Cultures of the Middle East

Introduction The Middle East is a region situated between the western part of Asia and northern Africa. At times this region is also known as the Near East. The history of the region is rich and stretches back into the ancient times. Historically, this region has been the main center of world affairs.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Cultures of the Middle East specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This region is well known to be the home for some of the world’s great religions including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Middle Eastern countries consist of various cultural and sectarian groups who have lived together in harmony and, somewhat, shared a common geographical, environmental and cultural setting. However, an observer of a number of events present in the Middle East may easily notice serious clashes among some groups which led, in some cases, to armed struggle and produced complexity at various levels. It is observable that the ongoing intervention of external powers and the creation of the state of â€Å"Israel† in 1948 have harmfully contributed to the unsteadiness situation in the Middle East on many fronts. As a result of the above-mentioned factors, a controversial view has emerged and popularized. This view claim that the Middle East is not only consisting of varied conflicting cultural groups fighting each other, but also experiencing difficulties in interacting with each other on various levels, including the cultural level (Salzman (b), p 5). This paper will provide a critical analysis of the cultural aspects in the Middle East. Cultural and Sectarian Groups in the Middle East Culture can be defined as a shared set of beliefs, traditions and behaviors that is shaped by various aspects including ethnicity, nationality, religion, and language among other factors. The Middle East consists of well over twenty countries which have different religious, ethnic, and lingu istic groups. Despite these variations, the people of the Middle East have common norms and values which are shared among themselves. Previously, the Middle East has been portrayed as a desert region that is characterized by nomadic lifestyle. Also, this region has closely been associated with oil wealth and territorial and religious conflicts. Though this is true about the region, it has to be noted that there are more aspects related to this region. Life in the Middle East is quite complex to be comprehended as simple since there are various variables which influence the way in which people live in this region. It is worth to note that a common thread known to be running through the Middle Eastern society is the importance that has been placed on the family institution and values that emanate from a solid extended family ties such as loyalty, honor and respect (Salzman (b), p 16).Advertising Looking for essay on cultural studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first p aper with 15% OFF Learn More The Middle East is characterized by various cultural and sectarian groups. The cultural groups include the Persians, Arabs and the Jews. Predominantly, the Jews are found in Israel whereas the Persians are found in Iran. The Arabs form the bulk of the people found in the Middle East. The other cultural groups found in the Middle East include the Turks and the Kurds. Sectarian groups in the region include Hamas, Hezbollah, Beter youth organization, and the Kahanists, among others. The sectarian and the cultural groups in the Middle East are deeply engaged in the politics of the region (Davis, p 555). The Middle East underwent very little changes after the end of the colonial period. The politics of the region are characterized by sectarian alliances such as the Sunni, Shi’as, and the Kurds in Iraq; Muslims and Christians in Lebanon; Muslims and Copts in Egypt; Turks and Kurds in Turkey; and Sunnis and Shi’as in Saudi Arabia among ot hers. The society in the Middle East is first comprised of groups that prioritize ethnic loyalty (Salzman (a), p 840). In this case, national identity is often trumped upon in the pursuit of ethnic identity. This has been claimed to be the reason for the instability that is being experienced in the region. This characteristic has paved way for the development of authoritarian rule that is widespread in the region with the exception of Israel and Turkey (Davis, p 555). The Middle East is known to be the origin of three monotheist religions including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Each of the religion lays emphasis on peaceful co-existence and tolerance. Judaism refers to peace, equality and tolerance; Islam is said to be a religion founded on peace; while Christianity is said to be a religion based on peace and love. The various religions in the region draw their inspirations from ancient texts and have common rules and beliefs. For instance, Islam and Judaism have similar dietary rules and view religion as a foundation for civil law. The three religions also share prophets. Jesus is significant among the Christians and Muslims, though Muslims also follow the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. Religion plays a central role in the lives of the people in the Middle East (Salzman (b), p 31). Among the Muslims, Friday is considered a holy day; Judaism regard Saturday as their holy day whereas Christians holy day is on Sunday.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Cultures of the Middle East specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More â€Å"Cultural† and â€Å"sectarian† groups in the Middle East The Middle East is characterized by both cultural and sectarian groups. Cultural groups are those organizations that champion for the enhancement of certain cultural identity. The examples, as mentioned earlier, include the Kurds, Turks, Arabs, Jews, and the Persians. On the other hand, the sectarian groups are those that base their discrimination and hatred towards others on religious differences; political differences; class differences; and factional or regional differences. Such groups in the Middle East include the Hamas, Hezbollah, Beter youth organization, and the Kahanists, among others. These organizations have turned to orthodox means in advancing their objectives. Most of them have sanctioned violence in fulfilling their objectives. Most of the groups in the Middle East can be termed as sectarian. This is because the various groups are entangled in the advancement of the group’s objectives based on religious, political, class, regional or factional differences (Bates and Rassam, p 25). The Hamas is an Islamic resistance movement which claims to represent the Sunni Islamic organization that has been democratically elected to represent the Palestinians. Hamas is engaged in armed conflict with Israel and has adopted terrorist tactics in fighting for the ‘rightsâ₠¬â„¢ of the Palestinians. They do not recognize the existence of the state of Israel and call for its destruction. Hezbollah on its part is a Lebanese Islamic Shiite organization and political party. It is also known as ‘the Party of God’. Hezbollah was formed in 1982 after Israel invaded Lebanon. Hezbollah is a radical Islamist group that aims to achieve two objectives. First, the organization aims at getting rid of Israel forces from the Southern Lebanon; and secondly, Hezbollah aims to establish an Islamic republic in Lebanon (Bates and Rassam, p 27). Hezbollah has been associated with terrorist activities against the United States and Israel. Essentially, the group has been engaging in guerrilla warfare against Israel occupation in Southern Lebanon. Hezbollah continues to enjoy support from the Muslim world with Iran and Iraq known to give material and logistic support to the group. In Israel, there are various sectarian and cultural groups such as the Beter youth m ovement and the Kahanists. The Beter youth organization is known to promote violence in its mission to defend Israel. The Kahanists on the other hand are a racist extremist religious movement. Even though this group has been outlawed from the Israel government, it still influences political views. The group is known for its call on violence against the Palestinians (Bates and Rassam, p 43).Advertising Looking for essay on cultural studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Middle East is comprised various ethnic communities which include the Arabs, Persians, Turks, Berbers, Jews, and Kurds among others. Most of the countries in the region are multi-ethnic (Baehr, p 394). However, this has not come with benefits as it has been associated with conflicts that are prevalent in the region. For instance, the Kurds who are widespread across the region have engaged in armed conflicts seeking to establish an independent Kurdistan state. The Hamas and the Hezbollah are also engaged in an armed conflict against Israel occupation (Bates and Rassam, p 47). The Impact of imperial powers and the establishment of â€Å"Israel† on the people and culture of the Middle East The establishment of the state of Israel at the heart to the Middle Eastern society has had major impacts on the cultural aspect of the region. This has also greatly impacted on the ongoing conflicts and problems in the Middle East. The conflict being experienced in the Middle East cannot be analyzed outside the cultural context (Baehr, p 394). It has been noted that the 7th century Arab culture impacted on Islam and the followers of Islamic religion in their view towards non-Muslims. In the current times, the Arab culture and tribalism that is rampant among the Islamic communities in the Middle East impacts on every aspect of life including family relationships, governance issues and conflicts. Though most people believe that the conflicts in the Middle East are conflicts that are fanned by political grievances, the truth of the matter is that these conflicts are rooted in the culture and Arab tribalism (Salzman(c), p 23). It is worth noting that all human societies aspire to establish order for survival and prosperity. The Arab culture ensures security through what is referred to as ‘balanced opposition.’ In this case, all members of the society owe their membership to nested kin groups which are usually big or small in size. The groups have the obliga tion to defend each of the members of the group and bear collective responsibility for the activities of the group members. Salzman(c) notes that, â€Å"If there is a confrontation, families face families, lineage faces lineage, clan faces clan, tribe faces tribe, confederacy faces confederacy, sect faces sect, and the Islamic community faces the infidels,† (p. 23). Therefore, it can be noted that tribalism plays a critical role in the Arab communities of the Middle East. Israel is regarded as a common enemy by the Arab countries in the Middle East. The Arab countries perceive the establishment of Israel in their land as an encroachment in the heart of their land. Israel occupation has caused a lot of resentment across the Muslim world. The entrance of the United States, which has tended to support the aggressive policies adopted by Israel against the Palestinian, has only acted to fuel the anger of the Arabs against both the US foreign policies towards the Middle East and Is rael in particular (Dajan, p 160). The emergence of sectarian groups such as the Hamas and the Hezbollah was triggered by anger emanating from Israel occupation. Israel can be regarded as a political entity and partly as a cultural entity. This is because Israel is regarded as a sovereign state which has been recognized by the international community at least basing on the initial boundaries that were created in 1948. At the same time, Israel can be considered as a cultural entity since its establishment in the Middle East was driven by cultural factors where the Jews were determined to go back to their ancestral land. The conflict between the Arabs and Israel is highly emphasized due to its magnitude. The Muslim Arabs argue that Israel has encroached on their land, which was conquered by Prophet Muhammad, and established their state illegally. The occupation of the land that has belonged to Muslims by Israelis, who are considered as infidels, is considered outrageous and intolerabl e by the Arabs (Salzman(c), p 27). The Revolutions in the Arab countries The Arab world has been experiencing revolutions in the recent past, and this can be said to have resulted from the conflicting interests among the various cultural and sectarian groups in the region. Though the incident that sparked the revolution was economic hardships and iron rule of leaders who did not want to leave political power, the sectarian and cultural groups got a leeway to exacerbate the conflicts and usurp power from the long-time dictators. In Tunisia, where the revolution begun, the long serving President was removed from power and a new regime installed. Egypt followed suit with sectarian and cultural groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood took advantage of public resentment against the long-serving President, Hussein Mubarak. This culminated in the removal of President Mubarak from power. In Libya, the long-serving dictator, Muammar Gadhafi was removed from power by the militia groups who were supported by the NATO air strikes. Therefore, it can be asserted that the revolutions in the Arab world were enhanced by the existence of sectarian and cultural groups in the region. Conclusion The Middle East can be argued to be comprising of various cultural issues that play a critical role in defining the trend in the region. Essentially, the sectarian conflicts that are rampant in the region can be attributed to the cultural orientation of the region. As noted earlier, the Middle East is characterized by diversity which has acted to fuel the conflicting situation in the region. The Kurds, for instance, have been involved in a struggle to establish their own free state. Also, there are conflicting situations in which the various tribes are competing for political power in various countries in the region. The Arabs are also engaged in a conflict with Israel based on the notion that all non-Muslims are infidels and have to be subordinate to the Muslims. The most highlighted confli ct in the Middle East is that between the Arabs and Israel. The Arab Muslims are against the establishment of Israel in what is regarded as their ancestral land. Works Cited Baehr, Peter. Tribes and Terror in the Middle East: A Conversation with Philip Carl Salzman. Soc 46, 2009: 394–397. Bates, G. Daniel and Amal Rassam. â€Å"Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East†. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2nd edition, 2001. Dajan, S. Munther. The ‘Greater Middle East Initiative’ and the Arab Culture of Rejection. Palestinine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics, and Culture. 11.34, 2004: 158-160. Davis, Eric. Pens ´ee 3: A Sectarian Middle East? Int. J. Middle East Stud. 40, 2008: 555-558. Salzman, Philip Carl (a). Arab Culture and Postcolonial Theory. Israel Affairs, 13.4 2007: 837–843. Salzman, Philip Carl (b). Culture and Conflict in the Middle East. New York: Humanity Books, 2008. Salzman, Philip Carl (c). â€Å"The Middle East’s Tr ibal DNA.† Middle East Quarterly 15.1 2008: 23-33. This essay on Cultures of the Middle East was written and submitted by user Kamille Y. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Analysis of Special Service Unit staffing and deployment Essays

