Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 18

Chapter 18 I have been out among you, eating and talking and walking and walking and walking, for hours without having to turn because of a wall in my way. The angel woke me this morning with a new set of clothes, strange to the feel but familiar to the sight (from television). Jeans, sweatshirt, and sneakers, as well as some socks and boxer shorts. â€Å"Put these on. I'm taking you out for a walk,† said Raziel. â€Å"As if I were a dog,† I said. â€Å"Exactly as if you were a dog.† The angel was also wearing modern American garb, and although he was still strikingly handsome, he looked so uncomfortable that the clothes might have been held to his body with flaming spikes. â€Å"Where are we going?† â€Å"I told you, out.† â€Å"Where did you get the clothes?† â€Å"I called down and Jesus brought them up. There is a clothing store in the hotel. Come now.† Raziel closed the door behind us and put the room key in his jeans pocket with the money. I wondered if he'd ever had pockets before. I wouldn't have thought to use them. I didn't say a word as we rode the elevator down to the lobby and made our way out the front doors. I didn't want to ruin it, to say something that would bring the angel to his senses. The noise in the street was glorious: the cars, the jackhammers, the insane people babbling to themselves. The light! The smells! I felt as if I must have been in shock when we first traveled here from Jerusalem. I didn't remember it being so vivid. I started to skip down the street and the angel caught me by the shoulder; his fingers dug into my muscles like talons. â€Å"You know that you can't get away, that if you run I can catch you and snap your legs so you will never run again. You know that if you should escape even for a few minutes, you cannot hide from me. You know that I can find you, as I once found everyone of your kind? You know these things?† â€Å"Yes, let go of me. Let's walk.† â€Å"I hate walking. Have you ever seen an eagle look at a pigeon? That's how I feel about you and your walking.† I should point out, I suppose, what Raziel was talking about when he said that he once found everyone of my kind. It seems that he did a stint, centuries ago, as the Angel of Death, but was relieved of his duties because he was not particularly good at them. He admits that he's a sucker for a hard-luck story (perhaps that explains his fascination with soap operas). Anyway, when you read in the Torah about Noah living to be nine hundred and Moses living to be a hundred and forty, well, guess who led the chorus line in the â€Å"Off This Mortal Coil† shuffle? That's where he got the black-winged aspect that I've talked about before. Even though they fired him, they let him keep the outfit. (Can you believe that Noah was able to postpone death for eight hundred years by telling the angel that he was behind in his paperwork? Would that Raziel could be that incompetent at his current task.) â€Å"Look, Raziel! Pizza!† I pointed to a sign. â€Å"Buy us pizza!† He took some money out of his pocket and handed it to me. â€Å"You do it. You can do it, right?† â€Å"Yes, we had commerce in my time,† I said sarcastically. â€Å"We didn't have pizza, but we had commerce.† â€Å"Good, can you use that machine?† He pointed to a box that held newspapers behind glass. â€Å"If it doesn't open with that little handle, then no.† The angel looked perturbed. â€Å"How is it that you can receive the gift of tongues and suddenly understand all languages, and there is no gift that can tell you how things work in this time? Tell me that.† â€Å"Look, maybe if you didn't hog the remote all the time I would learn how to use these things.† I meant that I could have learned more about the outside world from television, but Raziel thought I meant that I needed more practice pushing the channel buttons. â€Å"Knowing how to use the television isn't enough. You have to know how everything in this world works.† And with that the angel turned and stared through the window of the pizza place at the men tossing disks of dough into the air. â€Å"Why, Raziel? Why do I need to know about how this world works? If anything, you've tried to keep me from learning anything.† â€Å"Not anymore. Let's go eat pizza.† â€Å"Raziel?† He wouldn't explain any further, but for the rest of the day we wandered the city, spending money, talking to people, learning. In the late afternoon Raziel inquired of a bus driver as to where we might go to meet Spider-Man. I could have gone another two thousand years without seeing the kind of disappointment I saw on Raziel's face when the bus driver gave his answer. We returned here to the room where Raziel said, â€Å"I miss destroying cities full of humans.† â€Å"I know what you mean,† I said, even though it was my best friend who had caused that sort of thing to go out of fashion, and not a moment too soon. But the angel needed to hear it. There's a difference between bearing false witness and saving someone's feelings. Even Joshua knew that. â€Å"Joshua, you're scaring me,† I said, talking to the disembodied voice that floated before me in the temple. â€Å"Where are you?† â€Å"I am everywhere and nowhere,† Joshua's voice said. â€Å"How come your voice is in front of me then?† I didn't like this at all. Yes, my years with Joshua had jaded me in regard to supernatural experiences, but my meditation hadn't yet brought me to the place where I wouldn't react to my friend being invisible. â€Å"I suppose it is the nature of a voice that it must come from somewhere, but only so that it may be let go.† Gaspar had been sitting in the temple and at the sound of our voices he rose and came over to me. He didn't appear to be angry, but then, he never did. â€Å"Why?† Gaspar said to me, meaning, Why are you talking and disturbing everyone's meditation with your infernal noise, you barbarian? â€Å"Joshua has attained enlightenment,† I said. Gaspar said nothing, meaning, So? That's the idea, you unworthy spawn of a razor-burned yak. I could tell that's what he meant by the tone in his voice. â€Å"So he's invisible.† â€Å"Mu,† Joshua's voice said. Mu meaning nothing beyond nothingness in Chinese. In an act of distinctly uncontrolled spontaneity, Gaspar screamed like a little girl and jumped four feet straight in the air. Monks stopped chanting and looked up. â€Å"What was that?† â€Å"That's Joshua.† â€Å"I am free of self, free of ego,† Joshua said. There was a little squeak and then a nasty stench infused us. I looked at Gaspar and he shook his head. He looked at me and I shrugged. â€Å"Was that you?† Gaspar asked Joshua. â€Å"Me in the sense that I am part of all things, or me in the sense of I am the one who poofed the gefilte gas?† asked Josh. â€Å"The latter,† said Gaspar. â€Å"No,† said Josh. â€Å"You lie,† I said, as amazed at that as I was at the fact that I couldn't see my friend. â€Å"I should stop talking now. Having a voice separates me from all that is.† With that he was quiet, and Gaspar looked as if he were about to panic. â€Å"Don't go away, Joshua,† the abbot said. â€Å"Stay as you are if you must, but come to the tea chamber at dawn tomorrow.† Gaspar looked to me. â€Å"You come too.† â€Å"I have to train on the poles in the morning,† I said. â€Å"You are excused,† Gaspar said. â€Å"And if Joshua talks to you anymore tonight, try to persuade him to share our existence.† Then he hurried off in a very unenlightened way. That night I was falling asleep when I heard a squeak in the hall outside of my cell, then an incredibly foul odor jolted me awake. â€Å"Joshua?† I crawled out of my cell into the hall. There were narrow slots high in the walls through which moonlight could sift, but I saw nothing but faint blue light on the stone. â€Å"Joshua, is that you?† â€Å"How could you tell?† Joshua's disembodied voice said. â€Å"Well, honestly, you stink, Josh.† â€Å"The last time we went to the village for alms, a woman gave Number Fourteen and me a thousand-year-old egg. It didn't sit well.† â€Å"Can't imagine why. I don't think you're supposed to eat an egg after, oh, two hundred years or so.† â€Å"They bury them, leave them there, then dig them up.† â€Å"Is that why I can't see you?† â€Å"No, that's because of my meditation. I've let go of everything. I've achieved perfect freedom.† â€Å"You've been free ever since we left Galilee.† â€Å"It's not the same. That's what I came to tell you, that I can't free our people from the rule of Romans.† â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"Because that's not true freedom. Any freedom that can be given can be taken away. Moses didn't need to ask Pharaoh to release our people, our people didn't need to be released from the Babylonians, and they don't need to be released from the Romans. I can't give them freedom. Freedom is in their hearts, they merely have to find it.† â€Å"So you're saying you're not the Messiah?† â€Å"How can I be? How can a humble being presume to grant something that is not his to give?† â€Å"If not you, who, Josh? Angels and miracles, your ability to heal and comfort? Who else is chosen if not you?† â€Å"I don't know. I don't know anything. I wanted to say good-bye. I'll be with you, as part of all things, but you won't perceive me until you become enlightened. You can't imagine how this feels, Biff. You are everything, you love everything, you need nothing.† â€Å"Okay. You won't be needing your shoes then, right?† â€Å"Possessions stand between you and freedom.† â€Å"Sounded like a yes to me. Do me one favor though, okay?† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"Listen to what Gaspar has to say to you tomorrow.† And give me time to think up an intelligent answer to someone who's invisible and crazy, I thought to myself. Joshua was innocent, but he wasn't stupid. I had to come up with something to save the Messiah so he could save the rest of us. â€Å"I'm going to the temple to sit. I'll see you in the morning.† â€Å"Not if I see you first.† â€Å"Funny,† said Josh. Gaspar looked especially old that morning when I met him in the tea room. His personal quarters consisted of a cell no bigger than my own, but it was located just off the tea room and had a door which he could close. It was cold in the morning in the monastery and I could see our breath as Gaspar boiled the water for tea. Soon I saw a third puff of breath coming from my side of the table, although there was no person there. â€Å"Good morning, Joshua,† Gaspar said. â€Å"Did you sleep, or are you free from that need?† â€Å"No, I don't need sleep anymore,† said Josh. â€Å"You'll excuse Twenty-one and I, as we still require nourishment.† Gaspar poured us some tea and fetched two rice balls from a shelf where he kept the tea. He held one out for me and I took it. â€Å"I don't have my bowl with me,† I said, worried that Gaspar would be angry with me. How was I to know? The monks always ate breakfast together. This was out of order. â€Å"Your hands are clean,† said Gaspar. Then he sipped his tea and sat peacefully for a while, not saying a word. Soon the room heated up from the charcoal brazier that Gaspar had used to heat the tea and I was no longer able to see Joshua's breath. Evidently he'd also overcome the gastric distress of the thousand-year-old egg. I began to get nervous, aware that Number Three would be waiting for Joshua and me in the courtyard to start our exercises. I was about to say something when Gaspar held up a finger to mark silence. â€Å"Joshua,† Gaspar said, â€Å"do you know what a bodhisattva is?† â€Å"No, master, I don't.† â€Å"Gautama Buddha was a bodhisattva. The twenty-seven patriarchs since Gautama Buddha were also bodhisattvas. Some say that I, myself, am a bodhisattva, but the claim is not mine.† â€Å"There are no Buddhas,† said Joshua. â€Å"Indeed,† said Gaspar, â€Å"but when one reaches the place of Buddhahood and realizes that there is no Buddha because everything is Buddha, when one reaches enlightenment, but makes a decision that he will not evolve to nirvana until all sentient beings have preceded him there, then he is a bodhisattva. A savior. A bodhisattva, by making this decision, grasps the only thing that can ever be grasped: compassion for the suffering of his fellow humans. Do you understand?† â€Å"I think so,† said Joshua. â€Å"But the decision to become a bodhisattva sounds like an act of ego, a denial of enlightenment.† â€Å"Indeed it is, Joshua. It is an act of self-love.† â€Å"Are you asking me to become a bodhisattva?† â€Å"If I were to say to you, love your neighbor as you love yourself, would I be telling you to be selfish?† There was silence for a moment, and as I looked at the place where Joshua's voice was originating, he gradually started to become visible again. â€Å"No,† said Joshua. â€Å"Why?