A Response to Kant’s First Analogy of Experience

Leibniz, one of the famous philosophers, once wrote, â€Å"I believe that the consideration of a substance is one of the most important and fruitful points in philosophy. † Kant expressed his agreement for this statement in the way he presented the â€Å"First Analogy of Experience†. In this analogy, he proposed the schema of substance beyond physical appearance. In this part, Kant’s primary objective is to explain the conditions for the applicability of a category to appearances: the schema of substance cannot be determined without considering the relevance between its appearance and criteria for a certain category. Therefore, Descartes’ representation of a ball of wax as a substance as perceived by the mind alone is not sufficient for Kant. In contrast, he believed that the ball of wax, before it should be considered as a substance, must meet certain criteria set by a sensible perception. Thus, the schema of substance defines the fact that all changes occur in some substance. To illustrate it further, there are two instances mention below. In a certain situation which occurs in the workplace, employment process has criteria to come across whether an applicant is qualified or not. Furthermore, the qualification of a person may not be suitable for every job description. It is a proof that one substance’s representation varies and not consistent. Another specific example is the fact that an individual person is more describable if put in comparison or a specific category. X is smarter than Y. However, Y is more engaged in sports than X. There are lots of categories to consider. In every category, it is possible that the capacity of an individual is different from each category. In the present time, Kant’s philosophy towards substance is undoubtedly discernible. It has a great impact in today’s time. In fact, it is more applicable to the modern world than any other conflicting philosophies. The outcome of his belief provides evidence of how strong it is.

Insanity Defense: Why Should It Essay

Abstract The author of this paper argues several reasons why the insanity plea should be changed or either eliminated. The reasons are considered and supported by evidence. The conclusion states that insanity should be altered or eliminated for the safety and well being of society. Insanity Defense: Why Should It Be Abolished Or Altered Introduction The insanity defense asserts that the criminal defendant is not guilty by reason of insanity. This theory should be abolished or altered. The proposal behind the defense is people who are insane cannot have the knowledge required to perform a criminal act because they either do not know that act is wrong or cannot control their actions even when they understand the act is wrong, but this theory is controversial because insanity is difficult to define, and the circumstances in which insanity can be used to excuse criminal responsibility are difficult to define. History And Background The theory of the insanity defense has been around since ancient Greece and Rome. The theory was put in to use by Edward II. Under the English common law, a person was declared insane if their mental capacity was no more than a so-called â€Å"wild beast†. The first insanity trials began in 1724, those who  were insane and under the age of 14 were found not guilty in the court of law. (Wiki 2011) This eventually led to any criminal or defendant being able to use the plea to excuse the act that had been committed. Though the act was in place it wasn’t upheld in court and wasn’t problem at the time. In 1986 (Ford v. Wainwright) the US Supreme court upheld the common law that the insane cannot be executed. It also stated that a person under the death penalty is to be given a competency evaluation and a hearing in court on his or her chances to be executed. In Wainwright v. Greenfield the prosecutor can argue that a person’s silence during the readingâ€℠¢s of their Miranda rights is evidence of insanity. (Wiki 2011) The court gives jurisdiction for insanity in different rules or a combination of them. The â€Å"M’Nagthen rule† is where the defendant either did not understand what he or she did or failed to distinguish right from wrong, because the disease of the mind. The â€Å"Irresistible Impulse† test as a result of mental disease, defendant was unable to control his impulses, which led to the crime committed. The â€Å"Durham Rule† regardless of any diagnosis, defendant’s mental defect resulted in the criminal act. Finally the â€Å"Model Penal Code† due to the diagnosed mentally ill defendant either failed to understand the crime of his or her acts or was unable to act within the confines of the law. (Lally 1997)) The defense declares that a criminal defendant should not be guilty because the defendant is insane. Whens someone commits a crime in today’s society he or she may use mental illness as a defense, know as insanity plea or insanity defense (Dubsinki 1986). What the insanity defense does is try to give the criminal a so-called fair trial. Even if the crime committed is very extreme and seems to be unruly. The problem arises where do we draw the line for these criminals. What principle is a person considered insane and how is the tested? Insanity defense has been a problem in recent years, and that all criminals have some sort of mental illness. The crime itself no matter how extreme questions the fact if it demonstrates insanity. It has been a major ordeal in our legal system today. If the criminals are considered insane and out of touch with reality, the justice system agrees to pass the trial and the criminals are entered into a mental hospital. (Carpenter 2011) Criminals are then found not guilty by reason of insanity. The Problem For instance, the problem with insanity defense is legal analysts examine each client or criminal from a legal angle, also conversing to different doctors as well as specialists. Each client has to undergo tests. They do not actually come up with scientific prove from the brain to say the person is either mentally ill or not. (Khan 2014) This is the hardest part of the insanity defense, determining whether or not that person is mentally insane or acting like it. How can a person who kills twelve people including women and children be allowed to live in mental hospital while the victim’s families suffer from the loss of their loved ones. Forensic psychiatrist Jonas Rappeport saw such pleas during his quarter century as chief medical officer of Baltimore’s Circuit Court said, â€Å"When you’ve got no better defense, that’s the way to go.†(White 2011) The fact is sometimes these criminals are using the insanity defense to avoid the death penalty and continuing to live life in prison or mental hospitals, and under some circumstances are released from the mental hospitals affirming the patients have been cured (Khan 2014). Any defendant can use the defense. Lorena Bobbitt argued she was temporarily insane when she severed her husband’s penis with a kitchen knife four years ago. She was released after three months of psychiatric evaluation. (Carpenter 2011) Crimes happen everyday, some crimes are inexcusable and those who commit them should be punished. The punishment should fit the crime if we do something that is equally as extreme as take a life from another person, we should not be allowed to defend ourselves by insanity. Murder should go charged which is why the insanity plea should be altered or erased. It allows the criminals to go unpunished for their crime. Rebuttal There are however many criminals who do have some type of mental illness, but still are not eligible for the insanity plea. As shown in a recent survey of prison populations there are higher rates of mental illness and substance abuse among inmates than the general population. (Lally1997) The determining of insanity is very difficult and can inaccurate. If the person is clinically insane what principles do we use to penalize the individual for the crimes they committed? If he or she does not know right from wrong and if the person is out of touch with reality, under what circumstances is the plea suitable for the crime committed? An example would be if shoplifter was  charged for his or her crime and uses the insanity plea as a defense saying they weren’t in touch with reality, we would give that person a reduced sentence. If the person confirms to be insane they need to receive help, if we decided to put that person into a prison it would not help them what so ever. The insanity plea is a very controversial topic many people think it should be erased others think it should be altered. The difficulty of changing the plea is because of the determining if one is sane of not and under what right to do we have to choose the faith of another person. Resolution Accordingly resolution is the insanity plea should be erased or abolished because it’s a threat to the American people. Considering a large number of Americans feel the insanity plea should be erased or even altered to protect people’s own safety. (Dubsinki 1986) Using the insanity plea in a murder case and getting away with disproves the American people. Imagine the reaction people would feel if a murderer who just recently left the mental institution after pleading mentally insane were walking shoulder to shoulder to them. Insanity should not be used as a so-called excuse to avoid the punishment of the crime someone has committed. They should be punished for their actions they ch oose to do and neither the justice or court system should have a say in that. Even though the difficulty to prove sanity is questionable, the person should go through a broader series of tests and have evidence compelling towards insanity. (Harris 2013) If this person is sent to a mental hospital and then is considered cured or not a threat, he or she free to go which is wrong and corrupt. We should have firm standard for judging whether a person is mentally ill or not. Conclusion Thus, the plea should be altered or even erased in some circumstances. Even though some of crimes committed would result in a death penalty for those who murder and kill for no reason. If that person is insane, the punishments should fit the crime they have committed. If they are unaware of what they were doing and the result is being found not guilty, who is to say that they will not commit another crime again. Murder should be punished with death in my opinion and the crime should fit the punishment and there should be no alibi in the court system. If we let these people continue t o use this excuse eventually our jails and mental will be full and the government will be spending even more  money. (Harris 2013) Taking these so called mentally insane people off the streets will give America a safer conscious. References, Dubsinki, K. D. (1986, July 15). Insanity Defense. In Chicago Tribute. Retrieved March 28, 2014, from http://articles.chicagotribune.com Khan, Z. (2014, March 21). Interview by HK Khan [Personal Interview]. Insanity defense Harris, M. (2013, January 14). Insanity plea repeated. In The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2009-01-14/ Insanity defense (2011, April 11). In Wikipedia . Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insanity_defense Carpenter, P. (2011, December 29). Legal system needs to rethink insanity, related defense ploys. In The Morning Call . Retrieved April 17, 2014, from http://articles.mcall.com/ White, M. D. (2011, January 11). Debating the Insanity Defense. In Psychology Today . Retrieved April 16, 2014, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ Lally, S. (1997, November 3). Drawing a Clear Line Between Criminals and the Criminally Insane. In Washington Post. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/aron/expert1123.htm

