Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar - Assignment Example Collection of Islamic artifacts is exceptional. Museum showcases collection of metal work, ceramics, woodwork, jewelry, glass work, six hundred artifacts of ivory and silk inscribed with Arabic inscriptions, imperial tents of Iran decorated with gold thread, curtains decorated with calligraphy, collections of ancient Quran and Christian calligraphy. Audio tours in different languages are also exhibited. To make it operations highly professional museum consults British Museum. A museum has a staff of approximately 160. Apart from epic artwork Museum of Islamic Art, Doha also has an excellent bookshop and children art workshop. It’s also planning to provide research activities, support local education, auditorium and five star restaurants. Outside the museum people can also enjoy boating. Museum is surrounded by large park with well-maintained gardens that increases its external scenic beauty. In short, Museum of Islamic Art is pretty beneficial for the arts.

The causes and effect of slums in Sub Saharan Africa

The causes and effect of slums in Sub Saharan Africa Structurally instituted social inequalities, in addition to conflicts of inheritance, poorly implemented gender equal policy attempts for land and its systems of administration make ownership expensive for the average person thereby excluding many citizens from the prospects of acquiring a permanent shelter. This leads to the mushrooming of informal and often unsafe temporary settlements in major urban cities. Unclean rivers polluted by wastage makes the water available to slums unhygienic and is a great contributor in illnesses especially found in children. There exists a lack of policymaking to address poverty alleviation or mitigation which allows the excluded people of the citizenry to resort to such abodes, and this lead to slums being built in the Sub Saharan Africa. Regardless of the nature or origin of slums they are characteristically similar in terms of the poor quality of lands, the size of its construction, and the conflicts of vague communications of when signing lands over. The crime rates are seen to be escalated in areas of greater poverty. Also as time has progressed, one major obstacle to growth of this situation is these benefits that accrue to the slums which have now become commercially beneficial to both the dwellers as well as corporations who get easy access to their labours in return for the labour to find employments as well as a housing arrangement. This helps in the development of the society organically. The authorities responsible of instilling change and appreciation of the situation are local landlords whose interests lie in leasing or renting their lands to desperate citizens seeking slums. Due to the strategic placement of these residences the labour seeks the houses while in turn create an informal market for the appa rent demand. The otherwise employed majority population of Sub Saharan Africa commute through public transportation system of the bus or railway which does not contribute much to their health but takes away from development and convenience due to the time and energy opportunity costs. We conducted surveys of women in Dhaka slums to establish the struggles caused to the most vulnerable socio economic group that is victimized despite urbanization. These revealed insights to the earning, saving, and expenditure behaviour of families residing in the slums. They also revealed how economic growth and infrastructural development have contributed nothing to the development of the underprivileged whose conditions remain as they always were. The reason why slums have been populated, at the core of those mentioned above is the prevalence of the urban dream in the city. Low earning unskilled individuals from the rural areas migrate to the cities pursuing development efforts aspiring to get consistent and secure jobs that will secure them. Once in the city however, they find their capabilities unmatched with the needs of job roles. The lack of education, vocational training, and finances restrain these individuals into the cities and force them to dwell in the slums by doing menial labour work which due to the oversupply of labour fetches very low and mostly inhuman wage rates. This creates a poverty spiral whereby they neither have the means to go back nor the ability to afford a dignified living in pursuing their ambitions even though all members of these households work temporary wage jobs regardless of their sex or age. Results of the survey revealed the following: Expenditure on Food: Naturally, one of the main expenditure of the families is on food. 33% respondents claimed that they spend an amount of up to BDT. 2500 per month, on food related expenses. This amount varies from family to family as per their income level. The highest amount spent on food exceeds BDT. 10,000 and this too is affordable to only 1 of the households of the slums. This means that more than one third of the socioeconomic strata live on a food budget of $ 31.25 per month as a family. Since most of these families on average comprise of 5 members so per person expenditure on food in a day is barely 25 cents which does not even buy one full meal a day. Under these situations it is only natural for them to be malnourished, feeble, and prone to many diseased. It also explains their disinterest in striving for hygiene or education in their spending habits as supported by the data below. Expenditure on Non-food Items: As opposed to the expense on food items, the ratio of the amount spent on non-food items is very low. For example, the highest amount paid in terms of non-food is BDT. 10,000 dispensed by only 1% of the families. Usually this amount is BDT 2000 spent by almost all the families on items such as payment of bills, house rent, etc. So, the spending that takes first and only possible priority after food for these households is that on the essentials contingent to their shelter i.e. rent and utilities. Due to the nature of these dwellings however, these utilities are still not available at all times, and so they have to ration their water, electricity and gas by sharing kitchens and toilets. In spite of this, the expenditure possible for the majority remains at $25 a month per household which for the average family member translates into 16.67 cents per day. Usually after these basics, most families exhaust their entire incomes. Workplace Culture The nature of the work that runs the slum dwellings are twofold, mostly designated by gender. So women mostly work in garment factories on a daily wage basis where their work varies according to training and years on the job, while keeping extensive work hours, and unsafe, uninsured workplaces constant. So much so that when there are factory fires which are not very uncommon, workers numbering over hundreds die and most of them are found to be women. Despite some social and labour union support these factories have taken no measures in protecting the employees who subscribe to the exploitation due to the dire necessity of survival. Even where there have been successful efforts with administration and inspections, factories were found to be only placing empty fire extinguishers for show of safe work environments while remaining oblivious to the appreciation of the lives of their workers. The men do not have any more privileges than their female counterparts. They are mostly rickshaw pullers because this is the least skills requiring job. These pullers are second to the working women in the garment factories who make up the greatest number of employments in Dhaka. The 200,000 rickshaw pullers of Dhaka work all day for a bare $1 a day, and that too in fierce competition between the licensed and unlicensed ones, both of whom are harassed by police who not only seize their only means of earning i.e. the rickshaws but often burn those which are found illegal. The female counterparts of these rickshaw pullers on the other hand travel as far as 37 miles on foot to work and back, amid traffic and pollution which the city is best known for. A third group of workers bringing money into the households of Dhaka slums are unfortunately children who number in 750,000. Boys between the age of 10 and 14 spend their days in generating incomes by any means they can find. Usually these are in the likes of a â€Å"help† in shops and restaurants, or in pulling rickshaws or carriage vehicles known as vans. Otherwise they are seen selling items by roadsides and in signals. A portion of children as small as 7% aged 5-16 pursue schooling despite their troubles. Sometimes, little girls are sold into prostitution as sex slaves to repay debts to heads of brothels who charge high commissions from these under aged girls. Since prostitution is legal in Bangladesh, the demand for these girls from clients is not questioned legally, and their desperate conditions at home allow them to be exploited and pushed into sex slavery. To further the analysis of the findings, the following variables: age of respondents, education, Income, Marital Status, Sources of Income and Total Income, Savings on Sources and Total Savings, and Type of Training were found to be significantly correlated with a number of variables using the Pearson Chi-square at 0.05 P-value. These findings can be considered as having a valid basis for identifying actions for empowering women particularly in the socio-economic life both in the family and in the community. Position in the Society: Interestingly, the participants want to work as they believe it will help them in alleviating their position in the society and their voices will also be heard. Working not only will bring additional income to their families but will also entail more empowerment and freedom to them. Assets: In the case of assets, the highest response was 284 representing an 88.2% of the sample who own furniture. At the opposite end, 2 respondents representing 0.6% of the sample are owners of business land. In addition to these, cattle owners make up 2.5% and agricultural landowners make 4.7% of the surveyed sample. Savings of respondents in various sources: The sources of savings for the respondents are inferred to be quite limited as the highest participation was seen at 35 responses affirming a mere 10.9% savings due to NGOs or Rural Cooperatives. Even less popular with 4 responses was the 1.2% savings that comes from crop. On the other hand, bank as a source accounts for 9.9% of savings and cash does so for 3.4% only. Total savings: When total savings are assessed, it can be deduced from the responses of 262 participants that in a rather alarming 81.4% cases, no savings occur. In contrast, 8responses helped deduce that 2.5% of the sample saves a total which is within Tk. 1001-2000. The data helps assert that among the 269 responders, 83.5% save between tk. 0and 20000. The percentage of responses for above tk. 60000 for households is still as low as 0.6%, as shown by the 2 responses received for the range of tk. 60001-80000. The middle amount of tk. 20001 to 40000 made up 14.3% of the cases. Sources of income: 156 responders showed that a decent 48.4% of their incomes are generated by the effective delivery of service. Also, at the lower extreme of income generation is the 0.3% contributions made by the handicrafts market or beyond that, the good 23% of women working as maids who develop and manage the household activities. The data helps assert that among the 269 responders, 83.5% save between tk. 0and 20000. The percentage of responses for above tk. 60000 for households is still as low as 0.6%, as shown by the 2 responses received for the range of tk. 60001-80000. The middle amount of tk. 20001 to 40000 made up 14.3% of the cases. Facilities and service Available: Total 322 responses delivered that in 100% cases, 3 Health clinics, 3 police stations and water pumps are unavailable to the survey participants. The water pumps were not available for the subject’s area as were not many other crucial amenities which are required for the quality of health and life. Type of training: Of the 288 people approached about training, 89.4% reported that they have received no training. The lowest response came from 1 person and helps infer that 0.3% people received the training for women empowerment. Training in tailoring occurred for 4.7% cases and that of garments stood at 3.4%. Awareness: It is seen from the data that awareness in general is quite high in the sample studied. 258 responses presented that 80.1% are aware about human rights, and the lowest response of 226 people shows that 70.2% are aware about property rights. In this sample, awareness for family rights was 73.3% and that of violence against women stood to be at Regarding day to day expenses: 41.6% of the daily expenditure is spent by the women on themselves according to 134 responders. In the lowest case, 2 responders show that 0.6% expenditure occurs by the consultation of the respondent but the needs of her husband and son are prioritized. Regarding other matters: The survey conducted with 216 responders revealed that 67.1%were spending for the purpose of clothes. Additionally, 198 responders revealed that 61.5% is spent on festivals donations. Also, 65.5% of expenses are spent for educating children. Borrowing details: The borrowing sample shows for the 36 responses11.2% occurs from Cooperatives while the lower response of 10 individuals presented that 1.1% borrowing occurs through NGOs. The greater response of 206 participants revealed that borrowing does not apply to the practices of 64% people. Recommendations: Based on our study these are the recommendations that we would suggest: The migration to urban parts of the country is motivated mainly by the negligence and despair in the rural side where the permanent abodes of people and their workplaces i.e. the agricultural lands are prone to climatic catastrophes. When their backs hit bottom, these people migrate for hopes of a better living standard and for availing more secure lives for their children. So, the issue of migration and how urbanization affects the lives of migrants should be dealt with meticulous planning which incorporates them into economic development policies that provide social protection and integration so as to drive social change from them. Many NGOs and development related organizations are already expending their efforts and finances into the slums of Dhaka for improving the livelihoods of the people who dwell there. Such efforts were largely based on provision of micro credit loans which allowed the residents to pay off their dues without having to be dependent on the brothels, or withou t having to sacrifice the education of the children. In addition, extensive trainings and awareness campaigns regarding liquor, evacuation at times of threats and the like have also been conducted in these impoverished areas. Much more effort is still critical for the desired outcomes to be produced. Training of vocational nature should be provided so as to develop skills that have better job prospects in order to generate higher incomes for the households. These can range from machine using to making handicraft items that will allow the adults of these households to create products. Also, they need to be honed and encouraged for small business start-ups, starting from creative business strategies to the execution of them. These would also entail leadership and managerial training in the long run. In these efforts, NGOs alone will not be enough. So, government, local banks, and other private organizations should collaborate to help the people in their own capacities. Banks could pro vide less costly loans, while businesses can help train and agencies can help execute and teach so as to make the people of such slums independent and self-sufficient. The need for social campaigns about women empowerment and child rights also need to gain momentum to eradicate the prevalent abuse of the two vulnerable groups. The government should also institutionalize change by active policy making and administering. This could be done in attempts in the likes of building safer, more hygienic, more facilitated housing facilities for those who have already migrated to Dhaka and are susceptible to dangers of earth quake, fire hazards, or illnesses. The government may also create better job opportunities in the rural areas so as to discourage or omit the reasons which force people to migrate in the first place. Rural development projects should also be undertaken with equal focus and allocation of resources. These would include well defined action plans that teach farmers about their rights, train them about their crops, and yield, aware them against exploitation by the middlemen and market prices so as to secure their incomes. Furthermore, efforts are required to equalize the salary gap that exists between the two sexes of the lower income socioeconomic strata, because this would not only help increase ove rall earnings for most families, but also facilitate the lives of households which are run by females working in labour using jobs. Needless to say that neither government, nor NGOs and development agencies can hope to be successful on their own. There needs to be collaboration of these parties for their common stakeholder group so that they can use specialized knowledge, and resources in specific areas and bring effective changes everywhere instead of segregating their efforts which is found to help a few while ignoring many others entirely.

