The business communication report of International Committee of the Essay

The business communication report of International Committee of the Red Cross - Essay Example Center of discussion in this paper is International Committee of the Red Cross as a privately owned humanitarian organization based in Switzerland. Considering the overall nature of the work and its mandate, Red Cross has to effectively communicate with different stakeholders. Over the period of time, it has been able to develop communication mechanism within and outside the organization which allow it to better communicate its message to all the stakeholders. Its international communication is targeted at its employees and field staff who are constantly being informed about the organization through different means. Periodic meetings, email newsletters, video conferences as well as local internet network are some of the tools through which organization communicates with the field staff. External communication takes place both through the written as well as verbal forms of communication. Through its official spoke persons as well as written material, Red Cross continues to offer infor mation about the organization to media as well as other stakeholders. It is also critical to understand that most of the communication by Red Cross to external world takes place through face to face communication as it has to interact with the victims of crime and war through verbal communication. Further, a recommendation will be presented as to what type of communication methodologies can be used by the organization to effectively communicate with the target audience. ... Besides using face to face communication methods, ICRC has also been communicated with its users through its websites, news, blogs, social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Presence on different social media means therefore allows ICRC to communicate with different stakeholders at relatively low cost and better effectiveness. This business report will focus on what types of communications are used by the ICRC in order to communicate with its consumers. Further, there will be an analysis of what types of communication is more beneficial for the organization to effectively reach to their target audience. Further, a recommendation will be presented as to what type of communication methodologies can be used by the organization to effectively communicate with the target audience. International Committee of the Red Crescent Before discussing anything about the kind of communication types used by ICRC, it is important to provide a brief overview and background of the organization and h ow it actually communicates with its audience.( Torres, 2010) Red Cross is famous worldwide organisation for its purpose of aid in different pattern in society. They have gone beyond boundaries and served zillions regardless of age, gender, or any differentiation at all. This organization is flourished over years and it would have not been in the place it is today without its various communication’s tools. Their mode of communication with their consumers and also the external world are websites, news, blogs, social networks like Facebook, YouTube and so on. They do not use internet only but also events, volunteer workshops and other sort of campaigns. The official mission of Red Cross is to help the

Define The Concept Of Culture Essay Example for Free

Define The Concept Of Culture Essay ‘Culture’ is the ways in which a society lives. A culture may share the same religions, beliefs, values, class or status, a culture can dress in a certain way and act in a way that follows the norms of how their society carries out life and what they deem as acceptable, culture can shared by a large group of people or a smaller group within society. For example there are ‘subcultures’, a subculture is a small group which have different way of life opposed to the majority of society; they may dress, talk and act in a different way. An example of subculture is a religious group, being a part of a religion may mean that people that are part of it dress differently, and have different values and ideas on life and live in a different way to the majority in society. Another example of a culture is ‘popular culture’ this is a culture that involves a large majority, and is highly influenced by the media, for example football is a sport that is frequently covered by the media by television, radio, news etc. And is a popular sport with a large following; other examples of pop culture are: pop music, bingo and mainstream fashion. Pop culture has a variety of people from different backgrounds being part of the same thing called a common culture which is shared by the masses. ‘High culture’ is another example of a culture that is shared with people and their families from a ‘higher class’. People that are part of the high culture are wealthy and have an ascribed status or come from a family with an ascribed status, meaning that they or the head of the family worked towards their success/wealth. They take part in activities associated with upper class such as: polo, lacrosse, hunting, and watching arts such as operas, ballets, orchestras. High culture attempts not allow people who are not from the same class or have the same status as them to join in with their clubs and activities this is called ‘social closure’ but this is difficult as more people can achieve super rich lifestyles, buying their way into high culture that may of came from a low class background. Pop culture is known as ‘low culture’ as people from ‘high culture’ are meant to be higher compared to them in class and status, th erefore people from low culture would not be wanted in high culture activities.

teenage wasteland Essay -- essays research papers

The Teenage Wasteland, why was it so good? Growing up in the recent generations is very challenging. Children at such young ages, even younger than teens have been faced with such perilous decisions. It is especially hard for teenagers to find acceptance at this point in their lives. Here is an instance that is so common in this day and age, yet this particular case is only fiction. A teenage boy named Donny has been going through a few changes in his appearance. His parents, Matt and Daisy, are somewhat disturbed yet they don’t say much to him. Then one day Daisy gets a call from Donny’s school administrator and tells her that his grades are attitude are dropping scale. He eventually gets kicked out of private school and does poorly in public school. Daisy was concerned and decided to take advice from the school and psychologist to get help from a highly reputable tutor, Calvin Applebee. Instead of Donny’s parents talking to their son they hire Cal, which tries to handle Donny’s lack of emotion an d performance. Donny’s performance didn’t change with Cal, at least in the school aspect, but Cal kept reassuring Daisy and Matt that it would change and to give it more time. In result, Donny runs away after being sent home because he was expelled for being caught with drugs in his locker and months later he still has not returned home. Who is to blame? Should Daisy and Matt been more disciplined on Donny? Well, in Anne Tyler’s short story the Teenage Wasteland this is just what happened. I really enjoyed this story because I feel it really focused on an issue that is so common in our generation. It was easy to read and was straight to the point. I especially enjoyed the role of the dumbfounded parents, Cal’s cynical character, and in result of the all their foolishness, the action Donny resulted in taking. It was really funny to me to see how Donny’s parents could be so oblivious to all that was happening to Donny. They were very good parents but didn’t but enough discipline on him. They instead let the school, the psychologist, and especially the Cal run the life of Donny. Daisy and Matt should never have given so much control to everyone else over their own son. Daisy tried helping Donny in school, even having to start supper late at times and spending less time around her other daughter. It wasn’t always pleasant because when Matt would come home she would... ...r’s story may not have been happy but it ended as more of a realistic matter. Maybe she decided to conclude the book with the disappearance of Donny to show some parents how important is truly is to communicate and love their children unless they want the same thing to happened to their children that Donny experienced. I really enjoyed â€Å"Teenage Wasteland† because it displayed a topical issue some parents have actually faced in their lifetime. It was exceptional the way the story was wrapped up. Not that I don’t enjoy happy endings but I am more interested in reading stories that may be written in fiction but that I can actually relate to and imagine it happening. Anne Tyler displayed this real life situation through a fiction tale that has such valuable lessons to be learned. Donny’s just a teenager who was going through a rough time in his life and just wanted to be loved and to love himself. It isn’t always happy the way children turn out but parents do make the difference and communication is a key to success. I feel Tyler displayed this quite clear in her short story so everyone could learn a lesson worth learning to prevent this astounding situation from happening to others.

All the Pretty Horses Essay

The book All the Pretty Horses is a western drama about teenage cowboys as they transition from adolescence into manhood. The author, Cormac McCarthy, structures the book using echo words and parallel structure that links dialogue exchanges and makes the scenes flow smoothly. McCarthy is a master of this sort of repetition and uses this structure throughout the entire book. There are many examples of this used throughout the book, but the author primarily focuses on the interpersonal relationships, diversity, and change. There are many different types of relationships based on a very vast scale. John Grady Cole has many complicated and some not-so-complicated relationships with his friends and family members. In book 1, McCarthy informs the audience that John Grady’s parents are divorced and in book 4, John Grady’s wife, Alejandra, leaves him. When John Grady flees Texas in book 1, he has the expectations that any sixteen year old cowboy might have. It is ironic that he ends up experiencing events and overcoming obstacles he never thought would occur, including falling in love and then getting his heart broken by his wife. John Grady Cole’s relationships with the leading women in the novel are also peculiar in the way that the women discipline him. In book 1 it was his mother and the servants in the house, and in book 4 Duena Alfonsa definitely gets her way with him. Alfonsa warns John Grady when he is about to cross the line with Alejandra, and then later in the book when she bails him out of jail. In a way, John Grady has to rely on the women which is comforting since he is on a journey of growing up, yet he still falls back on others to guide him. Another parallel relationship occurs in book 1 when John Grady meets with his father who tells him to forgive his mother. In book 4, John Grady seeks the judge for advice and to confess a crime he committed; the judge tells him he should forgive himself. John Grady has a good heart, tries to do the right thing, and reassures himself by going to others for advice. John Grady’s choice in his friendships and choices effect who he has strong relationships with throughout the book and he maintains his strategy through both book 1 and book 4. Another key parallel theme in the book revolves around diversity between John Grady’s homeland-the United States- and his new home in Mexico. On page 25 of book 1 it says, â€Å"The last thing his father said was that the country would never be the same† which relates to book 4 in many ways. One relation occurs on page 299 which states, â€Å"I don’t know, said John Grady†¦I don’t know what happens to a county. In this scene he is reflecting on how things have changed and how there are many differences between events on his homeland in Texas and the events that occur in Mexico. A more direct relation is in book 1 when the boys (John Grady, Rawlins, and Blevins) cross the Rio Grande naked and then in book 4 when John Grady crosses Rio Grande naked-heading back to Texas. The sense of home and the countries boarder really affects John Grady and how he makes decisions based on where he is. The last key theme in the book concerns how John Grady changes during the course of the novel. In book 1 John Grady is ignorant to reality and is just looking for an adventure. On page 5 of book 1 it states, â€Å"He stood like a man come to the end of something. † This quote is ironic because it saying that John Grady is posing as a man at the end of something which is silly since it’s just the beginning of the story. The parallel event that corresponds to this occurs on page 254 of book 4 which states, he â€Å"saw clearly how his life led to this moment. This simple phrase shows that John Grady really observed and reflected on how he accomplished the transition into manhood, and by doing this, changed emotionally and spiritually into a more well-rounded human being. McCarthy really is an outstanding author by being able to use parallel events and echoed sentences between book 1 and book 4. He really accomplished his themes and getting his audience to understand the importance of parallel events that have to do with relationships, diversity, and change.

