8 Stages of Genocide

There are 8 stages of genocide the first stage is classification. The Jewish people, homosexuals, handicapped, and gypsies were the main target for the Nazi’s. The reason why was because Adolf Hitler thought that Germany was becoming weaker because of the people who he thought were to be Genetically week. His idea of a non weak person is a person who is pale, blonde hair, and blue eyes. The second stage of Genocide is Symbolization, the Nazi soldier’s symbolized targeted people with different color triangles.The homosexuals had a pink triangle, brown triangles for gypsies, green for criminals, and red for political enemies. All of the people who were marked with triangles were targeted very easy, were harassed, but the main purpose of the coloured triangles was so they would be easy identified. The third stage of Genocide is Dehumanization, German doctors would experiment on the people they kept prisoners like animals because they were trying to find out how to make the perfect human being. The fourth stage of genocide is Organization, the way that Nazi’s prepared for theGenocide was by putting people into Ghettos for easy access. Then the weak would be moved off to be exterminated. The fifth stage of Genocide is Polarization The Jews were often told by Nazi soldiers that they were not worthy to live in normal towns so they put the Jews into Ghettos which were often dirty, disease ridden and low on food. The Nazi soldiers acted like they were greater then everyone. The sixth stage of Genocide is Preparation They prepared for genocide by splitting people up and putting them intoGhettos for easy access and making coloured triangles for easy identification and punishment. The seventh stage of Genocide is Extermination. Many people died in the holocaust inlcuding Jews, Roman, homosexuals. Around 6 million people overall died because of this Holocaust and up to 1. 5 million were kids. The last stage of Genocide is Denial Holocaust denial is the claim that the genocide never happened. It was claimed that only 2,700 people died because of World War I and that camps could not have held that many people

Hero Definition Essay

How do you know when you’ve seen a hero before your eyes? Most likely in real life they won’t be wearing a cape or suit that identifies themselves as this well known hero. Realistically you’ve never or even possibly ever will see that kind of hero. Why is it that that kind of hero always seems to be the first thing that pops into one’s mind when the word â€Å"hero† is said; that stereotypical hero that always features in movies? We often forget that we’re actually surrounded every single day by heroes.Teachers, firefighters, you name it, are all considered heroes in one or more peoples’ eyes based on the things they’ve done. A hero not only goes beyond their needs and boundaries to help and encourage others, but also have a strong mind set. Heroes can be looked in the eye and show that they will not back down or give in to the defeat of something they’ve put their mind to. One important quality of heroism is stepping out from their comfort zone to help others in need, as they put aside their own demands.Often times a hero has a choice whether to go and help others or focus on themselves and pay attention to their only needs, but the fact that they put down their focus on themselves to help another shows how a true hero can be distinguished from amongst the crowd. For instance, an example of this quality can be found in the story Love Triumphs: 6 Year Old Becomes a Hero to Band of Toddlers, Rescuers by Ellen Barry.In this story, a little 6 year old boy named Deamonte Love takes on the responsibility of taking care of several other children, including his baby brother and cousins when they all were separated from their parents due to Hurricane Katrina. Deamonte â€Å"promised he’d take care of his brother† after seeing â€Å"his mother cry when he was loaded onto the helicopter† along with the other children to be taken to safety(SB 20). Even if Deamonte was scared, he took the l ead role in directing and watching over the children, putting his focus only on the children, encouraging and making them feel safe till they were all reunited again with their parents.This quality of heroism can not only be seen in boys, but also in girls, movies, and real life. Another example that shows this quality is from the movie Mulan. In this particular movie, a young woman, named Mulan poses as a young man and son of his (Mulan’s) father in order to save him from fighting in the war forcefully. Mulan then goes out pretending she is one of the many soldiers in the army and saves her father from serving. What Mulan did not only showed courage but also some determination as well.She had courage to pose as a man in order to save her father from fighting in the war, where also she placed herself in dangerous positions being in the army with no training at all. Doing that Mulan showed how she went beyond her own abilities to help her father. Mulan also showed some determi nation in how when she was in the army she wanted to prove to many of the other soldiers that she can be considered a real warrior. She also showed determination in which she impersonated a fake son of her father and continued out with her plan just so she knew that her own father with his old age and disabilities would be safe at home.As you can see, Mulan definitely went outside of her limits and surpassed her zone of security and comfort to help and meet the needs of her father. Heroism often calls for the hero to have a strong mind set. Having this quality in a hero means that they are able to change their outlook or attitude on something for the better so they can accomplish their goal. For example, this quality of heroism can be clearly shown in the poem A Man by Nina Cassian. In this poem, a soldier who loses his arm while fighting for his country must overcome his new challenge, continuing life with one arm.Undoubtedly, in the beginning of the poem the soldier recognizes in a very negative way how his life will forever be changed and impacted. Despite his sadness and physical limitations he rises above and looks at being positive, setting â€Å"himself to do everything with twice as much enthusiasm (line 15). † This soldier’s optimism is what helped him conquer the battles both physically and emotionally having to deal with just one arm. He decides to push through this challenge and enjoy life as it comes.His strong mind set was the determination and optimism of bouncing back from what he only thought of negative things and how he was able to change his outlook on his situation. Another example of this quality are the firefighters and policemen doing their job every single day. They portray this trait of a hero by how they have the certainty and bravery to go into any situation knowing that they are there to protect people from harm. One last quality of heroism is how a hero doesn’t give in to the defeat of something. An example of this characteristic of a hero is from October Sky.In this movie, a young teenage boy named Homer Hickman Jr. is expected to work in the coal mines after graduating from high school, just like all the other boys, but dares to refuse that job and instead pursues a passion for science. His passion all started when he wanted to build a rocket. Although nobody believed that he would actually build one, Homer goes on with no support in building a small rocket with the help of a smart classmate. Despite the first failure of his small rocket, Homer continued to chase after his dream of building a rocket until he finally does.His persistent determination and motivation to keep going after having no support in the beginning and having many fail attempts gets him to win a national science fair with a college scholarship. In the very beginning of the movie though, Homer had perseverance when he wanted to make the football team, even though the chances of him making it were clear that he wouldn ’t. Despite this though Homer tried and tried over again getting back up after each tackle he received on the football field knowing that football could have gotten him into college. Heroism can be identified and seen in multiple ways.A definition of heroism varies from person to person and can mean more personal to one that has actually identified a hero in their life. A hero not only goes beyond their needs and boundaries to help and encourage others, but also have a strong mind set. Heroes can be looked in the eye and show that they will not back down or give in to the defeat of something they’ve put their mind to. Even though a definition can start or end differently they all have one message that can interpret differently to several people. It comes down to the fact of how you look at the idea of a hero and maybe apply that to your own life.

Women in the Family Roles

As Anthony Brandt said, â€Å"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family† . (Brandt) Family is very important to each of us on the earth. However, it does not mean we all love our family and we are happy with it, as some people could not find love at home. Therefore, they do not know how to love other people. Hence, family is the first place where people learn how to love others, and it can cause great impact on people's lives. Since men and women have different kinds of personality, they take on different family roles.In my opinion, women’s role in family is more important than men’s because women put more efforts to their family, women's way of loving their children is more easily understood by the children, hence, mothers play a more important role in raising a healthy child. First of all, most working mothers put more emphasis on their family than their career. Since around the 1970s, more women entered the workforce. Nevertheless, mothers a re usually the ones taking care of the home and the children while fathers being the main breadwinner in the family.For example, If the children are sick, most of the mother will stay home to take care for the sick children rather than go to work. So, it is more likely for family matters to affect women's work schedules than men's. Most women think of their husbands and their children while they are at work or are busy working on other tasks. Even if mothers have their own career , family is still their priority. Secondly, It is easier for children to sense love from their mothers than their fathers.There are many single-parent families nowadays. The children are often depressed when their parents separate. In single-parent families, children who live with their mothers generally feel happier than those who live with their fathers. This is because women are more sensitive to other people's feelings, and thus they can better take care of their children’s emotions. Moreover, a mother has to carry her offspring within her body for approximately ten months and to go through the painful experience of delivering a baby.Women love their children more than anything else because of these experiences. In contrast, fathers usually love their children by putting more efforts on their jobs to provide for their children a better material life. Finally, mothers have more influence on children’s development than fathers do. â€Å"Mothers are more likely than fathers to encourage the development of assimilative and communion-enhancing characters in their children. (Austin and Braeger, 181) Also, â€Å"mothers are more likely than fathers to acknowledge their children's contributions in conversation. † (Leaper, Anderson, Sanders, 34) As a result, the way mothers interact with their children has more positive impact on children’s social and emotional development. Through the way mothers love their children, the children know how to love people. To su m up, women have a very important role in the family. Women care about family than anything else while men’s priority is often their career.Also, mothers’ love is more easily felt by the children. In addition, mothers’ contribution to children’s development is usually greater than fathers’. As an old Mexican quote says, â€Å"The house does not rest upon the ground, but upon a woman† . Mother is often the only person who makes children feel home although children need both parents to ensure a healthy development. A family without a mother may not be as happy and may no longer be a â€Å"family† to a child. Therefore, women have a more important family role than men do.Works CitedBrandt, Anthony. http://thinkexist.com/quotation/other_things_may_change_us-but_we_start_and_end/190848.html. ThinkExist.com Quotations Online.1 Mar 2011. 14 Apr 2011. Austin, Ann M. Berghout and Braeger, T.J. â€Å"Gendered differences in parents' encdourage ment of sibling interaction:implications for the construction of a personal premise system.† First Language. October 1990 vol. 10 no. 30 181-197. Leaper, C., Anderson, K., & Sanders, P. (1998). â€Å"Moderators of gender effects on parents' talk to their children: A meta-analysis.† Developmental Psychology, 34.

Analyse the performance of the components (C, I, G & NX) of Australias Essay

Analyse the performance of the components (C, I, G & NX) of Australias GDP since 2005 - Essay Example In the following table the estimates of different components are represented quarter-wise. The data covers the time period from the first quarter of 2005 and the final quarter of 2008. Here the five components are given. The components are: private consumption expenditure, gross private investment, inventory investment and the net export (obtained by subtracting the import from the export of the corresponding year). Private investment is obtained by summing up dwelling investment, buildings and structures investment, equipment investment and other investments. The inventory investment is obtained by summing up private non-firm inventories and other inventories. In the above figure we can show the rate of consumption growth over different quarters from 2005 March to 2008 December. The growth reached highest in December 2006 and in June 2008 the growth rate in consumption became negative. That implies a decline in consumption. That is perhaps due to the recession due to the global credit crisis. Further the consumption growth revived in the next quarter and then again it showed a decline in the last quarter of 2008. In the above diagram the trend of the growth of private investment is shown quarter-wise from the first quarter of 2005 to last quarter of 2008. It is found that the private investment became negative in March 2006 and the growth rate became lower than -1% in September 2006. In the next two quarters there had been a sharp rise in the private investment and again it started to decline sharply till December 2007. In the first two quarters there was a rise in growth rate of private investment and again it declined in the last two quarters of the year 2008 i.e. that is the period of global recession. The above table shows that since the first quarter of the year 2007 Australia has been facing balance of trade crisis. The situation has improved little in the last quarter of the year 2008. That was due to the global