Herbalism :: essays research papers fc

Using plants for medical purposes is an idea that has been around throughout history. Many different types of peoples, cultures, and religions use what is found in nature to cure their ailments, prevent illness, or prolong beauty. Many of these peoples use symbols, creams, or even watch the stars to achieve these actions all over the world. We see symbols of herbalism even as far back as the Garden of Eden. The bible states, Out of the ground the Lord God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. Genesis 2:9 (1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The trees in this passage from the bible are symbols of longevity, strength and fruitfulness. Trees represented perfect beauty and complete harmony in and with nature and change. This type of symbol is pertinent throughout time. The Buddha, for example, sat under what he called the cosmic tree and reached enlightenment. Later Buddha was reborn as a monkey and became king of the monkeys; he then divined the monkey kingdom's downfall through a mango tree. When his divination came true he stretched himself across the gap between two trees, one of them the mango tree, and allowed himself to be used as a bridge, sacrificing himself to save his kingdom.1 These are some of the many reasons that Buddhists of today's world consider the tree a sacred part of nature and their lives. Another culture that considers the tree and all nature sacred is the Japanese. Over the centuries the Japanese people have treated trees and plants with the utmost respect, and have taken care of them in the form of bonsai. Bonsai are small trees that are lovingly shaped and molded to be visually aesthetic and to seem as though the tree was older than the one who created it. Although the person may have seemed youthful, one cannot judge a book by its cover or a person by their looks. Like Bonsai, many other herbs may make people seem younger. Some herbs are said to be able to slow down the aging process, or at least the effects, and consequently make the person seem more youthful. I must stress that herbs cannot change your features so that people might look eighteen again, but they may help people loose those wrinkles or sagging skin.

Exploring ‘‘Woman’s sphere’’ Essay

George Sand and Harriet Beecher Stowe, as the two popular nineteenth-century female authors, they had much in common, such as the strong spirit of independence and fight for rights for women etc. However, they certainly had some differences too. In this essay, it will be talk about their similarities, differences and which one is better. Also, their success and construction to the society will be discussed too. Sand and Stowe were also facing problems as other women although they were well-known and successful in their careers. They had aristocratic background but they had already lived with poverty. They had the experience of turbulent years of civil and social strife. Compared to them, maybe Sand was the poor one. Her love affair was not smoothly. After Sand end her first unhappy marriage, she was living with a series of men, even people called her ‘‘the most obscene of women’’. Stowe had the quite different lifestyle. She was more conservative relatively. However, in the political area, Sand did not agree that the political rights for women, even suffrage. She valued social equality but not political equality. Stowe favored women suffrage and thought that it was a way to advance the virtues of domesticity. Besides, this two writers also played an active role on public affairs by writing. Sand mainly focused on the injustices on women and the lower classes while Stowe was describing the predicament of slaves. However, each advocated that woman’s way of looking at things is valued and believed that it could help to improve the world if the men understood it. The most important view of them is that women had the rights to work and own property. Women should be paid equally with man. The love and virtue of women can change the world. It might be a little bit exaggerated but the things they did were actually change the world and improve the rights of women. This two famous female writer were also successful and contributive. Who was a better one to the society? Sand used a male pseudonym and men’s clothing to get more freedom. In addition, her lifestyle might be more open than many women nowadays.