Trail of ghenus khan

Mr.. Genesis Khan not being civilized, I believe that the Mongol Warrior (Adam) helped bring out the fact that Mr.. Khan was Indeed innocent of this accusation. This Mongol warrior brought forth the fact that they did indeed give the civilizations a chance to surrender to the Mongols. The Mongol warrior also acknowledged the laws that Mr..Khan had made, (This was backed up by the Historian Javelin (Rachel) and the research that was done by that errors). He also brought forth the fact that, many people thought that there warfare, was part of being civilized, but when we asked the prosecuting witnesses, (the ones before the Mongol Warrior was called up), what the deflation of being Cleveland was, many of the prosecuting witnesses did not Involve warfare Into their definition of being civilized.The Mongol warrior also helped us when the other prosecuting attorneys tried to ask him questions that were related to warfare, Instead of being elated to the main question, â€Å"Is Mr.. Khan c ellared, we then brought them to a dead end, with us (the defensive attorney's) putting objections towards their questions, because their question's had nothing to do with the main topic of the trial. The prosecuting side then ran out of questions to ask, due to irrelevance of the questions that they were asking.On the opposing side, the Mustangs, caliph of Baghdad (Harrison) presented the most convincing evidence, to go against Mr.. Genesis khan. This witness was a victim f the torment, this man was, I believe, rolled up in a carpet drug around beaten and trampled until dead. This man also had answers for most of our questions, and was ready for almost anything. In this simulation, I liked that we all worked together as a group, and we each had an important part in the trial. When we work as a group, the work seemed to go faster.For instance, my partner and I were both defensive attorneys, and when it came to looking for questions to ask our witnesses, we were both able to come up tit many different kinds, and when we were up there asking the questions we both took turns asking them and retrieving the answers. With the work going faster, and being divided up, it made it easier to develop a better understanding of what we were studying. I believe that the simulation was Just fine, but I feel that we should have had more time to debate about the topics, and maybe a little more time to get things prepared and ready for the trial.BY erne indeed innocent of this accusation. This Mongol warrior brought forth the fact that caked up by the Historian Jiving (Rachel) and the research that was done by that before the Mongol Warrior was called up), what the definition of being civilized was, many of the prosecuting witnesses did not involve warfare into their definition of attorneys tried to ask him questions that were related to warfare, instead of being related to the main question, â€Å"is Mr.. Khan civilized? â€Å", we then brought them to a dead end, with us (th e defensive attorneys) putting objections towards their questions,

The History of American Slang Essays

The History of American Slang Essays The History of American Slang Essay The History of American Slang Essay When thinking of American slang, you may think that is just something that youth have made up to make themselves sound cool when they speak. This is not the case. Slang has been used in America since the late 1800’s. It is defined as â€Å"a type of language that consists of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people.† A lot of slang that was used back then is still used today. I will give just a brief overview of popular slang that has been used over the last century. By the 18th century, the differences between American English and other English speaking countries began the evolution of slang. For a while, any word not used in Britain was considered slang. As early as 1870, slang was prominent in the early years of the United States. The word â€Å"bad† has been used to mean â€Å"good† and â€Å"dude† to refer to a guy, for example, were some of the first slang to be used among Americans. Each decade has originated its own slang that has stood out from the decade prior. Here are a few common slang words and expressions from recent decades. From the 1950’s, â€Å"boo boo† to mean a mistake, â€Å"garbage† to mean nonsense and â€Å"hot† to describe someone attractive were commonly used. In the 1960’s, the terms â€Å"far out† meaning amazing, using â€Å"hassle† instead of annoy and getting good â€Å"vibes†, or feelings, were popular. The 1970’s originated words such as â€Å"bogus† to replace unfair, â€Å"gross† to mean something disgusting and â€Å"no brainer, to describe an easy problem. From the 1980’s, 1990’s, and 2000’s there were quite a few phrases originated that are still prominent in today’s society. For example; using â€Å"crib† instead of house, â€Å"bling† for jewelry or glitter, â€Å"hood† to describe a juvenile delinquent and â€Å"buzz†, referring to someone shaving their head. Most rec

Fn08 Extra Credit Essay

Fn08 Extra Credit Essay Fn08 Extra Credit Essay Extra Credit FN08 Page 27 Exercise 1 Exercise 1: Where do you get your financial advice? Identify all the sources. In what circumstances might you seek a professional financial advisor? There are many circumstances in which one might want to seek the advice of a financial advisor. For example planning for retirement or having inherited money and other assets. It is important to seek a financial advisor especially when your financial circumstances are complicated. I get my financial advice from bankers, CPAs, lawyers, insurance agents, tax advisors, family, friends and teachers. It is important to know where your advisors interests lie and to have an idea of what your financial goals are. Working with a financial advisor prior to retirement is ideal. It is never too early to start saving and make your money work for you. There are many questions that one will need to answer when planning ahead for retirement. â€Å"How much do I need to retire?† â€Å"Can I afford to retire?† and â€Å"Will I run out of money?† Many people are able to track spending, saving and investing on their own. However when questions or decisions become too complicated it is best to seek professional advice. Those who inherit may not have much experience in managing large sums of money or assets. In this case it would wise to seek the help of a financial advisor to help plan for the future. An investment advisor would be appropriate in this case to help make investment decisions that would

Swing States - List and Definition

Swing States - List and Definition Swing states are those in which neither major political party holds a lock on the outcome of presidential elections. The term can also be used to describe a state whose electoral votes have a high probability of being the deciding factor in a presidential election. In the 2016 presidential election, Pennsylvania is likely to be the state that determines the winner.   Swing states are also sometimes referred to as battleground states. There are more than a dozen states considered swing states, and most of them hold a large number of electoral votes and are considered major prizes in presidential elections. List of Swing States The states that are most often described as being up in the air or ones that could side with either a Republican or Democratic presidential candidate are: Arizona:  11 electoral votes. The state has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in nine of the last 10 elections. Colorado: Nine  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in seven of the last 10 elections. Florida: 29  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in six of the last 10 elections. Georgia: 16  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in seven  of the last 10 elections. Iowa: Six  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in six of the last 10 elections. Michigan: 16  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in six  of the last 10 elections.   Minnesota: 10 electoral votes.  Ã‚  The state has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in each of the last 10 elections. Nevada: Six  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Republican president ial nominee in six of the last 10 elections. New Hampshire:  Four electoral votes. The state has split its vote between the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees in the past 10 elections. North Carolina: 15  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in eight of the last 10 elections. Ohio: 18 electoral votes.  The state has split its vote between the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees in the past 10 elections. Pennsylvania: 20  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in seven of the last 10 elections.   Virginia: 13 electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in eight of the last 10 elections. Wisconsin: 10  electoral votes.  The state has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in eight of the last 10 elections.   Swing Voters and Their Role in Swing States States that shift back and forth between candidates of both major political parties in presidential elections could be evenly divided between voters registered Republican and Democratic. Or they could have large numbers of swing voters, those who tend to vote for individual and not the party and have no loyalty to a party. The portion of the American electorate made up of swing voters ranges from about a quarter to a third between presidential elections, according to the Pew Research Center. The number of swing voters declines when an incumbent president is seeking a second term. Different Uses of Swing State The term swing state is used two different ways. The most popular use of swing state is to describe one in which the popular vote margin in a presidential race is relatively narrow and fluid, meaning that either a Republican or Democrat could win the states electoral votes in any given election cycle. Others define swing states, however, as those that could be the tipping point in a presidential election. For example, Nate Silver, a widely read political journalist writing on The New York Times blog FiveThirtyEight, defined the term swing state this way: When I employ the term, I mean a state that could swing the outcome of the election. That is, if the state changed hands, the victor in the Electoral College would change as well.

HPLC analysis of caffeine and benzoic acid in diet coke Lab Report

HPLC analysis of caffeine and benzoic acid in diet coke - Lab Report Example Many beverages contain caffeine and benzoic acid. Caffeine can be classified as a drug and can be extremely addictive. Diet beverages also contain aspartame and saccharin. Aspartame and saccharin can be used to instead of sugar in the diet beverages. Aspartame and saccharin taste more than the normal sugar. The reason that many of these beverages contain aspartame and saccharin is because manufacturers prefer to use aspartame and saccharin instead of sugar. This has been because there are people who cannot take sugar due to health issues. To meet the demand of their customers, the manufacturers of the beverages see it fit to use saccharin and aspartame instead of sugar. Aspartame is the most commonly used more than saccharin. It becomes commonly used because it can be digested. When it gets digested, it breaks down into methanol, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Aspartame has an effect on brain. It can therefore, cause some mental disorders due to its effect on the brain if taken in excess. Saccharin cannot be digested hence it is not commonly used. To avoid the danger associated with high intake of the two sweeteners, they should be used in small quantity. The function of benzoic acid is to conserve the beverages. Benzoic acid preserves the beverages by making some bacteria and yeast grow. The growth of yeast and bacteria ensures that the beverages last longer without going bad. Therefore, the shelf life of the beverages becomes increased. Companies that produce products that contain benzoic acid should make sure that the concentration level of benzoic acid is standard. Though benzoic acid is essential in preserving the beverages, high concentration of the acid can be dangerous. Concentration of benzoic acid in beverages normally varies from 0.05 percent to 0.10 percent. In a day, a person should take 5mg per kilogram of the body weight. If human beings consume too much of the acid, it can cause destruction to the liver and kidney. Liver and kidney are supremely valuable organs in the human body hence people should observe their intake of benzoic acid. Manufacturers should take into consideration the effects of the benzoic acid and pu t their customers’ life first. Some manufacturers often produce beverages that have a high concentration of benzoic acid because they want their products to stay longer. By doing this, they endanger lives of many people. Even though benzoic acid can be used as a preservative, if beverages stay for longer, they lose the original taste. Caffeine can be classified as a drug. Caffeine can be found in plants. In plants, caffeine may be used as a pesticide. It helps to kill pests in plants. This does not mean that it should not be used as it is beneficial if taken in the right amount. In diet soda and other beverages, caffeine can be used as a taste additive. Because of its bitter taste, caffeine enhances other flavors. Caffeine is also a stimulant. Because of its stimulant effect, many people take products with caffeine so that they can be alert. Also, caffeine decreases tiredness hence many people who are always busy consumes a lot of caffeine. Too much consumption of caffeine ca n cause restlessness and headaches. Normally, a person should consume around 250 milligram of caffeine in a day. More than that amount can be dangerous. It could be noted that individuals who consume much caffeine are likely to suffer hypertension, and other cardiovascular diseases compared to those who take less caffeine. In addition, caffeine can be highly addictive, and that can be one of the reasons that caffeine became classified as a drug. High performance liquid chromatography (hplc