Analysis of Special Service Unit staffing and deployment Essays Analysis of Special Service Unit staffing and deployment Essay Analysis of Special Service Unit staffing and deployment Essay Particular Service Unit Staffing and Deployment Abstraction The City of Alexandria, Virginia is located South of Washington D.C. , and is bordered by Arlington County Virginia to the North, Fairfax County Virginia to the South and West and the Potomac River and Prince George’s County Maryland to the E. The City of Alexandria Fire Department presently deploys from nine fire Stationss within 15.4 square stat mis and serves a population of 148, 892. ( census.gov ) The City of Alexandria operates nine fire stations ( a ten percent is under building ) . The Alexandria Fire Department works within the Fire Departments of Northern Virginia Standard Operating Procedures. In these operating processs, fire deployments require engine companies, ladder companies, deliverance companies, medic units and bid vehicles. In 2013, the eight engine companies, six medic units, three ladder trucks, heavy deliverance and haz-mat unit ran a sum of 32,190 calls for service. ( Gore, 2014 ) For the intents of warranting the statistics and hypothesis of this paper, in the first six months of 2014, the three ladder trucks ran a sum of 2357 calls for service with Truck 204 running 784, Truck 208 running 887 and Tower Ladder 203 running a sum of 486. The Rescue Company ran a sum of 310 calls for service. The intent of this paper is to warrant the demobilisation of Tower 203 and re-deploy the forces from that company to staff the Alexandria Rescue Squad, and cut down the sum of common adjutant Rescue Company response into the City. History of the Rescue Company The first Fire Department in the Country to develop a Rescue Company was the Fire Department of New York. Rescue 1 was placed in service on March 6, 1915, after General Order 10, dated January 18, 1915 by Fire Commissioner Adamson announced the pending formation of a squad, equipped with take a breathing setup and trained to manage unusual conditions such as smoky metro fires. ( Hashagen, 1989 ) Rescue Company 1 was formed after two serious incidents in New York City: the first being a fire at the Equitable Building where firemans worked madly to let go of the president of the Mercantile Safe Deposit Company and another adult male that were trapped behind two-inch steel bars that were protecting the bank windows. This deliverance required one hr and 15 proceedingss for firemans to cut through the bars with hack saw. The 2nd incident which prompted the F.D.N.Y. to develop Rescue 1 occurred on January 8, 1915, when a auto of a metro train caught fire between 50Thursdayand 59ThursdayStr eets. Approximately seven hundred people were either partly or wholly overcome by dense fume and exhausts, with two hundred necessitating to be hospitalized. The deliverance work by firemans was delayed due to the inability of firemans to run for any length of clip in the fume filled atmosphere of the metro. Although other fire sections across the state had squads , which were used as either extra work force or first assistance crews, F.D.N.Y. Rescue 1 was the first heavy rescue company in the United States. History of the Rescue Company in Alexandria The construct of a Rescue Company was non something new in the Alexandria Fire Department. The original squads were utilized for particular assignments such as first assistance, scene lighting and extra work force. The squad did non supply any heavy deliverance capablenesss. In 1987, Captain Terrance Kisner of Engine Company 54 developed a proposal of get downing a heavy deliverance company in the City. Prior to that clip, any vehicle unsnarling calls that were received in the City were handled by either Engine 54, that was located near the George Washington memorial Parkway, Engine 57, which had entree to the inner and outer cringle of the Capital Beltway, between the Fairfax County line and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and Engine 58, which had entree to Interstate 395 between the Fairfax County Line and Arlington County. Captain Kisner’s proposal suggested that a deliverance company be developed to non merely manage vehicle unsnarling, but include the subjects of rope deliveran ce, trench and confined infinite deliverance and structural prostration. Several members of the Department enrolled in the Virginia Department of Fire Programs, Technical Rescue Training Program to have the necessary preparation and accomplishments development to be able to work as members of the squad. In 1988, Deputy Fire Chief Jack Roach approved the proposal to develop both a Technical Rescue Team and a company with multiple deliverance subjects. It was decided to non buy a separate heavy deliverance vehicle in 1988, but to put equipment on an engine company, and giving the company the appellation of Rescue Engine 56, seeing that the company would be re-located from Station 54 on First Street in Alexandria, to Station 56, located on Seminary Road. This fire station provided speedy entree to Interstate 395, Interstate 495 and the full City. Rescue Engine 56, so Rescue Engine 206, when the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments changed the wireless enumeration system respo nded to many deliverance calls within the City bounds, along with supplying common adjutant response to the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 and the Laplata, Maryland twister in 2002. After the Attack on the Pentagon in 2001, the United States Government, and the Department of Homeland Security began to pay out grant money through the Urban Area Security Initiative ( Office, 2004 ) Through this grant plan, the City of Alexandria purchased two vehicles ; a Tower Ladder that was placed at Station 203, located at 2801 Cameron Mills Road and a heavy deliverance vehicle, that would be housed at Station 206, on Seminary Road. This purchase was approved by the Alexandria City Council at the petition of so Fire Chief Thomas Hawkins. At the clip of the purchase, Alexandria Fire Administration did non do programs to add extra staffing, but alternatively, decided to utilize the Rescue as a individual pull, name type determined which unit should travel on the call. A Similar Dilemma In 1993 Edward Plaugher was appointed as the Fire Chief in Arlington County, Virginia, after the surrender of Fire Chief Thomas Hawkins. Chief Plaugher retired from Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department and was familiar with the construct of Rescue Companies. Fairfax County was the one of the legal powers that maintained staffed Rescue Companies in the Northern Virginia country. At that clip, Arlington County maintained staffing for 10 engine companies and four ladder truck companies. Extrication equipment was carried on the ladder trucks and there was non a designated deliverance company. ( Insley, 2014 ) Chief Plaugher saw a demand to increase particular service bringing to the citizens of Arlington County. It was decided by the fire disposal in Arlington County to add two Rescue Squads to their fleet. The initial Rescue companies were assigned to Station 104on the north side of the county and Rescue 109 to the south side of the county. ( Gray, 2006 ) The Rescue’s went i nto service in January 1997, and were used in a single pull position. At that clip, both Station 104 and 109 housed a ladder truck and a deliverance that was staffed by a individual crew, with the call type finding which setup to take to the incident. Both Stationss besides had an engine company assigned. Later that twelvemonth, Engine 104 and Engine 109 along with Truck 104 and Truck 109 were placed into modesty position and quints were purchased, altering the setup constellation to eight engine companies, two five companies, two deliverance companies and two ladder/tower companies. The five companies were staffed with six forces and when dispatched on fire calls, were used chiefly as engine companies ; nevertheless, the driver/operator of the deliverance company would work in concurrence with the five company if there was a demand to utilize the aerial ladder. ( Barksdale, 2014 ) After utilizing this theoretical account for several old ages, the fives were placed out of service. Arlington County Fire Administration under the way of Fire Chief James Schwartz went back to running nine engine companies, three ladder/tower companies, and two deliverance companies. Station 104 is the lone fire station in the County that does non hold an engine assigned. Station 104 now houses a deliverance and ladder truck. Engine company responsibilities are conducted through a common response understanding with Fort Meyer. ( Insley, 2014 ) Alexandria Rescue 206 During the building of Rescue 206 in 2002, Fire Chief Thomas Hawkins did non bespeak extra forces from City decision makers, to let for full clip staffing of the Rescue. It was decided to run the Rescue as a single pull from Firehouse 206. Between 2002 and the present, the Northern Virginia Fire Chief’s ( NOVA