Contribution Margin and Breakeven Analysis paper Term

Contribution Margin and Breakeven Analysis - Term Paper Example Therefore, the simulation can be analyzed in terms of these two factors. Maria can decide on which cookie’s production to reduce or increase by considering the contribution margin per unit per cookie type. This means that the cookie with the highest contribution margin per unit should be considered since the fixed cost is assumed equal or constant in every period; therefore, the profits are expected to be higher. The concept of contribution margin will be used to consider the cookies with the lowest contribution per unit, and, therefore, the cookie’s production can be reduced. However, this concept should not be considered if the asking price per unit for the order would result in a contribution margin that would not cover the fixed costs incurred. Since the profits are attained after the fixed costs are deducted from the contribution margin, Maria should consider a state where the asking sales price creates a contribution margin higher than the fixed costs incurred in the production process. The concept of breakeven point is also important in determining the product to produce and the reasons for producing the product. Near-term demand for a product is an important part of the determination of the kind of product to produce. The fact that lemon creme cookies provided increased capacity for production and increased the demand means that Maria should have taken it into consideration. Before the decision of profitability is considered, Maria should consider the demand for the cookies in the near future, since this is what determines the amount of profits, and thus, the survival of the company. The decision to introduce a new type of production in the company is considered as if the company was a starting venture. This means that since the breakeven point for the new blend of cookies is 650,000 packs, Maria should consider the product as a new one. This means that the current production and the expected demand should be a factor in determining the ty pe of cookies to produce. The case study indicates that the current breakeven point for the cookies is 563,000 packs, and increasing capacity would increase in a new breakeven pint of 650,000 packs. The fact the new breakeven point is 650,000 packs should not be factor while considering the cookies to produce, instead, Maria should consider the fact that the production of the butter cookies would result in a loss for the company, therefore, it is advisable that the company produce the new blend of cookies. The decision for Maria would be to stop producing the peanut butter cookies and instead produce the lemon creme cookies. The simulation considered contains many key learning points, but the most important points are the contribution margin, fixed costs, and variable costs. As already described, the contribution margin refers to the difference between the variable cost and selling price per unit of a product, and determines whether a company will be profitable in a fiscal period. T he contribution margin is a key point because it involves both the variable costs and selling price of a product, therefore, these factors do not need to be considered separately. The contribution margin determines whether the variable costs per unit incurred in production are enough to justify the selling price, and if the variable costs

The Charter of Rights and Free

The Charter of Rights and Freedom and its Affect on Canada Essay The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights granted constitutional status that was introduced in the Constitution Act of 1982 by Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. The Constitution Act is also known as the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution. The Charter had several purposes; the first is â€Å"to outline and guarantee the political rights of Canadian citizens, as well as the civil rights of anyone who is residing on the territory of Canada† (The Canadian Charter. 1). Secondly, â€Å"It balances the rights of legislatures and courts through the ‘notwithstanding’ clause, which gives the federal and provincial parliaments limited powers to override court decisions â€Å", while section 2 of the bill enshrines the freedom of the press, allowing the media to release controversial reports without fear of the state (Ibbitson. 2012). Thirdly, it criminalized discrimination in society, government rulings and the judicial system and provides a set of ethical principles for all Canadians to follow, while promoting equality throughout the country. Social discrimination was widespread in Canada at the turn of the 20th Century. Many groups were discriminated against such as minorities and women. This was evident through the introduction of Clifford Sifton’s head tax, the â€Å"enemy aliens† and unbalanced gender equality between men and women. The first step in any change is to identify the problem. During the Holocaust of WWII the discrimination of Jewish people led to a mass genocide of 6 million people. After this affair it was realized that boundaries must be put in place to insure that basic human rights are respected. It was this idea that gave birth to the UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. In Canada the declaration paved paths for more government action regarding social and political discrimination, an example being the predecessor of the Charter, the Canadian Bill of Rights of 1960. This bill was introduced by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and granted similar rights to the citizens of Canada. The difference between the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Bill, is that the Bill of Rights could be contested by the government and judicial system whenever anyone sees fit, which gave room for discrimination in government and court rulings. The catalyst to the creation of the Charter was the re-election of Pierre Trudeau and the Quebec Referendum. Prime Minister Trudeau was Canada’s first socialist prime minister, he was heavily influenced by the socialist European culture from the years he spent studying there. Trudeau’s most famous saying was a â€Å"Just Society†. â€Å"The Just Society will be a united Canada, united because all of its citizens will be actively involved in the development of a country where equality of opportunity is ensured and individuals are permitted to fulfill themselves in the fashion they judge best† (Trudeau. 968). During the Quebec Referendum when Quebec’s separatist movement was at its peak, the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution and the enactment of French language and French education rights (which is included in the Charter) were pieces of his platform to halt the referendum and part of his plan for a â€Å"Just Society†. After the refere ndum was rejected Trudeau kept true to his word and appealed the Constitution and enshrined the Charter of Rights and Freedom within it. The Charter of Rights and Freedom was a defining moment in Canada’s history as it protected women and homosexuals from discrimination and allowed them to establish an identity. Its creation also shows our country’s commitment to equality, human rights and social justice. The Charter changed Canada’s view on sexuality, gender equality and homophobia; it paved a path for the second wave of the feminist movement, helped legalize abortion, removed barriers for gay marriage and completely redefined the definition of marriage throughout Canada. Abortion was an extremely controversial topic throughout the 1900’s and the reason why free abortion is available in this country is because of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Before the 1969 and the passing of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, abortion was considered a criminal offense and no access to it was allowed. The right to having an abortion also brought along questions on gender roles and equality; as men were not restricted to what they could or could not do with their bodies. The catalyst to the Free Abortion Movement was the Sexual Revolution of the 1960’s in the USA, which due to their proximity to Canada also had an effect on our society. The revolution was the beginning to contraception, the acceptance of casual sex and sexual liberation. Along with these boundaries breaking changes also brought the legalization of abortion. The biggest push towards free abortion from within our country was the work of a man named Henry Morgentaler. Dr. Henry Morgentaler was a general practitioner in Montreal, who specialized in family planning. He was one of the first Canadian doctors to prescribe birth control and perform sterilization. In 1967, he presented a case before the House of Common Health and Welfare regarding illegal abortions and women’s rights to safe abortion, but was swiftly dismissed. The public reacted quickly to his stance on this issue, and he began to receive requests from desperate women to perform abortions. Morgentaler initially responded with a sympathetic â€Å"no†, but after he realized the life-risking extent that these women were willing to go to for an abortion, he chose personal values over civil obedience and began performing illegal abortions. His bravery and determination was the catalyst to the second wave of the feminist movement and kick started the right to legal abortions for all women in Canada. The section of the Charter of Rights and Freedom that was most significant to the Free Abortion Movement was section 7. Section 7 of the Charter states â€Å"Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice† (The Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 982). Before the Charter, in 1969 a law was passed that stated â€Å"a child can only be aborted if the life or health of a woman was threatened† and must be verified by a three-doctor hospital committee (Egan. 1998). But after the creation of the charter which granted woman the right to life or to make choices, such as â€Å"whether a woman had made a choice to get pregnant, continue a pregnancy, or end a pregnancy, or, framed differently, to have an abortion, or not have an abortion† (Downie. 2008). If the woman in question had not made the decision to become pregnant or even consented to the act of intercourse, then denying her right to having an abortion would violate the Charter and her right to live. Secondly, by limiting a woman access to medical services and forcing her to carry and support a fetus is an invasion of her right to security and a violation of the Charter. Thirdly, one of the reasons abortion is illegalized in many countries is because in many religions the act of protecting the fetus is sacred, causing many religious government fficers to implement bias laws against allowing abortion due to their beliefs. The charter states that all people have the freedom of belief and religion; if the individual does not believe in the practice of protecting the fetus then they should be allowed to make their decision accordingly. Lastly, the final verdict given by a judge on the Morgentaler case was: â€Å"The decision whether to terminate a pregnancy is essentially a mor al decision, a matter of conscience. I do not think there is or can be any dispute about that. The question is: whose conscience? Is the conscience of the woman to be paramount or the conscience of the state? I believe, for the reasons I gave in discussing the right to liberty, that in a free and democratic society it must be the conscience of the individual. † (Wilson. 1988) If the right to liberty was not given then the outcome of this significant case would be much different and women may have never been granted the right to free abortion. The changes that the Charter brought to the lives of pregnant woman were paramount. It not only allowed them to make choices with their body, but it also brought them closer in gender equality with men (as they were not longer restricted in bodily integrity) and paved a path for future changes in the lives of women. Until the re-election of socialist Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1980 and enactment the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, homophobia was very common in Canada at the turn of the 20th century. Before 1970, homosexuality was seen as a criminal offense and anyone accused of homosexual acts was charged as a sexual offender. Similarly to the Free Abortion movement catalyst to the Gay Rights Movement was also the Sexual Revolution of the 1960’s and the re-election of Pierre Trudeau. Likewise to Morgentaler, there is also an extremely significant person to the rise of homosexual rights, Everett George Klippert. Klippert was mistakenly suspected of arson and was detained by the RCMP in August 1965. During his questioning he admitted that he was homosexual and had conducted several sexual acts with throughout the last 24 years. Though it was proven that Klippert was not involved in the arsonist case, the court because of his sexual activities had charged him with 6 counts of â€Å"gross indecency†. This sentence was seen as extremely unfair and cruel. Trudeau, who was the Prime Minister at the time, responded with this statement: â€Å"Take this thing on homosexuality, I think the view we take here is that there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation, and I think what’s done in private between adults doesn’t concern the Criminal Code. When it becomes public this is a different matter†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Trudeau. 967) And within six weeks of this statement Trudeau had created and passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act, which decriminalized homosexuality. This act along with the Charter of Rights and Freedom gave Canadians the gift of same-sex marriage. After the acknowledgement of same-sex marriage in 1969, it was pointed out that the traditional â€Å"one man/one woma n† biological requirement was not fulfilled. This difference led to the Canadian government denying same-sex partners the same benefits of the law as heterosexual partners. But later this is revoked, as the term â€Å"minorities† expressed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms extends to include analogous minorities therefore all federal and provincial discrimination against same-sex couples must be overwritten. Secondly, â€Å"The Charter of Rights and Freedoms introduced in Canada in 1982 prohibits discrimination against homosexual couples on the basis of sexual orientation to counter the Canadian federal law which denies marital status to the group, thus depriving them of the federal privileges allowed to heterosexuals†(Findlay. 5). Later in 1999 because of sexual orientation becoming a form of discrimination, the Supreme Court of Canada pronounced that same-sex partners now legally have the same rights and benefits as common-law couples. Lastly, at the turn of the 20th century one of the most dominant religions in Canada was Christianity. The Christian religion did not accept the idea of homosexuality, and because this belief was so do minant at the time, it created bias laws and discriminated against gay citizens of Canada. Until the creation of the Charter which granted the right to religion and personal beliefs, there was no way to argue against this religious discrimination. Finally in 2003 the Ontario Court of Appeal stated that the exclusion of same-sex couples from the definition of marriage violated equality rights under the Charter. Without the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, homosexuals would not have the rights and acceptance in society as they do in the present day. The Charter completely redefined the meaning of marriage and gave homosexuals the ability to bind themselves to their loved ones with not only their body and soul, but also with vows and aws. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms was a defining moment in Canada’s history because it protected women and homosexuals from discrimination and gave them several fundamental freedoms that they did not possess before. Women finally gained the right to control their own bodies, and homosexuals received the freedom to love who they wish, without hiding it. The Charter really placed Canada on the map as a place of freedom and expression, perhaps even more so than our neighbor â€Å"The Land of the Free†. It geared Canada on a path to what it is today, a place of diversity, tolerance and the land of the â€Å"The True North Strong and Free.