In instruction box Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

In instruction box - Research Proposal Example Nokia hopes to capitalize on its brand name, low product cost, high quality of the new product, and the features that it presents to beat competition. The company will offer the Nokia Lumia 1820 Smartphone in the Indian market at a price of $200 and will rely on various marketing and distribution channels to reach the customers. The product will be offered for sale through retails shops and supermarkets mainly and will be advertised on television, radio, online, and through billboards. Nokia hopes to sell at least one million units of the product every year and hopes to make achieve at least a turnover of 100 million dollars within the first year of introducing the product in India. In order to achieve this goal, a marketing budget of $39,700 is proposed. Company Summary Nokia is one of the largest telecommunication companies in the world (Lee, 2001). The company engages in the production of mobile devices. In addition, Nokia is engaged in the convergence of communication and interne t industries. The company has undergone tremendous growth since its formation several years ago. In fact, Nokia has become a household brand in most countries today. Nokia has about 128,000 employees spread in 128 countries across the globe. Nokia currently operates in more than 150 countries making it one of the companies with the widest global outreach. In 2008, Nokia posted a global annual turnover of â‚ ¬50.7 billion (Mimoun, 2009). In the same year, the company posted an annual operating profit of â‚ ¬5.0 billion. Nokia remains the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer, a position it has held for several year despite stiff competition. Its products sell under the brand name ‘Nokia.’ The company manufactures mobile devices in all market protocols and segments such as CDMA, GSM, and W-CDMA (Vadlamani, 2009). In addition, its subsidiary, The Nokia Siemens Network, engages in the production of telecommunication network equipment, services, and solution s, taking advantage of its huge share of the mobile phone market. Currently, the company intends to launch Nokia Lumia 1820 Smartphone in the market. However, the performance of this Smartphone requires the development of an effective marketing plan that will ensure that the cell phone is received well in the market. As such, this marketing plan has been developed by taking into account the market situation, customer needs, and competitors in the market, strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the new market. In addition, the marketing plan has taken into consideration the macro environmental factors that may affect the performance of the product in the target market. Finally, the marketing plan presents a marketing mix that needs to be taken into consideration before launching a product in the target market. Situation Analysis The current market situation in which Nokia operates is very competitive. The industry has many players that compete against each other for the l imited customers available. Currently, the players are trying to out-compete each other by introducing new technologies and products in the market. In fact, of late, a month hardly passes without a new player intruding a new plan to lure additional customers. Some of Nokia’s main competitors include Samsung, Apple, Techno, LG, and Sony Erickson according to Pratap (2013). Customer Analysis We intend to targets all segments of the population by providing them with services that satisfy

Choose a recently published policy compare to What we have learned( Research Paper

Choose a recently published policy compare to What we have learned( Roman Republic, French absolutism, French Revolution) - Research Paper Example The transformation was done through a series of civil wars. The wars were between the patricians and the ordinary Romans who were not from famous families. The policy of balanced distribution of power led to the weakening of the patrician’s power to run big government offices as bound by the law. During this period, the Roman constitution was also amended to accommodate republican form of government. The Roman republic extended due to the many alliances from Italian peninsula and central Italy as well as conquests (Holkeskamp. 47). New laws and policies that prevented individuals from obtaining permanent political powers were established. The political system became free and democratic as the constitution prevented political supremacy among individuals but supported political ideologies. This is because Rome was undergoing a political transition thus the new government system needed ideas to establish peace, political stability and development. Roman Republic was forced to ada pt to the new constitution, which was designed to promote republican form of government. After the transition, the Roman Republic introduced a set of guiding principles, which acted as a new set of policies that would ensure civilized leadership. In the new constitution, the government was divided into three sections. ... The new system of government portrayed a practice of democracy as powers were centralized in the three branches of government, which was made by a set of elected representatives from all parts of the Roman Republic. However, the republic system of government was corrupted by dictatorship rule, which led to its collapsing. Absolutism is a monarchical form of government that gives the monarch great powers and is given much reverence. However, the powers of a monarch are limited to by the need of support from the aristocracy. The aristocracy provides the monarch with political and military support thus may challenge the authority from time to time. Absolutism system of governance was associated with King Louis XIII and Louis XIV of France. This form of rule centralized powers to the monarch who was given unlimited powers by the divined law. In this case power was confined to one person who had the rights to regulate as well as change the political system and make decisions. This form of rule is prone to was as a country using absolutism can descend into a civil war after its collapse. In the French absolutism, the king’s word was considered to be law. Most of the revenue is collected and managed by the army. The French monarchy depended on farming and Agriculture as the main economic activities. In this case, farmers were taxed heavily in order to maintain the economy of the monarchy. The absolutism form of government was mainly focused on dictatorship as the ruler was granted the powers to do as he or she pleased by the law. Absolution also used natural laws which were affiliated to cultural practices thus could not create room for modern

Huckleberry Finn or Uncle Tom Cabin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Huckleberry Finn or Uncle Tom Cabin - Essay Example ano)-to a slave trader. Although Emily Shelby despises such an idea as she had assured her maid that her child, in no way , would be sold; Emily's son, George Shelly (Thomas Fritsch), detests to see Tom leaving as he finds him as his great friend and guide. Eliza , on the first impression, appears to be a very weak woman.Eavesdropping on Mr. and Mrs. Shelby she comes to know aabout their plans to sell Tom and Harry, when she resolves to flee with her son. From the film it appears that Eliza's decision comes not from her courage or confidence not to bow down to injustice, but by her fear of losing her onlyliving child (she already lost two children owing to miscarriage). Next we see her leaving the house of Arthur and Eliza Emily Shelby that night, leaving a letter admitting guilt to her mistress. But why should she The answer is to be found in the novel which the film follows strictly. In the novel Stowe portrayed like Eliza, as an as the "ideal Christian"(Athena, 1995). Later critics have observed that Stowe's female characters are often " domestic cliches", weak rather than strong and realistic women(Lowance et al, 1994). Stowe's puritinical values show up in the novels final, overriding subject matter -- the search of the nature of Christinaity and how Christianity goes aginst slavery that also overshadows the film , the theme being most evident when we see Tom insisting St. Clare(O.W. Fisher) to "look away to Jesus" after the death of St. Clare's dearest daughter little Eva ( the white young girl whoTom saves fron drowing down Mississipi river while he is sold and placed on a boat sailing down the and with whom he befriends a young white girl. Augustine St.Clare, the grateful father of Eva, in return, Eva's father, buys Tom from the slave trader and takes him with the family to their home in New Orleans while Tom and Eva starts to come closer owing to the the deep Christian faith they both share). After Tom's death , waxing lyrical about Tom George Shelby, says, "What a thing it is to be a Christian.". Christianity as theme dominating over the novel makes the film appear like a lecture where women are always to be depicited as submissive and yeilding, carinng only to motherhood. Those women who are depicted as Villainous here, are the typse that donot conform to Christianity. For example, the wife of St.Clare (Eleonara Rossi-Drago). After St. Clare is gravely stabbed while trying to stop a fight intervening in a fight Mrs St.Clare breaks her late husband's promise and sells Tom at mart to a brutal plantation owner named Simon Legree( Herbert Lom).Legree , not an indigenous southerner but a relocated Yankee. This very act of Mrs St.Clare suggests that the film has the message that women , if not belonging to the meek, religious values teaching submissio can become ruthlessly cruel to counteract their male partners, in this case the good and sincere St.Clare. We also see

Employment law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 8

Employment law - Essay Example If the employee finds the termination unlawful then redress may be undertaken before the employment tribunal. Dismissal is not encouraged as the livelihood of the employee is at stake but it does not entail the destruction of the employer if fair causes exist to justify termination. Dismissal is deemed just when anchored on the employee’s misconduct, inability to discharge the duties due to lack of qualifications, the position is redundant, continued employment is prohibited by statutory duty and other analogous reasons. The employee is not without any recourse from unlawful dismissals. An employee may institute a suit before the employment tribunal provided that such employee has rendered one year continuous service. However, an employee may bring an action regardless of length of service when based on â€Å"automatically unfair grounds† thus the time element is not a pre-condition. If the dismissal is rooted on medical reasons, it is sufficient that the employee has rendered one month of service. Accordingly, an employee who was treated unfairly may proceed against the employer. This is the dilemma of Ms. Sally Trent who owns ST Solutions, a small business with seven employees including Sally. A suit for constructive dismissal and harassment was lodged by Trish Dodge, her Secretary/Administrator for about twenty months. According to Sally, Trish was competent in her job notwithstanding long absences due to illness which she failed disclosed. There were no complaints regarding her conduct or had problems dealing with Sally and the other employees. Conflict arose between Trish and Brian, a freelance web designer, who regularly found fault with Trish by shouting words â€Å"you are useless†. When Trish complained to Sally, she told Brian during a drinking get-together to avoid contact with Trish. Brian ignored the warning prompting Trish to walk out. In her letter, Trish stated that she cannot work in the same office as Brian. Sally hired a

From e-Business Support to Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

From e-Business Support to Strategy - Essay Example Technically, there has been debate on channels that are eligible for inclusion in the category of social networking.Hansen, Shneiderman, and Smith (2011) provide definition that takes off pressure of technicalities and refers social media as set of online tools that enable connectivity for social interaction. In addition to the connectivity, social networking also benefits users in finding, creating, sharing and evaluating mass information accessible online in a variety of forms. Growing importance and dominance of socialization through social media, organizations have also adopted this medium for staying connected with their entire customer base virtually. The new spectrum has provided companies with ways to attract the potential customers along with strengthening bond with existing company customers. Martinka (2012) refers to Mead’s theory of symbolic interactionism which discusses the influence on consumer purchase decision from social media (Facebook). One of the dominant factors that lead to this change is the fact that social media enables two way communication that considerably distinguishes it from traditional marketing mix.This two way connection benefits customer to pass the requirement and views direct to company whereas businesses are also able to get direct insight about customer’ likings and disliking; perception etc. Extracting insight from social networking and consumer response pattern, companies can also strategize to direct consumer purchases in desired direction. (Divol, Edelman, and Sarrazin, 2012). (Divol, Edelman, and Sarrazin, 2012) Some other factors distinguishing it from traditional medium that leads to increase in adopting are: Connectivity of almost the entire world (Divol, Edelman, and Sarrazin, 2012) Prompt response from the company, as well as customers (Hanlon, & Hawkins, 2008) More direct insight than other forms of research etc (Divol, Edelman, and Sarrazin, 2012) Large number social networking websites are opera tional. Leading ones including Facebook (over 845 million active monthly users in 2012 (Sebastian, 2012), Twitter (over 465 million accounts in 2012 and growth (Larson, 2012)), LinkedIn has 147 million members with growth of 45% as compared to year 2012, Google plus which has 400 million user in one year (BGR, 2012) and YouTube (expected to take up 90% of the web traffic by year 2014 (Nalts, 2012)) being the leading channel of video content (eBiz MBA, 2012). Surveys also count the growing number of companies making use of these channels and networking mediums and are intended to increase their presence t exploit greater benefit (Stelzner, 2012). With acceptance of the social media as well as the fact that it is changing consumer behavior, businesses are still in learning phase to strategically adopt this medium. Moreover, understandings