Chief’s ) came to the determination that all of the legal powers that work under the Northern Virginia Mutual Aid Agreement, should hold Standard Operating Procedure , that all of the take parting legal powers should run under. The NOVA Chief’s developed a group of forces from all of the legal powers to develop these manuals. Standard Operating Procedures have been developed for High Rise Operations, Garden Apartments, Single Family Dwellings, Strip Mall Shopping Centers and Townhomes, and Rapid Intervention Team Operations. ( Group ) These Standard Operating Procedures have specific assignments for the first through 4th due engine companies, the first and 2nd due ladder/tower companies, foremost and 2nd due Battalion Chiefs and the Rescue Companies. Rescue 206 is dispatched on several zone boxes within the City of Alexandria, but merely when the staffing is in the fire station and Engine 206 is note on the tally card. The Rescue assignments are filled by common assistance deliverance companies from Fairfax County and Arlington County. Fairfax County does non even acknowledge Rescue 206, seeing that it is non for good staffed. ( Fair, 2014 ) Rescue 206 is systematically dispatched on vehicle accidents within the first due district of Engine 206, along with vehicle accidents on Interstate 395. Dispatch processs have been late updated to include two deliverance companies on vehicle unsnarlings within the City. Rescue 206 is besides dispatched on all proficient deliverance calls within the City. Listed below are the unit call burden comparings for the Rescue Companies that respond into the City of Alexandria. ( Department, 2014 ) This will include ; Rescue 206, Rescue 104 and Rescue 109 from Arlington County, Rescue 411, Rescue 426, and Rescue 418 all from Fairfax County. This study includes financial twelvemonth 2013 and 2014. Rescue 206 Staffing Plan Proposal The Alexandria Fire Department has gone through the term of office of four Fire Chief’s that did non do staffing Rescue 206 a precedence. Knowing that for the financial budget twelvemonth 2015, the City of Alexandria eliminated 10 full clip places within the fire section. This staffing was to staff firehouse 210, which is presently under building. With the possibility of having 12 extra full clip employee places, in add-on to the 10 needed to staff the new fire station, excess staffing to staff the deliverance squad could be a tongueless point. However, the deliverance could be staffed on a lasting footing by de-commissioning Tower 203. Justification for De-Commissioning Tower 203 Listed below are grounds to de-commission Tower 203, and travel the forces to staff Rescue 206: Firehouse 203 is slated to be remodeled in financial twelvemonth 2016. The programs are to pulverize the fire station, change the footmark of the fire station and travel the tower ladder from the fire station after completion and puting a medic unit in its topographic point. The current tower ladder that is assigned to Firehouse 203, ( 2003 American LaFrance ) has been out of service for about six months, and the crew is presently staffing the City’s merely reserve ladder truck. A new tower ladder has been purchased, and has non been placed in service, and will non be until the company members receive developing on the operation of the new tower. Besides, the design of the new tower ladder does non let it to suit in Firehouse 203 due to its overall tallness and length. With the re-building of Firehouse 203, the current program is to relocate the new tower ladder to Firehouse 209, located at 2800 Main Line Boulevard. This would take a particular service unit from the north terminal of the City and doing delayed response times into that service country. With the resettlement of the tower ladder to Firehouse 209, the Jefferson Davis Highway corridor of the City, there would be an over copiousness of ladder trucks/tower ladders in a 2.5 mile line of Alexandria/Arlington. This resettlement would go forth the northwest corner dependent upon a common assistance ladder truck from Fairfax County to cover that district, conveying a longer response clip. With the Replacement for Tower 203 already being purchased, relocate the new tower ladder to Station 208 and put the tractor drawn forward pass that is presently in service into modesty position, to let the Department to hold a quality ladder truck in the modesty fleet. Benefits of Staffing Rescue 206 As stated earlier, Rescue 206 is staffed by the four individual crew of Engine 206, and is dispatched when on vehicle unsnarlings and a minimum sum of structural fire calls in the City. In the event of a proficient deliverance incident in the City, the current Technical Rescue Team despatch matrix is to despatch Rescue 206 and Truck 208. Listed below are several justifications on staffing Rescue 206 with full clip employees. The logical thinking below would ask the resettlement of Rescue 206, to Firehouse 203: Remove the staffing from Tower 203, and reassign this staffing to Firehouse 208 to staff Truck 208. This would let in maintain an experient truck crew in the fire station. Transfer the staffing from Engine 203 to staff Engine 206. Transfer the staffing from Truck 208 to Engine 203, doing an exclusion to the Department pattern of puting a captain in charge of an engine company, and using the lieutenant from Truck 208 to oversee the engine crew. This would function several intents. The crew of Engine 203 would now be the auxiliary crew for Rescue 206. All Technical Rescue Team forces would be in the same fire station to ease particular service preparation. This program would besides let for easy movable staffing when members or officers of the Rescue Company would be on leave. This program will besides let for sequence planning in the Tech Rescue Team, in the event of the Tech Rescue Captain being promoted to a higher rank, retire, or having another assignment. Puting the full clip staffed Rescue Company in Station 203 would supply a particular service unit in the northern subdivision of the City. The undertakings assigned to the Rescue Company and the Ladder/Tower Company are similar on construction fires. ( i.e. , hunt, deliverance, airing, public-service corporation suspension ) The lone actions different would be the loss of the aerial ladder. The ladder trucks/tower ladders that would supply service to the first due response country of Tower 203 would be handled by Alexandria Truck 204, Arlington County Truck 105 or Fairfax County Truck 410. Permanent staffing of Rescue 206 would supply the citizens of Alexandria deliverance capablenesss for vehicle entrapment with a faster response clip, alternatively of trusting on a deliverance company from Fairfax or Arlington County. Alexandria would be able to supply like service to common assistance spouses by holding a full clip staffed rescue company. ( capablenesss to carry through a deliverance response as listed in the NOVA Standard Operating Procedures ) Let for more Technical Rescue Team preparation by holding all Tech Rescue Team members assigned to the same fire station, heightening service bringings. A caution to this program as listed above is that the program would besides be practical go forthing the Rescue at Firehouse 206, seeing that the response to the district left unfastened by Tower 203 could be covered by Rescue 206, with merely a minimum hold due to a slightly larger response distance. Access from Seminary Road allows quicker entree to the major metropolis running paths than reacting out of the vicinity of Firehouse 203. By traveling the Rescue to Firehouse 203, it provides the capableness of keeping a composure in the response country of Firehouse 203 for removing/de-commissioning the tower ladder company. See maps below: * Note that the larger figure of calls for service occur in the response district of Firehouse 206. ( Cross, 2009 ) Plants Cited: Barksdale, B. ( 2014, July 8 ) . Assistant Fire Chief. ( D. Bogozi, Interviewer ) census.gov.( n.d. ) . Retrieved from United State Census Bureau: www.census.gov Cross, M. ( 2009 ) . Battalion Chief.Rescue 206 Response Maps. Alexandria, Virginia, United States. Department, C. O. ( 2014 ) .Unit Call Load Comparison.Alexandria. Fair, G. L. ( 2014, July 11 ) . Fire Captain/DEC Liason. ( D. Bogozi, Interviewer ) Gore, S. ( 2014, March ) .The Responder.Retrieved from www.alexandriava.gov: www.alexandriava.gov/uploaded/Files/fire/info/TheResponderSpring2014 Gray, R. ( 2006 ) . Rescue 104 and Rescue 109.Arlington Fire Journal, 6. Group, N. V. ( n.d. ) .Northern Virginia Regional Commission. Retrieved from www.nvrc.org: www.novaregion.org Hashagen, P. ( 1989 ) .FIRE RESCUE The History of F.D.N.Y. Rescue Company 1.Staten Island, New York: Fire Apparatus Journal Publications. Insley, D. ( 2014, July 7 ) . Deputy Fire Chief, Support Services. ( D. Bogozi, Interviewer ) Office, G. A. ( 2004 ) .Management of First Responders Grants in the National Capital Region Reflects the Need for Coordinated Planning and Performance Goals.Washington, District of Columbia: United States Government.

