A raisin in the sun coursework Essay

In this essay I am going to analyse how Lorraine Hansberry presents the transformation of Walter in the play ‘A raisin in the sun’. The pages I’m going to concentrate on are pages 1787 and 1788. A raisin in the sun portrays a few weeks in the life of the Youngers, an African-American family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. When the play opens, the Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000. This money comes from the deceased Mr. Younger’s life insurance policy. Each of the adult members of the family has an idea as to what he or she would like to do with this money. The matriarch of the family, Mama, wants to buy a house to fulfil a dream she shared with her husband. Mama’s son, Walter Lee, would rather use the money to invest in a liquor store with his friends. He believes that the investment will solve the family’s financial problems forever. Walter’s wife, Ruth, agrees with Mama, however, and hopes that she and Walter can provide more space and opportunity for their son, Travis. Finally, Beneatha, Walter’s sister and Mama’s daughter, wants to use the money for her medical school tuition. She also wishes that her family members were not so interested in joining the white world. Beneatha instead tries to find her identity by looking back to the past and to Africa. Later on in the play, the Youngers fight over their competing dreams. Ruth finds out that she is pregnant and starts to worry about the financial problems that may happen if she keeps it. Mama puts $3,500 down payment on a house and gives $6,500 to Walter from which he has to give Beneatha some for her medical school tuition. Walter on the other hand doesn’t give Beneatha her share of her money, instead gives it to Willy his friend who runs away with it. The house is in Clybourne Park, an entirely white neighbourhood. When the Youngers’ future neighbours find out that the Youngers are moving in, they send Mr Lindner, from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, to offer the Youngers money in return for staying away. The Youngers refuse the deal. In the meantime, Beneatha rejects her suitor, George Murchison, whom she believes to be shallow and an assimulationist. Subsequently, she receives a marriage proposal from her Nigerian boyfriend, Joseph Assegai, who wants Beneatha to get a medical degree and move to Africa with him. The Youngers eventually move out of the apartment, fulfilling the family’s long-held dream. Their future seems uncertain and slightly dangerous, but they are optimistic and determined to live a better life. They believe that they can succeed if they stick together as a family and resolve to defer their dreams no longer. Various stage directions are used to show Walter’s feelings for example, when Ruth informs Walter that Mr Lindner is here ‘a long minute passes and Walter slowly gets up’ from his room. This shows that Walter is not eager to meet Mr Lindner so he takes his time. When Walter ‘slowly and awkwardly’ walks out of his room ‘passing the back of his sleeve across his mouth from time to time’ makes him seem as if he is a small chid who is sloppy and awkward. This is how he behaves throughout the play and shows the childish side of him. When Walter ‘looks down at his boys eyes’ he realises that Travis is the 6th generation in his family to live in America and should look to set an example for future generations. While Walter talks to Mr Lindner ‘he looks around and shifts from one foot to the other’ and makes short pauses in his speech showing that he is unsure and frightened about speaking out aloud in front of his family. He tries to get the point across that they are ‘very plain people’. Walter again looks away from Mr Lindner and ‘down at his shoes’ and then back up at him. This shows that he can’t maintain eye contact with Mr Lindner. This makes Walter feel shy because he is speaking to someone who is higher classed and who he feels is superior to him. He again tries to get the point across that they are plain people by telling Mr Lindner their current situation such as how he has been ‘a chauffer’ most of his life and how Ruth is a domestic worker in people’s kitchens. All this confuses Mr Lindner as he doesn’t know what Walter is trying to get across instead he listens to him and see what he has got to say. Walter now starts to tell Mr Lindner how his father ‘almost beat a man to death once because this man called him a bad name or something’. Walter asks Mr Lindner if he knows what he is talking about, he replies ‘no, I’m afraid I don’t’ this makes Walter feel as if he is the only one that understands what it feels like so he gains confidence in himself and straightens up. Walter tries to get another point across by saying that he came from people who had a lot of pride and now they don’t have the same pride. Walter tries to make out that they are still very proud and how his sister is going to be a doctor. Walter contradicts himself as in the beginning when he was arguing with Beneatha he mentioned that being a doctor is more of a males’ role and she wouldn’t be able to become one. Walter now starts to cry while facing Mr Lindner ‘eye to eye’ this makes Walter feel bad about what he has done with the money. Walter now decided to tell Mr Lindner that they are moving into the house because his father had ‘earned it’. This shows that Walter has recognised his responsibility and best interest for his family at heart. Walter’s character has evolved from a young child into manhood making him a hero of the family. Walter now has all the confidence to look Mr Lindner ‘absolutely in the eyes’ and tell him ‘we don’t want your money’. Walter finishes with a very definite statement. Doing this makes Mr Lindner feel as he is an obstruction and so should leave. The family are all excited about the wise decision Walter has made. The audience feel that in the beginning of the play Walter is selfish and money hungry because he doesn’t listen to any member of his family and only thinks about trying to get rich quickly. In the end Walter had realised what a fool he had been after losing the money his mother had trusted him with. Now he should listen to his families needs and do what he thinks is right. By making the wise decision of moving into the house he makes the audience feel as if he has become a true man and a hero to his family. Walter is virtually a new person now which people like more than what he was before. The character of Mr. Lindner makes the theme of racial discrimination prominent in the plot as an issue that the Youngers cannot avoid. The governing body of the Youngers’ new neighbourhood, the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, sends Mr. Lindner to persuade them not to move into the all-white neighbourhood. Mr. Lindner and the people he represents can only see the colour of the Younger family’s skin, and his offer to bribe the Youngers to keep them from moving threatens to tear apart the Younger family and the values for which it stands. Ultimately, the Youngers respond to this discrimination with defiance and strength. The play powerfully demonstrates that the way to deal with discrimination is to stand up to it and reassert one’s dignity in the face of it rather than allow it to pass unchecked. In my opinion I think Walter is like any other American- African in that time. He believes that money is the only thing he needs to solve all his problems but little does he know that he needs to listen to his family and not just himself. I also think that all the male roles such as Willy and his friends are bad influences on Walter as they persuaded him to give them his money which they ran off with. However the female roles such as mama and Ruth were a good influence as they all stuck together even when Walter was against them and helped Walter to see what he is throwing away. Lorraine Hansberry is trying to say that Black people in the 1950s experienced a life of discrimination in one way or another. They got here today by having defiance and strength in themselves. Even though they were not treated as equals by some white people, however they made a stand which gave them dignity and the power to be treated as equals. Though black people try to fit into a white neighbourhood they should still remember their roots and how they got here.

Hsm/230 Week 9 Checkpoint

Capstone Checkpoint week 9 HSM/230 Capstone Checkpoint week 9 Many issues are becoming problems for seniors, one of these issues is the possibility of losing one of the most important assistance programs that human services has to offer, the Medicare and Medicaid assistance programs for health and well-being of the seniors in California. This issue has been relevant for many years; however in recent years the California Legislature has been unable to successfully plan a budget that would be considered sound. Thus, at this point the legislature is considering cutting some of the programs of human services or cutting back on the funding to these programs. According to Diane Rowland ScD. and Barbara Lyons, PhD. (1996). Without Medicaid’s assistance, the cost of basic medical care can impede access to care and erode financial security for low income elderly people. This is now a problem, for example my mother has a social security benefit of 650. 00 a month, and if she had to pay her medical care and prescription out of this income, her income would only be 300. 00 a month. This is more than twice the poverty level today. This is of great concern to human services agencies in the United States. Most of the elderly have paid into these programs for many years, expecting assistance as they retired; however, this is eroding away. In order to rectify this issue, California along with other states facing this issue, needs to come up with a balanced budget that does not exceed the income they are receiving at the time of the budget making process. The legislature cannot â€Å"expect† to make a different amount than what is in black and white. To predict that they would be making a larger amount only makes the budget worthless, a budget would need to be accurate and overspending must stop in order to rectify this situation. If I were in charge of this type of program, I would look into privatization of a portion and look for subordinates that would be willing to donate, or fund this program for the poor elderly of the United States. Also I would look into how many actually are citizens that are receiving this benefit without payment into the program. This is a huge issue, many illegal immigrants are receiving these benefits and have never paid into the program, therefore are actually ineligible for the benefit. I would propose that these recipients be placed on the welfare program for illegal immigrants and taken off of the assistance for the poor elderly clientele. Is this ethical, I think so, I do not think it is ethical for one to receive benefits if they have not met the criteria or prerequisite to receive this benefit.

Jay Gatsby

Jay Gatsby Jay Gatsby, the main character in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is a materialistic man, trying to live out the American Dream in the 1920’s. But, his way of life does not get him the woman of his dreams, and eventually leads to his death. He is an extremely wealthy man, but despite all of his money, is very lonely. Although he never gets the woman he wants, Gatsby was a dreamer. He was motivated to reinvent himself and buy his way through life, with a dream to recreate the past.Jay Gatsby was materialistic from the beginning. From his childhood, to his adult life, he dreamed of being rich. His parents were not wealthy and he grew up in the middle class, but he had always wanted lots of money. Nick Carraway states, â€Å"He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, it means just that—and he must be about His father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty† (Fitzgerald 104). No matter how he did it, Gatsby was going to be rich.From age seventeen he was determined and he would stick with his goal. According to critic Chikako D. Kumamoto, Gatsby’s â€Å"vast, vulgar, and meretricious† dream was shared by a social climbing. Nick finally figures out Gatsby’s plans with Daisy Buchannan and says, â€Å"He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths—so that he could come over some afternoon to a stranger’s garden† (Fitzgerald 80). Everything Gatsby did was to win back Daisy’s love.Being a materialist caused him to throw outrageous parties in hopes that one day, Daisy would show up to one. He believed that his money was the only way to win her over. Jay Gatsby was clearly a lonely man. He had all the money in the world to buy anything except for the woman of his dreams, Daisy. Throughout the whole novel, The Great Gatsby, he appears to be bored and alone. â€Å"Your place looks like the World’s fair† Nick Carraway says to Gatsby (Fitzgerald 86). Even to his death, no one cared enough about him to come to his funeral.Carraway tells us, â€Å"but neither a wire nor Mr. Wolfshiem arrived; no one arrived except more police and photographers and newspaper men† (Fitzgerald 110). Striving for only two things in his life never made him very popular. He threw extravagant parties, but no one knew who he was or even liked him for that matter. According to critic Brian Sutton, Gatsby goes to spectacular lengths to try to achieve what Nick Carraway calls â€Å"his incorruptible dream† (Fitzgerald 155). But, unfortunately Gatsby never gets the woman he longs for.Nick tells us, â€Å"After his embarrassment and his unreasoning joy he was consumed with wonder at her presence† (Fitzgerald 99). While Gatsby may have loved the real Daisy, the love that survived over time was of his dream-like conception of her. Jay Gatsby lived a life he dreamed of having but, he dreamed of getting Daisy back and never actually did. Nick tells Gatsby, â€Å"You can’t repeat the past† and Gatsby, being the stubborn man he is, says â€Å"Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can! † (Fitzgerald 117). His dreams got in the way.Critic Brian Sutton states that Gatsby’s chances of winning Daisy were dead. Finding out the way Gatsby got his money ruined everything he could have had with Daisy. Throughout his whole life, Jay Gatsby would do anything to achieve â€Å"his incorruptible dream† (Fitzgerald 155). Daisy’s marriage seems so awful during most of the novel; it is almost like Gatsby is going to make his dreams come true. His efforts are so unimaginable and Daisy appears to be looking for a way out. Because Jay Gatsby is materialistic, lonely, and a dreamer, he is killed.His own attitude caused his death. Living out the American Dream, trying to become wealthy, and striving to win Daisy’s love did not pay off for Gatsby in the end. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. Kumamoto, Chikako. â€Å"Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. † Explicator 60 (Fall 2001): 37-41. Literature Resource Center. Web. 09 Nov. 2012. Sutton, Brian. â€Å"Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. † Explicator 59 (Fall 2000): 37-9. Literature Resource Center. Web. 09 Nov. 2012.