Summarized article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summarized - Article Example Other factors that contributed to this was political instability and low prices of gas locally that led to the country importing this product from neighbours Qatar (the world’s leading natural liquefied gas producer NLG). The massive rise in demand for gas for both domestic and industrial use is forcing a gradual change of things although it will take billions for Kuwait to be able to fully tap this product. This is because the gas in the region is of low quality and high in sulphur making it hard to extract (Reuters 2014). According to Kelli Maleckar of energy consultancy IHS, there is a current realization by most gas producers from Middle East on both the environmental and economic benefits of increased production of gas. The other benefit is that gas can help ease on the current rising power demands in the region. Kuwait and United Arab Emirates have been on the upfront of gas import to meet their power demands. This has boosted their dependence of imported gas especially during summer when power consumption goes up due to increased air conditioning. Saudi Arabia does not import gas (Reuters 2014). Political woes have been at the centre stage of delaying negotiations with major producing companies to tap the resources that lie within the country. These may also make it difficult for the country to import from outside. The country has entered into $3 billion and a $12 billion deals with BP and Shell for five years and six years respectively. Though this has been achieved there is always that possibility of a parliamentarian raising the deal at any given time as stated by Eman Ebed Alkadi of consultancy Eurasia Group. Other deals that Kuwait has entered into include the one with Qatar a few weeks ago, though this could be just for a short time as a long term deal with Qatar is almost impossible given Doha’s support of the Islamists (Reuters 2014). The pipeline network in the region that has been in discussion for some time now would be an ideal

Pollution Essay Example for Free

Pollution Essay Chapter I (AIR POLLUTION) I. Background of the study: * According to the study Metro Manila including Quezon City is much polluted because of the particles emitted by thousand of motor vehicles plying the streets/roads of whole Metro Manila and everyday they contribute to a large extent to the large smoky haze of the metropolis. Commuters like us students that are using jeeps, motorcycles, and other non-air-conditioned mode of transport have taken or prone to the harmful particles in the air. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are cancer causing pollutants chemicals that are release by the combustion process in the motor vehicles. Other studies shows commuters, residents and including like us are exposing to the harmful toxins in the air that can cause health risks including cancer. Other cause of Air pollution that can cause to our health is smoking and the second-hand smoke around the campus area, all we know smoking is very dangerous to our health but many of us are still smoking, the smoke from their cigarettes are also can harm the health of the non-smokers around health because the smoke from their cigarettes are containing chemicals like hydrogen cyanide, Benzene, formaldehyde and etc. that can harm to the health of others. * As we know STI COLLEGE FAIRVIEW is located REGALADO Ave. and regalado avenue is one of the busy roads of Quezon City and a lot of public and private vehicle travel around our campus/ area that’s why we are prone to AIR POLLUTION and the addition of the heavy smokers. Here are the some effects of air pollution according to DOH Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) and ozone are pollutants of serious health concern in Metro Manila; â™ ¦Motor vehicles are the major sources of particulate pollution in Metro Manila; â™ ¦Considerable morbidity and mortality due to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases could have been prevented with better air quality in Metro Manila in 2002; â™ ¦For every 10ÃŽ ¼g/m3 increases in PM10, incidence rates for respiratory and natural mortality increase by 2.6% and 3.9%, respectively; â™ ¦Indoor PM10 increases as outdoor PM10 increases with cigarette smoking as significant contributor to indoor PM10 levels; â™ ¦ Better cooking fuel quality reduces occurrence of hospital admissions. Household using LPG as fuel for cooking has the lowest hospital admissions of 19.3% compared with those using wood (27.3%) and kerosene (25.3%). â™ ¦ Child Health: Incidence of respiratory symptoms and diseases increases as level of exposure to particulate matter pollution increases; Asthma incidence rate is 14.9 per 1,000 population in high PM10 exposure area, 11.5 in medium exposure area and 8.2 in low exposure area. Significant risk factors for respiratory symptoms are age, indoor NO2 level, cooking fuel and educational attainment of mothers; There is a significant improvement in blood lead levels among children in Metro Manila. In 2003, only 34.6% of study children exceeded the US Centre for Disease Control guideline value of 10 ÃŽ ¼g/dl, an improvement from the 90.3% value in 2000. â™ ¦Adult Health: The type of household cooking fuel and number of smokers in the household are significant predictors of respiratory symptoms among adults; Fine particulate pollution contributes to events of respiratory symptoms and diseases The same study estimated the deaths in Metro Manila attributable to PM10 level above 50ÃŽ ¼g/m3 were from 230 to 390 persons II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM III. SCOPE LIMITATION * The scope of this study is the students of STI COLLEGE FAIRVIEW and other students of OLFU that are prone to air pollution and the students that having health problems like asthma and etc. * The limitation of smoking area for the smokers is atlease 10 meters away from the campus area.

An Intercultural Comparison Between Chinese Essay Example for Free

An Intercultural Comparison Between Chinese Essay An intercultural comparison between Chinese and foreign humor Summary: Humor is  a wonderful work  of human civilization  and wisdom, she smiled as a bridge, bond people in different culture, and made people recognizing the power of the humor in their normal communication. This paper  will trace the  historical origins of  humor. From the humorous discourse features, themes, social functions, performance practices and seize of the  subtle to start  the  similarities and differences between Chinese and Western humor. Humor is  a wonderful work  of human civilization  and wisdom, she smiled as a bridge, bond people in different culture, and made people recognizing the power of the humor in their normal communication. 1. Origins and scopes of humor Humor  comes from the  Latin  word ‘humor’, it  is an  ancient Greek physiology term refers to the ‘fluid’. Greek physician Hippocrates believed that the human  health and  temperament  of different  types of  four kinds of  body  fluids  on  the mixing ratio. Temperament  theory  in ancient Greece, medieval and Renaissance  have a great impact. Thus, humor  is  the original meaning of four kinds of body fluids determined by  the proportion of the human mind, body, customary tendency, temperament, or  temporary  mental and emotions. The first of the humor into the field of aesthetics  is a famous British  dramatist, Ben Jones,  gradually  dilute the  meaning of humor physiology, aesthetics increasingly in-depth  the study  of  humor. Late in the 17th century, humor began to have the modern meaning; In the 18th century, humor  for the  aesthetic features  of  drama,  fiction, poetry,  prose and writing style with humor  for the  writers and artists  have been common. Such as in : Sunday school teacher: Hands up all those who want to go to heaven? Hands up †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ What about ou Terry? You haven’t got your hand up-don’t you want to go to heaven? Terry: Sorry, I can’t. Mum told me to go straight home. The  suspense  in  the beginning  of the first  discourse,  two,  third and  fourth inningdirect rendering. The  little boy’s ‘Sorry, I can’t. ’ is  a  reversal,  the last  one  is  a  hilarious  mutations. Cultural context  is an abstract,  general concept, an abstraction  form  in people’s everyday  social life. Because  discourse  is a communicative form,  while the  communication  is  carried out  in  certain situations, therefore, discourse analysis  must consider  its contents, participants in  communicative activities,  speech,  media  and other factors. In addition,  there is also a  certain  discourse  of environmental  factors, such as context, Marlinowski called it ‘Situational context’. Halliday thinks, from the  language  point of view  the use of  situational context  the most important three factors are:  language field,  the tone  and manner. Language field  is  corrected  in the event of  things;  tone  is  who is  communicative, their basic  conditions, characteristics, status  roles,  role relationships  between participants;  manner  refers to the language  in  the role of  communication, including communication  channels and modified way. From the above  humorous  point of view,  the language field  is  the scene ask questions in class;  communication of both  the teachers  and students; both  in communication  is the  unequal  status of  the teacher  is  the speaker, students aresubject to  speaker. Students  response should be to  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœsupport’ or  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœfight against’. The  confrontation  is  the beginning of  reversal,  which produce  humor. Communicative  role of the conversion  from the  point of view, discourse  is the speaker  and  the recipient  as a  center of  rotation. 3. Cross-cultural  comparison  of  Chinese and foreign  humor 3. 1 Themes Humor  is mankinds  an aesthetic  pursuit,  is  a reflection of  real life, first in  its  themes and  content  reflect  the unique  customs  of the  ethnic,  social and cultural. By traditional  Chinese  Confucianism  deeply rooted  that people  talk about sex  pale, therefore,  traditional Eastern humor neutral topic is taboo. The  humor  in  the West accounted for  a large proportion  of these  topics. 3. 2 Social functions Classified  according to their  social function  of humor as: negative humor(Deny  the shortcomings  of  life  and  negative  phenomena), positive humor(Affirm the  advantages  in life  and positive  phenomenon)  and pure humor(Does not  contain  affirm  and  negative,  just  full of  fun  to everyday phenomena  of  reflection). Europe and the United  States  purely  for entertainment  humor  in  a significant proportion of  the pure  humor,  this is  the time when  humor  from  the bud  will form  adistinctive  feature. The Chinese  sense of humor  seems to  bear  a heavier  historical mission – skewer the current ills. Throughout  hundreds of popular since the traditional dialogue  segment,  the vast majority of  satire  piece. 3. 3 Performance practices National characteristics  of humor  in  artistic  expression  on the  subject matter as  far as  clarity. It  is often  rooted in  long-standing  cultural traditions of a nation  and psychological quality,  the performance  is very subtle, delicate. China  has always been  deliberately seeking  humor  in the end,  the  taste  of the progressive  layers. Most indicative of  the Chinese  culture  of  humor  in the form  of humor  than the  comic. Crosstalk  of the  four  aspects of  the structure  corresponding to  the  four parts  of humor. Comic  from start to finish  with multiple  suspenses,  so that  the audience  is always  with interest, from the  tension  eased  to meet  expectations, and then  across  to the new expectations and new  meet. The  European and American  humor  often only one  piece  of suspense, comedy  to be more  suspense,  but because of  the integrity of  comedy,  the plot  of  coherence nd requirements, restrictions on  the use of  a lot of suspense. Crosstalk  is not,  although it  has some  plot lines, but not sticking to  the plot  needs the opportunity to  abandon the use of  suspense. On the contrary,  sometimes  to  the medium of  suspense, clever plot jumps from one to another with no ass ociated plot. 3. 4 Seize of subtle Subtle  sense of humor  is the  worlds nations   common feature. Each nations sense of humor  by  their historical  and cultural  tradition,  in the long-term artistic practice  in the  form  of  subtle style, extent  and methods vary. From the  perspective  of contemporary  humor  writing, in the  subtle  nature of  the pursuit, China  and Western countries  along two  different directions. Overall,  the humor  works of  Western-oriented  and  strive to concise of implicit, philosophy  combine  to make  more  room for  humor  after taste. The Chinese contemporary  humor,  its ability to  master the  subtle  and bright scales. 4. Summary Western countries,  Chinas  humor and  humor  in their  culture,  nurtured by  the soil  to form  a  different style. Through this  cross-cultural comparison, our  team  has  a better understanding of  world culture,  to accelerate  the pace of  China into the  world.