† asked Gaspar. â€Å"Love thy neighbor as thou lovest thyself† – and here there was a long pause when I could imagine Joshua looking to the sky for an answer, as he so often did, then: â€Å"for he is thee, and thou art he, and everything that is ever worth loving is everything.† Joshua solidified before our eyes, fully dressed, looking no worse for the wear. Gaspar smiled and those extra years that he had been carrying on his face seemed to fade away. There was a peace in his aspect and for a moment he could have been as young as we were. â€Å"That is correct, Joshua. You are truly an enlightened being.† â€Å"I will be a bodhisattva to my people,† Joshua said. â€Å"Good, now go shave the yak,† said Gaspar. I dropped my rice ball. â€Å"What?† â€Å"And you, find Number Three and commence your training on the posts.† â€Å"Let me shave the yak,† I said. â€Å"I've done it before.† Joshua put his hand on my shoulder. â€Å"I'll be fine.† Gaspar said: â€Å"And on the next moon, after alms, you shall both go with the group into the mountains for a special meditation. Your training begins tonight. You shall receive no meals for two days and you must bring me your blankets before sundown. â€Å"But I've already been enlightened,† protested Josh. â€Å"Good. Shave the yak,† said the master. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when Joshua showed up the next day at the communal dining room with a bale of yak hair and not a scratch on him. The other monks didn't seem surprised in the least. In fact, they hardly looked up from their rice and tea. (In my years at Gaspar's monastery, I found it was astoundingly difficult to surprise a Buddhist monk, especially one who had been trained in kung fu. So alert were they to the moment that one had to become nearly invisible and completely silent to sneak up on a monk, and even then simply jumping out and shouting â€Å"boo† wasn't enough to shake their chakras. To get a real reaction, you pretty much had to poleax one of them with a fighting staff, and if he heard the staff whistling through the air, there was a good chance he'd catch it, take it away from you, and pound you into damp pulp with it. So, no, they weren't surprised when Joshua delivered the fuzz harvest unscathed.) â€Å"How?† I asked, that being pretty much what I wanted to know. â€Å"I told her what I was doing,† said Joshua. â€Å"She stood perfectly still.† â€Å"You just told her what you were going to do?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"She wasn't afraid, so she didn't resist. All fear comes from trying to see the future, Biff. If you know what is coming, you aren't afraid.† â€Å"That's not true. I knew what was coming – namely that you were going to get stomped by the yak and that I'm not nearly as good at healing as you are – and I was afraid.† â€Å"Oh, then I'm wrong. Sorry. She must just not like you.† â€Å"That's more like it,† I said, vindicated. Joshua sat on the floor across from me. Like me, he wasn't permitted to eat anything, but we were allowed tea. â€Å"Hungry?† â€Å"Yes, you?† â€Å"Starving. How did you sleep last night, without your blanket, I mean?† â€Å"It was cold, but I used the training and I was able to sleep.† â€Å"I tried, but I shivered all night long. It's not even winter yet, Josh. When the snow falls we'll freeze to death without a blanket. I hate the cold.† â€Å"You have to be the cold,† said Joshua. â€Å"I liked you better before you got enlightened,† I said. Now Gaspar started to oversee our training personally. He was there every second as we leapt from post to post, and he drilled us mercilessly through the complex hand and foot movements we practiced as part of our kung fu regimen. (I had a funny feeling that I'd seen the movements before as he taught them to us, then I remembered Joy doing her complex dances in Balthasar's fortress. Had Gaspar taught the wizard, or vice versa?) As we sat in meditation, sometimes all through the night, he stood behind us with his bamboo rod and periodically struck us on the back of the head for no reason I could discern. â€Å"Why's he keep doing that? I didn't do anything,† I complained to Joshua over tea. â€Å"He's not hitting you to punish you, he's hitting you to keep you in the moment.† â€Å"Well, I'm in the moment now, and at the moment I'd like to beat the crap out of him.† â€Å"You don't mean that.† â€Å"Oh, what? I'm supposed to want to be the crap I beat out of him?† â€Å"Yes, Biff,† Joshua said somberly. â€Å"You must be the crap.† But he couldn't keep a straight face and he started to snicker as he sipped his tea, finally spraying the hot liquid out his nostrils and collapsing into a fit of laughter. All of the other monks, who evidently had been listening in, started giggling as well. A couple of them rolled around on the floor holding their sides. It's very difficult to stay angry when a room full of bald guys in orange robes start giggling. Buddhism. Gaspar made us wait two months before taking us on the special meditation pilgrimage, so it was well into winter before we made that monumental trek. Snow fell so deep on the mountainside that we literally had to tunnel our way out to the courtyard every morning for exercise. Before we were allowed to begin, Joshua and I had to shovel all of the snow out of the courtyard, which meant that some days it was well past noon before we were able to start drilling. Other days the wind whipped down out of the mountains so viciously that we couldn't see more than a few inches past our faces, and Gaspar would devise exercises that we could practice inside. Joshua and I were not given our blankets back, so I, for one, spent every night shivering myself to sleep. Although the high windows were shuttered and charcoal braziers were lit in the rooms that were occupied, there was never anything approaching physical comfort during the winter. To my relief, the other monks were not unaffected by the cold, and I noticed that the accepted posture for breakfast was to wrap your entire body around your steaming cup of tea, so not so much as a mote of precious heat might escape. Someone entering the dining hall, seeing us all balled up in our orange robes, might have thought he stumbled into a steaming patch of giant pumpkins. At least the others, including Joshua, seemed to find some relief from the chill during their meditations, having reached that state, I'm told, where they could, indeed, generate their own heat. I was still learning the discipline. Sometimes I considered climbing to the back of the temple where the cave became narrow and hund reds of fuzzy bats hibernated on the ceiling in a great seething mass of fur and sinew. The smell might have been horrid, but it would have been warm. When the day finally came for us to take the pilgrimage, I was no closer to generating my own heat than I had been at the start, so I was relieved when Gaspar led five of us to a cabinet and issued yak-wool leggings and boots to each of us. â€Å"Life is suffering,† said Gaspar as he handed Joshua his leggings, â€Å"but it is more expedient to go through it with one's legs intact.† We left just after dawn on a crystal clear morning after a night of brutal wind that had blown much of the snow off the base of the mountain. Gaspar led five of us down the mountain to the village. Sometimes we trod in the snow up to our waists, other times we hopped across the tops of exposed stones, suddenly making our training on the tops of the posts seem much more practical than I had ever thought possible. On the mountainside, a slip from one of the stones might have sent us plunging into a powder-filled ravine to suffocate under fifty feet of snow. The villagers received us with great celebration, coming out of their stone and sod houses to fill our bowls with rice and root vegetables, ringing small brass bells and blowing the yak horn in our honor before quickly retreating back to their fires and slamming their doors against the cold. It was festive, but it was brief. Gaspar led us to the home of the toothless old woman who Joshua and I had met so long ago and we all bedded down in the straw of her small barn amid her goats and a pair of yaks. (Her yaks were much smaller than the one we kept at the monastery, more the size of normal cattle. I found out later that ours was the progeny of the wild yaks that lived in the high plateaus, while hers were from stock that had been domesticated for a thousand years.) After the others had gone to sleep, I snuck into the old woman's house in search of some food. It was a small stone house with two rooms. The front one was dimly lit by a single window covered with a tanned and stretched animal hide that transmitted the light of the full moon as a dull yellow glow. I could only make out shapes, not actual objects, but I felt my way around the room until I laid my hand on what had to be a bag of turnips. I dug one of the knobby vegetables from the bag, brushed the dirt from the surface with my palm, then sunk in my teeth and crunched away a mouthful of crisp, earthy bliss. I had never even cared for turnips up to that time, but I had just decided that I was going to sit there until I had transferred the entire contents of that bag to my stomach, when I heard a noise in the back room. I stopped chewing and listened. Suddenly I could see someone standing in the doorway between the two rooms. I drew in my breath and held it. Then I heard the old woman's voice, speaking Chinese with her peculiar accent: â€Å"To take the life of a human or one like a human. To take a thing that is not given. To claim to have superhuman powers.† I was slow, but suddenly I realized that the old woman was reciting the rules for which a monk could be expelled from the monastery. As she came into the dim light from the window she said, â€Å"To have intercourse with anyone, even down to an animal.† And at that second, I realized that the toothless old woman was completely naked. A mouthful of chewed turnip rolled out of my mouth and down the front of my robe. The old woman, close now, reached out, I thought to catch the mess, but instead she caught what was under my robe. â€Å"Do you have superhuman powers?† the old woman said, pulling on my manhood, which, much to my amazement, nodded an answer. I need to say here that it had been over two years since we had left Balthasar's fortress, and another six months before that since the demon had come and killed all of the girls but Joy – thus curtailing my regular supply of sexual companions. I want to go on record that I had been steadfast in adhering to the rules of the monastery, allowing only those nocturnal emissions as were expelled during dreams (although I had gotten pretty good in directing my dreams in that direction, so all that mental discipline and meditation wasn't completely useless). So, that said, I was in a weakened state of resistance when the old woman, leathery and toothless as she might have been, compelled me by threat and intimidation to share with her what the Chinese call the Forbidden Monkey Dance. Five times. Imagine my chagrin when the man who would save the world found me in the morning with a twisted burl of Chinese crone-flesh orally affixed to my fleshy pagoda of expandable joy, even as I snored away in transcendent turnip-digesting oblivion. â€Å"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!† said Joshua, turning to the wall and throwing his robe over his head. â€Å"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!† I said, roused from my slumber by the disgusted exclamation of my friend. â€Å"Ahhhhhhhhhh!† said the old woman, I think. (Her speech was generously obstructed, if I do say so myself.) â€Å"Jeez, Biff,† Joshua stuttered. â€Å"You can't†¦I mean†¦Lust is†¦Jeez, Biff!† â€Å"What?† I said, like I didn't know what. â€Å"You've ruined sex for me for all time,† Joshua said. â€Å"Whenever I think of it, this picture will always come up in my mind.† â€Å"So,† I said, pushing the old woman away and shooing her into the back room. â€Å"So†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Joshua turned around and looked me in the eye, then grinned widely enough to threaten the integrity of his ears. â€Å"So thanks.† I stood and bowed. â€Å"I am here only to serve,† I said, grinning back. â€Å"Gaspar sent me to look for you. He's ready to leave.† â€Å"Okay, I'd better, you know, say good-bye.† I gestured toward the back room. Joshua shuddered. â€Å"No offense,† he said to the old woman, who was out of sight in the other room. â€Å"I was just surprised.† â€Å"Want a turnip?† I said, holding up one of the knobby treats. Joshua turned and started out the door. â€Å"Jeez, Biff,† he was saying as he left.