Dim Forest Bright Chimps Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Dim Forest Bright Chimps - Essay Example The paper "Dim Forest Bright Chimps" discusses the article of Christophe Boesch and Hedwige Boesch-Achermann. They feel puzzled by the fact that whether these differences are brought upon by genetic factors or climatic changes. The development of the skills of these monkeys seem to have deep implications for the understanding of early human behaviour. The two scientists, Christophe Boesch and Hedwige Boesch-Achermann, have studied a group of chimpanzees in their natural setting to make new discoveries about the theories of evolution. Their long term study conducted on a group of chimpanzees in the Tai National Park, in the Republic of the Ivory Coast sought to discover their primitive instincts in the sense of their food and hunting preferences. Since the chimps are primates and are at a very early stage of evolution compared to humans it is necessary that their behaviour be observed to draw conclusions about physical and biological anthropology of the humans. The topic also illustra tes the way female chimps train their youngsters to acquaint them with coordination skills required to make and utilise tools. All of this may lead to what Darwin was propounding many years ago that humans and chimps are in the same evolutionary line. The authors have referred to the works of Raymond Dart in 1953 who according to them proposed that group hunting and cooperation were key ingredients in the evolution of Homo sapiens. Although other researchers have spoken about the same instincts in the social carnivores like Lions. ... Although other researchers have spoken about the same instincts in the social carnivores like Lions and Wild dogs but the writers of this article are convinced that "that hunting cooperatively and sharing food played a central role in the drama that enabled early hominids, some 1.8 million years ago, to develop the social systems that are so typically human". 4. Did the author address any contrary evidence or the opinions/work of others that run counter the author(s) claims . According to the writers Jane Goddall observed that Gombe chimps boost their success by hunting independently but simultaneously, thereby disorganizing their prey. They have made a very different observation that Tal chimps owe their success to being organized themselves. Also they have referred to the idea that many anthropologists believe that the hunting and behavioural differences between desert and forest chimps are because of climatic changes making the dessert chimps evolve from another line than that of the forest chimps. This notion is not endorsed by the writer because he believes that these differences exist because forest hunting needed different methodology because of the very dense and dimly lit environment. 5. What were the strengths and/or weaknesses of the author(s) argument Whereas it is true that adaptability shapes behaviours of chimps, even those of humans the different genetic code of these chimps cannot be ignored. Even in humans genetics control behaviours and intelligence. So the fact that these monkeys have superior genes cannot be ignored at all. 6. What are your conclusions Do you agree or disagree with the author Why I agree with the authors because the behavioural difference between the two kinds of chimps can be

English for Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

English for Business - Essay Example Non-verbal communication can be broadly grouped into two categories that is, nonverbal communications created by the body and nonverbal communications created by other settings like time, space, and silence. The type of the non-verbal communication to be used depend on the situations and the cultural background of the parties involved in communication. In a communication setting, each party should understand the different types of non-verbal signals used and their interpretations so that they understand one another (Lubin, 2011). Non-verbal communication is an important feature of communication especially in a high-context culture (Andrews University, n.d.).   It functions include repeating and emphasizing a verbal message pointing into the one direction while illustrating directions. Moreover, it can be used to accent a verbal message by tone variation that shows the concrete meaning of certain words. In addition, it complements the verbal message and can also contradict according to different cultures. For example, the head node among the Americans and Africans reinforces a positive message, but among the Chinese, it reinforces negative message. Furthermore, a wink contradicts stated affirmative message but reinforces the statement as positive among Chinese. Nonverbal cues also control interactions, for example, they convey when the other party should speak or not speak in a conversation. They can also be used to substitute for the verbal communication especially if an individual has lost voice tone through illness (Lubin, 2011). They can use gestures like finger to lips to show the necessity for silence, facial expressions, for example, a nod to mean yes among Americans. This type of communication is important in intercultural interaction situations and accounts for the distinctive difficulties in communication across cultures. The non-verbal communication among different cultures can be explained in various means of communication without the use of

Research a hospitality business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Research a hospitality business - Essay Example Starbucks has been in the UK since 1998 when they purchased 65 Seattle Coffee stores that were already located in the UK. The reason that Starbucks bought these companies was because they shared a common culture. Both companies had a commitment to create customised coffee, they had similar values, a mutual respect for their customers, their employees, and they had a commitment to the environment. This information prompted them to buy Seattle Coffee as a way to reach out to the UK community (Starbucks Coffee Company, 2011a). Overview of the Business Starbucks actually began in 1971 when they were a roaster and a retailer for whole bean, ground coffee, and tea and spices. At that time, they owned one store in Pike Place Market in Seattle, WA, USA. They were a private company at that time and did not become a public company until 1992 and 1993. At that time, they decided to look for locations in large cities so that they would have a 'hub' store with smaller stores around in these locat ions. They hired what they called 'zone presidents' to oversee the new stores; each zone president had many years of experience in marketing chain stores (Thompson and Gamble, 1997). Starbucks was able to easily identify those retail sites that would be best for theirs stores. They hired a real estate team who was versed in the coffee bar industry and they instituted a 'sophisticated system' that allowed them to identify the locations that would be best for their stores. They were able to track each area in such a way that they also found attractive city blocks where they could start their stores (Thompson and Gamble, 1997). Today, they have 17,000 companies in 50 countries and they continue to grow (Starbucks Coffee Company, 2011a). Starbucks took its name from the book, Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Starbucks was the name of the first mate in the story. They boast that they have millions of customers world wide and they enjoy serving them the best coffee possible. Starbucks has 70 0 stores across the UK (Farrell, 2010). Every business must start with a mission and Starbucks mission is 'to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time' (Starbucks Coffee Company, 2011b, p.1). With this mission, they know exactly what they want to do when they go into each new country or new city. Processes and Systems Starbucks has been able to institute specific processes and systems in their company that worked. They have used the same system in each of the countries they moved into because it worked. Food and beverages purchasing Starbucks purchases coffee from farmers around the world. They basically have four brands that they sell all of their beverages under. These brands are: 'Starbucks Coffee, Seattle’s Best Coffee, Tazo Tea, and Torrefazione Italia Coffee' (Starbucks Coffee Company, 2011b, p.2). In the UK, Starbucks has only introduced a few of its products which include: Via, a new instant coffee that people c an purchase at Tesco stores Starbucks Whole Bean Coffees, Starbucks Discoveries Chilled Coffees, and Starbucks Doubleshot Expresso drinks (Puget Sound Business Journal, 2010). Dave Olsen who is Starbucks' senior vice president for coffee, travelled around the world to coffee growing companies and talked to farmers to find the richest quality coffee beans that would produce the best flavour. Starbucks bought the beans above the price that they would

Foreign Policies on Climate Change Memorandum Essay

Foreign Policies on Climate Change Memorandum - Essay Example First, to avert the potential dangers stemming from climate change in Africa and United States, the State has created multiple agencies to fight this menace. The president tasks each agency with specific responsibilities that are related to minimizing the effects of global challenges. This is because if unchecked, temperature increase could lead to food shortage and droughts. These responsibilities feature all probable potential consequences of climate change as well as allow for the addition of the unforeseen effects. Disasters arising from climate change effects, for example, storms are usually under the direct control of FEMA. However, delegate certain disasters like the rise in sea levels fall under the Department of Security. Also, other agencies are tasked with the responsibilities constructing canals and water dam plans in arid and semi-arid parts of the continent. This proposal has the advantage that it requires little funding and few initial resources. Furthermore, it provides helpful guides should any crisis arise. What is more is that responsibilities are made clear thus averting any conflicts that might arise due to inter- agency conflicts. The conflicts could potentially lead to wastage of money time, money, and even risk lives. Secondly, Africa has been hosting climate change summit after every two years. In particular, this helps keep the subject of climate change within the public discourse. It also fosters the pressure that results from an actionable strategy for climate change.

Complexity in Organizations - Economics and Adaptation Assignment - 1

Complexity in Organizations - Economics and Adaptation - Assignment Example The main challenge that is being faced by managers is to ensure that complexity of systems, rules and procedures do not get out of hand and hence the persistent efforts to simplify procedures and reduce the complexity of the system. It has to be mentioned that complexity is an inherent property of any system and the study of adaptive systems has shown that complexity is an emergent property as well. Hence, this central tension between complexity and the human tendency to simplify or derive meaning by simple expositions lies at the heart of the debate over complexity. Hence, the paradox of simplifying complex systems is the theme of this paper. The paper attempts to answer the question: How can we form simple theories if organizations are so complex? This question carries with the implication that simple theories of organizations are difficult to achieve in the face of increasing complexity. This paper takes the position that though complexity is ever present and increasing, there can be ways in which the system (the organization in this case) can be described or theories can be made about the organization by adopting a two-fold approach. These are treating the organization as an organic whole and forming theories about the whole. The second approach is by taking the constituent parts and then formulating theories about them. In no way does this author assert that simple theories about essentially complex systems can be made. On the other hand, the theme of this paper is that theories about the organization can be formed that can reflect some level of simplicity by following the approaches mentioned above. As Macintosh and Maclean point out in their paper, there is a three-stage process of organizations â€Å"conditioning† the outcome of the transformation process by articulating and reconfiguring the rules which underpin its deep structure; second, it takes steps to move from its current equilibrium and finally it moves into a period where positive and negative feedback loops become the focus of managerial attention.     

Critical Review of Meet John Doe Movie Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critical of Meet John Doe - Movie Review Example After this fake letter was published in the newspaper where Mitchell worked, tremendous reaction on the part of general people followed. This public reaction was noted by the newspaper’s rich and powerful publisher D.B. Norton (played by Edward Arnold). Next, a sinister collaboration starts between Ann, Norton, and other staffs of the newspaper to exploit the sensation created by John Doe’s fake suicide letter. One John Willoughby (Gary Cooper) is duped into this conspiracy and he is asked to play the role of John Doe. At first, Willoughby does this job enthusiastically. But gradually the actual conspiracy is exposed before him. Willoughby has a flux of mind and he starts clinging to the character and mission of fictional John Doe. In doing so, he shakes the very fundamentals of the news media house he was working for and throws a serious challenge before Norton. Ultimately, Willoughby becomes a real John Doe, who successfully convinces people about general good of soci ety and unmasks hypocrites like Norton and his collaborators. Ann also changes side and joins Willoughby in this great mission of John Doe. All during watching this film, I felt that there are several political linkages in this film. However, two most important linkages are being mentioned in this paper. The first one is created with the help of impressions, scenes, and symbols regarding democratic values and community consciousness. The second linkage shows that how one’s personal life and feelings might be used by somebody else to obtain political benefit. 2. In the film Meet John Doe, Capra appears to be consistently pressing ahead with his idealism having ample regard toward the spirit of democracy. After the middle part of the film, contradictions between ideals of democracy and manipulation of the system become the main foci of the film. The scene of the great John Doe Convention speaks about it. The convention is held before a large audience and thousands of people are called on to participate in it. Willoughby, in the meanwhile, finds that Norton wants to exploit the sensation created by the story of John Doe. Norton wanted Willoughby to endorse Norton as a presidential candidate for the federal elections in the garb of John Doe Convention emerging as a political party. This being the backdrop, Willoughby now tries to breakaway from Norton’s control. At this point, Capra creates a marvelous scene at the John Doe Convention. In this scene, with the help of a combination of distant and close shots, Capra shows how desperately Willoughby is going ahead into the crowd and trying to tell the truth about John Doe and Norton. With the help of special effects using montage of crowds repeatedly, Capra creates the impression of Willoughby, a desperate man, trying to communicate with thousands of people individually, intimately, and simultaneously. This scene showing the seemingly impossible task of Willoughby actually exhibits that how confusing in stitutional democracy might become. Emotional and spirited public might fail to identify the real evil behind ambitious politicians. Political propaganda can become powerful enough to overshadow the actual goals of the democratic institution. Consequently, public might go ahead and invite an â€Å"iron hand† (Capra 1941) to rule them as had happened in the countries like Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The second most intriguing scene in this film is seen

SEX AS CRIME 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

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Water Pollution in China Essay Example for Free