Art History of Central America :: essays papers

Art History of central America Chavin de Huantar was located in Peru and developed around 900 B.C. late in the Initial Period. At an elevation of 3,150 m., Chavin de Huantar was situated at the bottom of Cordillera Blanca’s eastern slopes, approximately halfway between tropical forests and coastal plains. At the intersection of major routes, Chavin de Huantar was in the position to control the routes, increase their exchange with others, and receive goods that were not natural to their area. Chavin de Huantar was an agricultural society, home to a fairly large population. The Old Temple was built during the late Initial Period and it was the â€Å"center of supernatural power and authority.† It was a U-shaped platform opening to the east with a circular courtyard in the center. The Old Temple also consisted of numerous passageways and chambers underground called galleries. These galleries were used for storage chambers, religious rites, and possibly temporary or permanent living for small groups working with temple activities. The Lanzon Gallery is located at the very center of the Old Temple. It was where the sculpture of the Lanzon was found. The Lanzon, the supreme deity of Chavin de Huantar, is anthropomorphic. With its feline head and human body, it has intertwined the feline deity of Chavin de Huantar and the shaman of the pre-Chavin period. For the pre-Chavin period, the object of worship was the feline, but this was gradually changed. By the time of Chavin de Huantar, it was anthropomorphic. During this time, it was believed that priests could become jaguars and interact with the supernatural forces. This was achieved by taking hallucinogenic drugs as part of rituals at the Old Temple. There are many sculptures that decorate the Old Temple depicting the transformation of the priests. There have been mortars, pestles, conch-shell trumpets, and many other items with anthropomorphic design found and thought to be associated with Chavin rituals. The New Temple â€Å"forms a continuum† with the Old Temple. The same belief system continues and there is evidence of the same rituals. The New Temple also has galleries and plazas. The Lanzon, although in a different stance, continues to be a symbol of mediation and harmony. The right hand of the deity holds a Strombus shell, for male forces, and the left hand holds a Spondylus shell, for the female forces. The New Temple, however, did not replace the Old Temple.

Engendered Mass Media Essay

Mass media is a powerful socializing two-way tool wherein one engages in an inter-play: man views the world as reflected by the medium; in the process the medium gazes back with a modified reflection of what has been sent by the viewer. The process of gazing and reflecting creates a reality satiated with meanings ready to be read and given form by both the viewer and the medium. How this process is presented will be analyzed in this paper using one of the online hubs of Regent Entertainment Media Incorporated, Out.com, an ezine that showcases most of the contents of its print counterpart: Out Magazine, a print medium dedicated for articles related to the third sex. This medium has been considered for the analysis for several reasons: 1) the third sex as a topic for magazines is quite touchy and absorbing since more readers would opt to consider looking at other gender-specific and topic-specific magazines; 2) magazines such as Out. com provides a foresight on gay culture presented using a less informal approach (easy to read, short articles); and 3) this serves as an eye-opener on the extent of how mass media has been an effective tool that unavoidably forced society to accept the gay population as a bona-fide member of the society as members of the third sex have progressively come out of their closets. In Out. com’s site, one would see the following sections: home, blogs, video, style, galleries, extras, model citizen, travel and subscription— sections which are commonly seen in other online magazines. The design, however may be considered a full contrast (traditional with its still-old-fashioned though compelling black and white presentation that projects a sense of balance) to the lurid, more show-of-the-skin presentations found in other popular magazines such as Cosmopolitan, GQ, and Maxim. Engendered Media Out. com is just one of the online hubs of Regent Entertainment Media, Inc. (for other sites just hover and click on the links found at the lower end of the homepage) though. This site, however, seems to be more provocative and out-of-the-box (stereotypical) presentation than the rest (perhaps to cater to all the possible reading requirements of its target audience). What is unusual in the presentation of the third sex, however, is how they are dressed up: not as one would suspect them to be seen on the streets or anywhere else. Instead they are pictured being dressed up as how one sees a female or a male in current times are dressed up. What changes is the role that they portray however. Consider for example a feature story titled, â€Å"The Gay Agenda,† which describes an upcoming event titled billed as â€Å"Stripped Stories Teases Chicago† (Out. com, April 2009). A snapshot of Giulia Rozzi and Margot Leitman spending an intimate time in the tub (though both are dressed in lingerie, wearing make-up and nail polish, one may deduce what specific role each character (male or female) is portraying from the posture they are displaying in the photo. Guilia Rozzi is pictured clinging onto Margot Leitman’s legs, giving the latter more authority in terms of the space occupied in the photo, and the accompanying meaning it translates that somewhat points to the masculine role that Leitman is projecting. Most of the photos and articles found in the site depict the third sex being celebrated and focus on the positive reflections concerning this population. Even the digital image of the magazine’s current issue with an outline of the contents of the magazine focuses mainly on the positive hence criticisms and ill treatment that society usually bestows them are kept veiled. Engendered Media A grim reality that the magazine might have kept from the intended readers for them to have some time to consider the brighter side of life even when dark clouds keep looming from above. Reference: Out. com. May 2009 Issue. Retrieved April 27, 2009 from Out. com Website: http://www. out. com/current_issue. asp â€Å"The Gay Agenda. † (May 27, 2009). Retrieved from Out. com Website: http://www. out. com/gay_agenda. asp? id=25145

Mistakes and Failures of a Business Essay

Small and large business fails because they take risk to many risks in what they do. Lots of times it is the employees that make or break a business or the owner of the business, which makes a business fail. The way they fix the problem is to ask the employees what they are looking to get out of the business and what they like to see done with the business these way owners and employees can work together as a team and not make mistakes and failures in the next years to come. Lots of business blindly trust employees witch means that the worker can take from the business or have problems with others they work with from day to day. The employee will give his/her boss mix singles on the task at hand and with that the business will fail and lose profits as well there income or overheard will be lost. The biggest failure of a business is employee time theft this cost the business money and time witch can fail a business and is a big mistake the business misses every day. As stated by go4funding. com every single day, many businesses fail for numerous reasons. According to the United States’ Small Business Administration (SBA), approximately 90% of all small enterprises fail within the first two years of operation, primarily because many entrepreneurs lack the basic knowledge and experience in handling the challenges of their company in its initial stages. The following are several common problems that are encountered during this vital preliminary phase. Business owners should be informed about these issues and work diligently to address them in order to avoid failure.

buy custom Accounting essay

buy custom Accounting essay Question 1 Paid-in capital refers to the total amount of money that investors or companys owners inject in the company as an investment. This mainly refers to the funds injected to start a business. If two people came together to start a company and each of them contributed $80,000, then the company would have $160,000 as paid in capital. It is important that companies establish and maintain separate ledger accounts for each investor since in some instances, investors do not contribute equal amounts. Thus, this will be a key consideration in the sharing of profits and revenues generated by the company. On the other hand, earned capital is the total amount of net profits that a company decides not to distribute as dividends to the investors. In most cases, companies choose not to distribute part of its earnings as dividends so that they can fund investments and expansion projects (Kimmel, Weygandt, Kieso, 2009). This saves the company from the need for getting funds from financial institutions and paying interest. Earned capital can also be termed as the retained earnings. When presenting share capital in the balance sheet, paid-in capital and earned capital appear as separate lines. It is important to separate the two types of capital for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is that separating them enables one to see whether the company is making profits or not. It is due to the fact that earned capital represents the profits made after investing the paid-in capital. Combining the two will make it difficult to ascertain the amounts of profits. The other reason for sparating them is for tax purpose. Earned capital forms the basis for tax calculations and not for paid-in capital. Combining them would result in increased tax liability. This would also be a misrepresentation of the revenues to the tax authorities. The third reason for separating the two is to enable the investor to evaluate whether the earned revenues are able to meet the companies obligations and leave the investors with some profits. Ideally, after launching a business, investors sho uld not inject more money to pay for the daily running of the operations. The company should be able to generate enough funds to pay for its current obligations. Knowledge of whether the company is making enough money or not would enable investors to pull out in good time in the event that the company is unable to generate enough funds to meet all the obligations. Question 2 To every investor in the market, earned capital is more important than the paid-in capital. The reason behind this assertion is that earned capital is a representation of a companys ability to generate revenues from the amounts of money the investors injected into the company. All investors invest their money in starting a business with the hope that the operations of the company will generate enough funds to pay all the obligations and retain some funds for the investors (Pratt Salimi, 2010). Additionally, when looking for additional funds to invest, new investors will look at the earned capital over a period the company has been in operations. New investors have interests in companies that have a high earned capital and shun investing in companies that have low or declining earned capital. If the companys earned capital has been on the rise, then the new investors can be willing to inject funds in the company regardless of the initial paid-in capital. This is because they are cert ain that they will recover their investments. Additionally, when a company is seeking for financing from financial institutions, the latter will look at the earned capital to assess whether the company will be able to repay the loans plus the interest. Therefore, it is clear that earned capital is more important compared to paid-in capital. Question 3 Basic earnings per share (EPS) amounts of profits or losses attributable to the outstanding common shares during the reporting period. Accompany arrives at the basic EPS by dividing the profits or losses available to the common shareholders by the average common shares during the reporting period. Diluted EPS provides a basis to estimate shares a company could have theoretically after exercising all stock options, preferred stocks, warrants, and convertible bonds. The theory assumes that since all the investments stated exercised, then the number of outstanding shares can rise anytime (Bens, Nagar, Skinner, Wong, 2003). This lowers the amounts of earnings attributable to each share. For an investor, diluted EPS is far much important than the basic EPS since it provides a detailed explanation of the real earning power of the company. This means that an investor needs to have concerns about a company that has a basic EPS same as the diluted EPS since it means that the company does not have any investments that it can convert when need arises. Buy custom Accounting essay