Female Prisoners Sexually Abused and Sold by Correctional Officers OR Article

Female Prisoners Sexually Abused and Sold by Correctional Officers OR Female Prisoner Impregnated by Correctional Officers - Article Example This implies that men do not have direct contact with female inmates. In the United States, male guards were not allowed to come into direct contact with female prisoners until 1964 Civil Rights Act (Figueira-McDonough & Sarri, 2002). About forty percent of women prison guards were men, and they had direct contact with the prisoners by the year 2007. The United States had 93,031 prisoners by the end of 2001. Women are incarcerated because of the increased war on drugs. The rapid increase of the population of women prisoners was not anticipated by the male dominated prison industry. Although United States prisons are for correcting offenders, most of the female prisons lack the facilities of accommodating healthcare, mental, and social needs of the prisoners (Parker, 2002). The number of women prisoners has been on the rise over the recent years in the United States but most of them do not face violent charges as opposed to men. Women prisoners have different experiences to those of men because women menstruate, and are very much affected by losing their children to Child Protective Services (Parker, 2002). Majority of women convicts are sexually or physically abused before they are convicted or are drug addicts. Men make up the majority of prisoners in the United States but the rate of the increase of number of women prisoners is worrying because it is more than that of men. Incarcerated women tend to form structures similar to those of families in a bid to ensure that they live, as they would have in the society. On the contrary, men become aggressive and isolate themselves from the other inmates (Rudolf, 2012). Increase in the number of female prisoners has resulted in the need of increased number of prison staff. Men are not emotionally or physically affected by incarceration as women are. This is because women are faced with the daunting task of facing sexual abuse in prisons. This can be attributed to the fact that the number of men staffing

Spss8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Spss8 - Essay Example 2. Is the type of beverage ordered with lunch at a restaurant independent of the age of the customer? A random sample of 309 lunch customers is taken, resulting in the following results. Determine whether the two variables are independent at 95% level of significance. (4 points) The p value is .000, which is lower than 0.05 suggests a relationship between age and type of beverage. The null hypothesis is thus rejected and the conclusion is that type beverage and age are related. 3. In one survey, successful women meeting managers were asked to state their personal definition of success in terms of several categories from which they could select. Thirty-nine percent responded that happiness was their definition, 12% said that sales/profit was their definition, 18% responded that helping others was their definition, and 31% responded that achievement/challenge was their definition of success. Suppose that you want to determine whether men meeting managers felt the same way and took a random sample of men meeting managers, resulting in the data shown. Use the Chi-square test to determine whether the observed frequency distribution of data for men meeting managers is the same as the distribution for women meeting managers. Let ÃŽ ± = .05. (4 points) The test statistics table shows a very small computed Chi-square value 201.56 and a very small p-value 0.00, which is smaller than 0.05. Therefore, H0 is rejected, and hence there is a difference between the successful women and those who were randomly sampled. 4. Is there a relationship between having a lap-top computer and a person’s profession? A survey of 187 managers of three professions: travel manager, lawyers and accountants, was conducted to investigate this question. Results are presented in the following table. Test whether having a lap-top computer is independent of profession at 95% level of significance. (4 points) The p value is

The Effects of Media on Juveniles in Today's Society Research Paper

The Effects of Media on Juveniles in Today's Society - Research Paper Example In this regard, the current essay aims to explore the effects of media on juveniles in contemporary society. The term media is explicitly defined as â€Å"communication channels through which news, entertainment, education, data, or promotional messages are disseminated. Media includes every broadcasting and narrowcasting medium such as newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, billboards, direct mail, telephone, fax, and internet† (Business Dictionary, 2012). Due to the expansive channels within which various kinds of information, promotions, public announcements, campaigns and propaganda available, it is inevitable that people from all age groups could be influenced by them. However, due to the nature of juveniles’ development stage where curiosity and the need to explore is predominantly manifested, media provides significant effects both on the positive and negative side on juveniles in today’s society. According to Clay (2003), â€Å"no electronic mediums effects are all good or all bad; its the content that makes all the difference† (p. 40). Television, for example, has been widely researched in terms of its negative impact on children’s development. The Media Awareness Network (2010) has noted that â€Å"how much impact TV has on children depends on many factors: how much they watch, their age and personality, whether they watch alone or with adults, and whether their parents talk with them about what they see on TV† (par. 2). The impact of television ranges from exposure to violence that increases preponderance to aggressive behavior; decreased learning performance due to excessive watching; contributory factor to obesity due to lack of time spent for physical activities; and exposure to sexual content (Media Awareness Network, 2010). On the other hand, the most prolific medium used by juveniles today, the internet through social networking sites provide the following effects: increased tendencies for Internet

Theory of the five disciplines as a method of change Term Paper

Theory of the five disciplines as a method of change - Term Paper Example Theory of the five disciplines as a method of change A successful change management process is one which benefits the management and defines measure or the stakeholder’s aims, devises an effective education, training or skills upgrading system for the organization, counters the resistance from the employees and aligns them towards the strategic direction of the organization, provides personal counseling to any change related fears (Hayes, 2010).The 10 principles that guidelines the change management is address the human side systematically, it should start at the top, change should involve every layer, make the formal case, create ownership, communicate the message, address culture explicitly , assessing the cultural landscape, speak to the individual and prepare for the unexpected. John Kotter has proposed the 8-step change model for the change management process. The 8-step change model comprises of - Creating urgency , by identifying threats and developing scenarios to forecast what can happen in future to create a sense of u rgency of change, examining opportunities that could be exploited, to start honest discussions and convincing reasons to enable people talking and thinking, request support from the stakeholders to support the argument. Form a powerful coalition, in order to convince people that change is necessary, and bring together a coalition or team of some influential people whose power comes from various sources, the change coalition needs to work as a team to continuously create the need and urgency for change.

The Effects of Media on Juveniles in Today's Society Research Paper

The Effects of Media on Juveniles in Today's Society - Research Paper Example In this regard, the current essay aims to explore the effects of media on juveniles in contemporary society. The term media is explicitly defined as â€Å"communication channels through which news, entertainment, education, data, or promotional messages are disseminated. Media includes every broadcasting and narrowcasting medium such as newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, billboards, direct mail, telephone, fax, and internet† (Business Dictionary, 2012). Due to the expansive channels within which various kinds of information, promotions, public announcements, campaigns and propaganda available, it is inevitable that people from all age groups could be influenced by them. However, due to the nature of juveniles’ development stage where curiosity and the need to explore is predominantly manifested, media provides significant effects both on the positive and negative side on juveniles in today’s society. According to Clay (2003), â€Å"no electronic mediums effects are all good or all bad; its the content that makes all the difference† (p. 40). Television, for example, has been widely researched in terms of its negative impact on children’s development. The Media Awareness Network (2010) has noted that â€Å"how much impact TV has on children depends on many factors: how much they watch, their age and personality, whether they watch alone or with adults, and whether their parents talk with them about what they see on TV† (par. 2). The impact of television ranges from exposure to violence that increases preponderance to aggressive behavior; decreased learning performance due to excessive watching; contributory factor to obesity due to lack of time spent for physical activities; and exposure to sexual content (Media Awareness Network, 2010). On the other hand, the most prolific medium used by juveniles today, the internet through social networking sites provide the following effects: increased tendencies for Internet

Performance Appraisal Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Performance Appraisal Systems - Essay Example The evaluation is normally done by the individual's immediate superior in the organization who rates others is also rated by his superior. Performance appraisal employees rating techniques for comparing individual employees in his work group, in terms of personal qualities or deficiencies and the requirements of their respective jobs. It should be differentiated from job evaluation, which is concerned with the determination of worth of different jobs. Performance appraisal refers to the task of the rating or assessing the individual performance and abilities at work. (Yvonne, 1999, p.119) The performance appraisal is a formal programme in an organization, which is concerned not only with the contributions of the members who form part of the organization, but aims at spotting the potential also. The satisfactory performance is only a part of the system as a whole and the management needs more than merely evaluating the performance of the subordinates Performance evaluation is, something of an executive, art and science in itself. One important benefit of the system is that it helps top management to make further judgements about the executives who judge others. The top management can get a sense from the various performance appraisals, about the various departments of the organization and also the need of executive development in the years to come. Performance appraisal helps the supervisors to evaluate the performance and to know the potentials of their subordinates systematically and periodically. (Yvonne, 1999, p.124) Following are the benefits of merit rating: (a) It helps in the correct placement of workers. (b) Performance rating helps in guiding and correcting employees. (c) It helps the employees to know where they stand and consequently they try to improve their performance. (d) The performance appraisal helps to find out the ability of the personnel. This will stimulate them to better their performance in a bid to improve their rating over others. (e) Ratings can be used as the basis of sound personnel policy in relation to transfer and promotion. (f) Performance appraisal helps in designing the training programme in better way. (g) The performance appraisal if done scientifically and systematically will prevent grievances and develop a sense of confidence amongst workers because they are convinced of the impartial basis of evaluation. The making of appraisal ratings has a beneficial effect both on the persons doing the appraisal and the one being appraised. The appraisal brings to attention of supervisors or executives, the importance of knowing their subordinates as individuals. Purpose of Performance Appraisal Systems The object of performance appraisal falls in two categories: Administrative; and Self- improvement (a) Administrative Promotion. This is perhaps the most important administrative use of performance appraisal. It is of common interest to both, management and employees, to promote employees to