Essential Questions Essay

1. How and why did America turn toward domestic isolation and social conservatism in the 1920s? Americans turned toward domestic isolation and social conservatism in the 1920s because of the red scare. Many people used the red scare to break the backs of all struggling unions. Isolationist Americans had did not have a lot of hope in the 1920s. There began to be a large amount of immigrants flowing into the US. During 1920-1921, over 800,000 immigrants had come. This type of immigration was known as the â€Å"New Immigration†. The Emergency Quota act of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924 severely limited immigration and was taken from the census of 1890 rather than 1910, because 1890 was a huge immigration year. It was the worst for the Japanese. The main reasons for isolation was due to anti European feelings, immigrant labor that lowered wages, the need for skilled workers and radical political movement and beliefs such as socialism, communism, and anarchism which were usually known as the Red Scare. 2. How was the character of American culture affected by the social political changes of the 1920s? (Include both white ethnic groups and blacks in your discussion.) The character of American culture was affected by the social political changes of the 1920s and America became a country focused on individualism. After World War 1 ended, the political and economic focus on the individual instead of community needs lead to a time of isolationism. There was less emphasis placed on the family than in past decades which resulted in a divorce rate of 20 percent. The 1920’s were a period of riches and very expensive economic practices. 3. Why was immigration which had existed for many generations, seen as such a great threat to American identity and culture in the prosperous 1920s? America was always seen as a country where it would be safe for immigration and immigrants from Europe to come to make a living. While immigration had always been open for generations, in fact, since the United States was born, people started to resent immigrants because they started to take jobs away from normal citizens, and also because of just plain racism. People wouldn’t like Japanese, Chinese, Italians, Irish, etc. As for assimilation, many people come to this country with no intention of ever becoming Americans. They want to be known as Americans. A lot of the immigrants didn’t want to pay taxes or learn English, except work at a really low wage and steal jobs. 4. Why did critics like Horace Kallen and Randolph Bourne dislike the pressure on immigrants to â€Å"Americanize† and join the â€Å"melting pot†? What did they envision that America should be like under the ideals of â€Å"cultural pluralism†? Critics like Horace Kallen and Randolph Bourne, who was a progressive writer and public intellectual from New Jersey, both disliked the pressure on immigrants to â€Å"Americanize† and join the â€Å"melting pot† because they felt that Americanism should not be associated with Anglo-Saxonism. Randolph said that the US should put up immigrant cultures into a cosmopolitan America instead of forcing immigrants to get used to Anglophilic culture. 5. How did some of the events of the 1920s reflect national conflict over social, cultural and religious values? The Red Scare reflected the fear of Americans which they had of communists infiltrating the US government. Sacco and Vanzetti’s arrest and execution made foreigners fear America even more, especially the anarchists. This caused worldwide dispute over whether they were given a fair trial, or if it was just based on them being Italian and â€Å"anarchists†. The Scopes Trial reflected American fear of new ideas that looked like it challenged traditional religious values and the Biblical origin of man. The Teapot Dome Scandal reflected America’s want of wealth and their materialistic ways, which made people want material possessions at any price. The Flappers reflected America’s changing values of enjoyment, immorality, and worldliness. 6. How did the automobile and other new products create a mass-consumption economy in the 1920s? When the United States made the model T Ford, this was the first time the US found a way to mass produce a one color one size fits all reliable and at the time fashionable Model T. Thomas Edison also invented a major thing that many people just had to get to go into the next millennium, which was the light bulb. This new era destroyed the old way of light, which was the candle, and replaced it with an electricity consuming item that was really useful. Also, there was George Washington Carver, who was a Botanist and a Chemist. He established an official industrial research center in both Alabama and Iowa. Carver was able to make legumes into useful ingredients in medicines and materials for consumer use, like the peanut. 7. How did the new films, literature, and music of 20’s affect American values in areas of religion, sexuality, and family life? Were African American cultural developments fundamentally different, or were they part of the same cultural movement? The 1920s has been known for a long time as the â€Å"Roaring Twenties†. This was an era of first-time prosperity that was best remembered through the cultural artifacts made by its new mass-consumption economy. The new media erased the old values and helped to bring in a new set of values. You could argue that the movies and music, which was mostly jazz, encouraged people to take on more self-indulgent values. 8. In what ways were the twenties a social and cultural reaction against the progressive idealism that held sway before and during WWI? The 1920s were a time when people stopped being idealistic and started to just be interested in fun and getting ahead in money. Before WWI, there was a Progressive movement that was very idealistic. The Progressives were trying to change the world and â€Å"progress†, but after WWI, this idealism seemed to be gone, probably because the war was so bad. People probably no longer thought they would be able to change the world and just wanted to turn their attention to having fun. Because of this change, the ’20s were a time of fun and materialism. People were getting rich because of the stock market boom. Many were enjoying themselves with the new movies, abundant amount of cars, and the exciting new music, like Jazz. They were coming to have different values which emphasized having fun.

Assessment and Management of Pain

Morphine is one of the prevalent analgesic opioid that is considered as potent and effective pain relievers and has been undertaken for past many years. This is used for undertaking both acute and chronic pain management. Morphine targets the pain due to myocardial infarction, surgery, injuries and others (Macintyre and Schug 2014). Morphine is an opiate drug that targets opioid receptors leading to the formation of the analgesia with the help of the mechanism of hyperpolarisation of interneuron and decrement in the release of the transmitters of pain. Human body consist of inbuilt analgesic and pain relieving system that regulates in the body by minimizing the sensations in the spinal cord that further transmits the sensations of the pain to different locations with the help of synapse within the neurons. Activation of the pain management in the spinal cord occurs by the supraspinal mechanism. This mechanism includes opioid system that is responsible for the release of endorphins, the adrenergic system that is responsible for the release of norepinephrine and serotogenic system that is responsible for the release of serotonin. Synergy and communication among all leads to the activation of analgesic activity. When the inbuilt analgesic system fails to control pain, additional analgesic drugs such as morphine is used to increase the working capacity of this inbuilt system. Besides this, morphine also regulates the generation of supraspinal structures leading to the activation of the whole system. Adrenergic drugs react with specific receptors for the production of the analgesia and morphine further reacts with these drugs for the regulation of the analgesia (Stang et al. 2014). Visceral pain targets the thoracic, abdominal and pelvic organs of the body and it is considered to be one of the most common types of the pain a doctor responds to. Visceral pain targets chest, prostate gland, pelvis, gastrointestinal tract, gall bladder, scrotum and vulva (Mayer et al. 2015). Surgical treatments available for the treatment of Angina pectoris and other chest pain is coronary artery bypass surgery or grafting and percutaneous coronary intervention that undertakes the change in the oxygen concentration in the body with the help of certain channel blockers such as nitrates and calcium. Alteration in the oxygen demand and supply leads to the reduction of the pain. Besides this, Cordotomy is another surgical procedure that is used for the treatment of visceral pain due to terminal maladies or illness such as cancer, AIDS, pulmonary fibrosis and many others. This surgery is undertaken percutaneously with the help of fluoroscopic or computerized tomography scan. The laminectomy surgery is undertaken in the spinothalamic tract under the presence of anaesthesia. Another technique that is appropriate as the surgical treatment for the visceral pain is myelotomy which are of two types Commissural and Punctuate or limited Midline. Commissural Myelotomy undertakes the m ultiscale laminectomy in the spinal cord. This targets the nerve fibre joining the brain with spinal cord and interrupts the pain there. While Punctuate or Limited Midline is a neuroablative surgery that undertakes the treatment of bladder, pancreas and colon by interrupting the center of dorsal column. This is one of the most effective methods as it can be used for the treatment of posterior columns of the organs (Lazzeri et al. 2015). Lazzeri, L., Vannuccini, S., Orlandini, C., Luisi, S., Zupi, E., Nappi, R.E. and Petraglia, F., 2015. Surgical treatment affects perceived stress differently in women with endometriosis: correlation with severity of pain.  Fertility and sterility,  103(2), pp.433-438. Macintyre, P.E. and Schug, S.A., 2014.  Acute pain management: a practical guide. CRC Press. Mayer, E.A., Gupta, A., Kilpatrick, L.A. and Hong, J.Y., 2015. Imaging brain mechanisms in chronic visceral pain.  Pain,  156(0 1), p.S50. Stang, A.S., Hartling, L., Fera, C., Johnson, D. and Ali, S., 2014. Quality indicators for the assessment and management of pain in the emergency department: a systematic review.  Pain Research and Management,  19(6), pp.e179-e190.