Water Pollution in China Essay River like blood in Roxian, Guangxi About one third of the industrial waste water and more than 90 percent of household sewage in China is released into rivers and lakes without being treated. Nearly 80 percent of Chinas cities (278 of them) have no sewage treatment facilities and few have plans to build any and underground water supplies in 90 percent of the cites are contaminated. Water shortages and water pollution in China are such a problem that the World Bank warns of â€Å"catastrophic consequences for future generations. † Half of China’s population lacks safe drinking water. Nearly two thirds of China’s rural population—more than 500 million people—use water contaminated by human and industrial waste. In summer of 2011, the China government reported 43 percent of state-monitored rivers are so polluted, theyre unsuitable for human contact. By one estimate one sixth of China’s population is threatened by seriously polluted water. One study found that eight of 10 Chinese coastal cities discharge excessive amounts of sewage and pollutants into the sea, often near coastal resorts and sea farming areas. Water pollution is especially bad along the coastal manufacturing belt. Despite the closure of thousands of paper mills, breweries, chemical factories and other potential sources of contamination, the water quality along a third of the waterway falls far below even the modest standards that the government requires. Most of China’s rural areas have no system in place to treat waste water. A study by China’s Environmental Protection Agency in February 2010 said that water pollution levels were double what the government predicted them to be mainly because agricultural waste was ignored. China’s s first pollution census in 2010 revealed farm fertilizer was a bigger source of water contamination than factory effluent. water pollution by Caijing Water pollution—caused primarily by industrial waste, chemical fertilizers and raw sewage— accounts for half of the $69 billion that the Chinese economy loses to pollution every year. About 11. 7 million pounds of organic pollutants are emitted into Chinese waters very day, compared to 5. 5 in the United States, 3. 4 in Japan, 2. 3 in Germany, 3. 2 in India, and 0. in South Africa. Water consumed by people in China contains dangerous levels of arsenic, fluorine and sulfates. An estimated 980 million of China’s 1. 3 billion people drink water every day that is partly polluted. More than 600 million Chinese drink water contaminated with human or animal wastes and 20 million people drink well water contaminated with high levels of radiation. A large number of arsenic-tainted water have been discovered. China’s high rates of liver, stomach and esophageal cancer have been linked to water pollution. In many cases factories fouling critical water sources are making goods consumed by people in the U. S. and Europe. Problems created by China’s water pollution are not just confined to China either. Water pollution and garbage produced in China floats down its rivers to the sea and is carried by prevailing winds and currents to Japan and South Korea. Water pollution and shortages are a more serious problem in northern China than southern China. The percentage of water considered unfit for human consumption is 45 percent in northern China, compared to 10 percent in southern China. Some 80 percent of the rivers in the northern province of Shanxi have been rated â€Å"unfit for human contact. † A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center before the 2008 Olympics found that 68 percent of the Chinese interviewed said they were concerned about water pollution. Effects of Water Pollution in China Waters that used to team with fish and welcome swimmers now have film and foam at the top and give off bad smells. Canals are often covered layers of floating trash, with the deposits particularly thick on the banks. Most of it is plastic containers in a variety of sun-bleached colors. Deformities in fish such as one or no eyes and misshapen skeletons and a decreasing numbers of rare wild Chinese sturgeon in the Yangtze has been blamed on a paint chemical widely used in Chinese industry. China is the largest polluter of the Pacific Ocean. Offshore dead zones — oxygen-starved areas in the sea that are virtually devoid off life — are not only found in shallow water but also in deep water. They are mainly created by agricultural run-off—namely fertilizer—and reach their peak in the summer. In the spring freshwater creates a barrier layer, cutting off the salt water below from the oxygen in the air. Warm water and fertilizers cause algae blooms. Dead algae sinks to the bottom and is decomposed by bacteria, depleting oxygen in deep water. Water Pollution and Health and Protests Nearly two thirds of China’s rural population—more than 500 million people—use water contaminated by human and industrial waste. Accordingly it is not all that surprising that gastrointestinal cancer is now the number one killer in the countryside, More than 130 residents of two villages in Guangxi Province in southern China were poisoned by arsenic-contaminated water. Arsenic showed up in their urine. The source is believed to be waste from a nearby metallurgy factory. In August 2009, a thousand villagers gathered outside a government office in Zhentouu township in Hunan Province to protests a the presence of the Xiange Chemical factory, which villagers say has polluted water used to irrigate rice and vegetables and caused at least two deaths in the area. Sources of Water Pollution Major polluters include chemical factories, drug manufactures, fertilizer makers, tanneries, paper mills. In October 2009, Greenpeace identified five industrial facilities in southern China’s Pearl River delta that were dumping poisonous metals and chemicals—such as beryllium, manganese, nonylphenol and tetrabromobisphenol— into water used by local residents for drinking. The group found the toxins in pipes that led from the facilities. In February 2008 the Fuan textile factory, a multimillion dollar operation in Guangdong Province that produces enormous quantities of T-shirts and other clothes for export, was shut down for dumping waste from dyes into the Maozhou River and turning the water red. It turned out the factory produced 47,000 tons of waste a day and could only process 20,000 tons with the rest being dumped into the river. It latter quietly reopened in a new location. Polluted Chinese Rivers and Lakes China has some of the worlds worst water pollution. All of Chinas lakes and rivers are polluted to some degree. According to a Chinese government report, 70 percent of rivers, lakes and waterways are seriously polluted, many so seriously they have no fish, and 78 percent of the water from Chinas rivers is not fit for human consumption. In a middle class development near Nanjing call Straford a polluted river has buried underground in giant pipe while a new ornamental river, rally a lake, has been built above it. According to one government survey, 436 of China’s 532 rivers are polluted, with more than half of them too polluted to serve as sources of drinking water, and 13 of 15 sectors of Chinas seven largest rivers are seriously polluted. The most polluted rivers are in the east and south around the major population centers with the pollution getting worse the further downstream one goes. In some cases each city along a river dumps pollutants outside their city limits, creating increasingly more pollution for the cities down stream. Chinese environmentalist Ma Jun said, ‘What’s not receiving attention is the destruction of the river ecosystem, which I think will have long-tern effects on our water resources. ’ Many rivers are filled with garbage, heavy metals and factory chemicals. Suzhou Creek in Shanghai stinks of human waste and effluence from pig farms. There have been devastating fish kills caused by the release of chemicals into the Haozhongou River in Anhui province and Min Jiang River in Sichuan Province. The Huai flows through densely populated farmland between the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers. Bottlenecks and elevation changes make the river both prone to flooding and collecting pollutants. Half the checkpoints along the Huai River in central and eastern China revealed pollution levels of â€Å"Grade 5 or worse, with pollutants detected in ground water 300 meters below the river. The Huai river in Anhui province is so polluted all the fish have died and people have to drink bottled water to avoid getting sick. Some places have water that is too toxic to touch and leaves behind scum when it is boiled. Here, crops have been destroyed by irrigation water from the river; fish farms have been wiped out; and fishermen have lost their livelihoods. The South-North Water Transfer Project—which will travel through the Huai basin—is likely to deliver water that is dangerously polluted. The Qingshui River, a tributary of the Huai whose names means â€Å"clear water,† has turned black with trails of yellow foam from pollution from small mines that have opened up to meet the demand for magnesium, molybdenum and vanadium used in the booming steel industry. River samples indicate unhealthy levels of magnesium and chromium. The vanadium refineries foul the water and produce smokes that deposits a yellowing powder on teh countryside. The Liao River is also a mess. Gains made with new water treatment facilities have been canceled out by higher than ever levels of industrial pollution. In May 2007, 11 companies along the Songhua River, including local food companies, were ordered to shut down because of the heavily-polluted water they dumped into the river. A survey found that 80 percent exceeded pollution discharge limits. One company turned off pollution control devices and dumped sewage directly into the river. In March 2008 contamination of the Dongjing River with ammonia, nitrogen and metal-cleaning chemicals turned the water red and foamy and forced authorities to cut water supplies for at least 200,000 people in Hubei Province in central China. Cancer Villages and Polluted Waterways in China According to the World Bank, 60,000 people die each year from diarrhea, bladder and stomach cancer and other diseases directly caused by water-borne pollution. A study by the WHO came with a much higher figure. Cancer village is a term used to describe villages or towns where cancer rates have risen dramatically because of pollution. There are said to be around 100 cancer villages along the Huai River and its tributaries in Henan Province, especially on the Shaying River. Death rates on Huai River are 30 percent higher than the national average. In 1995, the government declared that water from a Huai tributary was undrinkable and the water supply for 1 million people was cut off. The military had to truck in water for a month until 1,111 paper mills and 413 other industrial plants on the river were shut down. In the village of Huangmengying—where a once-clear stream is now greenish black from factory wastes—cancer accounted for 11 of the 17 deaths in 2003. Both the river and well water in the village—the main source of drinking water—have an acrid smell and taste produced by pollutants dumped upstream by tanneries, paper mills, a huge MSG plant, and other factories. Cancer had been rare when the stream was clear. Tuanjieku is town six kilometers northwest of Xian that still uses an ancient system of moats to irrigate its crops. The moats unfortunately don’t drain so well and are now badly contaminated by household discharges and industrial waste. Visitors to the town are often overwhelmed by the rotten egg smell and feel faint after five minutes of breathing in the air. Vegetables produced in the fields are discolored and sometimes black. Residents suffer from abnormally high cancer rates. One third of peasants in the village Badbui are mentally ill or seriously ill. Women report high numbers of miscarriages and many people die in middle age. The culprit is believed to be drinking water drawn from the Yellow River downstream from a fertilizer plant. The waters around Taizhou in Zhejiang, the home of Hisun Pharmaceutical, one of China’s largest drug makers, are so contaminated with sludge and chemicals that fishermen complain their hands and legs become ulcerated, and in extreme cases need amputation. Studies have show that people who live around the city have high cancer and birth defect rates. Polluted Yangtze, Pearl and Yellow Rivers Chinas three great rivers—the Yangtze, Pearl and Yellow River—are so filthy that it is dangerous to swim or eat fish caught in them. Parts of the Pearl River in Guangzhou are so thick, dark and soupy it looks like one could walk across it. In recent years pollution has become a problem on the Yellow River. By one count 4,000 of China’s 20,000 petrochemical factories are on the Yellow River and a third of all fish species found in the Yellow River have become extinct because of dams, falling water levels, pollution and over fishing. More than 80 percent of the Hai-Huaih Yellow river basin is chronically polluted. In October 2006, a one kilometer section of the Yellow River turned red in the city of Lanzhou in Gansu Province as result of a â€Å"red and smelly† discharge from a sewage pipe. In December 2005, six tons of diesel oil leaked into a tributary of the Yellow River from a pipe that cracked because of freezing conditions. It produced a 40 mile long slick. Sixty-three water pumps had to be shut down, including some in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province. The Yangtze River is polluted with 40 million tons of industrial and sewage waste. Half of China’s 20,000 petrochemical factories lie on its banks. About 40 percent of all waste water produced in China—about 25 billion tons—flows into the Yangtze, of which only about 20 percent is treated beforehand. The pollution has taken its toll on aquatic life. Fish catches from the river declined from 427,000 tons in the 1950s to 100,000 tons in the 1990s. The Yangtze is in danger of becoming a â€Å"dead river† unable to sustain marine life or providing drinking water. According to report by the Chinese Academy of Sciences released in April 2007 the Yangtze is seriously and largely irreversibly polluted. More than 600 kilometers of its length and almost 30 percent of its major tributaries are in critical condition. Sections of the Grand Canal that have water deep enough to accommodate boats are often filled with trash sewage and oil licks. Chemical waste and fertilizer and pesticide run-off empties into the canal. The water is mostly brownish green. People who drink it often get diarrhea and break out in rashes. Polluted Lakes, Canals and Coastal Areas in China Dead fish in Hangzhou pond Studies have showed that the quality of coastal waters are deteriorating quickly as a result of land-based pollution. The study found that 8. 3 billion tons of sewage was released in Guangdong Province’s coastal waters in 2006, 60 percent more than five years earlier. Altogether 12. million tons of polluted â€Å"material was dumped in waters off the southern province. Some lakes are in equally bad shape. China’s great lakes—the Tai, Chao and Dianchi—have water that is rated Grade V, the most degraded level. It is unfit for drinking or for agricultural or industrial use. Describing Chinas fifth-biggest lake a Wall Street Journal reporter wrote: The slow, hot days of summer are here, and sun-fed algae is starting to clot the milky surface of Chao Lake. Soon a living scum will carpet a patch the size of New York City. It will quickly blacken and rot  The smell is so terrible you can not describe it. † Canals, See Changzhou, Places Apple Accused of Making a River Runs Black In March 2012, Peter Smith wrote in The Times, Beyond the brick cottages of Tongxin runs Lou Xia Bang, once the soul of the farming village and a river where, until the digital revolution, children swam and mothers washed rice. Today it flows black: a chemical mess heavy with the stench of China’s high-tech industry — the hidden companion of the world’s most famous electronics brands and a reason the world gets its gadgets on the cheap. Source: Peter Smith, The Times, March 9, 2012] The article then goes on to describe how the town of Tongxin was being affected by chemical waste from local factories that, as well as turning the river black, has caused a â€Å"phenomenal† increase in cancer rates in Tongxin (according to research by five Chinese non-governmental organisations). The factories have grown up in the last few years and make circuit boards, touch screens and the casings of smartphones, laptops and tablet computers. As usual in these cases, Apple as mentioned – although the evidence appears to be a little sketchy as to whether these factories are actually players in the Apple supply chain. [Source: Spendmatter UK/Europe blog] Smith wrote in the Times: â€Å"Workers at the Kaedar factory, five metres from a kindergarten where children have complained of dizziness and nausea, have secretly confirmed that products had left the factory bearing the Apple trademark. † Red Tides, Salt Tides an d Algae Bloom in China Algae blooms, or eutrophication, in lakes are caused by too much nutrients in the water. They turn lakes green and suffocate fish by depleting the oxygen. They are often caused by human and animal waste and run off of chemical fertilizers. Similar conditions create red tides in the sea. The government estimates that $240 million worth of damage and economic loses was caused by 45 major red tides between 1997 and 1999. Describing a red tide near the town of Aotoum that left the seas blanketed with dead fish and fishermen badly in debt, a fisherman told the Los Angeles Times, The sea turned dark, like tea. If you talk to the fishermen around here, theyll all break into tears. In some places the Chinese have tried to minimize the damage caused by algae blooms by pumping oxygen into the water and containing the blooms by adding clay which acts as a magnet for algae. A lack funds keeps China from tackling the problem using more conventional means. A severe drought in 2006, caused large amounts of seawater to flow upstream on the Xinjiang River in southern China. In Macau salinity levels in the river jumped to almost three time above the World Health Organization standards. To combat the problem water was diverted into it from the Beijiang River in Guangdong. Water Bodies Struck by Algae Blooms in China Red tides have increased in their numbers and severity in coastal areas of China, particularly in Bohai Bay off eastern China, the East China Sea and the South China Sea. Large red tides have occurred around the Zhoushan Islands near Shanghai. In May and June 2004, two huge red tides, covering a total area size of 1. 3 million soccer fields, developed in Bohai Bay. One occurred near the mouth of the Yellow River and affected an area of 1,850 square kilometers. Another struck near the port city of Tianjin and covered nearly 3,200 square kilometers. It was blamed on the dumping of large amounts of waste water and sewage into the bay and rivers leading into the bay. In June 2007, coastal waters off the booming industrial town of Shenzhen were hit by one the biggest ever red tides. It produced a 50 square kilometer slick and was caused by pollution and persisted because of a lack of rain. There were large algae blooms in freshwater lakes throughout China in 2007. Some were blamed on pollution. Others were blamed on drought. In Jiangsu Province the water level in one lake dropped to its lowest level in 50 years and became inundated with blue-green algae that produced smelly, undrinkable water. Lake Tai Pollution Lake Tai is often choked with industrial waste from factories producing paper, film and dyes, urban sewage and agricultural run-off. It sometimes is covered with green algae as a result of nitrogen and phosphate pollution. Locals complain of polluted irrigation water that causes their skin to peal, dyes that turn the water red and fumes that sting their eyes. Dams built for flood control and irrigation have prevented Lake Tai’s from flushing out pesticides and fertilizers that flow into it. Particularly damaging are phosphates which suck out life-sustaining oxygen. Starting in the 1980s a number of chemical factories were built on its shores. As of the late 1990s there were 2,800 chemical factories around the lake, some of which released their waste directly into the lake in the middle of the night to avoid detection. Lake Tai Algae Blooms Algae bloom in Lake Tai In the summer of 2007, large algae blooms covered parts of Lake Tai and Lake Chao, China’s third and fifth largest freshwater lakes, making the water undrinkable and producing a terrible stench. Two million of residents of Wuxi, who normally rely on water from the Lake Tai for drinking water, couldnt bathe or wash dishes and hoarded bottled water that rose in price from $1 a bottle to $6 a bottle. Some turned on their taps only to have sludge emerge. The bloom on Lake Tai lasted for six days until it was flushed out by rain and water diverted from the Yangtze River. The bloom on Lake Chao did not threaten water supplies. Reporting from Zhoutie, near Lake Tai, William Wan wrote in Washington Post, â€Å"You smell the lake before you see it, an overwhelming stench like rotten eggs mixed with manure. The visuals are just as bad, the shore caked with toxic blue-green algae. Farther out, where the algae is more diluted but equally fueled by pollution, it swirls with the currents, a vast network of green tendrils across the surface of Tai Lake. [Source: William Wan, Washington Post, October 29, 2010] â€Å" Such pollution problems are now widespread in China after three decades of unbridled economic growth. But whats surprising about Tai Lake is the money and attention thats been spent on the problem and how little either has accomplished. Some of the countrys highest-ranking leaders, including Premier Wen Jiabao, have declared it a national priority. Millions of dollars have been poured into the cleanup. And yet, the lake is still a mess. The water remains undrinkable, the fish nearly gone, the fetid smell lingering over villages. [Ibid] At Tai Lake, part of the problem is that the same industrial factories poisoning the water also transformed the region into an economic powerhouse. Shutting them down, local leaders say, would destroy the economy overnight. In fact, many of the factories shut down during the 2007 scandal have since reopened under different names, environmentalists say. † [Ibid] â€Å"Tai Lake is the embodiment of Chinas losing fight against pollution. This summer, the government said that, despite stricter rules, pollution is rising again across the country in key categories such as emissions of sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain. Just months before, the government had revealed that water pollution was more than twice as severe as previous official figures had shown. † [Ibid] The algae bloom on Lake Tai was caused by toxic cyanobacteria, commonly called pond scum. It turned much of the lake florescent green and produced a terrible stench that could be smelled miles away from the lake. The Lake Tai bloom became a symbol of China’s lack of environmental regulations. Afterwards a high-level meeting on the lake’s future was convened, with Beijing closing down hundreds of chemical factories and promising to spend $14. 4 billion to clean up the lake.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Essay Example for Free