Sons and lovers Essay Example for Free

Sons and lovers Essay In the time that Lawrence Wrote women were thought of as being pure and truthful. Women play an important role in this novel as it often makes us wonder do these characters really exist in reality. Lawrence, in his book Sons and Lovers shares with us many different types of women, in this critical analysis of women in Sons and Lovers I will be dealing with three women Mrs. Morel, Miriam and Lily. Mrs. Morel is the most significant of all the women in the novel, seeing that everything revolves around her. She dislikes her husband because of his persistent consumption of alcohol and the way he abuses her, because of this she focuses all her time and devotion the her two young sons Paul and William. Her love that she gives he two sons can be interpreted as being incestuous desires for instance when Paul is telling his mother that he does not love Miriam and he continuously kisses her. She is treating William and Paul as her partners and is very controlling and she insists on having complete control over them for example when Paul is getting too close to Miriam, Mrs. Morel fears that she will lose control over him and that Miriam being the person that she is will change and bring out the best in Paul. She also fears that Paul is going to forget about her and she is going to be left alone with her drunken abusive husband. As a result of this she chases and treats Miriam badly. The kind of love that is given by Mrs. Morel to her sons is very stifling and there is not much that can come out of such a relationship, because of this Paul is undeveloped and depends on her for everything, he does not know how to be in a relationship and he tells his mother, â€Å"I will not be able to love another as long as you live† this line is important to note because it not only shows that Mrs. Morel’s love is damaging her son but it is also a foreshadowing of what is to come later on in the text. Miriam is another type of woman that Lawrence introduces us to in the novel, she is very shy and soft spoken and slowly falls in love with Paul, she is very spiritual and holy somewhat like a saint/pre-mundane which is spiritual and heavenly. I believe that Miriam will be the salvation of Paul and save him from his mother. She really loves Paul and he is continuously pushing her away because of that stifling attitude of his mother. Miriam has the Power to break Paul away from his mother but does not realize this, or the problem  may be that she is not the fighting type and cannot stand up firm to Mrs. Morel. Paul teaches her French and Algebra but Miriam seems not to understand the algebra and Paul gets extremely annoyed by this he does not understand why she cannot grasp it. He is mean to her because of this and she is extremely clam about the whole situation. Miriam is extremely close to her siblings and takes extremely good care of them and because of this Paul is very angry with her, he does not understand why she does what she does. This is so because Paul was not used to having that amount of love among his siblings. This conflict can also be interpreted as Paul being jealous of the relationship that Miriam has with her siblings. Lilly, a woman that William falls in love with on his stay in London is portrayed to the readers as a Gold-Digger who does not really care about William; she is only with him because of his money and not because of love. Lilly is very rude towards Anne, William’s sister, she orders Anne around on their visit to William’s house. William tells his mother about Lilly and his mother says to leave her. Shortly after when William dies the Morels never hear from Lilly again, only on this one time that she writes to Mrs. Morel stating that she has moved on. The Women in this novel Sons and Lovers play a very important role and has extreme effects on many of the characters whether it be the power of control and possessiveness the fact is that women is symbolic to Lawrence in some way.

