Free Essays on Manipulation In 1984

switched in a document so that it reads more suitably. This familiar condition is seen in America on many occasions. First, so many documents and missions are marked classified and referred as â€Å"big government secrets.† What could the government be hiding? Surfaced scandals, such as innocent civilians being killed and secret bombings during the Gulf War, having information on terrorist attacks before the event occurs, and hidden documents about flawed big business industries, have shown Americans that not only is our government not perfect, but that th... Free Essays on Manipulation In 1984 Free Essays on Manipulation In 1984 Manipulation in 1984 In the classic novel 1984, author George Orwell writes of a future country called Oceania in which there is nothing that the government doesn’t control. By limiting the country’s historical knowledge, manipulating their minds, and conditioning their bodies, Big Brother is able to undermine citizens and use them as puppets. Though American government isn’t as austere as the fictitious one in 1984, there are definite parallels between Orwell’s writings and today’s society. In 1984, The Party is in control of every source of information, including historical events occurring in the past and the present. One day at work, the main character of the novel, Winston Smith, has to â€Å"rewrite a paragraph of Big Brother’s speech in such a way as to make him predict the thing that had actually happened (pg. 35).† In other words, he must manipulate the words of an article in such a way as to not make the government appear as anything less than perfect. Winston writing in his journal daily automatically assumes that on discovering this secret diary, he will surely be put to death because it is not in favor of The Party and contradicts the very belief system of Oceania. Big Brother, so in control of his country and its citizens, is able to literally rewrite history. He is able to construct the way the world was, is, and always will be by simply having the words switched in a document so that it reads more suitably. This familiar condition is seen i n America on many occasions. First, so many documents and missions are marked classified and referred as â€Å"big government secrets.† What could the government be hiding? Surfaced scandals, such as innocent civilians being killed and secret bombings during the Gulf War, having information on terrorist attacks before the event occurs, and hidden documents about flawed big business industries, have shown Americans that not only is our government not perfect, but that th...

Effecting America One Scandal at a Time

Effecting America One Scandal at a Time Free Online Research Papers The idea of checks and balances was an idea that arose during the composition of the U.S. Constitution. Checks and balances were created so that no one single branch of government (which includes legislative, judiciary, and executive) would become too powerful. This concept prevents a tyranny from controlling the United States, or any illegal activities to take place within the government. One key example of the power the judiciary and legislative branches have over the executive branch is the Watergate Scandal. The Watergate Scandal is a prime example of how theses checks and balances come into play. Also, the events of Watergate show how even the president (executive branch) is answerable to the judicial and legislative branches. Though Nixon had many strong characteristics of a successful leader, â€Å"Nixon’s public actions were nothing compared to what he had done to ensure his re-election.† (Carnes, and Garraty 640) â€Å"In reaction to Daniel Ellsberg’s leak of the Pentagon Papers (papers that talked about how the American Government had misled the American people on the progress in Vietnam), Nixon set up a secret unit called â€Å"the plumbers†. This group was ordered to carry out various illegal activities in the name of â€Å"national security†Ã¢â‚¬ . On June 17, 1972 five men were arrested at 2:30a.m, Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzlez, Eugenio Martinez, James W. McCord Jr., and Frank Sturgis. These men were hired and or ordered to set up recording devices in the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. At their arrest â€Å"Police discovered walkie-talkies, 40 rolls of unexposed film, two 35-milimeter cameras, lock picks, tear gas, and bugging devices that apparently were capable of picking up both telephone and room conversations† (Bernstein, and Woodward ). When the hearing of these men finally took place, things began to unfold. When asked, each of the men revealed some connection to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The men were â€Å"hired hands, on call to take care of the agency’s â€Å"less tasteful work† †. This obviously raised some eyebrows in other areas of the government, but Nixon told the White House press secretary to dismiss the inciden t as a third-rate burglary. This, although did not stop reporters from investigating further, in fact, the statement only made reporters like Bob Woodward, and Carl Bernstein pursue the truth of the matter further. What was Watergate? That was the question reporters were asking. No one quite knew what it was. Some took the president’s word, and simply dismissed it as a third-rate burglary. Others, like the famous Woodward and Bernstein pursued the truth of the burglary. At the arrest, two of the five men involved in the break-in, had an address book that â€Å"contained the name and phone number of a Howard E. Hunt, with small notations â€Å"W. House† and â€Å"W.H† † (Bernstein, and Woodward ). Now the question had been raised; what business did members of the CIA, specializing in bugging, have with the Whitehouse? As the reporter’s investigation continued, they found, through FBI sources, that the Whitehouse had taken over possession of the Watergate investigation files. The whole scandal was falling apart, and the truth was becoming clearer in the eyes of the media and more importantly the eyes of the American people. The scandal had become so sh ocking, that the legislative and judiciary branches felt a pressing need to step in, and take control of the executive branch. As more revelations occurred, the other branches of the government became more and more involved in the investigative process. As the investigation continued, it was revealed that Nixon had installed a taping system in the Whitehouse, to record all conversations that took place. After this revelation, it became a certain urgency to get a hold of the tapes. After all, if Nixon or any other Whitehouse official was involved in the Watergate scandal, then their voices would be on the tape, if not then they would be free of conviction. The Nixon tapes were under fire, the prosecution needed to get their hands on it. The tapes were declared significant for the grand jury’s criminal investigation. This was the first time anyone had ever subpoenaed the president, and Nixon received two on the same day. He got one from the committee and one from the prosecutor, Archibald Cox (Emery 576). At this point, Nixon was claiming that neither Congress, nor Cox had the right to demand evidence from the executive branch, and said it was â€Å"vital to national security†. Nixon’s refusal to hand the tapes over, forced the Senate Committee to come up with a way of forcing Nixon to hand the tapes over. After all, Nixon controlled the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Armed Forces. Nixon’s position as president started to cause problems, for the Senate. They had come to realize that they were at a stand still and Nixon had the upper hand. His apparent control over major parts of the government was becoming a hindrance. The committee was desperate for a plan to obtain the recorded tapes, and a solution was finally given by the prosecution. The plan was to â€Å"sue for the tapes in federal court†. The Senate Committee agreed to this solution and helped the prosecution follow through. The lawsuit went to the same judge as the one who was overseeing the Watergate trial. The judge â€Å"charged the president to turn over the tapes to the prosecutor† (Emery 576). The Whitehouse appealed to the Federal Court of appeals. The court ruled in favor of the judge, and demanded the tapes out of Nixon. This enraged Nixon; after all, Cox was an employee of the executive branch, and was challenging his authority. Thus, Nixon ordered the Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Cox. He refused and resigned. Nixon then asked the deputy to fire Cox. The deputy also resigned. Nixon finally asked a third-ranking Justice Department official to fire Cox, and become the new Attorney General. He agreed. This incident was called â€Å"The Saturday Massacre†. This brought a lot of pressure down on Nixon; he therefore agre ed to appoint a new prosecutor. The prosecutor was Leon Jaworski. The prosecutor agreed under the condition that Nixon could not fire him. So, as the trial continued, the tapes were examined and as a result an alarming discovery was made. There was an 18-minute gap in one of the tapes (Emery 576). â€Å"Prosecutor Jaworski demanded that the Whitehouse turn over 69 more tapes. Once again the Supreme Court ruled that Nixon had to supply the subpoenaed tapes† (Emery 576). On July 27th- 30th, the Judiciary Committee suggested that Nixon be impeached on three charges: obstruction of justice, abuse of presidential power, and trying to hinder the impeachment process by defying committee subpoenas. The committee voted on his impeachment, and the vote went against him. Therefore Nixon had to stand trial before the U.S Senate and was found guilty. In the aftermath, the Whitehouse released a transcript of the tapes. In it, there was a conversation between Nixon and Haldeman (Nixon’s chief of staff). Nixon told Haldeman to cease the FBI’s investigation of Watergate. This â€Å"made it clear that Nixon was involved in the cover-up from the beginning† (Emery 576). At nine-o’clock on August 8, 1974 Nixon made his last speech as president. He only admitted to losing the two branches’ support. At noon, the Vice-president, Gerald R. Ford, was inaugurated. He told the American people in his speech that â€Å"†¦our long national nightmare is over† (Emery 576) â€Å"President Ford insisted he had no intention of pardoning Nixon† (Brown Tindall, and Emory Shi 1264). But on September 1974, Ford issued the pardon to Nixon, explaining that this was necessary to end the national obsession (especially by the media) with Watergate. Following the Watergate Scandal, Congress legislature limited the actual input any president had in external affairs. The War Powers Act (1973) â€Å"requires a president to inform Congress within forty-eight hours if U.S. troops are deployed in combat abroad and to withdraw troops after sixty days unless Congress specifically approves their stay† (Brown Tindall, and Emory Shi 1264). Congress also had a reaction to Nixon’s â€Å"executive privileges† by strengthening the 1966 Freedom of Information Act. By the end of 1975, amendments to the Freedom of Information Act had become effective and the Privacy Act of 1974 also became effective. â€Å"The passage of these laws provided for broad access to FBI records which previously had been severely limited. In the past twenty plus years, the FBI has handled over 300,000 requests and over six million pages of FBI documents have been released to the public in paper format.† (Freedom of Information Act (USA)). The Watergate Scandal, and the parties involved played a key factor in the shaping of the executive branch that we have today. Limitations and guidelines have been set; there is no longer a threat of the pushing of boundaries by the president, his appointed cabinet, or the federal agencies that are in direct control of the executive branch. Although these acts of legislation have limited the executive branch, they have not hindered the job of the presidency in anyway. As you can see, checks and balances have been a key focal point from the creation of American democracy. Therefore we must trust the other branches of our government to do their jobs and look out for the safety of our country and exercise their power of maintaining the balance of powers. Research Papers on Effecting America One Scandal at a TimeThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationQuebec and CanadaNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into Asia19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UsePETSTEL analysis of IndiaUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Where Wild and West Meet

