). The major difference in the accounting of corporations and partnership is the calculation and disclosure of the capital of the organization. Corporations are required to prepare and publish audited annual and quarterly reports which could be accessed by shareholders. These annual reports contains statements including income statement, balance sheet, cash flow and changes in shareholders’ equity. Financial reports are not published for external users by partnership and tax return is submitted as part of individual tax forms. There are different ways of identifying whether a company is a partnership or corporation. Firstly, partnerships and corporations fall in different tax regimes. In partnership entity is not liable for tax and it is deducted from owner’s personal income. IRS has set out guidelines for distinguishing between partnership and corporation. In addition to the characteristics discussed above if one partner has the power to dissolve company then the characteristics of corporation is absent. Shareholders of corporations can sell their stock to third party however in partnerships there is general lack of transferability. There is also centralization of management in partnership whereas in corporations there is a board of directors which comprise of company’s shareholders (Brickman, 1991). ï‚ § What does a statement of cash flows tell us about the short and long term prospects of the firm? How does an outside review use a statement of cash flows and other financial statements to assess the viability of the firm? Companies prepare cash flow statement on a periodic basis for

Orthodox Christianity Essay Example for Free

Orthodox Christianity Essay For centuries, the two major Christian sects of Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism have been a center of comparison because of the resemblance in both religions’ beliefs and practices. But in my recent visit to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Miami, I have discovered the stark contrasts to what popular notions hold. Particularly, what befell upon me was a revelation that Orthodox Catholicism differs from Roman Catholicism and other conventional Christian churches as far as relevant doctrines, laws, standards for morality, organizational leadership, church services, and religious ceremonies are concerned. While Orthodox Christianity is generally being compared as similar to Roman Catholicism, its basic and complex theologies both concur to and diverge from that of the Roman Catholic faith. Orthodox Christians generally regard their religious system as a direct continuance of Christ’s ministry; they believe that their very sect is part of a long continuing tradition, otherwise called the Holy Tradition, which started during the first century and remained pure and intact despite the drastic changes that occurred across the world over the centuries (Ware 7-8). Orthodox Christian belief likewise holds that the Bible is the life giving tome of the church because it contains and uncovers the will of God, reveals the relationship between God and the early Israelites, narrates the events that happened during the ministry of Jesus, as well as Christ’s foundation of the first church (Ware 194-196). Apart from the sacred readable contents of the Bible, Christian Orthodoxy also considers it as the sole living witness to the centuries old tradition the sect continues to practice. And with blessing from the early church leaders with guidance from the Holy Spirit, the books of the Bible were expressed as the apostles’ way of handing down the tradition from one generation to another. Christian Orthodoxy merits the Nicene Creed with the highest of regard and considers it as a basis of its beliefs (Ware 202). As such, in its belief in the nature of God, Orthodox Christianity employs a Trinitarian concept or one God with three different personas: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. The Orthodox doctrine furthers that God is an omnipotent being that constitutes no physical form, and is therefore a transcendent being (Ware 210-211). A Distinct Orthodox Catholic belief is in the concept that man is an image and likeness of God. This belief is stressed in extreme senses that Orthodox Christianity’s adherents consider humankind’s resemblance to God as a means of carrying the icon of God within the self (Benz 18). Because of the central idea that man is the image and likeness of God, Orthodox Catholicism’s notion of the original sin differs from most Christian traditions in such a way that the sin committed by Adam and Eve is not morally and spiritually inherited by humans. Instead, original sin is the separation from God’s grace and acquisition of physical and spiritual mortality (Benz 19). And humankind’s separation from God is an action out of free will, particularly when Adam and Eve chose to listen to the serpent’s word and their give in to their urge. Furthermore, Christian Orthodox belief suggests that the fall of man stained all of God’s creation with sin, and corruption while implying that Adam and Eve’s eviction from paradise is God’s way of avoiding man’s sin, wickedness, and corruption from lasting endlessly (Ware 218-219). The Orthodox Christians’ general concept of sin and corruption meanwhile is milder than any other Christian sect or any other religious system for that matter. Sin, as Orthodox Christian doctrine holds, encompasses a contamination, deformation, and infliction of damage on God’s image. However despite sin’s vile nature and humanity’s vulnerability to it, man remains as noble beings because of the simple fact that humans are created in the image of God (Benz 19). As much as the beliefs and practices have renewed my perspective of Orthodox Catholicism, the church service I became part of was a very overwhelming experience. I thought my religion was already rich in traditions and customs, but what I saw and experienced in the ceremony brought my knowledge of Orthodox Christianity to new heights as I have seen and distinguished the difference of the ceremony from conventional Christian sects. Before going to the church, I thought to myself that it is simply going to be a typical service in a Christian place of worship similar to the ones documented in Christian television networks. However, set my eyes on the church, the distinctive style of the structure surprised me as I have observed a slight difference in the church’s architecture. I expected the church to have a dome-shaped top which is a recognizable design of most Christian churches. Except for the cross on the tip of the church’s roof, the external appearance of the church resembles a mosque. The color scheme, the golden plates on the roof all appear to me as elements of Islamic design. As I entered the church, I have received a warm welcome from the church’s senior warden Gary Popovich. He mentioned that every part of the cathedral was a sanctuary for everyone, even to non-orthodox Christians. As Mr. Popovich gave me a mini tour of the church, the interiors further made me notice the distinction of Orthodox Church structures from that of most Roman Catholic structures. While both churches are known to have long, wide aisles leading to the altar, Cathedral of Christ the Savior’s hallway leading to the altar was a little compact despite the conventionality of its length. However, the lobby area of the church, or the narthex as it is properly called, was similar to lobbies of other churches in such a way that it has a board which posts announcements of the church’s activities for the week. Mr. Popovich however added that apart from the usual acknowledging of guests, the narthex is also significant in that tables are set up there during Easter to bless food that would be taken home by adherents after days of fasting and abstinence in the Lenten season. And in days of divine service and obligation, candles and offerings are sold in the narthex. As I was to be part of the Eastern Orthodox Communion for a day, Mr. Popovich toured me to the inner areas of the church. We then proceeded to the main area of the church, which, Mr. Popovich regarded as the nave. This area is where the people stay during divine services, and is thus considered sacred ground. Along the walls and the ceiling of the nave of the cathedral, I noticed numerous portraits of individuals considered holy by Orthodox Catholics including a large portrait of Christ in the ceiling. Mr. Popovich was about to give me a guided tour of what he calls an iconostasis or the room where all of the religious figures and paintings were placed, when he told me to be prepared because the service was about to start. So I proceeded to the nave to participate in the upcoming service. Although I did not clarify if there was any appropriate attire for adherents, I wore the conventional clothing reserved for church attendance. As the service started, everyone gathered in the nave of the cathedral. I first noticed that no one among the people in attendance was wearing casual clothing. The people around me had conservative clothing; the males wore formal attire with collared shirts and sleeves with cuffs. The females were all wearing mid-length and long skirts as well as blouses with sleeves. In addition, most of the women, though not all of them, sported head scarves during the service. Furthermore, apart from the clothing, I also noticed the cathedral’s segregation scheme. All the males were on the right hand side of the nave, while the females were on the right wing of the nave. While I was fascinated by the formality of the people in the church, I never asked them the relevance of wearing