Socializing in the internet

Socializing in the internet Socializing in the Internet The Internet, even though it revolutionizes the way people communicate with each other, it could actually be the very cause of many people having an acute case of social defect. Socializing is being rewritten in these last few years, with information going around so easily people are not trying so hard to make human contact, which could be the cause of many people suffering from social defect. Even though it may not be the only cause, it is proven by many research papers that the discovery of â€Å"The Internet† is the main tipping point of the modern social trend. Internet is actually not made to serve the multiple purpose it serve today, it was actually only made to be a place to store information, and even the idea itself is born for military purpose. The original plan is to spread large numbers of information all over the United States, so even if one center of information is destroyed, the information is not completely gone, or at least just the copy of it is missing. Although the U.S. military is the first instance to come up with the idea, the European or to be more specific the people at France is actually the first instance who successfully executed the idea. From there to the development as of today is another story to tell, but what makes it more than an information highway is something not to be missed. Information sharing in its simplest form is through the Internet, and its called an information highway cause the rate of it is mind numbing. Although the rate is relative to its importance and relevance to what most people are searching for, compared to other media the Internet is the fastest. For example, the news of Michael Jacksons death is spread across the world in mere second after the news is announced, and of course, its supported by the quantity of people spreading it. How fast the Internet share information is not just being upheld by the fact of how easily it is to share it, but also by the fact that the quantity of people sharing it is way far from small and the place to share it, is a plenty is an understatement. Once upon a time a boy asks a wise man â€Å"Which is the most; the fishes, or the stars?† then the wise man answered â€Å"The fishes, of course.† â€Å"Why?† the boy asks, the wise man answered, â€Å"Because no matter how much fish you take itll never run out†. As much as there are fish in the sea, there are a lot more places in the Interwebs where people socialize, and that number is increasing day by day just like the fish in the sea. In addition those places are divided into four main categories; forums, chat rooms, blogs, and social websites. One of the oldest place to socialize, and still as strong as it was if not more stronger is the forums, which is the root of everything thats about socializing in the Internet. In essence, Internet still serves its original purpose, and that is a place to gather information. Therefore, the Internet is basically a large forum that involves a humungous number of people from all parts of the world gathered in a single place. Almost everything in the Internet is a forum, only the form is different, and the people participating in it is even more so. Most people wouldnt probably think so, because the Internet have changed so much that its simply hard to be called a forum, though essentially it is. An article is also a forum, because of the comments or critiques that it sparked. Even a simple statement could also grow into a forum depending on the respond it received. In short, everything thats in the internet and receive a response from other people it can already be called a forum, because people are talking about something and discussing it. Forums are not a place for written words anymore, it have evolved to something more. Forums have evolved since its olden times, from town halls, to written things that are on monitors. Though the form is simple, it have proven to be an effective place where people can; discuss things, give opinions, and coming up with a solution. Moreover, there is no discrimination between the members of the forum, in fact anonymity is encouraged to make people focus on the problem at hand rather than the person whos providing the voice. Therefore, the biggest change for forums is its clarity, everybody is taking notice, and everybody is listening. Even so, there are times that a statement needs something to make it clearer. The forums itself is not limited to written words anymore, images are often used to convey the message more clearly or a little more blunt than whats needed. Because sometimes images convey the message more clearly than words, certain forums caters to its needs and they call it imageboards or forums on steroids. In short, imageboards is a forum that puts a full emphasis on the image posted rather than whats written, someone can write the greatest story in the world there, but people would probably not give an ass if it doesnt have the image to support its monstrosity, it is actually better to put a great picture and not write anything about it. 4chan is the greatest example of an imageboards, and at the same time the worst example of a sensible forum. Despite the lack of common ethics (or because of it), many Internet history is made there, even the rules of the internet is born there. Although it sounds crazy, 4chan itself is not a place of common sense, it probably is the place where all the wrong things the Internet have to offer are, and it could actually are where â€Å"curiosity [really] killed the cat†. Even though there are many bad things to say about 4chan, there is also a good side to 4chan. 4chan have been actively organizing protest against The Church of Scientology, a cult that cons people for their money. Surprisingly the protest are well organized, theres not even a single conflict with the official. Whats amazing is they promote healthy protest, where they told all the members to protest on the sidewalk only, even the littlest form of disturbance is not tolerable by members of the protest, and they all actually doing it wearing Guy Fawkes mask. There is another reason to the Guy Fawkes mask other than the impact it brings, and its anonymity. Anonymity is a key ingredient to the whole process, without it, maybe they wouldnt be what they are today or people would look differently to what they are trying to convey. Anonymity is something that couldnt be separated from the modern age forums. Although its not an essential part of a forum, its embedded in the culture. Moreover, people dont care who they are talking to, they only care about what the person say. For that reason, the character is not build by how people look anymore, but it is born by how that person contribute his/her opinions to the forum itself. However, when anonymity is not emphasized, where faster, more personal and contact that is more direct is wanted people usually go to chat rooms. Chatting is like a miniature forum, except it is faster, more personal and more direct than forums, people usually chat with their closest persons, rather than strangers. If forum is a place where people gather to think, then chat rooms is just a place where people just talk or catching-up with the person close to them. The communications in chat rooms are faster because people can get an instant reply, more personal because people choose the person whose participating in it, and its more direct because no one can interfere unless they are allowed to. In its own way, chatting is better, but only at a personal level, and to make a large number of people to voice their opinion needs a lot more effort than what people usually need in a forum. For the reason that each person that they want to talk to have to be available at the same time as they make the chat room. Therefore, even though chatting has its own strong points, it became its own weaknesses at the same time. Then again, what is a problem without a solution, chatting itself has its own kind of forum and they usually call it IRC. IRC or Internet Relay Chat is probably what people call chatting turned upside down, because the order of interaction is reversed. When in normal chats people usually find the one they want to interact with then make a room, in IRC the room is already prepared then people who wants to voice an opinion enters it. To put it in another way the room is not there just for certain people, but also for the people who wants to participate in it. So IRC is putting less emphasize on the personal aspect and focusing it more on the gathering aspect. Even so, IRC is very traditional and old, and not much people develop it mostly because â€Å"why reinvent the wheel?† the system have proven that it works for decades in fact the root of chatting is in the IRC itself. IRC have existed for decades maybe even before the term Internet is widely introduced. The days when messenger software is not even planned computer geeks spend their time chatting in IRC over the internet. Then suddenly a couple of guy thought that why not make it more user friendly, so that more people can use it, and to make it more simple we should put an address to each people rather than just putting a simple username so people can contact each other directly and not interfered by other people. Then e-mail services, messenger software, etc. that supports the chatting protocol comes to life. After that, the history of chatting writes itself as one of the milestones of the modern social trend. After that many things happens in chat rooms, but its not always flowers and rainbows. Chatting is a perfect place for evil-doers to lurk about, many crimes have happened there, mostly that involves kids under age. Nowadays people cant put trust so easily on the people they chat with, the number of people who can do harm is not small, especially people who eagerly offer to meet in person. Therefore kids are usually a soft target to those predators who god knows what reason kidnap them. Many cases of kidnapping or worse child molestation starts with the children making contact with the criminal and as time goes the child starts to put trust in the criminal thats when the criminal starts to take its chance to meet and kidnap the child. Surprisingly this happens a lot, more than anyone couldve imagine, whats worse is the difficulty of catching the criminal is increased because the lack of identity, witness, and location clarity. Luckily, technologies today have advanced far enough for us to detect the location of the criminal, and theres even a department dedicated to tr apping and catching these kinds of criminals. Even so, its still hard to say that its completely safe, because the crime happens in numerous numbers, and their technique in disguising themselves is getting better and better. Rests assure it only needs a little common sense to avoid the crimes happening in chats. The development in chatting is not only on the crime side, but also in its interactivity. As internet connection getting faster and faster, the possibilities expand beyond what people could think of. Now we could not only send text and pictures, we could also send continuous stream of moving pictures, or video is what they call today. With this breakthrough we can see live the person at the other end of the world, and we could actually simulate the whole socializing experience on the internet. Many important meetings are actually done this way, because it is cost effective and less hassle than meeting in person. Even though, its available, people mostly still prefer chatting, simply because it needs way less resource than video chatting. Even if video chatting is grand and all, it has its own disadvantage. If someone wants to have a video chat, the other person must have a webcam or some sort of contraption that can record a video, if not then its impossible to establish it. Besides that it needs a fast internet connection for the experience to go smoothly, so if you have a slow connection might as well not do it. Although, it needs plenty of resource, people still go through miles for it, simply for the experience. For those reason people still prefer chatting than video chatting because its simple and straightforward. But if someone wants to express themselves better, chat room is not the place, they usually use what they call a blog. Blog is what people call the modern diary minus the privacy, more or less a journal. People usually makes blog to express their inner feelings, whether its sadness, happiness, or just a little something in between. Blogs ranges from talking about casual daily lives, to topics that baffle the minds. People even use it to store their precious moments by writing it in their blog, or maybe they want the world to know about their wonderful experience. Therefore, blog are places where people can express everything you want, but dont be surprised if theres a response from other people. Many people actually hope for their blog to get a response, in a way they want attention. By putting their views on the internet, they are shouting in a big open field filled with many people crossing from many places around the world, hoping that they would get a response. Heaps of people would probably ignore it, but peoples that share the same interest in their views would probably willingly listen to what they say, and with pleasure provide support, question or constructive criticism as to what they write about. However not all response are positive, there are usually people who simply like to spam, or vent their frustration to what other people say. Negative response, is usually initiated by a different view as to what the writer says, and what actually makes it negative and not constructive is the fact that they cant give enough reason to oppose the idea. In addition, most of it is because they simply want attention and want to disturb other people. Another form of negative response is when they promote their own blog senselessly without even contributing any plausible response whatsoever. But whats dangerous is when negative response gives birth to flame wars. Flame wars is when two or more people are trying argue as to what they think is right, or people usually call it an unhealthy debate. Even though a flame war usually happens in forums, it could actually happen in blogs as well, often at that. This war is usually born when someone propose one thing is better than another, and people starts to support it and other simply not agree with it. As a result, people are trying to prove their argument, and mostly with little vocab held back. Despite that flame wars could actually have positive result, because we can get more information from the facts that they provide while they are arguing. Although blogs are usually a place to lament, its functionality has actually gone beyond that what people might think of. Blogs have many functions in this modern age such as, money maker, news source, reviews, just to name a few. These functions show that blogs have limitless possibilities, and its function depends on what the owner desire. In fact, not many people use blogs for diary anymore, people usually use it for something else. There are many reasons as to why people start doing this, and one of it is about the thing that makes the world go round. Because people can get money out of blogs, not small numbers of people thought to stereotype their blog for the masses, so it can get more popularity that equals to more income. In addition, its also one of the reasons why many people are making one. Even though, its hard to make any amount of money thats worthwhile to spend on, people are still trying to venture in this business, since it doesnt need too much effort and resources to start with. There are many blogs that is successful and making an amazing amount of money with their blog, not only that their large income is huge, their fame rose as their income skyrocketed. Fame is not exclusive to the real world only, but its also available in the internet. Many stars are born from the internet, and some of them enter the TV business, like Perez Hilton, and Danny Choo. These peoples, who are famous, usually offer exclusive content that are not available at any other blog. Therefore, many people always come back to their blog, and the people who dont know their blog will know because their names echo through the internet. Surprisingly, the source of their income is the same as those TV companies, and it is advertisement. Advertisements on the Internet are spawning like a colony of ants that found a whole heap of sugar. There is almost not a single page on the internet that doesnt have any advertisements whatsoever, not only blogs, many websites are supported by advertisements that are shown there. Sometimes there is website that has too many advertisements that it got to the point where its not worth it anymore to go there. Various ways are made to force the user to see the advertisements, and sometimes the user fights back with an ad-blocker they install on their browser. However some websites didnt allow the usage of such stuff, by blocking the user to their content if they install an ad-blocker. But no matter how much advertisements people put it is useless if there is no one that visit their blog, thats why there are many services that offer popularity. These services that offer popularity, is usually a website that ranks blog and list them, there is also a website that aggregate links that are usually focused on a specific genre or field, and blogs could also provide these kind of services. Blogs provide the service by sharing their link with one another, by doing that they are making a vast network that connects to one another. People usually use this method because it needs little effort than other method, though its not highly effective, at least it brings some more traffic. While the other method takes a little more effort, it brings more traffic than sharing links with other blogs, like ranks blog and list them. Websites that rank blog and list them are usually a good place to start popularizing a blog, because they provide an easier way for other user to find your blog. But it needs more effort on the blog owner side, they need to register to the website that provide the service, and its usually followed with a certain catch or qualification that needs to be fulfilled before the blog is accepted to be listed at their website. Although, the qualification are not that intricate to fulfill as websites that aggregate links. Aggregate means a collection or a cumulative of something, so links are being collected and shown, and these websites are usually split between genre or field. The qualifications to these websites are usually more intricate than the ones that ranks and list blog. However they usually share one common qualifications and that is the maturity of a blog, how much post have that blog post, or how long have it been standing. These qualifications are strongly upheld to sustain the quality of the links there. Without those qualifications some random links would just enter, even the ones thats not related to the website, and people will start to rarely go there because the quality of the links available there. Whats amazing is these websites automatically post the link of the new post with the same time as when the owner posts its recent post. As a result, what people get at those websites are near live update of the blogs that are registered at that site, with that people can rest assure th at they get the latest from their favorite blogs, and the blog owners can relax that their blog are shown with each new post. Links are not the only thing that aggregate on the internet, but people also. People that dont know; facebook, friendster, and websites that are alike to those, are probably living under a rock. These websites are the craze of the modern age, and probably one of the biggest tipping points in the modern social trend. Social websites is what they usually call it, websites like these offer the best in social interactivity over the internet. In addition, people can stay in touch with their dearest friends, even though they are miles away or on the other side of the world. However, their interaction is not limited to the people they know in the real world, but they also interact with the people they just know over the internet. Social websites expand the world of many or opening the door to a whole new universe to countless people. Gone are the days where peoples social connections are limited to the place where they live or where they have gone to, its only limited to how far people are willing to go to find the person they are looking for. As a result, people are interacting at an amazing speed, and socializing on steroid is an understatement. Social interactivity is highly different in social websites, people interact like they do in real life minus the face-to-face, but plus the media interactivity. Media interactivity is enhanced greatly in social websites, in fact it maybe one of the advantage that it have contrast to other form of socializing in the internet. People can share things more easily in these websites, though they mostly share it with the people they know. They can even share a live update about their daily lives if they want to, and everything that you change or input to, can have a comment, even the most absurd thing. Socializing is all about interactivity or response, and that is what social websites is, its a place where people can positively expect a response from someone you know. People usually comment on photos that capture a special moment, a video that makes them laugh their ass off, or the sudden change in marital status. To comment on everything is not a taboo anymore, in fact its a culture that just appear naturally on the scene. But all this interactivity sometimes makes people forget that real life actually exists. Shut-in are people that somehow dont care about the real world that much, they completely replace reality with everything virtual, its like they completely move their mind somewhere else. Since socializing itself is changing, peoples habits are too. Things like going outside are a taboo for them, and socializing in real life is somewhat something impossible to do. People like these usually shut themselves in their room, and utilize their internet connection to their fullest potential. However, people like this can be considered a hero in the internet with their contribution to the community its in. Heroes in the internet world can actually be a loser in the world, because their focus lays too much on the things available in the internet. This reason, cause delusion to many people who have set their heart on the internet, they abandon their life completely for their own selfish reason. In addition, they cant differentiate between something that is real and something that is not. Their image of reality is distorted in such a way that they are afraid of whats to come in reality. In the end, everything thats good always has a dark side to it. In conclusion, though the modern social trend is a breakthrough out of the old socializing method, and brings many benefit and conveniences to a lot of people, it also brings numerous negative effects. Therefore, any technologies no matter how ideal it is, will always show the bad in people if they are used recklessly or for terrible purpose. However only at these kinds of times that people are starting to show whats been hiding in them, either its the good or the bad, people could only hope for the best.