Disertation proposal, perception of nuclear power, associated risks, Dissertation

Disertation proposal, perception of nuclear power, associated risks, and communication strategy - Dissertation Example The cheap, safe and reliable energy sources could predetermine both a society’s functioning as a whole and any individual’s well-being in particular. Against the background of rapidly rising energy consumption worldwide and more or less dwindling reserves of fossil fuel, along with still unfolded potential and certain limitations concerning the electricity generation from renewable sources, nuclear power appears to become an increasingly reasonable option - at least according to many governments, scientists and professionals. In the case of the public opinion, however, the overall picture is alarmingly different. According to a selection of reputable opinion polls conducted in the UK between 2004 and 2007, there is low support for nuclear energy, especially compared with energy from renewable sources (Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, 2007, p.3). In 2010, just 38 per cent of the respondents to a Cardiff University/Ipsos MORI poll ‘believed the benefi ts of nuclear power outweighed the risks and only 39 per cent trusted the industry to run the plants safely’ (Ecologist, 2010). ... Given the legacy of the Cold War thinking, reinforced by past and recent incidents in nuclear plants like those in Chernobyl and Fukushima, along with the usual mistrust towards the government, such a trend is not a complete surprise; moreover, most of the people as a whole, and perhaps a good deal of those polled in particular, either don’t fully realise the scale and consequences of the climate change, or do consider them a faraway future and therefore not an issue to worry about, as against the existing, yet greatly exaggerated, immediate risks for people’s health and lives, which appear to form the poor image of nuclear power. This issue is being repeatedly addressed by governmental and scientific reports, documents and writings, with varying, but definitely insufficient effect, as seen from the latest polls’ results. Though the set of intentions and recommendations contained in those writings, aimed at influencing the public opinion, is considered generally correct, namely well-targeted educational campaigns, nuclear waste solutions, continued focus on safety, etc., the result, or more precisely the faint result, implies two possibilities: These efforts would need much longer time to bear fruit; There is something wrong with the messages themselves – whether in terms of formulation and clarity, or in the way they are communicated to the general public; As in most of the cases, the truth might lie in somewhere between the two – whereas a daunting task, like gaining public support for something that full of misconceptions and therefore so badly understood by the average person in the street, as nuclear power, inevitably