The Twilight Saga 4: Breaking Dawn 10. Why Didn’t I Just Walk Away? …

10. Why Didn't I Just Walk Away? Oh Right, Because I'm An Idiot. I felt like – like I don't know what. Like this wasn't real. Like I was in some Goth version of a bad sitcom. Instead of being the AAdweeb about to ask the head cheerleader to the prom, I was the finished-second-place werewolf about to ask the vampire's wife to shack up and procreate. Nice. No, I wouldn't do it. It was twisted and wrong. I was going to forget all about what he'd said. But I would talk to her. I'd try to make her listen to me. And she wouldn't. Just like always. Edward didn't answer or comment on my thoughts as he led the way back to the house. I wondered about the place that he'd chosen to stop. Was it far enough from the house that the others couldn't hear his whispers? Was that the point? Maybe. When we walked through the door, the other Cullens' eyes were suspicious and confused. No one looked disgusted or outraged. So they must not have heard either favor Edward had asked me for. I hesitated in the open doorway, not sure what to do now. It was better right there, with a little bit of breathable air blowing in from outside. Edward walked into the middle of the huddle, shoulders stiff. Bella watched him anxiously, and then her eyes flickered to me for a second. Then she was watching him again. Her face turned a grayish pale, and I could see what he meant about the stress making her feel worse. â€Å"We're going tolet Jacob and Bella speak privately,† Edward said. There was no inflection at all in his voice. Robotic. â€Å"Over my pile of ashes,† Rosalie hissed at him. She was still hovering by Bella's head, one of her cold hands placed possessively on Bella's sallow cheek. Edward didn't look at her. â€Å"Bella,† he said in that same empty tone. â€Å"Jacob wants to talk to you. Are you afraid to be alone with him?† Bella looked at me, confused. Then she looked at Rosalie. â€Å"Rose, it's fine. Jake's not going to hurt us. Go with Edward.† â€Å"It might be a trick,† the blonde warned. â€Å"I don't see how,† Bella said. â€Å"Carlisle and I will always be in your sight, Rosalie,† Edward said. The emotionless voice was cracking, showing the anger through it. â€Å"We're the ones she's afraid of.† â€Å"No,† Bella whispered. Her eyes were glistening, her lashes wet. â€Å"No, Edward. I'm not___† He shook his head, smiling a little. The smile was painful to look at. â€Å"I didn't mean it that way, Bella. I'm fine. Don't worry about me.† Sickening. He was right – she was beating herself up about hurting his feelings. The girl was a classic martyr. She'd totally been born in the wrong century. She should have lived back when she could have gotten herself fed to some lions for a good cause. â€Å"Everyone,† Edward said, his hand stiffly motioning toward the door. â€Å"Please.† The composure he was trying to keep up for Bella was shaky. I could see how close he was to that burning man he'd been outside. The others saw it, too. Silently, they moved out the door while I shifted out of the way. They moved fast; my heart beat twice, and the room was cleared except for Rosalie, hesitating in the middle of the floor, and Edward, still waiting by the door. â€Å"Rose,† Bella said quietly. â€Å"I want you to go.† The blonde glared at Edward and then gestured for him to go first. He disappeared out the door. She gave me a long warning glower, and then she disappeared, too. Once we were alone, I crossed the room and sat on the floor next to Bella. I took both her cold hands in mine, rubbing them carefully. â€Å"Thanks, Jake. That feels good.† â€Å"I'm not going to lie, Bells. You're hideous.† â€Å"I know,† she sighed. Tm scary-looking.† â€Å"Thing-from-the-swamp scary,† I agreed. She laughed. â€Å"It's so good having you here. It feels nice to smile. I don't know how much more drama I can stand.† I rolled my eyes. â€Å"Okay, okay,† she agreed. â€Å"I bring it on myself.† â€Å"Yeah, you do. What're you thinking, Bells? Seriously!† â€Å"Did he ask you to yell at me?† â€Å"Sort of. Though I can't figure why he thinks you'd listen to me. You never have before.† She sighed. â€Å"I told you – ,† I started to say. â€Å"Did you know that 7 told you so' has a brother, Jacob?† she asked, cutting me off. â€Å"His name is ‘Shut the hell up.† â€Å"Good one.† She grinned at me. Her skin stretched tight over the bones. â€Å"I can't take credit – i got it off a rerun of The Simpsons† â€Å"Missed that one.† â€Å"It was funny.† We didn't talk for a minute. Her hands were starting to warm up a little. â€Å"Did he really ask you to talk to me?† I nodded. â€Å"To talk some sense into you. There's a battle that's lost before it starts.† â€Å"So why did you agree?† I didn't answer. I wasn't sure I knew. I did know this – every second I spent with her was only going to add to the pain I would have to suffer later. Like a junkie with a limited supply, the day of reckoning was coming for me. The more hits I took now, the harder it would be when my supply ran out. â€Å"It'll work out, you know,† she said after a quiet minute. â€Å"I believe that.† That made me see red again. â€Å"Is dementia one of your symptoms?† I snapped. She laughed, though my anger was so real that my hands were shaking around hers. â€Å"Maybe,† she said. Tm not saying things will work out easily, Jake. But how could I have lived through all that I've lived through and not believe in magic by this point?† â€Å"Magic?† â€Å"Especially for you,† she said. She was smiling. She pulled one of her hands away from mine and pressed it against my cheek. Warmer than before, but it felt cool against my skin, like most things did. â€Å"More than anyone else, you've got some magic waiting to make things right for you.† â€Å"What are you babbling about?† Still smiling. â€Å"Edward told me once what it was like – your imprinting thing. He said it was like A Midsummer Night's Dream, like magic. You'll find who you're really looking for, Jacob, and maybe then all of this will make sense.† If she hadn't looked so fragile I would've been screaming. As it was, I did growl at her. â€Å"If you think that imprinting could ever make sense of this insanity †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I struggled for words. â€Å"Do you really think that just because I might someday imprint on some stranger it would make this right?† I jabbed a finger toward her swollen body. â€Å"Tell me what the point was then, Bella! What was the point of me loving you? What was the point of you loving him? When you die† – the words were a snarl – â€Å"how is that ever right again? What's the point to all the pain? Mine, yours, his! You'll kill him, too, not that I care about that.† She flinched, but I kept going. â€Å"So what was the point of your twisted love story, in the end? If there is any sense, please show me, Bella, because I don't see it.† She sighed. â€Å"I don't know yet, Jake. But I just†¦ feel†¦ that this is all going somewhere good, hard to see as it is now. I guess you could call it faith.† â€Å"You're dying for nothing, Bella! Nothing!† Her hand dropped from my face to her bloated stomach, caressed it. She didn't have to say the words for me to know what she was thinking. She was dying for it. I'm not going to die,† she said through her teeth, and I could tell she was repeating things she'd said before. â€Å"I will keep my heart beating. I'm strong enough for that.† â€Å"That's a load of crap, Bella. You've been trying to keep up with the supernatural for too long. No normal person can do it. You're not strong enough.† I took her face in my hand. I didn't have to remind myself to be gentle. Everything about her screamed breakable. â€Å"I can do this. I can do this,† she muttered, sounding a lot like that kids' book about the little engine that could. â€Å"Doesn't look like it to me. So what's your plan? I hope you have one.† She nodded, not meeting my eyes. â€Å"Did you know Esme jumped off a cliff? When she was human, I mean.† â€Å"So?† â€Å"So she was close enough to dead that they didn't even bother taking her to the emergency room – they took her right around to the morgue. Her heart was still beating, though, when Carlisle found her___† That's what she'd meant before, about keeping her heart beating. â€Å"You're not planning on surviving this human,† I stated dully. â€Å"No. I'm not stupid.† She met my stare then. â€Å"I guess you probably have your own opinion on that point, though.† â€Å"Emergency vampirization,† I mumbled. â€Å"It worked for Esme. And Emmett, and Rosalie, and even Edward. None of them were in such great shape. Carlisle only changed them because it was that or death. He doesn't end lives, he saves them.† I felt a sudden twinge of guilt about the good vampire doctor, like before. I shoved the thought away and started in on the begging. â€Å"Listen to me, Bells. Don't do it that way.† Like before, when the call from Charlie had come, I could see how much difference it really made to me. I realized I needed her to stay alive, in some form. In any form. I took a deep breath. â€Å"Don't wait until it's too late, Bella. Not that way. Live. Okay? Just live. Don't do this to me. Don't do it to him.† My voice got harder, louder. â€Å"You know what he's going to do when you die. You've seen it before. You want him to go back to those Italian killers?† She cringed into the sofa. I left out the part about how that wouldn't be necessary this time. Struggling to make my voice softer, I asked, â€Å"Remember when I got mangled up by those newborns? What did you tell me?† I waited, but she wouldn't answer. She pressed her lips together. â€Å"You told me to be good and listen to Carlisle,† I reminded her. â€Å"And what did I do? I listened to the vampire. For you.† â€Å"You listened because it was the right thing to do.† â€Å"Okay – pick either reason.† She took a deep breath. â€Å"It's not the right thing now.† Her gaze touched her big round stomach and she whispered under her breath, â€Å"I won't kill him.† My hands shook again. â€Å"Oh, I hadn't heard the great news. A bouncing baby boy, huh? Shoulda brought some blueballoons.† Her face turned pink. The color was so beautiful – it twisted in my stomach like a knife. A serrated knife, rusty and ragged. I was going to lose this. Again. â€Å"I don't know he's a boy,† she admitted, a little sheepish. â€Å"The ultrasound wouldn't work. The membrane around the baby is too hard – like their skin. So he's a little mystery. But I always see a boy in my head.† â€Å"It's not some pretty baby in there, Bella.† â€Å"We'll see,† she said. Almost smug. â€Å"You won't,† I snarled. â€Å"You're very pessimistic, Jacob. There is definitely a chance that I might walk away from this.† I couldn't answer. I looked down and breathed deep and slow, trying to get a grip on my fury. â€Å"Jake,† she said, and she patted my hair, stroked my cheek. â€Å"It's going to be okay. Shh. it's okay.† I didn't look up. â€Å"No. It will not be okay.† She wiped something wet from my cheek. â€Å"Shh.† â€Å"What's the deal, Bella?† I stared at the pale carpet. My bare feet were dirty, leaving smudges. Good. â€Å"I thought the whole point was that you wanted your vampire more than anything. And now you're just giving him up? That doesn't make any sense. Since when are you desperate to be a mom? If you wanted that so much, why did you marry a vampire?† I was dangerously close to that offer he wanted me to make. I could see the words taking me that way, but I couldn't change their direction. She sighed. â€Å"It's not like that. I didn't really care about having a baby. I didn't even think about it. It's not just having a baby. It's†¦ well†¦ this baby.† â€Å"It's a killer, Bella. Look at yourself.† â€Å"He's not. It's me. I'm just weak and human. But I can tough this out, Jake, I can – â€Å" â€Å"Aw, come on! Shut up, Bella. You can spout this crap to your bloodsucker, but you're not fooling me. You know you're not going to make it.† She glared at me. â€Å"I do not know that. I'm worried about it, sure.† â€Å"Worriedabout it,† I repeated through my teeth. She gasped then and clutched at her stomach. My fury vanished like a light switch being turned off. â€Å"I'm fine,† she panted. It's nothing.† But I didn't hear; her hands had pulled her sweatshirt to the side, and I stared, horrified, at the skin it exposed. Her stomach looked like it was stained with big splotches of purple-black ink. She saw my stare, and she yanked the fabric back in place. â€Å"He's strong, that's all,† she said defensively. The ink spots were bruises. I almost gagged, and I understood what he'd said, about watching it hurt her. Suddenly, I felt a little crazy myself. â€Å"Bella,† I said. She heard the change in my voice. She looked up, still breathing heavy, her eyes confused. â€Å"Bella, don't do this:' â€Å"Jake – â€Å" â€Å"Listen to me. Don't get your back up yet. Okay? Just listen. What if†¦ ?† â€Å"What if what?† â€Å"What if this wasn't a one-shot deal? What if it wasn't all or nothing? What if you just listened to Carlisle like a good girl, and kept yourself alive?† â€Å"I won't – â€Å" â€Å"I'm not done yet. So you stay alive. Then you can start over. This didn't work out. Try again.† She frowned. She raised one hand and touched the place where my eyebrows were mashing together. Her fingers smoothed my forehead for a moment while she tried to make sense of it. â€Å"I don't understand†¦. What do you mean, try again? You can't think Edward would let me†¦ ? And what difference would it make? I'm sure any baby – â€Å" â€Å"Yes,† I snapped. â€Å"Any kid of his would be the same.† Her tired face just got more confused. â€Å"What?† But I couldn't say any more. There was no point. I would never be able to save her from herself. I'd never been able to do that. Then she blinked, and I could see she got it. â€Å"Oh. Ugh. Please, Jacob. You think I should kill my baby and replace it with some generic substitute? Artificial insemination?† She was mad now. â€Å"Why would I want to have some stranger's baby? I suppose it just doesn't make a difference? Any baby will do?† â€Å"I didn't mean that,† I muttered. â€Å"Not a stranger.† She leaned forward. â€Å"Then what are you saying?† â€Å"Nothing. I'm saying nothing. Same as ever.† â€Å"Where did that come from?† â€Å"Forget it, Bella.† She frowned, suspicious. â€Å"Did he tell you to say that?† I hesitated, surprised that she'd made that leap so quick. â€Å"No.† â€Å"He did, didn't he?† â€Å"No, really. He didn't say anything about artificial whatever.