such clothing. I simply thought that the sanctity of their church together with the value they uphold for their tradition includes dressing well during services. Mr. Popovich informed me prior to the service that what I am going to be part of was the evening services otherwise the Vespers. I recall senior warden Popovich previously discussed that the Vespers begins at 9 in the evening, an hour which was actually based on the exact time of Christ’s death: 3:00 pm or the 9th hour in antiquated time. The service starts with the priest’s ceremonial blessing and continued with the usual beginnings, which, is basically a sequence of prayers that include the trisagion or the common hymn in almost every Orthodox liturgical service (Perry Melling 190). The service then proceeded with the recital of the Lord’s Prayer before the actual scripture reading of psalms took place. The reader read about three psalms before reciting another short hymn called the troparion (Perry Melling 37). Another hymn called the theotokion followed the troparion, the hymn was sung in honor of the mother of God. Particularly, the hymn honors the virgin mother of God for the incarnation of Christ through her. The singing of the hymn also coincided with the entrance of the clergy; the clergy coming from the Holy Doors signified that the creation of the world also marks man’s selection to live in paradise (Perry Melling 295). As the service was progressing, I took a small window of time to look around and observe what was happening around me. In doing so, I noticed that most people get distracted at what they do knowing that an unfamiliar person is present to witness what they do, but I felt their utmost dedication to their obligations to God because my very presence did not even cause them to be distracted at what they do. Similarly, as much as it was a rare occasion for me to be part of their usual service, they must have felt that it was also a rare occasion to have an outsider among them, yet their dedication remained pure and untainted. A series of readings soon followed, after the clergy’s entrance, another series of hymns, the Phos Hilaron and the Prokeimenon marked a transition of the service to epistle reading. During the epistle reading, the adherents hear the words of God for enlightenment. For the first part, the reader read a passage from the Bible’s Old Testament. At the time, the reading was taken from the book of Elijah which announced what message God’s promised messiah would bring. After the reading of the scriptures, the Vespers was concluded by the Litany of Fervent Supplication and the final blessing of the presiding clergy. During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, the adherents pray that God may grant all Christians mercy. The litany is a responsorial prayer wherein the reader asks for mercy in every aspect and the people respond with the words â€Å"Grant it, O Lord. † After the final blessing has been given, the crowds of people are dismissed accordingly. Based on what I have seen in the liturgical service I attended, Orthodox Catholicism is a religion filled with tradition, symbolisms and customary ceremonies. But true service to God is not really measured by the traditions, the customs, and other rituals of sacrifice and praise; the true essence of serving God lies in a person’s obedient and relentless faith. Ultimately, the sacrifices and the customs do not matter if a person has little or weak faith. Works Cited Benz, Ernst. â€Å"The Eastern Orthodox Church: Its Thought and Life† New Jersey: Aldine Transaction, 2008 Parry, Ken David Melling. â€Å"The Blackwell Dictionary of Eastern Christianity† Malden, MA. : Blackwell Publishing, 1999. Ware, Timothy. â€Å"The Orthodox Church: New Edition†. New York: Penguin Books, 1997

New Headway Intermediate Book Evaluation English Language Essay

New Headway Intermediate Book Evaluation English Language Essay The purpose of the second part of this essay is to evaluate New Headway intermediate students book, one of the course books used at many of the foreign language institutes around the world. The evaluation will be based on an external and an internal evaluation of the book. The external evaluation will give us a brief overview of the materials from the outside (also known as factual information) and the internal evaluation will give us a closer and more detailed look at Units 1 and 2. The new headway course book is meant to be suitable for adults undertaking a general English course. It is the third edition, which means that the book is very popular and published many times. Liz and John Soars are the authors of this book. There is a note at the back of the book which states: Liz and John Soares are internationally renowned authors and highly experienced teachers and teacher trainers. This statement indicates that the authors are recognised in an international basis. The publisher is the oxford university press; A widely known publisher which has published thousands of books. There is a website link in the front and in the back of the book which you can access it online. The one link contains exercises you can do online and the other one has different English Books it has published so far. This single course book costs  £22.00, without the supplementary materials. If you want to buy the whole package, you have to buy each material individually. However, the whole package includes: class CDS/cassettes, a workbook (with or without key), the students workbook CD/cassette and a DVD/Video with students activity book. There is also a teachers book in print and locally available. Thus, the student edition will not be difficult to work with. However, if you go online at Amazon, you will see that if you want to buy together the teachers book, the workbook and the class audio cds, costs  £68. It is very expensive for someone who cannot afford it economically and he will be dissuaded from selecting it. In my opinion I would not buy the single book for only  £22 pounds as I would definitely need a workbook for supplementary exercises. However, it is not included in the package and it costs  £12.50. Also the course book does not provide any audio material in the back as man y do. I think that it is essential to provide this extra material in order to use the textbook more successfully in self-time study. The front cover is colourful with nice pictures, but in my opinion it is not very inspiring and attractive for learners. If you would take off the title I will take it as a science or a maths book. When opening the contents page, language is presented and organised into teachable units. The contents page illustrates the general organisation of the material, which is based on topics. Under each unit there is an established topic. Meanwhile, the importance of form is also made obvious by the prominent placement of grammar in the second column. It is now clear that the content is sequenced on the basis of the grammar complexity. It starts from a more simple grammar form and then progress to a more complex grammar form. The contents are divided broadly into language input and skills development. Under language input there is grammar, vocabulary and everyday English. Under skills development there is: reading, speaking, listening and writing. We can now continue to the next stage of the evaluation by performing a more deep investigation into the materials. I am going to examine Unit 1 and 2 in order to perform an effective internal inspection of the materials. Both units start with a presentation of the grammar which will be the focus of the unit and provides an engaging start. Looking the units as a whole all the language skills including grammar, vocabulary, reading, listening and speaking are all covered. Usually after the test your grammar part which engages you into the main focus of the units, there is a text. It is good that the unit starts with this way because it is helping them to remember thing they have done previously but also is going to introduce them of what grammar is going to follow. In unit 1 the grammar is very simple. It starts with auxiliary verbs, naming the tenses, questions and negatives, and short answers. Tenses and auxiliary verbs are integrated into a quiz which they have to complete and then listen to it in order to check their answers. Then there is the grammar spot and then there is a practice section where they have to practice negatives and pronunciation. Then follows some exercises on short answers where they have to notice differences between the two conversations. This is followed again by a grammar spot and then a practice activity based on short answers. It is obvious that it gives more emphasis on grammar. However, then follows an information gap speaking activity. In the next page follows a reading and a speaking activity where the students have to read a passage on the wonders of the modern world and answer some questions based on the text and then discuss some other questions. Further down there is a freer listening and speaking section w hich consists of listening about wonders of the modern world and a discussion based on inventions. Then, follows a vocabulary section with different exercises based on what it is new in a word. This part includes some spelling and pronunciation exercises. Additionally there is a reference to page 159 where you can find all the phonetic symbols. At the end of the vocabulary section there is a writing exercise in page 103 based on correcting mistakes and finally there is the section every day English where students practice social expressions through exercises. Unit 2 starts with a short Test your