Teamwork And Motivation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Teamwork And Motivation - Essay Example The employers therefore face the uphill task that needs them to preserve the productivity and profitability that they have while trying their best to keep the employees that they have engaged and satisfied with their jobs. Researchers have been able to find that the social or cognitive construction view of job satisfaction deals with the effects of emotions on behavior of various kinds where the attitude that people have toward work can be associated with other perceptions about jobs such as the variety of tasks that constitute that job and the level of skills that are needed for one to be able to do that particular job. Therefore, it can be said that emotional responses may be of assistance in the determination of the reactions that the employees will have to the jobs that they are doing and the general theories of emotion might become useful in the effort to understand the attitudes that people have towards jobs (Furnham, 1992). Creating job satisfaction is therefore an endeavor that entails several steps so that in the end it can be achieved to make sure that the employees are motivated and this will be the first step in increasing the productivity. To start with, the working environment should be made to be positive where the factors that motivate the employees will be identified so that the working environment will cater for the needs of the workers. The employees of WooWoo will be entitled to discounts in the case that they need to purchase any thing that the company makes provided that they get it directly from the company. The company will also make sure that it organizes get-togethers were the management and the other employees can have the chance to interact and the views of the employees can be listened to and adjustments made if possible. The employees that have an exemplary performance at work and those that beat the deadlines that are set will be recognized through a program that will be aimed at identifying the employee of the

Super Size Me Analysis Essay Example for Free

Super Size Me Analysis Essay To some, eating solely off the McDonald’s menu for thirty days to see what the effects may be is looked down at as an attack on unhealthy and fast food corporations, but to many, Super Size Me is an incredible documentary that helps shine a light on the horrendous effects that fast food has on our society. Morgan Spurlock’s rules are simple: only food off of McDonald’s menu may be eaten, he must consume three meals a day, if asked to super size he must, and everything on the menu must be eaten at least once. On day one he goes and gets baseline measurements of his body from numerous health and medical experts to be able to gauge himself as the month progresses, and from there on out, it’s chow time. Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me digs beyond the obvious correlation between fast food and poor health. Spurlock exposes the flaws in our society’s choice of food, makes the point that personal responsibility is essential, and openly criticizes corporate and government deniability. By using an extremely personal setting, a plethora of unforgettable visuals, interesting dialogues, a steady change in tone, and incorporation of children, Spurlock effectively delivers his message that fast food is a fast way to deteriorate your state of health. Morgan Spurlock, unlike many other documentary producers, creates an extremely personal point of view. He does so by allowing the viewer to see over his own shoulder, and not a random test subject, to watch his month long McDonald’s binge. Spurlock immediately, and at times humorously, opens up completely to the audience. Before the viewer knows it, Spurlock is half naked at the doctor’s, throwing up on camera, and being torn apart by his wife about his in ability to perform in the bed. By having this more personal and open point of view, Spurlock is able to earn more of the audience’s trust making it easier for him to get his message across. Second to the personal setting, the visual effects utilized by Spurlock make the message of the documentary hard to forget. Without fail, every two to five minutes a McDonald’s â€Å"Golden Arches† appear somewhere on the screen, making it hard for the audience not to pair a negative denotation with it by the end of the film. Aside from all of the McDonald’s signs, the camera consistently zooms in, as close as one would ever want to be, to Spurlock’s super sized french fries and extra greasy Big Mac. Watching the repetitiveness of close ups on processed, fried, and poorly made food is enough for any viewer to not want to east fast food for quite sometime. Spurlock also uses simple charts, such as the ones to display his portrait as days pass, to allow the viewer to easily see the trend of negative health increasing directly with the amount of time spent on his McDonald’s diet. Another interesting visual Spurlock uses is the satanic drawings of what appears to be Ronald McDonald. The pictures are demonic and are supposed to depict Ronald as a ruthless clown and not someone a little kid would like to be around. And if all of these visuals weren’t enough, Spurlock goes even further when he shows a common body weight reduction surgery in action. The viewer first sees probes with cameras and tools inserted into the patient’s repulsively large belly, and then ends up inside the patient’s fat filled stomach watching the surgeons nip and tuck away. Spurlock makes it very hard for the viewer to forget what his message is with all of these images that stick in the back of your mind. From the head of McDonald’s to a middle school kid buying lunch, Spurlock carries out an assortment of dialogues throughout the documentary. Although many are significant, the most memorable and effective would have to be the conversations Spurlock has while visiting Madison Junior High School. He first confronts a girl with only cookies and french fries on her plate and asks her if she’s going to eat anything else. The girl simply says no. Spurlock moves on to the lunch line and asks a girl if she was going to get anything else other than french fries on her plate and she responds, â€Å"Well I’m getting milk†¦ its my calcium and my vegetables. † If you weren’t disgusted with the kid’s food choices alone, Spurlock moves on to the lunch ladies to get their two cents on the food being served at their school. The lunch ladies were content with the saying â€Å"ignorance is bliss. They serve the kids french fries, swiss rolls, and high sugar drinks, assuming that they had brought their own sandwich from home, but none of them ever checked to see. They all claim that they are setting up the kids to make the right choices yet most of the kids aren’t. All of these dialogues Spurlock has at the Junior High School in Illinois were very eye opening, and made the viewer feel obligated to see more of what is going on behind the scenes at their own local schools. Further on in the film, Spurlock calls McDonald’s  Headquarters trying to set up an appointment with someone high up in the corporation. Nearly every phone call he made he is promised either a message be delivered, a return phone call, or a good time to call back. Following close to twenty phone calls later, Spurlock gives up trying to schedule an appointment with the head of McDonald’s. After seeing Spurlock get shot down time and time again, it makes the viewer wonder if McDonald’s is trying to dodge a question that could damage their reputation, as well as contemplate how unprofessional their business is run. Another key strategy Spurlock uses throughout his month long McDonald’s stint is the gradual change in tone. From the beginning, Spurlock is very excited to kick off his McDonald’s exclusive diet and has a cheerful tone and positive attitude. After a couple of days turn into a couple of weeks, Spurlock’s tone changes drastically. Instead of optimistic and cheery, like from the beginning of the month, Spurlock now has a rather negative and dire one. Phone calls between him and his girlfriend that once were normal, turn in to him seriously questioning his will to continue with his experiment. Spurlock’s tone and attitude are easily noted as having a negative correlation with days spent on the McDonald’s diet. By showing this trend, Spurlock is able to emphasize the emotional, rather than just the physical, effects of his diet to the viewers. Throughout the documentary, Spurlock continuously incorporates children to capture the viewer’s attention and to show that the obesity problems start at a young age. â€Å"A Pizza Hut, a Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and a Pizza Hut. McDonald’s, McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and a Pizza Hut† is sang by young children, some being obese, right at the start of the film. If this doesn’t raise a red flag in one’s head that children are being taught how to sing America’s most unhealthy fast food restaurants in school, I’m not sure what will. Spurlock also spends a decent portion of his documentary in schools. He examines the food choices available to the kids, asks them about what they eat, and observes their physical education class. The most effective use of incorporating children is the interviews he conducts by holding up pictures of famous Americans and famous fast food icons, then asking the children who they are and what they were. Some of the children could identify George Washington and what he did, but as soon as Spurlock showed them a picture of Jesus all were stumped, one boy even guessed he was George W. Bush. Then the pictures of Wendy and Ronald McDonald were shown, and to no surprise every kid there knew exactly who Ronald was and that he is associated with McDonald’s. By putting this emphasis on young children being led down the wrong path at an early age, makes the viewers compelled to believe that our society is going wrong with teaching healthy food choices. Whether it was the personal touch, visuals, dialogues, change in tone, real footage, or incorporation of children, Morgan Spurlock does an impeccable job provoking Americans to question their choice in food and influencing them to take action. When the final results of Spurlock’s experiment are posted (13% weight increase, cholesterol level of 230, and dysfunctional liver) it’s going to be very hard for me to walk into a McDonald’s. So, next time I’m faced with the choice of eating at fast food or taking a little time of my day to cook myself a meal, I definitely know which one I’ll be doing, but the real question is will everyone else?