Black Sabath essays

Black Sabath essays Jenny dont know what love is. But really Jenny is the one that doesnt know what love is. Then Jenny starts to try to get a ride She is running away from Forrest. Then Forrest tells her he is going to Vietnam. Jenny stops and looks at him then tells him not to be brave if youre in trouble or danger run. Forrest writes her letters everyday and then he signs every letter with Love Forrest. But Jenny sends them all back. Well he is there Jenny gets into more bad relationships and drugs. Forrest and Jenny meat again when he is saying something with Abby. They run to each other she yells Forrest and then he shouts Jenny. That night Jenny Shows Forrest around Washington DC. Then they go to the Black Panther place Jennys boy friend hits her Forrest kicks his ass and gets them thrown out they walk all night and talk like old times. Jenny says you look handsome in that uniform. Jenny is a hippie and starts to use LSD and other drugs. The next day she goes to leave her old boyfriend. Forrest says come to home to Alabama and Jenny says we live two very different live then Forrest gives her his medal. Jenny says this is yours but then Forrest says I just did what you told me to do Jenny thats how I got it. Jenny says you r to good to me Forrest. Forrest looks at Jenny in a loving way as she gets on the bus and gives Wesley the evil eye. She goes through many bad relationships get a black eye from one of her boyfriends. Starts doing heroin and cocaine. Almost kills herself then she finally realizes she cant do this anymore. So she goes to live with Forrest in Green Bow. They go for a walk one day and come to Jennys old house Jenny stops it gets windy and then she starts throwing rocks and then she throws her shoes at it. Falls to the ground and starts to cry. They go back home it is New Years now. Forrest tells Jenny I love you and she says you dont k...

Adverbs of Frequency Sentence Placement

Adverbs of Frequency Sentence Placement Adverbs of frequency tell us how often something happens/is the case, happened/was the case, will happen/will be the case, etc. There are lots of them. Here are some examples: always - Peter is always getting into trouble.usually - They usually get their work done on time.frequently - My sister frequently goes shopping in Seattle.rarely - They rarely ask questions about the homework. Most Common Adverbs of Frequency The most common adverbs of frequency in English in order from most often to least often: always - He always does his homework.usually - They usually complete the work on time.often - I often watch movies online.sometimes - Jack sometimes comes over for dinner.  occasionally - She occasionally asks a question.rarely - They rarely have any homework.never - I never complain at work.   Where Do They Appear in the Sentence? Word order can be confusing with adverbs of frequency. Here are different rules for placement in sentences. 1. In a Sentence With One Verb If the sentence has one verb in it (e.g. no auxiliary verb) we usually put the adverb in the middle of the sentence, i.e. after the subject and before the verb: subject / adverb / verb / predicate Tom usually goes to work by car.Mary often asks me for help.   2.  Usually After the Verb Be The adverb usually comes after the verb be: subject / verb / adverb / predicate Tom is often late.Anne isnt usually sick.Peter isnt always right. This is not the case if we put the adverb at the beginning or end of the sentence for emphasis. This rule also does not apply to short answers: Is she usually on time?Tell her not to be late.Yes, she usually is.She never is. The rule is broken in other cases too, e.g. Conversation 1 Speaker A: What are you doing here? Shouldnt you be at school?Speaker B: I normally am at school at this time, but my teacher is ill.   Conversation 2 Speaker A: Youre late again!Speaker B: usually am late on Mondays because the traffic is so bad. Conversation 3 Speaker A: Tom is late again!Speaker B: Tom usually is late.   3. In a Sentence With More Than One Verb If the sentence has more than one verb in it (e.g. auxiliary verb) we usually put the adverb after the first part of the verb: subject / helping verb or modal / adverb / main verb / predicate I can never remember his name.Anne doesnt usually smoke.The children have often complained about the playground facilities. Exception: In sentences with have to the adverb is in position A: subject / adverb / have to / main verb / predicate We often have to wait for the bus.She never has to do any housework.They sometimes have to stay after class.   4. When Using for Emphasis For emphasis, we can put the adverb at the beginning or end of the sentence. At the end is unusual - we usually only put it there when we have forgotten to put it in earlier. adverb / subject / main verb / predicate Sometimes we go to school by bus.Often he waits for her after class.Usually, Peter arrives early for work. or subject / main verb / predicate / adverb We go to school by bus sometimes.They like to watch TV often.Jennifer buys a new car rarely. Exceptions: Always cant go at the beginning or end of the sentence. Never, seldom, rarely cant go at the end of a sentence. They only go at the beginning of a sentence in polemic statements. Then they have to be followed by the word order for questions: Never has there been a better time to overcome our differences.Rarely do we have an opportunity like this.Seldom had the orchestra given a worse performance.   5. In Question Form When using adverbs of frequency in the question form, put the adverb before the main verb. auxiliary verb / subject / adverb / main verb / predicate Do you often go to the cinema?Did he sometimes leave the classroom?Do they usually come late to class? Exceptions: Never, seldom, rarely and other adverbs of frequency with a negative sense are not usually used in the question form. 6. In the Negative Form When using adverbs of frequency in the negative form, put the adverb before the main verb. subject / helping verb / adverb / main verb / predicate They dont often go to the cinema.She doesnt usually wait for an answer.Peter doesnt normally want to come with us.   Exceptions: Never, seldom, rarely and other adverbs of frequency with a negative sense are not usually used in the negative form.

Lab #8 and Lab #11 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Lab #8 and Lab #11 - Assignment Example Instead of reading the consent forms themselves, which they expressed disinterest in, I read the contents of the forms. One of the participants asked why the informed consent forms needed to be signed, and I explained that it was protocol since it was a complicated study. Next, the participants were given the list of 30 words. They were dealt out upside down, and the participants were advised not to turn them over until they were given a signal. They were given two minutes to study the words, which equates to about four seconds per word. They were informed that they could employ any study method they chose and were informed that, when it came time to recall the words, they could recall them in any order that they chose. Then, as the participants began the study, music was turned on for Conditions 1 and 2. The following were the conditions used: They were then told to stop after two minutes and completed Conditions 1 and 2 without music. After that was completed, participants were given a two-minute distracter task completing addition and subtraction problems on another piece of paper. Then, they were given a clean sheet of paper and asked to write down the words they recalled from the 30-word list. During the recall phase, in Conditions 1 and 3, the music was turned on. Then, they were asked to recall. The same music was played for the experiment and during the recall phase. I, the undersigned, do hereby consent and agree that _________________________________, its employees, or agents have the right to share my answers to the interview process with others beginning on _________________________________ and ending on _________________________________ and to use these in any and all information, now or hereafter known, and exclusively for the purpose of _________________________________. I further consent that my name and identity may be revealed therein or

Ethical argument smoking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethical argument smoking - Essay Example Those who consider it justified ethically say that to smoke or not is individual’s decision and everybody has a right to decide for himself/herself. Smoking cigarettes is often considered to be a cause of other problems. There is need to find out how frequently smoking becomes the cause of more serious and condemnable habits like smoking heroin or marijuana. The optimal limit to which one can smoke plain cigarettes without causing substantial damage to one’s health should also be determined. I think that currently my topic is not narrow enough to write a detailed argument about it. I might need to narrow it down so that I collect facts and explore the topic from a particular aspect like the optimal level of plain smoking or smoking as a cause of heroin consumption etc. People who oppose my position would say that smoking is injurious to health, so it cannot be justified on any grounds. They would also say that smoking in private is also not acceptable since the activity does not yield a single positive result but does carry a lot of risks for the smoker. I can say that cigarettes are not the only thing that are injurious to health; there are many other activities that are injurious to health or environment but they are not taken as seriously e.g. alcohol consumption, drunk driving, and consumption of junk food. I can say that to smoke in private should be allowed because there is practically no way to stop an individual from smoking in private. Any amount of energy or resources invested in trying to stop people from smoking in private would go wasted. The readers would know that cigarettes are injurious to health and can be a cause of such conditions as lung cancer and mouth cancer. I would need to carry out some research to prove my readers that cigarettes are not as injurious to health as they are frequently assumed to be. I

Public Sector Concerns Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public Sector Concerns - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the debate on categorizing user fees, user charges, and license charges as taxes has been well established within the society, moving to the court level in some states for clarification. It is important to note that as much as both the taxes and these user charges and fees contribute towards the government revenue, there is a significant difference between them. One of the most significant differences between the user charges and taxes is that the user charges are paid primarily for the sake of regulating the welfare of the target population or in other cases; they are charged a fee for services of the same value, offered by the government. Contrary to this, the taxes are mainly aimed at raising the government revenue and do not involve a direct reciprocating service in respect to the value of the amount paid. Another important point to note is that user charges are mainly required of the particular individuals that a government servic e is directed to, or towards off-setting an incurred regulatory burden. This is unlike tax that is uniformly applied to the district in which it implemented. Lastly, the funds gained from the user charges are directed towards catering for the cost of regulation or the cost of service providence for the involved fee payer. On the other hand, funds gained from general taxes are directed towards the benefit of the public.