Bag of Bones CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

For men, I think, love is a thing formed of equal parts lust and astonishment. The astonishment part women understand. The lust part they only think they understand. Very few perhaps one in twenty have any concept of what it really is or how deep it runs. That's probably just as well for their sleep and peace of mind. And I'm not talking about the lust of satyrs and rapists and molesters; I'm talking about the lust of shoe-clerks and high-school principals. Not to mention writers and lawyers. We turned into Mattie's dooryard at ten to eleven, and as I parked my Chevy beside her rusted-out Jeep, the trailer door opened and Mat-tie came out on the top step. I sucked in my breath, and beside me I could hear John sucking in his. She was very likely the most beautiful young woman I have ever seen in my life as she stood there in her rose-colored shorts and matching middy top. The shorts were not short enough to be cheap (my mother's word) but plenty short enough to be provocative. Her top tied in floppy string bows across the shoulders and showed just enough tan to dream on. Her hair hung to her shoulders. She was smiling and waving. I thought, She's made it take her into the country-club dining room now, dressed just as she is, and she shuts everyone else down. ‘Oh Lordy,' John said. There was a kind of dismayed longing in his voice. ‘All that and a bag of chips.' ‘Yeah,' I said. ‘Put your eyes back in your head, big boy.' He made cupping motions with his hands as if doing just that. George, meanwhile, had pulled his Altima in next to us. ‘Come on,' I said, opening my door. ‘Time to party.' ‘I can't touch her, Mike,' John said. ‘I'll melt.' ‘Come on, you goof.' Mattie came down the steps and past the pot with the tomato plant in it. Ki was behind her, dressed in an outfit similar to her mother's, only in a shade of dark green. She had the shys again, I saw; she kept one steadying hand on Mattie's leg and one thumb in her mouth. ‘The guys are here! The guys are here!' Mattie cried, laughing, and threw herself into my arms. She hugged me tight and kissed the corner of my mouth. I hugged her back and kissed her cheek. Then she moved on to John, read his shirt, patted her hands together in applause, and then hugged him. He hugged back pretty well for a guy who was afraid he might melt, I thought, picking her up off her feet and swinging her around in a circle while she hung onto his neck and laughed. ‘Rich lady, rich lady, rich lady!' John chanted, then set her down on the cork soles of her white shoes. ‘Free lady, free lady, free lady!' she chanted back. ‘The hell with rich!' Before he could reply, she kissed him firmly on the mouth. His arms rose to slip around her, but she stepped back before they could catch hold. She turned to Rommie and George, who were standing side-by-side and looking like fellows who might want to explain all about the Mormon Church. I took a step forward, meaning to do the introductions, but John was taking care of that, and one of his arms managed to accomplish its mission after all it circled her waist as he led her forward toward the men. Meanwhile a little hand slipped into mine. I looked down and saw Ki looking up at me. Her face was grave and pale and every bit as beautiful as her mother's. Her blonde hair, freshly washed and shining, was held back with a velvet scrunchy. ‘Guess the fridgeafator people don't like me now,' she said. The laughter and insouciance were gone, at least for the moment. She looked on the verge of tears. ‘My letters all went bye-bye.' I picked her up and set her in the crook of my arm as I had on the day I'd met her walking down the middle of Route 68 in her bathing suit. I kissed her forehead and then the tip of her nose. Her skin was perfect silk. ‘I know they did,' I said. ‘I'll buy you some more.' ‘Promise?' Doubtful dark blue eyes fixed on mine. ‘Promise. And I'll teach you special words like â€Å"zygote† and â€Å"bibulous†. I know lots of special words.' ‘How many?' ‘A hundred and eighty.' Thunder rumbled in the west. It didn't seem louder, but it was more focused, somehow. Ki's eyes went in that direction, then came back to mine. ‘I'm scared, Mike.' ‘Scared? Of what?' ‘Ofi don't know. The lady in Mattie's dress. The men we saw.' Then she looked over my shoulder. ‘Here comes Mommy.' I have heard actresses deliver the line Not in front of the children in that exact same tone of voice. Kyra wiggled in the circle of my arms. ‘Land me.' I landed her. Mattie, John, Rommie, and George came over to join us. Ki ran to Mattie, who picked her up and then eyed us like a general surveying her troops. ‘Got the beer?' she asked me. ‘Yessum. A case of Bud and a dozen mixed sodas, as well. Plus lemonade.' ‘Great. Mr. Kennedy ‘ ‘George, ma'am.' ‘George, then. And if you call me ma'am again, I'll punch you in the nose. I'm Mattie. Would you drive down to the Lakeview General'-she pointed to the store on Route 68, about half a mile from us ‘and get some ice?' ‘You bet.' ‘Mr. Bissonette ‘ ‘Rommie.' ‘There's a little garden at the north end of the trailer, Rommie. Can you find a couple of good-looking lettuces?' ‘I think I can handle that.' ‘John, let's get the meat into the fridge. As for you, Michael . . . ‘ She pointed to the barbecue. ‘The briquets are the self-lighting kind just drop a match and stand back. Do your duty.' ‘Aye, good lady,' I said, and dropped to my knees in front of her. That finally got a giggle out of Ki. Laughing, Mattie took my hand and pulled me back onto my feet. ‘Come on, Sir Galahad,' she said. ‘It's going to rain. I want to be safe inside and too stuffed to jump when it does.' In the city, parties begin with greetings at the door, gathered-in coats, and those peculiar little air-kisses (when, exactly, did that social oddity begin?). In the country, they begin with chores. You fetch, you carry, you hunt for stuff like barbecue tongs and oven mitts. The hostess drafts a couple of men to move the picnic table, then decides it was actually better where it was and asks them to put it back. And at some point you discover that you're having fun. I piled briquets until they looked approximately like the pyramid on the bag, then touched a match to them. They blazed up satisfyingly and I stood back, wiping my forearm across my forehead. Cool and clear might be coming, but it surely wasn't in hailing distance yet. The sun had burned through and the day had gone from dull to dazzling, yet in the west black-satin thunderheads continued to stack up. It was as if night had burst a blood-vessel in the sky over there. ‘Mike?' I looked around at Kyra. ‘What, honey?' ‘Will you take care of me?' ‘Yes,' I said with no hesitation at all. For a moment something about my response perhaps only the quickness of it seemed to trouble her. Then she smiled. ‘Okay,' she said. ‘Look, here comes the ice-man!' George was back from the store. He parked and got out. I walked over with Kyra, she holding my hand and swinging it possessively back and forth. Rommie came with us, juggling three heads of lettuce I didn't think he was much of a threat to the guy who had fascinated Ki on the common Saturday night. George opened the Altima's back door and brought out two bags of ice. ‘The store was closed,' he said. ‘Sign said WILL RE-OPEN AT 5 P.M. That seemed a little too long to wait, so I took the ice and put the money through the mail-slot.' They'd closed for Royce Merrill's funeral, of course. Had given up almost a full day's custom at the height of the tourist season to see the old fellow into the ground. It was sort of touching. I thought it was also sort of creepy. ‘Can I carry some ice?' Kyra asked. ‘I guess, but don't frizzicate yourself,' George said, and carefully put a five-pound bag of ice into Ki's outstretched arms. ‘Frizzicate,' Kyra said, giggling. She began walking toward the trailer, where Mattie was just coming out. John was behind her and regarding her with the eyes of a gutshot beagle. ‘Mommy, look! I'm frizzicating!' I took the other bag. ‘I know the icebox is outside, but don't they keep a padlock on it?' ‘I am friends with most padlocks,' George said. ‘Oh. I see.' ‘Mike! Catch!' John tossed a red Frisbee. It floated toward me, but high. I jumped for it, snagged it, and suddenly Devore was back in my head: What's wrong with you, Rogette? You never used to throw like a girl Get him! I looked down and saw Ki looking up. ‘Don't think about sad stuff,' she said. I smiled at her, then flipped her the Frisbee. ‘Okay, no sad stuff. Go on, sweetheart. Toss it to your mom. Let's see if you can.' She smiled back, turned, and made a quick, accurate flip to her mother the toss was so hard that Mattie almost flubbed it. Whatever else Kyra Devore might have been, she was a Frisbee champion in the making. Mattie tossed the Frisbee to George, who turned, the tail of his absurd brown suitcoat flaring, and caught it deftly behind his back. Mattie laughed and applauded, the hem of her top flirting with her navel. ‘Showoff!' John called from the steps. ‘Jealousy is such an ugly emotion,' George said to Rommie Bissonette, and flipped him the Frisbee. Rommie floated it back to John, but it went wide and bonked off the side of the trailer. As John hurried down the steps to get it, Mattie turned to me. ‘My boombox is on the coffee-table in the living room, along with a stack of CDs. Most of them are pretty old, but at least it's music. Will you bring them out?' ‘Sure.' I went inside, where it was hot in spite of three strategically placed fans working overtime. I looked at the grim, mass-produced furniture, and at Mattie's rather noble effort to impart some character: the van Gogh print that should not have looked at home in a trailer kitchenette but did, Edward Hopper's Nighthawks over the sofa, the tie-dyed curtains that would have made Jo laugh. There was a bravery here that made me sad for her and furious at Max Devore all over again. Dead or not, I wanted to kick his ass. I went into the living room and saw the new Mary Higgins Clark on the sofa end-table with a bookmark sticking out of it. Lying beside it in a heap were a couple of little-girl hair ribbons something about them looked familiar to me, although I couldn't remember ever having seen Ki wearing them. I stood there a moment longer, frowning, then grabbed the boombox and CDs and went back outside. ‘Hey, guys,' I said. ‘Let's rock.' I was okay until she danced. I don't know if it matters to you, but it does to me. I was okay until she danced. After that I was lost. We took the Frisbee around to the rear of the house, partly so we wouldn't piss off any funeral-bound townies with our rowdiness and good cheer, mostly because Mattie's back yard was a good place to play level ground and low grass. After a couple of missed catches, Mattie kicked off her party-shoes, dashed barefoot into the house, and came back in her sneakers. After that she was a lot better. We threw the Frisbee, yelled insults at each other, drank beer, laughed a lot. Ki wasn't much on the catching part, but she had a phenomenal arm for a kid of three and played with gusto. Rommie had set the boombox up on the trailer's back step, and it spun out a haze of late-eighties and early-nineties music: U2, Tears for Fears, the Eurythmics, Crowded House, A Flock of Seagulls, Ah-Hah, the Bangles, Melissa Etheridge, Huey Lewis and the News. It seemed to me that I knew every song, every riff. We sweated and sprinted in the noon light. We watched Mattie's long, tanned legs flash and listened to the bright runs of Kyra's laughter. At one point Rommie Bissonette went head over heels, all the change spilling out of his pockets, and John laughed until he had to sit down. Tears rolled from his eyes. Ki ran over and plopped on his defenseless lap. John stopped laughing in a hurry. ‘Ooofl' he cried, looking at me with shining, wounded eyes as his bruised balls no doubt tried to climb back inside his body. ‘Kyra Devore!' Mattie cried, looking at John apprehensively. ‘I taggled my own quartermack,' Ki said proudly. John smiled feebly at her and staggered to his feet. ‘Yes,' he said. ‘You did. And the ref calls fifteen yards for squashing.' ‘Are you okay, man?' George asked. He looked concerned, but his voice was grinning. ‘I'm fine,' John said, and spun him the Frisbee. It wobbled feebly across the yard. ‘Go on, throw. Let's see whatcha got.' The thunder rumbled louder, but the black clouds were all still west of us; the sky overhead remained a harmless humid blue. Birds still sang and crickets hummed in the grass. There was a heat-shimmer over the barbecue, and it would soon be time to slap on John's New York steaks. The Frisbee still flew, red against the green of the grass and trees, the blue of the sky. I was still in lust, but everything was still all right men are in lust all over the world and damned near all of the time, and the icecaps don't melt. But she danced, and everything changed. It was an old Don Henley song, one driven by a really nasty guitar riff. ‘Oh God, I love this one,' Mattie cried. The Frisbee came to her. She caught it, dropped it, stepped on it as if it were a hot red spot falling on a nightclub stage, and began to shake. She put her hands first behind her neck and then on her hips and then behind her back. She danced standing with the toes of her sneakers on the Frisbee. She danced without moving. She danced as they say in that song like a wave on the ocean. ‘The government bugged the men's room in the local disco lounge, And all she wants to do is dance, dance . . . To keep the boys from selling all the weapons they can scrounge, And all she wants to do, all she wants to do is dance.' Women are sexy when they dance incredibly sexy but that wasn't what I reacted to, or how I reacted. The lust I was coping with, but this was more than lust, and not copeable. It was something that sucked the wind out of me and left me feeling utterly at her mercy. In that moment she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, not a pretty woman in shorts and a middy top dancing in place on a Frisbee, but Venus revealed. She was everything I had missed during the last four years, when I'd been so badly off I didn't know I was missing anything. She robbed me of any last defenses I might have had. The age difference didn't matter. If I looked to people like my tongue was hanging out even when my mouth was shut, then so be it. If I lost my dignity, my pride, my sense of self, then so be it. Four years on my own had taught me there are worse things to lose. How long did she stand there, dancing? I don't know. Probably not long, not even a minute, and then she realized we were looking at her, rapt because to some degree they all saw what I saw and felt what I felt. For that minute or however long it was, I don't think any of us used much oxygen. She stepped off the Frisbee, laughing and blushing at the same time, confused but not really uncomfortable. ‘I'm sorry,' she said. ‘I just . . . I love that song.' ‘All she wants to do is dance,' Rommie said. ‘Yes, sometimes that's all she wants,' Mattie said, and blushed harder than ever. ‘Excuse me, I have to use the facility.' She tossed me the Frisbee and then dashed for the trailer. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself back to reality, and saw John doing the same thing. George Kennedy was wearing a mildly stunned expression, as if someone had fed him a light sedative and it was finally taking effect. Thunder rumbled. This time it did sound closer. I skimmed the Frisbee to Rommie. ‘What do you think?' ‘I think I'm in love,' he said, and then seemed to give himself a small mental shake it was a thing you could see in his eyes. ‘I also think it's time we got going on those steaks if we're going to eat outside. Want to help me?' ‘Sure.' ‘I will, too,' John said. We walked back to the trailer, leaving George and Kyra to play toss. Kyra was asking George if he had ever caught any crinimals. In the kitchen, Mattie was standing beside the open fridge and stacking steaks on a platter. ‘Thank God you guys came in. I was on the point of giving up and gobbling one of these just the way it is. They're the most beautiful things I ever saw.' ‘You're the most beautiful thing I ever saw,' John said. He was being totally sincere, but the smile she gave him was distracted and a little bemused. I made a mental note to myself: never compliment a woman on her beauty when she has a couple of raw steaks in her hands. It just doesn't turn the windmill somehow. ‘How are you at barbecuing meat?' she asked me. ‘Tell the truth, because these are way too good to mess up.' ‘I can hold my own.' ‘Okay, you're hired. John, you're assisting. Rommie, help me do salads.' ‘My pleasure.' George and Ki had come around to the front of the trailer and were now sitting in lawn-chairs like a couple of old cronies at their London club. George was telling Ki how he had shot it out with Rolfe Nedeau and the Real Bad Gang on Lisbon Street in 1993. ‘George, what's happening to your nose?' John asked. ‘It's getting so long.' ‘Do you mind?' George asked. ‘I'm having a conversation here.' ‘Mr. Kennedy has caught lots of crooked crinimals,' Kyra said. ‘He caught the Real Bad Gang and put them in Supermax.' ‘Yes,' I said. ‘Mr. Kennedy also won an Academy Award for acting in a movie called Cool Hand Luke.' ‘That's absolutely correct,' George said. He raised his right hand and crossed the two fingers. ‘Me and Paul Newman. Just like that.' ‘We have his pusgetti sauce,' Ki said gravely, and that got John laughing again. It didn't hit me the same way, but laughter is catching; just watching John was enough to break me up after a few seconds. We were howling like a couple of fools as we slapped the steaks on the grill. It's a wonder we didn't burn our hands off. ‘Why are they laughing?' Ki asked George. ‘Because they're foolish men with little tiny brains,' George said. ‘Now listen, Ki I got them all except for the Human Headcase. He jumped into his car and I jumped into mine. The details of that chase are nothing for a little girl to hear ‘ George regaled her with them anyway while John and I stood grinning at each other across Mattie's barbecue. ‘This is great, isn't it?' John said, and I nodded. Mattie came out with corn wrapped in aluminum foil, followed by Rommie, who had a large salad bowl clasped in his arms and negotiated the steps carefully, trying to peer over the top of the bowl as he made his way down them. We sat at the picnic table, George and Rommie on one side, John and I flanking Mattie on the other. Ki sat at the head, perched on a stack of old magazines in a lawn-chair. Mattie tied a dishtowel around her neck, an indignity Ki submitted to only because (a) she was wearing new clothes, and (b) a dishtowel wasn't a baby-bib, at least technically speaking. We ate hugely salad, steak (and John was right, it really was the best I'd ever had), roasted corn on the cob, ‘strewberry snortcake' for dessert. By the time we'd gotten around to the snortcake, the thunderheads were noticeably closer and there was a hot, jerky breeze blowing around the yard. ‘Mattie, if I never eat a meal as good as this one again, I won't be surprised,' Rommie said. ‘Thanks ever so much for having me.' ‘Thank you,' she said. There were tears standing in her eyes. She took my hand on one side and John's on the other. She squeezed both. ‘Thank you all. If you knew what things were like for Ki and me before this last week . . . ‘ She shook her head, gave John and me a final squeeze, and let go. ‘But that's over.' ‘Look at the baby,' George said, amused. Ki had slumped back in her lawn-chair and was looking at us with glazing eyes. Most of her hair had come out of the scrunchy and lay in clumps against her cheeks. There was a dab of whipped cream on her nose and a single yellow kernel of corn sitting in the middle of her chin. ‘I threw the Frisbee six fousan times,' Kyra said. She spoke in a distant, declamatory tone. ‘I tired.' Mattie started to get up. I put my hand on her arm. ‘Let me?' She nodded, smiling. ‘If you want.' I picked Kyra up and carried her around to the steps. Thunder rumbled again, a long, low roll that sounded like the snarl of a huge dog. I looked up at the encroaching clouds, and as I did, movement caught my eye. It was an old blue car heading west on Wasp Hill Road toward the lake. The only reason I noticed it was that it was wearing one of those stupid bumper-stickers from the Village Cafe: HORN BROKEN WATCH FOR FINGER. I carried Ki up the steps and through the door, turning her so I wouldn't bump her head. ‘Take care of me,' she said in her sleep. There was a sadness in her voice that chilled me. It was as if she knew she was asking the impossible. ‘Take care of me, I'm little, Mama says I'm a little guy.' ‘I'll take care of you,' I said, and kissed that silky place between her eyes again. ‘Don't worry, Ki, go to sleep.' I carried her to her room and put her on her bed. By then she was totally conked out. I wiped the cream off her nose and picked the corn-kernel off her chin. I glanced at my watch and saw it was ten 'til two. They would be gathering at Grace Baptist by now. Bill Dean was wearing a gray tie. Buddy Jellison had a hat on. He was standing behind the church with some other men who were smoking before going inside. I turned. Mattie was in the doorway. ‘Mike,' she said. ‘Come here, please.' I went to her. There was no cloth between her waist and my hands this time. Her skin was warm, and as silky as her daughter's. She looked up at me, her lips parted. Her hips pressed forward, and when she felt what was hard down there, she pressed harder against it. ‘Mike,' she said again. I closed my eyes. I felt like someone who has just come to the doorway of a brightly lit room full of people laughing and talking. And dancing. Because sometimes that is all we want to do. I want to come in, I thought. That's what I want to do, all I want to do. Let me do what I want. Let me I realized I was saying it aloud, whispering it rapidly into her ear as I held her with my hands going up and down her back, my fingertips ridging her spine, touching her shoulderblades, then coming around in front to cup her small breasts. ‘Yes,' she said. ‘What we both want. Yes. That's fine.' Slowly, she reached up with her thumbs and wiped the wet places from under my eyes. I drew back from her. ‘The key ‘ She smiled a little. ‘You know where it is.' ‘I'll come tonight.' ‘Good.' ‘I've been . . . ‘ I had to clear my throat. I looked at Kyra, who was deeply asleep. ‘I've been lonely. I don't think I knew it, but I have been.' ‘Me too. And I knew it for both of us. Kiss, please.' I kissed her. I think our tongues touched, but I'm not sure. What I remember most clearly is the liveness of her. She was like a dreidel lightly spinning in my arms. ‘Hey!' John called from outside, and we sprang apart. ‘You guys want to give us a little help? It's gonna rain!' ‘Thanks for finally making up your mind,' she said to me in a low voice. She turned and hurried back up the doublewide's narrow corridor. The next time she spoke to me, I don't think she knew who she was talking to, or where she was. The next time she spoke to me, she was dying. ‘Don't wake the baby,' I heard her tell John, and his response: ‘Oh, sorry, sorry.' I stood where I was a moment longer, getting my breath, then slipped into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. I remember seeing a blue plastic whale in the bathtub as I turned to take a towel off the rack. I remember thinking that it probably blew bubbles out of its spout-hole, and I even remember having a momentary glimmer of an idea a children's story about a spouting whale. Would you call him Willie? Nah, too obvious. Wilhelm, now that had a fine round ring to it, simultaneously grand and amusing. Wilhelm the Spouting Whale. I remember the bang of thunder from overhead. I remember how happy I was, with the decision finally made and the night to look forward to. I remember the murmur of men's voices and the murmur of Mattie's response as she told them where to put the stuff. Then I heard all of them going back out again. I looked down at myself and saw a certain lump was subsiding. I remember thinking there was nothing so absurd-looking as a sexually excited man and knew I'd had this same thought before, perhaps in a dream. I left the bathroom, checked on Kyra again rolled over on her side, fast asleep and then went down the hall. I had just reached the living room when gunfire erupted outside. I never confused the sound with thunder. There was a moment when my mind fumbled toward the idea of backfires some kid's hotrod and then I knew. Part of me had been expecting something to happen . . . but it had been expecting ghosts rather than gunfire. A fatal lapse. It was the rapid pah! pah! pah! of an auto-fire weapon a Glock nine-millimeter, as it turned out. Mattie screamed a high, drilling scream that froze my blood. I heard John cry out in pain and George Kennedy bellow, ‘Down, down! For the love of Christ, get her down!' Something hit the trailer like a hard spatter of hail a rattle of punching sounds running from west to east. Something split the air in front of my eyes I heard it. There was an almost-musical sproing sound, like a snapping guitar string. On the kitchen table, the salad bowl one of them had just brought in shattered. I ran for the door and nearly dived down the cement-block steps. I saw the barbecue overturned, with the glowing coals already setting patches of the scant front-yard grass on fire. I saw Rommie Bissonette sitting with his legs outstretched, looking stupidly down at his ankle, which was soaked with blood. Mattie was on her hands and knees by the barbecue with her hair hanging in her face it was as if she meant to sweep up the hot coals before they could cause some real trouble. John staggered toward me, holding out a hand. The arm above it was soaked with blood. And I saw the car I'd seen before the nondescript sedan with the joke sticker on it. It had gone up the road the men inside making that first pass to check us out then turned around and come back. The shooter was still leaning out the front passenger window. I could see the stubby smoking weapon in his hands. It had a wire stock. His features were a blue blank broken only by huge gaping eyesockets a ski-mask. Overhead, thunder gave a long, awakening roar. George Kennedy was walking toward the car, not hurrying, kicking hot spilled coals out of his way as he went, not bothering about the dark-red stain that was spreading on the right thigh of his pants, reaching behind himself, not hurrying even when the shooter pulled back in and shouted ‘Go go go!' at the driver, who was also wearing a blue mask, George not hurrying, no, not hurrying a bit, and even before I saw the pistol in his hand, I knew why he had never taken off his absurd Pa Kettle suit jacket, why he had even played Frisbee in it. The blue car (it turned out to be a 1987 Ford registered to Mrs. Sonia Belliveau of Auburn and reported stolen the day before) had pulled over onto the shoulder and had never really stopped rolling. Now it accelerated, spewing dry brown dust out from under its rear tires, fishtailing, knocking Mattie's RFD box off its post and sending it flying into the road. George still didn't hurry. He brought his hands together, holding his gun with his right and steadying with his left. He squeezed off five deliberate shots. The first two went into the trunk I saw the holes appear. The third blew in the back window of the departing Ford, and I heard someone shout in pain. The fourth went I don't know where. The fifth blew the left rear tire. The Ford veered to that side. The driver almost brought it back, then lost it completely. The car ploughed into the ditch thirty yards below Mattie's trailer and rolled over on its side. There was a whumpf! and the rear end was engulfed in flames. One of George's shots must have hit the gas-tank. The shooter began struggling to get out through the passenger window. ‘Ki . . . get Ki . . . away . . . ‘ A hoarse, whispering voice. Mattie was crawling toward me. One side of her head the right side still looked all right, but the left side was a ruin. One dazed blue eye peered out from between clumps of bloody hair. Skull-fragments littered her tanned shoulder like bits of broken crockery. How I would love to tell you I don't remember any of this, how I would love to have someone else tell you that Michael Noonan died before he saw that, but I cannot. Alas is the word for it in the crossword puzzles, a four-letter word meaning to express great sorrow. ‘Ki . . . Mike, get Ki . . . ‘ I knelt and put my arms around her. She struggled against me. She was young and strong, and even with the gray matter of her brain bulging through the broken wall of her skull she struggled against me, crying for her daughter, wanting to reach her and protect her and get her to safety. ‘Mattie, it's all right,' I said. Down at the Grace Baptist Church, at the far end of the zone I was in, they were singing ‘Blessed Assurance' . . . but most of their eyes were as blank as the eye now peering at me through the tangle of bloody hair. ‘Mattie, stop, rest, it's all right.' ‘Ki . . . get Ki . . . don't let them . . . ‘ ‘They won't hurt her, Mattie, I promise.' She slid against me, slippery as a fish, and screamed her daughter's name, holding out her bloody hands toward the trailer. The rose-colored shorts and top had gone bright red. Blood spattered the grass as she thrashed and pulled. From down the hill there was a guttural explosion as the Ford's gas-tank exploded. Black smoke rose toward a black sky. Thunder roared long and loud, as if the sky were saying You want noise? Yeah? I'll give you noise. ‘Say Mattie's all right, Mike!' John cried in a wavering voice. ‘Oh for God's sake say she's ‘ He dropped to his knees beside me, his eyes rolling up until nothing showed but the whites. He reached for me, grabbed my shoulder, then tore damned near half my shirt off as he lost his battle to stay conscious and fell on his side next to Mattie. A curd of white goo bubbled from one corner of his mouth. Twelve feet away, near the overturned barbecue, Rommie was trying to get on his feet, his teeth clenched in pain. George was standing in the middle of Wasp Hill Road, reloading his gun from a pouch he'd apparently had in his coat pocket and watching as the shooter worked to get clear of the overturned car before it was engulfed. The entire right leg of George's pants was red now. He may live but he'll never wear that suit again, I thought. I held Mattie. I put my face down to hers, put my mouth to the ear that was still there and said: ‘Kyra's okay. She's sleeping. She's fine, I promise.' Mattie seemed to understand. She stopped straining against me and collapsed to the grass, trembling all over. ‘Ki . . . Ki . . . ‘ This was the last of her talking on earth. One of her hands reached out blindly, groped at a tuft of grass, and yanked it out. ‘Over here,' I heard George saying. ‘Get over here, motherfuck, don't you even think about turning your back on me.' ‘How bad is she?' Rommie asked, hobbling over. His face was as white as paper. And before I could reply: ‘Oh Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Blessed be the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Oh Mary born without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee. Oh no, oh Mike, no.' He began again, this time lapsing into Lewiston street-French, what the old folks call La Parle. ‘Quit it,' I said, and he did. It was as if he had only been waiting to be told. ‘Go inside and check on Kyra. Can you?' ‘Yes.' He started toward the trailer, holding his leg and lurching along. With each lurch he gave a high yip of pain, but somehow he kept going. I could smell burning tufts of grass. I could smell electric rain on a rising wind. And under my hands I could feel the light spin of the dreidel slowing down as she went. I turned her over, held her in my arms, and rocked her back and forth. At Grace Baptist the minister was now reading Psalm 139 for Royce: If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light. The minister was reading and the Martians were listening. I rocked her back and forth in my arms under the black thunderheads. I was supposed to come to her that night, use the key under the pot and come to her. She had danced with the toes of her white sneakers on the red Frisbee, had danced like a wave on the ocean, and now she was dying in my arms while the grass burned in little clumps and the man who had fancied her as much as I had lay unconscious beside her, his right arm painted red from the short sleeve of his WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS tee-shirt all the way down to his bony, freckled wrist. ‘Mattie,' I said. ‘Mattie, Mattie, Mattie.' I rocked her and smoothed my hand across her forehead, which on the right side was miraculously unsplattered by the blood that had drenched her. Her hair fell over the ruined left side of her face. ‘Mattie,' I said. ‘Mattie, Mattie, oh Mattie.' Lightning flashed the first stroke I had seen. It lit the western sky in a bright blue arc. Mattie trembled strongly in my arms all the way from neck to toes she trembled. Her lips pressed together. Her brow furrowed, as if in concentration. Her hand came up and seemed to grab for the back of my neck, as a person falling from a cliff may grasp blindly at anything to hold on just a little longer. Then it fell away and lay limply on the grass, palm up. She trembled once more the whole delicate weight of her trembled in my arms and then she was still.