† Her face softened then, and she sank back against the pillows, looking exhausted. She stared off to the side when she spoke, not talking to me at all. â€Å"He would do anything forme. And I'm hurting him so much†¦. But what is he thinking? That I would trade this† – her hand traced across her belly – â€Å"for some stranger's †¦Ã¢â‚¬  She mumbled the last part, and then her voice trailed off. Her eyes were wet. â€Å"You don't have to hurt him,† I whispered. It burned like poison in my mouth to beg for him, but I knew this angle was probably my best bet for keeping her alive. Still a thousand-to-one odds. â€Å"You could make him happy again, Bella. And I really think he's losing it. Honestly, I do.† She didn't seem to be listening; her hand made small circles on her battered stomach while she chewed on her lip. It was quiet for a long time. I wondered if the Cullens were very far away. Were they listening to my pathetic attempts to reason with her? â€Å"Not a stranger?† she murmured to herself. I flinched. â€Å"What exactly did Edward say to you?† she asked in a low voice. â€Å"Nothing. He just thought you might listen to me.† â€Å"Not that. About trying again.† Her eyes locked on mine, and I could see that I'd already given too much away. â€Å"Nothing.† Her mouth fell open a little. â€Å"Wow.† It was silent for a few heartbeats. I looked down at my feet again, unable to meet her stare. â€Å"He really would do anything, wouldn't he?† she whispered. â€Å"I told you he was going crazy. Literally, Bells.† â€Å"I'm surprised you didn't tell on him right away. Get him in trouble.† When I looked up, she was grinning. â€Å"Thought about it.† I tried to grin back, but I could feel the smile mangle on my face. She knew what I was offering, and she wasn't going to think twice about it. I'd known that she wouldn't. But it still stung. â€Å"There isn't much you wouldn't do for me, either, is there?† she whispered. â€Å"I really don't know why you bother. I don't deserve either of you.† â€Å"It makes no difference, though, does it?† â€Å"Not this time.† She sighed. â€Å"I wish I could explain it to you right so that you would understand. I can't hurthim† – she pointed to her stomach – â€Å"any more than I could pick up a gun and shoot you. I love him.† â€Å"Why do you always have to love the wrong things, Bella?† â€Å"I don't think I do.† I cleared the lump out of my throat so that I could make my voice hard like I wanted it. ‘Trust me.† I started to get to my feet. â€Å"Where are you going?† â€Å"I'm not doing any good here.† She held out her thin hand, pleading. â€Å"Don't go.† I could feel the addiction sucking at me, trying to keep me near her. â€Å"I don't belong here. I've got to get back.† â€Å"Why did you come today?† she asked, still reaching limply. â€Å"Just to see if you were really alive. I didn't believe you were sick like Charlie said.† I couldn't tell from her face whether she bought that or not. â€Å"Will you come back again? Before †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I'm not going to hang around and watch you die,Bella.† She flinched. â€Å"You're right, you're right. You should go.† I headed for the door. â€Å"Bye,† she whispered behind me. â€Å"Love you, Jake.† I almost went back. I almost turned around and fell down on my knees and started begging again. But I knew that I had to quitBella, quit her cold turkey, before she killed me, like she was going to kill him. â€Å"Sure, sure,† I mumbled on my way out. I didn't see any of the vampires. I ignored my bike, standing all alone in the middle of the meadow. It wasn't fast enough for me now. My dad would be freaked out – Sam, too. What would the pack make of the fact that they hadn't heard me phase? Would they think the Cullens got me before I'd had the chance? I stripped down, not caring who might be watching, and started running. I blurred into wolf mid-stride. They were waiting. Of course they were. Jacob, Jake,eight voices chorused in relief. Come homenow, the Alpha voice ordered. Sam was furious. I felt Paul fade out, and i knew Billy and Rachel were waiting to hear what had happened to me. Paul was too anxious to give them the good news that I wasn't vampire chow to listen to the whole story. I didn't have to tell the pack I was on my way – they could see the forest blurring past me as I sprinted for home. I didn't have to tell them that I was half-past crazy, either. The sickness in my head was obvious. They saw all the horror – Bella's mottled stomach; her raspy voice; he's strong, that's all: the burning man in Edward's face: watching her sicken and waste away†¦ seeing it hurting her, Rosalie crouched over Bella's limp body: Bella's life means nothing to her – and for once, no one had anything to say. Their shock was just a silent shout in my head. Wordless. I was halfway home before anyone recovered. Then they all started running to meet me. It was almost dark – the clouds covered the sunset completely. I risked darting across the freeway and made it without being seen. We met up about ten miles out of La Push, in a clearing left by the loggers. It was out of the way, wedged between two spurs of the mountain, where no one would see us. Paul found them when I did, so the pack was complete. The babble in my head was total chaos. Everyone shouting at once. Sam's hackles were sticking straight up, and he was growling in an unbroken stream as he paced back and forth around the top of the ring. Paul and Jared moved like shadows behind him, their ears flat against the sides of their head. The whole circle was agitated, on their feet and snarling in low bursts. At first their anger was undefined, and I thought I was in for it. I was too messed up to care about that. They could do whatever they wanted to me for circumventing orders. And then the unfocused confusion of thoughts began to move together. How can this be? What does it mean? What will it be? Not safe. Not right. Dangerous. Unnatural. Monstrous. An abomination. We can't allow it. The pack was pacing in synchronization now, thinking in synchronization, all but myself and one other. I sat beside whichever brother it was, too dazed to look over with either my eyes or my mind and see who was next to me, while the pack circled around us. The treaty does not cover this. This puts everyone in danger. I tried to understand the spiraling voices, tried to follow the curling pathway the thoughts made to see where they were leading, but it wasn't making sense. The pictures in the center of their thoughts were my pictures – the very worst of them. Bella's bruises, Edward's face as he burned. They fear it, too. But they won't do anything about it Protecting Bella Swan. We can't let that influence us. The safety of our families, of everyone here, is more important than one human. If they won't kill it, we have to. Protect the tribe. Protect our families. We have to kill it before it's too late. Another of my memories, Edward's words this time: The thing is growing. Swiftly. I struggled to focus, to pick out individual voices. No time to waste,Jared thought. It will mean a fight,Embry cautioned. A bad one. Were ready,Paul insisted. Well need surprise on our side,Sam thought. If we catch them divided, we can take them down separately. It will increase our chances of victory, Jared thought, starting to strategize now. I shook my head, rising slowly to my feet. 1 felt unsteady there – like the circling wolves were making me dizzy. The wolf beside me got up, too. His shoulder pushed against mine, propping me up. Wait,I thought. The circling paused for one beat, and then they were pacing again. There's little time,Sam said. But – what are you thinking? You wouldn't attack them for breaking the treaty this afternoon. Now you're planning an ambush, when the treaty is still intact? This is not something our treaty anticipated,Sam said. This is a danger to every human in the area. We don't know what kind of creature the Cullens have bred, but we know that it is strong and fast-growing. And it will be too young to follow any treaty. Remember the newborn vampires we fought? Wild, violent, beyond the reach of reason or restraint. Imagine one like that, but protected by the Cullens. We don't know – I tried to interrupt. Wedon't know, he agreed. And we can't take chances with the unknown in this case. We can only allow the Cullens to exist while we're absolutely sure that they can be trusted not to cause harm. This. . . thing cannot be trusted. They don't like it any more than we do. Sam pulled Rosalie's face, her protective crouch, from my mind and put it on display for everyone. Some are ready to fight for it, no matter what it is. It's just ababy, for crying out loud. Not for long,Leah whispered. Jake, buddy, this is a big problem,Quil said. We can't just ignore it. You're making it into something bigger than it is,I argued. The only one who's in danger here is Bella. Again by her own choice,Sam said. But this time her choice affects us all. I don't think so. We can't take that chance. We won't allow a blood drinker to hunt on our lands. Then tell them to leave,the wolf who was still supporting me said. It was Seth. Of course. And inflict the menace on others? When blood drinkers cross our land, we destroy them, no matter where they plan to hunt. We protect everyone we can. This is crazy,I said. This afternoon you were afraid to put the pack in danger. This afternoon I didn't know our families were at risk. I can't believe this! How're you going to kill this creature without killing Bella? There were no words, but the silence was full of meaning. I howled. She's human, too! Doesn't our protection apply to her? She's dying anyway,Leah thought. We'll just shorten the process. That did it. I leaped away from Seth, toward his sister, with my teeth bared. I was about to catch her left hind leg when I felt Sam's teeth cut into my flank, dragging me back. I howled in pain and fury and turned on him. Stop!he ordered in the double timbre of the Alpha. My legs seemed to buckle under me. I jerked to a halt, only managing to keep on my feet by sheer willpower. He turned his gaze away from me. You will not be cruel to him, Leah, he commanded her. Bella's sacrifice is a heavy price, and we will all recognize that It is against everything we stand for to take a human life. Making an exception to that code is a bleak thing. We will all mourn for what we do tonight. Tonight?Seth repeated, shocked. Sam – think we should talk about this some more. Consult with the Elders, at least. You can't seriously mean for us to – We can't afford your tolerance for the Cullens now. There is no time for debate. Youwilldo as you are told, Seth. SetfYs front knees folded, and his head fell forward under the weight of the Alpha's command. Sam paced in a tight circle around the two of us. We need the whole pack for this. Jacob, you are our strongest fighter. Youwillfight with us tonight. I understand that this is hard for you, so you will concentrate on their fighters – Emmett and Jasper Cullen. You don't have to be involved with the†¦ other part. Quil and Embry will fight with you. My knees trembled; I struggled to hold myself upright while the voice of the Alpha lashed at my will. Paul, Jared, and I will take on Edward and Rosalie. I think, from the information Jacob has brought us, they will be the ones guarding Bella. Carlisle and Alice will also be close, possibly Esme. Brady, Collin, Seth, and Leah will concentrate on them. Whoever has a clear lineon – we all heard him mentally stutter overBella's name – the creature will take it. Destroying the creature is our first priority. The pack rumbled in nervous agreement.The tension had everyone's fur standing on end. The pacing was quicker, and the sound of the paws against the brackish floor was sharper, toenails tearing into the soil. Only Seth and I were still, the eye in the center of a storm of bared teeth and flattened ears. Seth's nose was almost touching the ground, bowed under Sam's commands. I felt his pain at the coming disloyalty. For him this was a betrayal – during that one day of alliance, fighting beside Edward Cullen, Seth had truly become the vampire's friend. There was no resistance in him, however. He would obey no matter how much it hurt him. He had no other choice. And what choice did I have? When the Alpha spoke, the pack followed. Sam had never pushed his authority this far before; I knew he honestly hated to see Seth kneeling before him like a slave at the foot of his master. He wouldn't force this if he didn't believe that he had no other choice. He couldn't lie to us when we were linked mind to mind like this. He really believed it was our duty to destroy Bella and the monster she carried. He really believed we had no time to waste. He believed it enough to die for it. I saw that he would face Edward himself; Edward's ability to read our thoughts made him the greatest threat in Sam's mind. Sam would not let someone else take on that danger. He saw Jasper as the second-greatest opponent, which is why he'd given him to me. He knew that I had the best chance of any of the pack to win that fight. He'd left the easiest targets for the younger wolves and Leah. Little Alice was no danger without her future vision to guide her, and we knew from our time of alliance that Esme was not a fighter. Carlisle would be more of a challenge, but his hatred of violence would hinder him. I felt sicker than Seth as I watched Sam plan it out, trying to work the angles to give each member of the pack the best chance of survival. Everything was inside out. This afternoon, I'd been chomping at the bit to attack them. But Seth had been right – it wasn't a fight I'd been ready for. I'd blinded myself with that hate. I hadn't let myself look at it carefully, because I must have known what I would see if I did. Carlisle Cullen. Looking at him without that hate clouding my eyes, I couldn't deny that killing him was murder. He was good. Good as any human we protected. Maybe better. The others, too, I supposed, but I didn't feel as strongly about them. I didn't know them as well. It was Carlisle who would hate fighting back, even to save his own life. That's why we would be able to kill him – because he wouldn't want us, his enemies, to die. This was wrong. And it wasn't just because killing Bella felt like killing me, like suicide. Pull it together, Jacob,Sam ordered. The tribe comes first I was wrong today, Sam. Your reasons were wrong then. But now we have a duty to fulfill. I braced myself. No. Sam snarled and stopped pacing in front of me. He stared into my eyes and a deep growl slid between his teeth. Yes,the Alpha decreed, his double voice blistering with the heat of his authority. There are no loopholes tonight. You, Jacob, are going to fight the Cullens with us. You, with Quil and Embry, will take care of Jasper and Emmett. You are obligated to protect the tribe. That is why you exist. You willperform this obligation. My shoulders hunched as the edict crushed me. My legs collapsed, and I was on my belly under him. No member of the pack could refuse the Alpha.