Family Violence Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Family Violence Law - Case Study Example This paper analyzes the arguments in favor of and against treating Marcia as guilty. The Case Marcia Norman, 39, and her husband, Mitchell, had been married for 25 years and had several children. Mitchell did not work. He forced Marcia to make money by prostitution, and he made fun of that fact before family and friends. He beat her if she resisted going to a truck stop and offering her body. On a few occasions, he made her eat out of the pets’ bowls and insisted that she bark like a dog. He threatened to kill or maim her numerous times.   Marcia and Mitchell got along very well when he was sober. But early one morning, he was intoxicated when he went to a highway rest area where Marcia was prostituting herself and assaulted her. He continued beating her all day after they got home. She called the police and was told to come in and file a complaint, but she was afraid that he would kill her if she had him arrested. She ingested a bottle of pills, then panicked and called EMS . Her husband cursed her as the paramedics treated her and urged them to let her die. After they left, Mitchell continued to slap, kick and throw objects at Marcia. At one point, he put a cigarette out on her upper torso, causing a small burn. After he fell asleep, Marcia took their baby to her mother’s so that she would not wake him, returned with a pistol and killed him.   At trial, Marcia pleads self-defense, which is defined as â€Å"the necessity, real or reasonably apparent, of killing an unlawful aggressor to save oneself from imminent death or great bodily harm† (Given Case). When we consider the case North Carolina v. Judy Ann Laws Norman, we can argue that Marcia is not guilty even though she killed her sleeping husband. Judy Norman suffered a lot from the hands of her husband. Her husband forced her into prostitution and when opposed, she suffered a great deal of physical and psychological abuse from her husband. It was difficult for her to defend herself when she and her husband were in a physical encounter. So she killed him while he was sleeping. â€Å"A three judge panel of the intermediate appellate court, in a unanimous opinion held that there was sufficient evidence to support a charge of reasonable self-defense† (Angel 21). The above verdict is applicable in the case of Marcia also. She had no other way to escape from the brutalities of her husband. It should be noted that Mitchel (husband), disrespected her individuality and identity and forced her to live in accordance with the guidelines given by him. He used his physical and domineering strength to attack her both physically and mentally. Mitchel was denying Marcia the right to live on an equitable level as him. If Marcia had failed to kill him, he would have killed her. Using the â€Å"Self-Defense† argument could be a reasonable defense within this case. Under these circumstances, Marcia can argue that she tried to save her life from a certain death. Accor ding to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito â€Å"self-defense is a basic right, recognized by many legal systems from ancient times to the present† (Killing in Self-Defense). â€Å"The general criminal law allows for the use of deadly force anytime a faultless victim reasonably believes that unlawful force which will cause death or grievous bodily harm is about to be used on him†(Hobart). Marcia believes that her life is in danger and her husband may kill her at any time. It is reasonable for Marcia

Nosocomial Infections, Sanitation in Medical Settings Research Paper

Nosocomial Infections, Sanitation in Medical Settings - Research Paper Example This refers to the diseases or infections caused by the hospital environment as a favoring factor. According to the CDC the number of deaths as a result of nosocomial diseases is about 100,000 (Acton, 2013). This infections as commonly caused by bacteria and micro-organisms in the hospital environment. Most common nosocomial diseases include pneumonia infections, urinary tract and blood stream infection. In an argument by WHO (2002) nosocomial infections are mostly caused by the inability of health providers to abide by sanitation regulations. The author further asserts that patient mishandling and practitioner carelessness constitute the largest causing factors of nosocomial infections. The infection’s common route of transmission is direct contact. In this mode of transmission a practitioner may come into contact with a patient with equipment that have not be sanitized, or body to body contact. There infection could also be transmitted through droplet transmission. The droplets may be from a sneeze, cough or talking during sensitive procedures. For instance, a practitioner is required to cover their nose and mouth during surgeries to avoid droplet transmission of infection. Airborne transmission is also a common way nosocomial infection are transmitted. This may be in case or airborne diseases such as tuberculosis. Food, water, devices and medications may also transmit infections if poorly handled. Acton (2013) asserts that simple precautions could be put in place to minimize the occurrence of nosocomial infections. Firstly, sterilization should be done of equipment that are reused in a medical setting. In an instance where a practitioner or a patient put the environment at the risk of infection, isolation should be considered for the person. This would ensure the person does not contaminate the health setting. For the practitioners basic hygiene procedures should be

How globalization affect small businesses Essay

How globalization affect small businesses - Essay Example This paper examines how globalization affects small businesses. Background of Globalization Globalization can be defined as a process of moving goods, people and ideas due to the increased trading and economic activities which is greatly affected by economic integration of different countries. Globalization is a tool that is used by many countries to control economic power. It was used to influence policies, expand trade and gain economic advantage over other countries and organizations. Globalization is traced back to the First World War where super countries applied it to harness their communication and have access link to transport to different parts of the world with an economic motive. The first instance of globalization was directed by the super power to have access over India. Trade was a major link that the super power countries could access their political and economical goals; therefore they used various theories which later resulted to globalization. Countries considering themselves as superpowers were very much engrossed during the world war, but they introduced various policies within their boundaries to protect their interest while they pursue other interest which did not directly affect their country. An example is that some countries sanctioned the importation of manufactured products. This encouraged the Great Britain to expand its market by taking advantage of the situation where countries sanctioned the importation of their manufactured products by liberalizing its trade to increase its economic production while the war was being fought. After the war, many countries introduced trade tariffs which were aimed at restoring domestic industries and economic production and this highly affected other parts of the world resulting to the process of globalization (Shuman 150). Globalization In the Past and Today Globalization in the pasts was known as the anti-globalism period because of the wars which were surrounding its era. The first face is trace d during the Napoleonic wars to the First World War. It was characterized by international trade, financial flow and migrations of different races to areas where they considered havens. The trade during this era was high compared to the output that was being produced in the world by different countries. Global integration was promoted during this era because of the lowering of trade tariffs and transport cost. Transport cost was significantly reduced because of the railroad and roads being constructed on different parts of the continent. In the past, globalization was also characterized by different policies like the sanctioning of Corn Laws in Britain. Countries put in place a trade liberalization trend which was highly geared towards improving economic activities in the region. The current globalization is characterized by policies from developed and developing economies which support the process of globalization itself. The industrial sector has greatly improved because of the pr esence of skilled labor obtained from educated workforce. New technologies have also promoted globalization in the current eras they linked transport and communication as individuals living in this century are able to access vital information and communication. ICT trends within the continent have promoted and made globalization easier as it has led to the cost of accessing information and communication globally. Moreover, globalization during this contemporary society prides itself

'Systematic' approach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

'Systematic' approach - Essay Example An organizations success depends on qualities of the employees working in that organization. For achieving the goals of the organization, the organization required right quantity and quality of employees. By understanding the learning need the organization can improve the capabilities of the employees. By providing learning opportunities to the employees helps to achieve personnel and carrier goal and able to increase the employees engagement. This helps to improve the productivity of the organization. Learning â€Å"is acquiring new knowledge behaviors, skills, values, preferences or understanding, and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.Human learning may occur as part of education, personal development, or training. It may be goal-oriented and may be aided by motivation. The study of how learning occurs is part of neuropsychology, educational psychology, learning theory, and pedagogy.† (Learning, 2010). An organization’s ability to learn and translate that learning into action is the ultimate competitive advantage. In each and every organization using learning process learning is mainly using for the purpose train the employees it is a continuous process and it is a step by step process it is a systematic approach. Learning is the process by which people select organize or interpret attach meaning to the event happening the environment. Learning and developments involves the continual improvement of companies in the organization. The learning source may including workers ideas, consumers input, research and development (R&D) and best practice sharing and benchmarking. The learning result give more satisfaction and versatile of employees. In each and every organization have there on approaches they must realize that by continuously developing and training their employees

Effectiveness of Counterinsurgency Efforts Employed Against FARC, ELN, Research Paper

Effectiveness of Counterinsurgency Efforts Employed Against FARC, ELN, and AUC. Colombian and Peruvian Guerilla Groups - Research Paper Example For the purpose of this analysis, the research has been conducted from a range of qualitative secondary sources which have helped to shed light on the extent to which the governments of Peru and Colombia have successfully prosecuted their respective counterinsurgency wars. Secondly, the research question centers on the overall effectiveness of how these counterinsurgency struggles have been organized, implemented, and the end result of the aforementioned practices. Success is therefore easily determined based upon answering the question regarding whether the counterinsurgency efforts have been effective in either A) encouraging the insurgents to lay down their weapons and join the political process B) have resulted in a complete and total defeat of the insurgency or C) have had little effect and the insurgency is ongoing unabated. As such the research question can be answered by examining the current tactical and/or political situation posed by each of the insurgent groups that will be discussed in this paper.The case of ELN is unique for a number of reasons. First, the ELN is one of the few guerilla movements that was fought and defeated during the tumultuous battles that were ongoing within the continent between supporters of left and right at the time. Second, the ELN was unique in that it chose to work outside the framework of politics; choosing instead to espouse the Cuban revolutionaries beliefs that â€Å"first comes action – then the party†. ... Secondly, the research question centers on the overall effectiveness of how these counterinsurgency struggles have been organized, implemented, and the end result of the aforementioned practices. Success is therefore easily determined based upon answering the question regarding whether the counterinsurgency efforts have been effective in either A) encouraging the insurgents to lay down their weapons and join the political process B) have resulted in a complete and total defeat of the insurgency or C) have had little effect and the insurgency is ongoing unabated. As such the research question can be answered by examining the current tactical and/or political situation posed by each of the insurgent groups that will be discussed in this paper. ELN - Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional The case of ELN is unique for a number of reasons. First, the ELN is one of the few guerilla movements that was fought and defeated during the tumultuous battles that were ongoing within the continent between supporters of left and right at the time. Second, the ELN was unique in that it chose to work outside the framework of politics; choosing instead to espouse the Cuban revolutionaries beliefs that â€Å"first comes action – then the party†. In this way, ELN relinquished any and all claims to legitimacy it might have claimed with respect to the political process. Further, by distancing themselves from politics in such a manner, they effectively cut themselves off from all support and aid they might have received within their own country; instead, they were forced to rely on resupply and technical/tactical support from fellow communist sympathizers (usually from nations such as