Motivation and how management can use it for a better, more Essay

Motivation and how management can use it for a better, more profitable, effecient workplace - Essay Example A. As the workplace structure and workers themselves change, management faces the problem of how to motivate employees (Gerstner, 2002). Gerstner (2002) poses the questions of â€Å"How do you pull the levers of motivation to change the attitudes, behavior, and thinking of a population? Different people are motivated by different things that may include money, career advancement, and recognition† (Gerstner, 2002). Effectively changing the attitudes, behavior, and thinking of workers demands that a manager knows what levers of motivation to pull in the first place. B. A global executive should provide leadership and direction to management levels according to business goals, mission, and vision. Global leaders and executives have certain characteristics and skills in order to succeed in the globalize world of business (Gregersen, Morrison, & Black, 1998). C. Knowing how to motivate well will enable managers to realize the full potential of each employee. Much literature about theories of motivation and work relate to the subject of inspiring employees to be their best (Gagne & Deci, 2005). D. This report will discuss motivation and how managers can use it for a better, more profitable, efficient workplace. This report will also explore the different theories, concepts, and practices managers can use to motivate employees. E. A leader is a visionary who has the end goal in mind and can see the big picture. A leader is a motivator of his/her followers. There are a variety of leadership styles a leader may holds; what separate a leader from the rest are the traits they posses to succeed and the various background assumptions held true by the . Some of these traits may include intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity, and sociability (Cox, 2001). F. Executives are motivated by the goal and fits in the business component. S/he reacts rationally to external conditions and