COMPARATIVE :: essays papers

COMPARATIVE Homer Winslow and Jules Breton, two men painting the canvas of the nineteenth century. Comparing their art gives birth to numerous differences and unique qualities hidden within their work and lives. Dressing For The Carnival, Homer 1877, and The Weeders, Breton 1868, are fine examples of their careers as artists. "Beyond the aesthetic merits of his work, Breton is significant as the painter whose vision of French rural life best embodies a set of late nineteenth- century ideals: the charm and wholesomeness of rustic ways, the nobility of living close to the soil, the beauty of preindustrial landscape, and the social harmony of the agrarian community." ( Sturges) Breton’s work was unique in content, painting for himself, impressing his personal values to the viewer. Although he did not fit the mold, by producing classical and historical works, there were other artists struggling with expression and values of a newer mind, artists like Winslow Homer. "While he was at work in Petersburg, it became known to a group of fine young fire-eaters that he was consorting w ith the blacks, and they resolved to drive him out of town as a ‘d-d nigger-painter.’ Word had come to him that the place was to be made too hot for him, but he paid no attention to the warning." ( Hendricks) Both Breton and Homer were leaders for impressionism, however, the two works mentioned above vary greatly. Both artists focused on similar subject matter, figures in a scene or landscape. However a closer observation of specific images, narrative, symbols, sources, and process divide the two pieces to separate sides of late eighteen hundreds paintings. Physical elements such as composition, position of figures in space, brush work, color, viewpoint, and surface treatment all contribute to this separation of similar subject matter. The composition of The Weeders is un cropped, fairly balanced and symmetrical. The foreground is bold, the middle ground is expansive and the back ground strong and deep. Our view is that of perhaps a weeder on the field. Homer’s Carnival is cropped and less symmetrical with figures emerging from off the canvas. Less emphasis is placed on use of foreground, in turn creating less depth. Breton’s figures hold much movement and expression, women working the field are crouched close to the viewer. Farther back a woman stands alone, basket full, gaze and body positioned toward the setting sun. The women weeding are bent and tired.