grammar exercise which is to guide students into the focus of the unit and provide an engaging start. Following this is a picture presentation of different people having fun and here students have to talk about what makes them happy. Then there is a textual representation incorporating pictures and a written text on the theme of what makes people happy, which talks about Sidney fisk and below some comprehension questions focusing on conceptual aspects of the target language. The target language has been embedded in the written text .The object is that learners are given some exercises where they have to opportunity to practice how the present tense is used and why. These rules are reinforced in a grammar spot section under the passage and in the grammar reference in the back of the book where learners can look for help. This is followed by a listening and speaking controlled practice activities, the first two focusing on present tenses. Both of th ese exercises use information and examples from the presentation of grammar. Then students listen and read a conversation which is based on simple or continuous and they have to practice similar conversations with the one they have listened to including different jobs. This is followed by grammar practice activities, where in the first one they have to indicate whether the sentences are correct or not and in the second to complete the sentences with present simple or present continuous. Then, the reading and speaking section is about I am a clown doctor. The unit here includes some pre-reading activities; mainly questions which are said to motivate learners. Then learners have to read the text and answer some questions. Following this is a grammar spot exercise which focuses on present passive. Students have to complete sentences from the text and then if they want they can go and see the rules on how and when to use present passive on the grammar reference part. Some more exercise s follow. The one is related to the text and in the other one you have to format some questions in order to complete the interview. Then there is an activity where students have to discuss some questions in groups. Exercises on vocabulary and listening are in the next page, based on sports. There are pictures of different people doing different sports and a warm-up activity in which learners have to make a list of as many sports and leisure activities they can think of. They can use the pictures for help. When they finish, there is an exercise where they have to match some sports with the verbs do, play or go. Then follows an activity in which they have to complete a chart using activities from the list they have made before. Meanwhile they have the opportunity to use a dictionary to look up any words they need. Then they listen to different people talking about a sport activity they enjoy and take notes. In a freer activity they can ask their partners some questions based on sports . For writing they have to write letters and emails. The unit finishes by everyday English which is based on numbers. They will learn about money, fractions, decimals and percentages, dates and phone numbers. Then they will listen to some conversation and write the numbers they hear. In my opinion it would take me 18-20 hours to teach both units in this course book. New Headway Intermediate is attractively laid out, with glossy pages and plenty use of colour and photographs which inspires the student. The strong visual element is likely to attract students. However, the cover does not really remind you of an English book, but the inside is different. I think that the new headway intermediate book is well organised into units and sub-sections and it is easy to follow. There are headings or labels for each section and exercises and activities are always introduced with clear instructions. The book clearly arranges the contents, and cross references indicate where learners can find further grammatical information, typescripts, pair work activities, irregular verbs, verb patterns and phonetic symbols in the back. Still, it does not include any revision or recycling sections and this is a disadvantage because students will not have the opportunity for self study in order to check the skills they have learnt. I would provide them with some revision ac tivities with every 2 or 3 units so that they will do revisions and refresh their skills. However, I find the way that the materials are sequenced logical, because intermediate learners need to work their grammar. Some people may find this as a limitation but I believe that it is a good for intermediate learners that the content is based on the complexity of grammar. Moreover, there is a varied mix of activities, like grammar, vocabulary, listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, and functional English, but it lacks on pronunciation activities. Even if it provides phonetic symbols in the back of the book it does not include material for pronunciation work, and it is essential for this level of students to practice their pronunciation. The material for vocabulary is adequate in terms of quantity and range It offers a good balance of work on all skills and they are adequately covered .Also, there are some points where there are materials for integrated skills. I think that there are not enough activities associated to the text in each unit. In unit 1 and 2, they have to read the passage and then answer some comprehension questions. There are not exercises or suitable texts that will help students to improve their reading skills (scanning, skimming, intensive reading, and extensive reading). As homework I would give students extra reading exercises to do in order to practice their reading skills. The other skill that lacks in practice in the unit is the listening skill. I believe that again the book does not provide learners the opportunity to expand and practice their listening skills. The exercises provided for listening does not help students to expand their listening skills, and thus I would give them different listening activities to do within a lessons in order to practice their l istening. Grammar, writing and vocabulary are well covered. Speaking activities can equip them for real-life conversations. The topics are motivating for the adult learners and suitable for their language level. It covers a variety of interests and it gives them the opportunity to expand their awareness on some topics and enrich their experiences. Other groups of people are also presented in the topics. On the whole, New Headway Intermediate course book is perceived as a well designed and a well written book which supports English language learning. It is also used in many schools which teach English as a foreign language. It is suitable for learners, and regarding the disadvantages mentioned above they can become overcome through supplementary activities. .

Animal Farm, by George Orwell Essay examples -- Animal Farm Essays

The English language is one of the most complex languages known to man. Words, sentences, and ideas can be built and misconstrued because of the language’s depth. In the novel Animal Farm, the head pigs in charge, Napoleon, twists words in order to gain control and power over the entire farm. The Manor Farm transforms from the totalitarian rule of Mr. Jones, a mean farmer who feeds his animals meager portions, to Napoleon, a pig that will have you liquidated for a bottle of liquor. Language is used as a means of social control because of its irony, it changes, and it’s illegible by some. Irony is the first reason that language may be used as a form of social control. Many words have double meanings, for example: break, spread, dress, match, etc. For this reason, various meanings and definitions can be derived and used as a person pleases. In Animal Farm, when all the animals were first rebelling, Snowball said, â€Å"The only good human being is a dead one." Human being can be interchanged with numerous words, which is what Napoleon did in order to control the animals with an iron fist. ...

Genetic Factors and Criminal Behavior Essay -- essays research papers

In this article the two authors research the connection between genetic factors and criminal behavior. They look at the causes that make someone act in a criminal way. There are several factors looked at in connection to the cause such as social factors and environmental variables. The social factors being the more examined of the two. They hypothesized that other factors in performance or alone with environmental variables would lead to better understanding of why some people become criminal. The genetic factor of influence due to mental disorders was posed to have a slight role in affecting people to show criminal behavior. Another cause looked at was the combination of genetic and environmental factors, with a possible result of having a higher risk for criminal behavior. They also explore the myths about the connection between genetic factors and criminal behavior. The first myth they looked at was â€Å"Identifying the Role of Genetics in Criminal Behavior Implies That There Is a â€Å"Crime Gene.†Ã¢â‚¬  This myth is dismissed because of the unlikelihood that that a single gene is responsible for criminal behavior. The second myth they look at is â€Å"Attributing Crime to Genetic Factors is Deterministic.† This myth is also easily dismissed because of the fact that just because someone has a predisposition to a certain behavior doesn’t mean that the person will take on that behavior. They also look at Genetic Epidemiological Studies. These three studies deal with twins in relation to th...