Auto-ethnography Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Auto-ethnography - Personal Statement Example From this paper it is clear that  relative to that short description about some of their prevalent traits, the reporter   can say that they have been significant influence to his life and character in multiple ways. Today, when he is troubled or required to make a crucial decision, the author reminisces and asks himself, ‘what would his parents do?’, depending on the situation. Some of the occurrences that molded him took place when he was young and even though some of them were sad, he learn a lot from them. After the author started going to school, his great-grandmother passed on and it hit his mother hard. In fact, she had an emotional breakdown that made everyone sad and sorry.  This essay stresses that his parents were very religious and at a tender age, the reporter adopted this as a familial habit but later on came to understand everything. He can remember listening to the Quran regularly as his parents took turns in reading it. Moreover, on Fridays, they wo uld watch Khotba on the television as a family. This habits act as a firm foundation to his beliefs as a Muslim. Additionally, his dad owned a farm and every week they would visit and engage in different activities. His favorite and most memorable moments were riding his bike and playing with the rabbits.  Based on the Islamic culture, gatherings and family events were significant to us as Muslims and a family. When possible, the reporter would attend gatherings with the extended family members every week and twice a year, have Eid celebrations.

Florence vs. Board of Chosen Free

Florence vs. Board of Chosen Freeholders of county of Burlington et al. Essay Florence vs. Board of Chosen Freeholders of county of Burlington et al. Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1. The case is subtitled â€Å"Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit.† What is the meaning of â€Å"Certiorari†?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Certiorari is an order by a higher court to review the subordinate court. In this the higher court request the lower court to bring the case forward so that it can review how the lower court has gone about with it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2. Which justice wrote the majority opinion for the court? Which justices joined him/her?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion. Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Alito, Justice Breyer later on joined him,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   3. In five sentences or fewer and in your own words, what are the underlying facts of this case?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The case involves a plaintiff who was found guilty of a misdemeanor and given a fine for a traffic offense. However, he felt that the police had violated his rights and went to the Supreme Court to seek a certiorari for the court to look at the decision of the lower courts but the court of appeal affirmed the decision by the lower courts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   4. What was the main legal issue in this case? In other words, which constitutional provisions were allegedly violated?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The main legal issues was whether the police had actually violated a fundamental right in the constitution. The right to privacy is the constitutional question in this case. Who did Petitioner sue? (Who was defendant in original case?)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   5. The petitioner was the board of chosen freeholders of the county of Burlington.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What was the decision of the District court?                   6.The district court held that there was a violation of the fourth amendment.                   7.And how about the Appeals court? What was their decision?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The court of appeal upheld the decision of the district court.                   8. The U.S. Supreme Court noted in the majority decision that Appeals courts around the country have been split on this issue. Did this influence the Supreme Court’s decision to hear this case? Why?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This did not affect this case as the court applied their discretion to see the events that had been currently been brought before the court and keep aside the ideas that had ever applied in other cases. The court was also interested to create a precedence as such.                   9. The majority cites the case Block v Rutherford, 468 U.S. 576. For what purpose did they bring up this case?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The court used this decision to try and explain the reason for upholding the third circuit as such. This tries to explain the reasons as to why the court upheld it and also show situation which the issue of contraband banning could be used. The court used this to show that if the arrested party was a person of higher degree crime then he could be denied the rights.                   10. The court also raises Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517. What point were they trying to make here?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The use of this case was also to try and explain why the court had made this decision as such and also show instances that such a decision would not amount to infringement of rights.                   11. And Atwater v. Lago Vista, 532 U.S. 318 was discussed in depth. In your own words, what were the facts of that case?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the case the petitioner had come to court to seek whether undoubted security imperatives that are involved in jail supervision override an assertion that some of the detainees must evade from the invasive search.                   12.Why did the majority cite the Atwater case?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The majority cited this case to act as a guideline as to whether there can be limitation to enjoyment some rights as such.                   1. The majority lists the many types of contraband that can be smuggled into jails. List at least six examples.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mobile Phones, Drugs, Weapons, Glass materials, Illegal clothing, Messages to other prisoners                   2. Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was discussed. Why?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This situation was discussed to show the situations that the right can be limited. The right is explained that it can be limited in cases that the arrested party would pose a threat to the security of the public.                   3. Chief Justice Roberts issued a â€Å"concurring† opinion. What is a â€Å"concurring† opinion?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A concurring opinion is an opinion that goes in line with the decision and majority opinion of the courts.                   4. In your own words, what is Chief Justice Robert’s point?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Chief justice Roberts tries to explain the impossibility of the court giving the exclusion of a rule delivered by the same court as such. J                  5. ustice Alito also filed a concurring opinion. What was his point?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   His opinion was that the court will not be present at all times to ensure that the offenders are not subjected to these conditions. He tries to explain the fact that a judicial officer cannot always be present in the police stations to ensure that the right is not infringed at all.                   6. Who wrote the dissenting opinion? And who joined him/her?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The dissenting opinion was written by Justice by Breyer                   7. The dissent said that a certain standard should apply to searches. What standard were they recommending?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The standard that he sets is the determination of the weight of cases so as to be able to know how serious a matter could be before opting to go ahead to conduct searches on a detainee.                   8. The dissent, too, cites Atwater v. Lago Vista, 532 U.S. 315. Why?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The opinion cites this case to cite situations I which the right to privacy could be limited and not in minor offences such as the one brought before the court of justice.                   9. On page 5 of the dissent the justices refer to â€Å"amicus† briefs. What is an Amicus brief?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As a matter of fact, an amicus brief simply means an intervening brief to a case presented before the court of law.                   10. What examples did the dissent include to show those strip-searched for minor offenses?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The dissent uses the example of traffic offenders being subjected to the same manner just as the people involved in major state offences.                   11. If you were on the court, would you side with the majority, the dissent, or one of the concurring opinions? Why?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Most importantly, I would side with the decent since they have managed to show conclusively how the right can be infringed as such and also tries to protect the rights of minor offenders as well. References Florence vs. Board of Chosen Freeholders of county of Burlington et al. (2012)566. U.S Source document