Table Talk of Adolf Hitler During World War Two Essay

Table Talk of Adolf Hitler During World War Two - Essay Example Part of his rich history emanates from the table talk he had mostly at meal times between 1941 and 1944. Hitler table talks emanate from writings by Henry Picker and Heinrich Heim who took his mealtime conversations. Later on, the excerpts of the Hitler table talk featured ion Hermann Rauschning’s book called, Conversations with Hitler. Hitlers Table Talk of 1941-1944 describes the private, off the record, and informal conversations of Hitler’s view about his enemies and friends, his secret dreams and ambitions, and most of all about religion especially Christianity (Kelvin Web). However, Hitler did not allow the audio, film, or broadcast recording of his table talk conversations. Hence, the issue of reliability of the written conversations by his scribes has always been there. Nevertheless, the table talks demonstrate divergent views of Hitler on religion especially Christianity. From the table talks, Hitler says that he shall never come to terms with the Christian lie and confirms that their epoch will kill the disease of Christianity. However, it is notable in his talks that he never spoke against Jesus or Christianity per see. Indeed, he goes ahead to praise Jesus and supported organized religion in a religious sense but criticized its organization in a political sense (Kelvin Web).

Both Faustini and Cavalli's Calisto and Quinault and Lully's Atys are Essay

Both Faustini and Cavalli's Calisto and Quinault and Lully's Atys are mortals who find themselves ensnared in a web of amor - Essay Example This idea of progress, thumbing one’s nose at the intentions and designs of the deities, was understood to be tantamount to the worst possible crime that could be committed by man against the gods. Understandings of progress and an appreciation for mythology has pervaded European culture throughout the centuries. As such, at the time that operatic dramas began to be exhibited within Europe, near the beginning of the Baroque period, an understanding and general appreciation for the compliments of mythology and the idea that humans were merely the playthings of the gods, was carried alongside the musical development and plot design that came to define these operas. As a function of understanding this to a more full and complete degree, the following analysis will discuss the way in which Faustini and Cavalli’s â€Å"Calisto† as well as Quinault and Lully’s â€Å"Atys† represented mere mortals that were operating merely as pawns in a struggle for self- determination and freedom from the gods. Although this may be relevantly understood with regards to a description and discussion of mythology, the following analysis will present such a determination with regards to the way in which the musical composition of the individual librettos indicates this in and of itself. Firstly, with regards to the way in which a sense of helplessness is represented and the overall resignation to fatalism is accepted in both pieces, the listener must be keenly aware of the nuanced transition from major to minor keys to take place throughout the individual librettos. These transitions occur not indiscriminately but with respect to the subject matter that is being engaged in the actual plot development that is occurring. Ultimately, the individual characters briefly hope for a release from the fatalistic and resigned nature that they have experienced; however, as reality begins to seep in and they become more and more aware of the hopelessness of determin ing their own flight and fighting for their own future, the transition from major to minor invariably occurs (Deacon 37). Whereas the human spirit is represented as eternally hopeful, this hope turns into doubt, foreboding, and resignation as these individual shifts take place. Another means through which the fatalism is evidenced throughout both of these respective pieces is with regards to the dramatic pause that the composers were able to provide. Whereas a dramatic pause in music has been utilized for a great many things, the dramatic pauses that were included within the librettos included pointed to the fact that the characters in question were becoming fully aware of the reality of their situations and/or considering the foolishness of their hopeful expectations. Invariably, these dramatic pauses were leveraged as a means of alerting the viewer that a shift in thinking and a fundamentally different approach than had previously been presented was taking place. Another mechanism through which hope, despair, and fatalism is presented is with regards the way in which an uptick in tempo and an increase in the suspense of the music prior to revelations of actions by the gods and the means by which these will impact upon the respective characters is exhibited. In this way, a type of foreshadowing is created by the respective composers as for knowledge

Business value of information Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business value of information - Assignment Example option for its customers through a partnership with PayPal, where the customers could now be able to pay their bills owed to the company through PayPal (Telstra Exchange Technology, 2013). This was later enhanced through Telstra introducing another electronic billing option for its customers in June 2014, where the customers are now able to pay their bills electronically directly to the company (Cameron, 2014). Through the newly introduced electronic billing system, Telstra sends it’s the customer bills to the customers electronically, and the customers in turn pay their bills to the company electronically. This system has enabled Telstra to save on its operational costs, through reducing the need for the paper work required in billing the customers and sending them printed bills, as well as the costs involved in processing the paper receipts once the customers pay their bills. Nevertheless, while the electronic billing service is instrumental to reducing the operational costs of the business for Telstra, it can be enhanced even further if operated as part of the overall Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system of the company (Varajao, Cruz-Cunha & Trigo, 2012). Thus, Telstra has an opportunity to improve its electronic billing services through the integration of the electronic billing option into the overall ERP. The benefits associated with the integration of the electronic billing services of the company into the overall ERP system of the company is that the costs of operating this system will be reduced further. The integration of the electronic billing system of Telstra would reduce the costs associated with both the implementation and maintenance of the systems (Varajao, Cruz-Cunha & Trigo, 2012). Further, the accountability of the electronic billing system would be enhanced when it is integrated and operated as part of the whole ERP system of the company. This is because monitoring and auditing the system would be easier, as opposed to when it is done