Night World : Black Dawn Chapter 17

He stared at her for an instant, his golden eyeswide. â€Å"Don't you believe me?† â€Å"I wouldn't put it past Sylvia to try,† he said. â€Å"ButI don't think she's strong enough.† â€Å"She said she got special ingredients. And shesaid that nobody else could take the spell off.†When he still looked doubtful, although a bit more grim, Maggie added, â€Å"Why don't youtry it?† He reached down with long, strong fingers to pullat the fastenings of his brace. It came off easily,and Maggie's eyebrows went up. She blinked. He extended his arm, pointing it at the wall, anddrew a dagger from his belt. Maggie had forgotten about the blood part. Shebit the inside of her cheek and didn't say anythingashe opened a small cut on his wrist. Blood welled up red, then flowed in a trickle. â€Å"Just a little blast,† Delos said, and looked calmlyat the wall. Nothing happened. He frowned, his golden eyes flaring dangerously. Maggie could see the concentration in his face. Hespread his fingers. Still nothing happened. Maggie let out her breath. I guess spells are invisible, she thought. The brace was just for show.Delos was looking at his armasif it didn't belong to him. â€Å"We're in trouble,† Maggie said, trying not tomake it sound like I told you so. â€Å"While they thought they were alone in here, they were talkingabout all kinds of things. All Hunter cares about is getting you to help him destroy the humans. Butthere's been some big split in the Night World, and the witches have seceded from it.† Delos went very still, and his eyes were distant.†That means war. Open war between witches and vampires.† â€Å"Probably,† Maggie said, waving a hand vaguely.†But, listen, Delos, the witches sent somebody here,an ambassador, to talk to you. To try to get you on their side. Hunter said they've got one of the Wild Powers on their side already-the witches, I mean.Are you getting this?† â€Å"Of course,† Delos said. But now his voice wasoddly distant, too. He was looking at something Maggie couldn't see. â€Å"But one out of four doesn'tmatter. Two out of four, three out of four-it's notgood enough.† â€Å"What are you talkingabout?† Maggie didn't waitfor him to answer. â€Å"But, look. I know the girl whocame to talk to you. It's the girl I was with on therocks, the other one you saved from Bern. She'sAradia, and she's Maiden of all the witches. And,Delos, they're looking for her right now. They wantto kill her to stop her from getting to you. And she's my friend.† â€Å"That's too bad.† â€Å"We've got to stopthem,† Maggie said, exasperated. â€Å"Wecan't.† That brought Maggie up short. She stared at him.†What are you talking about?† â€Å"I'm saying we can't stop them. They're toostrong. Maggie, listen to me,† he said calmly and clearly, when she began an incoherent protest. That's the first time he's said my name out loud, she thought dizzily, and then she focused on hiswords. â€Å"It's not just the spell they've put on me. And it'snot just that they control the castle. Oh, yes, theydo,† he said with a bitter laugh, cutting her off again. â€Å"You haven't been here very long; you don'tunderstand. The nobles here are centuries old,most of them. They don't like being ruled by a precocious child with uncanny powers. As soon asHunter showed up, they transferred their loyalty to him.† ‘BUt-â€Å"‘ â€Å"He's everything they admire. The perfect vampire, the ultimate predator. He's ruthless andbloodthirsty and he wants to give them the wholeworldas their hunting grounds. Do you really thinkany of them can resist that? After years of huntingmindless, bewildered animals that have to be rationed out one at a time? With maybe the oddcreaky slave for a special treat? Do you think any of them won't follow him willingly?† Maggie was silent. There was nothing she couldsay. He was right, and it was scary. â€Å"And that isn't all,† he continued remorselessly.†Do you want to hear a prophecy?† â€Å"Not really,† Maggie said. She'd heard more thanenough of those for one lifetime. He ignored her. â€Å"My old teacher used to tell methis,† he said. â€Å"‘Four to stand between the light and theshadow, Four of blue fire, power in their blood. Born in the year of the blind Maiden's vision;Four less one and darkness triumphs.'† â€Å"Uh huh,† Maggie said. To her it sounded likejust more of the same thing. The only interestingthing about it was that it mentioned the blindMaiden. That had to be Aradia, didn't it? She wasone famous witch. â€Å"What's `born in the year of the blind Maiden'svision?†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ she asked. â€Å"It means all the Wild Powers are the same age,born seventeen years ago,† Delos said impatiently. `But that's not the point. The point is the last line,`Four less one and darkness triumphs.' That meansthat the darkness is going to win, Maggie.† â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"It's inevitable. There's no way that the humansand the witches can get all four Wild Powers ontheir side. And if there's even one less than four,the darkness is going to win. All the vampires need to do is kill one of the Wild Powers, and it's allover. Don't you see?† Maggie stared at him. She did see what he wassaying, and it was even scarier than what he'd saidbefore. â€Å"But that doesn't mean we can just give up,†she said, trying to puzzle out his expression. â€Å"If we do that, it will be all over. We can't just surrender and letthem win.† â€Å"Of course not,† he said harshly. â€Å"We have tojoin them.† There was a long silence. Maggie realized that her mouth had fallen open. â€Å"†¦ what?† â€Å"We have to be on the winning side, and that'sthe vampire side.† He looked at her with yelloweyes that seemed as remote and deathly calm as apanther's. â€Å"I'm sorry about your friends, but there's no chance for them. And the only chance for youis to become a vampire.† Maggie's brain suddenly surged into overdrive. All at once, she saw exactly what he was saying.And furygave her energy. He was lightning-fast, but she jumped up and out of the way before he could close his hands on her. â€Å"Are you out of your mind?† â€Å"No â€Å"You're going to killme?† â€Å"I'm going to save your life, the only way I can.†He stood up, following her with that same eerie calm. I can't believe this. I †¦really †¦can't †¦ believe this, Maggie thought. She circled around the bed, then stopped. It was pointless; he was going to get her eventually. She looked into his face one more time, and saw that he was completely serious. She dropped herarms and relaxed her shoulders, trying to slow herbreathing, meeting his eyes directly. â€Å"Delos, this isn't just about me, and it's not justabout my friends. It's about all the slaves here, andall the humans on the Outside. Turning me into a vampire isn't going to help them.† â€Å"I'm sorry,† he said again. â€Å"But you're all that really matters.† â€Å"No, I'm not,†Maggie said, and this time the hottears didn't stop at her eyes, but overflowed and rolled down her cheeks. She shook them off angrily, and took one last deep breath. â€Å"I won't let you,† she said. â€Å"You can't stop me.† â€Å"I can fight. I can make you kill me before youturn me into a vampire. If you want to try it thatway, come and take your best shot.† Delos's yellow eyes bored into hers-and thensuddenly shifted and dropped. He stepped back, hisface cold. â€Å"Fine,† he said. â€Å"If you won't cooperate, I'll putyou in the dungeon until you see what's best foryou. Maggie felt her mouth drop open again.†You wouldn't,† she said. â€Å"Watch me.