Secure Data Retrieval Based on Hybrid Encryption

Secure Data Retrieval Based on Hybrid Encryption SECURE DATA RETRIEVAL BASED ON HYBRID ENCRYPTION FOR DISRUPTION-TOLERANT NETWORK Kollipara Durgesh, Dr.P. Sriramya I. ABSTRACT Military network is one of the most important network in any country but this network mostly suffers from intermittent network connectivity because of the hostile region and the battlefield. To solve the network problem faced by the military network we use Disruption-tolerant network (DTN) technologies which is widely becoming the successful solution. This technology allows the people to communicate with each other to access the confidential data even in the worst network by storing the data in the storage node. Some of the most challenging issues in this scenario are the enforcement of authorization policies and the policies update for secure data retrieval. Two types of encryption are used for the security. The two algorithms are Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and Java Simplified Encryption (Jasypt). These two algorithms are combined to provide the secure data which is even more difficult to decrypt the confidential data by unauthorized people. In this paper, we propose a secur e data retrieval scheme by generating a new secret key each time when the user sends a secure data to the destination, this proposed method enhances the security of the confidential data. We demonstrate how to apply the proposed mechanism to securely and efficiently manage the confidential data distributed in the disruption-tolerant network. Keywords: Disruption-tolerant network (DTN), Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Java Simplified Encryption (Jasypt), secure data retrieval II. INTRODUCTION In most of the military network it is very difficult for the soldiers and majors to communicate with each other because of the  difficult network environment and even if there is no proper to end-to-end connection between the sender and the receiver. Disruption-tolerant network (DTN) are widely used in the networks were there is no proper end-to-end connection between the sender and the receiver. In this paper we choose DTN to communicate between the soldiers and the others. Initially, if the end-to-end connection is missing between the source and destination pair the data from the source node has to wait until the network is recovered in the intermediate node which can be easily hacked by the third party user hence to solve this critical problem we use storage node which is introduced in the Disruption-tolerant network where in only the authorized users can access the respective data. Most military data are said to very confidential and hence we use confidential access control methods that are cryptographically enforced. Here we provide different access services for different users that is the admin decides in who access the data based on the respective designation of the users. The registration of the user is completed only if the admin accepts and verifies the users’ account to be valid but if the user is not authorized he will not be allowed to access the data in spite of the registration. For example if the â€Å"user 1† sends a data to the â€Å"user 2† the data will be encrypted by combining two algorithms such as AES and Jasypt and the resulted data will be encrypted and stored in the storage node where even if there is no end-to-end connection between the source and the destination pair the data will be secured in the storage which can be accessed by the respective authorized person. 111. ALGORITHM A. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm is used in this paper to provide secure data retrieval scheme. AES algorithm is chosen to be used in this paper because it is said to be more secured which supports most of the secure retrieval scheme. This algorithm is considered to be more secured because it is more widely used by the U.S. government to protect classified information and is implemented in hardware and software throughout the world to encrypt secure and confidential data. AES comprises three block ciphers, AES-128, AES-192 and AES-256. Each cipher encrypts and decrypts data in blocks of 128  bits  using cryptographic keys of 128-, 192- and 256-bits, respectively. (Rijndael was designed to handle additional block sizes and key lengths, but the functionality was not adopted in AES.) Symmetric or secret-key ciphers use the same key for encrypting and decrypting, so both the sender and the receiver must know and use the same  secret key. All key lengths are deemed sufficient to protect classified information up to the Secret level with Top Secret information requiring either 192- or 256-bit key lengths. There are 10 rounds for 128-bit keys, 12 rounds for 192-bit keys, and 14 rounds for 256-bit keys a round consists of several processing steps that include substitution, transposition and mixing of the input  plain text  and transform it into the final output of  cipher text. Various researchers have published attacks against reduced-round versions of the Advanced Encryption Standard, and a research paper published in 2011 demonstrated that using a technique called a biclique attack could recover AES keys faster than a brute-force attack by a factor of between three and five, depending on the cipher version. Even this attack, though, does not threaten the practical use of AES due to its high computational complexity. In this paper AES is used along with the DTN technologies because of the many security and privacy challenges. Since some users may change their associated attributes at some point (for example, moving their region), or some private keys might be compromised, key revocation (or update) for each attribute is necessary in order to make systems secure. For example, if a user joins or leaves an attribute group, the associated attribute key should be changed and redistributed to all the other members in the group. B. Java Simplified Encryption (Jasypt) The other algorithm used in this paper is Java Simplified Encryption (Jasypt), it is chosen for the hybrid encryption for a full secured mode to provide secure data retrieval of confidential data. This algorithm is combined with the AES algorithm to provide hybrid encryption. The final challenge in this paper is to provide a new secret key each time a user sends a secret data to the receiver. The secret key generated is unique and it generates a new key each time, which is even more secured for the secure data retrieval. The admin plays a vital role here to manage the overall source and destination pair but the admin is not authorized to access the information because the secret key is generated automatically which is sent to the receiver’s personal account which is not managed by the admin. Fig 1. Architecture of secure data retrieval in Disruption Tolerant Network (DTN) IV. EXISTING SYSTEM The existing system comprises a concept of attribute-based encryption (ABE) is a promising approach that fulfills the requirements for secure data retrieval in DTNs. ABE features a mechanism that enables an access control over encrypted data using access policies and ascribed attributes among private keys and ciphertexts. Especially, ciphertext-policy ABE (CP-ABE) provides a scalable way of encrypting data such that the encryptor defines the attribute set that the decryptor needs to possess in order to decrypt the ciphertext. Thus, different users are allowed to decrypt different pieces of data per the security policy. The problem of applying the ABE to DTNs introduces several security and privacy challenges. Since some users may change their associated attributes at some point (for example, moving their region), or some private keys might be compromised, key revocation (or update) for each attribute is necessary in order to make systems secure. However, this issue is even more difficult, especially in ABE systems, since each attribute is conceivably shared by multiple users (henceforth, we refer to such a collection of users as an attribute group). V. PROPOSED SYSTEM In the proposed system we use hybrid encryption by combining two algorithms and hence we enhance the security of confidential data. Here the admin keeps in track of all the users account hence even if the attribute of the particular user is changed, the admin makes the notification of the changes. Thus, the disadvantages of the existing system is solved. Unauthorized users who do not have enough credentials satisfying the access policy should be deterred from accessing the plain data in the storage node. In addition, unauthorized access from the storage node or key authorities should be also prevented. If multiple users collude, they may be able to decrypt a ciphertext by combining their attributes even if each of the users cannot decrypt the ciphertext alone. VI. MODULES Key Authorities module The key generation module generates secret key where the hybrid encryption occurs using AES and Jasypt algorithm. This key generation is very efficient because it combines the two encryption and produces the secret code. In this paper to increase the security of the military network, the secret key generated by the hybrid encryption is sent to the users personal email id, so that even the admin who manages the entire network will not be able to access the confidential data. Storage node module In the storage node module, the data from the sender is stored even when there is no stable network between the sender and the receiver since, we use Disruption Tolerant Network (DTN). The storage node consists of the encrypted data where only the corresponding receiver can access the respective data. To access the data from the storage node the receiver has to specify the secret code which is generated by the hybrid encryption and is secretly mailed to the receiver. Sender module The sender module is the one who holds the confidential data and wishes to store them into the external data storage node for ease of sharing or for reliable delivery to users in the extreme networking environments. A sender is responsible for defining (attribute based) access policy and enforcing it on its own data by encrypting the data under the policy before storing it to the storage node. Fig 2. Hybrid Encryption of secret message User Module This the last module which tends to access the confidential data from the sender which is stored in the storage node. The receiver has to provide the correct secret key which will be sent to his corresponding mail id. If a user possesses a set of attributes satisfying the access policy of the encrypted data defined by the sender, and is not revoked in any of the attributes, then he will be able to decrypt the cipher text and obtain the data. VII. CONCLUSION DTN technologies are becoming successful which allows for the communication between devices which do not have stable network and hence this can be more efficiently used in the military network. AES and Jasypt are scalable cryptographic solution to the access control and secure data retrieval. In this paper we proposed efficient data retrieval method using hybrid encryption by combining two algorithms. The encrypted data is then stored in the storage node which can be accessed only by the corresponding user by providing the respective secret key. In addition admin monitors all the attributes of the users which allows fine-grained key revocation for each attribute group. We demonstrate how to apply the proposed mechanism to securely and efficiently manage the confidential data distributed in the disruption-tolerant military network. VIII. REFERENCES [1] J. Burgess, B. Gallagher, D. Jensen, and B. N. Levine, â€Å"Maxprop: Routing for vehicle-based disruption tolerant networks,† in Proc. IEEE INFOCOM, 2006, pp. 1–11. [2] M. Chuah andP.Yang,â€Å"Nodedensity-basedadaptiveroutingscheme for disruption tolerant networks,† in Proc. IEEE MILCOM, 2006, pp. 1–6. [3] M. M. B. Tariq, M. Ammar, and E. Zequra, â€Å"Mesage ferry route design for sparse ad hoc networks with mobile nodes,† in Proc. ACM MobiHoc, 2006, pp. 37–48. [4] S.Roy and M.Chuah,â€Å"Secure data retrieval based on cipher text policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) system for the DTNs,† Lehigh CSE Tech. Rep., 2009. [5] M. Chuah and P. Yang, â€Å"Performance evaluation of content-based information retrieval schemes for DTNs,† in Proc. IEEE MILCOM, 2007, pp. 1–7. [6] M. Kallahalla, E. Riedel, R. Swaminathan, Q. Wang, and K. Fu, â€Å"Plutus: Scalable secure file sharing on untrusted storage,† in Proc. Conf. File Storage Technol., 2003, pp. 29–42. [7] L. Ibraimi, M. Petkovic, S. Nikova, P. Hartel, and W. Jonker, â€Å"Mediated ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption and its application,† in Proc.WISA, 2009, LNCS 5932, pp. 309–323. [8] N. Chen, M. Gerla, D. Huang, and X. Hong, â€Å"Secure, selective group broadcast in vehicular networks using dynamic attribute based encryption,† in Proc. Ad Hoc Netw. Workshop, 2010, pp. 1–8. [9] D. Huang and M. Verma, â€Å"ASPE: Attribute-based secure policy enforcement  in vehicular adho cnetworks,† AdHocNetw.,vol.7,no.8, pp. 1526–1535, 2009. [10]A.LewkoandB.Waters,â€Å"Decentralizing attribute-based encryption,† Cryptology ePrint Archive: Rep. 2010/351, 2010. [11] A. Sahai and B. Waters, â€Å"Fuzzy identity-based encryption,† in Proc. Eurocrypt, 2005, pp. 457–473. [12] V. Goyal, O. Pandey, A. Sahai, and B. Waters, â€Å"Attribute-based encryption for fine-grained access control of encrypted data,† in Proc.ACMConf.Comput.Commun.Security,2006,pp.89–98. [13] J. Bethencourt, A. Sahai, and B. Waters, â€Å"Ciphertext-policy attributebased encryption,† in Proc. IEEE Symp. Security Privacy, 2007, pp. 321–334. [14] R. Ostrovsky, A. Sahai, and B. Waters, â€Å"Attribute-based encryption with non-monotonic access structures,† in Proc. ACM Conf. Comput. Commun. Security, 2007, pp. 195–203. [15] S. Yu, C. Wang, K. Ren, and W. Lou, â€Å"Attribute based data sharing with attribute revocation,†in Proc.ASIACCS,2010,pp.261–270. [16] A. Boldyreva, V. Goyal, and V. Kumar, â€Å"Identity-based encryption with efficient revocation,†inProc.ACMConf.Comput.Commun.Security, 2008, pp. 417–426. [17]M.Pirretti,P.Traynor,P.McDaniel,andB.Waters,â€Å"Secure attribute based systems,†inProc.ACMConf.Comput.Commun.Security,2006, pp. 99–112. [18]S.RafaeliandD.Hutchison,â€Å"A survey of key management for secure group communication,† Comput. Surv., vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 309–329, 2003. [19] S. Mittra, â€Å"Iolus: A framework for scalable secure multicasting,† in Proc. ACM SIGCOMM, 1997, pp. 277–288. [20] P.Golle, J.Staddon, M. Gagne,and P. Rasmussen,â€Å"A content-driven access control system,† in Proc. Symp. Identity Trust Internet, 2008, pp. 26–35. [21] L.Cheungand C.Newport,â€Å"Provably secure cipher text policy ABE,† inProc.ACMConf.Comput.Commun.Security,2007,pp.456–465. [22] V.Goyal, A.Jain,O.Pandey, and A.Sahai,â€Å"Bounded cipher text policy attribute-based encryption,†inProc.ICALP,2008,pp.579–591.