Fair Play Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fair Play - Essay Example 3. There was nothing wrong with Ward providing a letter of introduction if he was genuine and had interests of the organization at heart. However, the problem only arose when he sent an introduction letter on behalf of a friend. This indicates a conflict of interest where it can be seen that he wants to provide some favors to his friend. This is likely to compromise the integrity of the whole committee. Ward should not represent personal interests but should act in a professional and impartial way. The criteria for selection should be based on experience and integrity of the company not background information characterized by personal ties. 4. The CEO’s friend did nothing improper in this case. As long as they have the requisite experience to perform the task, they are also entitled to be considered for selection besides the fact that they know the CEO. As long as the principles of fairness and impartiality are taken into consideration, there is nothing wrong with the CEO’s friend being considered for the job. 5. The Ethics Oversight Committee did not operate effectively in as far as their mandate was concerned. They acted in solidarity while at the same time blocking investigations that would have unearthed certain unethical practices taking place within the committee. The committee’s major role is to ensure that ethical practices are upheld every time not to take a leading role in concealing some of the ethical practices taking place within the organization. 6. The ethics committee is not doing a great job in trying to balance the ethical breaches and the interests of the organization. By virtue of refusing to take part in the meeting that has been meant to resolve some of the issues that had emerged, it can be seen that the committee is not fully serving its purpose. This only created interests among other stakeholders since they believe that the

My Journey as a Future Educator Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

My Journey as a Future Educator - Essay Example As my first day as a teacher’s assistant approached, my self-confidence took a huge dip. I felt so nervous, as I watched children in a playground in the school I’ve passed on my way home one day. The children I’ve estimated to be in the age group I will be working with seemed so intimidating all of a sudden. The older ones would climb to the highest point of the tower in the play equipment, flailing their arms ignoring the adults’ warnings way below them on the ground. I thought these children were fearless! I was afraid for myself. I guess it won’t be a piece of cake after all. My initial observation inspired me to turn to more studying about children at this age and how I should deal with them. I read several theories about this stage. I learned that working with all children regardless of age involves many considerations. One is to see each child at his or her own developmental level and create activities and opportunities appropriate to their pa rticular levels. The child needs to develop holistically, meaning each developmental area is given attention to so growth and development as a whole person ensues. The teacher needs careful planning and implementation of activities so that children under their care grow in all areas.The process of growth and maturity of an individual entails development in physical, cognitive, social, emotional and moral areas. Development in one area affects another. In children, this is very obvious, as they are at a stage in life when development occurs rapidly.... Physically, a child’s body grows in accordance to the genetic structure he was born with. Logically, children grow bigger and taller and every year, their growth is obviously apparent in the clothes that don’t fit them anymore from a few months before, and the height and weight that drastically increased from their last doctor’s check-up. Physically, young children develop more strength as their bodies’ proportions become more adult-like. Beginnings of athletic skills such as running, jumping and hopping are manifested. Fine motors skills, such as writing and drawing, develop slowly Their motor skills also develop in accordance to their developmental needs. This means, the older they get, the more things they are expected to do, so they develop physical skills to be able to do such tasks. Intelligence is another area where one grows over time. I learned that by the time a child steps into the early childhood stage, his brain has attained 90% of its adult w eight by age 5 (Developmental Stages, 2011). This develops faster than any other body part. Jean Piaget, among others, has outlined a remarkable framework in the cognitive development of a person and describes each stage. Five to seven year old children belong to Piaget’s Preoperational Period. This marks the time when a child becomes able to represent objects and knowledge through imitation, symbolic play, drawing, mental images and spoken language. Lack of conservation skills is also characteristic of this stage. â€Å"Conservation is defined as the knowledge that the number, mass, area, length, weight, and volume of objects are not changed by physically rearranging the objects.† (Brewer, 2001, p. 58). The seven year olds are actually in transition to the next cognitive stage which is the Concrete

The Tactics of Michael Collins Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Tactics of Michael Collins - Essay Example 97-98). However, Collins also knew that "something more was necessary than a guerrilla war in which small bands of our warriors [] attacked the larger forces of the enemy" because "England could always reinforce her army" (Dwyer, 1990, p. 64). The tactic that arguably won the war was Collins implementation of the Squad which, together with his extensive intelligence network, was able to systematically assassinate British agents and thus cut of Britain's main supply of information. Both of these tactics resurfaced several times throughout the twentieth century, most notable in the teachings of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and Brazilian revolutionary Carlos Marighella, but the question remains as to whom Michael Collins had the strongest link. Guevara was, like Collins, involved in a fight on a largely rural island, and often stressed the importance of taking up the fighting outside the city (Guevara, 1961, pp. 1-2). Even though both relied heavily upon the tactics of the Flying Column, there was a significant difference: whereas Collins guerrilla force only existed in the attack, Guevara had an actual army that could gain territory and form lines of resistance. Furthermore, Guevara actually had a chance to win his war through military means, unlike Collins and his ever-reinforced enemy. Collins idea of carefully selected executions was not unknown to Guevara, but it was in no way a key issue in his tactics.Marighella was facing an entirely different scenario, and thus devised new tactics to suit his needs. Fighting in heavy industrialized Brazil, he regarded the urban areas as the birthplace and battlefield of the guerrilla force (Marighella, 1969, p. 12). Like both of the others he subscribed to idea of the Flying Colum n, but unlike Guevara it was an autonomous unit, leaping only into existence when call upon (Marighella, 1969, p. 4). Marighella had no prospects of a traditional military victory, and like Collins he relied on the hidden warfare of surprise attacks, kidnapping and executions (Asprey, 1994, p.1089-90).To choose which of these later models is more consistent with Collins' is obviously to choose the lesser of two evils. Guevara fought an entirely different enemy, but used the Flying Column with great success. Marighella again fought a different foe and implemented Collins' idea of selective executions, but with less success. It seems that Marighella has the most to share with Collins. Although he lost his war, he took the most important part of Collins' tactics and attempted to put it into practice. Guevara merely adopted the foundational idea of small-unit fighting; a concept far predating Michael Collins. The answer as to whether Michael Collins should be regarded as villain or patriot is to some extent answered in the final sentence of Fidel Castro's defense speech of 1953; "History will absolve me". An attempt to define any reformer as good or bad will always be biased by the outcome of the conflict and our own political stance. However, technically Collins was a patriot by the very definition of the word: he fought for (the majority of) his country. The fact that he won Ireland her

My Journey as a Future Educator Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

My Journey as a Future Educator - Essay Example As my first day as a teacher’s assistant approached, my self-confidence took a huge dip. I felt so nervous, as I watched children in a playground in the school I’ve passed on my way home one day. The children I’ve estimated to be in the age group I will be working with seemed so intimidating all of a sudden. The older ones would climb to the highest point of the tower in the play equipment, flailing their arms ignoring the adults’ warnings way below them on the ground. I thought these children were fearless! I was afraid for myself. I guess it won’t be a piece of cake after all. My initial observation inspired me to turn to more studying about children at this age and how I should deal with them. I read several theories about this stage. I learned that working with all children regardless of age involves many considerations. One is to see each child at his or her own developmental level and create activities and opportunities appropriate to their pa rticular levels. The child needs to develop holistically, meaning each developmental area is given attention to so growth and development as a whole person ensues. The teacher needs careful planning and implementation of activities so that children under their care grow in all areas.The process of growth and maturity of an individual entails development in physical, cognitive, social, emotional and moral areas. Development in one area affects another. In children, this is very obvious, as they are at a stage in life when development occurs rapidly.... Physically, a child’s body grows in accordance to the genetic structure he was born with. Logically, children grow bigger and taller and every year, their growth is obviously apparent in the clothes that don’t fit them anymore from a few months before, and the height and weight that drastically increased from their last doctor’s check-up. Physically, young children develop more strength as their bodies’ proportions become more adult-like. Beginnings of athletic skills such as running, jumping and hopping are manifested. Fine motors skills, such as writing and drawing, develop slowly Their motor skills also develop in accordance to their developmental needs. This means, the older they get, the more things they are expected to do, so they develop physical skills to be able to do such tasks. Intelligence is another area where one grows over time. I learned that by the time a child steps into the early childhood stage, his brain has attained 90% of its adult w eight by age 5 (Developmental Stages, 2011). This develops faster than any other body part. Jean Piaget, among others, has outlined a remarkable framework in the cognitive development of a person and describes each stage. Five to seven year old children belong to Piaget’s Preoperational Period. This marks the time when a child becomes able to represent objects and knowledge through imitation, symbolic play, drawing, mental images and spoken language. Lack of conservation skills is also characteristic of this stage. â€Å"Conservation is defined as the knowledge that the number, mass, area, length, weight, and volume of objects are not changed by physically rearranging the objects.† (Brewer, 2001, p. 58). The seven year olds are actually in transition to the next cognitive stage which is the Concrete

Biblical Writings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Biblical Writings - Essay Example "Torah" is a Hebrew term meaning 'teaching' or 'instruction', which is used to refer to the Five Books of Moses, otherwise known as Pentateuch, which include Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. However, the term is also used to refer to the entire Jewish bible and to the entire Jewish law and teachings, in its broadest sense. The Talmud may be realized as one of the central texts of conventional Judaism which incorporates the rabbinic teachings concerning Jewish law, ethics, customs and history, and it has two components: Mishnah and Gemara. The Hebrew term Mishnah (or Mishna), which means 'repetition', can be comprehended as the earliest written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions and it can refer to the entire tradition of the Oral Torah. The second component of the Talmud, known as the Gemara, is a collection of rabbinical commentaries and studies of the Mishnah. The terms such as Hebrew Bible, Jewish scripture, Old Testament, and First Testament are closely c onnected, because all these refer to the same scripture in different traditions. Thus, the Hebrew Bible refers to the books of the Jewish Bible (also known as Tanakh), which is known as the Old Testament in Christian Biblical canon. Similarly, First Testament is another term used for the familiar term Old Testament, referring to the first section of the Christian Biblical canon. Therefore, Tanakh, Torah, Mishnah, Gemara, Talmud, Hebrew Bible, Jewish scripture, Old Testament, and First Testament are important terms used to refer to the various Scriptures, books, traditions etc in the Jewish and Christian religion. A profound source criticism of the Bible refers to significant designations such as J (Jahwist), E (Elohist), P (Priestly), D (Deutoronomist), and Q (Quelle) and these terms denotes the major sources of the Old Testament and the New Testament. One of the major developments in source criticism of the Bible has been the "documentary hypothesis", according to which the first five books of the Old Testament ((known as the Pentateuch) were comprised of four major sources such as J (Jahwist), E (Elohist), P (Priestly), and D (Deutoronomist). The Jahwist (J), one of the four major sources of the Torah, is the oldest source according to the "documentary hypothesis" and it refers to God as Yahweh. The second source of the Torah, known as the Elohist (E), refers to God as Elohim and presents God as less anthropomorphic to Yahweh of the earlier Jahwist source. The most recent of the four chief sources of the Torah is the Priestly Source (P) emphasizes the laws of Moses and priestly duties. The fourth source of the Torah, i.e. the Deuteronomist (D), considers the texts of Scripture as products of human intellect. Therefore, the Jahwist, the Elohist, the Priestly, and the Deutoronomist are the four major sources of the Torah, according to the "documentary hypothesis". It is also important to recognize these four sources were in the long run combined into the Pentateuch to organize the first five books of the Old Testament. Source criticism of the New Testament introduces one to the term Q (Quelle), which refers to an earlier, lost source of the Gospels. Significantly, the German word 'Quelle' means 'source' and this lost textual source was central to the origin of the Gospels, especially the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. Part