Feng Shui in the Far East Essay -- essays research papers

Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Feng Shui has been practiced in China for centuries. Throughout ancient China, masters of Feng Shui â€Å"were highly respected meteorologists, astronomers, and other scientists and who were charged with sustaining the good fortune and prosperity of the royal court. It has been guardedly passed down the generations through very specific lineages† (Feng Shui Advisors). It was widely practiced in modern-day China until the Cultural Revolution when Chairman Mao utilized mass force to destroy those with different ideas (Craze 9). It has evolved to be both a science and/or an art, depending on whose opinion is being given or taken. The science comes from the calculations and methodology used to analyze the space/site that one lives or works in. Some consider it an art because there are many aspects to it, and, ultimately, it is up to the person living/working in the space to determine whether it â€Å"feels right† for him/her. Chuen states, â€Å"It is an analytical system developed, not by one person, but by a centuries-old cumulative tradition based on meticulous observation and experimentation† (8). Feng Shui is also described as an â€Å"art of arranging one’s life in accordance with the forces of the universe,† and it â€Å"stretches back over at least 7000 years and probably far further† (Chuen 14). Feng Shui literally stands for wind and water: two of the most bas ic forms of life’s energy. â€Å"Without air we die within seconds.† â€Å"While we can live weeks without food, without water we soon perish† (Chuen 14).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The I Ching, or â€Å"Book of Changes† is an ancient Chinese divination manual and book of wisdom. It is a sacred text that ancestors of ancient China received through their meditative and spiritual practices. Made up of eight trigrams, or gua (kua) and sixty-four hexagrams (combinations of two trigrams) the symbols of the I Ching are known for its oracular qualities (Chuen 24). Each of the eight trigrams, or gua (kua) is associated with an element and a set of specific qualities, polarities, colors, etc. The I Ching, combined with the five elements theory, form the foundation of many Chinese arts, including martial arts, medicine, music, and of course Feng Shui. The I Ching is important to Feng Shui because it contains the â€Å"64 hexagrams [that] are important as they combine the eight house directions ... ...earchers and authors of Feng Shui literature. This was an enormous problem for me because half of what I read said one thing, and half said something different. I believe that the discrepancy may have come when the principles and rules of Feng Shui were translated from Chinese to English. For future study, one could compare all of the different discrepancies, and try to find the original belief or principle. References Chuen, Master L.K. (1996). Feng Shui Handbook: How to Create a Healthier Living and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Working Environment. New York: Henry Holt and Company, Inc. Craze, R. (1999). Feng Shui Made Easy: An introduction to the basics of the ancient are   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  of feng shui. New York: Godsfield Press. Feng Shui Advisors. (1999). What is Feng Shui: A brief Feng Shui introduction. Internet   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Source. Last Modified 03/09/2002. Internet Explorer April 2, 2002. Available:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.168fengshui.com/Articles/whatis.htm Weightman, B. (2002). Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Asia. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Business Economics – Regression Analysis

Effect of Ratio Profitability: Return on Asset (ROA) and Return of Equity (ROE) to Stock Price of PT Bank Central Asia (BCA) Tbk. Ratio profitability, Return on Asset (ROA) and Return of Equity (ROE), of a firm is used as one of parameters for investor to decide whether they want to invest or not. The following table consists of ROA and ROE as well as the stock price of PT Bank Central Asia (BCA) Tbk. , as one of the largest bank in Indonesia, from year of 2002 up to 2011. Table 1. ROA, ROE and stock price of PT Bank Central Asia Tbk. tahun 2002-2011 Year| Stock Price(Y)| ROA(X2)| ROE(X2)| 2002| 2500| 2. 17| 22. 08| 003| 3325| 2. 36| 24. 87| 2004| 2975| 3. 04| 32. 52| 2005| 3400| 3. 41| 32. 33| 2006| 5200| 3. 43| 33. 58| 2007| 7300| 1. 68| 16. 47| 2008| 5778| 3. 14| 33. 16| 2009| 5645| 3. 17| 32. 11| 2010| 4284| 3. 28| 31. 23| 2011| 3674| 2. 65| 24. 16| Using regression analysis we want to determine the relationship between ROA, ROE and stock price of PT BCA Tbk. In this case, ROA an d ROE are the independent or explanatory variable (X), while stock price is the dependent variable that we want to explain (Y). Regression Analysis SUMMARY OUTPUT| | | Regression Statistics| Multiple R| 0. 13028475| R Square| 0. 016974116| Adjusted R Square| -0. 63890422| Standard Error| 1710. 529517| Observations| 10| ANOVA| | | | | | | df| SS| MS| F| Significance F| Regression| 2| 353656. 3| 176828. 15| 0. 060435241| 0. 941840446| Residual| 7| 20481378. 6| 2925911. 229| | | Total| 9| 20835034. 9| | | | | Coefficients| Standard Error| t Stat| P-value| Lower 95%| Upper 95%| Lower 95. 0%| Upper 95. 0%| Intercept| 5361. 609293| 2796. 526605| 1. 917238793| 0. 096721961| -1251. 125335| 11974. 34392| -1251. 125335| 11974. 34392| X Variable 1| -142. 3275587| 3749. 125063| -0. 037962873| 0. 970777259| -9007. 599603| 8722. 944486| -9007. 599603| 8722. 944486| X Variable 2| -19. 7879081| 375. 1702777| -0. 051919867| 0. 960043105| -906. 6155278| 867. 6579462| -906. 6155278| 867. 6579462| From the summary output we can estimate the linear relationship between the stock price (Y) and ROA (X1), ROE (X2) in the form of equation below: Y= 5361. 6092 – 142. 3275 X1 – 19. 4788 X2 The result indicates that for each 1% decrease in ROA and ROE; the stock price decrease by IDR142. 3275 (the estimated coefficient of X1) and IDR19. 4788 (the estimated coefficient of X2) also, respectively. To understand how significant the independent variable can explain the dependent variable, we can observe from t-stat data.The critical value of t at the 0. 05 level of significance is 2. 365 (from table of the t distribution). The analysis result show that t-stat value below the critical value of t = 2. 365. It means that at the 5% level of significance, we accept there is no significant relationship between ROA, ROE and stock price. We need more variable better than just ROA and ROE to picture the movement of price stock. The two variables, ROA and ROE, are not enough to explain th e stock price of PT BCA Tbk. Now, we want to see how good is the model or how much the explanatory power of the model by looking at R2 data.R2 measures how much of the variation in the firm’s stock price is explained by the variation in its ROA and ROE. The analysis result shows that the value of R2 is 0. 016974116, extreme to 1. It means that none of the variation in stock price was explained by the variation in ROA and ROE. In conclusion, looking at the value of t-stat and R2, variable ROA and ROE is not enough to explain the movement of stock price PT BCA Tbk. We need to add more variables to get more description how the stock price change and how significant and sensitive the variables impact to stock price.

Family Meal Essay

In her essay, â€Å"The Magic of the Family Meal,† Nancy Gibbs, explains the important role of having meals plays on children. Gibbs begins her essay by telling us how valuable having a family meal is and the positive outcome. She believes that having a family meal, more than three times a week, with no interruptions, can have a great power over a family’s communication skills. Gibbs then explains that children who eat meals with their families, are less likely to get into trouble and eat healthier. She writes, â€Å"Studies show that the more often families eat together, the less likely kids are to smoke, drink, do drugs, get depressed, develop eating disorders, and consider suicide, and the more likely they are to do well in school, delay having sex, eat their vegetables, learn big words, and know which fork to use†(209-210). Gibbs then starts explore the negative effects of not having family meals. She writes that 45 percent of all family dinners have the TV running at the same time as the meal is being eaten. This is part of the reason kids feel like their parents aren’t proud of them as well as why there is tension among that particular family Gibbs states. She then concludes that back in the day dinner was a very precious event for most U. S. families. Overtime however, Gibbs believes this has dissipated due to social, economic, and technological factors. As a result, families became busier with these factors, which made it harder for families to sit down. Meanwhile, the message embedded in the microwave was that time spent standing in front of a stove was time wasted,† (211) Says Gibbs. She explores the effects of the fast food business and what role it played in destroying family meals and its importance. Overall Gibbs concludes that every family needs to have an uninterrupted family meal time, whether it be breakfast, lunch, or dinner, family meals are important, and writes, â€Å"So pull up a chair. Lose the TV. Let the phone go unanswered. And see where the moment takes you† (213). After reading Nancy Gibbs Essay, I looked back at my life and all the family dinners I have had. My parents got divorced when I was really young. Even though I lived with my mother and my sister, we stopped eating as a family every night. My mother got a job as a banker, where she left at 7 am and didn’t come home until around 7 pm. Thus, all of our meals were at the babysitter’s house, sitting by ourselves. After my father moved to Lincoln city and got married, we went to his house to visit every weekend. We sat down as a family to have a meal every night. We did not have phones, TV’s, or any other interruptions. At the dinner table we always had pretty in depth conversations which brought us closer as a family. It always made my sister and me feel like we were important and our dad was proud of us. After my father and his wife had their second child, my father cut us off and he didn’t have us come over very much anymore. My sister and I both started acting out in the beginning of middle school year getting into trouble, experimenting with drugs and hanging with the wrong crowds. Regardless of what we had been told, we didn’t care. Soon my mother got married to my step dad. We started having family dinners again, and my sister and I straightened up. Now that I look back, I do see how important it was for my sister and I to have family meals. These days, it is hard with the world moving so quickly, with jobs and school to sit down and have family dinner. However, we manage to make an effort successful or not, it brings us closer together and we know how important it really is now.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 24