The Simplicity of Raymond Chandlers The Big Sleep :: sleep

The Simplicity of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler would like us to believe that The Big Sleep is just another example of hard-boiled detective fiction. He would like readers to see Philip Marlowe, Vivian Regan, Carmen Sternwood, Eddie Mars, and the rest of the characters as either "good guys" or "bad guys" with no deeper meaning or symbolism to them. I found the book simple and easy to understand; the problem was that it was too easy, too simple. Then came one part that totally stood out from the rest of the book &emdash; the chessboard. Marlowe toyed with it whenever he got the chance, and it probably helped him think of a next move in a particular case. I found it odd that Chandler made such a brief mention of chess, but I did not realize why until I finished the book and had time to think about what I had read. In a very interesting sense, the entire novel resembles the game of chess. Each character is a piece, and the name of the game is survival. Though the ultimate goal in chess is to take poss ession of the king, the underlying strategy is to eliminate as many pieces as one possibly can. This serves as insurance in the overall goal. Being that the characters/pieces determine the direction of the goal, let us look at them to begin. I have chosen to examine two characters in-depth and then put them on the board with the rest of the people in the novel. Philip Marlowe does not correspond to the knight of the chessboard. Chandler assumes that the reader will fall into the easy trap of assigning Marlowe to the role of the knight. After all, he is the main man in the novel, the one who needs to solve the case. His self-description in the opening chapter lures the reader into believing he is a typical white knight hero. "I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be" (3). This is a fitting description of a knight only because knights must possess similar qualities in order to be heroes. The Simplicity of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep :: sleep The Simplicity of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler would like us to believe that The Big Sleep is just another example of hard-boiled detective fiction. He would like readers to see Philip Marlowe, Vivian Regan, Carmen Sternwood, Eddie Mars, and the rest of the characters as either "good guys" or "bad guys" with no deeper meaning or symbolism to them. I found the book simple and easy to understand; the problem was that it was too easy, too simple. Then came one part that totally stood out from the rest of the book &emdash; the chessboard. Marlowe toyed with it whenever he got the chance, and it probably helped him think of a next move in a particular case. I found it odd that Chandler made such a brief mention of chess, but I did not realize why until I finished the book and had time to think about what I had read. In a very interesting sense, the entire novel resembles the game of chess. Each character is a piece, and the name of the game is survival. Though the ultimate goal in chess is to take poss ession of the king, the underlying strategy is to eliminate as many pieces as one possibly can. This serves as insurance in the overall goal. Being that the characters/pieces determine the direction of the goal, let us look at them to begin. I have chosen to examine two characters in-depth and then put them on the board with the rest of the people in the novel. Philip Marlowe does not correspond to the knight of the chessboard. Chandler assumes that the reader will fall into the easy trap of assigning Marlowe to the role of the knight. After all, he is the main man in the novel, the one who needs to solve the case. His self-description in the opening chapter lures the reader into believing he is a typical white knight hero. "I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be" (3). This is a fitting description of a knight only because knights must possess similar qualities in order to be heroes.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses :: essays research papers

Les Liaisons Dangereuses is a complex and disturbing portrayal of the noble class in pre-revolutionary France. Set in the late eighteenth century during the latter part of the Ancien Regime, Les Liaisons weaves a web of cold, calculated betrayal of the most immoral kind. The story unfolds in the form of letters written between the principal characters, giving it a unique literary texture. By using this style, de Laclos is able to give the reader a shockingly intimate look at these people as they divulge their most intimate secrets and bring to fruition their sinister plans. The protagonists, The Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, consider it their life’s ambition to sadistically control and dominate those around them through sexual intrigue. These two villains are indeed locked in psychological combat to see who can actually ‘out-do’ the other in stalking, capturing and destroying the souls of others. Taking absolute pleasure in ripping any virtue from the hearts of their prey, Merteuil and Valmont wave their accomplishments in front of each other like spoils of war. The less the chance of surrender, the more relentless is the pursuit. The story begins with the Marquise de Merteuil corresponding with Vicomte de Valmont regarding a luscious new act of ‘revenge’, as she describes it, against the Comte de Gercourt. The young Cecile de Volanges has just come home from the convent and her marriage to Gercourt has been arranged. However, before he can wed the innocent child, Merteuil proposes Valmont ‘educate’ her, thus spoiling Gercourt’s fancy for untarnished convent girls. Valmont is uninterested in such an easy seduction and is far more aroused by the thought of lulling The Presidente’ de Tourvel, the very epitome of virtue, into submission. And so the tale unfolds. Valmont eventually beds the virgin Cecile in order to humor Merteuil, however, the conquest of Madam de Tourvel is his passion and he indulges in this pursuit until he reaches the intended conclusion. Although, it would be a mistake to depict Valmont as anything but the monster that he is, there seems to be a small measure of actual ‘affection’ for Tourvel, however short-lived. Once Valmont shares this strange and unexpected interest in Madame de Tourvel, The Marquise de Merteuil is enraged, considering it an appalling sign of weakness. In order to save face, Valmont returns to his ruthless ways, thus completing the destruction of Madame de Tourvel, who had ultimately fallen madly in love with Valmont.

The Wright Brothers :: Essays Papers

The Wright Brothers A lot of important events of the past happened in Mexico. In 1810 Mexico was ruled by the Spanish viceroy, which was organized into the Spanish colony of New Spain. In 1812 Mexico is politically unstable. In 1846 Mexico loses one third of its territory to the United States during the Mexican War. In 1861 Benito Juarez becomes the president of Mexico. In 1877 Porfrio Diaz rules Mexico. In 1911 Diaz flees the country and Madero is elected president. In 1914 General Uenustians Carranja becomes the president of Mexico. In 1934 President Lazaro Cardinas nationalizes the industry of Mexico. In 1985 there was an earthquake in Mexico City and it kills 20,000 people. Last, in 1988 Carlos Salinas de Goortari is elected president of Mexico. Government The government in Mexico is somewhat the same to the government in the United States. The Formal Government contains the Republican Party with two legislative houses of the Chambers of Deputies. The Head of The State is the president, which was elected to 1 to 6 year terms. The Elected Officials are the President, the 12 senators, the 500 deputies, the 31 governors, the mayor of the Districts of Mexico City and the munical official. The Administrative Organizations are 31 states, each with a government, and the Federal District of Mexico City rolled by the federal government, also the munical councils administrated by the mayors. Last, the judiciary system in the Supreme Court, which is divided into 6 sub-courts. Traditions There are many traditions in Mexico. On February 5th the Mexicans celebrate Constitution Day. May 21st is President Benito Juarez’s birthday. May 8th is the Anniversary of Pueblo. September 16th is Independence Day. October 12th is Columbus Day. Another day that the Mexicans celebrate is on November 2nd and that’s the Day of the Dead. They celebrate all the people that died in the wars. On December 12th is the Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Mexican men wear hats called sombreros. Current Events There were four major current events that happened in Mexico. On April 2nd, 2000 Mexico got a wider phone connection. At first Washington D.C. said no to this but Mexico got it anyway. Now Telmex is Mexico’s biggest, local, long-distance phone company. It is also the largest Internet service. On April 4th the Mexico Supreme Court found out who killed the most famous T.V.