Falling Oil Prices Threaten Houston Building Boom Essay - 17

Falling Oil Prices Threaten Houston Building Boom - Essay Example Ideally, unemployment has a direct and indirect impact on other industries since it reduces the earnings and purchasing power of the unemployed. I believe the unemployment derived from the falling oil prices will have detrimental effects on the housing industry especially in Houston (Brown 1). Most of the people fired or prone to firing by energy companies in the U.S come from Houston. Ideally, savings from energy costs would increase consumer spending, create more jobs, and improve earnings that would enable more people to buy homes (Brown 1). As such, the housing industry would benefit indirectly from oil savings. Indeed, reduced oil prices would encourage young buyers to join the housing market thus raising the demand for houses in Houston. However, the continued drop in oil prices and the resultant unemployment changes the above economic dynamics and assumptions. Having flourished in Houston when the energy sector was experiencing immense growth, housing developers in Houston are now feeling the heat of the falling oil prices in America. Indeed, the demand for offices is on a downward trend in Houston subject to the anxiety, uncertainty, and limits derived from the oil prices that have been falling since June 2014 (Brown 1). Developers planned and started many of the buildings in Houston in 2014 when there were high and stable oil prices (Brown 1). Indeed, by the end of last year, construction in many buildings was on an advanced stage raising questions on the uncertain demand for these building units. The housing industry has created many jobs for the builders at building sites and manufacturers in concrete and steel companies. However, the announcement by energy companies to fire about 23,000 employees with a significant number coming from Houston demeans the imminent supply of office units in Houston (Brown 1).

The Open Forms of Resistance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Open Forms of Resistance - Essay Example Through this discussion James C. Scott, want to state that everyday resistance is one of the basic forms of opposition to oppression. Scott initiated this concept in the year 1985, which reflected about the various forms of resistance. The resistance as per his opinion is not as dramatic as a rebel but everyday resistance is more hidden and invisible. He also stated that the forms of slave resistance are more important than the outright rebellion. On the other hand, a peasant rebellion is uncommon and it cannot occur when required as well as it does not have the much impact, therefore, it is considered as the less important (Scott, â€Å"Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance†). The â€Å"Discourse on Colonialism† may be the best description as the state of war, which is provided by Aime Cesaire and it is also known as the third world manifesto. On the other hand, the analysis made by Scott is that the everyday resistance to the open forms and revolutionary actions may also describe the statement of war. This analysis of Scott provides information related to the actual meaning of everyday resistance and the forms of resistance. According to Scott, the notion of national sovereignty, was however, historically superseded as per the thought of revolutionary anticolonialism besides becoming a politically absolute future past, when it failed to secure freedom for colonized people. He also argues that traditional dreams related to total revolution and political emancipation is the form of power that can be negotiated but cannot be mitigated completely (Kelley 1-52).

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 36

English - Essay Example This mortality rate inspires her to write mostly on death. Today’s writers are inspired by her ability to write on this responsive painful subject in a creative invented way. The ‘sweat-shop’ in the torment building is a meeting point for the Jewish population. The Jews try to socialize since they are common immigrants. However, there exist social and economic differences that divide the Jewish community. The writer tries to explain the ways to live in America in relation to work and romance. It brings out the concept of faith by clearly mentioning conviction as the best way to prosper in America. "They read the Tuesday Psalm in the synagogue this morning, but I should have read the Monday one." Cahan urges that assimilation is as a result of industrialization. Many Jews worked for the industries and from the work place many families’ dynamics were learnt. Immigrants are forced to learn English in America so as to fit in the society. Themes of creation of wealth, hope, gender and Christianity are mainly focused. The urge for being rich for the poor is shown by Deborah who steals money. Hugh is jailed after being caught with the money as indicated by this quote: â€Å"Hugh Wolfe, operative in Kirby & Johns Loudon Mills. Charge, grand larceny. Sentence, nineteen years hard labor in penitentiary.† This shows how the poor take futile attempts so as to acquire wealth. Development in gender balance is depicted majorly by Karl statute who is a hero in the story. Hugh’s femininity with strength in the struggle to make a living gives hope to future equality in gender. Hope is considered worthless in the story if the social status remains as it is. The writer insists that for hope to be instilled back, reforms must be of Christian norms. Christianity is depicted as the major theme in the story as seen in the last line of the story; God has set the promise of the Dawn. The argument is that Christianity serves as the only hope in the

Evolution of Management Accounting discipline and it's relationship Essay

Evolution of Management Accounting discipline and it's relationship with other functions in organisations - Essay Example For example, business organisations are now more concerned with maximising the stakeholders’ value instead of profit maximisation. Besides, they have recognized their responsibilities towards society, community, corporate and environment. Now, they aim to develop their organisational structure and strategies that strive to meet these responsibilities. In this respect, different aspects of management accounting play very crucial role. It is one of the primary areas that help to meet objectives of corporate governance and strategic formulation process. This paper will attempt to present critical analysis of management accounting by pointing out its important aspects. At first, the evolution of management accounting will be analysed by figuring out its influencing factors. It will also discuss the historical background of the present management accounting system. ... This section will try to develop certain recommendations for bringing further development in modern management accounting. In order to support the critical analysis and discussions, proper evidences will be provided. Finally, the entire discussion, analysis and major outcomes will be summed up in conclusion. Evolution of Management Accounting Before presenting the evolution and historical development of managerial accounting, it is necessary to understand the term ‘management accounting’ because this term includes two major concepts of business organisational activities. Robert S, Kaplan identified two major areas of management accounting and these are cost accounting and management control (Kaplan, 1984). These two areas are very vital for organisational success. Management accounting process is helpful in executing cost accounting and management controlling activities. R. N. Anthony defined that â€Å"management accounting is concerned with accounting information that is useful to management† (Banjerjee, 2005, p.2). T. G. Rose elaborated that management accounting is meant to adopt and analyse the accounting information for better diagnosis and explanation for assisting managements in decision making process (Palanivelu, 2007, p.289). Many critics and scholar observes the cost accounting, financial accounting and management accounting as different areas of finance. However, this can be interpreted as the traditional concept of management accounting. This concept was in trend prior to 1980s before the modernisation of cost accounting and management control. Thomas Johnson traced that US corporations started to focus of management accounting during 1850-1925 as this field was very important for the growth and development

Faith Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Faith - Essay Example Wills (2006) points out that faith meant something different then from what it means today. Ehrman (2005) is concerned with the separation of Christians and Jews on the grounds of faith as salvation and more important than law. Ludemann (2002) attempts to achieve a synthesis with Christ as the common meeting ground for the two religions. Grant (1976) notes that Paul’s labours were devoted to the equation of sin with the flesh, and hints at the early notions that later bore fruit in the Reformation whilst Muggeridge and Vidler (1972) seem to complete the circle with the return to the claim that by receiving Christ, one becomes justified and joins a community—the body of Christ. The Role of Faith in the First Century in the Justification of all Peoples before God The Apostle Paul has written a letter advising the Romans of his intention to visit on his way to Spain. An important theme of his letter concerns the role of faith as a unifying element in the deliverance of var ious peoples to what he sees as the supreme reality, Jesus Christ. In essence, he seeks a synthesis and detente that will include all citizens in the new monotheism. In Wills (2006) faith is equated with trust. God promotes people into partnership with Him through the Son. Also, Wills sees faith as meaning something very different in ancient times than what it connotes today. Then, faith meant belief in a person, not a dogma as in recent times. (Wills 2006, pp.183-184) The powerful personality of Jesus obviously had much influence on potential converts. Ehrman (2005)shows the division of faith in Rome at this time. To the Jews, Jesus was weak, and definitely not the Messiah. To them, the Romans had all the temporal power needed to dominate the world. The earliest Christians disagreed by asserting that Jesus was the Messiah and that His death was an act of God designed to bring salvation to the world. Indeed Paul claimed that salvation could come to Jews and Gentiles alike not by scr upulous adherence to the law but by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus (Romans 10:3-4, New Jerusalem Bible). Here Paul delineates perhaps the main reason why the Jews would not recognise Jesus. Ehrman also notes that Paul held that the Jews were not justified by obedience to the law, and reminds Gentiles not to follow the law too closely but to remain as they are and to follow Jesus. Paul also believed that both faiths traced to Abraham—the â€Å"father of many nations.† His faith was surely put to the test, and Abraham was justified by this faith, for it guaranteed his salvation ( Ehrman 2005, pp. 188-189). Ludemann (2002) also agrees with Paul that salvation is achieved through Christ alone (Thessalonians 1:9-10). By having faith in Jesus Christ, both Jews and Gentiles become members of a third group—both qualified and eligible-- to enter the new synthesis. There is a three step process as an admission requirement: first, faith in Jesus, then baptism as a rite and finally inclusion in the church as a social body (Ludemann 2002, p.154). Grant (1976) is focused more on the sub-theme of sin, and notes that the ancient Greeks had a different definition of it than did Paul. To them, sin was a consequence of ignorance, and a rational mind could nullify it through reason. Paul was obsessed with the concept of sin and linked it closely with that of flesh He seemed to think that men and women were predestined for sin (Grant 1976, pp.31-32). In this, there is a surprising foreshadowing of Calvinism many