Chapter 24 I've finally finished reading these stories by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These guys make the whole thing seem like an accident, like five thousand people just showed up on a hill one morning. If that was the case, getting them all there was the miracle, let alone feeding them. We busted our asses to organize sermons like that, and sometimes we even had to put Joshua in a boat and float him offshore while he preached, just to keep him from getting mobbed. That boy was a security nightmare. And that's not all, there were two sides to Joshua, his preaching side and his private side. The guy who stood there railing at the Pharisees was not the same guy who would sit around poking Untouchables in the arm because it cracked him up. He planned the sermons, he calculated the parables, although he may have been the only one in our group that understood any of them. What I'm saying is that these guys, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they got some of it right, the big stuff, but they missed a lot (like thirty years, for instance). I'll try to fill it in, which is why, I guess, the angel brought me back from the dead. And speaking of the angel, I'm about convinced that he's gone psycho. (No, psycho isn't a word I had back in my time, but enough television and I'll have a whole new vocabulary. It applies. I believe, for instance, that â€Å"psycho† was the perfect term for John the Baptist. More about him later.) Raziel took me to a place where you wash clothes today. A Laundromat. We were there all day. He wanted to make sure I knew how to wash clothes. I may not be the sharpest arrow in the quiver, but it's laundry, for Christ's sake. He quizzed me for an hour about sorting whites and colors. I may never get this story told if the angel keeps deciding to teach me life lessons. Tomorrow, miniature golf. I can only guess that Raziel is trying to prepare me to be an international spy. Bartholomew and his stench rode one camel while Joshua and I shared the other. We rode south to Jerusalem, then east over the Mount of Olives into Bethany, where we saw a yellow-haired man sitting under a fig tree. I had never seen a yellow-haired person in Israel, other than the angel. I pointed him out to Joshua and we watched the blond man long enough to convince ourselves that he wasn't one of the heavenly host in disguise. Actually, we pretended to watch him. We were watching each other. Bartholomew said, â€Å"Is there something wrong? You two seem nervous.† â€Å"It's just that blond kid,† I said, trying to look in the courtyards of the large houses as we passed. â€Å"Maggie lives here with her husband,† Joshua said, looking at me, relieving no tension whatsoever. â€Å"I knew that,† said Bart. â€Å"He's a member of the Sanhedrin. High up, they say.† The Sanhedrin was a council of priests and Pharisees who made most of the decisions for the Jewish community, as far as the Romans would allow them, anyway. Aside from the Herods and Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, they were the most powerful men in Israel. â€Å"I was really hoping Jakan would die young.† â€Å"They have no children,† Joshua said. What Josh was saying was that it was strange that Jakan hadn't divorced Maggie for being barren. â€Å"My brother told me,† I said. â€Å"We can't go see her.† â€Å"I know,† I said, although I wasn't sure why not. We finally found John in the desert north of Jericho, preaching on the bank of the Jordan River. His hair was as wild as ever and now he had a beard that was just as out of control. He wore a rough tunic that was belted with a sash of unscraped camel skin. There was a crowd of perhaps five hundred people there, standing in sun so hot that you had to check road signs to make sure you hadn't accidentally taken the turnoff to hell. We couldn't tell what John was talking about from a distance, but as we got closer we heard him say, â€Å"No, I'm not the one. I'm just getting things ready. There's one that's coming after me, and I'm not qualified to carry his jockstrap.† â€Å"What's a jockstrap?† Joshua asked. â€Å"It's an Essene thing,† Bartholomew answered. â€Å"They wear them on their manhood, very tightly, to control their sinful urges.† Then John spotted us over the crowd (we were on camelback). â€Å"There!† said John, pointing. â€Å"You remember me telling you that one would come. Well, there he is, right there. I'm not kidding, that's him on the camel. On the left. Behold the Lamb of God!† The crowd looked back at Josh and me, then laughed politely as if to say, Oh right, he just happened along right when you were talking about him. What, we don't know from a shill when we see one? Joshua glanced nervously at me, then at Bart, then at me, then he grinned sheepishly (as one might expect from a lamb) at the crowd. Between gritted teeth he asked, â€Å"So am I supposed to give John my jockstrap, or something?† â€Å"Just wave, and say, ‘Go with God,'† Bart said. â€Å"Waving here – waving there,† Josh mumbled through a grin. â€Å"Go with God. Thank you very much. Go with God. Nice to see you. Waving – waving.† â€Å"Louder, Josh. We're the only ones who can hear you.† Josh turned to us so the crowd couldn't see his face. â€Å"I didn't know I was going to need a jockstrap! Nobody told me. Jeez, you guys.† Thus did begin the ministry of Joshua bar Joseph, ish Nazareth, the Lamb of God. â€Å"So, who's the big guy?† John asked, as we sat around the fire that evening. Night crawled across the desert sky like a black cat with phosphorus dandruff. Bartholomew rolled with his dogs down by the riverbank. â€Å"That's Bartholomew,† Joshua said. â€Å"He's a Cynic.† â€Å"And the village idiot of Nazareth for over thirty years,† I added. â€Å"He gave up his position to follow Joshua.† â€Å"He's a slut, and he's the first one baptized in the morning. He stinks. More locusts, Biff?† â€Å"No thanks, I'm full.† I stared down at my bowl of roasted locusts and honey. You were supposed to dip the locusts in the honey for a sweet and nutritious treat. It was all John ate. â€Å"So this Divine Spark, all that time away, that's what you found?† â€Å"It's the key to the kingdom, John,† Josh said. â€Å"That's what I learned in the East that I'm supposed to bring to our people, that God is in all of us. We are all brothers in the Divine Spark. I just don't know how to spread the word.† â€Å"Well, first, you can't call it the Divine Spark. The people won't understand it. This thing, it's in everyone, it's permanent, it's a part of God?† â€Å"Not God the creator, my father, the part of God that's spirit.† â€Å"Holy Ghost,† John said with a shrug. â€Å"Call it the Holy Ghost. People understand that a ghost is in you, and they understand that it goes on after you, and you'll just have to make them believe that it's God.† â€Å"That's perfect,† Joshua said, smiling. â€Å"So, this Holy Ghost,† John said, biting a locust in half, â€Å"it's in every Jew, but gentiles don't have it, right? I mean what's the point, after the kingdom comes?† â€Å"I was getting to that,† said Josh. It took John the better part of the night to deal with the fact that Joshua was going to let gentiles into the kingdom, but finally the Baptist accepted it, although he kept looking for exceptions. â€Å"Even sluts?† â€Å"Even sluts,† Joshua said. â€Å"Especially sluts,† I said. â€Å"You're the one who is cleansing people of their sins so they will be forgiven,† Joshua added. â€Å"I know, but gentile sluts, in the kingdom.† He shook his head, assured now by the Messiah himself that the world was going to hell in a handbasket. Which really shouldn't have surprised him, since that had been his message for over ten years. That, and identifying sluts. â€Å"Let me show you where you'll be staying.† Shortly after I had met him on the road to Jerusalem, John had joined the Essenes. You couldn't be born an Essene, because they were all celibate, even in marriage. They also refrained from intoxicating drink, adhered strictly to Jewish dietary law, and were absolutely maniacal about cleansing themselves, physically, of sin, which had been the big selling point for John. They had a thriving community in the desert outside of Jericho called Qumran, a small city of stone and brick homes, a scriptorium for copying scrolls, and aqueducts that ran out of the mountains to fill their ritual baths. A few of them lived in the caves above the Dead Sea where they stored the jars that held their sacred scrolls, but the most zealous of the Essenes, which included John, didn't even allow themselves the comfort of a cave. He showed us accommodations near his own. â€Å"It's a pit!† I screamed. Three pits, to be exact. I suppose there's something to be said for having a private pit. Bartholomew, with his many canine pals, was already settling into his new pit. â€Å"Oh, John,† Josh said, â€Å"remind me to tell you about karma.† So, for over a year, while Joshua was learning from John how to say the words that would make people follow him, I lived in a pit. It makes sense, if you think about it. For seventeen years Joshua had spent his time either studying or sitting around being quiet, so what did he know about communicating? The last message he'd gotten from his father was two words, so he wasn't getting his speaking skills from that side of the family. On the other hand, John had been preaching for those same seventeen years, and that squirrelly bastard could preach. Standing waist deep in the Jordan, he would wave his arms and roll his eyes and stir the air with a sermon that would make you believe the clouds were going to open and the hand of God Hisownself was going to reach down, grab you by the balls, and shake you till the evil rattled out of you like loose baby teeth. An hour of John's preaching and you were not only lining up to be baptized, you'd jump right in the river and try to breathe the bottom muck just to be relieved of your own wretchedness. Joshua watched, and listened, and learned. John was an absolute believer in who Joshua was and what he was going to do, as far as he understood, anyway, but the Baptist worried me. John was attracting the attention of Herod Antipas. Herod had married his brother Philip's wife, Herodia, without her obtaining a divorce, which was forbidden by Jewish law, an absolute outrage by the more severe laws of the Essenes, and a subject that fit well into John's pervasive â€Å"slut† theme. I was starting to notice soldiers from Herod's personal guard hovering around the edge of John's crowds when he preached. I confronted the Baptist one evening when he came out of the wilderness in one of his evangelical rages to ambush me, Joshua, Bartholomew, and a new guy as we sat around eating our locusts. â€Å"Slut!† John shouted with his â€Å"thunder of Elijah† voice, waving a finger under Bart's nose. â€Å"Yeah, John, Bartholomew's been getting laid a lot,† I said, evangelizing for sarcasm. â€Å"Almost,† said Bart. â€Å"I mean with another human being, Bart.† â€Å"Oh. Sorry. Never mind.† John wheeled on the new guy, who put his hands up. â€Å"I'm new,† he said. Thus rebuked, John spun to face Joshua. â€Å"Celibate,† Joshua said. â€Å"Always have been, always will be. Not happy about it.† Finally John turned to me. â€Å"Slut!† â€Å"John, I'm cleansed, you baptized me six times today.† Joshua elbowed me in the ribs. â€Å"What? It was hot. Point is, I counted fifty soldiers in the crowd today, so ease up a little on the slut talk. You're backed up or something. You really need to rethink this no marriage, no sex, no fun, ascetic thing.† â€Å"And the honey-and-locust living-in-a pit thing,† said the new guy. â€Å"He's no different than Melchior or Gaspar,† Joshua said. â€Å"They were both ascetics.