Transgenic Plants and Their Applications

Transgenic Plants and Their Applications Aim of study Rice is one of the main staple foods in this world. It is particular interesting that studies be done on enhancing the rice production. There are biotic and abiotic factors that can reduce the production of rice but the aim for this study is to examine further into genes that can enhance rice tolerance towards drought as drought one of the main factors that decreases the annual production of rice in the world. In addition, genes conferring tolerance to transgenic rice will also lead to other positive phenotype effect such as salt tolerance (Hu et al., 2006), disease tolerance (Chen and Guo, 2008) and many more. The research of transgenic plants is still in its infant stage as technology progress to further extend. As this transgenic research is still new, there is a lot problem surrounding this new research and it is particularly important for one to know every aspect in transgenic rice. Aspect such as benefits and setbacks should be provided so that the aspects can be reviewed and to find a balance point. Balance point is where the benefit will overweight the setbacks. Furthermore, review would be more wholesome and informative and the information provided will lead to invoking thought of scientists that are interested to study further in the transgenic field. Rice Production According to Food and Argriculture Association (FAO) of United Nation, rice is the second largest produced cereal in the world. Around 350 million tons of rice was produced in the early 1990s and by the end of the century it had reached 410 million tons. Asia countries are the major rice producer in the world (90%) with China and India producing one-third of global population supply (ref?). Currently, rice is grown and harvested on every continent except Antarctica, where conditions are not suitable for rice growth. Other major rice producer includes India, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Philipine, and Bangladesh. Currently, more than 550 million tons of rice is produced annually around the globe. Few thousands of new strains of rice are produced till today. That includes those grown in the wild and those which are cultivated as a crop. Globally, more than 3 billion people from Asia and other countries depend on rice (Oryza sativa) as their staple food, and by 2025 at least 60% more rice must be produced to meet the demands of the growing human population (Yarasi et al., 2008). Currently, rice yield around the world are just barely enough to support the people that depend on rice as food (Karaba et al., 2007). This problem has become worrying because food shortage related to rice may escalate out of control and sends billions into starvation. Factors affecting rice production This shortage may be caused by biotic and abiotic factor (Capell et al., 2004). Plants had to face periodic or unpredictable biotic and abiotic stresses, such as salt, drought, cold, pests, and disease. The most significant abiotic stresses faced by plant are high salt environment and drought. These stresses inhibit crop growth and development and usually result in plant death. As crops fail, the production of food will decrease accordingly. Biotic Interference Production of rice is negatively impacted by numerous biotic factors includes insect infestation and microorganism invasion. An approximate 52% of the global production of rice is lost annually owing to the damage caused by biotic factors, of which around 21% is attributed to the attack of insect pests (Brookes and Barfoot, 2003). Insects belonging to plant hopper (Delphacidae) and leaf hopper (Cicadellidae) are hard to control and monitor. So, a lot of rice yield are lost due to insect infestation. Insects not only cause direct losses to the agricultural produce but also act as vectors for various plant pathogens that causes disease (Dahal et al., 1997; Foissac et al., 2000)The most known pests of rice are viz, brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens, BPH), green leafhopper (Nephotettix virescens, GLH) and whitebacked planthopper (Sogatella furcifera, WBPH) are known to cause severe damage. They have a hugh appetite for plant sap, and in large numbers, they can suck the sap of plants to the point where plants will lose important nutrient in sap and die. They also act as vectors for major viral diseases (Yarasi et al., 2008). Abiotic Interference Plants are non motile organism and needs to find suitable environment to continue on growing. Sometimes the environmental conditions are not suitable for them. So the challenge is the plants had to adapt to its environment by some biological mechanisms that are able to help plants to flourish in stressful environment. They manage to do so by series of event. First sensing a stress, and then signaling the stress through a series of components, leading to activation of a large number of stress-related genes and synthesis of a variety of functional proteins. This includes transcription factors, enzymes, molecular chaperones, ion channels, and transporters (Zhou et al., 2009). Functional proteins helps the plant can change in their physiological and metabolic reaction according to the stress endured. This ensure the plant continue to triumph in stressful abiotic environment (Bray, 1997). Counter Measures There are numerous physical ways to counter these problems. For example, pesticides can be use for the prevention of insect infestation. However, this counter measures are not without any negative consequences. Chemical control of insect pests is an effective method but not efficient. Pesticides cause a lot more today and the usage depends mainly on the weather conditions. Uncontrolled usage of chemical pesticides will not only build up resistance in insect pests but also affect other beneficial organisms such as pollinators, nutrient cyclers and natural pest-controlling predators (Yarasi et al., 2008). They can pollute the environment and as well as depleting other natural minerals of soil. As to solve drought problems on plants growth, government had tried counter measure such as cloud seeding. Cloud seeding Cloud seeding works by the use of airplanes to spray expensive chemicals such as silver salt into the sky in hope for rain. Cloud seeding is not preferred method to reduce the effect of drought on food production because the silver salt used are very expensive and success percentage of seeding clouds are very low. Now scientists are looking forward in finding the best solution to increase the production of rice. The most interesting and the most widely studied is the t ransgenic method. Transgenic Approach Transgenic comes from the word trans-gene, which means introduction of foreign gene that is consider beneficial to the wild type species. Any foreign genes that are considered a help to confer stability of rice to environmental stress are being studied. Genetic enhancement of rice through conventional methods is often constrained by narrow gene pools. So, transgenic technology can be used as better alternative approach for hybridization of wild species genes with foreign gene to produce a better rice species in term of survivability in nature (Yarasi et al., 2008). With current advancement in biotechnology, we can look forward to produce transgenic rice that can have higher survival chance from biotic and abiotic interference. Beneficial Transgenic Effect In Rice Through transgenic method, rice will be more resistant to diseases and insects when foreign genes are introduced into the wild type rice gene to express certain proteins that repel insects (Yarasi et al., 2008). For example, is the introduction of Tobacco OPBP1 gene into rice may improve the disease resistance of rice (Chen and Guo, 2008) and the introduction of Allium sativum leaf lectin gene into rice to repel sap-sucking insect (Yarasi et al., 2008). Besides that, rice will become more likely to survive abiotic catastrophe such as drought and high salinity condition as introduction of new genes confers the ability of rice to mediate metabolic ways to react to these stresses. For example, insertion of Arabidopsis HARDY (HRD) gene in rice improves water use efficiency, the ratio of biomass produced to the water used, by improving photosynthetic assimilation and reducing transpiration (Karaba et al., 2007). There is also the insertion of Triticum aestivum salt tolerance-related gene (TaSTRG) derived from salt-tolerant wheat mutant RH8706-49 enhances salt and drought tolerance of rice (Zhou et al., 2009). Other than that, transgenic process can be used to insert a bacterial chlorocatechol dioxygenase gene into rice so that rice plants are able to degrade pesticides (chlorinated compounds) to less harmful form. Several herbicides and pesticides containing chlorinated compounds have been used and have spread in the environment. They will destroy the delicate balance of nature by many ways. If left unattended, the environment will have some non reversible consequences. Therefore, bio-remediation of these chemical compounds will be a powerful technique to degrade chlorinated pollutants in soil. Transgenic rice plants that express foreign genes encoding enzymes to degrade chlorinated chemical compounds would enable farmers to remove these harmful chemical compounds from soil and water surrounding the fields (Alexander, 1981). By applying transgenic research, rice pla nt can be further enhanced to be able to survive stresses and as well to help remediate the environment. Indirectly, the rice production will also increase so that food crisis will not happen. The Super Green Rice Project Currently, scientific community are on the verge to produce transgenic rice called Super Green Rice which possesses numerous beneficial properties such as resistances to multiple insects and diseases, high nutrient efficiency, and drought resistance (Zhang, 2009). So this new kind of hybrid rice are hoped to reduce the consumption of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and water. Super Green Rice also needs to have high yield quality regardless of multiple stress environments (Zhang, 2009). For this production of Super Green rice to realized, they are undergoing enormous efforts to focus on identifying allthe hereditarymaterialin a single species and discovering genes for resistance to diseases and insects, nitrogen and potassium use efficiency, drought resistance, grain quality, and yield. The steps adopted include screening of germplasm collections and mutant libraries, gene discovery and identification, microarray analysis of differentially regulated genes under stressed conditions, and functional test of candidate genes by transgenic test (Zhang, 2009). Genes that are considered beneficial to the production of rice are now been isolated and are gradually incorporated into wild type rice gene. It is anticipated that such strategies and efforts would eventually lead to the development of Green Super Rice (Zhang, 2007). Problem of transgenic plant in food Transgenic research seems to have a bright and brilliant prospect ahead to help solve the world food crisis problems, but, the introduction of foreign genes into wild type rice does not come without any major public concern (Yarasi et al., 2008). In all new scientific projects worldwide, there will be problems because of the technologies and knowledge is yet to be fully explored. There are some worries that the lack of transgenic effect on food crop may have negative consequences. For example, effect of the transferred foreign toxic gene such as the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insect-resistance gene to other species other than rice (Yarasi et al., 2008). This induces the rice to produces endotoxin to repel insect from eating the crops. This Bt gene inserted into food crop can help to reduce insect destruction and increase the food yield, but, there are concerns that the inserted gene into food crops will have adverse effect on the nutrient quality of crops produced (Yarasi et al., 20 08). The gene may induce the plant to undergo different metabolic process and produces toxic substances as by-product. Although with the insertion of Bt gene into rice will increase its yield, but the rice produced are not suitable for human consumption. This may cause the crops produced not fit to be consumed. Transgenic Plant and Environment Concerns Through the introduction of transgenic plant in our environment, scientist began to think about the consequences that might occur. There is concern about the consequences of transgene escape to wild type relatives. Transgenic plants have genes that are different from the wild type gene but both transgenic and non-transgenic plants are still able to communicate and transfer genes (Lu and Yang, 2009). Communicate in this term means the ability to interbreed with each other. So, the transgene can flow to the wild type species. There are three pathways for gene flow to occur which is pollen-mediated, seed-mediated and vegetative propagule-mediated gene flow (Lu and Yang, 2009). Transgenes can escape from a genetically modified (GM) crop to its wild relative species via pollen-mediated gene flow. There are many factors that can affect the pollen-mediated gene flow such as wind, animal, water current and other factors. Moreover, types of vectors for pollination and environmental conditions , such as the strength, and direction of wind, temperature, light intensity, and air humidity, will also influence pollen-mediated greatly (Lu and Yang, 2009). It is natural to have pollen-mediated gene flow because it helps in plant evolution. However, the movement of transgenes from genetically modified plant to wild type species may have adverse effect. This is because wild or weedy plants that acquire transgenes will continue to evolve, subject to natural and artificial selection in the agricultural ecosystem and beyond, posing potential ecological consequences (Lu and Yang, 2009). Once transgenes have moved into populations of wild or weedy species, it is nearly impossible to remove them from the environments if the transgenes can persist and spread in the populations. Different consequences will arise if the wild type relatives acquire transgene from genetically modified plant relative. If the transgene is able to confer favorable traits such as pest resistance, drought tolera nce, and enhanced growth ability, the transgene followed by gene flow would persist to and quickly spread in the populations of wild relatives through introgression. Then individual plants which contain the transgene are out surviving the individuals without the transgene in natural selection. This will indirectly increase the invasiveness of transgenic plant and sooner or later, the habitat will be filled with transgenic species rather than the wild type species (Lu and Yang, 2009). On the other side, if the transgene reduces the survivability of wild relatives, the frequencies of individuals that contain the disadvantageous transgene will decrease gradually. This process will cause the extinction of local populations by the so-called swarm effect (Ellstrand and Elam, 1993). Therefore, transgenes escape via pollen-mediated gene flow from a GM crop to populations of wild relatives and its ecological impacts have been a major concern. Another concern over transgene escape from GM ric e to its wild relatives is for the consequences of genetic diversity. The presence of transgenes in the germplasm of wild rice relatives may represent a form of pollution. It is theoretically possible that strong selection for fitness enhancing transgenes could generate selective sweeps, in which portions of the crop genome that are linked to these transgenes displace corresponding portions of wild genomes (Lu and Yang, 2009). This can be particular dangerous as the transgenic plant displaces its wild type relatives, the gene pool will be less diverse. So, if there is a new disease caused by new type of bacteria or viruses, and coincidently the transgenic plants lack of gene to fight off the disease, the whole population of the plant species are endangered of being wipe out and becomes extinct. Besides that, with the reduction of gene variety, there will be surely affect the plants natural evolution. As gene pool decreases, the evolution of transgenic plant in the future will not be as vary and diverse as the plants of wild type gene. The newly introduced transgenic rice may alter the soil composition and its microbes community due to its different physiological need compared to its native species. These might render the soil useless and unsuitable for other plants to grow in. Transgenic plant and health concerns Majority of people are starting to get worried about the consequences of the transgenic genomes transferred into the native species and other major complication caused. Those complications include health concerns where foreign genes are transferred into the rice gene may cause health complication. Some scientists have argued that protein products are not the only potential source of toxicity in transgenic plants (Connor and Jacobs, 1999). An experiment had been conducted when researchers fed rats either wild-type, wild-type containing lectin or transgenic potatoes expressing the lectin protein. Lectins are of commercial interest because of their pesticidal properties. The result shows that only the transgenic potato-fed group experienced physiological changes such as intestinal damage and they concluded that the genetic transformation process itself caused the observed complications. By getting the result from the rats, we can subsequently predict the analogous effect of unsuitable t ransgene on human health. Humans health is in great danger if they consume such transgenic crop. Other than that, people around the world are more alerted to the food safety of GM food that introduces allergens into the food supply. The allergenicity of the GM food is determined by the allergenicity of the substance. This means that gene products that are not allergenic normally will not become allergenic when expressed in a transgenic plant. For example, plant ferritin has no allergy cases reported, so, transgenic iron-enriched rice that contains the plant ferritin gene (Goto et al., 1999) poses no allergenicity risk. On the other side, if the gene product is a known allergen, then it will also be an allergen in a transgenic plant. As an example, when a Brazil nut albumin was expressed in soybean to boost methionine content, it resulted in nut-allergic individual reacted to the transgenic soybean(Nordlee et al., 1996). Therefore, people with an allergy to Brazil nuts would now also be allergic to those GM soybeans, even though they were not allergic to native soybean before. Ho wever, allergenicity of food is much more complicated when the allergenicity of a transgenic protein is unknown. For example, if a substance is not tested for allergenicity before, then the question may be asked if people started to consume food with the unknown substance, will they develop food allergy. There are more than 200 food allergens have been identified and sequenced (Gendel, 1998), but there is no definite sequence of protein are determined to be the source of allergenicity. Most known food allergens are stable to digestion (Ashwood et al., 1996). Therefore, proteins digestion stability test in the digestive process environment is one way to identify potential allergens. It is unlikely to reach immune cells to cause a hypersensitivity response if a protein is degraded in the stomach and small intestines. Stable proteins should be examined further. These experiments can be coupled with a comparison of sequence similarity to known allergens. Novel proteins with a significan t sequence similarity can be tested for reactivity with serum from subjects who are allergic to the homologous allergen. Although these tests may not be comprehensive in identifying potential allergenicity, the limited variety of source foods suggests that the vast majority of transgene proteins will be safe for consumption (Lehrer et al., 1996). More than 90% of the people who have food allergies are allergic to one or more of either cows milk, wheat, nuts, legumes, eggs or seafood. Transgenic plant and effect on non target species Transgenic crops that express insecticidal transgenes to control agricultural pests may also affect non-target organisms (Hilbeck et al., 1998; Losey et al., 1999; Saxena et al., 1999). Studies using corn transformed with a Bt-insecticidal transgene have non-target effects. For example, Lacewings (Chrystoperla carnea), an insect predator, suffered from higher death rates by feeding on corn destructive insect, European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) reared on Bt corn. The result shows lower and more significant less death rate using corn borers raised on non-Bt-transformed plants (Hilbeck et al., 1998). However, this was a laboratory study. It would seem a low probability for lacewings to be exposed to European corn borers that have ingested Bt toxin in the field. In another study, Monarch butterfly larvae (Danaus plexippus) that consumed milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) leaves dusted with Bt-containing corn pollen had decreased feeding, growth and survival rates, compared to larvae that consumed leaves with non-transgenic corn pollen (Losey et al., 1999). This result may indicate that the usefulness of some genes to deter some destructive insect may have some adverse and unwanted consequences of other species within the food chain. This indirectly will cause some species to be greatly in danger by this newly introduced transgenic plant. If the problem persisted, some species affect maybe extinct and then it will generate cascade of negative effec t on the fragile natural food chain. Transgenic plant and resistance issue There is also the issue of insect developing resistance to the transgenic plant and thus render the transgenic plants useless. For example, the diamondback moth, an important pest to Brassica crops worldwide, was the first documented pest to develop resistance to Bt toxins applied as microbial formulations in open-field populations (Tabashnik, 1994). Until now, there is no dominantly inherited Bt resistance genes have been documented. Using this information, various resistance management strategies have been proposed to delay the resistance building by insect, with plantation of a high expressing transgenic plant coupled with a non-transgenic plant (Shelton et al., 2000). The non-transgenic plant allows Bt-susceptible pests to survive on the field population and mate with Bt-resistant individuals. The goal of this strategy is to keep the recessive Bt resistance genes at low levels in the target populations and thus limit the rate at which the entire population will acquire Bt resista nce. The effectiveness of this strategy depends on the population size (Shelton et al., 2000). Transgenic plant and ethical issue Besides that, there are also some ethical issues where transgenic rice contains foreign genes that cannot be consumed. For example, the vegetarian will think twice before consuming the transgenic rice containing animal genes inside the transgenic rice. There is a strong sense of consumerism where consumers want to know what is in their food. Transgenic plant and its economic issue Economically, there are also a few setbacks regarding the production cost and the research cost for the transgenic rice. It is true that the transgenic rice will give us more yields but there are some worries that the money needed for the production and research of transgenic rice may overcome the benefit. As commercial crops are the main applicator for transgenic research, it may be hindered to progress in poor nation. So indirectly, the transgenic rice project might be not economically feasible. However, there is still no exact amount that can be taken into account but there is a bright prospect that the benefit of higher yield will overcome the cost needed. Transgenic rice is something to look forward to in the future because it may put a stop to the world food crisis. By mastering transgenic technology, there is a hope where the perfect rice plants can be produced greatly without much interference abiotically or biotically. It also have good prospect for better future study of alteration of rice nutritional value to suit the ever more demanding human population.