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Essay The short passage written by Joseph Conrad expressed through narration his impression of Africa. The narrator in the story was Marlow. In one part of the story, Marlow recounts his experiences as he was journeying up the Congo River. The images used in the story depict a downbeat mood. The Congo River reminded him of the prehistoric times when nature thrived the earth. It was situated in close proximity to deep and eerie forests, where dangerous creatures lurked. The forests were unwelcoming and the waters flowed in no particular direction. Marlow though the place to be disconnected from the real world saying, â€Å"†¦you thought yourself bewitched and cut off forever from everything you had known once. † These images imply differences between the worldview of European and African culture, because of how they see Africa. The African people see the forests as their home and their land. It is their most priceless possession from where their culture is deep-rooted. It is their way of life. The European views African lands as undeveloped. There is a need for civilization, and there is a need to eliminate the â€Å"barbaric† way of life. Conrad sees no ecstasy in the wealth of the African people. There is no pleasure, he says, in the unscathed forests and streams. There is nothing precious about it. However, the African people see their ancestral land as a jewel where they can be free observing their culture and their preferred way of life. It is not uninvolved with the world, but it is one with the earth because its people enjoy its native and inborn fruitfulness as it is. The African people obtain their food from hunting in the forest, and they hide in the forest to protect themselves from the enemy. The stream is their source of life. Metaphorically speaking, the images illustrated in the passage also criticize the culture of the African people as dark and untamed. Marlow reminisced, â€Å"†¦it came in the shape of an unrestful and noisy dream, remembered with wonder amongst the overwhelming realities of this strange world of plants, and water, and silence. † However, in the eyes of the African people, their culture identifies who they are as individuals and who they are as a group of people. The two images aforementioned clearly define a line that divides the worldviews of the European people and the African people.

Leadership Styles Of Laissez Faire

Leadership Styles Of Laissez Faire Tata Steel completed its  £6.2 billion (US$12 billion) acquisition of Corus Group at a price of 608 pence per ordinary share in cash on 2 April 2007.The first set of financial results for Corus since becoming a subsidiary of Tata Steel were for the 15 months ending 31st March 2008. Consolidated Financial Highlights 2007-08* (1) How would you describe the Leadership and the leadership style of the company and its relationship with the leadership theories that you are familiar with. Leadership Every company has president, board chairman or leader. For the most ways we agree that someone individually needs to head our businesses and social institutions. The leader of any organization expectedly completes his role which is given by communicating the values of the organization he or she represents. Simply we can define leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. Laissez-faire Laissez-Faire Leadership style is known hands off style where managers provides a very little or no directions and maximum freedom is given to staff. All authority given to the staff and they determine goals, resolve problems also makes decisions on their own. The effective use of this style is when staff is highly skilled experienced and educated. Staff have capacity to the work done successfully by their own and also when the staff is trustworthy and fully competent to perform tasks. This style should not be used in the absence of manager when staff feels insecurity, also managers unable to thank staff for their good work which has been done by team members. This approach of Leadership is being used in Corus Company. In Corus since 1950s lots of manufacturing techniques on quality based has been developed. Kaizen is one of those and its Japanese for continues improvement. The main focus of Kaizen is to make continues improvement and CI takes any company towards lean production system. In lean Production system Waste is minimized, flow of work is smooth and total focus of business is on customer needs. Lean system is basically less recourses used efficiently. Where increase in production makes organization profitable. By Continuous Improvement system Corus helps to eliminate waste in various key areas. One aspect is Lean Production which helps to save costs of stock which is the Just in Time (JIT) principle. Just in time means supply of the good at the same time when these are needed. With the help of JIT a minimum stock is kept and maximum finished products to meet demand of customer. It requires well organized system. This system carries risks as well if suppliers fail to supply then organizatio n less able to meet the requirements of customer. Continuous improvement influences the whole employees effectiveness towards the customer needs. By this way employees need to adopt the continuous improvement principal which starts with senior management. Under the leadership of senior management CI works through the whole organization. In this system strong communication skills are important among the departments. Corus carries out regular presentations to let the employees know that how CI is improving business. CI also uses written communication. Everyone is the part to play with continuous improvement. Corus employees contribute ideas for improving their working practices under the supervision of various CI groups. And every person knows very well how to make improvements. Empowerment is given to employees and managers help towards employees gives them the job satisfaction. Corus enjoys the benefits of becoming more profitable organization by reducing the cost, and securing high value orders and time saving operations. Continuous Improvement not only makes Corus more efficient but also provides many benefits to its external stakeholders. (2) In evaluating organisation culture, how would you describe the cultural philosophy of the organisation, its implication on the workforce and the organisation performances? Organizational culture refers to the underlining values, believes and principles, that serve as a foundation for the management system, management practices, and their behavior (Brown, 1995). Organizational culture deeply rooted into the structure and members of the organization. We can say organizational culture (generally) provides a framework or track for the organization to run smoothly to success and, if effective, provides its employees an opportunity to develop themselves, depending on the employees personal ambitions. Culture is the collection of traditions, values, policies, beliefs, and attitudes that constitutes a pervasive context for everything we do and think in an organisation. Culture could also be defined as the collective self-image and styles of an organisation; its shared values and beliefs, norms and symbols (The way we do things around here) The impact of organizational culture on workforce and organizational performance varied depends upon whether the organization has a culture strong or weak but there are some general things that apply on it many of the workers are spending more and more time at workplace which totally depends on the job. It is a common phenomenon that a happy worker is pretty productive and this is one of the good impacts on the organizations performance. A strong organization always focuses on the environment it creates should be encourage able, efficient and productive for employees which shows importance of the employees in the organization. Such things generally have best response from its employees and also good for them to achieve goals. We aim to balance the needs of our stakeholders by incorporating the principles of sustainability into all aspects of our business. Performance culture of Corus is based on four pillars and the aim of Corus is about the work of employees together for achieving t he business goals. The responsibility of each and every employee is corporate by giving the full support from bottom to top in accordance with the performance culture. Aspirational targets are where Corus challenges to understand the boundaries, set ambitions, and value added growth to delight customers by giving them maximum value together and to set the benchmark for the best performance. Corus keeps in mind safe workplace high ethical standards, communities, prevent harmful injuries and respects environment culture for the safety and social responsibility. Continuous improvement system is the uniformity of employees management system towards the best performance through teamwork to make organization profitable. Its motivation, coaching individual, develop talent and empowering the employees. Openness and transparency is about trust, spirit and cooperation throughout teamwork at all levels in any group of organization. This encourages database communication respect decisions and e ach other and inspires peace, passion and pride among the employees.