The History of English Legal System Essay Example for Free

The History of English Legal System Essay I would like, therefore to discuss about the History of The Juries System, the roles and the composition of Juries System on how it was brought to the ENGLISH LEGAL SYSTEM. Firstly the modern jury derives out of the ancient custom of many ancient Germanic tribes whereby a group of men of good character was used to investigate crimes and/or judge the accused. The same custom evolved into the Vehmic Court system in medieval Germany. In Anglo-Saxon England, juries investigated crimes. After the Norman Conquest in 1066, some parts of the country preserved juries as the means of investigating crimes. The use of ordinary members of the community to consider crimes was unusual in ancient cultures, but was nonetheless also found in ancient Greece. The modern jury trial evolved out of this custom in the mid 12th century during the reign of Henry II. Juries, usually 6 or 12 men, were an ancient institution in some parts of England. (Henry II 286) Members consisted of representatives of the basic units of local government—hundreds (an administrative sub-division of the shire, embracing several vills) and villages. Called juries of presentment, these men testified under oath to crimes committed in their neighborhood and indicted. The Assize of Clarendon in 1166 caused these juries to be adopted systematically throughout the country. The jury in this period was self-informing, meaning it heard very little evidence or testimony in court. Instead, jurors were recruited from the locality of the dispute and were expected to know the facts before coming to court. The source of juror knowledge could include first-hand knowledge, investigation, and less reliable sources such as rumor and hearsay. Between 1166 and 1179 new procedures including a division of functions between the sheriff, the jury of local men, and the royal justices ushered in the era of the English Common Law. Sheriffs prepared cases for trial and found jurors with relevant knowledge and testimony. Jurors found a verdict by witnessing as to fact, even assessing and apply information from their own and community memory — little was written at this time and what was: deeds, writs, were subject to fraud. Royal justices supervised trials, answered questions as to law and announced the courts decision which was subject to appeal. Sheriffs executed the decision. These procedures enabled Henry II to delegate authority without endowing his subordinates with too much power. (Henry II 293) In 1215 the Roman Catholic Church removed its sanction from all forms of ordeal — procedures by which suspects were tested as to guilt (e. g. , the ordeal of hot metal was applied to a suspected thief by pouring molten metal into his hand, if the wound healed rapidly and well, it was believed God found the suspect innocent, if not then guilty). With the ordeals banned, establishing guilt would have been problematic, had England not had forty years of judicial experience. Justices were accustomed to asking jurors of presentment about points of fact in assessing indictments; it was a short step to ask jurors if the accused was guilty as charged. (Henry II 358) An early reference to a jury type group in England is in a decree issued by Aethelred at Wantage (997), which enacted that in every Hundred the twelve leading thegns together with the reeve shall go out and swear on the relics which are given into their hands, that they will not accuse any innocent man nor shield a guilty one. The resulting Wantage Code formally recognized legal customs that were part of the Danelaw . The testimonial concept can also be traced to Normandy before 1066, when a jury of nobles was established to decide land disputes. In this manner, the Duke, being the largest land owner, could not act as a judge in his own case. [ One of the earliest antecedents of modern jury systems are juries in Ancient Greece, including the city-state of Athens, where records of jury courts date back to 500 BCE. These voted by secret ballot and were eventually granted the power to annul â€Å"Unconstitutional Law†, thus introducing judicial review. In modern systems, law is self-contained and distinct from other coercive forces, and perceived as separate from the political life of the community, but all these barriers are absent in the context of classical Athens. In practice and in conception the law and its administration are in some important respects indistinguishable from the life of the community in general. In 1730, the British Parliament passed the Bill for Better Regulation of Juries. The Act stipulated that the list of all those liable for jury service was to be posted in each parish and that jury panels would be selected by lot, also known as sortition, from these lists. Its aim was to prevent middle-class citizens from evading their responsibilities by financially putting into question the neutrality of the under-sheriff, the official entrusted with impaneling juries. Prior to the Act, the main means of ensuring impartiality was by allowing legal challenges to the sheriff’s choices. The new provisions did not specifically aim at establishing impartiality, but had the effect of reinforcing the authority of the jury by guaranteeing impartiality at the point of selection. The example of early 18th century England legal reform shows how civic lotteries can be used to organize the duties and responsibilities of the citizen body in relation to the state. It established the impartiality and neutrality of juries as well as reiterating the dual nature of the citizen-state relationship 1 CRIMINAL TRIALS -juries hears 1% of criminal cases -tried by 12 jurors and a judge in Crown Court -Juries are Sole Arbiters of Fact (Bushell’s’ case, which will explained below) -Juries decides whether the defendant should be found guilty or not guilty CIVIL TRIALS -Juries in civil case has declined less than 1% -tried by 8 jury in (County Court) and 12 Jury in (High Court) juries were restricted to 4 areas; defamation, malicious prosecution, fraud and false imprisonment -Juries decide the defendant liability and the amount of damages to be awarded A Basic Summarisation of the Different Trial and their role held by the Jury Nevertheless, the independence of the jury has given recognition from the case of Bushell’s Case (1670), this case established that the jury were the, â€Å"sole judges of fact, with the right to give a verdict according to their conscience, and could not be penalized for taking a view of the facts opposed to that of the judge†. This case was a benefit to the legal system, as previously judges would try to intimidate or even bully juries into convicting a defendant, particularly where the crime had political implications. Therefore the importance of the jury system is that it could acquit a defendant, even when the law demanded a guilty verdict and it showed defendants that the trial by jury was not only a protection against injustice but also a loophole whereby real criminals could escape from â€Å"2. Besides that this rule remains today with a more modern examples stating that judges must respect the independence of the jury as in R v McKenna(1960) this case† the judge had threatened the jury, who had been deliberating for about two and quarter hours, that if they did not return a verdict of guilty within another ten minutes they would be locked up all night†, hence Justice Cassels stated it is a cardinal principle of our criminal law that in considering their verdict, concerning as it does, the liberty of the subject, a jury shall deliberate in complete freedom, uninfluenced by any promised, unintimidated by any threat, because they still stand between the Crown and the subject, and they are still one of the main defences of personal liberty†3. The Jury System is considered as a need because it is a significance part of the English legal system, although only a minority of the cases is tried by the jury in these days. In a sense it plays an important role in ensuring that the criminal justice system works for the assistance of the public rather than for the benefit of disproportionate leaders. It promotes not only a fair criminal justice system but also a healthy society, where political leaders cannot misuse criminal justice system to silence their opponents, hence according to LORD DEVLIN which he has wrote on 1956 â€Å"trial by Jury is more than an Instrument of Justice and more than a wheel of the Constitution; it is the lamp that shows that freedom lives†4. Moreover, as many scholars and practitioners have commented over the centuries, the common law jury that develops in Britain was branched in other parts of the world as a UNIQUE INSTITUTION. Therefore Juries are, it brings all together a small group of lay people whom are assembled on a temporary basis for the purpose of deciding whether an accused person is guilty of CRIMINAL act or which of two sides should prevail in a CIVIL dispute. Hence, the jurors are untutored in the formal discipline of law and its logic, besides that they hear and see confusing and challenging evidence and they were provided with instructions, most of the time only in a oral form, about easily understood legal concepts and sent into a room alone to decide a verdict without further help from the professional persons who developed the evidence. 5 Therefore the Juries service is a public duty that citizens should readily undertake, in practice, it is made compulsory, and failure to act/perform one’s civic responsibility is subject to the sanction of a ? ,1000 fine. Now, we may examine the eligibility and the selection process of the Juries, since it has also certain requirements need to be fulfilled. The basic requirements for a Jury Service are that a person must be aged between â€Å"18-70† and must have been a resident in the United Kingdom for atleast 5years. Therefore jurors are selected at random from the electoral register, which is the responsibility of a Central jury Summoning Bureau (CJSB) and the name are generated by the computer, for those who are not registered to vote and the homeless will not be selected. After the selection process, more than 12 people will be called by the Summoning Officers to be â€Å"officially† selected as the ‘panel’ of the case, but according to some certain circumstances those people are excused or disqualified for the certain reasons†¦. On the part of the excusals, those whom prior to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, such would be â€Å"The Juries Act 1974† stated those whom are eligible for excusals are those being part of a profession such as legal professionals, Member of Parliament and Doctors, but as result of Para 3 of Schedule 33 to the Criminal Act 2003,has removed the members of the judiciary and lawyers from the classes of those ineligible to eligible to serve as a Juries which can be seen in the case of R v Abdroikof (2007) and R v Williamson (2007), besides that, the AULD REVIEW recommended that everyone should be eligible except for those who are mentally disordered, those who have criminal conviction for more than 5 years. Evaluating whether the Jury System is an Outmoded Method of Determining Judgments and whether It should be removed or reformed To answer the following question that rose above, we should weight up the â€Å"arguments for and against† the Jury System in the English Legal S ystem. Firstly, there are several arguments for the Jury system in England that I would like to raise†¦. According to (Spooner,1852) â€Å"The central plank of trials within a jury based system is this: No free man shall be captured, and or imprisoned, or disseised of his freehold, and or of his liberties, or of his free customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor will we proceed against him by force or proceed against him by arms, but by the lawful judgement of his peers, and or by the law of the land . 6 For an illustration, the Jury System reflects a democratisation of justice compared to a purely judicial system, it is merely necessary to consider the Socratic judgments of antiquity, or the very wide latitude given to Japanese judges today. The freedom of action and interpretation that is held by one individual in these cases has two primary problems. Firstly, justice is hugely dependent on the competence and impartiality of one person, with a single point of failure for corruption to be introduced. Secondly, judges have been of high social status throughout history, and thus can be criticised as having a possible lack of intuition and empathy with poorer defendants. This illustration is a practical example for the need of the Jury system. In addition, the jury is likely to have a greater experience of contemporary cultural trends and pressures then a judge who has spent 30-40 years in intense study of the law, and a correspondingly greater understanding and empathy with the actions of the parties involved in the case. A jury also often has far less of a stake in political issues†¦. Moreover the United Kingdom does have a somewhat unhappy history relating to judge-only proceedings, through the actions of the Northern Ireland Diplock courts. The Diplock courts were set up in 1972, with the brief of effectively intervening against terrorism. This very assumption could be seen to reflect the view that a purely judge based system was more likely to convict in these cases, and thus reflects the importance of jury trial in other cases. The Diplock courts, as might have been expected, then proceeded to be involved in several extremely contentious convictions, notably that of Christy Walsh. In this case, several sections of the trial were criticised for unfairness during the trial itself, with the defence faced by a judge apparently uninterested in this (British Irish Rights Watch, 2006)7. Therefore the Jury system could be fresh defence of injustice. According to Peter Jefferson, â€Å"We all know that permanent judges acquire an esprit de corps; that, being known, they are liable to be tempted by bribery; that they are misled by favor, by relationship, by a spirit of party, by a devotion to the executive or legislative; that it is better to leave a cause to the decision of cross and pile than to that of a judge biased to one side; and that the opinion of twelve honest jurymen gives still a better hope of right than cross and pile does. †8, this can be easily illustrated by the role of Lord Chancellor is the head of the judiciary and has a major role in the selection of judges, however he is also a member of the cabinet and the position is a political appointment decided on by the Prime Minister and the position has been strongly criticised as being involved in too many different functions of the State, besides that It has also been suggested that the Lord Chancellors selections of judges and also his special adviser could be biased because Lord Chancellor selected his special adviser from a small group he already knew, comprised mostly of white males.