Free Essays on Should Physician Assisted Suicide Be Legal

Physician-Assisted suicide has been a debated legal issue in the United States for over twenty years. This process is defined as when a â€Å"qualified medical practitioner, in fulfilling the wishes of the terminally ill patient, gives access to administering a lethal injection, or inhalation of carbon monoxideâ€Å" (Henry 113). The mere fact that someone says in an unclear fashion that he or she wants to be killed does not in itself provide the doctor with the right to say that death would benefit that person. Complications such as muscle spasms, vomiting, and extreme gasping occurred in more than 20% of assisted suicides. This form of â€Å"mercy killing† should not be legalized because it shows lack of human worth, it is inconsistent with a just legal system, and it is an oxymoron in the medical practice. In legalizing this our country will loose its understanding of the worth of life. The first method, which is the lethal injection requires the patient to be attached to an IV which would be attached to three containers. Each holding a different solution; saline, sedative, and potassium chloride (mixture of muscle relaxant). The first assistant would begin by allowing the saline to flow into the patient’s body. The second step involves the patient because they must pull a switch that allows the remainder of the harmful substances to enter their body. A patients death will then take place within two minutes of the completion of the IV. The second method of assisted suicide is the inhalation of carbon monoxide. This requires the patient to wear a mask covering both the nose and mouth. The mask is then connected to a container of carbon monoxide with a tube. Depending on the severity of the patients illness they have a choice on two methods for releasing the carbon monoxide. The first is to allow the gas to flow by opening the nozzle of the container, and the other is to have the patient release a clamp placed on the tube that allows... Free Essays on Should Physician Assisted Suicide Be Legal Free Essays on Should Physician Assisted Suicide Be Legal Physician-Assisted suicide has been a debated legal issue in the United States for over twenty years. This process is defined as when a â€Å"qualified medical practitioner, in fulfilling the wishes of the terminally ill patient, gives access to administering a lethal injection, or inhalation of carbon monoxideâ€Å" (Henry 113). The mere fact that someone says in an unclear fashion that he or she wants to be killed does not in itself provide the doctor with the right to say that death would benefit that person. Complications such as muscle spasms, vomiting, and extreme gasping occurred in more than 20% of assisted suicides. This form of â€Å"mercy killing† should not be legalized because it shows lack of human worth, it is inconsistent with a just legal system, and it is an oxymoron in the medical practice. In legalizing this our country will loose its understanding of the worth of life. The first method, which is the lethal injection requires the patient to be attached to an IV which would be attached to three containers. Each holding a different solution; saline, sedative, and potassium chloride (mixture of muscle relaxant). The first assistant would begin by allowing the saline to flow into the patient’s body. The second step involves the patient because they must pull a switch that allows the remainder of the harmful substances to enter their body. A patients death will then take place within two minutes of the completion of the IV. The second method of assisted suicide is the inhalation of carbon monoxide. This requires the patient to wear a mask covering both the nose and mouth. The mask is then connected to a container of carbon monoxide with a tube. Depending on the severity of the patients illness they have a choice on two methods for releasing the carbon monoxide. The first is to allow the gas to flow by opening the nozzle of the container, and the other is to have the patient release a clamp placed on the tube that allows...

Rebecca essays

Rebecca essays 1. Do you think the title of the book Rebecca is appropriately named? Explain. Yes, I think the title of the book is very appropriate. Although Rebecca did not actually appear in the story, she is a very important role form the beginning of the story till the end, every character was being influenced by her and she is the centre of the story, by naming the book Rebecca, it can attract readers attention and arouse their interests. Moreover, the name of Rebecca is repeated many times in the story, it gives a special effect to the story. Why do I say that Rebecca is one of the most important roles in the story? If you have read the story, you must notice that when the story starts, Rebecca had already died, she did not actually appear in the story at all, however, readers notice Rebeccas existence at the beginning of the story, as the narrator sees that Maxim was constantly thinking of her and Rebeccas things, for example the poetry that Rebecca gave Maxim. Moreover, Rebecca was constantly reminded by the narrator, throughout the story, and as the story goes on, the story of Maxim murdering Rebecca was unfold. Rebecca is a very important role because everything starts from the murdering of her, as Maxim has murdered her, was always afraid of being discovered and so he went to Monte Carlo and met the narrator, the story was developed from the murder of Rebecca. If Rebecca was not murdered, all of these things would not happen, so we can say that she is a very important role in the story. She is a very important character, as she influences all most all of the other characters in the story, for example Maxim , Mrs. Danvers ,Jack Favell , Frank, the other high social status people and definitely she haunted the narrator most. In the first half of the story the narrator thinks that Maxim was deeply in love with her and throughout the story she is constantly comparing herself ...