† â€Å"Melchior and Gaspar weren't running around calling the provincial governor a slut in front of hundreds of people. It's a big difference, and it's going to get him killed.† â€Å"I am cleansed of sin and unafraid,† said John, sitting down by the fire now, some of his verve gone. â€Å"Yeah, are you cleansed of guilt? Because you're going to have the blood of thousands on your hands when the Romans come to get you. In case you haven't noticed, they don't just kill the leaders of a movement. There's a thousand crosses on the road to Jerusalem where Zealots died, and they weren't all leaders.† â€Å"I am unafraid.† John hung his head until the ends of his hair were dipping into the honey in his bowl. â€Å"Herodia and Herod are sluts. He's as close as we have to a Jewish king, and he's a slut.† Joshua pushed his cousin's hair out of his eyes and squeezed the wild man's shoulder. â€Å"If it be so, then so be it. As the angel foretold, you were born to preach the truth.† I stood up and tossed my locusts into the fire, showering sparks over John and Joshua. â€Å"I've only met two people whose births were announced by angels, and three-quarters of them are loony.† And I stormed off to my pit. â€Å"Amen,† said the new guy. That night, as I was falling asleep, I heard Joshua scrambling in the pit next to mine, as if a bug or an idea had roused him from his bedroll. â€Å"Hey!† he said. â€Å"What?† I replied. â€Å"I just did the math. Three quarters of two is – â€Å" â€Å"One and a half,† said the new guy, who had moved into the pit on the other side of Josh. â€Å"So John's either all crazy and you're half crazy, or you're three-quarters crazy and John's three-quarters crazy, or – well – actually it's a constant ratio, I'd have to graph it out for you.† â€Å"So what are you saying?† â€Å"Nothing,† said the new guy. â€Å"I'm new.† The next morning Joshua leapt out of his pit, shook off the scorpions, and after a long morning whiz, kicked some dirt clods into my pit to thunk me from my slumber. â€Å"This is it,† Joshua said. â€Å"Come down to the river, I'm going to have John baptize me today.† â€Å"Which will make it different from yesterday in what way?† â€Å"You'll see. I have a feeling.† And off he went. The new guy prairie-dogged up out of his pit. He was tall, the new guy, and the morning sun caught on his bald scalp as he looked around. He noticed some flowers growing where Joshua had just relieved himself. Lush blossoms of a half-dozen vibrant colors stood surrounded by the deadest landscape on the planet. â€Å"Hey, were those there yesterday?† â€Å"That always happens,† I said. â€Å"We don't talk about it.† â€Å"Wow,† said the new guy. â€Å"Can I tag along with you guys?† â€Å"Sure,† I said. And thus did we become four. At the river, John preached to a small gathering as he lowered Joshua into the water. As soon as Joshua went under the water a rift opened across the desert sky, which was still pink with the dawn, and out of the rift came a bird that looked to be fashioned from pure light. And everyone on the riverbank said â€Å"ooh† and â€Å"ahh,† and a big voice boomed out of the heavens, saying, â€Å"This is my son, with whom I am well pleased.† And as quickly as it had come, the spirit was gone. But the gatherers at the riverbank stood with their mouths open in amazement, staring yet into the sky. And John came to his senses then, and remembered what he was doing, and lifted Joshua out of the water. And Joshua wiped the water out of his eyes, looked at the crowd who stood stunned with mouths hanging open, and he said unto them: â€Å"What?† â€Å"No, really, Josh, that's what the voice said, ‘This is my son, with whom I am well pleased.'† Joshua shook his head and chewed a breakfast locust. â€Å"I can't believe he couldn't wait until I came up. You're sure it was my father?† â€Å"Sounded like him.† The new guy looked at me and I shrugged. Actually it sounded like James Earl Jones, but I didn't know that back then. â€Å"That's it,† said Joshua. â€Å"I'm going into the desert like Moses did, forty days and forty nights.† Joshua got up and started walking into the desert. â€Å"From here on out, I'm fasting until I hear something from my father. That was my last locust.† â€Å"I wish I could say that,† said the new guy. As soon as Joshua was out of sight I ran to my pit and packed my satchel. I was a half day getting to Bethany, and another hour asking around before someone could direct me to the house of Jakan, prominent Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin. The house was made of the golden-tinged limestone that marked all of Jerusalem, and there was a high wall around the courtyard. Jakan had done very well for himself, the prick. You could house a dozen families from Nazareth in a house this size. I paid two blind guys a shekel each to stand by the wall so I could climb on their shoulders. â€Å"How much did he say this was?† â€Å"He said it was a shekel.† â€Å"Doesn't feel like a shekel.† â€Å"Would you guys quit feeling your shekels and stand still, I'm going to fall.† I peeped over the top of the wall and there, sitting under the shade of an awning, working at a small loom, was Maggie. If she had changed, it was only that she'd become more radiant, more sensuous, more of a woman and less of a girl. I was stunned. I guess I expected some sort of disappointment, thinking that my time and my love might have shaped a memory that the woman could never live up to. Then I thought, perhaps the disappointment was yet to come. She was married to a rich man, a man who, when I knew him, had been a bully and a dolt. And what had always really made Maggie's memory in my mind was her spirit, her courage, and her wit. I wondered if those things could have survived all these years with Jakan. I started to shake, bad balance or fear, I don't know, but I put my hand on top of the wall to steady myself and cut myself on some broken pottery that had been set in mortar along the top. â€Å"Ouch, dammit.† â€Å"Biff?† Maggie said, as she looked me in the eye right before I tumbled off the shoulders of the blind guys. I had just climbed to my feet when Maggie came around the corner and hit me, full-frontal womanhood, full speed, leading with lips. She kissed me so hard that I could taste blood from my cut lips and it was glorious. She smelled the same – cinnamon and lemon and girl sweat – and felt better than memory could ever allow. When she finally relaxed her embrace and held me at arm's length, there were tears in her eyes. And mine. â€Å"He dead?† said one of the blind men. â€Å"Don't think so, I can hear him breathing.† â€Å"Sure smells better than he did.† â€Å"Biff, your face cleared up,† Maggie said. â€Å"You recognized me, with the beard and everything.† â€Å"I wasn't sure at first,† she said, â€Å"so I was taking a risk jumping you like that, but in the midst of it all I recognized that.† She pointed to where my tunic had tented out in the front. And then she grabbed that betraying rascal, shirtfront and all, and led me down the wall toward the gate by it. â€Å"Come on in. You can't stay long, but we can catch up. Are you okay?† she said, looking over her shoulder, giving me a squeeze. â€Å"Yeah, yeah, I'm just trying to think of a metaphor.† â€Å"He got a woman from up there,† I heard one of the old blind guys say. â€Å"Yeah, I heard her drop. Boost me up, I'll feel around.† In the courtyard, with Maggie, over wine, I said, â€Å"So you really didn't recognize me?† â€Å"Of course I recognized you. I've never done that before. I just hope no one saw me, they still stone women for that.† â€Å"I know. Oh, Maggie, I have so much to tell you.† She took my hand. â€Å"I know.† She looked into my eyes, past my eyes, her blue eyes looking for something beyond me. â€Å"He's fine,† I said, finally. â€Å"He's gone into the desert to fast and wait for a message from the Lord.† She smiled. There was a little of my blood in the corners of her mouth, or maybe that was wine. â€Å"He's come home to take his place as the Messiah then?† â€Å"Yes. But I don't think the way people think.† â€Å"People think that John might be the Messiah.† â€Å"John is†¦He's†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"He's really pissing Herod off,† Maggie offered. â€Å"I know.† â€Å"Are you and Josh going to stay with John?† â€Å"I hope not. I want Joshua to leave. I just have to get him away from John long enough to see what's going on. Maybe this fast†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The iron lock on the gate to the courtyard rattled, then the whole gate shook. Maggie had locked it behind us after we'd entered. A man cursed. Evidently Jakan was having trouble with his key. Maggie stood and pulled me to my feet. â€Å"Look, I'm going to a wedding in Cana next month with my sister Martha, the week after Tabernacles. Jakan can't go, he's got some meeting of the Sanhedrin or something. Come to Cana. Bring Joshua.† â€Å"I'll try.† She ran to the closest wall and held her hand in a stirrup. â€Å"Over.† â€Å"But, Maggie†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Don't be a wuss. Step, hands – step, shoulders – and over. Be careful of the pottery on top.† And I ran – did exactly as she'd said: one foot in the stirrup, one on her shoulder, and over the wall before Jakan could get in the gate. â€Å"Got one!† said one of the old blind guys as I tumbled down on top of them. â€Å"Hold her still while I stick it in.† I was sitting on a boulder, waiting for Joshua when he came out of the desert. I held out my arms to hug him and he fell forward, letting me catch him. I lowered him to the rock where I had been sitting. He had been smart enough to coat all the exposed parts of his skin with mud, probably mixed from his own urine, to protect it from burning, but in a few spots on his forehead and hands the mud had crumbled away and the skin was gone, burned to raw flesh. His arms were as thin as a small girl's, they swam in the wide sleeves of his tunic. â€Å"You okay?† He nodded. I handed him a water skin I had been keeping cool in the shade. He drank in little sips, pacing himself. â€Å"Locust?† I said, holding up one of the crispy torments between my thumb and forefinger. At the sight of it I thought Joshua would vomit the water he had just drunk. â€Å"Just kidding,† I said. I whipped open the mouth of my satchel, revealing dates, fresh figs, olives, cheese, a half-dozen flat loaves of bread, and a full wineskin. I'd sent the new guy into Jericho the day before to bring back the food. Josh looked at the food spilling out of the satchel and grinned, then covered his mouth with his hand. â€Å"Ow. Ouch. Ow.† â€Å"What's wrong?† â€Å"Lips†¦chapped.† â€Å"Myrrh,† I said, pulling a small jar of the ointment from the satchel and handing it to him. An hour later the Son of God was refreshed and rejuvenated, and we sat sharing the last of the wine, the first that Joshua had had since we'd come home from India over a year ago. â€Å"So, what did you see in the desert?† â€Å"The Devil.† â€Å"The Devil?† â€Å"Yep. He tempted me. Power, wealth, sex, that sort of thing. I turned him down.† â€Å"What did he look like?† â€Å"He was tall.† â€Å"Tall? The prince of darkness, the serpent of temptation, the source of all corruption and evil, and all you can say about him is he was tall?† â€Å"Pretty tall.† â€Å"Oh, good, I'll be on the lookout then.† Joshua said, pointing at the new guy. â€Å"He's tall, too.† I realized then that the Messiah might be a little tipsy. â€Å"Not the Devil, Josh.† â€Å"Well, who is he then?† â€Å"I'm Philip,† said the new guy. â€Å"I'm going with you to Cana tomorrow.† Joshua wheeled around to me and almost fell off his rock. â€Å"We're going to Cana tomorrow?† â€Å"Yes, Maggie's there, Josh. She's dying.†