Marijuana Should be Legalized :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

I believe that marijuana should be legalized. I believe that if the goverment did so the National debt would be greatly decreased by the money it would make from the taxation of marijuana and also from the decrease in law enforcement and jail cost that is caused by the "criminal" aspects of marijuana. I believe that the use of marijuana would be more likely to go down than up with the legalization of it. I believe this because half the reason some people use it is the appeal of doing something illegal. I think that marijuana is no more harmful that alcohol or nicotine and these are perfectly legal "drugs" in todays society.You have never heard of someone overdosing on Pot but you do hear of people get deathly ill from alcohol poisoning. Peolpe all over the country whine and complain about the use of Pot but at the same time hold George Washington, Ben Franklin, and the rest of our founding fathers in such high regard. Do these people not realize that these men both grew and used this "drug" they hold in such disgust. Today you see commercials on the TV about how bad marijuana is and how it impairs your judgement and can cause car accidents. A reseacher at the University of Toronto by the name of Alison Smiley in March of 1999 showed that people who use marijuana in moderate dose are more cautious drivers than those who have have a moderate amount of alcohol. She found that the marijuana users are more aware of their impairment therefore they drive slower than those under the influnce of alcohol. Even the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bureau of Mortality Statistics studies show that more people have died do to the use of aspirin (500) than those of marijuana (0). As for the cost of what it takes to deal with the "criminals" in refernce to marijuana it would baffle most people if they knew the facts. The facts are this, in California only in 1998 marijuana accounted for 14,344 felony and 46,600 misdemeanor arrests for a total cost of some $100 million to the state. Over the past 20 years there has been a 2000% increase in prisioners due to marijuana while some serious criminals or paroled due to overcrowding. It has also been shown that CAMP (Campaign Against Marijuana Planting) has destroyed a 1/4 of a million marijuana plants in 1999 alone.

Comparing Women in Raisin In the Sun, House On Mango Street, and Yellow

Roles of Women in A Raisin In the Sun, The House On Mango Street, and A Yellow Raft In Blue Water      Ã‚  Ã‚   A Raisin In the Sun, The House On Mango Street, and A Yellow Raft In Blue Water all contain strong, defined images of women. These women control and are controlled. They are oppressed and liberated. Standing tall, they are confident and independent. Hunched low, they are vulnerable and insecure. They are grandmothers, aunts, mothers, wives, lovers, friends, sisters and children. Although they span a wide range of years and roles, a common thread is woven through all of their lives, a thread which confronts them day in and day out. This thread is the challenge they face as minority women in America to find liberation and freedom from lives loaded down with bondage. These women fight to live and in their living they display their strengths and their weaknesses. They demonstrate the opposition many women face being viewed as the inferior sex as well as discrimination against their ethnicity. In this struggle Hansberry, Dorris and Cisneros depict women attempting to find con fidence and security in the society around them. Comparing and contrasting the novels A Raisin In the Sun, The House On Mango Street, and A Yellow Raft In Blue Water, three principal images of women emerge: their strength, bondage and liberation. These images combine to depict the struggle of many minority women, regardless of their ethnic background, and shapes the character they draw from society.    "Now--you say after me, in my mother's house there is still God...There are some ideas we ain't going to have in this house. Not long as I am at the head of this family" (Hansberry 51). From Mama's ardent statement in A Raisin In the Sun, addressed to ... ... in the past has held them down. Finding strength in this new liberation they will be released to assist others in gaining their freedom and becoming whole individuals. We take courage and inspiration from the lives of Beneatha, Esperanza, Mama, Evelyn, Rayona and others as they display the struggle toward true womanhood and the strength to "come back. For the ones who cannot leave as easily as you" (Cisneros 105).    Works Cited: Blicksilver, Edith. The Ethnic American Woman. Kenall/Hunt Publishing; Iowa, 1978. Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage Books, 1991. Dorris, Michael. Yellow Raft on Blue Water. New York: H. Holt, 1987. Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Literature and Its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Eds. Ann Charters and Samuel Charters. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. 1829-96.

A Big Threat to Brokerage Firms

These days, frauds and scams are observably rampant. In business, on the Internet, in the bank and any entity where money may be extracted. Brokerage firms and hedge funds never escaped this reality and these firms too are very susceptible to frauds and this fact is considered as a big threat upon the health of the financial market. Hedge funds are currently among the most popular or hottest type of investment prospects in the stock market these days.This type of investment â€Å"have been very prominent in the financial news, attracting a lot of attention from investors, brokerage firms, the Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC† (Evans, Atkinson, and Cho 2005) Brokerage firms on the other hand have investment advisors and stockbrokers which are pack with information needed to be relayed to the investors. In this manner, if they are having plans to defraud and manipulate the information they have, which is a very unethical act, they actually can.The aforementioned hedge f unds and brokerage are very susceptible to fraud caused by unsuitable investments. These unsuitable investments happen when the representative broker of the firm make misrepresentations of the investment to a customer or if this broker agent fall short in disclosing â€Å"to the customer all of the material facts about the investment† (Stoneman and Schulz) In short, this is a fraud, which, the common people also identify as a lie.Fraud is either lying or omitting something and according to the SEC, under Rule 10 (b) (5), employing any scheme, artifice or device defrauding someone or some entity constitute fraud or making untrue statements of material fact making the statement made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading is another way to defraud. Moreover, engaging in any act, practice or course of business which operate or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person or entity in connection with any purchase or sale of any security.Eve n though wealthy investors in the hedge funds consider the occurrence of fraud to be insignificant, it is currently happening â€Å"too often to be ignored† (Guarding Against 2005) In fact for the past five years prior March 2005, there were already a total of fifty-one (51) fraudulent hedge fund cases with investor losses of approximately $ 5. 1 billion. One very popular type fraud in hedge funds was invented as early as 1919 called the Ponzi Scheme after Carlo Ponzi who first utilized this method.With this type fraud, the fund manager maintains the fiction that the fund is performing very well and is generating returns while it encourages new investor to invest and using their investments to pay off those earlier investors at a higher rate rather than investing the amount. On the side of the brokerage firms, they are the ones leaking the information to investors leading to fraud. In fact, the SEC alleged that brokerage firms recruited new investors for hedge funds from thei r clients (a technique known as â€Å"capital introductions.† (Evans, Atkinson, and Cho 2005) General fraudulent brokerage firm practices include stock marker manipulation to benefit a certain individual or entity; utilizing phony accounts in trading in the stock market; trading without the public’s information; doing trades that are unauthorized; refusing to customers’ sell orders; and falsifying firm’s records. Furthermore, more defined types of brokerage fraud (Brokerage Fraud, 2008) include (1) biased investment advice; (2) unfounded advice; (3) contradictory investment advice; (4) continuing a risk; and (5) conflict of interest.Each of these five portrays manipulation by the firm, taking its advantage as the advisor in influencing the decision of the customer in an unorthodox manner. As early as 2004 the SEC has been requiring brokerage firms to present relevant information stating the ways on how they help the hedge funds recruit new investors in or der to prevent fraudulent fund raising. The SEC is also investigating selected cases to draw information from them and from which hedge funds might have used insider information to their ends and thereby gaining profit.This is especially true on initial public offerings (IPOs) This is according an article entitled Guarding Against Hedge Fund Fraud issue number 3 of the Trusting the Independent Financial Advisor Journal. The SEC advices the brokerage firm in order for them to stay within the rules and will not be penalized. This advice includes (1) fair dealing; (2) best execution; (3) customer confirmation rule; and (4) disclosure of credit terms. These general rules are embedded in the SEC’s Compliance Guide to the Registration and Regulation of Brokers and Dealers.Simply stated, the SEC and the American government in general do not want to have another Merrill Lynch, Salomon Smith Barney, Morgan Stanley or Bear Sterns deceiving the public. . Works Cited Evans, Thomas G. , S tan Atkinson, and Charles H. Cho. 2005. Hedge Fund Investing: Current Advice for Financial Advisers and Planners. Journal of Accountancy 199, no. 2: 52+. Morgenson, Gretchen. â€Å"Brokerage Firm Is Indicted In Fraud Case. † The New York Times, July 9, 1999, from .National Legal News â€Å"Brokerage Fraud. † 2008 from . Stoneman, Tracy P. and Douglas J. Schulz. 2002. California: Kaplan Business Publishers The Securities and Exchange Commission. â€Å"Litigation Briefs. †2008 from . . Trusting the Independent Financial Advisor Journal. â€Å"Guarding Against Hedge Fund Fraud† issue number 3. March 2005, Switzerland: Roland Ray.