Density Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Density - Lab Report Example By means of displacement, the difference in the initial and final volumes of liquid used would be the volume displaced through the solid object plunged into the water, and, therefore, it serves as the volume of the material itself. At this stage, given the mass, it may be hypothesized that the mass of pennies divided by the volume displaced or occupied which causes rise in the water level within the graduated cylinder yields to the penny’s density. Methods and Materials Type of Metal Used: Early-1985 penny with an accepted density value of 7.18 g/ml. Initially, a 50-ml graduated cylinder was filled with 20.00 ml of water, and it was carefully recorded. The initial mass of cylinder and water (combined) was acquired using a top-loading balance and then recorded as initial reading for the cylinder-balance setup. Pennies were dropped by increments of two where the new volume was read and the new mass was measured using the same balancing equipment each time. This step was carried out repetitively to make a total of five data sets, which includes noting of final volumes along and masses (7th and 8th columns) through addition of previous differences with actual volumes and masses, correspondingly. There were ten pennies dropped all in all, and in order to obtain the experimental value of density for each set of pennies, the following equation was applied: Density, ? = [ Mass(2) - Mass(1) ] / [ Volume(2) - Volume(1) ] (in g/ml) Results Initial Volume of Water (ml): 20.0 ml_ Initial Mass of Cylinder + Water: 105.06 g_ density, g/ml % difference Rep A 5.03 29.94 Rep B 9.82 36.77 Rep C 10.06 40.11 Rep D 5.00 30.36 Rep E 9.98 39.00 Sample Calculations (using Reps A & B of the table): Actual Volume = 21.5 ml - 21.0 ml = 0.5 ml Actual Mass = 115.0 g - 110.09 g = 4.91 g Density = Actual Mass / Actual Volume = 4.91 g / 0.5 ml = 9.82 g/ml Final Volume = Actual V1 + Actual V2 = 1.0 ml + 0.5 ml = 1.5 ml Final Mass = Actual M1 + Actual M2 = 5.03 g + 4.91 g = 9.94 g Then us ing the given theoretical value = 7.18 g/ml and the formula % difference = | 9.82 - 7.18 | / 7.18 x 100% = 36.77% volume, ml mass, g 20 105.06 21 110.09 21.5 115 22 120.03 23 125.03 23.5 130.02 Based on the 3rd and 4th columns of the first table, beginning with a volume (water) of 20.0 ml and a mass (cylinder + water) of 105.06 g, the amounts (volume and mass) of each succeeding row are subtracted from the corresponding amounts of the preceding row to generate the 5th and 6th column outputs showing actual entries specific for every two-penny increment. Since these densities appear to be significantly different as compared to the literature value of 7.18 g/ml, the average density was estimated from the graph of mass vs. volume of pennies. Considering the best-fit line drawn (via MS Excel program) fairly between the plotted coordinates, the slope would be 7.186 g/ml according to the resulting equation m = 7.186v – 39.36, so that percent difference equals (7.186 - 7.18) / 7.18 x 100% or 0.0836%, which is appreciably lower than the % difference solved individually, as shown prior. Discussion / Conclusion Though the outcomes reflect inconsistent values of density on the basis of the actual volumes and actual masses which had been arrived at through the displacement method,

Individual Project Unit 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Individual Project Unit 5 - Essay Example As the business evolves, it would seem likely that a large amount of physical paperwork and electronic data begins to accumulate due to internal operations, record-keeping for items such as payroll, and simply copies of literature which is distributed to employees routinely. Further, there may also be a large amount of information stemming from marketing efforts or even graphic illustrations (depending on the nature of the company). It is no longer practical in todays business environment to have mountains of storage space available for items including bulky manual payroll slips or six-year old manuals that no longer serve a practical purpose in the evolving office environment. Having offered this, it becomes absolutely necessary to create a system of databases to store and transfer these operations-related documents. Managing the information would require the implementation of some sort of computer and software system designed around the specific needs of the business environment. For example, if the company had too many manual documents to flip through in order to find out about last years inventory-related purchase, an electronic system would accomplish this goal in a fraction of the time with a simple search through data storage. This type of search would free up the day-to-day activity schedule of each employee, giving them much more time to attend to productive business activities and boost profitability. The intranet is a popular method today of managing the internal movement of information from one employee (or division) to the next (Nickels, McHugh & McHugh, 2005). After analyzing budget requirements, if the funds were available, purchasing such software could enhance operations greatly and boost productivity. The Internet can drastically improve the business environment as it provides a broader forum to communicate to potential customers and advertise the business. Marketing professionals tend to agree that Internet marketing has shown marked

Types of Advertising Media Essay Example for Free

Types of Advertising Media Essay There are various types of advertising media through which companies can advertise products, brand and services, in order to promote their businesses. Ogilvy (1987) who is considered to be one of the pioneers of advertising and marketing concepts once stated in his book entitled Ogilvy on advertising that advertising is the promotion of companys or personal products, brands and services carried out primarily to boost sales and is extremely pervasive in todays society. Advertising has become an essential element of the corporate world and hence many companies allot a considerable amount of resources towards advertising their products either by the print media, outdoor media and the broadcasting media advertising. Firstly, the print media advertising, in an research by Manohar (2011) entitled types of advertising media he noted that, the print media is achieve by promoting products through the use of newspapers and magazines, in which the media offers options such as promotional brochures and fliers to achieve their advertising purposes. Often, this type of advertising medium impacts a large portion of the advertising world through its daily publication that goes directly to the targeted customers. In addition to that, many local businesses use the print media to ensure that they capitalize on the advertising market, knowing that people read magazines and daily newspapers and are likely to come across advertisement that are strategically place there to capture their interest. The outdoor media advertising is also an important and very popular form for promoting products. Mentioned in an article by advertising- suite (2009) entitled types of advertising media the outdoor media makes use of several tools and techniques to targets the general public, but is achieved by way of placing advertisements on billboards, kiosks, moving transportation as well as events and trade shows. Terse and catchy phrases are implemented in this type of advertising media to grab the attention of the general public and effectively leave a lasting effects on them. Moreover, the outdoor advertising media is a fantastic medium businesses used to communicate their information strategies between themselves and intended audiences. Finally, another form of advertising is through the broadcasting media. The book entitled Broadcasting and Cable by Warner (1986) views broadcasting media as advertising that is electronically transmitted to people, it constitute several branches such as television, radio and the Internet. When companies advertise on television or radio they often rely on repetition of ads in order to gain consumers interest in their products. According to Hassam (2011) in an article entitled types of advertising media people spend considerable amount of their time watching television, browsing the Internet and listening to the radio and as such the broadcasting advertising media reaches a wider audience both nationally and globally. Moreover, it also gives marketing agencies the opportunity to be creative in effectively conveying their marketing messages through sight, sound and motion. Conclusion: The use of advertising media for many companies has been seen as an important component for their marketing tactics to promote businesses as well as to communicate their information efficiently. Advertising through the print, outdoor and broadcasting media have improve product sales, popularize companys name and brand value, if a product is advertised well and its information reaches to the masses, then the chances of more people getting to know about it spread. Thus, making advertising beneficial for the consumers, manufacturers and the advertising agencies within the local or the global market.