Excerpt From Thoreaus Walden :: Walden Thoreau Transcendentalism Essays

Excerpt From Thoreau's Walden Colonization in Plymouth I awoke before the first rays of sunlight had passed through the dew-covered trees to the west today. It had rained the evening before, and the smell of wet leaves and grass was still lingering in the air. I prepared myself for the upcoming adventurous day. I set out along a less-traveled path through the woods leading to the shore. I could hear every rustle of the newly fallen leaves covering the ground. The brown ground signaled the changing of seasons and nature's way of preparing for the long winter ahead. Soon these leaves would be covered with a thick layer of snow. The leaves still clinging to the trees above displayed a brilliant array of color, simultaneously showing the differences of each and the beauty of the entire forest. I tracked over to my favorite spot on the edge of the wood: a clearing encompassed by thick trees. The area had many sweet-smelling balsam trees that reminded me of Christmas back home. A few of the remaining leaves fell from the branches of the maple trees above me. The water was calm, like the morning; both were starting to get ready for the day ahead. The silent water signals that although rough times occurred previously, the new day was a new start for the world. As I went closer to the water, I heard the subtle lapping of the water against the small rocks on the shore. Every sign of nature signals a change in life; no matter how slight, a change is significant. We can learn a lot from nature: whatever happens in the natural world, change comes and starts a new occurrence. I gazed over the water to where the sky met the sea. The body of water seemed to be endless under the clear blue sky. The scope of nature shows endless possibilities. Nature impresses us with the brilliant colors of the sky, the leaves, the water. She keeps us all in our places and warns us when we are careless with her. After all the leaves have fallen from the trees, she will offer us the first snows of the year to coat the earth with a tranquil covering. That will only b e after we have recognized the lessons of autumn, the gradual change from warm to cold, rain to snow, summer to winter.

Family relationships Essay -- English Literature

Family relationships It is debatable whether family relationships are central to the novel ‘Emma’ and are indeed the foundations on which Highbury is built. Families may be viewed as objects of satire, as those featured are a source of financial rather than emotional support. Throughout the novel, status is built upon class position, material possession and finance, its characters eager to display such ‘qualities’. This essay shall demonstrate the emphasis placed upon wealth and social status, identify and interpret corresponding family units, as well as explore the use of match-making and marital agreements. The large proportion of families, contradict the perception that family relationships are the core of the novel and the foundations of Highbury life. For, families featured are predominantly broken or incomplete. The Woodhouses’ are one of the more prominent examples of rich yet emotionally lacking families in Highbury. For, the relationship between Emma and her father involves constant humouring on Emma’s part. Mr Woodhouse is an example of Austen’s use of exaggerated and satirical humour in order to emphasise the inadequacies of many families and individual members. With the death of Emma’s mother, a governess Ms Taylor acts as a replacement and the only source of emotional dependence for Emma. However, in light of Ms Taylor’s marriage to Mr Weston, it can be said that the clear source of family support and intimacy is removed, deepening the instability of the Woodhouse family at Hartfield. The absence of strong family relationships with regards to the Woodhouse’s, reinforce ideas that relationships are not at the core of society. The relationship between Mr Weston and his son Frank Churchill... ...or financial motives. Austen therefore suggests that many choices were made even though husband and wife did not even respect each other and indicate the impact of money in society. Although socially appropriate marriages, according to status are still apparent by the end of the novel, some superficiality associated with characters ceases to continue. In particular, Emma with regards to initial match-making schemes and the initial narrow minded views that she possesses. Emma and Mr Knightly, Harriet with Mr Martin and Jane with Frank Churchill contradict the frequent number of marriages based upon the wrong reasons in the 18th century. There is hope therefore; that the new families created would have valued the importance of family relationships to therefore change the foundations of Highbury, so that they would have indeed become central to the society.

Geroge Patton :: Essays Papers

Geroge Patton I am going to talk about the Patton’s life in general. This includes his child hood, education, his military career, and his involvement in the world wars. George was born on a ranch on November 11, 1885 in San Gabriel, California. He went to school in Pasadena and later to the Virginia Military Institute from 1903-1904. He was not a good student, but he was an excellent sailor. He was also a great track athlete. He took part in the Olympics at Stockholm in 1912 and set a world record in target shooting. He also won first or second place in swimming, horsemanship, and racing. On May 26, 1910 George married Beatrice Ayer of Boston. They had 1 son and 2 daughters. The son went to West Point in 1942 and both daughters married army men. In 1904 he was appointed to the United States Military Academy. He graduated in 1909 and was commissioned to second lieutenant of Calvary. He was first involved in an expedition in Mexico as an aide to General Pershing in 1917. He was a member of Pershing’s staff and went to France and studied French Tank Tactics and the French Tank School. During World War 1, he started a tank training school and commanded a tank brigade. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his courge, energy, and intelligence in directing the advance of his brigade in 1918. From 1919-1928, he commanded and trained several different brigade units around the United States. From 1928-1931, he served in Washington D.C. as the Chief of Calvery. He commanded many different calvalry units from 1932-1938. During this time he earned the permanent rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During World War 2, he commanded U.S. forces in Morocco, Tunisia, and Sicily. In 1944 he was given command of the third army. The third army broke through the German defense and advanced across France. In March 1945, they crossed the Rhine river Geroge Patton :: Essays Papers Geroge Patton I am going to talk about the Patton’s life in general. This includes his child hood, education, his military career, and his involvement in the world wars. George was born on a ranch on November 11, 1885 in San Gabriel, California. He went to school in Pasadena and later to the Virginia Military Institute from 1903-1904. He was not a good student, but he was an excellent sailor. He was also a great track athlete. He took part in the Olympics at Stockholm in 1912 and set a world record in target shooting. He also won first or second place in swimming, horsemanship, and racing. On May 26, 1910 George married Beatrice Ayer of Boston. They had 1 son and 2 daughters. The son went to West Point in 1942 and both daughters married army men. In 1904 he was appointed to the United States Military Academy. He graduated in 1909 and was commissioned to second lieutenant of Calvary. He was first involved in an expedition in Mexico as an aide to General Pershing in 1917. He was a member of Pershing’s staff and went to France and studied French Tank Tactics and the French Tank School. During World War 1, he started a tank training school and commanded a tank brigade. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his courge, energy, and intelligence in directing the advance of his brigade in 1918. From 1919-1928, he commanded and trained several different brigade units around the United States. From 1928-1931, he served in Washington D.C. as the Chief of Calvery. He commanded many different calvalry units from 1932-1938. During this time he earned the permanent rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During World War 2, he commanded U.S. forces in Morocco, Tunisia, and Sicily. In 1944 he was given command of the third army. The third army broke through the German defense and advanced across France. In March 1945, they crossed the Rhine river

Facebook and Student Essay

People use Facebook for many reasons; some of them consider it the vehicle to communicate with their friends, including old friends or current friends; some agree that it also helps them relax when they are stressful; others, on the other hand, might argue that Facebook brings distractions to them (Facebook 101). For instance, my friend, a quite person, did not socialize with people in both real life and in the Internet community. However, after knowing Facebook in a short period of time, he became addicted to it. He used most of his time to chat with friends, to play games, and to stare at his Facebook profile. Now, his friends list comes up to 300 and he daily logs on Facebook from 3 to 4 hours a day. Hopefully, this research of our group will help college students get better understanding of the role of Facebook in students’ lives. Moreover, not only students in general but also people of all ages will gain their cognitive of the advantages and disadvantages of Facebook. The research will benefit reader to determine whether Facebook is good or bad for human being. Furthermore, if people use it as a habit or want to check of how frequently they use it, they could apply this research as an important source to figure out whether they are addicted to Facebook or not, or where they are in the rank. Hypotheses: Our research paper is mainly focused on the impacts of Facebook on BHCC students. The effects will be discussed on both negative and positive sides of Facebook. First of all, we predict that Facebook will mostly bring negative effects on students and employees. If they use it so repeatedly, they might be addicted and cause distractions in working or studying. This is already proved in the story of my friend. Secondly, because of the separation of geographies or busy life, people tend to talk less and type more in this modern life. So, we also want to check it out of how many percentages that Facebook occupies our private lives. The last assumption will mention about privacy threat on Facebook. On the other hand, besides of its negative, our group wants to observe how people use Facebook effectively since it is the most useful communication tool to most people. Research Method: Our research was done with the survey format of 22 questions. We developed questions with many concerns about Facebook. All the questions were related directly to our purposes, which are substitution of social life, distractions to school/work, privacy theft, and communication tool. Approximately each category will cover from 4 to 5 questions to get into deep understanding of the aspects. Each of the questions shows the list of answers for participants to demonstrate their thoughts. When we provide the survey to participants, we are not stay close to them to make sure that they could feel comfortable when filling the questions. We are not going to record any participants’ names and to remain them anonymous. To do that, we could get the answers honestly and that would serve the expectation of our group. Participants and Procedure: Our group met several times for the research very carefully to discuss what we would do for the plan. First, we decided to work on Facebook but it was such the general issue for us whether to go on its good or bad sides. Properly, many college students just see advantage sides but they do not perspective of its side effects. Hence, we combined both sides, and decided that we would concentrate more on the negative effects of Facebook. After gathering all the questions of each member, we filtered and arranged them in order in the survey. To collect and choose which questions are suitable for out hypotheses, it took us almost two weeks to come up with all agreements. Understanding that people are hesitating to help our research, the reasons are vary as they are in rush, they are lazy, or even they do not want to listen to what we talking about. Furthermore, we targeted on BHCC’s college student, so we finally chose to go to the BHCC’s library or started with our other classmates to get the results. Moreover, we provided our team members spent a week conducting the survey to ensure that they could do the project thoroughly. Especially, we already created Facebook group account for our members to share, to debate, and to discuss and make sure we were on the right track. Surprisingly, the results came out our pleasure: BHCC’s students were eager and happy to help us when asked to fill out with Facebook questions. However, very few numbers of participants answer our  survey quickly and unready, so we already ignore those minorities. Data Results and Analysis: Our group had a total of 162 surveys, which were added by all of our group members. In our last question we asking people about â€Å"What would you rather describe Facebook as?†, and the result did not surprise us, we already knew that as an assumption. More than half of our participants –118 out of 162 or 73 percent of total result– consented that Facebook as a useful communication too. Some of them added that they used Facebook to communicate with friends and families, to share pictures, videos, status and information, or to kill time if bored; therefore, most of them choose to pick its good side as an answer. The last 27 percent, 44 of 162, chose â€Å"a powerful distraction† as the result (Figure 1). As you can see on the chart (Figure 2), it can explain why three-fourth of our participants prefers Facebook as useful tool (Figure 1). There are so many ways to use Facebook that suite with people interests. The majority of participants use Facebook to check mail, to chat, to communicate, and to update friends’ information as 97 of 497 (19%), 80 of 497 (16%), 75 of 497 (15%), and 62 of 497 (13%) respectively. Besides that, 4% users also log in Facebook for playing games/quizzes, and 9% use it for relaxing when bored. It is interesting that there are a small number of participants – 11 students, approximately 2% in total – choose Facebook as a studying tool. As we mention above, Facebook is also distractive at work and school, and the statistic already proved this. 56 percentages – slightly above half of the percentages — access to Facebook at home, 21 percentages and 4 percentages do that at work and school. The rest 19 percentages access by cell phones; even though we do not know exactly where they use them, we indicate they are not properly use them at home. (Figure 3) According to the results from survey, we divided this bar chart into two categories: addicted group and non-addicted group. The first group includes many times/day, more than 2 hours/day, 1-2 hours/day, and 3-5 hours/week. The other is 1-2 hours/week and less than an hour/week. Both groups have  nearly equal balance about 50 percent each; therefore, we could have more trustful information and it is not bias. (Figure 4) After all, we conclude BHCC’s students are not really addicted on Facebook. They contribute equally in both studying/working and relaxing on Facebook. We agree that Facebook right now is the most popular use in the world and it is on the way growing up, yet it still cannot replace other multimedia communications like phones in general, instant messengers, and in direct with person. In the figure 5, Facebook occupies the smallest percentage in the pie chart with 17%. The next two common ways of communicating with friends are using instant messengers like Yahoo, AIM, MSN, or Skype (19%), and socializing with friend face to face (18%). Absolutely, instant messengers and in person have theirs advantages in communication because we can listen and talk simultaneously, or even we can see our partner faces by webcams. The largest percentage is using phones which are 46%. They are still the most familiar way to exchange all the time by talking and texting. We assume that because of its lack of â€Å"live† features like those above, Facebook still cannot be a substitution in personal life. Figure 6 and figure 7 show us â€Å"How many friends are there in participant friend’s list?†, and â€Å"With how many out of your Facebook friends do you frequently communicate?† People tent to protect their privacies by having fewer friends than ever on Facebook, 53 percentages and 35 percentages are chosen to have less than 100 friends and from 100 to 200 friends in friends’ list (Figure 6). In there, 25% and 50% is the most common rank to contact with friends on friends’ list, approximately 52 percentages. The next best option is less than 25% with 31 percentages (Figure 7). Our results in the survey proved that people do not really want to socialize usually on Facebook; they just need Facebook to relax, not the place for them to put their personal information. In the next graph will show how Facebook users think of privacy when using it. (Figure 8) More than half of our respondents do not want to add unknown people as friends, about 70% (Figure 8). This could be explained, if they add them as friends, they do not contact with them on Facebook, according to figure 7. Generally speaking, people do not want to express themselves on social network. Conclusion: The result of doing this survey gives us better interpretation of how a social network could affect on people life. Especially BHCC’s students, they adopt and love Facebook’s features, but they could still control their time spending on it. Therefore, most of the students consider Facebook a helpful tool to socialize with others. Even though Facebook is good for students to communicate with other people and make their social life happier, sometimes, Facebook appears to be a distraction to their study and private life. Using Facebook too much can make student exhausted and also affect their health badly. In addition, it is important to realize that Facebook is only an online tool, and it cannot replace human being’s activities. Students should allocate their time spending on studying, socializing, and using Facebook effectively, so that they can balance their real life and their online life to avoid being distracted by any network. Limitation: Even our team has done with the research, but it still has limitations when doing this. Due to the lack of processing time and missing experience in each member of us, we extend more time on choosing questions, or picking for secondary research, and then filtering the result as well. The amount of seven weeks seems not enough for us to accomplish a professional research as others. In addition, funding is also significant too. Because we did have any fund for the research, so we mainly focus on BHCC college’s students and limit on the number of respondents. In our questionnaires, we would want to ask more questions about how distractive in performance of workers and students at Bunker Hill Community College, and we desire to collect more information from school staffs and professors. However, our results from the participants are appropriated because of respondent’s excitements and their honest answers. We are glad that they did cooperate very well with us. Works Cited N.p., n.d. â€Å"Facebook- The Complete Biography† Web. 13 May 2010. . â€Å"Facebook 101: Ten Things You Need to Know About Facebook.† EBSCOhost. Ed. Thomas Krivak. Information Today Inc. 2010. Web. 01 May 2010 .