Gordon’s Functional Health Patterns Assessment

Gordon’s Functional Health Patterns Assessment Lalita bhandari Overall Introduction: I am presenting here my overall health assessment by using the Gordon’s functional health patterns. Then, my stress is presented as focused assessment. This part of assessment assist me in knowing the level of stress while the internet source help me in gaining more knowledge about causes , effects of stress in normal health status and the methods to reduce the stress or its management. Finally essay on the health promotion is presented at the last. Part 1: Self Health Assessment and plan Functional Health Pattern (Gordon) Biographical Data Name: Lalita Bhandari Address: 3/5 Danica Ct., Kearneys Spring Date of Birth: 13th Feb. 1992 Place: Nepal Age: 22 years Gender: Female Occupation: Student Marital status: Single Qualification: Bachelor in nursing (ongoing) Contact number: 0404473722 Height: 162 cm. Weight: 60 kg. Health perception and management pattern: Past health history: No history of any chronic illness Present condition: Stress due to study workload and homesickness -Immunized all the vaccines which include tuberculosis, all three doses of Diphtheria, Pertusis and Tetanus, polio, measles, BCG, hepatitis and Rubella. -No habit of alcohol consumption, smoking and chewing of tobacco and no use of other injectable drugs. Nutritional-metabolic pattern: Good appetite Food intake: 2-3 times a day and many snacks No any food allergies Fluid intake: 3-4 liters of water per day Have no difficulties with eating and swallowing Vitals (at the time of doing assignment) Temperature: 36.8 deg. centigrade Pulse: 74/min. Respiration: 78/min Blood Pressure: 110/60 mm of Hg. Height: 162 cm. Weight: 60 kg. But sometimes get disturbed with stress. Elimination pattern Bowel: regular bowel at least once daily Bladder: normal frequency of menstruation and no problem associated with bladder or urination Activity-Exercise pattern No planned routine for regular exercise regime Depends upon mood and only on leisure time but rare Sleep and rest pattern Normally no problem of insomnia Have 5-6 hours of sleeping pattern Never use of any sleeping aids and sedatives to rest But sometimes, when I get stress, I suffer from insomnia Cognitive-Perceptual patterns Good sensory and auditory adequacy No difficulties in learning Good memory Oriented Self-Perception and self concept patterns I am kind, helpful and soft-hearted Show positive attitudes towards others Respect others feelings But sometimes I feel losing hope when nobody cares. Roles and relationship pattern Family life: Recently I live with my friends as a family. I have responsibility towards my parents as a daughter and sister. I can cope with the difficulties that arise among family members and have good bond among all family members. Student life: Being a student, I have responsibility towards my studies. As with the case with most of international students I need to cope with various level of difficulties like stress, anxiety and workload. Coping-Stress tolerance pattern New environment, new face, new rules, new study patterns make me stress. always listen to songs, watch pictures/photos of my cell and also talk to my close friend and family. If the stress is too severe and cannot be controlled, I cry silently and let the stress burst out with tears and feel like relaxed then after. Values-Beliefs pattern Cultural and religious beliefs Goal set to be a qualified and dedicated Registered Nurse Punctual, obedient and hardworking Never give up and learn from every mistake and move forward Part B: Focused Assessment While performing self health assessment, I found some problems in my behavior, which is mainly caused by stress due to new environment, new place, new rules and regulation. Study and distance between me and my family are the other factors that lead to stress. In this focused assessment, I am focusing in assessing level of stress. I browse internet to gain more knowledge on my stress level. I assessed my stress level using â€Å"life change index scale/ The Stress Test†, written by Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahel. This stress test has three different rows including event, impact score and my score. As event adds up, there occurs increase in score. The higher the score, the chance of becoming ill will also be higher and also the change of returning back to normal health will decrease. LIFE CHANGE INDEX SCALE : THE STRESS TEST Life Change Units Likelihood Of Illness In Near Future According to the score interpretation presented above in the table, my level of score is 100 which is less than 150 so I have less risk of illness in my near future. In this way Homes and Rahes stress life change index scale helps me to assess my level of stress and help me in reducing the stress and promote my health. References Holmes, T. H., Rahe, R. H. (1967). The social readjustment rating scale. Journal of psychosomatic research, 11(2), 213-218. Retrieved from http://www.dartmouth.edu/~eap/library/lifechangestresstest.pdf Part 3 Internet Sources While doing my individual self assessment, i determine that stress is the main cause for detoriating my healthy living and daily activities. For promoting my own health, I have selected two internet sources to reduce my stress. As per the source, i came to know that stress is determined as the physical reaction to several events of our life in our daily way of living. Both the sources provide brief information about the stress, causes, management and technique to relief or cope with the stress. According to the helpguide.org, â€Å"stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threaened or upset balanc e in some ways†. Also with the help of the source i came to know that stress have both merits and demerits .These both explained about the stress and mainly focused on various strategies for stress management which include 4As-Avoid unnecessary stress , Alter the situation, Adapt the streesor and Accept the things cannot be changed. Similarly the article prep ared by University of South Australia also has been presented with more information about the management of stress. This source focuses mainly in different strategies of managing stress according to our body, mind, thinking and behaviour. As both the sources have the name of the author with the date and name of publication with more information , i found these are the reliable and trustworthy for me. I found both the sources important and informative in handling with the stress. References : Managing stress Monday (2013). Retrieved April 22, 2013, from http://w3.unisa.edu.au/counsellingservices/wellbeing/stress.asp Smith, M., Segal, R., Segal, J. (2013). Stress Symptoms, signs and causes. Retrieved http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_signs.htm Part 4. Health Promotion Essay Health is considered to be the precious wealth of an individual. It is an important aspect of our life. According to the definition provided by World Health Organization, â€Å"Health promotion is the process of enabling people either individually or in group like community to increase control over, and to improve their health† as cited by Selekman,( 2006).Health is affected by various factors so that to promote the health a teamwork is required between health personal, community and other different sectors. Being a health person, Nurses play vital role for accessing the health of patients, identify their health needs and encourage them to promote their health in an effective way. This essay explains about the problems in student nurses health and the programs to promote their health. Nurses are the key persons to promote the health. They are well experienced either with the knowledge they gain or exposing with the patient of different health condition. According to Dempsey(2009), â€Å" Health promotion model is important for an individual to promote their health†. . According to Mary,Sally and Kathleen (2011) , the student nurse are known as the main person to identify health issues where low school performance and change in health status are found more common ,as cited by American Academy of Pediatrics Council on School Health (2008). This explains that the students are found to be more stressed which causes great changes in academic achievement and also their health status will detoriate. The student nurse may face problem like difficulty in identifying the problem in their clinical placement , sometimes hard even to understand the medical term. As per Fethiye and Fatos(2009),there are numerous factors that causes negative influence on decision making a nd nursing practices such as individual variables such as personal character traits and value , lack of knowledge and sensitivity about ethics and patients rights ,limited autonomy and unsatisfactory working . There are different approaches to health promotion and different health promotion model are in use. Health promotion model include characteristics models to promote environment where healthy decisions can be made about attaining high standard lifestyles reducing. According to Jennifer , fran and janat (2013) explain that the health-promoting behaviors of nursing students might be the key factor for their academic success and also facilitate them for post graduate practices . the health promotion behavior includes change in lifestyle , adjustment with new environment of study as well as hospital and development o, lifestyle, beliefs and thoughts, motivation health and promoting behavior. Practicing nurse can use these health f strength to cope with various people. According to Chambers and Thompson(2009), â€Å"empowerment is the other main focus on health promotion and participate† The student nurses should be encouraged to promote their health, change their behavior and also motivate them in changing their lifestyle and behavior and also reduce stress by avoiding , adapting the stressor and accepting the changes . At conclusion, there are many factors that cause stress in the student life of the nurses which causes problem in their health. There are many reasons to promote health. Encouragement helps nursing student to promote their health by brining change in their lifestyle Overall conclusion I have done my own self assessment with stress as a focused assessment. I found stress as a main factor that chauses change in my normal health status. Finally the essay on health promotion is presented at list of references the end of the assignment. List of References : Baisch, M. J., Lundeen, S. P., Murphy, M. (2011). Evidence-Based Research on the Value of School Nurses in an Urban School System. Journal Of School Health, 81(2), 74-80. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2010.00563.x Retrived from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=95fefa95-373a-4bb3-a0d3-09b4b9baaf42%40sessionmgr4005vid=0hid=4212 Bektas, M., Ozturk, C. (2008). Effect of health promotion education on presence of positive health behaviors, level of anxiety and self-concept: Social Behavior Personality: An International Journal, 36(5), 681-690. doi:10.2224/sbp.2008.36.5.681 RETIREVED FROM http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=53bd6502-3b56-4fb0-9ad8-dfe19e80ee51%40sessionmgr4005vid=0hid=4212 Bryer, J., Cherkis, F., Raman, J. (2013). Health-Promotion Behaviors of Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Survey Analysis. Nursing Education Perspectives, 34(6), 410-415. doi:10.5480/11-614 RERIEVED FROM http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=394eddc7-bbd1-4e40-9b94-3546e235556b%40sessionmgr4004vid=1hid=4212 Dempsey,J., French ,J., Hillege,S., Wilson,V.(2009) . Fundamental of Nursing midwifery: A person centered approach to care,(5th ed). Lippincott Williams wilkins, broadway, NWS Erdil, F., Korkmaz, F. (2009). ETHICAL PROBLEMS OBSERVED BY STUDENT NURSES. Nursing Ethics, 16(5), 589-598 Holmes, T. H., Rahe, R. H. (1967). The social readjustment rating scale. Journal of psychosomatic research, 11(2), 213-218. Retrieved from http://www.dartmouth.edu/~eap/library/lifechangestresstest.pdf Managing stress Monday (2013). Retrieved April 22, 2013, from http://w3.unisa.edu.au/counsellingservices/wellbeing/stress.asp Smith, M., Segal, R., Segal, J. (2013). Stress Symptoms, signs and causes. Retrieved http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_signs.htm 1

Internet Users Should Practice Self Restraint :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays

Internet Users Should Practice Self Restraint The generation of the 90s, the information generation, or better yet the generation-X, has been plunged into a world of computers. To survive, each individual must have knowledge of and feel comfortable with the computer; a scary word and a frightful system to those not acquainted with it. The Internet is the essential application that needs to be grasped. It is the information network of the future. However, the variety of people using it is as vast as the world around. Hence, this is a community that is truly the world's largest melting pot, bringing people together from all ends of the world. The Internet becomes a social structure and with any social structure, it has its problems. Today, one of the rising problems with the Internet is that most people have their entire lives on the system; hence they are potentially exposed to all types of criminals. All addresses, phone numbers, credit histories, and sometimes even photographs can be found through the net. As in the real world, even in the Internet, women seem to be in a vulnerable position because they are the least protected by stalkers, kidnappers, murderers and psychopaths in general. A point, in fact clearly demonstrated in the movie "The Net", starring Sandra Bullock who was chased down by the government through the Internet. Although, many times the individual can remain anonymous and separate from all biases and prejudices, they still have all their information stored for it to be pried into by any clever hacker. Another vulnerable group constitutes children; lawmakers and concerned citizens worry about them being exposed to "adult material" on the Internet. At times it is as if their first priority becomes protecting these children from pornography, offensive material and often times just extreme view points. A downside to focusing so much attention on pornography is that often people are just fueling the curiosity of those they are aiming to protect. Although regulating the Internet for children is beneficial, often the regulations also encompass college students, who need a free hand to travel through this medium. This protection from "adult material" often restricts the learning process and prevents them from fully experiencing the Internet. Recently, lawmakers have attempted to set guidelines for the Internet. This poses a problem in itself because the Internet is a worldwide system. The rules that are placed must be agreed upon across the globe. Internet Users Should Practice Self Restraint :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays Internet Users Should Practice Self Restraint The generation of the 90s, the information generation, or better yet the generation-X, has been plunged into a world of computers. To survive, each individual must have knowledge of and feel comfortable with the computer; a scary word and a frightful system to those not acquainted with it. The Internet is the essential application that needs to be grasped. It is the information network of the future. However, the variety of people using it is as vast as the world around. Hence, this is a community that is truly the world's largest melting pot, bringing people together from all ends of the world. The Internet becomes a social structure and with any social structure, it has its problems. Today, one of the rising problems with the Internet is that most people have their entire lives on the system; hence they are potentially exposed to all types of criminals. All addresses, phone numbers, credit histories, and sometimes even photographs can be found through the net. As in the real world, even in the Internet, women seem to be in a vulnerable position because they are the least protected by stalkers, kidnappers, murderers and psychopaths in general. A point, in fact clearly demonstrated in the movie "The Net", starring Sandra Bullock who was chased down by the government through the Internet. Although, many times the individual can remain anonymous and separate from all biases and prejudices, they still have all their information stored for it to be pried into by any clever hacker. Another vulnerable group constitutes children; lawmakers and concerned citizens worry about them being exposed to "adult material" on the Internet. At times it is as if their first priority becomes protecting these children from pornography, offensive material and often times just extreme view points. A downside to focusing so much attention on pornography is that often people are just fueling the curiosity of those they are aiming to protect. Although regulating the Internet for children is beneficial, often the regulations also encompass college students, who need a free hand to travel through this medium. This protection from "adult material" often restricts the learning process and prevents them from fully experiencing the Internet. Recently, lawmakers have attempted to set guidelines for the Internet. This poses a problem in itself because the Internet is a worldwide system. The rules that are placed must be agreed upon across the globe.