Changes in the American Family Essay -- essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As we have learned through Skolnick’s book, as well as Rubin’s research, the make up of the family is influenced by many factors. The economy, culture, education, ethnicity/race, and tradition all help to create the modern family. The last few decades have heavily influenced the family structure, and while some try to preserve the past, others embrace the future. Through it all, we find you can have both. The first part of Rubin’s book dealt with â€Å"the Invisible Americans.† One of the most thought provoking statements from the beginning, states: â€Å"Indeed, one of the surprising findings of this study is how much in common all these families have, how much agreement they would find among themselves- even about some of the hottest racial issues of the day- if they could put away the stereotypes and hostilities that separate them and listen to each other talk. For if we set aside race, there’s far more to unite working-class families than there is to divide them.† (15) For me, this set the tone for the book. More than once, someone from this study who was of a different culture or race then me, said something I know I had thought or even said before. I found it interesting because with some of them, I thought I was the only one who would feel that way; that it was a problem specific to one group. Rubin’s research shows that a lot can happen in just one generation. Much has been spoken lately of what Tom Brokaw has declared â€Å"The Greatest Generation;† those who fought in WWII. These Americans came back from the war, started families, and worked hard to achieve â€Å"The All American Dream.† But somewhere they must have missed something because this generation is the generation that produced the â€Å"pot smoking, free love hippies† who then produced the adults in Rubin’s study. What changed so much with a generation that was the epitome of hard work, discipline, and structure? Stephanie Coontz’s article, â€Å"What We Really Miss about the 1950’s† addresses that. The world between 1920-1950 is not what we think. There was a high murder rate, a substantial divorce rate, and â€Å"an older generation of neighbors or relatives who tried to tell them how to run their lives and raise their kids.† (Skolnick 33) Itâ⠂¬â„¢s this sense that their children see the world so differently that’s so hard for working-class parents. â€Å"For it seems to say that now, along with ... ... Really Miss about the 1950s† Family in Transition. Ed. Arlene Skolnick and Jermone H. Skolnick: Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2003. 31-39 Kamen, Paula. â€Å"Modern Marriage: From Meal Ticket to Best Friend† Family in Transition. Ed. Arlene Skolnick and Jermone H. Skolnick: Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2003 152-160 Laner, Mary Riege. Ventrone, Nicole A. â€Å"Dating Scripts Revisted† Family in Transition. Ed. Arlene Skolnick and Jermone H. Skolnick: Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2003. 143-151 Newman, Katherine S. â€Å"Family Values Against the Odds† Family in Transition. Ed. Arlene Skolnick and Jermone H. Skolnick: Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2003. 320-334 Rubin, Lillian B. Families on the Fault Line, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1994 Taylor, Ronald L. â€Å"Diversity within African American Families† Family in Transition. Ed. Arlene Skolnick and Jermone H. Skolnick: Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2003. 365-388 Zinn, Maxine Baca. Wells, Barbara. â€Å"Diversity Within Latino families: New Lessons for Family Social Science† Family in Transition. Ed. Arlene Skolnick and Jermone H. Skolnick: Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2003. 389-414

A Starry Night

Vincent Van Gogh is a mysterious painting in which Gogh paints a picture that has energetic colors and expressive. This painting can be described as shadowy but yet still stimulating. It can signify a variety of moods, objects, and atmosphere. Van Gogh portrays a small French town located in the countryside. This town is characterized by rolling mountains, a sky with stars, small village, fields, a large tree, and a church. He uses these details to paint a story full of color and intrigue.He paints the sky purple and dark blue to signify the time of day. He uses orange and yellow for the bright stars or lighting in the sky. The mountains that border the town are colored a dark blue and are masked by a tree, which is colored black. Green is applied for the grass and other various plants and vegetation. He uses a vast array of colors to paint the houses and buildings in the village. For this painting mood and description play a huge part. The evening sky is exposed with light shining t hrough the sky.One person might think that the stars are dashing down to earth, meaning it could be the end of the world. He shows the beauty of the countryside at night. Looking up at the sky the bright, yellowish-white stars twirl and give the effect that the wind is blowing. The wind itself is blowing fast and swift, it could be showing an emotion he was feeling. Right below the sky is the mountains that surround the village. Their presence brings security and harmony to the French village. The mountains provide a shadow and guard from a distance.Being a man of religion Gogh painted a church in the center of the painting which can simply be symbolized as a place for reaching out to God. With the use of its colors, type of texture, and descriptive objects, Van Gogh develops a unique painting that any observer can interpret in any way. It can be an image of finding peace as you can sit down and find the beauty of the landscape. Or it can be seen as a dark sad image; you can simply sit down and find that the location is cold and windy. I find it to be peaceful and perfect.

Practical Demonkeeping Chapter 5-7

5 AUGUSTUS BRINE He was an old man who fished off the beaches of Pine Cove and he had gone eighty-four days without catching a fish. This, however, was of little consequence because he owned the general store and made a comfortable enough living to indulge his passions, which were fishing and drinking California wines. Augustus Brine was old, but he was still strong and vital and a dangerous man in a fight – although he had had little cause to prove it in over thirty years (except for the few occasions when he picked up a teenage boy by the scruff of the neck and dragged him, terrified, to the stockroom, where he lectured him alternately on the merits of hard work and the folly of shoplifting from Brine's Bait, Tackle, and Fine Wines). And while a weariness had come upon him with age, his mind was still sharp and agile. On any evening one might find him stretched out before his fireplace in a leather chair, toasting his bare feet on the hearth, reading Aristotle, or Lao-tzu, or Joyce. He lived on a hillside overlooking the Pacific, in a small wooden house he had designed and built himself, so that he might live there alone without having his surroundings seem lonely. During the day, windows and skylights filled the house with light, and even on the most dismal, foggy day, every corner was illuminated. In the evening three stone fireplaces, which took up whole walls in the living room, bedroom, and study, warmed the house. They offered a soft, orange comfort to the old man, who burned cord after cord of red oak and eucalyptus, which he cut and split himself. When he considered his own mortality, which was seldom, Augustus Brine knew he would die in this house. He had built it on one floor with wide halls and doorways so that if he were ever confined to a wheelchair he might remain self-sufficient until the day when he would take the black pill sent to him by the Hemlock Society. He kept the house neat and orderly. Not so much because he desired order, for Brine believed chaos to be the way of the world, but because he did not wish to make life difficult for his cleaning lady, who came in once a week to dust and shovel ashes from the fireplaces. He also wished to avoid acquiring the reputation of being a slob, for he knew people's propensity for judging a man on one aspect of his character, and even Augustus Brine was not above some degree of vanity. Despite his belief that the pursuit of order in a chaotic universe was futile, Brine lived a very ordered life, and this paradox, upon reflection, amused him. He rose each day at five, indulged himself in a half-hour-long shower, dressed, and ate the same breakfast of six eggs and half a loaf of sourdough toast, heavily buttered. (Cholesterol seemed too silent and sneaky to be dangerous, and Brine had decided long ago that until cholesterol gathered its forces and charged him headlong across the plate with Light Brigade abandon, he would ignore it.) After breakfast, Brine lit his meerschaum pipe for the first