Festivals Essay

Festivals is a celebration of life. These celebrations bring peace and joy to the humanity ,and break the monotony of life. Festivals are numerous in my country. We can divide festivals into three kinds; national, religious and seasonal. In connection with the first kind, the national festivals are celebrated with great patriotic favour. The second represents the religious association of people. The third marks the change of season that public celebrate their faith or seasonal change with gaiety and enthusiasm. In my beloved country, The national festivals as Hala February; it is an annual festival, that is organized by Kuwait city. Being a distinct month in Kuwait because, it coincides with both Kuwait’s National and Liberation Days. Kuwait, in February, is known for its moderate weather and beauty of nature. Festivals are organized during all the month. Variety of activities, carnivals and special events are organized through the festival. Festival attendants, also, enjoy sp ending their time in shopping, as well as, attending musical parties, poetry evenings, cultural seminars and plastic arts. Many opportunities are available for winning special prizes and gifts in the daily raffles. In addition, sport teams on both the local and international level participate in the various activities held in the Kuwait sporting clubs. The religious festivals as Eid Al-Fitr; All Kuwaiti people look very happy, everybody wake up early in the morning and wear the best of clothes that one possesses. Then, they go to perform Eid prayer in open areas or at mosques. After the prayer, people usually visit their family, friends, give gifts to children, and make phone calls to distant relatives to give well-wishes for the Eid. These activities traditionally continue for three days. The entire 3-day period is an official holiday. The seasonal festivals as New Year’s Eve; it is one of the most celebrated days in the world. It is something that we all look forward to. It marks the beginning of a year and the end to another year. This day is shaped by different customs and traditions. Each culture celebrates this festival in its own way. Every country has its own way to celebrate New Year’s Eve. In me country, Streets become crowded with people celebrating the advent of the New Year with fireworks in a joyous occasion. The celebration continued at the maritime facade of the Gulf beach where citizens and foreigners had gathered to observe the wonderful event, there are other celebrations at various commercial complexes and in areas along t he Gulf beach, while  motorists performed amazing stunts on the roads. People enjoy the entire day, taking rest and welcoming the year with all high spirits and enjoyment. They get together with friends and family makes it more exciting and fun. Everybody hopes and wishes that the year ahead would give them peace, harmony, happiness and wealth, not only for them but to mankind across the globe. Finally, Festivals are part of one’s custom, culture and tradition. They are there for us to celebrate. It helps us forget our routine. It gives us some momentary, mental and physical relaxation and thus frees us from die shackles of monotonous work. It is a celebration, entertainment or series of performances of a certain kind, often held periodically.