Promoting Computer Literacy Among Student Essay

A. TITLE OF THE POLICY PAPER Promoting Computer Literacy among Student in Lanao Del Sur B. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Through scientific and technological progress, the world has become a single global community. Modern means of telecommunication and transportation have fostered the rapid sharing of information, ideas and resources among the nations of the world. This is the challenge that faces Philippine society today – to become part of the global technological community. BELLAFLOR J. ANGARA-CASTILLO (The problem is focused on the low Computer Literacy among students in Lanao Del Sur) Living in the information Age; in this fast-paced era of globalization, computer literacy has been a necessary skill everyone must possess along with Arithmetic and Reading. It is in fact expected among students and workers in different institutions to be computer literate. The studies have revealed that many Meranaos and Non-Meranaos living in Lanao Del Sur are behind in Computer Literacy. In fact, many students in Lanao Del Sur are not even par with thosestudents in Luzon and urban areas. Survey on Internet Access and Use by Filipino SchoolchildrenFinal Report (Summary nationwide Findings)explain the reason why some Filipino Schoolchildren are not using internet. Reasons for not using the Internet centered mainly on the absence of Internetconnection at home/school (61%) and computer illiteracy (51%). Lack of Internetconnection at home may be due to economic reasons as well asparents’ low educational background, since 83 percent of the non-users arepublic school students.The high level of computer illiteracy should be a priority concern sinceâ€Å"competitiveness† and â€Å"survival† of children in today’s Knowledge Society is toa great extent dependent on digital literacy. Computer classes are notavailable in public elementary schools compared with private schools. Filipino schoolchildren are computer literate as almost three-fourths (74%)have access to the Internet. But schoolchildren in the Visayas and MetroManila have greater access than their counterparts in the Cordilleras andMindanao as approximately 9 out of 10 schoolchildren in these areas areInternet users. Schoolchildren from lower grades, i.e. elementary than high school students,have lesser access to Internet. Several reasons can be cited: while theDepartment of Education (DepED) has a program which provides computerpackages to public high schools, this is not available to public elementaryschools; elementary pupils are less mobile than older children, e.g. going tomalls; parents have more control on their activities and whereabouts, etc. Majority (51%) of schoolchildren reported â€Å"not knowing how to use thecomputer† as reason for not using the Internet, it is important that computerliteracy should now be included in the school curriculum especially in publicschools where computer illiteracy is more pronounced. (This survey shows that the people of Mindanao iss behind incomputer literacy compare to the people of Luzon and Visayas) This is an alarming issue since while other countries are devising robots already, our citizens (Filipinos) have not even explored much about computers or worse some have not even tried using it once. With the situation all the more the Philippines cannot compete with other countries. Computer Literacy is an important asset that every citizen should have. These canhelp in contributing to the workforce and equipping oneself with the information essential for ones’ development both personally and professionally. While other countries are on the milestone of invention and innovation, if this problem on poor computer literacy among students in Lanao Del Sur be unresolved, we will always be left behind still groping in trying how such innovation works. While they are already benefitting much to it, we are just about in the process of learning it. To gain a skill in Computer literacy is just but gaining access in the intricate system of technology melded by great minds that could pave the way for our development. 2. Causesand background of the problem Factors that lead to the development of the said problem are: First, school computers are not enough for the student. Some schools do have computers but this is not enough to accommodate every students. Sometimes only the students in first section are the one who are benefited in using computer. Second, the capability of teachers who teach computer subject. For those schools do have computer class the problem is the teachers do not have the quality to teach computer literacy because they don’t have any good background how to use the computer system properly. Third schools don’t have enough funds to buy computers equipment for their student. Schools especially in the remote areas don’t have enough budget or no budget at all to buy computer equipment for their students. 3. Undesirable social conditions that result from the problem. 1. The numbers of student who are illiterate in using computer will increase. Students of Lanao Del Sur who are computer illiterate will increase they become ignorant in using Information Technology (IT). 2. The student will not benefit of what technology brought to us. While other students of Luzon and Visayas are already benefited much to it, the students of Lanao Del Sur are just about in learning it. . 3. It will destroy the image of quality of education in our society. The quality of education in Lanao Del Sur will become low, because while students using the information technology our students still attached to the old technique of teaching education. When we say basic computer literacy we mean how to turn off/on the computer properly, how to use basic computer program such as, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel and how to make e-mail account and send e-mail account. Computer literacy should be include in school curricula at early level in Grade school grade six and seven. In highs cool computer literacy to introduce to the student in year level 3rd and 4th year for them to master basic computer program. C. REVIEWS ON PREVIOUS EFFORT ON THE PROBLEM The Philippines Constitution 1987 has mandated â€Å"ARTICLE II Declaration of Principles & State Policies† and ARTICLE XIV Education, Science and Technology, Arts, Culture and Sports,says that the state shall give priority to Education, Promote and Protect the right of all students to quality education to all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make such education to all. There are some proposed House Bills and Senate Bill aim to promote technical and scientific literacy in computer education among the Filipino Youth. House Bill No. 880 AN ACT TO INTEGRATE COMPUTER EDUCATION INTO THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY CURRICULUM AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR House Bill No. 2096 AN ACT CREATING SPECIAL COMPUTER LITERACY EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES House Bill No. 447 AN ACT TO INTEGRATE COMPUTER EDUCATION INTO THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Senate Bill No. 1118 AN ACTTO INTEGRATE A COMPUTER EDUCATION PROGRAMINTO THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES All of these proposed bills say that it is the priority of a state to promote and support computer literacy at the earliest grade level both in the Public and Private schools system of the country. The state shall provide for an educational computer program integrated in the existing elementary and secondary school curricula. However, as observed, this not fully implemented. Perhaps, it was on the ground of lack of funds.â€Å"The main cause of this is the lack of funds.† Textbooks and school infrastructure alone are not much priority which themselves are not also resolved. To some schools blessed with few computers, the students cannot even learn from it since they were not given hands-on activities for them. Even if for some schools that have computer subjects in their school curriculum, the manner of instruction is not good enough. It was due to the fact that the school curriculum is not fully implemented. The subject exists but the classes for it are not executed. In some cases where there is computer class, the problem is on the teachers who themselves are computer illiterate. That is because they were product of traditional curriculum and weren’t provided with proper training for computer instruction. This again implies that a funding should also be allotted for training teachers who will handle computer subjects especially for those living in remote areas. Capability Building for Teachers School teachers also need training in media and information literacy. This willequip them with skills needed in making their students critical mediaproducers and consumers and at the same time provide teacherscompetencies in using media as teaching-learning tools. UNESCO hasproduced a model curriculum on Media and Information Literacy forSecondary School Teachers which can be adapted in local setting. The Internet has emerged as an important teaching-learning tool as learnersbetter appreciate the learning process when it is mediated. Teachers shouldbe provided with professional development opportunities to help them modeleffective use of the Internet as a tool for students’ learning, includingintegrating Internet learning with regular classroom learning.Schools should encourage blogging among students since it enhancescreativity and writing skills. The Education Sector (Department of Education, Public and PrivateSchools) Computer Facilities in All Schools While we recognize that even basic needs are still wanting in many public elementary and high schools, there is a need to address the digital dividebetween public and private schools. Still, many private schools in theregions also lack computer facilities. The Department of Education andother government agencies should come up with more â€Å"innovative†approaches in mobilizing resources for investing in computer acquisition.Some proposals have already been forwarded recently, e.g. tax on textingthe revenue to be used in acquiring computers for all public schoolsnationwide. Computer acquisition should be complemented by Internetconnectivity. With this seen problem, some NGO’s extended a helping hand.The USAID GEM-CLIC for instance together with its external links such as the (STEP-UP) Stop Trafficking and Exploitation of People Through Unlimited Potential), and the Microsoft Potential from US conducted Computer and Life Skills Training among youth especially for those out of school youth and vulnerable groups such as victims of human trafficking. Their goal is to provide Computer and Life Skills Training to equip Filipinos with these skills they can use for livelihood here instead of going abroad; thus to prevent being a victim of human trafficking. This project was launched in November 2009 in Patani Marawi City and has indeed produced batch of computer literate youth out of school and some adults. D. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE POLICY PAPER Computer Literacy is an asset for a society transforming and adapting tothe globalization trend. In this Information Age, where there’s an explosion of knowledge, grasping it can be possible with just the tip of your finger. Thus computer literacy is a big advantage among students and workforce. In fact, nowadays, computer literacy is always a big qualification searched for an applicant. Because whatever institutions are utilizing computers. The students and the workforce; whether teachers, clerks, staff from smallest to biggest business establishment and even in government institution will benefit from this trend provided they are computer literate. E. OBJECTIVE OF THE POLICY PROPOSAL General Objective This proposed policy aims to promote literacy in computer education among the students in Lanao Del Sur. This seeks to integrate basic computer education into school curriculum; this proposed policy also mandates sufficient funding for the program. Specific Objectives * Toask the government to provide funds for this project. * To urge the school administrator to a curriculum integrating computer class. * To have a strict implementation of computer literacy instructor among schools whereby an assessment on should be given to students to keep track of their development and to monitor as well as the conducting of computer class both by the DepEd and local government. F. STRATEGIES AND PROCEDURE ON HOW TO START THE POLICY MOVE 1. Inform Mrs. SafinaMacabando-BacaratthePrincipal of Marinaut Elementary School she is also concern with Computer Literacy. To check for any additional information or review of this proposed policy paper. 2. Inform Mrs. JalilaMacabando-Dimal a sister of Principal SafinaMacabando-Bacarat who is a Supervisor in East District to support this proposed policyand tell her co-Supervisors that they a need to pay attention to the problem of Computer Literacy in among students inLanao Del Sur. 3. Send a letter for an appointment with the head of local offices such as Department of Education (DepEd) in Lanao Del sur. Give them a copy of this proposed policy. Mrs. JalilaMacabando-Dimal would be able to convince Mrs.Mona A. MacatanongMarawi Superintendent and the DepEd since she is the supervisor of the East District. Discuss the problem about computer literacy among the students in L.D.S , to have strict impelentation in Computer education and inform every school who that their permit to operate a school will remove if they will not cooperate. 4. Connect with the NGO’ssuch as USAID together STEP-UP Stop Trafficking and Exploitations of People through Unlimited Potential and the Microsoft Potential from US conducted Computer and Life Skill Training. 5. Send a letter for an appointment with the Regional DepEdSecretary JamarKulayan, Mrs. JalilaMacabando-Dimal through Mona A. Macatanong if there’s an increase of literacy in computer education. 6. Meeting with the DepEd Secretary, Supervisors and Principals of different provinces in Lanao Del Sur and the NGOs to provide a real plan and a system in meeting the demands in providing more computers and increase of literacy in computer education. 7. Secure a copy as reference or review of this proposed policy paper in the congress.