Second Foundation 5. Fourth Interlude

The two Speakers passed each other on the road and one stopped the other. â€Å"I have word from the First Speaker.† There was a half-apprehensive flicker in the other's eyes. â€Å"Intersection point?† â€Å"Yes! May we live to see the dawn!† There was no sign in any of Channis' actions that he was aware of any subtle change in the attitude of Pritcher, and in their relations to each other. He leaned back on the hard wooden bench and spread-eagled his feet out in front of him. â€Å"What did you make of the governor?† Pritcher shrugged: â€Å"Nothing at all. He certainly seemed no mental genius to me. A very poor specimen of the Second Foundation, if that's what he was supposed to be.† â€Å"I don't think he was, you know. I'm not sure what to make of it. Suppose you were a Second Foundationer,† Channis grew thoughtful, â€Å"what would you do? Suppose you had an idea of our purpose here. How would you handle us?† â€Å"Conversion, of course.† â€Å"Like the Mule?† Channis looked up, sharply. â€Å"Would we know if they had converted us? I wonder- And what if they were simply psychologists, but very clever ones.† â€Å"In that case, I'd have us killed rather quickly.† â€Å"And our ship? No.† Channis wagged a forefinger. â€Å"We're playing a bluff, Pritcher, old man. It can only be a bluff. Even if they have emotional control down pat, we – you and I – are only fronts. It's the Mule they must fight, and they're being just as careful of us as we are of them. I'm assuming that they know who we are.† Pritcher, stared coldly: â€Å"What do you intend doing?† â€Å"Wait.† The word was bitten off. â€Å"Let them come to us. They're worried, maybe about the ship, but probably about the Mule. They bluffed with the governor. It didn't work. We stayed pat. The next person they'll send will be a Second Foundationer, and he'll propose a deal of some sort.† â€Å"And then?† â€Å"And then we make the deal.† â€Å"I don't think so.† â€Å"Because you think it will double-cross the Mule? It won't.† â€Å"No, the Mule could handle your double-crosses, any you could invent. But I still don't think so.† â€Å"Because you think then we couldn't double-cross the Foundationers?† â€Å"Perhaps not. But that's not the reason.† Channis let his glance drop to what the other held in his fist, and said grimly: â€Å"You mean that's the reason.† Pritcher cradled his blaster, â€Å"That's right. You are under arrest.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"For treason to the First Citizen of the Union.† Channis' lips hardened upon one another: â€Å"What's going on?† â€Å"Treason! As I said. And correction of the matter, on my part.† â€Å"Your proof? Or evidence, assumptions, daydreams? Are you mad?† â€Å"No. Are you? Do you think the Mule sends out unweaned youngsters on ridiculous swashbuckling missions for nothing? It was queer to me at the time. But I wasted time in doubting myself. Why should he send you? Because you smile and dress well? Because you're twenty-eight.† â€Å"Perhaps because I can be trusted. Or aren't you in the market for logical reasons?† â€Å"Or perhaps because you can't be trusted. Which is logical enough, as it turns out.† â€Å"Are we matching paradoxes, or is this all a word game to see who can say the least in the most words?† And the blaster advanced, with Pritcher after it. He stood erect before the younger man: â€Å"Stand up!† Channis did so, in no particular hurry, and felt the muzzle of the blaster touch his belt with no shrinking of the stomach muscles. Pritcher said: â€Å"What the Mule wanted was to find the Second Foundation. He had failed and I had failed, and the secret that neither of us can find is a well-hidden one. So there was one outstanding possibility left – and that was to find a seeker who already*** knew the hiding-place.† â€Å"Is that I?† â€Å"Apparently it was. I didn't know then, of course, but though my mind must be slowing, it still points in the right direction. How easily we found Star's End! How miraculously you examined the correct Field Region of the Lens from among an infinite number of possibilties! And having done so, how nicely we observe just the correct point for observation! You clumsy fool! Did you so underestimate me that no combination of impossible fortuties struck you as being too much for me to swallow?† â€Å"You mean I've been too successful?† â€Å"Too successful by half for any loyal man.† â€Å"Because the standards of success you set me were so low?† And the blaster prodded, though in the face that confronted*** Channis only the cold glitter of the eyes betrayed the growing anger: â€Å"Because you are in the pay of the Second Foundation.† â€Å"Pay?†- infinite contempt. â€Å"Prove that.† â€Å"Or under the mental influence.† â€Å"Without the Mule's knowledge? Ridiculous.† â€Å"With the Mule's knowledge. Exactly my point, my you dullard. With the Mule's knowledge. Do you suppose else that you would be given a ship to play with? You led us to the Second Foundation as you were supposed to do.† â€Å"I thresh a kernel of something or other out of this immensity of chaff. May I ask why I'm supposed to be doing all this? If were a traitor, why should I lead you to the Second Foundation? Why not hither and yon through the Galaxy, skipping gaily, finding no more than you ever did?' â€Å"For the sake of the ship. And because the men of the Second Foundation quite obviously need atomic warfare for self-defense.† ‘You'll have to do better than that. One ship won't mean thing to them, and if they think they'll learn science from it a build atomic power plants next year, they are very, very simple Second Foundationers, indeed. On the order of simplicity as yourself, I should say.† â€Å"You will have the opportunity to explain that to the Mule.† â€Å"We're going back to Kalgan?† â€Å"On the contrary. We're staying here. And the Mule will join us in fifteen minutes – more or less. Do you think he hasn't followed us, my sharp-witted, nimble-minded lump of self-admiration? You have played the decoy well in reverse. You may not have led our victims to us, but you have certainly led us to our victims.† â€Å"May I sit down,† said Channis, â€Å"and explain something to you in picture drawings? Please.† â€Å"You will remain standing.† â€Å"At*** that, I can say it as well standing. You think the Mule followed us because of the hypertracer on the communication circuit?† The blaster might have wavered. Channis wouldn't have sworn to it. He said: â€Å"You don't look surprised. But I don't waste time doubting that you feel surprised. Yes, I knew about it. And now, having shown you that I knew of something you didn't think I did, I'll tell you something you don't know, that I know you don't.† â€Å"You allow yourself too many preliminaries, Channis. I should think your sense of invention was more smoothly greased.† â€Å"There's an invention to this. There have been traitors, of course, or enemy agents, if you prefer that term. But the Mule knew of that in a rather curious way. It seems, you see, that some of his Converted men had been tampered with.† The blaster did waver that time. Unmistakably. â€Å"I emphasize that, Pritcher. It was why he needed me. I was an Unconverted man. Didn't he emphasize to you that he needed an Unconverted? Whether he gave you the real reason or not?† â€Å"Try something else, Channis. If I were against the Mule, I'd know it.† Quietly, rapidly, Pritcher was feeling his mind. It felt the same. It felt the same. Obviously the man was lying. â€Å"You mean you feel loyal to the Mule. Perhaps. Loyalty wasn't tampered with. Too easily detectable, the Mule said. But how do you feel mentally? Sluggish? Since you started this trip, have you always felt normal? Or have you felt strange sometimes, as though you weren't quite yourself? What are you trying to do, bore a hole through me without touching the trigger?† Pritcher withdrew his blaster half an inch, â€Å"What are you trying to say?† â€Å"I say that you've been tampered with. You've been handled. You didn't see the Mule install that hypertracer. You didn't see anyone do it. You just found it there, and assumed it was the Mule, and ever since you've been assuming he was following us. Sure, the wrist receiver you're wearing contacts the ship on a wave length mine isn't good for. Do you think I didn't know that?† He was speaking quickly now, angrily. His cloak of indifference had dissolved into savagery. â€Å"But it's not the Mule that's coming toward us from out there. It's not the Mule.† â€Å"Who, if not?† â€Å"Well, who do you suppose? I found that hypertracer, the day we left. But I didn't think it was the Mule. He had no reason for indirection at that point. Don't you see the nonsense of it? If I were a traitor and he knew that, I could be Converted as easily as you were, and he would have the secret of the location of the Second Foundation out of my mind without sending me half across the Galaxy. Can you keep a secret from the Mule? And if I didn't know, then I couldn't lead him to it. So why send me in either case? â€Å"Obviously, that hypertracer must have been put there by an agent of the Second Foundation. That's who's coming towards us now. And would you have been fooled if your precious mind hadn't been tampered with? What kind of normality have you that you imagine immense folly to be wisdom? Me bring a ship to the Second Foundation? What would they do with a ship? â€Å"It's you they want, Pritcher. You know more about the Union than anyone but the Mule, and you're not dangerous to them while he is. That's why they put the direction of search into my mind. Of course, it was completely impossible for me to find Tazenda by random searchings of the Lens. I knew that. But I knew there was the Second Foundation after us, and I knew they engineered it. Why not play their game? It was a battle of bluffs. They wanted us and I wanted their location – and space take the one that couldn't outbluff the other. â€Å"But it's we that will lose as long as you hold that blaster on me. And it obviously isn't your idea. It's theirs. Give me the blaster, Pritcher. I know it seems wrong to you, but it isn't your mind speaking, it's the Second Foundation within you. Give me the blaster, Pritcher, and we'll face what's coming now, together.† Pritcher, faced a growing confusion in horror. Plausibility! Could he be so wrong? Why this eternal doubt of himself? Why wasn't he sure? What made Channis sound so plausible? Plausibility! Or was it his own tortured mind fighting the invasion of the alien. Was he split in two? Hazily, he saw Channis standing before him, hand outstretched – and suddenly, he knew he was going to give him the blaster. And as the muscles of his arm were on the point of contracting in the proper manner to do so, the door opened, not hastily, behind him – and he turned. There are perhaps men in the Galaxy who can be confused for one another even by men at their peaceful leisure. Correspondingly, there may be conditions of mind when even unlikely pairs may be mis-recognized. But the Mule rises above any combination of the two factors. Not all Pritcher's agony of mind prevented the instantaneous mental flood of cool vigor that engulfed him. Physically, the Mule could not dominate any situation. Nor did he dominate this one. He was rather a ridiculous figure in his layers of clothing that thickened him past his normality without allowing him to reach normal dimensions even so. His face was muffled and the usually dominant beak covered what was left in a cold-red prominence. Probably as a vision of rescue, no greater incongruity could exist. He said: â€Å"Keep your blaster, Pritcher.