A Dirty Job Chapter 23

23 A FUCKED-UP DAY It was a fucked-up day in the City by the Bay. At first light, flocks of vultures perched on the superstructures of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, and glared down at commuters as if they had a lot of goddamn gall to still be alive and driving. Traffic copters that were diverted to photograph the ranks of carrion birds ended up covering a spiral cloud of bats that circled the Transamerica pyramid for ten minutes, then seemed to evaporate into a black mist that floated out over the Bay. Three swimmers who had been competing in the San Francisco Triathlon drowned in the Bay, and a helicopter camera photographed something under the water, a dark shape approaching one of the swimmers from below and dragging him under. Numerous replays of the tape revealed that rather than the sleek shape of a shark, the creature had a wide wingspan and a distinctly horned head, unlike any ray or skate that anyone had ever seen before. The ducks in Golden Gate Park suddenly took to the wing and left the area, the hundreds of sea lions that normally lounged in the sun down at Pier 39 were gone as well, and even the pigeons seemed to have disappeared from the City. A grunt reporter who had been covering the overnight police blotter noticed the coincidence of seven reports of violence or missing persons at local-area secondhand stores, and by early evening the television stations were mentioning it, along with spectacular footage of the Book 'em Danno building burning in the Mission. And there were hundreds of singular events experienced by individuals: creatures moving in the shadows, voices and screams from the sewer grates, milk souring, cats scratching owners, dogs howling, and a thousand people woke up to find that they no longer cared for the taste of chocolate. It was a fucked-up day. Charlie spent the rest of the night fretting and checking locks, then double-checking them, then looking on the Internet for clues about the Underworlders, just in case someone posted a brand-new ancient document since he'd last checked. He wrote a will, and several letters, which he walked outside and put in the mailbox out on the street rather than with the outgoing mail on the counter of the store. Then, around dawn, completely exhausted yet with his Beta Male imagination racing at a thousand miles an hour, he took two of the sleeping pills Jane had given him and slept through the fucked-up day, to be awakened in early evening by a call from his darling daughter. â€Å"Hello.† â€Å"Aunt Cassie is an anti-Semite,† said Sophie. â€Å"Honey, it's six in the morning. Can we discuss Aunt Cassie's politics a little later?† â€Å"It is not, it's six at night. It's bath time, and Aunt Cassie won't let me bring Alvin and Mohammed into the bathroom with me for my bath, because she's an anti-Semite.† Charlie looked at his watch. He was sort of glad that it was six in the evening and he was talking to his daughter. Whatever happened while he was sleeping at least hadn't affected that. â€Å"Cassie is not an anti-Semite.† It was Jane on the other line. â€Å"Is too,† said Sophie. â€Å"Be careful, Daddy, Aunt Jane is an anti-Semite sympathizer.† â€Å"I am not,† Jane said. â€Å"Listen to how smart my daughter is,† said Charlie. â€Å"I didn't know words like anti-Semite and sympathizer when I was her age, did you?† â€Å"You can't trust the goyim, Daddy,† said Sophie. She lowered her voice to a whisper. â€Å"They hate baths, the goyim.† â€Å"Daddy's a goyim, too, baby.† â€Å"Oh my God, they're everywhere, like pod people!† He heard his daughter drop the phone, scream, and then a door slammed. â€Å"Sophie, you unlock this door this instant,† Cassie said in the background. Jane said, â€Å"Charlie, where does she get this stuff? Are you teaching her this?† â€Å"It's Mrs. Korjev – she's descended from Cossacks and she has a little residual guilt for what her ancestors did to the Jews.† â€Å"Oh,† Jane said, not interested now that she couldn't blame Charlie. â€Å"Well, you shouldn't let the dogs in the bathroom with her. They eat the soap and sometimes they get in the tub, and then – â€Å" â€Å"Let them go with her, Jane,† Charlie interrupted. â€Å"They may be the only thing that can protect her.† â€Å"Okay, but I'm only letting them eat the cheap soaps. No French-milled soaps.† â€Å"They're fine with domestic soap, Jane. Look, I drew up a holographic will last night. If something happens to me, I want you to raise Sophie. It's in there.† Jane didn't answer. He could hear her breathing on the other end. â€Å"Jane?† â€Å"Sure, sure. Of course. What the hell is going on with you guys? What's the big danger Sophie's in? Why are you being spooky like this? And why didn't you call earlier, you fucker?† â€Å"I was up all night doing stuff. Then I took two of those sleeping pills you gave me. Suddenly twelve hours are gone.† â€Å"You took two? Never take two.† â€Å"Yeah, thanks,† Charlie said. â€Å"Anyway, I'm sure I'll be okay, but if for some reason I'm not, you need to take Sophie and get out of the City for a while. I mean like up in the Sierras. I also sent you a letter explaining everything, as much as I know, anyway. Only open it if something happens, okay?† â€Å"Nothing better happen, you fuck. I just lost Mom, and I – why the hell are you talking like this, Charlie? What kind of trouble are you in?† â€Å"I can't tell you, Jane. You have to trust me that I didn't have any choice in the matter.† â€Å"How can I help?† â€Å"By doing exactly what you're doing, taking care of Sophie, keeping her safe, and keeping the hellhounds with her at all times.† â€Å"Okay, but nothing better happen to you. Cassie and I are going to get married and I want you to give me away. And I want to borrow your tux, too. It's Armani, right?† â€Å"No, Jane.† â€Å"You won't give me away?† â€Å"No, no, it's not that, I'd pay her to take you, it's not that.† â€Å"Then you don't think that gay people should be allowed to get married, is that it? You're finally coming clean. I knew it, after all – â€Å" â€Å"I just don't think that gay people should be allowed to get married wearing my tux.† â€Å"Oh,† Jane said. â€Å"You'll wear my Armani tux and I'll have to rent some piece of crap or buy something new and cheap, and then I'll go through eternity looking like a total dork in the wedding pictures. I know how you guys like to show wedding pictures – it's like a disease.† â€Å"By ‘you guys,' you mean lesbians?† Jane said, sounding very much like a prosecuting attorney. â€Å"Yes, I mean lesbians, dumbfuck,† said Charlie, sounding very much like a hostile witness. â€Å"Oh, okay,† Jane said. â€Å"It is my wedding, I guess I can buy a tux.† â€Å"That would be nice,† Charlie said. â€Å"I'm sort of needing the pants cut a little looser in the seat these days anyway,† Jane said. â€Å"Thatta girl.† â€Å"So you'll be safe and give me away.† â€Å"I'll sure try. You think Cassandra will let me bring the little Jewish kid?† Jane laughed. â€Å"Call me every hour,† she said. â€Å"I won't do that.† â€Å"Okay, when you can.† â€Å"Yeah,† Charlie said. â€Å"Bye.† He smiled to himself and rolled out of bed, wondering if this might be the last time he would ever do that. Smile. Charlie showered, ate a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, and put on a thousand-dollar suit for which he had paid forty bucks. He limped around the bedroom for a few minutes and decided that his leg felt pretty good and he could do without the foam walking cast, so he left it on the floor by the bed. He put on a pot of coffee and called Inspector Rivera. â€Å"It was a fucked-up day,† Rivera said. â€Å"Charlie, you need to take your daughter and get out of town.† â€Å"I can't do that. This is about me. You'll keep me informed, right?† â€Å"Promise you won't try to do anything stupid or heroic?† â€Å"Not in my DNA, Inspector. I'll call you if I see anything.† Charlie disconnected, having no idea what he was going to do, but feeling like he had to do something. He called Jane's house to say good night to Sophie. â€Å"I just want you to know that I love you very much, honey.† â€Å"Me, too, Daddy. Why did you call?† â€Å"What, you have a meeting or something?† â€Å"We're having ice cream.† â€Å"That's nice. Look, Sophie, Daddy has to go do some things, so I want you to stay with Aunt Jane for a few days, okay?† â€Å"Okay. Do you need some help? I'm free.† â€Å"No, honey, but thank you.† â€Å"Okay, Daddy. Alvin is looking at my ice cream. He looks hungry, like bear. I have to go.† â€Å"Love you, honey.† â€Å"Love you, Daddy.† â€Å"Apologize to Aunt Cassie for calling her an anti-Semite.† â€Å"‘Kay.† Click. She hung up on him. The apple of his eye, the light of his life, his pride and joy, hung up on him. He sighed, but felt better. Heartbreak is the natural habitat of the Beta Male. Charlie took a few minutes in the kitchen to sharpen the edge of the sword-cane on the back of the electric can opener he and Rachel had received as a wedding present, then he headed out to check on the store. As soon as he opened the door to the back staircase Charlie heard strange animal noises coming from the store. It sounded as if they were coming from the back room, and there were no lights on, although he could see plenty of light filtering in from the store. Was this it? Sort of solved the problem of what he was going to do. He drew the sword from his cane and crept down the stairs in a crouch, moving along the edge of each step to minimize squeakage. Halfway down he saw the source of the animal noises and he recoiled, leaping nearly halfway back up the staircase. â€Å"For the love of God!† â€Å"It needed to be done,† Lily said. She was astraddle Ray Macy, her plaid pleated skirt (mercifully) draped out over him, covering the parts that would have caused Charlie to have to tear his eyes out, which he was thinking about doing anyway. â€Å"It did,† Ray agreed breathlessly. Charlie peeked down into the back room – they were still at it, Lily riding Ray like he was a mechanical bull, one bare breast bouncing out of the lapel of her chef ‘s coat. â€Å"He was despondent,† she said. â€Å"I found him giving himself hickies with the shop vac. It's for the greater good, Asher.† â€Å"Well, stop it,† Charlie said. â€Å"No, no, no, no, no,† said Ray. â€Å"It's a charity thing,† Lily said. â€Å"You know, Lily,† Charlie said, covering his eyes, â€Å"you could exercise your charity in other ways, like Salvation Army Santa or something.† â€Å"I don't want to fuck those guys. Most of them are raging alcoholics, and they stink. At least Ray is clean.† â€Å"I don't mean do one, I mean be one. Ring the bell with the little red kettle. Jeez.† â€Å"I am clean,† said Ray. â€Å"You shut up,† Charlie said. â€Å"She's young enough to be your daughter.† â€Å"He was suicidal,† Lily said. â€Å"I may be saving his life.† â€Å"She is,† Ray said. â€Å"Shut up, Ray,† Charlie said. â€Å"This is pathetic, desperate pity sex, that's all it is.† â€Å"He knows that,† Lily said. â€Å"I don't mind,† said Ray. â€Å"I'm doing this for the cause, too,† Lily said. â€Å"Ray was holding out on you.† â€Å"I was?† said Ray. â€Å"How?† Charlie said. â€Å"He found a woman who was buying all the soul vessels. She was with the clients you missed. Somewhere in the Mission. He wasn't going to tell you about her.† â€Å"I don't know what you're talking about,† Ray said. Then added, â€Å"Faster, please.† â€Å"Tell him the address,† Lily said. â€Å"Lily,† Charlie said, â€Å"this isn't really necessary.† â€Å"No,† Ray said. There was a loud smack. Charlie opened his eyes. They were still there, doing it, but Ray's right cheek was bright red and Lily was winding up to slap him again. â€Å"Tell him!† â€Å"It's on Guerrero Street, between Eighteenth and Nineteenth, I don't know the number, but it's a big green Victorian, you can't miss it. Three Jewels Buddhist Center.† SMACK! â€Å"Ouch, I told him,† Ray whined. â€Å"That's for not getting the address, BITCH!† Lily said. Then to Charlie: â€Å"There you go, Asher. I want a prime position when you take over the Underworld!† Charlie thought that one of the first things he was going to change when he took over was expanding The Great Big Book of Death to include how to handle situations like this. But instead he said, â€Å"You got it, Lily. You'll be in charge of dress code and torture.† â€Å"Sweet,† Lily said. â€Å"‘Scuse me, Asher, I have to finish this.† Then to Ray: â€Å"Hear that? No more flannel shirts for you, grommet!† SMACK! The grunts coming from Ray increased in frequency and intensity. â€Å"Sure,† Charlie said. â€Å"I'll just go out the other door.† â€Å"See ya,† Ray said. â€Å"I'm never going to look either one of you in the eye again, okay?† â€Å"Sounds good, Asher,† Lily said. â€Å"Be careful.† Charlie crept back up the steps, went out the front door of his apartment and down the elevator to the street entrance, suppressing his gag reflex the whole way. On the street he flagged down a cab and rode into the Mission, trying to wipe the image of his shagging employees out of his mind. The Morrigan had followed the gift souls that had escaped through the drains to a deserted street in the Mission. Now they waited, watching the green Victorian building from storm-drain grates at either end of the street. They were more cautious now, their rapacious nature having been dampened somewhat by having been severely blown up the night before. They called them the gift souls because the little patchwork creatures brought the souls right to them in the sewers – the gifts showing up in the Morrigan's weakest moment. After the accursed Boston terrier had chased them through miles of pipelines, leaving them battered and exhausted on a high ledge at a pipe junction, along marched twenty or so of the darling little nightmares, all dressed up in finery and carrying just what they needed to heal their wounds and replenish their strength: human souls. And thus renewed, they were able to scare away that obnoxious little dog. The Morrigan were back – not to the strength they'd achieved before the explosion, maybe not even enough to fly, but certainly enough to venture Above once again, especially with so many souls at hand. No one was out on the streets tonight except the junkies, the hookers, and the homeless. After the fucked-up day in the City, most everyone had decided that it was just a better idea to stay in, safer. To the Morrigan (for all they cared), they were safer in their homes the same way a tuna fish is safer in a can, but no one knew that yet. No one knew what they were hiding from except Charlie Asher, and he was getting out of a cab right in front of them as they watched. â€Å"It's New Meat,† said Macha. â€Å"We should give him a new name,† said Babd. â€Å"I mean, he's really not that new anymore.† â€Å"Hush,† hushed Macha. â€Å"Hey, lover,† Babd called out of her drain. â€Å"Did you miss me?† Charlie paid the cabbie and stood in the middle of the street looking at the big jade-green Queen Anne. There were lights on in the turret upstairs and in one window downstairs. He could just make out the sign that read THREE JEWELS BUDDHIST CENTER. He started to step toward the house and saw movement in the lattice under the porch – eyes shining. A cat maybe. His cell phone rang and he flipped it open. â€Å"Charlie, it's Rivera. I have some good news; we found Carrie Long, the woman from the pawnshop, and she's still alive. She was tied up and thrown in a Dumpster a block from her store.† â€Å"That's great,† Charlie said. But he wasn't feeling great. The things that had been moving under the porch were coming out. Moving up the stairs, standing on the porch, lining up and facing him. Twenty or thirty of them, a little more than a foot tall, dressed in ornate period costumes. Each had the skeletal face of a dead animal, cats, foxes, badgers – animals Charlie couldn't identify, but just the skulls – the eye sockets empty, black. Yet they stared. â€Å"You won't believe what she said put her there, Charlie. Little creatures, little monsters, she said.