Cause and Effect Essay - Impact of Stereotypes and Stereotyping

Cause and Effect Essay - The Impact of Stereotypes In today's society, our natural reaction is to put people into a specific class that we feel they fit into upon our first impression. When we were in high school, they were called clicks. There were your jocks and your cheerleaders, who were usually the most popular students. Along with stoners, nerds, and then the people who really didn't fit into any crowd, they were just there. When we were in high school, all of us wanted to be in the "cool crowd". As described in When I was growing Up by Nellie Wong, "I discovered the rich white girls...imported cotton dresses...and thought that I too should have what these lucky girls had..." In stereotyping people, we perhaps have ruined some great minds. However, when high school was over and the real world came true, high school jocks and cheerleaders didn't have much of a lead on the rest of us. Their popularity became nothing after high school. Our stereotyping of each other could have been very harmful. Some students were intelligent but never given a chance to prove it because of the way they dressed or because they smoked. We could see it in our teachers eyes, and our own, when a student walked in with glasses and a pocket protector we assumed that he was smart and way above the intellect of the class. Same as when we saw a person dressed in all black leather with chains walking in; we think that they will never make anything out of themselves. Now as adults, we work with all types of people. Most of us probably don't realize that all the people we used to make fun of in high school for studying hard or getting good grades are now the potential leaders of our nation. That jokes on us. However, wha... ...ave ruined some great authors, engineers, doctors or even presidents because of our cruel stereotypes. It's hard for society to realize that their simple classification of a person without knowing them directly could have such an effect. If we were to understand that just because we choose to where certain clothes or play sports, that it doesn't mean this is the only thing we know. Society itself is full of plenty of intelligent people, however, most of them will never get a chance to prove this because, either we won't give them a chance anymore, or they have just given up. Why should anyone try to prove their importance to us if we aren't willing to believe them? We've never cared about them, so why should they care about us? As a stereotyping society from as early as childhood, we have set ourselves up for problems, which might never be resolved.

A modern symphony : S & M Essay -- essays research papers

S & M: No Leaf Clover   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The talent of an artist rests in the ability to recreate a sense of reality, and to communicate such an experience. When such timeless thoughts are offered to the audience in an honest manor, it is the result of a true artist. Artists such as Pablo Picasso, Langston Hughes, and the Beatles thrived off of taking such honest risks. In 1999, the San Francisco Symphony and the hard rock band Metallica redesigned the concept of risk taking in the reality for the artists’ world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A young composer by the name of Michael Kamen passed away at 55. He had the pleasure of conducting The London Philharmonic Orchestra, and The San Francisco Symphony. He aspired to share creative energy with rock legends such as Pink Floyd, Rod Stewart, & Eric Clapton. In 2002 it was his talent that kept the world company during the winter Olympics.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the late 1980s alternative rock was working at creating symphonies of its own. The band Metallica, known for its speed metal and talented range of chords, developed a new language in music. Their songs ranged from 2, to 9, to 20 minute riffs. They gained attention from emotionally eager listeners. The use of electric guitar, aggressive vocals, and dynamic tempos made their music appealing to an extraordinary audience (Holm-Hudson 189).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Michael Kamen responded to Metallicas unique guitar ingredients, and set out to collaborate with the metal band. In 1999 Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony, merged with Metallica to produce the album S & M. Kamens orchestra consisted of Violins,Violas,Cellos, Bass, Flutes, Oboes, Clarients, Bassons, Horns, Trumpets, and Trombones. Other instruments included the Tuba, Harp Timpani, Keyboard and of course percussion. Metallica has four musicians, two guitarists, a drummer and a bassist. The lead guitarist is also the lead vocalist.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the insert of the C.D. sleeve S&M, Michael Kamen wrote about â€Å"conducting a conversation between two different worlds that share the same language†. Like the composers Hector Berlioz, and Ludwig Van Beethoven, Kamen experienced life through music and spoke of life’s journeys in symphony (Lang 131. He continued to put in plain words, â€Å"Combining the San Francisco Symphony and Metallica†¦ was rea... ...who has a portfolio of only oils may have perfected their skill, but closed off the opportunity to learn from others that may share the same appreciation. In the symphony S & M conducted by Michael Kamen, and composed by Metallica, it is clear that they both satisfy the criteria for honest artists. For both the artist and the viewer, a sense of emotion is released when one relates to another. Michael Kamen and Metallica worked to embrace each others talents. It is very beautiful to witness two different artists’ eager to learn, and so willing to invite an audience into their reality. Allie Kornbluth Berger, Melvin. Guide to Sonatas : Music for one or two instruments.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Anchor Books Doubleday , New York 1991. Holm-Hudson, Kevin. Progressive Rock Reconsidered.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Routledge, New York. 2002 Lang, Paul Henry. The Symphony : A Norton Music Anthology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Norton and Company Inc. New York 1969. Walser, Rober. Metallica   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Oxford University Press., 2003. http://www.grovemusic.com/shared/views/article.html?section=music.49160#music.49160

An Analysis of Irvings Rip Van Winkle :: Rip Van Winkle Essays

An Analysis of Irving's Rip Van Winkle Rip Van Winkle had grabbed his gun and his dog, Wolf, and headed out to the woods. He rested under a tree where evening came on quickly. As Rip was getting ready to journey back home, he heard a voice calling his name. He went to see who was calling his name. He discovered an old man carrying a keg on his back. Rip and the old man walked to a ravine in the mountain. There they found a band of odd-looking people. Rip and the old man drank from the keg the man was carrying on his back. Rip feel into a deep sleep, which bring us up to his awaking. Rip Van Winkle woke up and it seemed to be the next morning. "The birds were hopping and twittering among the bushes, and the eagle was wheeling aloft, and breasting the pure mountain breeze." I think this symbolizes that the jeopardy that Rip was in the night before was over. The text said that the people in the ravine were rolling balls that echoed sounds of thunder through the ravine. That makes me picture a dark storm rolling in. This sets the scene with a little tension because Rip did not know what to make of the people in the ravine. He was a little frightened by them. So the birds singing and the sun rising the next morning seems to set the mood at ease again. Rip thinks about what went on the night before. He remembers the old man, the keg of liquor, the party, and the flagon. The flagon was the cup that Rip Van Winkle drank from the night before. Rip Van Winkle said, "Oh! That flagon! That wicked flagon!" I thought it was humors that he blamed the cup for getting him "tipsy" and causing him to sleep through the night. The first hint that is giving that Rip did a little more sleeping than he thought was the moment he reached for his gun. "He looked round for his gun, but in place of the clean, well-oiled fowling-piece he found an old firelock." It stated that the barrel was rusted and the stock was full of holes from worms eating away at it.