† Then he turned to Channis, who had shrugged and seated himself: â€Å"The emotional context here seems rather confusing and considerably in conflict. What's this about someone other than myself following you?† Pritcher intervened sharply: â€Å"Was a hypertracer placed upon our ship by your orders, sir?† The Mule turned cool eyes upon him, â€Å"Certainly. Is it very likely that any organization in the Galaxy other than the Union of Worlds would have access to it?' â€Å"He said-â€Å" â€Å"Well, he's here, general. Indirect quotation is not necessary. Have you been saying anything, Channis?† â€Å"Yes. But mistakes apparently, sir. It has been my opinion that the tracer was put there by someone in the pay of the Second Foundation and that we had been led here for some purpose of theirs, which I was prepared to counter. I was under the further impression that the general was more or less in their hands.† â€Å"You sound as if you think so no longer.† â€Å"I'm afraid not. Or it would not have been you at the door.† â€Å"Well, then, let us thresh this out.† The Mule peeled off the outer layers of padded, and electrically heated clothing. â€Å"Do you mind if I sit down as well? Now – we are safe here and perfectly free of any danger of intrusion. No native of this lump of ice will have any desire to approach this place. I assure you of that,† and there was a grim earnestness about his insistence upon his powers. Channis showed his disgust. â€Å"Why privacy? Is someone going to serve tea and bring out the dancing girls?† â€Å"Scarcely. What was this theory of yours, young man? A Second Foundationer was tracing you with a device which no one but I have and – how did you say you found this place?† â€Å"Apparently, sir, it seems obvious, in order to account for known facts, that certain notions have been put into my head-â€Å" â€Å"By these same Second Foundationers?† â€Å"No one else, I imagine.† â€Å"Then it did not occur to you that if a Second Foundationer could force, or entice, or inveigle you into going to the Second Foundation for purposes of his own – and I assume you imagined he used methods similar to mine, though, mind you, I can implant only emotions, not ideas – it did not occur to you that if he could do that there was little necessity to put a hypertracer on you. And Channis looked up sharply and met his sovereign's large eyes with sudden startle. Pritcher grunted and a visible relaxation showed itself in his shoulders. â€Å"No,† said Channis, â€Å"that hadn't occurred to me.† â€Å"Or that if they were obliged to trace you, they couldn't feel capable of directing you, and that, undirected, you could have precious little chance of finding your way here as you did. Did that occur to you?† â€Å"That, neither.† â€Å"Why not? Has your intellectual level receded to a so-much-greater-than-probable degree?† â€Å"The only answer is a question, sir. Are you joining General Pritcher in accusing me of being a traitor?† â€Å"You have a defense in case I am?† â€Å"Only the one I presented to the general. If I were a traitor and knew the whereabouts of the Second Foundation, you could Convert me and learn the knowledge directly. If you felt it necessary to trace me, then I hadn't the knowledge beforehand and wasn't a traitor. So I answer your paradox with another.† â€Å"Then your conclusion?† â€Å"That I am not a traitor.† â€Å"To which I must agree, since your argument is irrefutable.† â€Å"Then may I ask you why you had us secretly followed?† â€Å"Because to all the facts there is a third explanation. Both you and Pritcher explained some facts in your own individual ways, but not all. I – if you can spare me the time – will explain all. And in a rather short time, so there is little danger of boredom. Sit down, Pritcher, and give me your blaster. There is no danger of attack on us any longer. None from in here and none from out there. None in fact even from the Second Foundation. Thanks to you, Channis.† The room was lit in the usual Rossemian fashion of electrically heated wire. A single bulb was suspended from the ceiling and in its dim yellow glow, the three cast their individual shadows. The Mule said: â€Å"Since I felt it necessary to trace Channis, it was obvious I expect to gain something thereby. Since he went to the Second Foundation with a startling speed and directness, we can reasonably assume that that was what I was expecting to happen. Since I did not gain the knowledge from him directly, something must have been preventing me. Those are the facts. Channis, of course, knows the answer. So do I. Do you see it, Pritcher?† And Pritcher said doggedly: â€Å"No, sir.† â€Å"Then I'll explain. Only one kind of man can both know the location of the Second Foundation and prevent me from learning it. Channis, I'm afraid you're a Second Foundationer yourself.† And Channis' elbows rested on his knees as he leaned forward, and through stiff and angry lips said: â€Å"What is your direct evidence? Deduction has proven wrong twice today.† â€Å"There is direct evidence, too, Channis. It was easy enough. I told you that my men had been tampered with. The tamperer must have been, obviously, someone who was a) Unconverted, and b) fairly close to the center of things. The field was large but not entirely unlimited. You were too successful, Channis. People liked you too much. You got along too well. I wondered- â€Å"And then I summoned you to take over this expedition and it didn't set you back. I watched your emotions. It didn't bother you. You overplayed the confidence there, Channis. No man of real competence could have avoided a dash of uncertainty at a job like that. Since your mind did avoid it, it was either a foolish one or a controlled one. It was easy to test the alternatives. I seized your mind at a moment of relaxation and filled it with grief for an instant and then removed it. You were angry afterwards with such accomplished art that I could have sworn it was a natural reaction, but for that which went first. For when I wrenched at your emotions, for just one instant, for one tiny instant before you could catch yourself, your mind resisted. It was all I needed to know. â€Å"No one could have resisted me, even for that tiny instant, without control similar to mine.† Channis' voice was low and bitter: â€Å"Well, then? Now what?† â€Å"And now you die – as a Second Foundationer. Quite necessary, as I believe you realize.† And once again Channis stared into the muzzle of a blaster. A muzzle guided this time by a mind, not like Pritcher's capable of offhand twisting to suit himself, but by one as mature as his own and as resistant to force as his own. And the period of time allotted him for a correction of events was small. What followed thereafter is difficult to describe by one with the normal complement of senses and the normal incapacity for emotional control. Essentially, this is what Channis realized in the tiny space of time involved in the pushing of the Mule's thumb upon the trigger contact. The Mule's current emotional makeup was one of a hard and polished determination, unmisted by hesitation in the least. Had Channis been sufficiently interested afterward to calculate the time involved from the determination to shoot to the arrival of the disintegrating energies, he might have realized that his leeway was about one-fifth of a second. That was barely time. What the Mule realized in that same tiny space of time was that the emotional potential of Channis' brain had surged suddenly upwards without his own mind feeling any impact and that, simultaneously, a flood of pure, thrilling hatred cascaded upon him from an unexpected direction. It was that new emotional element that jerked his thumb off the contact. Nothing else could have done it, and almost together with his change of action, came complete realization of the new situation. It was a tableau that endured far less than the significance adhering to it should require from a dramatic standpoint. There was the Mule, thumb off the blaster, staring intently upon Channis There was Channis taut, not quite daring to breathe yet. And there was Pritcher, convulsed in his chair; every muscle at a spasmodic breaking point; every tendon writhing in an effort to hurl forward; his face twisted at last out of schooled woodenness into an unrecognizable death mask of horrid hate; and his eyes only and entirely and supremely upon the Mule. Only a word or two passed between Channis and the Mule – only a word or two and that utterly revealing stream of emotional consciousness that remains forever the true interplay of understanding between such as they. For the sake of our own limits, it is necessary to translate into words what went on, then, and thenceforward. Channis said, tensely: â€Å"You're between two fires, First Citizen. You can't control two minds simultaneously, not when one of them is mine – so you have your choice. Pritcher, is free of your Conversion now. I've snapped the bonds. He's the old Pritcher; the one who tried to kill you once; the one who thinks you're the enemy of all that is free and right and holy; and he's the one besides who knows that you've debased him to helpless adulation for five years. I'm holding him back now by suppressing his will, but if you kill me, that ends, and in considerably less time than you could shift your blaster or even your will – he will kill you.† The Mule quite plainly realized that. He did not move. Channis continued: â€Å"If you turn to place him under control, to kill him, to do anything, you won't ever be quick enough to turn again to stop me.† The Mule still did not move. Only a soft sigh of realization. â€Å"So,† said Channis, â€Å"throw down the blaster, and let us be on even terms again, and you can have Pritcher back.† â€Å"I made a mistake,† said the Mule, finally. â€Å"It was wrong to have a third party present when I confronted you. It introduced one variable too many. It is a mistake that must be paid for, I suppose.† He dropped the blaster carelessly, and kicked it to the other end of the room. Simultaneously, Pritcher crumpled into profound sleep. â€Å"He'll be normal when he awakes,† said the Mule, indifferently. The entire exchange from the time the Mule's thumb had begun pressing the trigger-contact to the time he dropped the blaster had occupied just under a second and a half of time. But just beneath the borders of consciousness, for a time just above the borders of detection, Channis caught a fugitive emotional gleam in the Mule's mind. And it was still one of sure and confident triumph.