Google Company Motivation Theory

Google Company Motivation Theory Google company is an American multinational corporation. Google company also provides Internet-related products and services, including software, internet search, advertising technologies, and cloud computing. Google founders are Larry Page and Sergey Brin with both attended Stanford University. Since Google was founded in September 4,1998, it grown to serve hundreds of thousands of customers and users around the world. It is initial public offering followed on August 19, 2004. Google name is by Larry and Sergey searching from engine. It is a play on the world googol, is from the mathematical term for a one followed one hundred zeros. Google company founded in Menlo Park, California, U.S. In 2004 on April Fools Day, Google release Gmail. Gmail approach to email included many features like threaded messages, speedy search, huge amounts of storage. Google acquired online video sharing site is YouTube in 2006. Video are uploaded to site every minute. The company provides online productivity software including social networking, email and an office suite. Google products develop to the desktop as well, with organizing and editing photos, instants messaging and applications for web browsing. Development of the Android mobile operating system is lead by Google. Google Chrome OS browser only operating system, founded on specialized netbooks call Chromebook. It has been estimated to run over one million serves in data centers around world. It is process over 1 million search request and about 24 petabytes of user generated data everyday. Google employ employee which are have ability like determined and smart, commend ability over experience. Googlers have set common objectives and visions for company. It come from all walks of life and speak many of languages, response the global audience that it serve. Google try hard to keep the open culture frequently associated with startups, which everybody is an actual contributor and opinion and feels comfortable sharing ideas. Google have their own office and cafà ©. Their offices and cafà © have designed to encourage interact between Googlers within and across teams to spark conversation about work. SECTION 2: CONTENTS 2.1 Identify and explain the relevant principles and concepts of management are applied in the Google Inc. 2.2 To analyze and discuss the companys practice in relation to the selected topic Google Inc is a worldwide company that has strong practices in diversity. This international company is known by everyone and used by many people every day. Actually, Google Inc focuses the workforce diversity in their company due to the reason that Google Inc has over 70 offices in more than 40 countries and its customer base is so diverse. The workforce diversity defined as similarities and differences among employees in terms of age, cultural background, physical abilities and disabilities, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation. In Google Inc, they have to make sure diverse the employees come from different background and unique knowledge. This is because they need to support and fit in the need of the diverse customer base. The advantages will be bringing to the Google Inc through the company apply workforce diversity. First of all, the workforce diversity increases creativity within the company because heterogeneous groups are generating different and unique ideas with the Google Inc. As more diverse ideas are suggested, the chances of finding a workable answer are improved. In atmospheres when brainstorming is necessary, more ideas are formed because team members are culturally diverse. Moreover, the diversity in viewpoint also is the advantages. This is because Google Inc hired the employees come from different culture or generation which will help the company to get diverse viewpoint from the employees. However, the workforce diversity also brings the disadvantages to the Google Inc too. The competition rather than teamwork is the disadvantages of the workforce diversity because diversity can cause competition among worker. If the employees of the Google Inc are not open to accept other culture, they may bring negative effect to the business. For example, they are working together to finish their work but they will work separately which prolong the process. Next is the impaired freedom of speech. In this type of setting, Googles staffs cannot just cracked jokes, tell stories or state the opinion whatever you want because the worker might be judge as being discriminating. According to the Two Factor Theory of Frederick Herzberg, people are influenced by two factors which are hygiene factors and motivation factors. The hygiene factors defined as needed to ensure an employee does not become dissatisfied. Moreover, the typical of the hygiene factor which included working condition, quality of supervision, job, company policies and administration. The motivation factors are needed in order to motivate an employee into higher performance and the typical motivation factors included achievement, interest in job, growth and responsibility for task. In this case, Google Inc. is using this two factor theory concept in their company and to make sure the employee enjoy the working environment during their working time. The Google Inc. has provided an awesome working place and benefits to their staff and the benefits of the Google Inc are among the best in the world. Google Inc has applied the fun and laughter at workplace. For example, Google Inc. has prepared fun stuff around the office, including bocce ball courts, bowling alleys, and a giant climbing wall. Furthermore, the pool tables and video games also available in many place for the staff to use. Next, they also prepare the gourmet food as free for their staffs. Google also set a room which provides massage chairs that you control while you view relaxing aquariums for relaxations uses. Google Inc. through two factor theory may bring some advantages to their company. First of the advantages is the employees become more efficiency and creative because Google Inc create a fantastic working environment to their employees. In this case, we know that the Google Inc is a high technology company and their staff always need a relaxing environment to create something new ideas. Furthermore, the advantage is to prevent the staff resign because hiring a new staff and training them need a lot of time. From this case, this goes to the loss of the company directly which many a time goes unnoticed and the Google Inc. also can not ensure efficiency from the new staff. Next of the advantage is prevent the loss of Google Inc.s knowledge. This is because Google Inc often spends much time and money on the employee in expectation of the future return, but the employee had left, he takes with his valuable knowledge about the company or past history and the investment is not realized. However, two factor theory that performed by Google Inc. have disadvantages. First of all, it has waste the money of the Google Inc. This is because it cost the company a lot of money to set up or establish all the facility and it cannot make sure the employee be more efficiency on their work. Moreover, the staff also cannot complete their work on time when they were addicted by the all relaxing facility. Next the management theory has apply in the Google Inc is Theory Y by Douglas McGregor. The Theory Y can be defined as an idea that shows the positive view of the worker and assumes employees may be ambitious and self-motivated and exercise self-control. It also implies the optimistic management theory that employees are generally creative and view work as fulfilling. Actually in the Google Inc, they offer a creative and participative atmosphere that to stimulate employees to be productive in achieving the organizations goals. The Google Inc. performs this Theory Y because their tasks tend to more flexible and innovative. Besides, their company always needs the new concept and idea to support their current situation on the world and work hard to keep the new technology going. For example, Google Inc. is using this Theory Y as their leadership style and less supervise their employees. In this situation, it is very work to the Google Inc. and always achieves the goal set by them. The Theory Y also brings some advantages to the Google Inc. First of the advantage is employee can easy to get the new idea. This is because they can play hard and get rest at their workplace and those can getting the new inspiration when they are enjoy the game or relaxing. In this case, a Googles manager has mention that idea does not come always when you sit at your desk. So, it is very effective to Google Incs worker. Next of the advantages is the staff has ability to make a good decisions. This is because the manage less to supervise them and not under pressure or micromanage, it may let the employee can do their best and ability to solve the problem them face by themselves. On another hand, the Theory Y used by the Google Inc has disadvantages too. The disadvantages is it may cause some task cannot complete on time. This is because no all the worker will be ambitious and self-motivated so it will affect the task cannot going on smoothly. In this case, it will also let the company loss the time and the money. According to Ghee Soon Lin, Robert L. Mathis and John H. Jackson (2010), Recruiting is the process of generating a pool of qualified applicants for organizational jobs. However, recruiting is also about to finding qualified applicants, a task that often requires much more than just running an ad in a newspaper. The recruiting can just a set of function involve coordinating internal openings, handling the flow of candidates data, dealing with regulatory reporting, and moving candidates through the system. Google Inc. tends to use the external recruitment source compare with internal recruitment source. External recruitment is when the business looks to fill the vacancy from any suitable applicant outside the business. Internal recruitment is when the business looks to fill the vacancy from within its existing workforce. This is because the Google Inc. always set up a new offices around the world and they need more talents work in their company. Actually, the Google Inc set up over 70 offices in more than 40 countries currently. For the external recruiting, Google Inc has expanded to university universe nowadays. Google Inc is also recruiting college grads from schools other than the usual suspects such as Stanford, Carnegie Mellon and MIT. Colleges such as the University of Victoria in Canada and Emory University in Atlanta rarely saw Google recruiters in the past. But now it is more common. The company is spreading its recruiters out among more schools, rather than concentrating them at the most elite universities. The pro for the external recruitment is it will bring fresh employees and talents. By using the external recruitment, Google Inc will be able to get the new talent and ideas which are beneficial to their companys development and growth. Besides, external vacancies create opportunities to find more high qualifications and experienced staffs which are needed in the team. The diversity of employees helps to form a stronger team and they are able to work more effective. Subsequently, it will stimulate growth and advancement of Google Inc. In contrast, the disadvantage of the external recruiting is having higher cost compared internal recruiting. Hiring externally is costly as the company need to spend a lot of money on the aspect of advertising, recruiting and interviewing. Besides, it is also time consuming. This is because the company need to hire the expert people which not original in the part of the organization. To ensure not to hire the wrong people, the company needs to carry out interviewing process. This process is time consuming and costly to the company as they need to pay at a high range of salary to hire the expert people. Next, the Google Inc also using the AMO method and which is the short form of Ability, Motivation and Opportunity. This AMO method is using to measure the performance of the employee in the Google Inc. The meaning of the ability refers to that talent enable to complete the specific job or task. Next is the motivation, it defined as a set of energetic forces that originates both within and outside an employee, initiates work-related effort, and determines its direction, intensity, and persistence. The last one is the opportunity is the chance of the employee to get into a higher position. SECTION 3: FINDINGS The unlimited sick leave that Google management team offered may become a problem. The person who takes leave may cause problems to his/hers colleague as they have to increase their work amount by helper for his/hers work and the productivity will also reduce during the time they are on leave. According to the Two Factor Theory, it doesnt brings only job satisfaction which occurs on the applier of sick leave. It also brings job dissatisfaction which occurs on the appliers colleague. Google workforce management applies the Theory Y by Douglas McGregor as their leadership style. Theory Y is an idea that managerial assumes all staffs is ambitious and self-motivated.  It may neglect those workers those are not that ambitious and self-motivated. Those person may have potential to adapt with Theory X that may stimulate their potential. Theory X is theory which stated that workers inherently dislike and avoid work and must be driven to it. Google also suggested a method, AMO which brings meaning Ability and Skills, Motivation and Opportunity to involve. Due to large amount of staff with talent, those knowledgeable workers with ability and skills feel that they are not recognized and valued as the company matures. The continuity of recruiting in new knowledge workers causes those current knowledge workers feel less motivated and the competition among colleague may become stronger. The other problem that occurs due to large amount of staffs, some workers feels that they have not given enough opportunity and job satisfaction are not delivered. OCB (Organizational Citizen Behavior) is defined as the individuals behavior that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system and that in the aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organization. The problem that made by AMO may affect OCB of the employees. Necessity training and recruitment have to apply on the new hired employees in order to make them to have relevant knowledge about their job and adapt with the job. But it may consume a period of time for their training. SECTION 4: RECOMMENDATION There is some ways recommended to improve the company: It is good that Google applied the Theory Y as their leadership style but there are some workers not that ambitious and self-motivated. Google can also apply Theory X as well. We can know that Theory X can be defines as the theory which is stated that workers inherently dislike and avoid work and must be driven to it. Manager can tries to motivate the workers through fear and scold and maintain the tight control over the workers as well. Other than that, manager should rewards the workers if they achieved the goals while manager should punishes them if they done any mistakes. With this principle, these Theory X workers can stimulate their very own potential and of course, it will increase company productivity. Google should also apply one of the 4 principles of science by Taylor (Kinichi, A, 2011) which is give training and rewards to workers based on their performance. Management should reward their workers after they have achieved a certain goal and the rewards can be in the terms of extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. By this way, workers will feel motivated and will work harder to achieve another goal to gain another reward. Besides, management also needs to give their workers some free suitable training to them. These trainings not only can give their workers more experiences and have a chance to promote, but also can let them sure that the management needs them. Besides that, because there is continuity of recruiting in new knowledge workers in Google, the current knowledge workers feel less motivated. It is because they always thought that they work hard for the company for nothing. To prevent it, Google can apply the principle that suggested by Mayo which is Hawthorne effect (Kinichi, A., 2011). Management should always take more attention to the workers so that they will work harder for the company. Manager can take attention on the workers by give rewards and applauses when they achieve anything good and the targets that he or she targeted. Dr. Motivation, Dave Worman (n.d.) found that the manager do not give enough attention on the workers it is because they do not get enough attention from the top management too. To change and prevent this situation occur, attentions should be taken start from the top management. We can know that Google always recruiting new workers outside of the company. This is called as external recruitment. This recruitment can be good as the company can have specialized knowledge workers but this recruitment will consume more time and expensive. Besides, it is very high risk because the company even does not know the person that they recruited. So the better way is Google should apply internal recruitment. This recruitment not only saves time but has fewer risks. It is because internal candidates are more familiar with the organization. Besides, Google no needs to spend their time to train the new candidates, advertise, and interview the newbie. SECTION 5: CONCLUSION Google Company is an American multinational corporation. Google company also provides Internet-related products and services, including software, internet search, advertising technologies, and cloud computing. The Company also provides online productivity software including social networking, email and an office suite. Google products develop to the desktop as well, with organizing and editing photos, instants messaging and applications for web browsing. Google Inc. is using this two factor theory concept which is hygiene factors and motivation factors in their company and to make sure the employee enjoy the working environment during their working time. The Google Inc. has provided an awesome working place and benefits to their staff and the benefits of the Google Inc. are among the best in the world. For example, Google Inc. has prepared fun stuff around the office and prepares the gourmet food as free for their staffs. Google Inc. through two factor theory may bring some advantages to their company. First of the advantages is the employees become more efficiency and creative because Google Inc. create a fantastic working environment to their employees. The next the advantage is to prevent the staff resign because hiring a new staff and training them need a lot of time. However, two factor theory that performed by Google Inc. have disadvantages. First of all, it has waste the money of the Google Inc. Next the management theory has apply in the Google Inc. is Theory Y. The Google Inc. performs this Theory Y because their tasks tend to more flexible and innovative. The Theory Y also brings some advantages to the Google Inc. First of the advantage is employee can easy to get the new idea. Next of the advantages is the staff has ability to make a good decisions. On another hand, the Theory Y used by the Google Inc. has disadvantages too. The disadvantages is it may cause some task cannot complete on time. Google Inc. tends to use the external recruitment source compare with internal recruitment source. The pro for the external recruitment is it will bring fresh employees and talents. In contrast, the con of the external recruiting is having higher cost compared internal recruiting.