time of the day, crawled onto his truck, and drove downtown to open his store. For the first two hours he puffed around the store like a great white-bearded locomotive, making coffee, selling pastries, trading idle banter with the old men who greeted him each morning, and preparing the store to run under full steam until midnight, under the supervision of a handful of clerks. At eight o'clock the first of Brine's employees arrived to man the register while Brine busied himself ordering what he called Epicurean necessities: pastries, imported cheeses and beers, pipe tobacco and cigarettes, homemade pasta and sauces, freshly baked bread, gourmet coffees, and California wines. Brine believed, like Epicurus, that a good life was one dedicated to the pursuit of simple pleasures, tempered with justice and prudence. Years ago, while working as a bouncer in a whorehouse, Brine had repeatedly seen depressed, angry men turned to gentleness and gaiety by a few moments of pleasure. He had vowed then to someday open a brothel, but when the ramshackle general store with its two gas pumps had been put up for sale, Brine had compromised his dream by buying it and bringing pleasure of a different sort to the public. From time to time, however, a needling suspicion arose in his mind that he had missed his true calling as a madam. Each day when the orders were finished, Brine selected a bottle of red wine from his shelves, packed it in a basket with some bread, cheese, and bait, and took off for the beach. He passed the rest of the day sitting on the beach in a canvas director's chair sipping wine and smoking his pipe, waiting for the long surf-casting rod to bend with a strike. On most days Brine let his mind go as clear as water. Without worry or thought he became one with everything around him, neither conscious nor unconscious: the state of Zen mushin, or no-mind. He had come to Zen after the fact, recognizing in the writings of Suzuki and Watts an attitude he had come to without discipline, by simply sitting on the beach staring into an empty sky and becoming just as empty. Zen was his religion, and it brought him peace and humor. On this particular morning Brine was having a difficult time clearing his mind. The visit of the little Arab man to the store vexed him. Brine did not speak Arabic, yet he had understood every word the little man had said. He had seen the air cut with swirling blue curses, and he had seen the Arab's eyes glow white with anger. He smoked his pipe, the meerschaum mermaid carved so that Brine's index finger fell across her breasts, and tried to apply some meaning to a situation that was outside the context of his reality. He knew that if he were to accept the fluid of this experience, the cup of his mind had to be empty. But right now he had a better chance of buying bread with moonlight than reaching a Zen calm. It vexed him. â€Å"It is a mystery, is it not?† someone said. Startled, Brine looked around. The little Arab man stood about three feet from Brine's side, drinking from a large styrofoam cup. His red stocking cap was glistening, damp with the morning spray. â€Å"I'm sorry,† Brine said. â€Å"I didn't see you come up.† â€Å"It is a mystery, is it not? How this dashing figure seems to appear out of nowhere? You must be awestruck. Paralyzed with fear perhaps?† Brine looked at the withered little man in the rumpled flannel suit and silly red hat. â€Å"Very close to paralyzed,† he said. â€Å"I am Augustus Brine.† He extended his hand to the little man. â€Å"Are you not afraid that by touching me you will burst into flames?† â€Å"Is that a danger?† â€Å"No, but you know how superstitious fishermen are. Perhaps you believe that you will be transformed into a toad. You hide your fear well, Augustus Brine.† Brine smiled. He was baffled and amused; it didn't occur to him to be afraid. The Arab drained his cup and dipped it into the surf to refill it. â€Å"Please call me Gus,† Brine said, his hand still extended. â€Å"And you are?† The Arab drained his cup again, then took Brine's hand. His skin had the feel of parchment. â€Å"I am Gian Hen Gian, King of the Djinn, Ruler of the Netherworld. Do not tremble, I wish you no harm.† â€Å"I am not trembling,† Brine said. â€Å"You might go easy on that seawater – it works hell on your blood pressure.† â€Å"Do not fall to your knees; there is no need to prostrate yourself before my greatness. I am here in your service.† â€Å"Thank you. I am honored,† Brine said. Despite the strange happenings in the store, he was having a hard time taking this pompous little man seriously. The Arab was obviously a nuthouse Napoleon. He'd seen hundreds of them, living in cardboard castles and feasting from dumpsters all over America. But this one had some credentials: he could curse in blue swirls. â€Å"It is good that you are not afraid, Augustus Brine. Terrible evil is at hand. You will have to call upon your courage. It is a good sign that you have kept your wits in the presence of the great Gian Hen Gian. The grandeur is sometimes too much for weaker men.† â€Å"May I offer you some wine?† Brine extended the bottle of cabernet he had brought from the store. â€Å"No, I have a great thirst for this.† He sloshed the cup of seawater. â€Å"From a time when it was all I could drink.† â€Å"As you wish.† Brine sipped from the bottle. â€Å"There is little time, Augustus Brine, and what I am to tell you may overwhelm your tiny mind. Please prepare yourself.† â€Å"My tiny mind is steeled for anything, O King. But first, tell me, did I see you curse blue swirls this morning?† â€Å"A minor loss of temper. Nothing really. Would you have had me turn the clumsy dolt into a snake who forever gnaws his own tail?† â€Å"No, the cursing was fine. Although in Vance's case the snake might be an improvement. Your curses were in Arabic, though, right?† â€Å"A language I prefer for its music.† â€Å"But I don't speak Arabic. Yet I understood you. You did say, ‘May the IRS find that you deduct your pet sheep as an entertainment expense,' didn't you?† â€Å"I can be most colorful and inventive when I am angry.† The Arab flashed a bright grin of pride. His teeth were pointed and saw-edged like a shark's. â€Å"You have been chosen, Augustus Brine.† â€Å"Why me?† Somehow Brine had suspended his disbelief and denied the absurdity of the situation. If there was no order in the universe, then why should it be out of order to be sitting on the beach talking to an Arab dwarf who claimed to be king of the Djinn, whatever the hell that was? Strangely enough, Brine took comfort in the fact that this experience was invalidating every assumption he had ever made about the nature of the world. He had tapped into the Zen of ignorance, the enlightenment of absurdity. Gian Hen Gian laughed. â€Å"I have chosen you because you are a fisherman who catches no fish. I have had an affinity for such men since I was fished from the sea a thousand years ago and released from Solomon's jar. One gets ever so cramped passing the centuries inside a jar.† â€Å"And ever so wrinkled, it would seem,† Brine said. Gian Hen Gian ignored Brine's comment. â€Å"I found you here, Augustus Brine, listening to the noise of the universe, holding in your heart a spark of hope, like all fishermen, but resolved to be disappointed. You have no love, no faith, and no purpose. You shall be my instrument, and in return, you shall gain the things you lack.† Brine wanted to protest the Arab's judgment, but he realized that it was true. He'd been enlightened for exactly thirty seconds and already he was back on the path of desire and karma. Postenlightenment depression, he thought. 6 THE DJINN'S STORY Brine said, â€Å"Excuse me, O King, but what exactly is a Djinn?† Gian Hen Gian spit into the surf and cursed, but this time Brine did not understand the language and no blue swirls cut the air. â€Å"I am Djinn. The Djinn were the first people. This was our world long before the first human. Have you not read the tales of Scheherazade?† â€Å"I thought those were just stories.† â€Å"By Aladdin's lamplit scrotum, man! Everything is a story. What is there but stories? Stories are the only truth. The Djinn knew this. We had power over our own stories. We shaped our world as we wished it to be. It was our glory. We were created by Jehovah as a race of creators, and he became jealous of us. â€Å"He sent Satan and an army of angels against us. We were banished to the netherworld, where we could not make our stories. Then he created a race who could not create and so would stand in awe of the Creator.† â€Å"Man?