Free Essays on Understanding Socrates Argument“Knowledge Is Virtue“

, any human being does what benefit him/her the most. Furthermore, Socrates talked much about soul. He thought of the soul as " the intellectual and moral personality, the responsible agent in knowing and acting rightly or wrongly". (Armstrong , 29). As such the soul is the essence of a person, his/her true rationality. In order to be virtuous everyone should care about his/her soul. In addition for virtues are "qualities of the soul. " ( Boguta, 131) Everyone, who neglects these qualities, makes the soul bad, which makes whole human being bad. In describing the soul he also refers to the importance of knowledge, saying, " the things of the soul†¦ hang upon wisdom". ( Boguta , 131) Socrates claims in such a way that right ac... Free Essays on Understanding Socrates Argumentâ€Å"Knowledge Is Virtueâ€Å" Free Essays on Understanding Socrates Argumentâ€Å"Knowledge Is Virtueâ€Å" Understanding Socrates' argument " Knowledge is virtue" Socrates devoted his life to resolving the philosophical problems he discovered through persistent dialectical activity. One of his concerns was to prove that good could not be done without knowledge. In other words, he claims the idea of Knowledge is Virtue. (Boguta, 130) Not less important was question what it was that makes people complete and whether there are such things that make woman/man perfect. Good people for him were virtuous people, people who had such qualities as wisdom, courage, temperance, etc. Moreover, nothing would be good were it is not for knowledge, and hence, knowledge is the only profitable thing; but virtue is profitable as well because it brings profit to one's soul. Thus, Virtue must be Knowledge. (Boguta , 131) So, good involves knowledge as in the ability to make, use and choose good things and actions. Without knowledge it is impossible to fulfill our desires and make us happy. Things for Socrates are neither good nor evil. It is only because of knowledge or lack of it that makes them either. Besides, Socrates assumes that anyone who has the mind will always try to act in a way that is better for him/her. In other words, any human being does what benefit him/her the most. Furthermore, Socrates talked much about soul. He thought of the soul as " the intellectual and moral personality, the responsible agent in knowing and acting rightly or wrongly". (Armstrong , 29). As such the soul is the essence of a person, his/her true rationality. In order to be virtuous everyone should care about his/her soul. In addition for virtues are "qualities of the soul. " ( Boguta, 131) Everyone, who neglects these qualities, makes the soul bad, which makes whole human being bad. In describing the soul he also refers to the importance of knowledge, saying, " the things of the soul†¦ hang upon wisdom". ( Boguta , 131) Socrates claims in such a way that right ac...

What Did You Do This Summer College Interview Question

What Did You Do This Summer College Interview Question When answering a college interview question about your summer activities, no one is expecting you to be busy every day of the year. Summer is indeed a time to recoup after a busy academic year. Students who treat summer like an 80-hour-a-week job are setting themselves up for burn-out. That said, your interviewer will want to see that you did something productive in the summer. Youll want to show that you seek out meaningful and enriching experiences. A question about your summer activities has similarities to a question about  what do you do in your free time.  Summer, however, is a lot more substantial than a few free hours on the weekend, so your interviewer is going to be looking for something meaningful that youve accomplished during those months off from school. Strong Answers to a Question About  Your Summer Activities Your answer to the question, of course, is going to depend entirely on what you did in the summer, but work to identify a few meaningful activities from your summer break before you set foot in the interview room. Some activities that  will  sound good to your interviewer include: Travel.  Did you go somewhere interesting? A national park, historic site, cultural center, or some other destination that expanded your world view or opened your eyes to new experiences?Reading.  Your interviewer wont want to hear that you spent the whole summer indoors with your face buried in books, but they love to hear about reading. Students who read a lot tend to do well in college. You may even find that your interviewer asks you to recommend a good book.  Work.  Whether you helped on the family farm or cleaned dishes at the local eatery, students who work reveal a level of maturity and responsibility that will impress the admissions folks. Your summer may not be as exciting as a trip to Europe, but colleges truly do value work experience.Entrepreneurship.  This could be related to work, but youll certainly make a good impression if you started your own lawn mowing business, developed a useful app, or did something else that reveals creativity, confidence, and motiv ation.Volunteerism.  Community service and volunteer work play an increasingly important role in the college admissions process, and summer is the ideal time to do meaningful volunteer work. Education.  Did you attend a summer engineering or creative writing camp? Did you take a class at the local community college? Needless to say, colleges want to enroll students who like to learn. Weak Answers to a Question About Your Summer Colleges will want to see that youre not the type of student who lets three months go by without doing anything productive. Answers such as these are not going to impress anyone: I built a really cool world in Minecraft. Good for you, but realize that a lot of students fail out of college because they give video games priority over all else; three months staring at the computer screen represents a rather anti-social- even if multiplayer- and unproductive use of time.  I was burned out from school, so I relaxed. For three months? Also, dont highlight academic burn-out in your college interview. Sure, it happens to most students, but such an answer also sends a message that you get overwhelmed by school work. This isnt what you want to tell a college admissions representative.I hung out with my friends. Having friends is good. Colleges want to admit friendly students who build meaningful relationships with others. But what exactly did you do with your friends? Develop this reply to explain the meaningful activities you did with your friends. Ideally, you did something more productive than cruise the local shopping mall. The list could go on, but you get the idea. Answers that suggest you let the summer slip by without doing anything to enrich yourself or help others arent going to impress anyone. A Final Word About Summer Activities Your answer to the question will obviously be unique to your own interests and activities, and thats largely the point here- make sure you are telling your interviewer about summer experiences that have helped make you the person you are. Show that when you are given the time, youll do something meaningful and productive. In short, show your interviewer that youre the type of interesting, curious, hard-working, motivated person who will contribute to a campus community in positive ways.

Pop Culture Media Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Pop Culture Media Critique - Essay Example As observed ‘Will and Grace’ present the gay community as a society struggling for acceptance while the show ‘The New Normal’ portrays the gay community as an accepted part of the society, even the name suggests the acceptance as it refers to being gay as the ‘new normal’. The United States government thought the governance of George W. Bush greatly supported the theme presented by ‘Will and Grace’ and it offered great support through the broadcast of hundreds of commercials on the sit-com with the help of the Bush campaign during the presidential campaigns. The heterosexual women in both shows play the role of supporting the couple and are used as the audiences judge on the gay characters. They are greatly important as they help the gay couple in understanding their roles as partners and also enabled the audience in the acceptance of the gay in the society showing that they are simply as natural as any other community in the society. For example, the women in ‘The New Normal’ help the couple in acquiring an adopted child. (Will & Grace Season 1 Videos & Clips Online, Trailer: The New

Paper6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Paper6 - Essay Example The ddI experiment should have been allowed to continue albeit with changes in the experiment design. The pre-trial data for ddI lead to the formulation of three arms of the trial. The second arm of the trial received ddI only, despite the awareness amongst the investigators of the inferiority of the drug (risk of death) as compared to zidovudine. Analyzing the above dilemma on the principle of equipoise - as stated by C. Fried "a state of genuine uncertainty on the part of the clinical investigator regarding the comparative therapeutic merits of each arm of a trial" (Tnnsj 530), - would lead to the conclusion that the second arm of the trial does not satisfy this condition. Even while making this theoretical principle more practical, by accepting Freedman's version of clinical equipoise (Freedman 516), it can be argued that there was not a major difference of opinion amongst investigators regarding the inferiority of the drug or the expected benefit arising from it in the case of the second arm of the trial (Tnnsj 530). Thus it is wrong that some doctors were willing to take a risk in the face of a threat which had no clear benefits in terms of a positive outcome. The second arm of the trial should have been eliminated and the drug should have been tested for its superiority over zidovudine alone, when administered in alteration with the latter.