Presidential Cabinet and Its Purpose

Presidential Cabinet and Its Purpose A presidential cabinet is a group of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government. Members of the presidential cabinet are nominated by the commander in chief and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.  White House records describe the role of presidential cabinet members as being to advise the president on any subject he may require relating to the duties of each members respective office. There are 23 members of the presidential cabinet, including the vice president of the United States. How the First Cabinet Was Created Authority for the creation of a presidential cabinet is granted in  Article II Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution  gives the president the authority to seek external advisors. It states that the president can require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices. Congress, in turn, determines the number and scope of executive Departments. Who Can Serve on the Presidential Cabinet? A member of the presidential cabinet cannot be a member of Congress or a sitting governor. Article I Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution  states   ... No person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of either house during his continuance in office. Sitting governors, U.S. senators and members of the House of Representatives must resign before being sworn in as a member of the presidential cabinet. How Members Are Chosen The president nominates cabinet officers. The nominees are then presented to the U.S. Senate for confirmation or rejection on a simple majority vote. If approved, the presidential cabinet nominees are sworn in and begin their duties. Who Gets to Sit on the Presidential Cabinet? With the exception of the vice president and attorney general, all cabinet heads are called secretary. The modern cabinet includes the vice president and the heads of 15 executive departments. In addition, seven other individuals have cabinet rank. Those seven others with cabinet rank are the: White House chief of staffEnvironmental Protection Agency administratorOffice of Management Budget directorU.S. Trade Representative ambassadorU.S. Mission to the United Nations ambassadorCouncil of Economic Advisers chairmanSmall Business Administration administrator The secretary of State is the highest-ranking member of the presidential cabinet. The secretary of State is also fourth in the line of succession to the presidency behind the vice president, the speaker of the House and Senate president pro tempore. Cabinet officers serve as the heads of the following executive agencies of the government: AgricultureCommerceDefenseEducationEnergyInteriorJusticeLaborHealth and Human ServicesHomeland SecurityHousing and Urban DevelopmentStateTransportationTreasuryVeterans Affairs History of The Cabinet The presidential cabinet dates to the first American president, George Washington. He appointed a Cabinet of four people: Secretary of State  Thomas Jefferson; Secretary of the Treasury  Alexander Hamilton; Secretary of War  Henry Knox; and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. Those four cabinet positions remain the most important to the president to this day. Line of Succession The presidential cabinet is an important part of the presidential line of succession, the process that determines who will serve as president upon the incapacity, death, resignation, or removal from office of a sitting president or a president-elect. The presidential line of succession is spelled out in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. Because of this, it is common practice not to have the entire cabinet in one location at the same time, even for ceremonial occasions such as  the State of the Union Address. Typically, one member of the presidential cabinet serves as the designated survivor, and they are held at a secure, undisclosed location, ready to take over if the president, vice president and the rest of the cabinet are killed. Here is the  line of succession to the presidency: Vice PresidentSpeaker of the House of RepresentativesPresident Pro Tempore of the SenateSecretary of StateSecretary of the TreasurySecretary of DefenseAttorney GeneralSecretary of the InteriorSecretary of AgricultureSecretary of CommerceSecretary of LaborSecretary of Health and Human ServicesSecretary of Housing and Urban DevelopmentSecretary of TransportationSecretary of EnergySecretary of EducationSecretary of Veterans AffairsSecretary of Homeland Security

Valuing Stocks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Valuing Stocks - Essay Example The DJIA is price weighted and the average stock movement is widely affected by the large stocks. 4. On January 16, 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average set a new high. The index closed at 12,582.59, which was up 26.51 that day. What was the return (in percent) of the stock market that day?" (Cornett, Adair, and Nofsinger, 2012, p. 173). 5. "At your discount brokerage firm, it costs $9.50 per stock trade. How much money do you need to buy 300 shares of Time Warner, Inc. (TWX), which trades at $22.62?" (Cornett, Adair, and Nofsinger, 2012, p. 173). 6. Financial analysts forecast Safeco Corp. (SAF) growth for the future to be a constant 10 percent. Safecos recent dividend was $1.20. What is the value of Safeco stock when the required return is 12 percent?" (Cornett, Adair, and Nofsinger, 2012, p. 174). 7. A preferred stock from Duquesne Light Company (DQUPRA) pays $2.10 in annual dividends. If the required return on the preferred stock is 5.4 percent, what is the value of the stock?" (Cornett, Adair, and Nofsinger, 2012, p.

Philosophy of Mind Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Philosophy of Mind - Essay Example It is this gap, according to Searle that makes individuals believe that they have the freedom of will. In his observation therefore, whether free will exists or not is a question that is open but the idea that it may be absent is more appealing given that it makes the feeling that freedom does really exist a secondary phenomenon (Searle, p.32). Free will is the apparent ability of agents to make their own choices from several kinds of constrains. Generally, these constraints have always been metaphysical. The test of free will has always been the question as to whether in choosing to do something; an individual would have chosen another option. Chances are holding everything constant, including the will, the choice would probably be the same. The issue that surrounds this concept is two sided. The concept of being free is normally free. It depends on what a person is free to do, or is free from. With an additional concept of constraint and ability, free develops the idea that it coul d only apply in a given context. Therefore, absolute freedom from everything or to do everything denies the concept of having an identity. This applies to all the abilities that an agent possesses. Consequently, the choices we make are obvious not totally free from such things as the knowledge we have, the values we hold or the perceptions of the environment and ourselves. Therefore, in order for free will to exist, is should not be considered by eliminating the influences of such factors but in reviewing the choices that one can ably make; as there is no freedom from these influences. On the other hand, determinism is the concept that the events that occur within a give paradigm are bound by a cause in a way that every state is to some extent determined by previous states. In physics, this principle is often referred to as the cause-and-effect principle. In philosophy, the term explains the concept that in every event including even those that involve human beings are usually deter mined by other events. This is often contrasted with free will. Proposers of determinism believe that any system that is determined is governed fully by the causal laws. Because of this concept, there could only be one option at every point in the system. The opposing positions that have created this debate come from the claim that determinism is false and for that reason, free will does exist, or there is a possibility of it existing on one hand; and those that claim that determinism is true and therefore free will cannot exist on the other. This debate is what gave birth to the concept of compatibilism. Compatibilism is the belief that determinism and free will are two compatible ideas and therefore, there is a possibility of believing in both without actually being inconsistent logically. Generally, those who propose this idea define free will in such a manner that it allows it to exist together with the idea of determinism. Under this concept therefore, free will is taken to mea n more or less the freedom to act according to the determined motives of an individual. According to Searle, the conscious, voluntary decision making aspects of the brain or the mind are not deterministic. As stated above, the fundamental feature that is involved is the perceivable presence of a gap that occurs when one deliberates on what action to take between the cause at every stage and the stage at which the decision and the action occur.

Church growth handouts Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Church growth handouts - Assignment Example The learning goals aim to achieve a dedicated network of workers, a strong database of qualified resource people and organizations, implementation of training programs, aim to address obstacles to church growth and to research and experiment. The key strategies to achieve these goals include developing high functioning teams, imparting knowledge and developing practical skills, generating opportunities for worship and fellowship, knowledge and skills transfer, the sharing of resources, to be intentional about including the youth, equip bishoprics themselves to encourage the growth of their churches, and to manage resources responsibly. The purpose of the church is to create and develop all-rounded, Holy Spirit filled, and a productive Christian. The Church must be a place where believers share the Lords Supper, to proclaim the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, and care for those in need. The church has several roles to play in the society. The church provides the foundation and platform, a point of reference for fellowship. Through the church, the God’s family is devoted. A church is also a place where the Christians can sharpen and instruct each other as well as be kind and loving with each other. In addition, the church acts as a source of resources, organizer and

How do international financial institutions manage the change needed Essay

How do international financial institutions manage the change needed after the 2008 financial crisis - Essay Example The main aim of regulation is making the reporting system transparent so that the market participants can have a better idea about the risk that they are undertaking. The above mentioned financial crisis was mainly attributed to insufficient regulation therefore a change in the regulatory framework is needed to avoid this in the future. An important official of the IMF has attributed regulatory failure to guard against excessive risk as the reason of the 2008 financial crisis. However excessive regulation is also one of the reasons that contribute to the financial crisis. As per the Basel II norms the banks have to increase their capital whenever there is an increase in the risk. This adds to the crisis, as the banks reduce their lending for meeting the capital requirements. When the Fed announced the hike in the interest rates the installments were re-set which resulted in widespread delinquencies. Faced by the rising foreclosures the banks had to sell off their assets for maintaini ng the capital requirements. This led to a steep fall in the housing prices. For preventing this crisis in the future various international bodies like IMF demanded strict disclosure and regulatory norms. This procedure requires changing the existing accounting standards and making the disclosure of off-balance sheet risk more effective. The international financial institutions have to play a major role in managing this change. Initially the changes of regulations and disclosures may not be acceptable. Here the international bodies have to play the key role in explaining the significance of the change. This will help in removing the restraining forces and will facilitate in reaching the equilibrium stage. When a change is implemented there are two contrary forces that act simultaneously- driving forces that support and restraining forces that oppose a change. To make the change successful it is important to explain its significance to the people in

Social Work Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Social Work Reflection Paper - Essay Example The objective of the project was to determine if the social workers could draw a distinction between personal values and those of patients and their families. Another objective was to determine how the role of social work could change in the midst of a treatment. Finally, the last objective was to allow social workers to identify their comfort levels regarding the end of life discussions. The evaluation was divided into three activities. This paper presents a reflection on how my group responded to the activities, how the objectives were met, and implications of this exercise for my practice as a social worker. Activity 1, Activity 2, and Activity 3 were end of life care, comfortable and dignified death, and completing the five wishes respectively. Activity 1 involved a scenario of Mr. Cortez, who is connected to ventilator 24 hours following gunshot wounds. Additionally, Mr. Cortez cannot feed on his, so he is given food through tubes. Moreover, the patient is sore and cannot make any purposeful movement. The group responded to the scenario guided by a number of issues including personal values, factors that bar families from making healthcare decisions, and application of social work expertise in the situation. As the discussion went on, I noted a number of important factors. For instance, the main barriers to decision making by families include culture, religion, the inability of the patient to air his opinion, and language/comprehension. Additionally, from the activity, it emerged that not everyone is comfortable with discussing end of life issues and initiating end of life with the fa mily of the patient. For example, Sarah Welsh and Roy found it hard to talk about death and initiate the end of life conversation with the family. Nevertheless, the group responded well to the activity, and one of the strengths demonstrated was the ability to convince and encourage one another to uphold the duties of a social worker. For instance,

The Student Loans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

The Student Loans - Essay Example There is a study that shows areas having higher growth in the student debt, depicting lower development in the entrepreneurial spirit where there is a lower number of businesses with one to four employees (www.nytimes.com). In most cases, when students use up their capacity of debt on student loans, they can’t commit that debt capacity elsewhere. These students end up not thinking of ever taking any loans in future thus killing the spirit of being their own bosses. This therefore shuts down the spirit and ability to create new businesses and opportunities in future. With this, a country’s economic growth is hampered. Student loan debt is also appearing to affect the trends of home ownership. Recently, people around the age of 30-33 are not buying houses. This decline has been steeper for those people having the history of student loans. It was intense during the fall of the housing market, but has since continued even after the market has recovered. According to Korkki on www.nytimes.com, career choices by the students having the student loans are affected mostly. Students having the college loan have a low tendency of choosing a low-paying job. This leads to overcrowding in certain job categories whereas leaving other jobs unattended to. This tends to kill the economy because all sectors of the economy are supposed to be attended to. Overcrowding in certain professions could lead to social problems such as corruption, favoring and all those sorts of injustices. It has also come to my attention that some government organizations are not employing people who have not settled their student loan debts. It has therefore deprived various young men in the age bracket of 22 to 30 opportunities to express themselves given the fact that they are the most productive group currently. In addition, these people do not drive.