† Brine asked. The Djinn nodded. â€Å"When Satan drove us into the netherworld, he saw our power. He saw that he was no more than a servant, while Jehovah had given the Djinn the power of gods. He returned to Jehovah demanding the same power. He proclaimed that he and his army would not serve until they were given the power to create. â€Å"Jehovah was sorely angered. He banished Satan to hell, where the angel might have the power he wished, but only over his own army of rebels. To further humiliate Satan, Jehovah created a new race of beings and gave them control over their own destinies, made them masters of their own world. And he made Satan watch it all from hell. â€Å"These beings were parodies of the angels, resembling them physically, but with none of the angels' grace or intelligence. And because he had made two mistakes before, Jehovah made these creatures mortal to keep them humble.† â€Å"Are you saying,† Brine interrupted, â€Å"that the human race was created to irritate Satan?† â€Å"That is correct. Jehovah is infinite in his snottiness.† Brine reflected on this for a moment and regretted that he had not become a criminal at an early age. â€Å"And what happened to the Djinn?† â€Å"We were left without form, purpose, or power. The netherworld is timeless and unchanging, and boring – much like a doctor's waiting room.† â€Å"But you're here, you're not in the netherworld.† â€Å"Be patient, Augustus Brine. I will tell you how I came here. You see, many years passed on Earth and we remained undisturbed. Then was born Solomon the thief.† â€Å"You mean King Solomon? Son of David?† â€Å"The thief!† The Djinn spat. â€Å"He asked for wisdom from Jehovah that he might build a great temple. To assist him, Jehovah gave him a great silver seal, which he carried in a scepter, and the power to call the Djinn from the netherworld to act as slaves. Solomon was given power over the Djinn on Earth that by all rights belonged to me. And as if that was not enough, the seal also gave him the power to call up the deposed angels from hell. Satan was furious that such power be given to a mortal, which, of course, was Jehovah's plan. â€Å"Solomon called first upon me to help him build his temple. He spread the temple plans before me and I laughed in his face. It was little more than a shack of stone. His imagination was as limited as his intelligence. Nevertheless, I began work on his temple, building it stone by stone as he instructed. I could have built it in an instant had he commanded it, but the thief could only imagine a temple being built as it might be built by men. â€Å"I worked slowly, for even under the reign of the thief, my time on Earth was better than the emptiness of the netherworld. After some time I convinced Solomon that I needed help, and I was given slaves to assist me in the construction. Work slowed even more, for while some of them worked, most stood by and chatted about their dreams of freedom. I have seen that such methods are used today in building your highways.† â€Å"It's standard,† Brine said. â€Å"Solomon grew impatient with my progress and called from hell one of the deposed angels, a warrior Seraph named Catch. Thus did his troubles begin. â€Å"Catch had once been a tall and beautiful angel, but his time in hell, steeping in his own bitterness, had changed him. When he appeared before Solomon, he was a squat monster, no bigger than a dwarf. His skin was like that of a snake, his eyes like those of a cat. He was so hideous that Solomon would not allow him to be seen by the people of Jerusalem, so he made the demon invisible to all but himself. â€Å"Catch carried in his heart a loathing for humans as deep as Satan himself. I had no quarrel with the race of man. Catch, however, wanted revenge. Fortunately, he did not have the powers of a Djinn. â€Å"Solomon told the slaves who worked on the temple that they were being given divine assistance and that they should behave as if nothing was out of the ordinary, so the people of Jerusalem might not notice the demon's presence. The demon threw himself into the construction, honing huge blocks of stone and hauling them into place. â€Å"Solomon was pleased with the demon's work and told him so. Catch said that the work would go faster if he didn't have to work with a Djinn, so I stood by and watched as the temple rose. From time to time great stones dropped from the walls, crushing the slaves below. While the blood ran, I could hear Catch laughing and shouting ‘Whoops' from the top of the wall. â€Å"Solomon believed these killings to be accidents, but I knew them to be murder. It was then that I realized that Solomon's control over the demon was not absolute, and therefore, his control over me must have its limits as well. My first impulse was to try to escape, but if I were wrong, I knew that I would be sent back to the netherworld and all would be lost. Perhaps I could persuade Solomon to set me free by offering him something he could attain only through my power to create. â€Å"Solomon's appetite for women was infamous. I offered to bring him the most beautiful woman he had ever seen if he would allow me to remain on Earth. He agreed. â€Å"I retreated to my quarters and contemplated what sort of woman might most please the idiot king. I had seen his thousand wives and found no common thread among their charms that revealed Solomon's preferences. In the end I was left to my own creativity. â€Å"I gave her fair hair and blue eyes and skin as white and smooth as marble. She was all things that men wish of women in body and mind. She was a virgin with a courtesan's knowledge in the ways of pleasure. She was kind, intelligent, forgiving, and warm with humor. â€Å"Solomon fell in love with the woman as soon as I presented her to him. ‘She shines like a jewel', he said. ‘Jewel shall be her name.' He spent an hour or more just staring at her, captivated with her beauty. When finally his senses returned, he said, ‘We will talk later of your reward, Gian Hen Gian.' Then he took Jewel by the hand and led her to his bedchamber. â€Å"I felt a strength return to me the moment I presented Jewel to the king. I was not free to escape, but for the first time I was able to leave the city without being compelled by some invisible bond to return to Solomon. I went into the desert and spent the night enjoying the freedom I had gained. It was not until I returned the next morning that I realized that Solomon's control over me and the demon depended upon the concentration of his will, as well as the invocations and the seal given to him by Jehovah. The woman, Jewel, had broken his will. â€Å"I found Solomon in his palace weeping one moment, then screaming with rage the next. While I had been away Catch had come to Solomon's bedchamber, not in the form that Solomon recognized, but in the form of a huge monster, taller than two men and as wide as a team of horses, and the slaves could see him as well. While Solomon watched in horror, the demon snatched Jewel from the bed with a single, talonlike hand and bit her head off. Then the monster swallowed the girl's body and reached for Solomon. But some force protected the king, and Solomon commanded the demon to return to his smaller form. Catch laughed in his face and skulked off to the wives' quarters. â€Å"Through the night the palace was filled with the screams of terrified women. Solomon ordered his guards to attack the demon. Catch swatted them away as if they were flies. By dawn the palace was littered with the crushed bodies of the guards. Of Solomon's thousand wives only two hundred remained alive. Catch was gone. â€Å"During the attack Solomon had called upon the power of the seal and prayed to Jehovah to stop the demon. But the king's will was broken, and so it did no good. â€Å"I sensed then that I might escape Solomon's control altogether, and live free, but even the idiot king would eventually make the connection and my fate would lie in the netherworld. â€Å"I bade Solomon allow me to bring Catch to justice. I knew my power to be much greater than the demon's. But Solomon had only the building of the temple by which to judge my powers, and in that example the demon appeared superior. ‘Do what you can,' he said. ‘If you capture the demon, you may remain on Earth.' â€Å"I found Catch in the great desert, wantonly slaughtering tribes of nomads. When I bound him with my magic, he protested that he had planned to return, for he was enslaved to Solomon by the invocation and could never really escape. He was only having a little sport with the humans, he said. To quiet him, I filled his mouth with sand for the journey back to Jerusalem. â€Å"When I brought Catch to Solomon, the king commanded me to devise a punishment to torment the demon, so that the people of Jerusalem might watch him suffer. I chained Catch to a giant stone outside the palace, then I created a huge bird of prey that swooped on the demon and tore at his liver, which grew back at once, for like the Djinn, the demon was immortal. â€Å"Solomon was pleased with my work. During my absence he had regained his senses somewhat, and thereby his will. I stood before the king awaiting my reward, feeling my powers wane as Solomon's will returned. â€Å"‘I have promised that you shall never be returned to the netherworld, and you shall not,' he