† The dungeon, like everything else in the castle,was heart-stoppingly authentic. It had something that Maggie had read about in books but hadn't seen in the rooms above: rushesand straw on the floor. It also had a stone benchcarved directly into the stone wall and a narrow,barred window-slit about fifteen feet above Mag gie's head. And that was all it had. Once Maggie had poked into the straw enoughto discover that she didn't really wantto know whatwas down there and shaken the iron bars that made up the door and examined the stone slabs in the wall and stood on the bench to try to climb to the window, therewas nothing else to do. She sat on the bench and felt the true enormity of the situation trickle in on her. She was really stuck here. Delos was really serious. And the world, the actual, real world out there, could be affected as a consequence. It wasn't that she didn't understand his motivation. She had been in his mind; she'd felt thestrength of his protectiveness for her. And she wanted to protect him, too. But it wasn't possible to forget about everyoneelse. Her parents, her friends, her teachers, thepaper girl. If she let Delos give up, what happenedto them? Even the people in the Dark Kingdom. Laundressand Old Mender and Soaker and Chamber-pot Emptier and all the other slaves. She caredabout them. She admired their gritty determination to goon living, whatever the circumstances-and theircourage in risking their lives to help her. That's what Delosdoesn't understand, shethought. He doesn't see them as people, so he can'tcare about them. All his life he's only cared abouthimself, and now about me. He can't look beyondthat. If only she could think of a way to makehimsee-but she couldn't. As the hours passed and thesilence began to wear on her, she kept trying. No inspiration came. And finally the light outsideher cell began to fade and the cold started to settle in. She was half asleep, huddled on her chilly bench,when she heard the rattle of a key in a door. She jumped up and went to peer through the bars, hoping to see Delos. The door at the end of the narrow stone corridoropened and someone came in with a flare. But itwasn't Delos. It was a guard, and behind him wasanother guard, and this one had a prisoner. â€Å"Jeanne!† Maggie said in dismay. And then her heart plummeted further. A third guard was half marching, half supporting Aradia. Maggie looked at them wordlessly. It wasn't like Jeanne not to fight, she thought, asthe guards opened the cell door and shoved theother girls in. The door clanged shut again, and the guardsmarched back out without speaking. Almost as an afterthought, one of them stuck a flare in an ironring to give the prisoners some light. And then they were gone. Jeanne picked herself up off the floor, and thenhelped Aradia get up. â€Å"They've got P.J. upstairs,†she said to Maggie, who was still staring. â€Å"Theysaid they wouldn't hurt her if we went quietly.† Maggie opened her mouth, shut it again, andtried to swallow her heart, which was in her throat.At last she managed to speak. â€Å"Delos said that?† â€Å"Delos and Hunter Redfern and that witch.They're all very chummy.† Maggie sat down on the cold bench.†I'm sorry,† she said. â€Å"Why? Because you're too stupidly trusting?†Jeanne said. â€Å"You're not responsible for him.† â€Å"I think she means because she's his soulmate,†Aradia said softly. Jeanne stared at her as if she'd started speaking a foreign language. Maggie stared, too, feeling hereyes getting wider, trying to study the beautiful features in the semidarkness. She felt oddly shy of this girl whom she'd calledCady and who had turned out to be something shecould never have imagined. â€Å"How did you know that?† she asked, trying notto sound tongue-tied. â€Å"Can you justtell?† Asmile curved the perfect lips in the shadows.†I could tell before,† Aradia said gently, backing upquite accurately to sit on the bench. â€Å"When youcame back from seeing him the first time, but Iwas too foggy to really focus on anything then. I'veseen a lot of it in the last few years, though. Peoplefinding their soulmates, I mean.† â€Å"You're better, aren't you?† Maggie said. â€Å"Yousound lots moreawake.† It wasn't just that. Aradia had always had a quiet dignity, but now therewas an authority and confidence about her thatwas new. â€Å"The healing women helped me. I'm still weak,though,† Aradia said softly, looking around the cell. â€Å"I can't use any of my powers-not that breakingthrough walls is among them, anyway.† Maggie let her breath out. â€Å"Oh, well. I'm gladyou're awake, anyway.† She added, feeling shy again, â€Å"Um, I know your real name, now. Sorry about the misunderstanding before.† Aradia put a hand-again perfectly accuratelyon Maggie's. â€Å"Listen, my dear friend,† she said,startling Maggie with both the word and the intensity of her voice, â€Å"nobody has ever helped me more than you did, or with less reason. If you'd been oneof my people, and you'd known who I was, it wouldhave been amazing enough. But from a human, who didn't know anything about me †¦Ã¢â‚¬ Shestopped and shook her head. â€Å"I don't know if we'll even live through tonight,† she said. `But if we do,and if there's ever anything the witches can do foryou, all you have to do is ask.† Maggie blinked hard. â€Å"Thanks,† she whispered. â€Å"I meanyou know. I couldn't just leave you.† â€Å"I do know,† Aradia said. â€Å"And that's the amazingthing.† She squeezed Maggie's hand. â€Å"Whatever happens, I'll never forget you. And neither will theother witches, if I have anything to say about it.† Maggie gulped. She didn't want to get startedcrying. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to stop. Fortunately Jeanne was looking back and forthbetween them like someone at a tennis match.†What's all this sappy stuff?† she demanded. â€Å"Whatare you guys talking about?† Maggie told her. Not just about Aradia being Maiden of the witches, but about everything she'dlearned from listening to Hunter Redfern andSylvia. â€Å"So the witches have left the Night World,† Aradia said quietly, when she was finished. â€Å"They wereabout ready to when I left.† â€Å"You were coming here to talk to Delos,† Maggie said. Aradia nodded. â€Å"We heard that Hunter had gotten some lead about the next Wild Power. And weknew he wasn't goingto take any chances on letting Circle Daybreak get hold of this one.† Jeanne was rubbing her forehead. â€Å"What's Circle Daybreak? ‘It's the last circle of witches-but it isn't justwitches. It's for humans, too, and for shapeshiftersand vampires who want to live in peace with humans. And now it's for everybody who opposes the darkness.† She thought a moment and added, â€Å"I used to belong to Circle Twilight, the †¦not-so wicked witches.† She smiled, then it faded. â€Å"Butnow there are really only two sides to choose from.It's the Daylightorthe Darkness, and that's all.† â€Å"Delos really isn't on the side of the Darkness,†Maggie said, feeling the ache in her chest tighten.†He's just-confused. He'd join you if he didn'tthink it meant me getting killed.† Aradia squeezed her hand again. â€Å"I believe you,†she said gently. â€Å"So, you're some kind of bigwig of the witches,huh?† Jeanne said. Aradia turned toward her and laughed. â€Å"I'm theirMaiden, the representative of the young witches. If I live long enough, I'll be their Mother one day, and then their Crone.† â€Å"What fun. But with all that, you still can't thinkof any way to get us out of here?† Aradia sobered. â€Å"I can't. I'm sorry. If-this isn'tmuch use, but if I can do anything, it's only to givea prophecy.† Maggie made an involuntary noise in her throat. â€Å"It came while I was asleep in the healers hut,†Aradia said apologetically. â€Å"And it was just athought, a concept. That if there was to be any helpin this valley, it was through appealing to people's true hearts.† Jeanne made a much louder and ruder noisethan Maggie's. â€Å"There is one more thing,† Aradia said, turningher wide unfocused eyes toward Maggie and speaking as gently asever. â€Å"I should have mentioned thisearlier. I can tell you about your brother.†