† â€Å"About fourteen inches tall,† Charlie said. â€Å"Yeah, how'd you know?† â€Å"Lots of teeth and claws, like animal parts stuck together, all dressed up like they were going to a grand costume ball?† â€Å"What are you telling me, Charlie? What do you know?† â€Å"Just guessing,† Charlie said. He unclipped the latch on his sword-cane. â€Å"Hey, lover,† came a female voice from behind him. â€Å"Did you miss me?† Charlie turned. She was crawling out of the drain almost directly behind him. â€Å"The bad news,† Rivera said, â€Å"is we found the junk dealer and the bookstore guy from Book 'em Danno – pieces of them.† â€Å"That is bad news,† Charlie said. He started moving up the street, away from the sewer harpy and the porch full of Satan's sock puppets. â€Å"New Meat,† came a voice from up the street. Charlie looked to see another sewer harpy coming out of the drain, her eyes gleaming black in the streetlight. Behind him he heard the clacking of little animal teeth. â€Å"Charlie, I still think you should leave town for a while, but if you don't, and don't tell anyone I told you this, you should get a gun, maybe a couple of guns.† â€Å"I think that would be a great idea,† Charlie said. The two sewer harpies were moving very slowly toward him, awkwardly, as if their nerves were short-circuiting. The one closest to him, the one from the alley in North Beach, was licking her lips. She looked a little ragged compared to the night she'd seduced him. He moved up the street away from them. â€Å"A shotgun, so you won't need to learn to shoot. I can't give you one, but – â€Å" â€Å"Inspector, I'm going to have to get back to you.† â€Å"I'm serious, Charlie, whatever these things are, they are going after your kind.† â€Å"You have no idea how clear that is to me, Inspector.† â€Å"Is that the one who shot me?† said the closest harpy. â€Å"Tell him I'm going to suck his eyeballs out of the sockets and chew them in his ear.† â€Å"You get that, Inspector?† Charlie said. â€Å"She's there?† â€Å"They,† Charlie said. â€Å"This way, Meat,† said the third sewer harpy, coming out of the drain at the far end of the block. She stood, extended her claws, and flicked a line of venom down the side of a parked car. The paint sizzled and ran where it hit. â€Å"Where are you, Charlie? Where are you?† â€Å"I'm in the Mission. Near the Mission.† The little creatures were coming down the steps now, down the walk toward the street. â€Å"Look,† said a harpy, â€Å"he brought presents.† â€Å"Charlie, where exactly are you?† said Rivera. â€Å"Gotta go, Inspector.† Charlie flipped the phone closed and dropped it in his coat pocket. Then he drew the sword from the cane and turned to the harpy from the alley. â€Å"For you,† he said to her, whipping the sword in a flourish through the air. â€Å"That's sweet,† she said. â€Å"You always think about my needs.† The 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham was the perfect show-off of death machines. It consisted of nearly three tons of steel stamped into a massively mawed, high-tailed beast, lined with enough chrome to build a Terminator and still have parts left over – most of it in long, sharp strips that peeled off on impact and became lethal scythes to flay away pedestrian flesh. Under the four headlights it sported two chrome bumper bullets that looked like unexploded torpedoes or triple-G-cup Madonna death boobs. It had a noncollapsible steering column that would impale the driver upon any serious impact, electric windows that could pinch off a kid's head, no seat belts, and a 325 horsepower V8 with such appallingly bad fuel efficiency that you could hear it trying to slurp liquefied dinosaurs out of the ground when it passed. It had a top speed of a hundred and ten miles an hour, mushy, bargelike suspension that could in no way stabilize the car at that speed, and undersized power brake s that wouldn't stop it either. The fins jutting from the back were so high and sharp that the car was a lethal threat to pedestrians even when parked, and the whole package sat on tall, whitewall tires that looked, and generally handled, like oversized powdered doughnuts. Detroit couldn't have achieved more deadly finned ostentatia if they'd covered a killer whale in rhinestones. It was a masterpiece. And the reason you need to know all that, is that along with the battle-worn Morrigan and the well-dressed chimeras, a '57 Eldorado was rapidly approaching Charlie. The bloodred lacquered Eldo slid around the corner, tires screaming like flaming peacocks, hubcaps spinning off toward the curb, engine roaring, spewing blue smoke out of the rear wheel wells like a flatulent dragon. The first of the Morrigan turned in time to take a bumper bullet in the thigh before she was dragged and folded under the car and spit out the back into a black heap. The headlights came on and the Caddy veered toward the Morrigan nearest Charlie. The animal creatures scurried back up the sidewalk and Charlie ran up onto the hood of a parked Honda as the Eldo smacked the second Morrigan. She rag-doll-whipped over the hood as the car's brakes screamed, then flew twenty yards down the street. The Caddy peeled out and hit her again, this time rolling over her with a series of thumps and leaving her tossing down the tarmac, shedding pieces as she rolled. The Caddy blazed on toward the final Morrigan. This one had a few seconds on her sisters and started running up the street, her shape changing, arms to wings, tail feathers trying to manifest, but she didn't seem able to make the transformation in time to fly. The Eldo plowed over her, then hit the brakes, reversed, and burned rubber on her back. Charlie ran up on the roof of the Honda, ready to leap away from the street, but the Caddy stopped and the blacked-out electric window wound down. â€Å"Get the fuck in the car,† said Minty Fresh. Minty Fresh hit the final Morrigan again as he speeded off down the block, took two screeching lefts, then pulled the car to the curb, jumped out, and ran around to the front. â€Å"Oh, goddamn,† said Minty Fresh (damn on the downbeat, with pain and sustain). â€Å"Goddamn, my hood and grille are all fucked up. Goddamn. I will tolerate the rising of darkness to cover the world, but you do not fuck with my ride.† He jumped back in the car, threw it into gear, and screeched around the next corner. â€Å"Where are you going?† â€Å"I'm going to run over the bitches again. You do not fuck with my ride.† â€Å"Well, what did you think would happen when you ran them over?† â€Å"Not this. I never ran over anyone before. Don't act like that's a surprise.† Charlie looked at the gleaming interior of the car, the bloodred leather seats, the dash fitted with walnut burl and gold-plated knobs. â€Å"This is a great car. My mailman would love this car.† â€Å"Your mailman?† â€Å"He collects vintage pimp wear.† â€Å"So what are you trying to say?† â€Å"Nothing.† They were already on Guerrero Street and Minty floored it as they approached the target block. The first Morrigan he had hit was just getting to her knees when he hit her again, knocking her over two parked cars and into the side of a vacant building. The second one turned to face them and bared her claws, which raked the hood as he rolled over her with a drumroll of thumps, then he ran over the third one's legs as she was crawling back into the storm sewer. â€Å"Jeez,† Charlie said, turning and looking out the back window. Minty Fresh seemed to turn his full attention to driving safely now. â€Å"What the hell are those things?† â€Å"I call them sewer harpies. They're the things that call to us from the storm sewers. They're a lot stronger now than they used to be.† â€Å"They're scary is what they are,† said Minty. â€Å"I don't know,† Charlie said. â€Å"Have you gotten a good look at them? I mean, they got the badonkadonk out back and some fine bajoopbadangs up front, know what I'm sayin', dog? Buss a rock wid a playa?† He offered his fist for Minty to buss him a rock, but alas, the mint one left him hangin'. â€Å"Stop that,† Fresh said. â€Å"Sorry,† Charlie said. â€Å"Talk Like a Playa in Ten Days or Less – Stone Thug Edition?† Minty asked. Charlie nodded. â€Å"We got the CD into the store a couple of months ago. I practice in the van. How am I doing?† â€Å"Your Negro-osity is uncanny. I had to keep checking to make sure you're still white.† â€Å"Thanks,† Charlie said, then, as if a light went on: â€Å"Hey, I've been looking for you – where the hell have you been?† â€Å"Hiding out. One of those things came after me on the BART a few nights ago when I was coming back from Oakland.† â€Å"How'd you get away?† â€Å"Those little animal things, a bunch of them attacked her in the dark. I could hear her screaming at them, tearing them to ribbons, but they held her off until the train pulled into the station, which was full of people. She bolted back into the tunnel. There were pieces of the animal creatures everywhere in the train car.† Minty turned onto Van Ness and started heading toward Charlie's side of town. â€Å"So they helped you? They're not part of the Underworlders trying to take over?† â€Å"They don't appear to be. They saved my ass.† â€Å"So you know some of the Death Merchants have been killed?† â€Å"I didn't know. It wasn't in the paper. I saw where Anton's shop burned up last night. He didn't make it out?† â€Å"They found pieces of him,† Charlie said. â€Å"Charlie, I think I caused this.† Minty Fresh turned and really looked at Charlie for the first time, his golden eyes looking forlorn. â€Å"I failed to collect my last two soul vessels, and all of this started.† â€Å"I thought it was me,† Charlie said. â€Å"I missed two as well. But I don't think it's us. My two clients are alive, I think they're in that house where I was going when you saved me: the Three Jewels Buddhist Center. There's a woman there who's been buying up soul vessels, too.† â€Å"Cute brunette?† Minty asked. â€Å"I don't know. Why?† â€Å"She bought some from me, too. Tried to disguise herself, but it was her.† â€Å"Well, she's in that house back there. I've got to go back there.† â€Å"I don't want anything to do with those bitches with the claws,† Minty said. â€Å"True dat,† Charlie said. â€Å"I had a thing with one of them.† â€Å"No.† â€Å"Yeah, she got all up in my grille and shit – had to cut da ho loose.† â€Å"Stop that.† â€Å"Sorry. Anyway, I've got to go back.† â€Å"You sure? I don't think they're dead. Doesn't look like they can be dead.† â€Å"You could run over them again. By the way, how did you know where to find me?† â€Å"After I heard about Anton's place burning, I tried to call him and got a disconnected message, so I went to your store. I talked to that little Goth girl you have working for you. She told me where you went. Talked to her for about ten minutes. She knows about me – I mean us? The Death Merchants?† â€Å"Yes, I told her a long time ago. Wasn't she, uh, busy when you got there? With a guy, I mean.† â€Å"No. She seeing anyone?† â€Å"I thought you were gay?† â€Å"I never said that.† â€Å"Yeah, but you didn't go out of your way to deny it either.† â€Å"Charlie, I run a music store in the Castro, I'd do more business as a gay Death Merchant than a straight shopkeeper.† â€Å"Good point. I never thought of that.† â€Å"Color me surprised. So, she seeing anyone?† â€Å"She's half your age and I think she's a little twisted – sexually, I mean.† â€Å"So is she seeing anyone?† â€Å"She's like a little sister to me, Fresh. Don't you have employees like that?† â€Å"Have you never met anyone who works in a record store? There's no greater repository of unjustified arrogance in the world. I'd poison my employees if I thought I could find replacements.† â€Å"I don't think she's seeing anybody, but since the world is about to be taken over by the Forces of Darkness, you may not have time for dating.† â€Å"I don't know. She seems like she might have an in with the Forces of Darkness. I like her, she's funny in a sort of macabre way, and she likes Miles.† â€Å"Lily likes Miles Davis?† â€Å"You don't know that about your little sister?† Charlie threw his hands up. â€Å"Take her, use her, throw her away, I don't care, she's only part-time. You can date my daughter, too. She's going to be six and probably loves Coltrane for all I know.† â€Å"Calm down, you're overreacting.† â€Å"Just turn around and take me back to that Buddhist center. I've got to stop this thing. It's all on me, Fresh. I'm the Luminatus.† â€Å"You are not.† â€Å"I am,† Charlie said. â€Å"You're the Great Death – with a capital D? You? You know this to be true?† â€Å"I do,† Charlie said. â€Å"I knew there was something different about you, but I thought that the Luminatus would be – I don't know – taller.† â€Å"Don't start with that, okay.† Minty swung the car off Van Ness into a hotel turnaround. â€Å"Where are you going?† Charlie said. â€Å"To run over some sewer harpies again.† â€Å"Back to the Buddhist center?† â€Å"Uh-huh. You have any weapons besides that stupid sword?† â€Å"My cop friend told me I should get a gun.† Minty Fresh reached into his moss-green jacket and came out with the biggest pistol Charlie had ever seen. He placed it on the seat. â€Å"Take it. Desert Eagle fifty-caliber. It'll stop a bear.† Charlie picked up the chrome-plated pistol. It weighed like five pounds and the barrel looked big enough to stick your thumb in. â€Å"This thing is huge.† â€Å"I'm a big guy. Listen, it holds eight shots. There's a round in the chamber. You have to cock it and release the safety before you fire. There and there.† He pointed to the safety and the hammer. â€Å"Hold on to it if you have to shoot. It will knock you on your ass if you're not ready.† â€Å"What about you?† Minty patted the other side of his coat. â€Å"I have another one.† Charlie turned the gun in his hand and watched the streetlights playing off its chromed surface. (Beta Males, who inherently feel they are always at a competitive disadvantage, are suckers for showy equalizers.) â€Å"You have a lot going on under the surface, Mr. Fresh. You are not just the run-of-the-mill seven-foot-tall Death Merchant in a pastel-green suit.† â€Å"Thank you, Mr. Asher. Very kind of you to say.† â€Å"My pleasure.† Charlie's cell phone rang and he flipped it open. Rivera said, â€Å"Asher, where the hell are you? I've been circling the Mission and there's nothing here but a lot of black feathers flying in the air.† â€Å"Yeah, it's okay. I'm okay, Inspector. I found Minty Fresh, the guy who owns the music store. I'm in the car with him.† â€Å"So you're safe?† â€Å"Relatively.† â€Å"Good. Lay low and I'll call you, okay? I want to talk to your friend tomorrow.† â€Å"You got it, Inspector. Thanks for coming to help.† â€Å"Careful, Asher.† â€Å"Gotcha. I'm laying low. Bye.† Charlie snapped the phone shut and turned to Minty Fresh. â€Å"You ready?† â€Å"Absolutely,† said the fresh one. The street was deserted when they pulled up in front of the Three Jewels Buddhist Center. â€Å"I'll go around to the back,† Minty said. Well, cars suck, I can tell you that,† said Babd, trying to keep herself together as the Morrigan limped back to the great ship. â€Å"Five thousand years, horses are fine, all of a sudden we have to have paved streets and cars. I don't see the attraction.† â€Å"I'm not even sure that we need to rise and let Darkness rule,† said Nemain. â€Å"Apparently darkness isn't qualified yet. Speaking as an agent of Darkness, I think it needs more time.† She had been crushed into a half-woman, half-raven form and was shedding feathers as they limped through the pipe. â€Å"It's like that New Meat has someone watching over him,† said Macha. â€Å"Next time Orcus can deal with him.† â€Å"Yeah, let's get Orcus to go after him,† Babd said. â€Å"See what he thinks of cars.†