said. ‘But this demon has put me off of immortals more than somewhat, and I do not wish that you be allowed to roam free. You shall be imprisoned in a jar and cast into the sea. Should the time come when you are set free to walk the Earth again, you shall have no power over the realm of man except as is commanded by my will, which shall be from now to the end of time the goodwill of all men. By this you shall be bound.' â€Å"He had a jar fashioned from lead and marked it on all sides with a silver seal. Before he imprisoned me, Solomon promised that Catch would remain chained to the rock until his screams burned into the king's soul – so that Solomon might never lose his will or his wisdom again. He said he would then send the demon back to hell and destroy the tablets with the invocations, as well as the great seal. He swore these things to me, as if he believed the fate of the demon meant something to me. I didn't give a camel's fart about Catch. Then he gave me a last command and sealed the jar. His soldiers cast the jar into the Red Sea. â€Å"For two thousand years I languished inside the jar, my only comfort a trickle of seawater that seeped in, which I drank with relish, for it tasted of freedom. â€Å"When the jar was finally pulled from the sea by a fisherman, and I was released, I cared nothing about Solomon or Catch, only about my freedom. I have lived as a man would live these last thousand years, bound by Solomon's will. Of this Solomon spoke truly, but about the demon, he lied.† The little man paused and refilled his cup in the ocean. Augustus Brine was at a loss. It couldn't possibly be true. There was nothing to corroborate the story. â€Å"Begging your pardon, Gian Hen Gian, but why is none of this told in the Bible?† â€Å"Editing,† the Djinn said. â€Å"But aren't you confusing Greek myth with Christian myth? The birds eating the demon's liver sounds an awful lot like the story of Prometheus.† â€Å"It was my idea. The Greeks were thieves, no better than Solomon.† Brine considered this for a moment. He was seeing evidence of the supernatural, wasn't he? Wasn't this little Arab drinking seawater as he watched, with no apparent ill effects? And even if some of it could be explained by hallucination, he was pretty sure that he hadn't been the only one to see the strange blue swirls in the store this morning. What if for a moment – just a moment – he took the Arab's outrageous story for the truth?†¦ â€Å"If this is true, then how do you know, after all this time, that Solomon lied to you? And why tell me about it?† â€Å"Because, Augustus Brine, I knew you would believe. And I know Solomon lied because I can feel the presence of the demon, Catch. And I'm sure that he has come to Pine Cove.† â€Å"Swell,† Brine said. 7 ARRIVAL Virgil Long backed out from under the hood of the Impala, wiped his hands on his coveralls, and scratched at his four-day growth of beard. He reminded Travis of a fat weasel with the mange. â€Å"So you're thinking it's the radiator?† Virgil asked. â€Å"It's the radiator,† Travis said. â€Å"It might be the whole engine is gone. You were running pretty quiet when you drove in. Not a good sign. Do you have a charge card?† Virgil was unprecedented in his inability to diagnose specific engine problems. When he was dealing with tourists, his strategy was usually to start replacing things and keep replacing them until he solved the problem or reached the limit on the customer's credit card, whichever came first. â€Å"It wasn't running at all when I came in,† Travis protested. â€Å"And I don't have a credit card. It's the radiator, I promise.† â€Å"Now, son,† Virgil drawled, â€Å"I know you think you know what you're talking about, but I got a certificate from the Ford factory there on the wall that says I'm a master mechanic.† Virgil pointed a fat finger toward the service station's office. One wall was covered with framed certificates along with a poster of a nude woman sitting on the hood of a Corvette buffing her private parts with a scarf in order to sell motor oil. Virgil had purchased the Master Mechanic certificates from an outfit in New Hampshire: two for five dollars, six for ten dollars, fifteen for twenty. He had gone for the twenty-dollar package. Those who took the time to read the certificates were somewhat surprised to find out that Pine Cove's only service station and car wash had its own factory-certified snowmobile mechanic. It had never snowed in Pine Cove. â€Å"This is a Chevy,† Travis said. â€Å"Got a certificate for those, too. You probably need new rings. The radiator's just a symptom, like these broken headlights. You treat the symptom, the disease just gets worse.† Virgil had heard that on a doctor show once and liked the sound of it. â€Å"What will it cost to just fix the radiator?† Virgil stared deep into the grease spots on the garage floor, as if by reading their patterns and by some mystic mode of divination, petrolmancy perhaps, he would arrive at a price that would not alienate the dark young man but would still assure him an exorbitant hourly rate for his labor. â€Å"Hundred bucks.† It had a nice round ring to it. â€Å"Fine,† Travis said, â€Å"Fix it. When can I have it back?† Virgil consulted the grease spots again, then emerged with a good-ol'-boy smile. â€Å"How's noon sound?† â€Å"Fine,† Travis said. â€Å"Is there a pool hall around here – and someplace I can get some breakfast?† â€Å"No pool hall. The Head of the Slug is open down the street. They got a couple of tables.† â€Å"And breakfast?† â€Å"Only thing open this end of town is H.P.'s, a block off Cypress, down from the Slug. But it's a local's joint.† â€Å"Is there a problem getting served?† â€Å"No. The menu might throw you for a bit. It – well, you'll see.† Travis thanked the mechanic and started off in the direction of H.P.'s, the demon skulking along behind him. As they passed the self-serve car-wash stalls, Travis noticed a tall man of about thirty unloading plastic laundry baskets full of dirty dishes from the bed of an old Ford pickup. He seemed to be having trouble getting quarters to go into the coin box. Looking at him, Travis said: â€Å"You know, Catch, I'll bet there's a lot of incest in this town.† â€Å"Probably the only entertainment,† the demon agreed. The man in the car wash had activated the high-pressure nozzle and was sweeping it back and forth across the baskets of dishes. With each sweep he repeated, â€Å"Nobody lives like this. Nobody.† Some of the overspray caught on the wind and settled over Travis and Catch. For a moment the demon became visible in the spray. â€Å"I'm melt-ing,† Catch whined in perfect Wicked Witch of the West pitch. â€Å"Let's go,† Travis said, moving quickly to avoid more spray. â€Å"We need a hundred bucks before noon.† JENNY In the two hours since Jenny Masterson had arrived at the cafe she had managed to drop a tray full of glasses, mix up the orders on three tables, fill the saltshakers with sugar and the sugar dispensers with salt, and pour hot coffee on the hands of two customers who had covered their cups to indicate that they'd had enough – a patently stupid gesture on their part, she thought. The worst of it was not that she normally performed her duties flawlessly, which she did. The worst of it was that everyone was so damned understanding about it. â€Å"You're going through a rough time, honey, it's okay.† â€Å"Divorce is always hard.† Their consolations ranged from â€Å"too bad you couldn't work it out† to â€Å"he was a worthless drunk anyway, you're better off without him.† She'd been separated from Robert exactly four days and everybody in Pine Cove knew about it. And they couldn't just let it lie. Why didn't they let her go through the process without running this cloying gauntlet of sympathy? It was as if she had a big red D sewed to her clothing, a signal to the townsfolk to close around her like a hungry amoeba. When the second tray of glasses hit the floor, she stood amid the shards trying to catch her breath and could not. She had to do something – scream, cry, pass out – but she just stood there, paralyzed, while the busboy cleaned up the glass. Two bony hands closed on her shoulders. She heard a voice in her ear that seemed to come from very far away. â€Å"You are having an anxiety attack, dear. It shall pass. Relax and breathe deeply.† She felt the hands gently leading her through the kitchen door to the office in the back. â€Å"Sit down and put your head between your knees.† She let herself be guided into a chair. Her mind went white, and her breath caught in her throat. A bony hand rubbed her back. â€Å"Breathe, Jennifer. I'll not have you shuffling off this mortal coil in the middle of the breakfast shift.