The Twilight Saga 3: Eclipse Chapter 13. NEWBORN

â€Å"THE SAME THING THAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HAND,† Jasper answered in a quiet voice. â€Å"Repeated a thousand times.† He laughed a little ruefully and brushed at his arm. â€Å"Our venom is the only thing that leaves a scar.† â€Å"Why?† I breathed in horror, feeling rude but unable to stop staring at his subtly ravaged skin. â€Å"I didn't have quite the same . . . upbringing as my adopted siblings here. My beginning was something else entirely.† His voice turned hard as he finished. I gaped at him, appalled. â€Å"Before I tell you my story,† Jasper said, â€Å"you must understand that there are places in our world, Bella, where the life span of the never-aging is measured in weeks, and not centuries.† The others had heard this before. Carlisle and Emmett turned their attention to the TV again. Alice moved silently to sit at Esme's feet. But Edward was just as absorbed as I was; I could feel his eyes on my face, reading every flicker of emotion. â€Å"To really understand why, you have to look at the world from a different perspective. You have to imagine the way it looks to the powerful, the greedy . . . the perpetually thirsty. â€Å"You see, there are places in this world that are more desirable to us than others. Places where we can be less restrained, and still avoid detection. â€Å"Picture, for instance, a map of the western hemisphere. Picture on it every human life as a small red dot. The thicker the red, the more easily we – well, those who exist this way – can feed without attracting notice.† I shuddered at the image in my head, at the word feed. But Jasper wasn't worried about frightening me, not overprotective like Edward always was. He went on without a pause. â€Å"Not that the covens in the South care much for what the humans notice or do not. It's the Volturi that keep them in check. They are the only ones the southern covens fear. If not for the Volturi, the rest of us would be quickly exposed.† I frowned at the way he pronounced the name – with respect, almost gratitude. The idea of the Volturi as the good guys in any sense was hard to accept. â€Å"The North is, by comparison, very civilized. Mostly we are nomads here who enjoy the day as well as the night, who allow humans to interact with us unsuspectingly – anonymity is important to us all. â€Å"It's a different world in the South. The immortals there come out only at night. They spend the day plotting their next move, or anticipating their enemy's. Because it has been war in the South, constant war for centuries, with never one moment of truce. The covens there barely note the existence of humans, except as soldiers notice a herd of cows by the wayside – food for the taking. They only hide from the notice of the herd because of the Volturi.† â€Å"But what are they fighting for?† I asked. Jasper smiled. â€Å"Remember the map with the red dots?† He waited, so I nodded. â€Å"They fight for control of the thickest red. â€Å"You see, it occurred to someone once that, if he were the only vampire in, let's say Mexico City, well then, he could feed every night, twice, three times, and no one would ever notice. He plotted ways to get rid of the competition. â€Å"Others had the same idea. Some came up with more effective tactics than others. â€Å"But the most effective tactic was invented by a fairly young vampire named Benito. The first anyone ever heard of him, he came down from somewhere north of Dallas and massacred the two small covens that shared the area near Houston. Two nights later, he took on the much stronger clan of allies that claimed Monterrey in northern Mexico. Again, he won.† â€Å"How did he win?† I asked with wary curiosity. â€Å"Benito had created an army of newborn vampires. He was the first one to think of it, and, in the beginning, he was unstoppable. Very young vampires are volatile, wild, and almost impossible to control. One newborn can be reasoned with, taught to restrain himself, but ten, fifteen together are a nightmare. They'll turn on each other as easily as on the enemy you point them at. Benito had to keep making more as they fought amongst themselves, and as the covens he decimated took more than half his force down before they lost. â€Å"You see, though newborns are dangerous, they are still possible to defeat if you know what you're doing. They're incredibly powerful physically, for the first year or so, and if they're allowed to bring strength to bear they can crush an older vampire with ease. But they are slaves to their instincts, and thus predictable. Usually, they have no skill in fighting, only muscle and ferocity. And in this case, overwhelming numbers.† â€Å"The vampires in southern Mexico realized what was coming for them, and they did the only thing they could think of to counteract Benito. They made armies of their own. . . . â€Å"All hell broke loose – and I mean that more literally than you can possibly imagine. We immortals have our histories, too, and this particular war will never be forgotten. Of course, it was not a good time to be human in Mexico, either.† I shuddered. â€Å"When the body count reached epidemic proportions – in fact, your histories blame a disease for the population slump – the Volturi finally stepped in. The entire guard came together and sought out every newborn in the bottom half of North America. Benito was entrenched in Puebla, building his army as quickly as he could in order to take on the prize – Mexico City. The Volturi started with him, and then moved on to the rest. â€Å"Anyone who was found with the newborns was executed immediately, and, since everyone was trying to protect themselves from Benito, Mexico was emptied of vampires for a time. â€Å"The Volturi were cleaning house for almost a year. This was another chapter of our history that will always be remembered, though there were very few witnesses left to speak of what it was like. I spoke to someone once who had, from a distance, watched what happened when they visited Culiacn.† Jasper shuddered. I realized that I had never before seen him either afraid or horrified. This was a first. â€Å"It was enough that the fever for conquest did not spread from the South. The rest of the world stayed sane. We owe the Volturi for our present way of life. â€Å"But when the Volturi went back to Italy, the survivors were quick to stake their claims in the South. â€Å"It didn't take long before covens began to dispute again. There was a lot of bad blood, if you'll forgive the expression. Vendettas abounded. The idea of newborns was already there, and some were not able to resist. However, the Volturi had not been forgotten, and the southern covens were more careful this time. The newborns were selected from the human pool with more care, and given more training. They were used circumspectly, and the humans remained, for the most part, oblivious. Their creators gave the Volturi no reason to return. â€Å"The wars resumed, but on a smaller scale. Every now and then, someone would go too far, speculation would begin in the human newspapers, and the Volturi would return and clean out the city. But they let the others, the careful ones, continue. . . .† Jasper was staring off into space. â€Å"That's how you were changed.† My realization was a whisper. â€Å"Yes,† he agreed. â€Å"When I was human, I lived in Houston, Texas. I was almost seventeen years old when I joined the Confederate Army in 1861. I lied to the recruiters and told them I was twenty. I was tall enough to get away with it. â€Å"My military career was short-lived, but very promising. People always . . . liked me, listened to what I had to say. My father said it was charisma. Of course, now I know it was probably something more. But, whatever the reason, I was promoted quickly through the ranks, over older, more experienced men. The Confederate Army was new and scrambling to organize itself, so that provided opportunities, as well. By the first battle of Galveston – well, it was more of a skirmish, really – I was the youngest major in Texas, not even acknowledging my real age. â€Å"I was placed in charge of evacuating the women and children from the city when the Union's mortar boats reached the harbor. It took a day to prepare them, and then I left with the first column of civilians to convey them to Houston. â€Å"I remember that one night very clearly. â€Å"We reached the city after dark. I stayed only long enough to make sure the entire party was safely situated. As soon as that was done, I got myself a fresh horse, and I headed back to Galveston. There wasn't time to rest. â€Å"Just a mile outside the city, I found three women on foot. I assumed they were stragglers and dismounted at once to offer them my aid. But, when I could see their faces in the dim light of the moon, I was stunned into silence. They were, without question, the three most beautiful women I had ever seen. â€Å"They had such pale skin, I remember marveling at it. Even the little black-haired girl, whose features were clearly Mexican, was porcelain in the moonlight. They seemed young, all of them, still young enough to be called girls. I knew they were not lost members of our party. I would have remembered seeing these three. â€Å"‘He's speechless,' the tallest girl said in a lovely, delicate voice – it was like wind chimes. She had fair hair, and her skin was snow white. â€Å"The other was blonder still, her skin just as chalky. Her face was like an angel's. She leaned toward me with half-closed eyes and inhaled deeply. â€Å"‘Mmm,' she sighed. ‘Lovely.' â€Å"The small one, the tiny brunette, put her hand on the girl's arm and spoke quickly. Her voice was too soft and musical to be sharp, but that seemed to be the way she intended it. â€Å"‘Concentrate, Nettie,' she said. â€Å"I'd always had a good sense of how people related to each other, and it was immediately clear that the brunette was somehow in charge of the others. If they'd been military, I would have said that she outranked them. â€Å"‘He looks right – young, strong, an officer. . . . ‘ The brunette paused, and I tried unsuccessfully to speak. ‘And there's something more . . . do you sense it?' she asked the other two. ‘He's . . . compelling.' â€Å"‘Oh, yes,' Nettie quickly agreed, leaning toward me again. â€Å"‘Patience,' the brunette cautioned her. ‘I want to keep this one.' â€Å"Nettie frowned; she seemed annoyed. â€Å"‘You'd better do it, Maria,' the taller blonde spoke again. ‘If he's important to you. I kill them twice as often as I keep them.' â€Å"‘Yes, I'll do it,' Maria agreed. ‘I really do like this one. Take Nettie away, will you? I don't want to have to protect my back while I'm trying to focus.' â€Å"My hair was standing up on the back of my neck, though I didn't understand the meaning of anything the beautiful creatures were saying. My instincts told me that there was danger, that the angel had meant it when she spoke of killing, but my judgment overruled my instincts. I had not been taught to fear women, but to protect them. â€Å"‘Let's hunt,' Nettie agreed enthusiastically, reaching for the tall girl's hand. They wheeled – they were so graceful! – and sprinted toward the city. They seemed to almost take flight, they were so fast – their white dresses blew out behind them like wings. I blinked in amazement, and they were gone. â€Å"I turned to stare at Maria, who was watching me curiously. â€Å"I'd never been superstitious in my life. Until that second, I'd never believed in ghosts or any other such nonsense. Suddenly, I was unsure. â€Å"‘What is your name, soldier?' Maria asked me. â€Å"‘Major Jasper Whitlock, ma'am,' I stammered, unable to be impolite to a female, even if she was a ghost. â€Å"‘I truly hope you survive, Jasper,' she said in her gentle voice. ‘I have a good feeling about you.' â€Å"She took a step closer, and inclined her head as if she were going to kiss me. I stood frozen in place, though my instincts were screaming at me to run.† Jasper paused, his face thoughtful. â€Å"A few days later,† he finally said, and I wasn't sure if he had edited his story for my sake or because he was responding to the tension that even I could feel exuding from Edward, â€Å"I was introduced to my new life. â€Å"Their names were Maria, Nettie, and Lucy. They hadn't been together long – Maria had rounded up the other two – all three were survivors of recently lost battles. Theirs was a partnership of convenience. Maria wanted revenge, and she wanted her territories back. The others were eager to increase their . . . herd lands, I suppose you could say. They were putting together an army, and going about it more carefully than was usual. It was Maria's idea. She wanted a superior army, so she sought out specific humans who had potential. Then she gave us much more attention, more training than anyone else had bothered with. She taught us to fight, and she taught us to be invisible to the humans. When we did well, we were rewarded. . . .† He paused, editing again. â€Å"She was in a hurry, though. Maria knew that the massive strength of the newborn began to wane around the year mark, and she wanted to act while we were strong. â€Å"There were six of us when I joined Maria's band. She added four more within a fortnight. We were all male – Maria wanted soldiers – and that made it slightly more difficult to keep from fighting amongst ourselves. I fought my first battles against my new comrades in arms. I was quicker than the others, better at combat. Maria was pleased with me, though put out that she had to keep replacing the ones I destroyed. I was rewarded often, and that made me stronger. â€Å"Maria was a good judge of character. She decided to put me in charge of the others – as if I were being promoted. It suited my nature exactly. The casualties went down dramatically, and our numbers swelled to hover around twenty. â€Å"This was considerable for the cautious times we lived in. My ability, as yet undefined, to control the emotional atmosphere around me was vitally effective. We soon began to work together in a way that newborn vampires had never cooperated before. Even Maria, Nettie, and Lucy were able to work together more easily. â€Å"Maria grew quite fond of me – she began to depend upon me. And, in some ways, I worshipped the ground she walked on. I had no idea that any other life was possible. Maria told us this was the way things were, and we believed. â€Å"She asked me to tell her when my brothers and I were ready to fight, and I was eager to prove myself. I pulled together an army of twenty-three in the end – twenty-three unbelievably strong new vampires, organized and skilled as no others before. Maria was ecstatic. â€Å"We crept down toward Monterrey, her former home, and she unleashed us on her enemies. They had only nine newborns at the time, and a pair of older vampires controlling them. We took them down more easily than Maria could believe, losing only four in the process. It was an unheard-of margin of victory. â€Å"And we were well trained. We did it without attracting notice. The city changed hands without any human being aware. â€Å"Success made Maria greedy. It wasn't long before she began to eye other cities. That first year, she extended her control to cover most of Texas and northern Mexico. Then the others came from the South to dislodge her.