Marketing Mix Essay

Introduction Marketing Mix is a major concept in modern marketing and involves practically everything that a marketing company can use to influence consumer perception favorably towards its product or services so that consumer and organizational objectives are attained, i.e. Marketing mix is a model of crafting and implementing marketing strategy. In this assignment, I will discuss the major marketing mix variables as classified by Prof. E. Jerome McCarthy which are: i. Product ii. Price iii. Place (Distribution) iv. Promotion. Throughout the assignment I will prefer to use my reference to Sony Corporation. I will refer to this company how it has diversify its market products, the price range, places for distribution and the promotional strategies they have used to promote their products. SONY Corporation In Brief Sony Corporation is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world’s largest media conglomerate with revenue of US$88.7 billion (as of 2008) based in Minato, Tokyo. Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, video game consoles and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Its name is derived from Sonus, the Greek goddess of sound. Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group, which is engaged in business through its five operating segments—electronics, games, entertainment (motion pictures and music), financial services and other. These make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. Sony’s principal business operations include Sony Corporation (Sony Electronics in the U.S.), Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Sony Ericsson and Sony Financial Holdings. As a semiconductor maker, Sony is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders. The company’s slogan is Sony. Like no other. SONY Products The first market mix element is Product. A product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a need or want. Product decision normally base on brand name, Functionality, Styling, Quality, Safety, Packaging, Repairs and Support, Warranty, accessories and Services. These product attributes can be manipulated depending on what the target market wants. Also, customers always look for new and improved things, which is why marketers should improve existing products, develop new ones, and discontinue old ones that are no longer needed or wanted by the customer. Sony has a variety of products ranging from electronic devices, games and entertainment. So, briefly Sony products can be categorized in the following major product categories: i. Television and Projectors: Bravia LCD TV, CRT TV, Home theatre projector, Business Projector, Public Display Panel. ii. Home video: Blue-ray disc player, DVD player, DVD portable player. iii. Home Audio: Hi-Fi Systems, Home audio accessories. E.g. Digital media port. iv. Home Theatre system: DVD Home Theatre System, Home Theatre Component System, Home Theatre System Accessories. v. Digital Photography: Digital SLR, Cybershot Digital Camera, Digital Photo Printer, Digital Photo Frame vi. Hand cam video camera: Handycam high definition video Camera, Handycam Standard Definition Video Camera, Handycam Accessoriesiv, Digital Photo Printer, Digital Photo Frame. vii. Computer Peripherals: VAIO laptops and computers, VAIO accessories, Business Projectorsiv, Memory Stick. viii. Portable Audio: Walkman mp3 series, CD Walkman series, CD/Radio/Cassette player, Radio, Voice recorder, Audio Accessories ix. Game: Playstation 3, Playstation 2, PSP (Playstation Portable) x. In-Car entertainment: Xplod CD receiver, Xplod in car visual, Xplod Cassette receiver, Xplod Amplifier, Xplod Speaker/Subwoofer xi. Mobile phones : Phones, Phone Accessories. xii. Storage and Recording media: Memory Stick, USB storage media, Data storage media, Video Storage media, Audio media, Storage media, Professional media. xiii. Battery and Charger SONY Promotion Brief Introduction: Promotion is a key element of marketing program and is concerned with  effectively and efficiently communicating the decisions of marketing strategy, to favorably influence target customers’ perceptions to facilitate exchange between the marketer and the customer that may satisfy the objective of both customer and the company. A company’s promotional efforts are the only controllable means to create awareness among publics about itself, the products and services it offers , their features and influence their attitudes favorably. Advertising: SONY has advertised its products through many different ways and media. Through TV we have seen different advertisements of its products such as Bravia televisions or Sony wega TV. Sony also advertise its products by targeting those favorable television programs, like sports, series and also it has its own channel called Sony TV channel. Sony uses some events like Miss India2008 to promote its products. Also, Sony has advertised its games like Playstation 3, Playstation 2 and PSP using sports like football in England premiere league. Through newspapers like Times of India, Sony has advertised a wide range of products it offers to its customers. And also through Posters a message has been sent to a lot of people to be aware of the products which Sony offers. Sony also uses direct – response advertising. This is type of advertising that encourages the consumer to respond either by providing feedback to the advertiser or placing the order with the advertiser either by telephone, mail or the internet. Such advertising is done through direct mail or catalogues. Sony incorporates co-operative advertising in its advertising process. Sony corporation provides the dealers (e.g. Sony World) with the materials and guidelines to develop ads for print, television or radio commercials. This ensures that message is in line with, what the manufacture wants to communicate. The company and the dealers usually share the media costs and hence, the name ‘co-operative advertising’. Sales Promotion: Sales promotion is a marketing discipline that utilizes a variety of incentives techniques to structure sales – related programs targeted to customers, trade, and/or sales levels that generate a specific, measurable action or response for a product or service. Sales promotions for example includes free samples, discount, rebates, coupons, contents and sweepstakes, premiums, scratch cards, exchange offers, early bird prizes, etc. Sony has promoted its products through different sales promotional  strategies. For example after the release of the Sony BRAVIA television sets, Sony promoted them by earl bird prizes by saying that all BRAVIA full HD LCDTVs purchased during July 2008 and registered within two weeks of purchase qualify for a Bonus Playstation 3 as long as the customer claims is one of the first35,000 received and validated by Sony. Also Sony has promoted its Sony Ericsson P1i phones by including a scratch cards which gives the customer the offer to download 10 free software application for that mobile phone. Sony Ericsson has also promoted its Sony Ericsson K550i Mid-Range Cyber-shot Phone that if you buy it you get a free Bluetooth headset with one year manufacturer’s warranty Public Relations and Publicity: Public relations is a broad set of communication activities employed to create and maintain favorable relationship with employees, shareholders, suppliers, media, educators, potential investors, financial institutions, government agencies and officials and society in general. Through its website, Sony corporation has its provided contacts for those customers who will be in need of any information from the company. In this way Sony can create a mutual relationship with its customers and ensure that it serves the wishes and demands of its customers. SONY Place (Distribution) Decisions with respect to distribution channel focus on making the product available in adequate quantities at places where customers are normally expected to shop for them to satisfy their needs. Depending on the nature of the product, marketing management decides to put into place an exclusive, selective or intensive network of distribution, while selecting the appropriate dealers or wholesalers. Sony being the company which positions itself as a seller of durable and high-end products, it is practicing selective distribution of its products from the selective dealers i.e. SONY World. Apart from this there are grey-markets in India and other countries where a practice of intensive market coverage is practiced, and the products in these kind of markets normally do not posses all the features and benefits which Sony offers e.g. warranty and guarantee. Sony distributes its products in various channels. It uses Zero-level channel, one level channel  and two-level channel. In India, Sony has used the method of one-level distribution channel. This means that, customer buy their Sony product from the retailers recognized by Sony, and these retailers buy the products directly from the company itself. SONY Price Pricing decisions are almost always made in consultation with marketing management. Price is the only marketing mix variable that can be altered quickly. Price variables such as dealer price, retail price, discounts, allowances, credit terms etc. influence the development of marketing strategy, as price is a major factor that influences the assessment of value obtained by customers. Customers directly relate price to quality, particularly in case of products that are ego intensive of technology based. Sony being a company which emphasize product quality, it tends to sell its products with price range from moderately-high to high-prices, depending on the use and the targeted customers. For example, Lets consider Sony series of VAIO laptops. Sony has tried to categorize the laptops according to style, user, purpose, mobility and performance, and each a corresponding price. The laptops sold by Sony in India include a series of Sony VAIO, this are VAIO SR, VAIO FW, VAIO tokage, VAIO CR, VAIO NR, VAIO TZ and VAIO SZ. VAIO SR, boast on the excellence in mobility and perfection in performance. This laptop was designed for businessmen and its price is around Rs. 75,000/ VAIO FW, boast of theatrical experience and world class performance. This model was designed mainly for home user or casual user of laptops who aims on media playback. The price of it is around Rs. 80,000 and Rs.1,25,000. VAIO CR, boast on style and texture. Depending on the configuration, the prices are from Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 65,000. VAIO NR, boast of natural, chic design. It was designed to meet customers ambiance and lifestyle. For this reason the Sony corporation has decided the price of the laptop to be Rs. 40,000 and Rs. 50,000 depending on the configuration. VAIO TZ, boast of elite lifestyle, and high class performance. This laptop was designed purposely for business as it is light weight, high processing speed, and flash memory storage and longer backup power. For all this facts Sony has priced it to be between Rs. 1,15,000 and Rs. 1,40,000.VAIO SZ, boast of premier mobility and executive excellence. This laptop was  developed by Sony to target executives and business people who are mobile. The laptop is fitted with hybrid hard disk drive and motion eye camera and Bluetooth compatible headset with applications for increasing mobility and video conferencing. It’s price is about Rs. 1,24,000