My Learning Profile Essay

In today’s ever-changing fast-paced world the most important skill one requires is learning how to learn. Transformation is inevitable and one will be forced to learn change or fall significantly behind. Every individual has a distinct way of learning. One must identify his or her learning profile to ensure their success in today’s and future humanity. Additionally, by identifying your learning profile strengths and weaknesses you are provided an avenue for improving yourself in most aspects of every day life. I have incorporated this concept by identifying my learning profile and my learning strengths and weaknesses. Also, I have established a plan to capitalize on these strengths and to mitigate my limitations. This paper will discuss my learning profile broken down into four areas. The areas are: learning times, bottom up or top down learning, quadrants of learning and eclectic disciplines of personal intelligence. To begin, everyone has a favorite time of day–one that is conducive to learning. Some have enhanced concentration in the early hours while others achieve a higher level of knowledge absorption and retention during noon hours. Still, some people are at their peak learning zone during the evening hours. For me, I learn best during the early morning timeframe. I always believed I was a morning learner and Test 1 in the course text supports this theory. This test helped determine the times I am more receptive to learning. Next, I will ascertain the basic aspect of my personal learning style. Understanding if you learn more effectively in unstructured situations or in a logical presentation of facts in a rigid strategy is critical to one’s learning profile. I am the latter. I learn best in a systematic, methodical approach allowing me to master specific details before moving to more general concepts. In other words, I am a Stringer. The next step after comprehending this is to expand further into your learning preferences. Digging a little deeper into one’s profile, it is now imperative to  understand our preferences for dealing with facts or feelings, using logic or imagination, and thinking things through yourself or working with other people. After studying the Four Quadrants for Learning descriptions and evaluating how they relate to my learning abilities and preferences, I have concluded that my learning profile crosses the boundaries and encompasses two of the quadrants. Specifically, I assimilate well with quadrant styles A and B. Style A incorporates my dependency on learning through specific knowledge. This style focuses on verifiable facts on which everyone can agree. Style B thrives on order and sequence. Both quadrants represent my style of learning where you base learning on a solid foundation with direction. Lastly, all of the aforementioned portions of my learning profile are coupled with my learning talent or personal intelligence. Most people believe that their capacity to learn is determined by personal intelligence. Contemporary psychologists have changed the idea of a single learning capacity called intelligence into seven different intelligence learning categories used to enhance one’s learning abilities. After answering the personal intelligence questionnaire in the text, I strongly associated with interpersonal and spatial intelligence. I related somewhat in the interpersonal, linguistic and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence categories. To my surprise, I did not select any choices concerning logical-mathematical intelligence, a category I have always believed I was prominent in. In conclusion, I have discussed the importance of identifying one’s personal learning profile. This profile varies from individual to individual. However, everyone possesses and needs a learning profile. Researching this paper, I have discovered how my brain prefers to process new material, which modes and media of instruction suits me best, and which times of learning I am more receptive to. I have acquired an awareness of myself as a learner, which is the first prerequisite of Peak Learning.