Competitive Advantage and Objectives Analysis Essay

Competitive advantage and objectives analysis go hand in hand in determining how marketers will determine product positioning. The main goal of a marketer is to create the image of the company or the product brand. Then the job becomes establishing or positioning the same image or brand into the target market. Positioning is putting the concept into the minds of the prospective consumer. It is important for a marketer to understand the different types of analysis and know how to compare the strengths and weaknesses of each type of analysis. In the following paper a comparison of this analysis will be introduced and explained. Different Types of Analysis Used Product Positioning Product positioning analysis is an important step in the marketing plan. Product positioning is when marketers design and image and value so that consumers in the target market understand how the product is important to them. The goal of marketers is to develop the image so it appeals to consumers and builds the competitive advantage. Product positioning is like the tactical factor or analysis that is part of the overall marketing strategy. It is important when developing the positioning strategy that each part of the mix is incorporated including price, how the product will be distributed, what type of advertising will be used, and most important how well will after – sell customer service be generated. Level Two Heading Replace the level two heading with the words for your heading. The heading must be in bold font. Read more about APA headings on the APA Style Blog. Conclusion The closing paragraph is designed to bring the reader to your way of thinking if you are writing a persuasive essay, to understand relationships if you are writing a comparison/contrast essay, or simply to value the information you provide in an informational essay. The closing paragraph summarizes the key points from the supporting paragraphs without introducing any new information. References This is a hanging indent. To keep the hanging indent format, triple click your mouse on this line of text and replace the information with your reference entry. You can use the Reference and Citation Examples (Center for Writing Excellence>Tutorials and Guides>Reference and Citation Examples) to help format your source information into a reference entry. The reference page always begins on the top of the next page after the conclusion.

Mars Curiosity Rover is Uncovering Martian History

Mars Curiosity Rover is Uncovering Martian History Every day a robotic rover about the size of a small car wakes up and makes its next move across the surface of Mars. Its called the Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory rover, exploring around Mount Sharp at the center of Gale Crater (an ancient impact site)  on the Red Planet. Its one of two working rovers on the Red Planet. The other is the Opportunity rover, perched on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit stopped working and is now silent after several years of exploration on its own. Each year, Curiositys science team celebrates another full Martian year of exploration. A Mars year is longer than an Earth year, roughly 687 Earth days, and Curiosity has been doing its job since August 6, 2012. It has been a momentous time, revealing dazzling new information about Earths neighbor in the solar system. Planetary scientists and future Mars mission planners are  interested in conditions on the planet, particularly its ability to support life. The Search for Martian Water One of the most important questions the Curiosity (and other) missions wants to answer is: what is the history of water on Mars? Curiositys instruments and cameras were designed to help answer that. It was fitting then, that one of Curiositys first discoveries was an ancient riverbed running underneath the rovers landing site. Not far away, at an area known as Yellowknife Bay, the rover dug into two slabs of mudstone (rock formed from mud)  and studied samples. The idea was to look for habitable zones for simple life forms. The study gave a definite yes, this could have been a place hospitable to life answer. Analysis of the mudstone samples showed that they were once at the bottom of a lake filled with water rich in nutrients. Thats the kind of place where life could have formed and flourished on the early Earth. If Mars had living organisms, this would have been a good home for them, as well.   Where Did the Water Go? One question that keeps coming up is, If Mars had a lot of water in the past, where did it all go? The answers suggest a range of places, from frozen underground reservoirs to the ice caps. Studies by the MAVEN spacecraft orbiting the planet strongly support the idea that some episode of water loss to space  occurred. This changed the planets climate.  Curiosity has measured various gases in the Martian atmosphere  and has helped Mars scientists figure out that much of the early atmosphere (which was probably wetter than now) escaped to space. More recent studies have revealed underground ice on Mars, and possibly salty meltwater just beneath the surface in some areas.   Rocks tell a fascinating story of Mars water. Curiosity  has determined of the ages of Martian rocks, and how long a rock has been exposed to harmful radiation. Rocks in direct contact with water in the past tell scientists more details about waters role on Mars. The big question: when did water flow freely across Mars is still unanswered, but Curiosity is providing data to help answer it soon. Curiosity  has also returned important information about radiation levels on the Martian surface, which would be important for assuring the safety of future Mars colonists. Future trips range from  one-way missions  to long-term missions that send and return multiple crews to and from the Red Planet. Curiositys Future Curiosity  is still running strong, despite some damage to one its wheels. That has led team members and spacecraft controllers to devise new study routes to accommodate the problem.The mission is one more step to the eventual human exploration of Mars. As with our exploration of Earth over the past centuries - using advance scouts  - this mission and others, like the MAVENmission and Indias Mars Orbiter Mission are sending back valuable word about the territory ahead, and what our first explorers will find.