† In a moment her head cleared and she looked up to see Howard Phillips, the owner of H.P.'s, standing over her. He was a tall, skeletal man, who always wore a black suit and button shoes that had been fashionable a hundred years ago. Except for the dark depressions on his cheeks, Howard's skin was as white as a carrion worm. Robert had once said that H.P. looked like the master of ceremonies at a chemotherapy funfest. Howard had been born and raised in Maine, yet when he spoke, he affected the accent of an erudite Londoner. â€Å"The prospect of change is a many-fanged beast, my dear. It is not, however, appropriate to pay fearful obeisance to that beast by cowering in the ruins of my stemware while you have orders up.† â€Å"I'm sorry, Howard. Robert called this morning. He sounded so helpless, pathetic.† â€Å"A tragedy, to be sure. Yet as we sit, ensconced in our grief, two perfectly healthy daily specials languish under the heat lamps metamorphosing into gelatinous invitations to botulism.† Jenny was relieved that in his own, cryptically charming way, Howard was not giving her sympathy but telling her to get off her ass and live her life. â€Å"I think I'm okay now. Thanks, Howard.† Jenny stood and wiped her eyes with a paper napkin she took from her apron. Then she went off to deliver her orders. Howard, having exhausted his compassion for the day, closed the door of his office and began working on the books. When Jenny returned to the floor, she found that the restaurant had cleared except for a few regular customers and a dark young man she didn't recognize, who was standing by the PLEASE WAIT TO BE SEATED sign. At least he wouldn't ask about Robert, thank God. It was a welcome relief. Not many tourists found H.P.'s. It was tucked in a tree-lined cul-de-sac off Cypress Street in a remodeled Victorian bungalow. The sign outside, small and tasteful, simply read, CAFE. Howard did not believe in advertising, and though he was an Anglophile at heart – loving all things British and feeling that they were somehow superior to their American counterparts – his restaurant displayed none of the ersatz British decor that might draw in the tourists. The cafe served simple food at fair prices. If the menu exhibited Howard Phillips's eccentricity in style, it did not discourage the locals from eating at his place. Next to Brine's Bait, Tackle, and Fine Wines, H.P.'s Cafe had the most loyal clientele in Pine Cove. â€Å"Smoking or nonsmoking?† Jenny asked the young man. He was very good-looking, but Jenny noticed this only in passing. She was conditioned by years of monogamy not to dwell on such things. â€Å"Nonsmoking,† he said. Jenny led him to a table in the back. Before he sat down, he pulled out the chair across from him, as if he were going to put his feet up. â€Å"Will someone be joining you?† Jenny asked, handing him a menu. He looked up at her as if he were seeing her for the first time. He stared into her eyes without saying a word. Embarrassed, Jenny looked down. â€Å"Today's special is Eggs-Sothoth – a fiendishly toothsome amalgamation of scrumptious ingredients so delicious that the mere description of the palatable gestalt could drive one mad,† she said. â€Å"You're joking?† â€Å"No. The owner insists that we memorize the daily specials verbatim.† The dark man kept staring at her. â€Å"What does all that mean?† he asked. â€Å"Scrambled eggs with ham and cheese and a side of toast.† â€Å"Why didn't you just say that?† â€Å"The owner is a little eccentric. He believes that his daily specials may be the only thing keeping the Old Ones at bay.† â€Å"The Old Ones?† Jenny sighed. The nice thing about regular customers is she didn't have to keep explaining Howard's weird menu to them. This guy was obviously from out of town. But why did he have to keep staring at her like that? â€Å"It's his religion or something. He believes that the world was once populated by another race. He calls them the Old Ones. For some reason they were banished from Earth, but he believes that they are trying to return and take over.† â€Å"You're joking?† â€Å"Stop saying that. I'm not joking.† â€Å"I'm sorry.† He looked at the menu. â€Å"Okay, give me an Eggs-Sothoth with a side order of The Spuds of Madness.† â€Å"Would you like coffee?† â€Å"That would be great.† Jenny wrote out the ticket and turned to put the order in at the kitchen window. â€Å"Excuse me,† the man said. Jenny turned in midstep. â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"You have incredible eyes.† â€Å"Thanks.† She felt herself blush as she headed off to get his coffee. She wasn't ready for this. She needed some sort of break between being married and being divorced. Divorce leave? They had pregnancy leave, didn't they? When she returned with his coffee, she looked at him for the first time as a single woman might. He was handsome, in a sharp, dark sort of way. He looked younger than she was, twenty-three, maybe twenty-four. She was studying his clothes and trying to get a feel for what he did for a living when she ran into the chair he had pushed out from the table and spilled most of the coffee into the saucer. â€Å"God, I'm sorry.† â€Å"It's okay,† he said. â€Å"Are you having a bad day?† â€Å"Getting worse by the minute. I'll get you another cup.† â€Å"No,† he raised a hand in protest. â€Å"Its fine.† He took the cup and saucer from her, separated them, and poured the coffee back into the cup. â€Å"See, good as new. I don't want to add to your bad day.† He was staring again. â€Å"No, you're fine. I mean, I'm fine. Thanks.† She felt like a geek. She cursed Robert for causing all this. If he hadn't†¦ No, it wasn't Robert's fault. She'd made the decision to end the marriage. â€Å"I'm Travis.† The man extended his hand. She took it, tentatively. â€Å"Jennifer-† She was about to tell him that she was married and that he was nice and all. â€Å"I'm not married,† she said. She immediately wanted to disappear into the kitchen and never come back. â€Å"Me either,† Travis said. â€Å"I'm new in town.† He didn't seem to notice how awkward she was. â€Å"Look, Jennifer, I'm looking for an address and I wonder if you could tell me how to find it? Do you know how to get to Cheshire Street?† Jenny was relieved to be talking about anything but herself. She rattled off a series of streets and turns, landmarks and signs, that would lead Travis to Cheshire Street. When she finished, he just looked at her quizzically. â€Å"I'll draw you a map,† she said. She took a pen from her apron, bent over the table, and began drawing on a napkin. Their faces were inches apart. â€Å"You're very beautiful,† he said. She looked at him. She didn't know whether to smile or scream. Not yet, she thought. I'm not ready. He didn't wait for her to respond. â€Å"You remind me of someone I used to know.† â€Å"Thank you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She tried to remember his name. â€Å"†¦Travis.† â€Å"Have dinner with me tonight?† She searched for an excuse. None came. She couldn't use the one she had used for a decade – it wasn't true anymore. And she hadn't been alone long enough to brush up on some new lies. In fact, she felt that she was somehow being unfaithful to Robert just by talking to this guy. But she was a single woman. Finally she wrote her phone number under the map on the napkin and handed it to him. â€Å"My number's on the bottom. Why don't you call me tonight, around five, and we'll take it from there, okay?† Travis folded the napkin and put it in his shirt pocket. â€Å"Until tonight,† he said. â€Å"Oh, spare me!† a gravely voice said. Jenny turned toward the voice, but there was only the empty chair. To Travis she said, â€Å"Did you hear that?† â€Å"Hear what?† Travis glared at the empty chair. â€Å"Nothing,† Jenny said, â€Å"I'm starting to go over the edge, I think.† â€Å"Relax,† Travis said. â€Å"I won't bite you.† He shot a glance at the chair. â€Å"Your order is up. I'll be right back.† She retrieved the food from the window and delivered it to Travis. While he ate, she stood behind the counter separating coffee filters for the lunch shift, occasionally looking up and smiling at the dark, young man, who paused between bites and smiled back. She was fine, just fine. She was a single woman and could do any damned thing she wanted to. She could go out with anyone she wanted to. She was young and attractive and she had just made her first date in ten years – sort of. Over all of her affirmations her fears flew up and perched like a murder of crows. It occurred to her that she didn't have the slightest idea what she was going to wear. The freedom of single life had suddenly become a burden, a mixed blessing, herpes on the pope's ring. Maybe she wouldn't answer the phone when he called. Travis finished eating and paid his bill, leaving her far too large a tip. â€Å"See you tonight,† he said. â€Å"You bet.† She smiled. She watched him walk across the parking lot. He seemed to be talking to someone as he walked. Probably just singing. Guys did that right after they made a date, didn't they? Maybe he was just a whacko? For the hundredth time that morning she resisted the urge to call Robert and tell him to come home.