† He brushed two fingers along the faint pattern of scars on his arm. â€Å"The fighting was intense. Many began to worry that the Volturi would return. Of the original twenty-three, I was the only one to survive the first eighteen months. We both won and lost. Nettie and Lucy turned on Maria eventually – but that one we won. â€Å"Maria and I were able to hold on to Monterrey. It quieted a little, though the wars continued. The idea of conquest was dying out; it was mostly vengeance and feuding now. So many had lost their partners, and that is something our kind does not forgive. . . . â€Å"Maria and I always kept a dozen or so newborns ready. They meant little to us – they were pawns, they were disposable. When they outgrew their usefulness, we did dispose of them. My life continued in the same violent pattern and the years passed. I was sick of it all for a very long time before anything changed . . . â€Å"Decades later, I developed a friendship with a newborn who'd remained useful and survived his first three years, against the odds. His name was Peter. I liked Peter; he was . . . civilized – I suppose that's the right word. He didn't enjoy the fight, though he was good at it. â€Å"He was assigned to deal with the newborns – babysit them, you could say. It was a full-time job. â€Å"And then it was time to purge again. The newborns were outgrowing their strength; they were due to be replaced. Peter was supposed to help me dispose of them. We took them aside individually, you see, one by one . . . It was always a very long night. This time, he tried to convince me that a few had potential, but Maria had instructed that we get rid of them all. I told him no. â€Å"We were about halfway through, and I could feel that it was taking a great toll on Peter. I was trying to decide whether or not I should send him away and finish up myself as I called out the next victim. To my surprise, he was suddenly angry, furious. I braced for whatever his mood might foreshadow – he was a good fighter, but he was never a match for me. â€Å"The newborn I'd summoned was a female, just past her year mark. Her name was Charlotte. His feelings changed when she came into view; they gave him away. He yelled for her to run, and he bolted after her. I could have pursued them, but I didn't. I felt . . . averse to destroying him. â€Å"Maria was irritated with me for that . . . â€Å"Five years later, Peter snuck back for me. He picked a good day to arrive. â€Å"Maria was mystified by my ever-deteriorating frame of mind. She'd never felt a moment's depression, and I wondered why I was different. I began to notice a change in her emotions when she was near me – sometimes there was fear . . . and malice – the same feelings that had given me advance warning when Nettie and Lucy struck. I was preparing myself to destroy my only ally, the core of my existence, when Peter returned. â€Å"Peter told me about his new life with Charlotte, told me about options I'd never dreamed I had. In five years, they'd never had a fight, though they'd met many others in the north. Others who could co-exist without the constant mayhem. â€Å"In one conversation, he had me convinced. I was ready to go, and somewhat relieved I wouldn't have to kill Maria. I'd been her companion for as many years as Carlisle and Edward have been together, yet the bond between us was nowhere near as strong. When you live for the fight, for the blood, the relationships you form are tenuous and easily broken. I walked away without a backward glance. â€Å"I traveled with Peter and Charlotte for a few years, getting the feel of this new, more peaceful world. But the depression didn't fade. I didn't understand what was wrong with me, until Peter noticed that it was always worse after I'd hunted. â€Å"I contemplated that. In so many years of slaughter and carnage, I'd lost nearly all of my humanity. I was undeniably a nightmare, a monster of the grisliest kind. Yet each time I found another human victim, I would feel a faint prick of remembrance for that other life. Watching their eyes widen in wonder at my beauty, I could see Maria and the others in my head, what they had looked like to me the last night that I was Jasper Whitlock. It was stronger for me – this borrowed memory – than it was for anyone else, because I could feel everything my prey was feeling. And I lived their emotions as I killed them. â€Å"You've experienced the way I can manipulate the emotions around myself, Bella, but I wonder if you realize how the feelings in a room affect me. I live every day in a climate of emotion. For the first century of my life, I lived in a world of bloodthirsty vengeance. Hate was my constant companion. It eased some when I left Maria, but I still had to feel the horror and fear of my prey. â€Å"It began to be too much. â€Å"The depression got worse, and I wandered away from Peter and Charlotte. Civilized as they were, they didn't feel the same aversion I was beginning to feel. They only wanted peace from the fight. I was so wearied by killing – killing anyone, even mere humans. â€Å"Yet I had to keep killing. What choice did I have? I tried to kill less often, but I would get too thirsty and I would give in. After a century of instant gratification, I found self-discipline . . . challenging. I still haven't perfected that.† Jasper was lost in the story, as was I. It surprised me when his desolate expression smoothed into a peaceful smile. â€Å"I was in Philadelphia. There was a storm, and I was out during the day – something I was not completely comfortable with yet. I knew standing in the rain would attract attention, so I ducked into a little half-empty diner. My eyes were dark enough that no one would notice them, though this meant I was thirsty, and that worried me a little. â€Å"She was there – expecting me, naturally.† He chuckled once. â€Å"She hopped down from the high stool at the counter as soon as I walked in and came directly toward me. â€Å"It shocked me. I was not sure if she meant to attack. That's the only interpretation of her behavior my past had to offer. But she was smiling. And the emotions that were emanating from her were like nothing I'd ever felt before. â€Å"‘You've kept me waiting a long time,' she said.† I didn't realize Alice had come to stand behind me again. â€Å"And you ducked your head, like a good Southern gentleman, and said, ‘I'm sorry, ma'am.'† Alice laughed at the memory. Jasper smiled down at her. â€Å"You held out your hand, and I took it without stopping to make sense of what I was doing. For the first time in almost a century, I felt hope.† Jasper took Alice's hand as he spoke. Alice grinned. â€Å"I was just relieved. I thought you were never going to show up.† They smiled at each other for a long moment, and then Jasper looked back to me, the soft expression lingering. â€Å"Alice told me what she'd seen of Carlisle and his family. I could hardly believe that such an existence was possible. But Alice made me optimistic. So we went to find them.† â€Å"Scared the hell out of them, too,† Edward said, rolling his eyes at Jasper before turning to me to explain. â€Å"Emmett and I were away hunting. Jasper shows up, covered in battle scars, towing this little freak† – he nudged Alice playfully – â€Å"who greets them all by name, knows everything about them, and wants to know which room she can move into.† Alice and Jasper laughed in harmony, soprano and bass. â€Å"When I got home, all my things were in the garage,† Edward continued. Alice shrugged. â€Å"Your room had the best view.† They all laughed together now. â€Å"That's a nice story,† I said. Three pairs of eyes questioned my sanity. â€Å"I mean the last part,† I defended myself. â€Å"The happy ending with Alice.† â€Å"Alice has made all the difference,† Jasper agreed. â€Å"This is a climate I enjoy.† But the momentary pause in the stress couldn't last. â€Å"An army,† Alice whispered. â€Å"Why didn't you tell me?† The others were intent again, their eyes locked on Jasper's face. â€Å"I thought I must be interpreting the signs incorrectly. Because where is the motive? Why would someone create an army in Seattle? There is no history there, no vendetta. It makes no sense from a conquest standpoint, either; no one claims it. Nomads pass through, but there's no one to fight for it. No one to defend it from. â€Å"But I've seen this before, and there's no other explanation. There is an army of newborn vampires in Seattle. Fewer than twenty, I'd guess. The difficult part is that they are totally untrained. Whoever made them just set them loose. It will only get worse, and it won't be much longer till the Volturi step in. Actually, I'm surprised they've let this go on so long.† â€Å"What can we do?† Carlisle asked. â€Å"If we want to avoid the Volturi's involvement, we will have to destroy the newborns, and we will have to do it very soon.† Jasper's face was hard. Knowing his story now, I could guess how this evaluation must disturb him. â€Å"I can teach you how. It won't be easy in the city. The young ones aren't concerned about secrecy, but we will have to be. It will limit us in ways that they are not. Maybe we can lure them out.† â€Å"Maybe we won't have to.† Edward's voice was bleak. â€Å"Does it occur to anyone else that the only possible threat in the area that would call for the creation of an army is . . . us?† Jasper's eyes narrowed; Carlisle's widened, shocked. â€Å"Tanya's family is also near,† Esme said slowly, unwilling to accept Edward's words. â€Å"The newborns aren't ravaging Anchorage, Esme. I think we have to consider the idea that we are the targets.† â€Å"They're not coming after us,† Alice insisted, and then paused. â€Å"Or . . . they don't know that they are. Not yet.† â€Å"What is that?† Edward asked, curious and tense. â€Å"What are you remembering?† â€Å"Flickers,† Alice said. â€Å"I can't see a clear picture when I try to see what's going on, nothing concrete. But I've been getting these strange flashes. Not enough to make sense of. It's as if someone's changing their mind, moving from one course of action to another so quickly that I can't get a good view. . . .† â€Å"Indecision?† Jasper asked in disbelief. â€Å"I don't know. . . .† â€Å"Not indecision,† Edward growled. â€Å"Knowledge. Someone who knows you can't see anything until the decision is made. Someone who is hiding from us. Playing with the holes in your vision.† â€Å"Who would know that?† Alice whispered. Edward's eyes were hard as ice. â€Å"Aro knows you as well as you know yourself.† â€Å"But I would see if they'd decided to come. . . .† â€Å"Unless they didn't want to get their hands dirty.† â€Å"A favor,† Rosalie suggested, speaking for the first time. â€Å"Someone in the South . . . someone who already had trouble with the rules. Someone who should have been destroyed is offered a second chance – if they take care of this one small problem. . . . That would explain the Volturi's sluggish response.† â€Å"Why?† Carlisle asked, still shocked. â€Å"There's no reason for the Volturi -â€Å" â€Å"It was there,† Edward disagreed quietly. â€Å"I'm surprised it's come to this so soon, because the other thoughts were stronger. In Aro's head he saw me at his one side and Alice at his other. The present and the future, virtual omniscience. The power of the idea intoxicated him. I would have thought it would take him much longer to give up on that plan – he wanted it too much. But there was also the thought of you, Carlisle, of our family, growing stronger and larger. The jealousy and the fear: you having . . . not more than he had, but still, things that he wanted. He tried not to think about it, but he couldn't hide it completely. The idea of rooting out the competition was there; besides their own, ours is the largest coven they've ever found. . . .† I stared at his face in horror. He'd never told me this, but I guessed I knew why. I could see it in my head now, Aro's dream. Edward and Alice in black, flowing robes, drifting along at Aro's side with their eyes cold and blood-red. . . . Carlisle interrupted my waking nightmare. â€Å"They're too committed to their mission. They would never break the rules themselves. It goes against everything they've worked for.† â€Å"They'll clean up afterward. A double betrayal,† Edward said in a grim voice. â€Å"No harm done.† Jasper leaned forward, shaking his head. â€Å"No, Carlisle is right. The Volturi do not break rules. Besides, it's much too sloppy. This . . . person, this threat – they have no idea what they're doing. A first-timer, I'd swear to it. I cannot believe the Volturi are involved. But they will be.† They all stared at each other, frozen with stress. â€Å"Then let's go,† Emmett almost roared. â€Å"What are we waiting for?† Carlisle and Edward exchanged a long glance. Edward nodded once. â€Å"We'll need you to teach us, Jasper,† Carlisle finally said. â€Å"How to destroy them.† Carlisle's jaw was hard, but I could see the pain in his eyes as he said the words. No one hated violence more than Carlisle. There was something bothering me, and I couldn't put my finger on it. I was numb, horrified, deathly afraid. And yet, under that, I could feel that I was missing something important. Something that would make some sense out of the chaos. That would explain it. â€Å"We're going to need help,† Jasper said. â€Å"Do you think Tanya's family would be willing . . . ? Another five mature vampires would make an enormous difference. And then Kate and Eleazar would be especially advantageous on our side. It would be almost easy, with their aid.† â€Å"We'll ask,† Carlisle answered. Jasper held out a cell phone. â€Å"We need to hurry.† I'd never seen Carlisle's innate calm so shaken. He took the phone, and paced toward the windows. He dialed a number, held the phone to his ear, and laid the other hand against the glass. He stared out into the foggy morning with a pained and ambivalent expression. Edward took my hand and pulled me to the white loveseat. I sat beside him, staring at his face while he stared at Carlisle. Carlisle's voice was low and quick, difficult to hear. I heard him greet Tanya, and then he raced through the situation too fast for me to understand much, though I could tell that the Alaskan vampires were not ignorant of what was going on in Seattle. Then something changed in Carlisle's voice. â€Å"Oh,† he said, his voice sharper in surprise. â€Å"We didn't realize . . . that Irina felt that way.† Edward groaned at my side and closed his eyes. â€Å"Damn it. Damn Laurent to the deepest pit of hell where he belongs.† â€Å"Laurent?† I whispered, the blood emptying from my face, but Edward didn't respond, focused on Carlisle's thoughts. My short encounter with Laurent early this spring was not something that had faded or dimmed in my mind. I still remembered every word he'd said before Jacob and his pack had interrupted. I actually came here as a favor to her. . . . Victoria. Laurent had been her first maneuver – she'd sent him to observe, to see how hard it might be to get to me. He hadn't survived the wolves to report back. Though he'd kept up his old ties with Victoria after James's death, he'd also formed new ties and new relationships. He'd gone to live with Tanya's family in Alaska – Tanya the strawberry blonde – the closest friends the Cullens had in the vampire world, practically extended family. Laurent had been with them for almost a year previous to his death. Carlisle was still talking, his voice not quite pleading. Persuasive, but with an edge. Then the edge abruptly won out over the persuasion. â€Å"There's no question of that,† Carlisle said in a stern voice. â€Å"We have a truce. They haven't broken it, and neither will we. I'm sorry to hear that. . . . Of course. We'll just have to do our best alone.† Carlisle shut the phone without waiting for an answer. He continued to stare out into the fog. â€Å"What's the problem?† Emmett murmured to Edward. â€Å"Irina was more involved with our friend Laurent than we knew. She's holding a grudge against the wolves for destroying him to save Bella. She wants -† He paused, looking down at me. â€Å"Go on,† I said as evenly as I could. His eyes tightened. â€Å"She wants revenge. To take down the pack. They would trade their help for our permission.† â€Å"No!† I gasped. â€Å"Don't worry,† he told me in a flat voice. â€Å"Carlisle would never agree to it.† He hesitated, then sighed. â€Å"Nor would I. Laurent had it coming† – this was almost a growl – â€Å"and I still owe the wolves for that.† â€Å"This isn't good,† Jasper said. â€Å"It's too even a fight. We'd have the upper hand in skill, but not numbers. We'd win, but at what price?† His tense eyes flashed to Alice's face and away. I wanted to scream out loud as I grasped what Jasper meant. We would win, but we would lose. Some wouldn't survive. I looked around the room at their faces – Jasper, Alice, Emmett, Rose, Esme, Carlisle . . . Edward – the faces of my family.