Writing with Speech Recognition Software

Writing with Speech Recognition Software Writing with Speech Recognition Software Writing with Speech Recognition Software By Michael A professional writer might add a thousand words a day to their rough draft. With speech recognition software, some writers can add several thousand. Thats one reason why more writers are choosing to dictate their books. Today the error rate of speech recognition software has improved to within a percentage point of a human being. According to IBM, even a human transcriptionist hears the wrong word 4 or 5 percent of the time. IBM reached 5.5 percent in 2017. Google claims even lower than that 4.9 percent in 2017. Speech recognition can be found in Google Docs, Windows 10, your smartphone and in various home devices. Dragon Naturally Speaking is the only commercially-available speech recognition software for consumers, mostly because they bought all their competitors. According to their website, Dragon is 3x faster than typing and its 99% accurate. For higher accuracy, Dragon can be trained to recognize your own voice and vocabulary. Tips for writing with speech recognition Dictate in complete phrases or sentences. Recent advances in accuracy have come not so much from speech recognition (thats a buh not a duh) as from language recognition (after the words eat or peel the sounds buh nah nuh are probably banana). I can sometimes see my software rewrite a sentence once Ive completed it, because it now has more of the context and so can recognize more of the words. Pause between phrases, not words. Thats mostly what I just said, but it bears repeating. Separating parts of speech with pauses (It was the best of times) can really confuse the software. It likes to sense the sentence structure as you speak. Pausing between phrases is also a good habit for public speaking, or for speaking in general, for that matter. Yes, you need to pause while you think, but you dont need to keep talking while you do it. Watch the screen. If there are any errors or omissions, you want to make sure theyre not so serious that you cant remember what you really meant to say. I can handle Dragon spelling to instead of too or member instead of remembering. But sometimes the software provides a perfectly spelled word that would make no sense later. In that case, I can usually dictate the correct word again, perhaps preceding it with or rather as a newscaster might. Or you may be able to train Dragon (and yourself) that you pronounce to as tu and too as te-yoo. Or restate your sentence in different words. Dont worry about polluting your masterpiece with synonyms its probably faster than hemming and hawing for the perfect word. You can perfect it when you edit it. Keep a consistent tone, speed, and volume. Shouting, whispering or pretending youre Robin Williams will make the software work harder. It doesnt appreciate or even recognize histronics. I did a stint as a professional voice transcriptionist, repeating the speech of another person more clearly so that Dragon could understand it better. We maintained a cheerful tone as we worked, but we werent dramatic. Dont stop for mistakes. Keep a consistent flow, where words come out of your mouth at approximately the same speed they come into your mind. Your mind will appreciate that. Dont stop to fix typos or punctuation errors. Talk around any blatant mistakes restate anything thats unclear but keep dictating. Your first transcription may not be smooth or free of mistakes. But mistakes inspire creativity, because they beg you to fix them. So dont worry about making mistakes when dictating. Dont try to speak the keyboard. Youre better off just dictating words and not trying to operate your computer with your voice. Yes, Dragon has many editing commands: Scratch that, Scratch that n times, Go back, Go to top, Stop listening, Search eBay for text (NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT TRY TO WRITE NOVEL AND SHOP ON EBAY AT THE SAME TIME.) But the main commands I use are Period and New line Im supposed to be writing not editing remember? and Ive turned off my internal editor. Dragons commands are great for people who cant use a keyboard they can say Open Google Chrome or Post to Facebook but the extra learning curve can sour other people on trying the software. Hands-free editing I keep Dragon in Dictation Mode, which ignores commands as long as Im dictating quickly. Otherwise, if one of my paranoid characters shouts, Stop listening, Dragon might take me literally and not transcribe anything else. So how do you edit without using editing commands? Dictate the section again, without the mistakes. Really. Its probably faster than using the commands. It may be faster than using a keyboard. Many writers with repetitive stress injuries say that what hurt their wrists was not the typing, it was the constant cutting, pasting and mousing. With dictation, the only movement is your mouth and your eyeballs. Dictation lets you hear your words again, which lets you decide if you really like them. It even lets you combine several versions. You could have both versions open on your computer and switch your eyes between them as you read your favorite paragraph with each. Or you could print out both versions, lay the pages all over the floor, rearrange them as you like, edit them with a fat marker pen, and then smoothly read them back into your microphone. When I first tried this technique, though, the new version wasnt much better than the old. I hoped that as I reread the passage, my mind would naturally find things to correct, as a storyteller does. But seeing the text in front of me made it harder to see areas of improvement. A better strategy might be to silently read both versions again, then close my eyes and retell the story into the microphone. Dictation software works better for some writers than others, and for some types of writing than others. At first you may miss the feel of the keyboard or the pen, or you may be distracted by the sound of your voice. But for many writers, speech recognition software can set their creative process free. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:75 Contronyms (Words with Contradictory Meanings)Among vs. AmongstOppose and Opposed To

Organizational Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organizational Theory - Essay Example Leaders should only choose conflicts that are fruitful endeavors for the company in that it one, focus on the future; secondly it is material, and lastly, it has a noble purpose (Joni and Beyer, 2009, p. 50-52). The researchers also were able to come up with their own assessment tool. Since this is a qualitative research, they exhaustively defined the use of their terms. For instance, to ‘pursue a noble purpose’ means to â€Å"make your fight about improving the lives of the customers† (Joni and Beyer, 2009, p. 51), and relates to the principles of corporate values, respect, and urgency. Focusing on the future is quite self-explanatory but they still define it as the ability of an organization to forget about the past power struggles and to move on and focus on what is ahead. It answers the principles of possibility, uncertainty, and charisma. Making it material answers the principles of value, complexity, and change (Joni and Beyer, 2009, p. 52- 53). It is define d as â€Å"something that creates lasting value, leads to a noticeable and sustainable improvement, and addresses a complex challenge that has no easy answers† (Joni and Beyer, 2009, p. 50). Description of Procedures Because of the qualitative nature of the study, Joni and Beyer (2009) made use of primary sources from various companies—press releases, profiles, and case studies; and secondary sources—articles from newspaper and business journals. These are then used throughout the study as examples and basis for their arguments.

ANT 250I MOD 3 SLP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ANT 250I MOD 3 SLP - Essay Example The most common muscular dystrophy is Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy – a disease found predominantly in males and diagnosed in a period between 2 and 6 years. It afflicts as approximately 1 out of every 3, 500 births (Emery 687). DMD (abbreviation for Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy) is a result of muscle fibers degeneration and atrophy brought about by the absence/lack of dystrophin, a protein which is responsible for maintaining muscle fibers intact. Specifically, the loss-of-function mutations found in dystrophin are accountable for the disease. Dystrophin’s function is to encode a specific protein - 427-kD protein. The latter is located below the sarcolemma. Dystrophin, in alliance with the associated proteins, called dystroglycan and the sarcoglycans, takes part in a mechanically powerful link which can be traced from the extracellular matrix to the cytoskeleton that underlies it (Rybakova et al 1209). Total or partial deficiency of dystrophin ruins the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (abbreviated as DGC), which means that cytoskeleton present in the muscle fibers is no longer linked to the matrix (Hoffman, Brown, and Kunkel, 919). Hence, no dystrophin leads to the DGC complex functional impairment, while the mechanical stress accompanying with contraction results in the degeneration or atrophy of skeletal muscle fibers, impairment of movements, plus muscle-wasting. It finally leads to the death of the afflicted male kids which is a result of respiratory or cardiac failure, or both (Rando 1575, Petrof et al 3710). According to Engwal & Wewer, the existing dystrophin deficiency found in skeletal, as well as cardiac muscles, leads to the fact that several secondary processes start activating. Among them one may find inflammation, interstitial fibrosis, and extracellular matrix degradation, which badly affect the DMD progression (Engwal & Wewer 1579). Boys diagnosed with