Angels Demons Chapter 86-88

86 No light. No sound. The Secret Archives were black. Fear, Langdon now realized, was an intense motivator. Short of breath, he fumbled through the blackness toward the revolving door. He found the button on the wall and rammed his palm against it. Nothing happened. He tried again. The door was dead. Spinning blind, he called out, but his voice emerged strangled. The peril of his predicament suddenly closed in around him. His lungs strained for oxygen as the adrenaline doubled his heart rate. He felt like someone had just punched him in the gut. When he threw his weight into the door, for an instant he thought he felt the door start to turn. He pushed again, seeing stars. Now he realized it was the entire room turning, not the door. Staggering away, Langdon tripped over the base of a rolling ladder and fell hard. He tore his knee against the edge of a book stack. Swearing, he got up and groped for the ladder. He found it. He had hoped it would be heavy wood or iron, but it was aluminum. He grabbed the ladder and held it like a battering ram. Then he ran through the dark at the glass wall. It was closer than he thought. The ladder hit head-on, bouncing off. From the feeble sound of the collision, Langdon knew he was going to need a hell of a lot more than an aluminum ladder to break this glass. When he flashed on the semiautomatic, his hopes surged and then instantly fell. The weapon was gone. Olivetti had relieved him of it in the Pope's office, saying he did not want loaded weapons around with the camerlegno present. It made sense at the time. Langdon called out again, making less sound than the last time. Next he remembered the walkie-talkie the guard had left on the table outside the vault. Why the hell didn't I bring it in! As the purple stars began to dance before his eyes, Langdon forced himself to think. You've been trapped before, he told himself. You survived worse. You were just a kid and you figured it out. The crushing darkness came flooding in. Think! Langdon lowered himself onto the floor. He rolled over on his back and laid his hands at his sides. The first step was to gain control. Relax. Conserve. No longer fighting gravity to pump blood, Langdon's heart began to slow. It was a trick swimmers used to re-oxygenate their blood between tightly scheduled races. There is plenty of air in here, he told himself. Plenty. Now think. He waited, half-expecting the lights to come back on at any moment. They did not. As he lay there, able to breathe better now, an eerie resignation came across him. He felt peaceful. He fought it. You will move, damn it! But where†¦ On Langdon's wrist, Mickey Mouse glowed happily as if enjoying the dark: 9:33 P.M. Half an hour until Fire. Langdon thought it felt a whole hell of a lot later. His mind, instead of coming up with a plan for escape, was suddenly demanding an explanation. Who turned off the power? Was Rocher expanding his search? Wouldn't Olivetti have warned Rocher that I'm in here! Langdon knew at this point it made no difference. Opening his mouth wide and tipping back his head, Langdon pulled the deepest breaths he could manage. Each breath burned a little less than the last. His head cleared. He reeled his thoughts in and forced the gears into motion. Glass walls, he told himself. But damn thick glass. He wondered if any of the books in here were stored in heavy, steel, fireproof file cabinets. Langdon had seen them from time to time in other archives but had seen none here. Besides, finding one in the dark could prove time-consuming. Not that he could lift one anyway, particularly in his present state. How about the examination table? Langdon knew this vault, like the other, had an examination table in the center of the stacks. So what? He knew he couldn't lift it. Not to mention, even if he could drag it, he wouldn't get it far. The stacks were closely packed, the aisles between them far too narrow. The aisles are too narrow†¦ Suddenly, Langdon knew. With a burst of confidence, he jumped to his feet far too fast. Swaying in the fog of a head rush, he reached out in the dark for support. His hand found a stack. Waiting a moment, he forced himself to conserve. He would need all of his strength to do this. Positioning himself against the book stack like a football player against a training sled, he planted his feet and pushed. If I can somehow tip the shelf. But it barely moved. He realigned and pushed again. His feet slipped backward on the floor. The stack creaked but did not move. He needed leverage. Finding the glass wall again, he placed one hand on it to guide him as he raced in the dark toward the far end of the vault. The back wall loomed suddenly, and he collided with it, crushing his shoulder. Cursing, Langdon circled the shelf and grabbed the stack at about eye level. Then, propping one leg on the glass behind him and another on the lower shelves, he started to climb. Books fell around him, fluttering into the darkness. He didn't care. Instinct for survival had long since overridden archival decorum. He sensed his equilibrium was hampered by the total darkness and closed his eyes, coaxing his brain to ignore visual input. He moved faster now. The air felt leaner the higher he went. He scrambled toward the upper shelves, stepping on books, trying to gain purchase, heaving himself upward. Then, like a rock climber conquering a rock face, Langdon grasped the top shelf. Stretching his legs out behind him, he walked his feet up the glass wall until he was almost horizontal. Now or never, Robert, a voice urged. Just like the leg press in the Harvard gym. With dizzying exertion, he planted his feet against the wall behind him, braced his arms and chest against the stack, and pushed. Nothing happened. Fighting for air, he repositioned and tried again, extending his legs. Ever so slightly, the stack moved. He pushed again, and the stack rocked forward an inch or so and then back. Langdon took advantage of the motion, inhaling what felt like an oxygenless breath and heaving again. The shelf rocked farther. Like a swing set, he told himself. Keep the rhythm. A little more. Langdon rocked the shelf, extending his legs farther with each push. His quadriceps burned now, and he blocked the pain. The pendulum was in motion. Three more pushes, he urged himself. It only took two. There was an instant of weightless uncertainty. Then, with a thundering of books sliding off the shelves, Langdon and the shelf were falling forward. Halfway to the ground, the shelf hit the stack next to it. Langdon hung on, throwing his weight forward, urging the second shelf to topple. There was a moment of motionless panic, and then, creaking under the weight, the second stack began to tip. Langdon was falling again. Like enormous dominoes, the stacks began to topple, one after another. Metal on metal, books tumbling everywhere. Langdon held on as his inclined stack bounced downward like a ratchet on a jack. He wondered how many stacks there were in all. How much would they weigh? The glass at the far end was thick†¦ Langdon's stack had fallen almost to the horizontal when he heard what he was waiting for – a different kind of collision. Far off. At the end of the vault. The sharp smack of metal on glass. The vault around him shook, and Langdon knew the final stack, weighted down by the others, had hit the glass hard. The sound that followed was the most unwelcome sound Langdon had ever heard. Silence. There was no crashing of glass, only the resounding thud as the wall accepted the weight of the stacks now propped against it. He lay wide-eyed on the pile of books. Somewhere in the distance there was a creaking. Langdon would have held his breath to listen, but he had none left to hold. One second. Two†¦ Then, as he teetered on the brink of unconsciousness, Langdon heard a distant yielding†¦ a ripple spidering outward through the glass. Suddenly, like a cannon, the glass exploded. The stack beneath Langdon collapsed to the floor. Like welcome rain on a desert, shards of glass tinkled downward in the dark. With a great sucking hiss, the air gushed in. Thirty seconds later, in the Vatican Grottoes, Vittoria was standing before a corpse when the electronic squawk of a walkie-talkie broke the silence. The voice blaring out sounded short of breath. â€Å"This is Robert Langdon! Can anyone hear me?† Vittoria looked up. Robert! She could not believe how much she suddenly wished he were there. The guards exchanged puzzled looks. One took a radio off his belt. â€Å"Mr. Langdon? You are on channel three. The commander is waiting to hear from you on channel one.† â€Å"I know he's on channel one, damn it! I don't want to speak to him. I want the camerlegno. Now! Somebody find him for me.† In the obscurity of the Secret Archives, Langdon stood amidst shattered glass and tried to catch his breath. He felt a warm liquid on his left hand and knew he was bleeding. The camerlegno's voice spoke at once, startling Langdon. â€Å"This is Camerlegno Ventresca. What's going on?† Langdon pressed the button, his heart still pounding. â€Å"I think somebody just tried to kill me!† There was a silence on the line. Langdon tried to calm himself. â€Å"I also know where the next killing is going to be.† The voice that came back was not the camerlegno's. It was Commander Olivetti's: â€Å"Mr. Langdon. Do not speak another word.† 87 Langdon's watch, now smeared with blood, read 9:41 P.M. as he ran across the Courtyard of the Belvedere and approached the fountain outside the Swiss Guard security center. His hand had stopped bleeding and now felt worse than it looked. As he arrived, it seemed everyone convened at once – Olivetti, Rocher, the camerlegno, Vittoria, and a handful of guards. Vittoria hurried toward him immediately. â€Å"Robert, you're hurt.† Before Langdon could answer, Olivetti was before him. â€Å"Mr. Langdon, I'm relieved you're okay. I'm sorry about the crossed signals in the archives.† â€Å"Crossed signals?† Langdon demanded. â€Å"You knew damn well – â€Å" â€Å"It was my fault,† Rocher said, stepping forward, sounding contrite. â€Å"I had no idea you were in the archives. Portions of our white zones are cross-wired with that building. We were extending our search. I'm the one who killed power. If I had known†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Robert,† Vittoria said, taking his wounded hand in hers and looking it over, â€Å"the Pope was poisoned. The Illuminati killed him.† Langdon heard the words, but they barely registered. He was saturated. All he could feel was the warmth of Vittoria's hands. The camerlegno pulled a silk handkerchief from his cassock and handed it to Langdon so he could clean himself. The man said nothing. His green eyes seemed filled with a new fire. â€Å"Robert,† Vittoria pressed, â€Å"you said you found where the next cardinal is going to be killed?† Langdon felt flighty. â€Å"I do, it's at the – â€Å" â€Å"No,† Olivetti interrupted. â€Å"Mr. Langdon, when I asked you not to speak another word on the walkie-talkie, it was for a reason.† He turned to the handful of assembled Swiss Guards. â€Å"Excuse us, gentlemen.† The soldiers disappeared into the security center. No indignity. Only compliance. Olivetti turned back to the remaining group. â€Å"As much as it pains me to say this, the murder of our Pope is an act that could only have been accomplished with help from within these walls. For the good of all, we can trust no one. Including our guards.† He seemed to be suffering as he spoke the words. Rocher looked anxious. â€Å"Inside collusion implies – â€Å" â€Å"Yes,† Olivetti said. â€Å"The integrity of your search is compromised. And yet it is a gamble we must take. Keep looking.† Rocher looked like he was about to say something, thought better of it, and left. The camerlegno inhaled deeply. He had not said a word yet, and Langdon sensed a new rigor in the man, as if a turning point had been reached. â€Å"Commander?† The camerlegno's tone was impermeable. â€Å"I am going to break conclave.† Olivetti pursed his lips, looking dour. â€Å"I advise against it. We still have two hours and twenty minutes.† â€Å"A heartbeat.† Olivetti's tone was now challenging â€Å"What do you intend to do? Evacuate the cardinals single-handedly?† â€Å"I intend to save this church with whatever power God has given me. How I proceed is no longer your concern.† Olivetti straightened. â€Å"Whatever you intend to do†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He paused. â€Å"I do not have the authority to restrain you. Particularly in light of my apparent failure as head of security. I ask only that you wait. Wait twenty minutes†¦ until after ten o'clock. If Mr. Langdon's information is correct, I may still have a chance to catch this assassin. There is still a chance to preserve protocol and decorum.† â€Å"Decorum?† The camerlegno let out a choked laugh. â€Å"We have long since passed propriety, commander. In case you hadn't noticed, this is war.† A guard emerged from the security center and called out to the camerlegno, â€Å"Signore, I just got word we have detained the BBC reporter, Mr. Glick.† The camerlegno nodded. â€Å"Have both he and his camerawoman meet me outside the Sistine Chapel.† Olivetti's eyes widened. â€Å"What are you doing?† â€Å"Twenty minutes, commander. That's all I'm giving you.† Then he was gone. When Olivetti's Alpha Romeo tore out of Vatican City, this time there was no line of unmarked cars following him. In the back seat, Vittoria bandaged Langdon's hand with a first-aid kit she'd found in the glove box. Olivetti stared straight ahead. â€Å"Okay, Mr. Langdon. Where are we going?† 88 Even with its siren now affixed and blaring, Olivetti's Alpha Romeo seemed to go unnoticed as it rocketed across the bridge into the heart of old Rome. All the traffic was moving in the other direction, toward the Vatican, as if the Holy See had suddenly become the hottest entertainment in Rome. Langdon sat in the backseat, the questions whipping through his mind. He wondered about the killer, if they would catch him this time, if he would tell them what they needed to know, if it was already too late. How long before the camerlegno told the crowd in St. Peter's Square they were in danger? The incident in the vault still nagged. A mistake. Olivetti never touched the brakes as he snaked the howling Alpha Romeo toward the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. Langdon knew on any other day his knuckles would have been white. At the moment, however, he felt anesthetized. Only the throbbing in his hand reminded him where he was. Overhead, the siren wailed. Nothing like telling him we're coming, Langdon thought. And yet they were making incredible time. He guessed Olivetti would kill the siren as they drew nearer. Now with a moment to sit and reflect, Langdon felt a tinge of amazement as the news of the Pope's murder finally registered in his mind. The thought was inconceivable, and yet somehow it seemed a perfectly logical event. Infiltration had always been the Illuminati powerbase – rearrangements of power from within. And it was not as if Popes had never been murdered. Countless rumors of treachery abounded, although with no autopsy, none was ever confirmed. Until recently. Academics not long ago had gotten permission to X-ray the tomb of Pope Celestine V, who had allegedly died at the hands of his overeager successor, Boniface VIII. The researchers had hoped the X-ray might reveal some small hint of foul play – a broken bone perhaps. Incredibly, the X-ray had revealed a ten-inch nail driven into the Pope's skull. Langdon now recalled a series of news clippings fellow Illuminati buffs had sent him years ago. At first he had thought the clippings were a prank, so he'd gone to the Harvard microfiche collection to confirm the articles were authentic. Incredibly, they were. He now kept them on his bulletin board as examples of how even respectable news organizations sometimes got carried away with Illuminati paranoia. Suddenly, the media's suspicions seemed a lot less paranoid. Langdon could see the articles clearly in his mind†¦ The British Broadcasting Corporation June 14, 1998 Pope John Paul I, who died in 1978, fell victim to a plot by the P2 Masonic Lodge†¦ The secret society P2 decided to murder John Paul I when it saw he was determined to dismiss the American Archbishop Paul Marcinkus as President of the Vatican Bank. The Bank had been implicated in shady financial deals with the Masonic Lodge†¦ The New York Times August 24, 1998 Why was the late John Paul I wearing his day shirt in bed? Why was it torn? The questions don't stop there. No medical investigations were made. Cardinal Villot forbade an autopsy on the grounds that no Pope was ever given a postmortem. And John Paul's medicines mysteriously vanished from his bedside, as did his glasses, slippers and his last will and testament. London Daily Mail August 27, 1998 †¦ a plot including a powerful, ruthless and illegal Masonic lodge with tentacles stretching into the Vatican. The cellular in Vittoria's pocket rang, thankfully erasing the memories from Langdon's mind. Vittoria answered, looking confused as to who might be calling her. Even from a few feet away, Langdon recognized the laserlike voice on the phone. â€Å"Vittoria? This is Maximilian Kohler. Have you found the antimatter yet?† â€Å"Max? You're okay?† â€Å"I saw the news. There was no mention of CERN or the antimatter. This is good. What is happening?† â€Å"We haven't located the canister yet. The situation is complex. Robert Langdon has been quite an asset. We have a lead on catching the man assassinating cardinals. Right now we are headed – â€Å" â€Å"Ms. Vetra,† Olivetti interrupted. â€Å"You've said enough.† She covered the receiver, clearly annoyed. â€Å"Commander, this is the president of CERN. Certainly he has a right to – â€Å" â€Å"He has a right,† Olivetti snapped, â€Å"to be here handling this situation. You're on an open cellular line. You've said enough.† Vittoria took a deep breath. â€Å"Max?† â€Å"I may have some information for you,† Max said. â€Å"About your father†¦ I may know who he told about the antimatter.† Vittoria's expression clouded. â€Å"Max, my father said he told no one.† â€Å"I'm afraid, Vittoria, your father did tell someone. I need to check some security records. I will be in touch soon.† The line went dead. Vittoria looked waxen as she returned the phone to her pocket. â€Å"You okay?† Langdon asked. Vittoria nodded, her trembling fingers revealing the lie. â€Å"The church is on Piazza Barberini,† Olivetti said, killing the siren and checking his watch. â€Å"We have nine minutes.† When Langdon had first realized the location of the third marker, the position of the church had rung some distant bell for him. Piazza Barberini. Something about the name was familiar†¦ something he could not place. Now Langdon realized what it was. The piazza was the sight of a controversial subway stop. Twenty years ago, construction of the subway terminal had created a stir among art historians who feared digging beneath Piazza Barberini might topple the multiton obelisk that stood in the center. City planners had removed the obelisk and replaced it with a small fountain called the Triton. In Bernini's day, Langdon now realized, Piazza Barberini had contained an obelisk! Whatever doubts Langdon had felt that this was the location of the third marker now totally evaporated. A block from the piazza, Olivetti turned into an alley, gunned the car halfway down, and skidded to a stop. He pulled off his suit jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and loaded his weapon. â€Å"We can't risk your being recognized,† he said. â€Å"You two were on television. I want you across the piazza, out of sight, watching the front entrance. I'm going in the back.† He produced a familiar pistol and handed it to Langdon. â€Å"Just in case.† Langdon frowned. It was the second time today he had been handed the gun. He slid it into his breast pocket. As he did, he realized he was still carrying the folio from Diagramma. He couldn't believe he had forgotten to leave it behind. He pictured the Vatican Curator collapsing in spasms of outrage at the thought of this priceless artifact being packed around Rome like some tourist map. Then Langdon thought of the mess of shattered glass and strewn documents that he'd left behind in the archives. The curator had other problems. If the archives even survive the night†¦ Olivetti got out of the car and motioned back up the alley. â€Å"The piazza is that way. Keep your eyes open and don't let yourselves be seen.† He tapped the phone on his belt. â€Å"Ms. Vetra, let's retest our auto dial.† Vittoria removed her phone and hit the auto dial number she and Olivetti had programmed at the Pantheon. Olivetti's phone vibrated in silent-ring mode on his belt. The commander nodded. â€Å"Good. If you see anything, I want to know.† He cocked his weapon. â€Å"I'll be inside waiting. This heathen is mine.† At that moment, very nearby, another cellular phone was ringing. The Hassassin answered. â€Å"Speak.† â€Å"It is I,† the voice said. â€Å"Janus.† The Hassassin smiled. â€Å"Hello, master.† â€Å"Your position may be known. Someone is coming to stop you.† â€Å"They are too late. I have already made the arrangements here.† â€Å"Good. Make sure you escape alive. There is work yet to be done.† â€Å"Those who stand in my way will die.† â€Å"Those who stand in your way are knowledgeable.† â€Å"You speak of an American scholar?† â€Å"You are aware of him?† The Hassassin chuckled. â€Å"Cool-tempered but naive. He spoke to me on the phone earlier. He is with a female who seems quite the opposite.† The killer felt a stirring of arousal as he recalled the fiery temperament of Leonardo Vetra's daughter. There was a momentary silence on the line, the first hesitation the Hassassin had ever sensed from his Illuminati master. Finally, Janus spoke. â€Å"Eliminate them if need be.† The killer smiled. â€Å"Consider it done.† He felt a warm anticipation spreading through his body. Although the woman I may keep as a prize.