Watcher Essay -- essays research papers

The Watcher   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This incredible short story is about a little boy named Charlie Bradley, who isn't like all the other kids his age. He was a very sick boy. Charlie had a loving mother who cared for him when he was sick. They seemed to have both one terrible thing in common, a bad chest. The Bradleys did not own a television set, so Charlie had to find different means of entertainment on his long sick days at home. He learned that if he kept quiet and still, the adults would have labeled him to be part of the furniture. On his days home, Charlie received glimpses into the adult world of common topics like misery and scandals. These relations and encounters with the adults had drastically matured Charlie before his time. Later on that year, Mabel Bradley, his mother, was sent to the hospital because the condition of her chest had worsened.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When Charlie's mother got sick, his father took charge of the chores in the house. Charlie did not like his father very much, he described him as '…a desolate, lanky, drooping weed of a man who married late in his life but nevertheless had been easily domesticated.';(3) His mother's sickness and departure seriously afflicted his father. In spite of the fact that Charlie portrays of his father, he was a soft and sentimental man who loved his wife. Once he had the chance to dispose of Charlie, he went to visit his wife in the hospital. Although they are father and son, Charlie does not seem to appreciate the time he spends with him. At the end of the school year, Charlie was shipped off to his grandmother's, Grandma Bradley.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Grandma Bradley was a striking woman. She was six feet tall, strong, hefty and in terrific shape for he age. Charlie's grandmother loved to spend her free time in town playing bridge, canasta or whist. She did not care much for her health and smoked sixty, thin individually rolled cigarettes a day. Grandma Bradley lived on a farm in a two-story house, with two mountainous piles of manure in the abandoned barn out back. She took care of all the families problems. Charlie's cousin Criselda was sent there when she became pregnant and his uncles Ernie and Ed stayed at their mother's to hide from people. His grandmother is not very open-minded and says what's on her mind at any time. For example as soon as Char... ...ft and returned with the police and asked Charlie to tell them what he saw, and replied ' I don't know what he's talking about… I didn't see anybody.'; Charlie was finally in the game and was good at it. No longer a watcher he was a player but Robert Thompson could not appreciate that.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This was an exciting and moving story, which shows us the different characteristics of a young boy. I found Charlie to be dramatic and inspiring in many ways. All the characters played a specific role in the development of the surprise ending. It was a great short story that got me thinking about everyday life and the dilemmas that we would face in the future. 33 s…l belt you. Is that understood?'; (6). She acted like a military officer from the Second World War. Charlie did not like staying on the farm there was never anything fun to do. The one thing Charlie enjoyed doing was, hiding in the corn patches spying on people and eating corn on the hottest days. On her farm she did not have any animals except for chickens. Grandma Bradley openly admitted she enjoyed slaughtering them when the time came. Charlie was fascinated by Stanley the rooster.22

Artificial Intelligence Essay -- Essays Papers

Artificial Intelligence Research Paper Genesis, creation, the very beginning; from his inception, man has endeavored to control, to name, to create ultimately in his own image as he was created from God. Man forges his own destiny from the coals of his imagination and the raw iron of his will to create. His tools have changed as time has passed, but his desire, his fire to create; to change his world has not. Time and technology can temper mans creativity, but the desire burns as strong today as ever. Art, literature, and technology; be it paint, paper or steel mans creativity is manifest in everything we do. The crowning jewel for man will be to pass on that spark with which he has been entrusted, robotics, genetic engineering, and their ilk have been trying to create new life from the raw tools with which man is so proficient. It can be said that as Prometheus took fire from the heavens to give to man, so shall man give fire of another kind, and be it biological or made from the cold steel and silicon gateways through which we now travel man will at last, have his legacy. There is a caveat however, with knowledge comes change, with creation comes difference, and with difference comes fear, hatred and discrimination. People have forever shunned that which they do not understand, that which is different from the face they see in the mirror in the morning. Since initial forays into the AI field in 1950 there have been philosophical as well as technical concerns. As technology advanced and the concept of a machine that â€Å"thinks† became more and more plausible the philosophy became more apparent. The basic problem we are confronted with is: Can machines think? In his book entitled Philosophical perspectives in artificial intelligence, Martin Ringle calls for â€Å" a logical and semantic analysis of the concepts of ‘thought’, ‘intelligence’, ‘consciousness’, and ‘machine’, rather than an empirical assessment of computer behaviour† (hjhjh,999,2000). Thusly from its birthing AI has been regarded as an unknown, a concept that by its very name challenges nearly every norm and convention we have as individuals and as a society. Thusly because of its inherent alien nature artificial life will be subject to the same prejudices as race, gender and religion, once it is integrated into society and assumes roles associated with humans. As we vent... ...eality—a paradigm in which both human and computer share a real physical space within which to make hand gestures, facial displays, body movements, and real physical objects that can be passed back and forth between the real and virtual world† Scholars have long been trying to quantify the actual differences between â€Å"brain† and â€Å"mind† as well as the degree to which psychology can be converted into a physical science. Society as an entity seems unwilling to make leaps of judgment or significant paradigm shifts dealing with such concepts. The realms of the physical and the more nebulous sciences of the mind must for the time being remain separate. Once we begin to mesh technology more closely with ourselves as humans we can begin to accept it as a part of ourselves and as a part of our society. While today we do not possess the technology to achieve a truly sentient machine we cannot because of that speculate too deeply as to the results of such an achievement. The image of a cold â€Å"Terminator† style robot or perhaps HAL from 2001 is perhaps the exact opposite of the eventual reality. We cannot form opinions without the proper grounding in science, philosophy and indeed, ourselves.

The Red Badge of Courage: A Coming of Age Novel Essay -- Character Ana

A solider is a solider in anytime. Whether he is a solider fighting off the British in the American Revolution, or a solider fighting against his own in a civil war. Many of the experiences and feelings are the same. Have you ever wondered what it is like being a solider? Have you ever wondered about a soldiers feelings as he faces battle for the first time? Stephen Crane shows us in The Red Badge of Courage, a character, Henry Fleming, an average young recruit in the Civil War. Fleming comes to realize that when it comes to war what he expects is different from what he must come to except. Stephen Crane was born shortly after the Civil War which may have influenced his writing of The Red Badge of Courage, which some critics view as a coming of age novel. Stephen Crane was born shortly after the Civil War on November 1st 1871, in Nework New Jersey (Miller 285). The Crane family had fourteen children, Stephen Crane being the last (285). According to â€Å" a short biography of Stephen Crane’s early years,† by the time Crane had reached the age of three he had already taught himself to read and right. At the age of four Crane had read James Fenimore Cooper’s novels. These novels had been past down by his brother, who had to sneak the novels into the strict Methodist household. According to Ray Miller, the Crane family moved to Port Jervis, New York in 1878, but two years later marked the death or Crane’s father. Crane’s mother then moved the family to Asbury Park, New Jersey where Stephen Crane began to excel in public schools (285). Crane’s first short story was not published until after his death, which was called â€Å" Uncle Jake and the Bell Handler† written in 1885 (285). At this time Crane enrolled into Pennington Se... ...ience what it is like to be a hero (shaw 418). As The Red Badge of Courage comes to it’s conclusion the cowardly â€Å"youth† to a courageous hero. Fleming focused on his hate and desire to smash the glittering smile of victory that was seen on his enemy’s face (Blair). Author Stephen Crane attended many schools through out his life, but writing came to be his profession. The Red Badge of Courage, Crane’s most successful novel, was considered one of the first forms of realistic war fiction written on the Civil War. Some critics say that the unknown battle in Chancellorsville influenced Crane to write this novel. Through out the novel Crane’s shows how Henry Fleming transformed from a cowardly teenage recruit to a hero of war. This novel proved that any soldier, whether he is a sergeant or private, can pull through at the right moment, and be seen as a hero.