Social Work Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Social Work Reflection Paper - Essay Example The objective of the project was to determine if the social workers could draw a distinction between personal values and those of patients and their families. Another objective was to determine how the role of social work could change in the midst of a treatment. Finally, the last objective was to allow social workers to identify their comfort levels regarding the end of life discussions. The evaluation was divided into three activities. This paper presents a reflection on how my group responded to the activities, how the objectives were met, and implications of this exercise for my practice as a social worker. Activity 1, Activity 2, and Activity 3 were end of life care, comfortable and dignified death, and completing the five wishes respectively. Activity 1 involved a scenario of Mr. Cortez, who is connected to ventilator 24 hours following gunshot wounds. Additionally, Mr. Cortez cannot feed on his, so he is given food through tubes. Moreover, the patient is sore and cannot make any purposeful movement. The group responded to the scenario guided by a number of issues including personal values, factors that bar families from making healthcare decisions, and application of social work expertise in the situation. As the discussion went on, I noted a number of important factors. For instance, the main barriers to decision making by families include culture, religion, the inability of the patient to air his opinion, and language/comprehension. Additionally, from the activity, it emerged that not everyone is comfortable with discussing end of life issues and initiating end of life with the fa mily of the patient. For example, Sarah Welsh and Roy found it hard to talk about death and initiate the end of life conversation with the family. Nevertheless, the group responded well to the activity, and one of the strengths demonstrated was the ability to convince and encourage one another to uphold the duties of a social worker. For instance,

Terrorist Strategies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Terrorist Strategies - Research Paper Example In some parts of the world, the organized terrorist organizations have formed government like structures of running these countries and this has contributed to increase in such extremist groupings. To achieve their objective and increase terror in people, terrorist adopt different strategies and approaches which have been blamed for causing misery, deaths and destruction of property. Of all these strategies, the use of indiscriminative violence is common and this has been used in the US soil in a number of instances. This paper will evaluate the strategies that terrorist have employed in different parts of the world and more specifically in the united states and countries bordering it. different strategies including the use of violence, threats and intimidation, kidnapping and the internet will be analyzed to highlight the impacts of these strategies in assisting terrorists achieve their goals. An evaluation and analysis of the strategies used by terrorists to achieve their objective is essential in the development of approaches of mitigating the rise of terrorist groups and activities across the world. The United States government has highlighted a number of strategies that have been used by terrorists in the country and in other parts of the globe. The threat of terrorism in different parts of the world has risen to a level that has affected the peaceful existence of citizens across the world due to the approaches that these terrorists have adopted. In the United States, terrorism is considered as number one threat to the domestic and international security and this explains the reason why the government has been instrumental in the development of anti-terrorism approaches. The rise in terrorism in different parts of the globe has been attributed to the turbulent political situations in a number of Arab and former soviet

Conflict Between US And USSR History Essay

Conflict Between US And USSR History Essay In the stressful conflict that accrued between the United States and the U.S.S.R. Was after the Second World War with Hitler. The United States and the Soviet Union In 1945 became the two leading super powers in Europe, with the USSR predominately occupying the countries of Eastern Europe. The United States was the peace keeper of the countries of Western Europe. These two superpowers, in Germany along with France and Britain, agreed on occupied areas of land which made up a framework for four-power control over Europes land mass. In the February meetings at Yalta, in July/August at Potsdam in 1945 the two superpowers and Britain negotiated to divide the states for a land territory settlement of Europe. When the Potsdam conference became serious many differences were fought over about the future evolving status of Germany and the rest of the states of Europe. Each meeting the super powers discussed the Far East They paid very close attention to the admittance of the USSR into the war against Japan. By 1947 an east-west division of states was manifesting its head with the Soviets seriously intending on undermining democracy and establishing puppet communist regimes in Eastern Europe. In Germany the Soviets were bent on crippling their economy and creating an overwhelming influence in their territory that they wanted to occupy. The Soviets defended their desires of Europe in terms of creating anti-Fascist governments which were friendly towards the USSR and her beliefs. The USSR was portraying the United States as bent on destroying communism while the United States portrayed the USSR as determined to undermining liberal democracy in the United States as well as Europe. The Cold War was marked by the Berlin Blockade Crisis of 1948-9. As time progressed the victory of Maos Red Army of the American sponsored Nationalist Government in China in 1949 and the Korean War in 1950, received pressure from the Soviet military occupation of Hungary in 1956. From Berlin on to 1958 leading up to the Wall crisis of 1961 in Berlin, Germany and the Missile Crisis in Cuba in 1962. During this time the Americans pulled their resources together and their new role as leader of the West was offering assistance to the economies of the Western European states they occupied through the implemented Marshall Plan of 1947. Recently allied to an emerging alliance of Western European states America signed the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949; taking the lead in controlling the Federal Republic of Germany from the three Western zones that were occupied in 1949. In the early 1950s America worked for rearming of these new states and its full membership in North Atlantic Treaty Organization during the year 1955. The USSR proclaimed its territories in Germany as the German Democratic Republic completely created a formal alliance with its Eastern European new friends in 1955 which created the Warsaw Pact Treaty Organization. The Americans concluded an alliance in Asia making a peace treaty with Japan in 1951 and 1952 and included other states such as Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and the Philippines, within a series of alliances, while the USSR finished an alliance with China in 1950. but the Americans gradually became entangled in a more complex war in Vietnam while the war in Korea ended in 1953 in which it supported the South Vietnam against North Vietnam which the north was backed by the USSR and China. Throughout this era the two countries made policies of rearming of nuclear weapons with continued developed of long-range weapons where they could destroy each other from their own countries. The Cuban Missile Crisis relations got much better after the agreements were finished in stabilizing the situations in Europe. The Quadripartite Agreement from Berlin in 1971 led to the two German states entering the United Nations in 1973. The Helsinki Accords agreed the Co-operation in Europe in 1975 which appeared to mark a tacit peace treaty to end the Cold War and World War II by the Conference on Security. Agreements that limited the nuclear arms race were also finished. The conflict between the superpowers kept on going even through this era of this easing, as of tension between competitors. Even in new areas of rivalry such as was in Africa crossed its Continent while the betterment of relations continued between China and, the United States with the added work of President Nixon, the Secretary of State Kissinger, and Premier Chou En-Lai. Together they eased the tensions between the United States and the USSR worsening the relations between her and China. This gave a new shap e to negotiations towards peace between the two superpowers in the 1970s. By the mid-1970s the Cold War in its original form can be said to have died away. The arms race between East and West had all the characteristics of a classic action-reaction model of international conflict in which each side reacts to an earlier step by the other side. The explanation of the origins of the conflict is more complex, though three broad categories of explanation can be identified. First, some analysts have emphasized that the Cold War occurred primarily as a result of the destruction of German power, the resulting power vacuum in Central Europe and the new bipolar balance of power between the superpowers. From this perspective, the Cold War was a traditional great power conflict in which ideological rivalry was essentially secondary and the structural constraints of bipolarity crucial in throwing the two sides apart. A second explanation, sometimes called the orthodox or liberal interpretation, stresses the American desire for a return to a much more limited internatio nal role after the Second World War. However, after having begun to disarm and disengage from Europe, the Americans were obliged by Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe to take up in 1947 a much more active, and unsought for, role in Europe in order to contain Soviet power. A third explanation stresses the long-term objective of the American capitalist power to undermine communism and to expand American power throughout the Middle East, the Far East, and all of Europe. Some writers in this category thus trace the Cold War back to American opposition to the 1917 Russian Revolution. Of course, many accounts weave together two or even all three of these broad categories. In the 1980s there was a short-lived but intensive reawakening of the Cold War, sometimes called the New Cold War. DÃ ©tente petered out in the late 1970s, arms control faltered, and in December 1979 the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan. From the year 1980 onward the USSR exerted intense pressure over the government of Poland. In the United States Reagan denounced the Soviet Union in ideological terms and in Britain Thatcher denounced the Soviet Union in ideological terms which was unheard of since the worst days of the Cold War. On the Western side there was rearmament in Europe, under the so-called double-track policy of NATO, changes in the American doctrine of deterrence which appeared to emphasize the political utility of limited nuclear war, and the American pursuit of defenses against Soviet missiles in the Strategic Defense Initiative. In the post-year 1945 era it was difficult to disentangle action and reaction between the two sides. In any case, by 1987 the two superpower s had moved decisively back towards a better agreement on treaties by 1989 while Soviet power itself had crumbled. The US and Russian agreements needed to work together against terrorism after September 11, 2001 which marked the most dramatic change in their relations since the start of the Cold War in 1948. The imploded views of the socialists in Europe in 1989 started this new European order. Germany was brought back together, healing the pain and suffering along Europes heart and soul. This time in history that has been described as the Cold War, needed to be ended. Soviet spokesperson Gennadi Gerasimov stated, this era of conflict had last from Yalta to Malta, a reference to the time between the famous 1945 summit and a brief conference with the U.S. President George Bush including Gorbachev off the coast of the neutral island of Malta in December 1989. Latter at a summit, Gorbachev announced the end of an era and the start of a new one, a lasting and peaceful one, promising that he would never start a hot war against the United States. Bush said, that he looked forward to enduring cooperation. The real end to the period would come two years later, when the Soviet Union ceased to exist. (Freedman, L. 2010)

Character Study of Jem in To Kill a Mockingbird :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

In To Kill a Mockingbird Jem is Scout's older brother who acts as a protector and mentor when their father, Atticus, is not present. (Scout is the main character) Both of the children are moulded and shaped by their father Atticus, Jem more so than Scout, but this is probably down to his age, Atticus brings the children up to stand by their beliefs but to accept the beliefs and views of others, and to take a look at the way another person would see the situation. The teachings of Atticus have a profound impact on Jem. Jem is a role model for Scout, when Atticus is not around he acts in his stead. Here are a few qualities we see Jem develop through the course of the story. Jem has a respect for all living creatures, a belief Atticus has instilled in him, Atticus is a firm believer in not killing animals unless absolutely necessary and we can see how Jem develops this quality in himself. When Jem and Scout receive air rifles Atticus tells Jem ?Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit ?em, but remember it?s a sin to kill a Mockingbird.? Atticus, in a roundabout sort of way, told Jem he could kill Bluejays because, they are pests and even though he doesn?t like killing animals he allows Jem to shoot at the Bluejays, but to kill a Mockingbird, who does nothing but help and please people, is not acceptable. We later see Jem shooting tin cans in the back yard despite the large numbers of Bluejays flying around him, which Scout thinks is stupid because you are allowed to shoot Bluejays so why shoot at the tin cans? He has the option to but decides he doesn?t have to kill the birds. ? When he gave us our air rifles Atticus wouldn?t teach us to shoot. Uncle Jack instructed us in rudiments thereof, he said Atticus wasn?t interested in guns*. Atticus said to Jem one day, ?I?d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you?ll go after birds. Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit ?em, but remember it?s a sin to kill a mocking-bird. *This is rather ironic seeing as Atticus turns out to be the best shot in Maycomb, he just doesn?t like using guns because he sees his gift for shooting as an unfair advantage over animals.

population :: essays research papers

The Immigration Debate   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Migration is a natural condition of humankind. People have traditionally moved voluntarily hope of freedom and economical, cultural and educational opportunities. As of recent there has been a conflict of interest in terms of immigration. Mr. John Isbister shows both sides in his book, The Immigration Debate. Although Mr. Isbister shows both sides on immigration, he is clearly proimmigration. He says, â€Å"immigrantscontribute positively to the quality of American life and that immigration is consistent with the moral values that Americans hold closest†isbister 4). He says immigratswill continue to add to America’s melting pot theory.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He starts his book talking abouhistory ofnited States policy. The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 wereenacted as part to deny asylum toEuropean supporters of Democracy. The Immigration Act of 1924 was the first permanet limitation on immigration, established the â€Å" national origins quota system†(). This act set a quota of immigrants to the United States at two percent of the number of persons of a given nationality residing in the United States. Since quotas were based on the proportions of the U.S. population, the system greatly favored northern Europeans and discriminate against Asians. The quota system was finally abolished in The Migration Refugee Assistance Act of 1962. The act opened opportunities for families to reunify. Many refugees came from Cuba and Latin America. This actr surprisingly increased the number of non white immigrants. Now crowds of Hispanic and Asains can be found throughout the entire nation. Mr. Isbister says that the new infl ux of Hispanics and Asains is cyclical and that the population will control itself. The first cycle happened from 1820 to 1967, nearly 90 percent of all immigrants were from Canada or Europe. From the Migration Refugee Assistane Act of 1962, Mexico and other Central American countries were the maority of immigrants. Only thirteen percent of immigrants were from Europe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now there happens to be a huge influx of illegal immigrants. To control the illegal aliens Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986. This act punished employers who hired undocumented immigrants. It also granted citizenship to illegal aliens who had been residing in the United States for several years. No one really knows how many illegal immigrants there are living in the United States, but estimates say there are about four to five million illegals leaving here, almost all of them are non-white.

Blood Promise Chapter Seven

It was like Christmas morning. I wasn't usually big on God or fate, but now I was seriously reconsidering. After I'd passed out, Sydney had apparently made some frantic calls, and someone she knew in Baia had driven to us-risking the darkness-to rescue us and take us back where I could be treated. That was no doubt why I'd had vague sensations of being in a car during my delirium; it hadn't all been part of the dream. And then, somehow, out of all the dhampirs in Baia, I had been taken to Dimitri's mother. That was enough to make me seriously consider that there might truly be forces greater than me at work in the universe. No one told me exactly how it happened, but I soon learned Olena Belikova had a reputation among her peers for healing-and not even any sort of magical healing. She'd had medical training and was the person other dhampirs-and even some Moroi-went to in this region when they wanted to avoid human attention. Still. The coincidence was eerie, and I couldn't help but think there was something going on that I didn't understand. For now, I didn't worry too much about the hows and whys of my current situation. I was too busy staring wide-eyed at my surroundings and its inhabitants. Olena didn't live alone. All of Dimitri's sisters-three of them-lived in the house too, along with their kids. The family resemblance was startling. None of them looked exactly like Dimitri, but in every face, I could see him. The eyes. The smile. Even the sense of humor. Seeing them fed the Dimitri withdrawal I'd had since he'd disappeared-and made it worse at the same time. Whenever I looked at any of them out of my peripheral vision, I'd think I was seeing Dimitri. It was like a house of mirrors, with distorted reflections of him everywhere. Even the house gave me a thrill. There were no obvious signs that Dimitri had ever lived there, but I kept thinking, this is where he grew up. He walked these floors, touched these walls†¦ As I walked from room to room, I'd touch the walls too, trying to draw his energy from them. I'd envision him lounging on the couch, home on break from school. I wondered if he'd slid down the banisters when he was little. The images were so real that I had to keep reminding myself that he hadn't been here in ages. â€Å"You've made an amazing recovery,† Olena noted the next morning after I'd been brought to her. She watched with approval as I inhaled a plate of blini. They were ultra-thin pancakes stacked and layered with butter and jam. My body always required a lot of food to keep its strength up, and I figured as long as I wasn't chewing with my mouth open or anything, I had no reason to feel bad about eating so much. â€Å"I thought you were dead when Abe and Sydney brought you in.† â€Å"Who?† I asked between bites of food. Sydney sat at the table with the rest of the family, hardly touching her food as usual. She seemed clearly uneasy at being in a dhampir household, but when I'd first come downstairs this morning, I'd definitely seen some relief in her eyes. â€Å"Abe Mazur,† said Sydney. Unless I was mistaken, some of the other people at the table exchanged knowing glances. â€Å"He's a Moroi. I†¦ I didn't know how badly you were injured last night, so I called him. He drove down with his guardians. He was the one who brought you here.† Guardians. Plural. â€Å"Is he royal?† Mazur wasn't a royal name, but that wasn't always a sure sign of someone's lineage. And while I was beginning to trust Sydney's social networking and connections to powerful people, I couldn't imagine why a royal would go out of his way for me. Maybe he owed the Alchemists a favor. â€Å"No,† she said bluntly. I frowned. A non-royal Moroi with more than one guardian? Very odd. It was clear she wasn't going to say anything else on the matter-at least not for now. I swallowed another mouthful of blini and turned my attention back to Olena. â€Å"Thanks for taking me in.† Dimitri's older sister, Karolina, sat at the table too, along with her baby girl and son Paul. Paul was about ten and seemed fascinated by me. Dimitri's teenage sister, Viktoria, was also there. She appeared to be a little younger than me. The third Belikov sister was named Sonya and had left for work before I woke up. I'd have to wait to meet her. â€Å"Did you really kill two Strigoi all by yourself?† Paul asked me. â€Å"Paul,† chastised Karolina. â€Å"That's not a nice question to ask.† â€Å"But it's an exciting one,† said Viktoria with a grin. Her brown hair was streaked with gold, but her dark eyes sparkled so much like Dimitri's when he was excited that it tugged at my heart. Again, I had that taunting sensation of Dimitri being here but not here. â€Å"She did,† said Sydney. â€Å"I saw the bodies. Like always.† She wore that comically tormented expression of hers, and I laughed. â€Å"At least I left them where you could find them this time.† My humor suddenly dimmed. â€Å"Did anyone†¦ any other humans notice or hear?† â€Å"I got rid of the bodies before anyone saw,† she said. â€Å"If people heard anything†¦ Well, backwoods places like that are always filled with superstitions and ghost stories. They don't have factual evidence of vampires, per se, but there's always sort of this belief that the supernatural and dangerous are out there. Little do they know.† She said â€Å"ghost stories† without any change of expression. I wondered if she'd seen any of the spirits last night but finally decided she probably hadn't. She'd come outside near the tail end of the fight, and if past evidence was any indication, nobody else could see the spirits I saw-except Strigoi, as it turned out. â€Å"You must have had some good training then,† said Karolina, shifting so the baby leaned against her shoulder. â€Å"You look like you should still be in school.† â€Å"Just got out,† I said, earning another scrutinizing look from Sydney. â€Å"You're American,† said Olena matter-of-factly. â€Å"What in the world could bring you out here?† â€Å"I†¦ I'm looking for someone,† I said after a few moments' hesitation. I was afraid they were going to press for details or that she too would have blood whore suspicions, but just then, the kitchen door opened and Dimitri's grandmother, Yeva, walked in. She had poked her head in earlier and scared the hell out of me. Dimitri had told me that she was a witch of sorts, and I could believe it. She looked like she was a gazillion years old and was so thin, it was a wonder the wind didn't blow her away. She barely stood five feet tall, and her hair covered her head in patchy gray wisps. But it was her eyes that truly frightened me. The rest of her might be frail, but those dark eyes were sharp and alert and seemed to bore into my soul. Even without Dimitri's explanation, I would have taken her for a witch. She was also the only one in the household who didn't speak English. She sat down at one of the empty chairs, and Olena hastily jumped up to get some more blini. Yeva muttered something in Russian that made the others look uncomfortable. Sydney's lips twitched into a small smile. Yeva's eyes were on me as she spoke, and I glanced around for translation. â€Å"What?† I asked. â€Å"Grandmother says you're not telling us the whole truth about why you're here. She says the longer you delay, the worse it will be,† Viktoria explained. She then gave Sydney an apologetic look. â€Å"And she wants to know when the Alchemist is leaving.† â€Å"As soon as possible,† said Sydney dryly. â€Å"Well, why I'm here†¦ it's kind of a long story.† Could I be any vaguer? Yeva said something else, and Olena retorted with what sounded like a chastisement. To me, she spoke gently: â€Å"Ignore her, Rose. She's in one of her moods. Why you're here is your own business-although I'm sure Abe would like to talk to you at some point.† She frowned slightly, and I was reminded of the earlier looks at the table. â€Å"You should make sure you thank him. He seemed very concerned about you.† â€Å"I'd kind of like to see him too,† I mumbled, still curious about this well-protected, non-royal Moroi who had given me a ride and seemed to make everyone uneasy. Eager to avoid more talk of why I was here, I hastily changed the subject. â€Å"I'd also love to look around Baia. I've never been in a place like this before-where so many dhampirs live, I mean.† Viktoria brightened. â€Å"I can definitely give you a tour-if you're sure you're feeling okay. Or if you don't have to leave right away.† She believed I was passing through, which was just as well. Honestly, I wasn't sure what I was doing anymore, now that it seemed likely Dimitri wasn't in the area. I glanced at Sydney questioningly. She shrugged. â€Å"Do whatever you want. I'm not going anywhere.† I found that a little disconcerting too. She'd brought me here as her superiors had told her to do-but now what? Well, that was a concern for later. As soon as I finished my food, Viktoria practically dragged me out the door, as if I was the most exciting thing that had happened around here in a while. Yeva hadn't taken her eyes off me for the rest of the meal, and even though she'd never said anything else, her suspicious look clearly told me she didn't believe a word I'd said. I invited Sydney along on the outing, but she declined, choosing instead to lock herself away in a bedroom to read about Greek temples or make world-controlling phone calls or do whatever it was she did. Viktoria said downtown wasn't far from where they lived and was easy to walk to. The day was clear and cool, with enough sun to make being outside pretty pleasant. â€Å"We don't get a lot of visitors,† she explained. â€Å"Except for Moroi men, but most don't stay long.† She added no more, but I wondered about her implications. Were these Moroi men off to find some action with dhampir women? I'd grown up thinking of these women, dhampirs who chose not to become guardians, as disgraceful and dirty. The ones in the Nightingale had certainly met the blood whore stereotype, but Dimitri had assured me that not all dhampir women were like that. After meeting the Belikovs, I believed him. As we approached the center of town, I soon discovered another myth shattered. People always talked about blood whores living in camps or communes, but that wasn't the case here. Baia wasn't huge, not like Saint Petersburg or even Omsk, but it was a real town with a large human population. Hardly a rural camp or farm settlement. The whole setting was astonishingly normal, and when we reached downtown, lined with small shops and restaurants, it too seemed like any other place in the world people might live. Modern and ordinary, just with a slight village feel. â€Å"Where are all the dhampirs?† I wondered aloud. Sydney had said there was a secret dhampir subculture, but I saw no signs of it. Viktoria smiled. â€Å"Oh, they're here. We have a lot of businesses and other places that humans don't know about.† While I could understand dhampirs going unnoticed in big cities, it seemed remarkable to pull that off here. â€Å"And lots of us just live and work with humans.† She nodded over toward what looked like a drugstore. â€Å"That's where Sonya works now.† â€Å"Now?† â€Å"Now that she's pregnant.† Viktoria rolled her eyes. â€Å"I'd take you to meet her, but she's grumpy all the time lately. I hope the baby's early.† She left it at that, and I again wondered about the dynamics of dhampirs and Moroi here. We didn't mention it again, and our conversation stayed light and even teasing. Viktoria was easy to like, and in only an hour, we'd clicked as though we'd known each other forever. Maybe my connection to Dimitri bound me to his family, too. My thoughts were cut off when someone called Viktoria's name. We turned to see a very cute dhampir guy crossing the street. He had bronze hair and dark eyes, his age falling somewhere between mine and Viktoria's. He said something chatty and conversational to her. She grinned at him and then gestured to me, giving my introduction in Russian. â€Å"This is Nikolai,† she told me in English. â€Å"Nice to meet you,† he said, also switching languages. He gave me a quick assessment in the way guys often do, but when he turned back to Viktoria, it was clear who the object of his affections was. â€Å"You should bring Rose to Marina's party. It's Sunday night.† He hesitated, turning a bit shy. â€Å"You're going, aren't you?† Viktoria turned thoughtful, and I realized she was completely oblivious to his crush. â€Å"I'll be there, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She turned to me. â€Å"Will you still be around?† â€Å"I don't know,† I said honestly. â€Å"But I'll go if I'm still here. What kind of party is it?† â€Å"Marina's a friend from school,† explained Viktoria. â€Å"We're just going to get together and celebrate before we go back.† â€Å"To school?† I asked stupidly. Somehow, it had never occurred to me that the dhampirs out here would be in school. â€Å"We're on break right now,† said Nikolai. â€Å"For Easter.† â€Å"Oh.† It was late April, but I had no clue what day Easter fell on this year. I'd lost track of the days. It hadn't happened yet, so their school must have their break the week before Easter. St. Vladimir's took its vacation afterward. â€Å"Where is your school?† â€Å"It's about three hours away. Even more remote than here.† Viktoria made a face. â€Å"Baia's not so bad,† teased Nikolai. â€Å"Easy for you to say. You'll eventually leave and go see new and exciting places.† â€Å"Can't you?† I asked her. She frowned, suddenly uncomfortable. â€Å"Well, I could†¦ but that's not how we do it here-at least not in my family. Grandmother has some†¦ strong opinions about men and women. Nikolai will be a guardian, but I'll stay here with my family.† Nikolai suddenly gave me a new appraisal. â€Å"Are you a guardian?† â€Å"Ah, well.† Now I was the uncomfortable one. Viktoria spoke before I could come up with anything to say. â€Å"She killed two Strigoi outside of town. By herself.† He looked impressed. â€Å"You are a guardian.† â€Å"Well, no†¦ I've killed before, but I'm not actually sworn.† Turning around, I lifted up my hair to show them my neck. In addition to all my regular molnija marks, I also had the little star-shaped tattoo that meant I'd been in a battle. They both gasped, and Nikolai said something in Russian. I let my hair drop and looked back. â€Å"What?† â€Å"You're†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Viktoria bit her lip, eyes contemplative as she groped for what she wanted to say. â€Å"Unpromised? I don't know the English word.† â€Å"Unpromised?† I said. â€Å"I guess†¦ but technically, aren't all the women here?† â€Å"Even if we aren't guardians, we still get marks showing we completed our training. No promise mark, though. For you to have killed so many Strigoi and have no loyalties to a school or the guardians†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Viktoria shrugged. â€Å"We call it being unpromised-it's a strange thing.† â€Å"It's strange where I come from too,† I admitted. Unheard of, really. So much so, that we didn't have a term for it. It just wasn't done. â€Å"I should let you two go,† said Nikolai, his lovesick eyes back on Viktoria. â€Å"But I'll see you at Marina's for sure? Maybe sooner?† â€Å"Yes,† she agreed. They said their farewells in Russian, and then he loped off across the street with the kind of easy, athletic grace guardians often acquired with training. It reminded me a bit of Dimitri's. â€Å"I must have scared him off,† I said. â€Å"No, he thinks you're exciting.† â€Å"Not as exciting as he thinks you are.† Her eyebrows rose. â€Å"What?† â€Å"He likes you†¦ I mean, really likes. Can't you tell?† â€Å"Oh. We're just friends.† I could tell from her attitude that she meant it. She was completely indifferent to him, which was too bad. He was cute and nice. Letting poor Nikolai go, I brought up the guardians again. I was intrigued by the different attitudes around here. â€Å"You said you can't†¦ but do you want to be a guardian?† She hesitated. â€Å"I've never really considered it. I get all the same training at school, and I like being able to defend myself. But I'd rather use it in defense of my family than Moroi. I guess it sounds†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She paused again to think of the right word. â€Å"†¦ Sexist? But, the men become guardians, and women stay at home. Only my brother left.† I nearly tripped. â€Å"Your brother?† I asked, keeping my voice as steady as possible. â€Å"Dimitri,† she said. â€Å"He's older than me and has been a guardian for a while. He's over in the United States, actually. We haven't seen him in a long time.† â€Å"Huh.† I felt horrible and guilty. Guilty because I was keeping the truth from Viktoria and the others. Horrible because apparently no one from back home had bothered to pass the news on to his family yet. Smiling at her own memories, she didn't notice my change in mood. â€Å"Paul actually looks exactly like he did at that age. I should show you pictures of him-and some recent ones, too. Dimitri's pretty cute. For my brother, I mean.† I was sure seeing pictures of Dimitri as a little boy would rip my heart out. As it was, the more Viktoria began to talk about him, the sicker I felt. She had no clue about what had happened, and even though it had been a couple of years since she'd seen him, it was clear she and the rest of the family loved him like crazy. Not that that should be a surprise. (And really, who couldn't love Dimitri?) Being around them just one morning had shown me how close they all were. I knew from Dimitri's stories that he was crazy about all of them, too. â€Å"Rose? Are you okay?† Viktoria was peering at me with concern, probably because I hadn't said anything in the last ten minutes. We had circled around and were almost back at her house. Looking at her, at her open, friendly face and eyes that were so much like Dimitri's, I realized I had another task ahead of me before I could go after Dimitri, wherever he was. I swallowed. â€Å"I†¦ yeah. I think†¦ I think I need to sit down with you and the rest of your family.† â€Å"Okay,† she said, the worry still in her voice. Inside the house, Olena was bustling around the kitchen with Karolina. I thought they were making plans for tonight's dinner, which was startling considering we'd just finished a huge breakfast. I could definitely get used to the way they ate around here. In the living room, Paul was building an elaborate racetrack out of Legos. Yeva sat in a rocking chair and appeared to be the world's most stereotypical grandmother as she knit a pair of socks. Except most grandmothers didn't look like they could incinerate you with a single glance. Olena was talking to Karolina in Russian but switched to English when she saw me. â€Å"You two are back earlier than I expected.† â€Å"We saw the town,† said Viktoria. â€Å"And†¦ Rose wanted to talk to you. To all of us.† Olena gave me a look as puzzled and concerned as Viktoria's. â€Å"What's going on?† The weight of all those Belikov eyes on me made my heart start thumping in my chest. How was I going to do this? How could I explain something I hadn't spoken about in weeks? I couldn't stand to put them-or myself-through it. When Yeva scuttled in, it made things that much worse. Maybe she'd had some mystical sense that something big was about to go down. â€Å"We should sit,† I said. Paul stayed in the living room, for which I was grateful. I was pretty sure I couldn't handle saying what I had to with a little kid-one who looked like Dimitri, apparently-watching me. â€Å"Rose, what's wrong?† asked Olena. She looked so sweet and, well†¦ motherly, that I nearly cried. Whenever I'd been angry with my own mother for not being around or doing a good job, I'd always compared her to some idealized image of a mom-a mom who seemed a lot like Dimitri's, I realized. Dimitri's sisters looked equally worried, like I was someone they'd known forever. That acceptance and concern made my eyes burn even more, seeing as they'd just met me this morning. Yeva wore a very strange expression, however-almost like she'd been expecting something like this all along. â€Å"Well†¦ the thing is, the reason I came here, to Baia, was to find you guys.† That wasn't entirely true. I'd come to search for Dimitri. I'd never thought much about finding his family, but now, I realized that it was a good thing I had. â€Å"You see, Viktoria was talking about Dimitri earlier.† Olena's face brightened when I said her son's name. â€Å"And†¦ I knew-er, know him. He used to be a guardian at my school. My teacher, actually.† Karolina and Viktoria lit up as well. â€Å"How is he?† asked Karolina. â€Å"It's been ages since we've seen him. Do you know when he's going to visit?† I couldn't even think about answering her question, so I pushed forward with my story before I lost my courage in front of all those loving faces. As the words came out of my mouth, it was almost like someone else was saying them and I was simply watching from a distance. â€Å"A month ago†¦ our school was attacked by Strigoi. A really bad attack†¦ a huge group of Strigoi. We lost a lot of people-Moroi and dhampirs, both.† Olena exclaimed in Russia. Viktoria leaned toward me. â€Å"St. Vladimir's?† I halted in my story, surprised. â€Å"You've heard of it?† â€Å"Everyone's heard of it,† said Karolina. â€Å"We all know what happened. That was your school? You were there that night?† I nodded. â€Å"No wonder you have so many molnija marks,† breathed Viktoria in wonder. â€Å"And that's where Dimitri's at now?† asked Olena. â€Å"We lost track of his latest assignment.† â€Å"Um, yeah†¦Ã¢â‚¬  My tongue felt thick in my throat. I couldn't breathe. â€Å"I was at the school the night of the attack,† I reaffirmed. â€Å"And so was Dimitri. He was one of the leaders in the battle†¦ and the way he fought†¦ he was†¦ he was so brave†¦ and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  My words were breaking up, but by this point, the others were catching on. Olena gasped and again murmured in Russian. I picked out the word for â€Å"God.† Karolina sat frozen, but Viktoria leaned toward me. Those eyes that were so like her brother's stared at me intently, as intently as he would if pushing me to tell the truth, no matter how awful. â€Å"What happened?† she demanded. â€Å"What happened to Dimitri?† I looked away from their faces, my eyes drifting to the living room. On the far wall, I caught sight of a bookcase filled with old, leather-covered books. They had gold-embossed lettering on the spines. It was totally random, but I suddenly remembered Dimitri mentioning those. They were these old adventure novels my mother collected, he'd told me once. The covers were so beautiful, and I loved them. If I was careful, she'd let me read them sometimes. The thought of a young Dimitri sitting in front of that bookcase, carefully turning the pages-and oh, he would have been careful-almost made me lose it. Had that been where he'd developed his love of western novels? I was losing it. I was getting distracted. I wasn't going to be able to tell them the truth. My emotions were growing too powerful, my memories flooding me as I fought to think about something-anything-that didn't involve that horrible battle. Then I glanced at Yeva again, and something about her eerie, knowing expression inexplicably spurred me on. I had to do this. I turned back to the others. â€Å"He fought really bravely in the battle, and afterward, he helped lead a rescue mission to save some people that the Strigoi had captured. He was really amazing there, too, only†¦ he†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I stopped again and realized tears were running down my cheeks. In my mind, I was replaying that awful scene in the cave, with Dimitri so close to freedom and taken by a Strigoi at the last minute. Shaking that thought away, I took another deep breath. I had to finish this. I owed it to his family. There was no gentle way to say it. â€Å"One of the Strigoi there†¦ well, he overpowered Dimitri.† Karolina buried her face in her mother's shoulder, and Olena made no effort to hide her own tears. Viktoria wasn't crying, but her face had gone perfectly still. She was working hard to keep her emotions in check, just as Dimitri would have. She searched my face, needing to know for sure. â€Å"Dimitri is dead,† she said. It was a statement, not a question, but she was looking to me for confirmation. I wondered if I'd given away something, some hint that there was still more to the story. Or maybe she just needed the certainty of those words. And for a moment, I considered telling them that Dimitri was dead. It was what the Academy would tell them, what the guardians would tell them. It would be easier on them†¦ but somehow, I couldn't stand to lie to them-even if it was a comforting lie. Dimitri would have wanted the whole truth, and his family would too. â€Å"No,† I said, and for a heartbeat, hope sprang up in everyone's faces-at least until I spoke again. â€Å"Dimitri's a Strigoi.†